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A very different game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 26 / 28
Date: April 29, 2000
Author: Amazon User

After the linear-style of Final Fantasy and other similar RPGs (Which I love BTW), I found Star Ocean 2 a wonderfully refreshing experience. There are just so many options - starting from the beginning, you can choose your main character, which other characters you want and take it from there, eventually leading to one out of 86 different endings. It's true that the endings stem mainly from the different combinations of characters that get together in the end...but 86! What other game can boast so much replay value?

The item creation system is very unique - cooking, art, machinery, authoring, customising...it's all within your power. You choose the skills and specialities the characters learn. They write books for the other characters to read, make better weapons, compose music and create delicious (or not so delicious) dishes. They can even combine their skills to make super specialities, which allow you to get better at cooking, publishing, etc, and my favourite - where all the characters sincerely call Barney, a giant white rabbit to cart you around the countryside. Hilarious.

The graphics IMO are pretty good. The 3D backgrounds are lovingly rendered, even including really cool minor details like your reflection on a pond or in a mirror. Nice. The characters themselves are 2D sprites, which looks better than it sounds - no hassles with fuzzy polygons or anything like that. And Links has done a fine job (as usual) on the FMV - great eye candy.

The battle system allows you to take a much more active role in combat situations. In active mode, you basically dash around and try to konk the enemy without them hitting you. Fighting characters have Killer moves, which are special attacks that are assigned to the L1 and R1 buttons. They look cool and wreak havoc on the battle field. For magic users, the spell animation is nice too, and there is the interesting possibility of combining spells by casting them at the same time, which can lead to greater damage if done properly.

If I do have any complaints, they are generally not the fault of the game, rather the people who were supposed to be checking for bugs. Firstly it crashes - no game has ever crashed on me like this one. So save a lot. And there are little things, like the character voices getting mixed up - it is so funny to hear Precis yelling 'Parabola Beam! ' while Claude is doing Mirror Slice, and the wrong word appearing for spells. I guess I'm nitpicking.

As for the game itself, I find some of the character's voices rather irritating. But that's a personal thing. The music _is_ rather repetitive...they play the same tracks over and over, but even so, they still sound nice.

[I do have one large complaint, and this is that I had to import the game to play it, since it hasn't been released in Australia and doesn't look likely in the near future. There _are_ serious RPG players here and it would be great if the distribution companies recognised that.]

Star Ocean 2 is a really good game, offering so much - a great battle system, memorable characters, beautiful graphics and a pretty darn good story. A must for any RPG fan.

Must-Buy, Must-Have, Must-Play

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: November 23, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Ever see this equation? Two disks + two characters + over eighty endings = one great game. Yesiree, besides the impressive numbers, Star Ocean has another charm, addictive as it is, awesome as it may be. There aren't many games out nowadays about storyline and character development, yet this one seems to be less and less like a videogame and more and more like an epic novel. Every choice you make, every turn you take, every character you invite into your party, you shape your own destiny and blaze your own trail. These characters, in terms of emotion, are no doubt about it-- Real. You develop meaningful relationships and for a moment, call me crazy, but you are that character. The game isn't without its quirks: Meaningless battles make it hard to find what you're really looking for, and even more are those annoying thought balloons that pop over character's head when they're angry, sad, surprised, or just really deep in thought. But those little flaws don't detract much from otherwise great game.

Terrific fun, great story, great music.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 14
Date: May 23, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is wonderful. You can play as one of two people (something I really like in games), skills are actually terrifically *important*, the graphics are good (not great, but good), and the music is outstanding.

One of the best features of the game is the Private Action, where you interact one-on-one with your party members or NPCs, or both. every choice you make affects how your characters feel about each other. This is the best way I've seen of getting the role-playing back into RPGs. Some of them are just plain funny too (Ashton and barrels ... there might be reasons Gyoro and Ururun picked him ...)

