Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

Setting and Story

Star Ocean: Till The End of Time is set in the far future, over four hundred years after the earlier games in the franchise. Earth is part of the Pangalactic Federation, a large government organization that spreads across many planets in the galaxy. Magic powers are granted to humans through the power of Symbology, which was called Heraldry in the previous games in the series. The Hero, Fayt Leingod, is on vacation with his parents and friend Sophia Esteed, when it is attacked by alien forces and he's forced to flee. He is separated from family and friends as he boards an escape pod and crashes on an underdeveloped planet. While there, he meets other offworld inhabitants, who search for him for reasons unknown, and he finds himself on an epic adventure that spans many planets and worlds.

Gameplay

This game is a Japanese console role playing game with quite a few large differences from other games of its genre. It's largely action based with direct control over characters' movements and actions in battle, unlike popular genre series like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. Both HP and MP are vital to characters' survival as well, as death can occur from lack of either of those commodities. Last of all, instead of the normal 99 or 100 levels that a  character can gain, Star Ocean characters can level up all the way to 255. 
 
Characters can attack in quite a few different ways. They have basic attacks and skills, which come in strong and weak varieties. Weak attacks can be parried, whereas strong attacks break the opponent's guard. Skills are set in strong and weak slots, and also long and short range slots, which modify when you are able to use that skill in battle. Skills can also be set multiple tiems in multiple slots, however you have a limited amount of 'capacity points' with which to set skills. Skills can take HP and/or MP from the user, so players must be vigilant in order to avoid overusing them. There are also passive skills which can be learned through use of SP gained upon levelling up, and the passive skills range from increases maximum HP to increasing physical attack power. The game also contains a feature called 'cancel bonus', which increases the power of your attacks should you successfully link an attack to a battle skill or a battle skill to another battle skill. 
   
Outside of battle, gameplay consists of exploration of various environments in order to find items and complete the map, which nets varying items as well, such as figurines which can increases or sometimes even decreases your running speed inside and outside of battle. Battles are not random; like many other games of its type, encounters are represented as onscreen enemies. The characters are in a typical sort of battle arena when they come into contact with the enemy, and that is where battles occur. The player can also obtain key items that affect the environment and open up new areas, such as the Disintegration Hammers. 
 
The game also features a very in-depth synthesis system, allowing the user to combine different items to make new ones. There are multiple areas of synthesis such as Cooking, Alchemy, Engineering and Smithing, and the party members all have different strengths and weaknesses in these different areas of synthesis. The player can also recruit NPC's to perform synthesis for them, and station them in different synthesis workshops throughout the game world. These recrtuitable NPC's usually work against you on a sort of 'popularity leaderboard' which you either ascend or descend based on the quality of your synthesis, however recruiting them takes away their competition. In addition to this, any items made through synthesis can be added to shops for a price determined by the quality of te item, giving you the option of simply buying the item instead of synthesising it again. However, for it to be added to shops, you must first use the patenting system to patent it.
 
 
As of July 2006 Star Ocean: Till the End of Time has sold 630,000 in US and 533, 373 in Japan.

Characters

Fayt Leingod: A seemingly normal (aka lazy) college student from earth, he is sucked into a universe-spanning journey by what seems to be mere chance. Fayt fights in battle with a sword, and is the game's main character.

Sophia Esteed: A childhood friend of Fayt's who accompanies him on his travels. She is considered a member of the family, and refers to Fayt's parents as "aunt" and "uncle". 

 Cliff Fittir:  

Although appearing brutish on the outside, Cliff is soon found to be smarter than he looks. Cliff meets Fayt not long into his travels and decides to go with him. Cliff uses his bare hands and feet in close combat.

Nel Zelpher: An agent for the kindgom of Aquios, Nel is a specialist in infiltration and spying. She is put on a mission with the rest of the party, and decides to join them. 
 

Maria Traydor:

 A mysterious blue haired girl who appears to have an interest in Fayt. She is the leader of an organization called Quark, and she wields a gun in battle, and also can use minor symbology.

There are other, minor, playable characters in the game. You can choose several of them to join your party, closing off access to others.

Soundtrack

VOLUME 1

Disc One

01 - The Dawn of Wisdom
02 - Into the Undiscovery Ocean
03 - Fly by Contact
04 - Starless Wavelets
05 - Imbalance
06 - Misted Moon
07 - Lakes and Marshes With Doubt
08 - Fallen Leaves - Flute Ver.
09 - Chrysanthemum in Winter
10 - The Desolate Smell of Earth
11 - Dreams
12 - Till the End of Time
13 - Sail Against the Wind
14 - Take off From Home
15 - Into a Storm not Memorized
16 - The Outbreak of War
17 - March for Glory
18 - Requiem for a Saint
19 - Stafflower in the Castle Town
20 - Collapse of Frailty
21 - Lively Step

Disc Two

01 - Ice Crystal
02 - The Future of Blood-Stained Blade
03 - Calm Mind Reflected in the Pupil
04 - Reflected Moon
05 - Manifestation
06 - So Alone, Be Sorrow - Piano Ver.
07 - Imperial Garden
08 - So Alone, Be Sorrow
09 - Influence of Truth Appearance
10 - Brass Wings
11 - Like Squashing Grape
12 - Interval of Freezed Time
13 - Fallen Leaves
14 - Dark Flare
15 - Divine Indignation
16 - Despair Road
17 - Brilliant Future
Bonus Track
18 - Brass Wings (Another Ver.)

VOLUME 2

Disc 1

01 - Cutting Edge of Notion
02 - Victory Bell
03 - Expiration
04 - Malicious Fingers
05 - Fly Away in the Violet Sky
06 - Frightened Eyes
07 - The Divine Spirit of Language
08 - Pert Girl on the Sandy Beach
09 - Gaiety Company
10 - Evil Shade Crept
11 - Rust Color
12 - Bracing Forest Wind
13 - Let's Creation !!
14 - Bird's Eye View
15 - What's up?
16 - Adventurous Spirit
17 - I am the No.1!
18 - Around in the Wilderness
19 - Robe under Cover of Darkness
20 - So Alone, Be Sorrow - Rhythm Ver.
21 - Preemptive Attack
22 - Moon Base

Disc Two

01 - Twisted Base
02 - People Inside a Fence
03 - Air Harmony
04 - Bitter Dance
05 - Powerbroker
06 - The Virtual Image
07 - Mission to the Empty Space
08 - Do Evil
09 - Moody Goddess
10 - Highbrow
11 - Star Ocean Forever - Jazz Ver.
12 - Mission to the Deep Space
13 - The Incarnation of Devil
14 - Confidence in the Domination
15 - The True Nature of All
Bonus Track
16 - Moody Goddess (Another Ver.)