System: Swap
Launch date: November 2, 2023
Developer: Sq. Enix / Gemdrops
Writer: Sq. Enix
Star Ocean has been round for a really very long time, however for varied causes it has by no means gained the identical kind of recognition or crucial acclaim as Sq. Enix’s different long-running franchises reminiscent of Closing Fantasy and Dragon Quest. A sequence that blends science-fiction and fantasy in a combination that may finest be described as hit-or-miss throughout its six installments, it appears to be one thing that those that have heard of it both embrace wholeheartedly or tactically keep away from. However the widespread consensus amongst followers is that Second Story is the most effective the sequence has been up to now. After bringing Star Ocean: First Departure R, a port of the PSP remake of the primary sport, to Swap, Sq. Enix have now launched Star Ocean: The Second Story R, a full remaster of the unique sport in a brand new engine with a number of quality-of-life enhancements to make it a extra trendy expertise. It’s with nice pleasure that I say that this can be a resounding success, and captures the appeal of the unique whereas bettering upon it in nearly each manner attainable.
Set twenty years after the occasions of Star Ocean: First Departure R, Second Story R takes place totally on Expel, an underdeveloped planet in disaster. The sport options two selectable protagonists, Claude C. Kenny (a final title followers of the sequence will undoubtedly acknowledge) and Rena Lanford, a local of Expel, who meet shortly after Claude’s premature arrival on the planet. Their preliminary encounter leads Rena to imagine that Claude is the Hero of Mild, who’s destined to free the land from the monster risk caused by the Sorcery Globe. For his half, Claude simply desires to discover a manner house, and the 2 finally resolve to journey collectively.
Though your selection between Claude and Rena received’t influence the story of the sport in any vital style, and also you’ll have each in your social gathering, it would profoundly have an effect on your perspective of occasions. Claude makes the sport really feel extra like a sequel to First Departure R, given his extraterrestrial background and subsequent data of the larger image, and he brings these science fiction components to the instant forefront and frames the story completely inside that context. That is nearly fully absent in Rena’s storyline till a lot later: as a local of the planet Expel, she is unaware of the existence of superior know-how or the actual nature of the risk her planet faces, and her perspective is one that originally feels extra like a standard fantasy RPG. This makes Second Story R each a superb sequel for returning followers and start line for newcomers, and is a incredible mix of science fiction and fantasy that also manages to really feel distinctive regardless of the sport being over twenty years previous at this level.
The twin protagonist method taken by the sport additionally provides it a excessive degree of replayability, as each Claude and Rena have their very own inner dialogue, distinctive occasions after they change into separated, and alternatives to recruit completely different social gathering members the opposite lacks. This design selection will little question frustrate those that need to do every part in a single playthrough, but it surely helps to make their particular person tales really feel distinctive and price experiencing, though the primary occasions are the identical no matter who you select. Second Story R additionally options a lot of smaller sub-events within the type of Personal Actions; small scenes between your different social gathering members. Each Claude and Rena have their very own distinctive Personal Actions, which helps to develop your social gathering members (who would in any other case really feel fairly under-developed as characters and really feel largely as if they have been merely alongside for the experience with out them) and provides an added degree of validity to your decisions. Deepening character bonds will enhance their capabilities in battle and, after all, result in character-specific endings.
Second Story R is an motion RPG with actual time battles, and these have been given a major overhaul to be extra interactive and action-focused. Enemies now have a variety of shields over their well being bars, and depleting these will trigger them to enter a break state, gorgeous them and permitting your characters time to do considerably extra injury. Urgent B on the proper time will set off a Excellent Counter, which recovers HP and MP and depletes their protect. Enemies will even drop orbs for passive bonuses relying in your battle formation, and you may name upon your reserve social gathering members (and a few cameo characters from different Star Ocean titles) that will help you with single assaults.
Though the sport will not be significantly difficult on the default issue, I discovered fight to be extraordinarily satisfying, with the brand new mechanics launched making the sport really feel like one of many extra trendy Star Ocean titles, which integrated related gameplay mechanics of their battle programs. Enemies are actually represented as conveniently color-coded shadowy blobs on the overworld, and the sport rewards you for chaining a number of battles collectively by granting further expertise factors, ability factors, and cash. This makes constructing your characters and sources a lot simpler, and in addition permits you to keep away from battles when you’re in a rush to see the subsequent story sequence.
Regardless of these enhancements, the jankier components of fight are nonetheless a continuing presence that may pull you out of the motion: until you are taking fixed direct management, the sport will usually default to focusing on the closest enemy, and this can lead to plenty of awkward leaping if enemies are airborne, or aimless working round as everybody jockeys for place to strike. Get together AI may be custom-made to some extent to drive them to take particular actions, however on larger difficulties specifically there’s a lack of competence to their motion that can see you taking a direct hand within the motion extra continuously than you would possibly like to stop a swift social gathering wipe-out. For all the benefits that the brand new gameplay mechanics present, they may also be extraordinarily debilitating, with again assaults costing you your focus gauge and gorgeous you for a number of seconds, and the timing for excellent counters being unreasonably tight at instances. Additionally it is tough to flee from battles, as being knocked out of the animation – over which you don’t have any management – would require you to provoke it once more. Dying in fight gives you the selection of making an attempt once more and mean you can change your social gathering lineup and issue earlier than you accomplish that, however there may be the potential for it to result in some irritating encounters when you’re underleveled and unable to flee in time.