The difficulty levels are well-set up too; there's not much of 'I must run around and fight random battles to survive my next dungeon'. The fight system is rather odd, but learnable.

The story and the music are the best things about the game, though. The story is well-thought out, well-written and planned - things happen for reasons, you find out what those reasons are, and you *want* to save these people. And the music ... man, the final boss music *alone* makes me want the CD ...

I finished the game, and went through to play it *again* right away. That's how good it is.

Innovation is the key to success

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: August 31, 2000
Author: Amazon User

SO2, is a great game. So what if the graphics aren't that good! The battle system, is better than Final Fantasy's mainly because you can move about the battle field, give the characters commands AND set what you want them to do automatically without having to take control. It is by far more involved and easier to get into battles. The variety of magic is truly awesome, as well as Killer Moves. The music is decent. You can also decide on who you want to play as in the beginning (like Resident Evil 2) There is a wide variety of other characters to pick from, so with a strategy guide, it is possible to customize your party into the Ultimate fighting force! Probably the biggest thing is being able to learn abilities, such as making and upgrading weapons, restoration items, books to earn tons of money, pickpocketing, attacks, plus many, many other things besides. However, SO2 is very tough, and you'll most likely find yourself level building after every event. But, it's well worth the effort. Private Actions, is the most innovative idea that I've seen in an RPG ever! This allows you to change the outcome of the game, get characters, and participate in special events. If you've got a lot of patience, then this game is definetly worth trying!

Complicated, but great fun when you learn the game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 20
Date: April 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game starts out rather slowly, with quite a bit of dialogue before you get to a fight, but that's OK with me. I like a game with a story to it, not just bashing monsters all the time. Yes, there are plenty of good fights in Star Ocean II, but you'd better read the dialogues, too, or you'll miss important clues that you will need later on.

Others have already described the technical features of the game, so I won't reinvent the wheel here. What I will say is that strategy is very important, and that's what I like best about it. There will come a time when you have all the money you need to buy every weapon in the shops -- but that won't help you if you don't plan your strategies as well. There's an astronomical number of possible combinations of weapons, jewelry, magic cards, armor, etc. and you get to choose which combinations to equip your party with. You can also set battle tactics for the group and for each character individually. You have control over which skills to level up with the skill points you earn in the battles, too. Each character has hidden talents which are only revealed when their skill points reach a certain level in that area and you have used that skill enough.

My one complaint about the game is that the translation calls the ten boss sorcerers on the planet Energy Nede "God's Ten Wise Men." I have no idea who or what "God" is in the original Japanese, but in my English vocabulary, God is the Good Guy. We started calling them "The Godfather's Ten Wiseguys" which is probably closer to the intent, since they are a bunch of nasty galactic gangsters who want to take over the universe (what else?) They even have Italian-sounding names, which suggests the Mafia more than servants of a theological entity. (In the animation, they look more like Samurai warriors.) Defeating them was a challenge -- and great fun!

Without a doubt, the best RPG I've EVER played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: January 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Perhaps my favorite RPG of all time, Star Ocean 2 has everything ANY gamer could enjoy. With an amazingly innovative battle system, Star Ocean 2 plunges you into battle where you fight and cast magic in REAL TIME combat. Also, Star Ocean 2 has amazing customization where you can MAKE your own items and the BEST weapons in the game using the game's unique weapon/item creation system. With an amazingly unique soundtrack, Star Ocean 2 ranks in my soundtrack list as one of my top three! Also, Star ocean 2 has an amazing cast of characters, all of which, save two are optional. Finally, it has the HIGHEST replay value of any game EVER!!!... You are right off the bat asked which character you would prefer to play, the dashing space explorer, Claude Kenni, or the beautiful magic user Rena Lanford. By going through this game you will go through different towns, meet different people, and the feelings of the characters will change for each other, for better or worse, and in the end, characters will split up, or possibly even get together! With over 80 different endings, you'll find yourself playing from the end of Star Ocean 2 right into your next fun filled new game! Words cannot describe my appreciation for the quality of this game, it is simply breathtaking.

