I never played SO2 but does SO2 randomly switch from a stupid medieval fantasy war to "you are in an MMO"? I can't think of anything more disjointed than SO3's plot.
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I never played SO2 but does SO2 randomly switch from a stupid medieval fantasy war to "you are in an MMO"? I can't think of anything more disjointed than SO3's plot.
No, it does a better job of keeping both arcs connected but basically you go from medieval fantasy to a world that is filled with super advanced civilization of fatalist who are trying to stop some super android criminals from completing a algortihm that can end existence. It doesn't really help that a few plot threads in the first arc are never tied up because of the shift. Hell there is one quest in the game that is kind of a huge plot hole cause it never went anywhere. On the other hand, Rena finally gets some character development in the second disc.
I think part of the reason why people are pissed about SO4 is that its a prequel and doesn't resolve/retcon the "Star Ocean has been one giant MMO for fourth dimensional beings" plot twist that largely negates the meaning in all of the games. I don't know too many SO3 fans willing to defend the story or characters, of anything I was under the impression that most SO fans agree that SO3 was a franchise killer and SO4 did little to help rectify that sentiment.
I've been playing The Last Remnant this weekend, and it gives me a huge Star Ocean 3/4 vibe. It seems like so much of the game is inspired by and/or derivative of those two games. Down to the protagonist's god-awful name ("Rush Sykes").
I can't say anything about his appearance in SO, but Crispin Freeman is a smurfing fantastic voice actor. :colbert:
I played first depature, but it bored the smurf out of me so I never finished.
I didn't mind Last Hope. The VA's were not very good, though eh. I've heard worse. I actually loved Sarah's VA though. :love:
Star Ocean 2 is the only great Star Ocean game if you ask me.
1 is decent.
3 and 4 both suck for different reasons. 3 having the worst plot twist of all time, and 4 just being in a constant state of mediocrity.
Every Star Ocean game is amazing, 'kay?
I played Second Story and have a big place in my heart for it, and I played Till The End of Time and didn't like it nearly as much. It was okay but it lacked what I loved about Second Story.
I have been meaning to play the first one since I was a kid and saw it in, I believe, an EGM magazine. I remember reading about it and thinking it sounded so cool and then it never made it over here. Now it's possible but I just haven't done it.
I haven't played any. Are they fun?
If you like action RPGs, then yes, they have some of the best combat in the genre. The soundtracks by Sakuraba are also excellent.
Also, what I really liked about Second Story is the way it handled skills. It was a little bit different than most games. It was neat being able to put points into things like cooking and whistling and whatever hell else it had in its skill "trees." The only other Star Ocean game I played didn't really have it the same way and I was pretty disappointed.
And ironically a lot of people who loved SO2 hate the PSP remake of SO2.
I think they're just nostalgia fanboys though. Those people who think SO2 was the only decent thing to come out of the franchise and everything else is just stupid crap and that SO4 is creepy. Then they go run over some hookers in GTA and get paid for it because, ya know, that's American and not Japanese therefore it isn't creepy.