Quote Originally Posted by Mirage
Star Ocean 3 isn't made by S-E, just published. Tri-Ace developed it.

Enix was Tri-Ace's publisher long before they merged, and I'm pretty sure SO3 was completed before the merger even took place. The NA release of SO3 came about a year, maybe two, later than the Japanese release.
In addition, Fayt and Sophia aren't related to eachother. They're just really close friends.

Anyway, I've had my ups and downs with romance subplots in games published by Square-Enix. The only problem I usually have with them is that they seem to be thrown in with no real attachment between the characters beforehand (FFVIII, FFX). Although, that doesn't mean that a romantic subplot that isn't perfectly realistic is going to make me dislike that particular game...