Somebody help, I need an intervention! :)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: January 28, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Seems that not everyone shares my opinion, but I have to say that this is the most addictive game I've ever played. One of the reviewers before me had called it "immersive". I couldn't find a better description. Star Ocean: the 2nd story has a very unique skills and item creation system. This is a huge part of the game, and is easy to learn but difficult to master. Basically, if you are patient enough to experiment with different things and don't mind stopping to experiment (because this will take up quite a bit of time) instead of just rushing through the game, you will probably enjoy it. That been said, you can still enjoy the game without putting too much time into item creations, you just won't be playing it to its full extent. This is what I did my first time through. I have just beaten it for the second time, and have had more fun than the first time, because this time I tried to experiment with everything. Private Actions (where you separate from the group and talk to other members) are not necessary in the game, but they influence the outcome, and I personally found them fun. There are 86 different endings.... I don't think I'll be able to play enough times to get all of them, but still, this makes for a great replay value. Voice acting and translation could have been done better, and the emoticons are annoying... Other than that, I have no complaints. This is a game that really made me "immerse" in it fully and feel what my characters were feeling... Just for that experience, it's worth the price. :) By the way, I forgot who asked, but if you still haven't found the answer, the "float" skill can be found in the bonus dungeon. Good luck!

PAGC (People Against Graphic Complainers)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: August 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This was One of my FAVORITE RPG's Ever. Many of the reviews said that the graphics were bland and gave low ratings because of it. I have a few reasons against that.

1.Soft colors are alot easier on the eyes.

2.Look at Legend of Mana. WOW

3.It might not be as crisp as Final Fantasy VIII but what should be looked at is the fun and the storyline

Challenging and entertaining - tremendously good fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 29, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is undoubtedly one of the best RPG's I have ever played. Your choices are almost limitless - you choose the main character, which characters to include in your party (some are not compatible with others, and some you can only get playing as a certain character), how to assign your skill points, and what specialties to develop in each character. The skills that the characters can build are varied and useful. A character might learn cooking, metal working, weapon customization, alchemy, photography, music, painting, writing - it's all up to you. And the results of these skills affect the gameplay. For instance, a character good at cooking can create a dish that will restore HP or MP to whoever consumes it, while a character skilled in alchemy can turn a rock into a precious gem that can be used to customize an ordinary weapon into something spectacular.

You also affect the final outcome by which characters you place together in battle and how you choose to have them interact while not in battle. There are so many choices, and so many ways to affect the game, that its possibilities are staggering.

As the game is so multi-faceted, I do recommend the strategy guide. Knowing which characters are compatible with others, what foods are needed to cook specific dishes, which good weapons can be customized into great ones, etc. can help you make good decisions.

I think most RPG fans would find this game to be outstanding in its field.

Just buy it!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is one of the best out there!!!

Graphics: Really nice 3D backgrounds and cute li'l 2D people!

Battle System: Really cool! You have a few choices that have to do with how you fight the battle, you choose each character's strategy and the battle formation, you can control any character you want, attack your enemies in three different ways- by casting one of numerous destructive spells, using a "killer move", wich is a strong physical attack that uses up MP, like magic, or just run up to your enemies and slap 'em silly with whatever weapon your character has at their disposal. Oh, yeah, and you can also use a few items to win battles.

Enemies: Not extremely hard to beat if your characters are at reasonable levels.

Music: VERY good.

Special Features: The PA (Private Action) system is very original. If you press square when you're near a town, your group will split up and you can talk to the members of the party (and sometimes the villagers will ask for your help or say different things to you). How you respond effects your character's romantic/friendship values with the other characters, and sometimes wins you an item or two or some money. At the end of the game, your characters will be paired up according to their romantic/friendship values with each other.

Other than that, it's really funny, somewhat romantic, and has an interesting storyline with a variety of characters!

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