As you may or may not know, I'm a sucker for getting S-Ranks in games. Yeah I know, I'm pathetic (which this [and this] list will clearly show). Anyway, I'm about to finish up with Dragon Age II and now have my eyes on Star Ocean: The Last Hope. But holy hell, doing research on S-Ranking this game is...mindblowing. I've been looking at some of the lists you need to have handy unless you want to spend 300+ hours on the game, and just look at this shit!

I'm beginning to fear I've gone over my head on this en devour, but I won't be beaten! I really just don't know where to even start, what to ignore, and what to keep as necessary information since I really don't want to print an entire book to have handy when I play through the game.

Any personal experience from this game? I know I'm crazy, but is this taking it too far? Please keep the insults minimal since I'm a fragile man.

Don't do it, man. Some of those things are way too crazy for a sane man to attempt. Having played that myself, I can safely say trying to get all these insane achievements will break you.

The game is..not that great. I'd give it 3/5 at best. It's not like DAII where the game is somewhat bearable at all times. The Last Hope is the first game to make me groan (You don't know me, but if you did, that would say a lot). The characters are really generic and some are downright irritating. If you're okay with that, then fine. But I recommend you reconsider; there are a lot of other games out there. Try Lost Odyssey or FFXIII. Those are better games.

@Pimpsandwich: @sungahymn: Hehe, thanks for the warnings, I'm well aware how dumb this is. (Oh and sungahymn, I have S-Ranked Lost Odyssey already and am two achievements away from FFXIII which I intend to do one day)

@Cincaid: Cool, I'm actually playing through Lost Odyssey right now after having been away from it for years.. How hard a S-rank is it?

And really, you will end up hating videogames. Just those battle trophies that require you to get exact amounts of damage, like the ones that need you to deal exactly 55,555 damage with Edge or exactly 70,000 with Reimi, will probably end up driving you insane. Like, literally.

@Pimpsandwich: I had a lot of fun to S-Rank Lost Odyssey, I highly recommend it. Like all JRPGs though there's a ton of missable stuff, so beware before you try. I even wrote a guide on how to easily kill the DLC boss!

@Cincaid said:

@Pimpsandwich: @sungahymn: Hehe, thanks for the warnings, I'm well aware how dumb this is. (Oh and sungahymn, I have S-Ranked Lost Odyssey already and am two achievements away from FFXIII which I intend to do one day)

You are a good person.

There are some quests involving synthesis that become inaccessible after the second planet very early in the game. You need to find/buy enough ingredients on the first planet or you're screwed! 
Can't remember exactly, but check a guide for that early part.

lol... the synopsis...

Estimated achievement difficulty: 10/10

Offline achievements: 50 (1000)

Approximate time for 1000: 250+

Minimum number of playthroughs required for completion: 3

Number of missable achievements: 12 (9 Endings, 100% Quests, 100% Chests, 100% Item Creation)

Glitched achievements: None

Does difficulty affect achievements: Yes

Wow.. that sounds like a masochist's dream game..

If you're going to go for a 100% on the 360 you really need to be a maso, the disc-swapping is off-putting when approaching end-game :(

I beat the game, really liked it.

This game is not that fun, granted I may not be remembering it right.

I enjoy the game, and I'm about to S-Rank it (just beat Chaos last night.)  Truthfully, 300 hours is being generous.  I think I spent over 500 on it, though I wasn't racing through it at all.
 
Oh, also.  First post.  Hi everyone.

@mancopter said:

I enjoy the game, and I'm about to S-Rank it (just beat Chaos last night.) Truthfully, 300 hours is being generous. I think I spent over 500 on it, though I wasn't racing through it at all. Oh, also. First post. Hi everyone.

You are insane.

Seriously. I could not picture spending that much time with this abomination. Props to you.

I've considered this before but am about to start working after university which means honestly I would have to play this and only this for a year of my life. I'm not sure if I'm that dedicated to the cause...

@Cincaid said:

As you may or may not know, I'm a sucker for getting S-Ranks in games. Yeah I know, I'm pathetic (which this [and this] list will clearly show). Anyway, I'm about to finish up with Dragon Age II and now have my eyes on Star Ocean: The Last Hope. But holy hell, doing research on S-Ranking this game is...mindblowing. I've been looking at some of the lists you need to have handy unless you want to spend 300+ hours on the game, and just look at this shit!

I'm beginning to fear I've gone over my head on this en devour, but I won't be beaten! I really just don't know where to even start, what to ignore, and what to keep as necessary information since I really don't want to print an entire book to have handy when I play through the game.

Any personal experience from this game? I know I'm crazy, but is this taking it too far? Please keep the insults minimal since I'm a fragile man.

You should instead learn a second language, or pick up an instrument.