Star Ocean: The Favorite Story
As I opened the packaging to my newest RPG for, what was at the time my favorite console, my Playstation I could not have guessed how well this new game would actually beat my expectations. Star Ocean: The Second Story was a game with some of the most charm I have ever experienced.
The game opens with you choosing to play as either the female protagonist Rena or the male protagonist Claude. With a brief opening of Claude exploring in space with his Father and getting mysteriously transported to the planet soon to be known as Expel the game sets you on your adventure. Depending on who you choose to play as and your private actions, there are several charecters that you may or may not be able to add to your party that offer diffent aspects to the story. These different charecter offerings can also influence which of the multiple endings you will experience. The story here, though not entirely original, really had a lot of heart which is what made it so great. From going to different towns and participating in every single private action, to meeting new charecters along your journey the game always had a fun and endearing way of telling it's story.
In terms of gameplay SO:SS had a few really interesting twists to thrown into the standard JRPG mix. The item creation system, which went beyond just weapons and armour, consisted of a pretty fleshed out system which could produce anything from healing supplies to culinary delights. What really made me fall in love with this game, however, is the ability to move in real time around the battlefield during combat sequences. There were three options. You could either play in the traditional turn base, a hybrid of real time movement and traditional styles, or full on real time movement on the battlefield. In doing this the game made leveling up a lot more fun by keeping the player from having to sit, select attack, wait... and so on. The last gameplay mechanic that really stood out to me when I played through this game was the use of a Private Actions system. In this system the player could choose to go talk to the different charecters in the party by seeking them out around town and, in doing so, really flesh out the story.
In terms of technical merit, the 3D engine was just fine for it's time. The real beauty of this game lies in the sprite based charecters and the very picturesque pre-rendered backgrounds. The sprite based animations in battle looked fantastic as well. As for sound the music was truly great and some of my favorite even in an adventure/RPG. There was very little voicework, but what was there was more than passable for it's time.
Overall in combining all of these elements SO:SS really brought to the table a very fresh and enjoyable gameplay experience, one that I personally will never forget!
