Star Ocean 2: The Second Story - Review

Enix's first claim to fame came about during the mid 80's with their milestone title 'Dragon Quest' and its many popular sequels. Between then and their merger with SquareSoft in 2003, they have endured something of a hit-or-miss career trying to incorporate real-time elements into RPGs. A handful of attempts, such as 'Terranigma' and 'Valkyrie Profile', have found commercial success. Others, such as the Zelda-oriented 'Illusion of Gaia' and the original 'Star Ocean', dance on the edges of obscurity. 'Star Ocean: The Second Story' isn't what you'd call a bad game, though many aspects of its execution lack the polish of other then-current roleplaying adventures.

Being 'The Second Story', events pick up some several decades after the previous game. Ronixis J. Kenni, one of the title characters from the first Star Ocean, is now an Admiral aboard the starship Calnus. His son, Claude C. Kenni, is along for his first field assignment, though with his father something of a space legend, the pressure to assert himself as a valued crew member is frustrating to no end. Ultimately, when he tries to make himself useful while investigating an energy disturbance, he winds up getting transported halfway across the galaxy to the planet of Expel. After getting into a battle with the local wildlife, he makes a fast friend in Rena Lanford, one of the planet's natives who mistakes him as the Warrior of Light. When reports start cropping up of seismic tremors and erratic behavior, he agrees to help (if only to find some way back home).

It's a classic 'Match Made in Space' scenario, one that could appeal to the hopeless romantic in you. Other characters to come into your party more or less fill out other commonly used stereotypes in roleplay: the sexy rogue; the kid genius; the long-haired pretty boy with a chip on both shoulders; etc. There are also a few heroes whose stories may pleasantly surprise you, such as a journalist and even an out-of-town weapons expert looking for the man she loves. As you move from place to place, the opportunity to learn about your party comes in the form of Private Actions, events which can be triggered by pressing a certain button before entering a town. From here, the party momentarily takes leave of one another, but can be spoken to in passing like a run-of-the-mill NPC. Sometimes, this can be vital to figuring out what to do next or collecting some rare item. There's the scattered occasion, however, when a Private Action can actually do more harm than good.

In this game, characters like to talk. They never seem to stop talking, not even when it comes time to repelling an enemy. Typically in battle, you control either Claude or Rena (you're prompted to pick one when the game begins), while all other characters are guided by the CPU. You have some limited options as to how you would like the A.I. to handle your party, though no matter what you choose three of your four characters are effectively beyond your grasp at all times. Of course, it's always possible (and in some cases, necessary) to commandeer an A.I. character when in a real fix.

Your party in 'Second Story' is made up of either Heraldry (magic) users and fighters, both of which can slug it out the old-fashioned way if made playable. Spellcasters have that unfortunate drawback of needing to recant an entire spell before it reaches an enemy, putting him or her at considerable risk. Fighters, while much more practical, have a different set of problems courtesy of their Killer Move settings. The trigger buttons allow the character to unleash a vicious attack that you select for them on the camp screen, ranging from Ashton's Dragon Breath to Claude's Mirror Slice. Unfortunately, many of these moves zone in on a particular area of the battle screen and unless you're pitted against a foe which is either very big or very slow, they can be obsolete in a hurry.

On the whole, neither end of the attack spectrum is totally reliable and both drain your magic points incredibly fast. This is where a firm handle on the Skill System takes precedence. When it comes time to level up, everyone gains a certain amount of Skill Points in addition to their HP/MP increase, which can then be divided any way you choose among a wide variety of skills. In theory, this is an adroit approach to gaining experience. A high enough skill level and the proper resources can enable you to create many unique and powerful items that you wouldn't come across otherwise. When put into practice, however, you'll find that only a handful of these skills will prove to be of any worth in the long run. The ability to train a familiar and bring you back perishable items when you're miles away from the nearest haberdashery? Useful. Composing symphonies and writing novels for potential publication? Not useful.

So, with clumsy character animation, chatterbox dialogue, and graphics that look more like 8-bit sprites wandering aimlessly in 32-bit realtime, how does 'Second Story' make a name for itself in the stars? Simply put, it's the story. Highly imaginative, dabbling in both fantasy and sci-fi, and characters that have a vulnerable side about them makes for quite an endearing adventure. When Studio DEEN released an anime series based off of the game several years after release, its popularity has steadily increased. While it shares almost no ties with its predecessor and doesn't set the stage for 'Star Ocean: Till The End of Time', neither are necessary to enjoy the experience. In the same way Claud's curiosity turned into pleasant surprise right from the beginning, you, too, may find yourself pleasantly engrossed all the way to the end.

7 / 10