Battles will reward you with factors to put money into a posh internet of abilities, which type the spine of your capabilities each inside and out of doors of fight. Expertise go as much as Stage 10 and supply a rise to statistics, and when mixed with others at a sure degree they permit entry to Specialty Expertise, which let you carry out actions outdoors of battle, from merchandise creation (sub-divided into an extreme variety of completely different classes) to cooking and fishing. Fortuitously, the sport permits you to put money into a number of abilities concurrently to entry Specialty Expertise immediately, which I felt was a incredible high quality of life addition that permits for extra environment friendly character constructing, and meant I wasn’t left struggling to recollect which mixture of Expertise would unlock which Specialty. Talent factors usually are not finite, and you may finally max out every part when you’re decided sufficient, however initially it prevents fairly an awesome entrance, and it may be tough to know what it is best to prioritize within the earlier hours of the sport. There’s a lot to soak up, and though the sport provides a reasonably complete checklist of tutorials, it would largely go away you to your personal units to determine issues out.
Second Story R contains a host of high quality of life enhancements that make it essentially the most satisfying and accessible model of the sport up to now. It signposts very clearly on the world map and minimap when there’s a new occasion or non-public motion in a location, and whether or not or not it’s time-limited, which makes it a lot simpler to maintain observe of occasions and navigate the minefield of personal actions that may result in character-specific endings. To additional help this, it’s also possible to now view affection ranges between characters within the standing display, and might enter and exit PA Mode with a single button press, permitting you to rapidly hop out and in as mandatory. Quick journey is accessible at nearly any time, so you’ll be able to simply get again to any beforehand visited location or dungeon, and checkpoints are spaced out fairly generously to allow you to extra simply pinpoint the precise location you need to get to. For completionists, there are an enormous variety of Problem Missions to undertake, most of which may be performed naturally whereas enjoying, and an Achievements system so you’ll be able to expertise every part the sport has to supply.
Sadly, the sport doesn’t inform you when and the place you’ll be capable to recruit non-compulsory characters to your group, and nor does it inform you what the implications of doing this will likely be, which I felt was an oversight that might have used some clarification with this up to date remake. Including some social gathering members to your group will imply you’ll be unable to recruit others later within the story (though there is no such thing as a story-specific motive for this generally) and though returning gamers will pay attention to the intricacies right here, as that you must exit of your strategy to encounter most of those characters, newcomers may find yourself lacking out on them completely, which is unlucky, as by way of Personal Actions they can lead to plenty of character growth for each Claude and Rena, and might present a invaluable benefit in fight.
Visually, Second Story R is completely gorgeous, with a wholly new visible type and engine that isn’t fairly the HD-2D type that Sq. Enix have been adopting for sprite-based titles in recent times, however works extraordinarily nicely nonetheless. Though the character sprites can look barely odd at instances within the extra textured environments, significantly on a TV display, every part is rendered with a excessive degree of element, with incredible lighting results lending an actual depth to backgrounds that I felt was persistently spectacular. The sport runs easily on Swap with no noticeable body dips even throughout essentially the most hectic moments of fight, and the cinematic digital camera angles assist preserve a spotlight in your character always, solely zooming out for dramatic impact when a particular transfer is unleashed, with a dramatic pause because the devastation (normally a spell) impacts your complete battlefield in a spectacular explosion. The sport additionally options gorgeous new animated portraits, however with the choice to swap to the portraits from the PSP model or the unique model when you would favor.
The soundtrack for Second Story R was composed by Motoi Sakuraba, well-known for his work on the Tales sequence specifically, and his work right here is exemplary with the remastered orchestral items offering an added degree of depth to the environment of every space that the unique couldn’t fairly seize – though the unique soundtrack has additionally been included, and may be modified to within the settings at any level if that’s your desire. The sport additionally options full English and Japanese voice appearing, with the vast majority of main story scenes and personal actions being totally voiced, and for my part this has aged fairly gracefully in most situations, with each Claude and Rena having persistently sturdy performances all through. Though some characters could miss the mark, as the vast majority of your social gathering members are non-compulsory, this can be a minor inconvenience at most when you occur to search out {that a} character you’ll be able to recruit has a voice you’re not significantly keen on.
The Verdict
Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a completely incredible re-imagining of what’s arguably the most effective installment in considered one of Sq. Enix’s most ignored franchises, and the standard of life enhancements made to its fight specifically making it really feel simply nearly as good to play as any trendy motion RPG with extra superior programs. It blurs the road between fantasy and science fiction in a manner that continues to be as fascinating now because it was when it was first launched, and its distinctive presentation is definitely on-par with any of Sq. Enix’s HD-2D titles, and feels proper at house in handheld mode on the Swap. I might wholeheartedly suggest giving the demo a strive when you’re on the fence, with the one caveat being that this can require two prolonged playthroughs with every protagonist, in addition to some planning, to expertise all of it. However it is going to be a very unforgettable expertise from begin to end.
Star Ocean: The Second Story R copy offered by the writer for the needs of this evaluate.