Many would argue that Star Ocean: The Second Story — initially launched for the PS1 all the way in which again in 1998 — is the head of the long-running RPG sequence, and we might be tempted to agree. In some methods it does really feel prefer it nails the core themes of the franchise, as sci-fi expertise clashes with medieval fantasy — and so we’re happy to report that Star Ocean The Second Story R, a devoted remake, is one of the best model of a traditional.
On a floor stage, this revival overhauls the sport’s visuals with 3D environments and all-new lighting results, and the result’s a genuinely fairly journey that blends previous and new. Characters — from social gathering members to monsters — are nonetheless represented via 2D sprites, however the entire model meshes shockingly nicely.
The person interface has additionally been fully redone, with impressively neat menus and dialogue bubbles including an actual sense of polish. However maybe better of all, the brand new character illustrations that seem within the social gathering menu and through conversations are immaculate, including welcome element to the core solid. It is an ideal instance of how a remake can efficiently reframe an present expertise.
However all of the graphical upgrades on the planet cannot outweigh decidedly dated gameplay. Fortunately, The Second Story’s core mechanics have largely stood the take a look at of time. The action-based fight is maybe slightly clunky by at this time’s requirements, and the dungeon design generally is a contact tedious, however total, this PS1-era RPG stays a blast to play via.
Let’s go over the story earlier than we dig into particulars, although. In typical Star Ocean style, the plot facilities round a younger space-faring hero who finally ends up stranded on an underdeveloped planet. You may really decide between two playable protagonists in The Second Story: the intrepid Claude, a younger ensign of the Earth Federation, and the considerably mysterious Rena, an inhabitant of Expel, the aforementioned planet. Your selection of lead character impacts numerous scenes and occasions, however the principle narrative stays the identical, as the 2 heroes staff up nearly instantly.
Initially, Claude and Rena set off on a journey throughout Expel for various causes. Claude is just on the lookout for a approach to contact his ship, whereas Rena is saddled with treating her world’s present woes, which have been caused by the autumn of an odd meteor. Naturally, these causes progressively entwine, with the story itself hitting some predictable, old-school JRPG beats — but it surely’s the private character growth that retains issues attention-grabbing.
To be extra particular, this remake options optionally available, character-driven aspect tales that breathe extra life into the already vibrant solid. Whenever you come to a brand new city or metropolis, you’ll be able to quickly disband your social gathering and, together with your chosen protagonist, work together together with your companions. As such, the remake does a terrific job of creating every character really feel like they’re a part of the journey — and that is vital, since you do not have to recruit nearly all of accessible social gathering members.
Certainly, a very intriguing a part of The Second Story is which you can ignore — or doubtlessly miss out on — numerous essential characters scattered all through the sport. Happily, the remake utilises new map markers and menu icons to focus on issues like aspect quests, factors of curiosity, and social gathering interactions, which is clearly an enormous high quality of life enchancment. Again within the day, the title’s unmarked occasions and obscure directions might result in frustration — or heavy reliance on a information — and so having this info clearly represented within the remake is right.
And the updates do not cease there. The battle system — a bit button-mashy and primary within the unique — advantages from expanded mechanics. For starters, now you can ‘break’ an enemy’s defenses with repeated assaults, opening them as much as large injury. What’s extra, social gathering members who aren’t in your frontline staff of 4 can now be summoned to the fray; they will unleash a singular transfer or buff that may aid you prolong combos and even flip the tide in opposition to stronger foes.
Fight remains to be chaotic, although. Typically in a great way, generally in a “I am unable to see what’s occurring” type of means. Character sprites can usually get fully misplaced within the melee — a problem that is now compounded by all the new visible results — and social gathering member AI might be annoyingly silly every so often. It isn’t a deal-breaker since you’ll be able to take management of your allies at any time, however particularly in massive boss fights, it is potential to hit a brick wall as a result of your AI buddies merely refuse to maneuver away from imminent hazard zones.
On that be aware, it seems like The Second Story R suffers from noticeable problem spikes every so often. Normal battles are normally over in ten to twenty seconds or so, they usually do not actually put together you for encounters the place bosses have large well being bars and might nearly one-shot your characters. This kind of uneven design seems like a leftover from the PS1 technology, and so it is a bit of a disgrace that it hasn’t been smoothed out for the remake.
That stated, these are pretty minor criticisms within the grand scheme of issues. The overwhelming majority of fights are good, crunchy enjoyable — and the system’s pushed additional by addictive RPG character development. Levelling up, studying new skills, and spending talent factors on passive perks — all of it retains you invested in what generally is a sizeable social gathering roster in a while (even when unlocking and bettering character traits nonetheless feels needlessly convoluted, at the least within the opening hours).
Conclusion
Star Ocean The Second Story R is strictly what it must be: a devoted remake of a traditional PS1 RPG that drastically enhances the expertise for each new and returning gamers. An exquisite visible overhaul mixed with quite a few high quality of life enhancements and expanded battle mechanics make this a borderline must-play for anybody who’s on the lookout for an old-school journey. Though the underlying PS1-era design does nonetheless have some tough edges — significantly within the storytelling and fight steadiness — it is exhausting to knock such a nicely crafted revival.
