once again, tri-ace totally blows their previous work out of the water and then some. the controversy surrounding so3 is not only a testament to how little jrpg fans should generally be trusted, but also a head-scratching reminder of how little they tend to value gameplay in their games
there's a solid sci-fi plot here with fun characters and some really neat developments especially in the second half, but i'd imagine it all being very fatiguing if not for the ridiculously addictive battle system. the story hits a lot of arbitrary roadblocks frequently; simple errands have a tendency to turn into ordeals spanning several dungeons. is this a pace-breaker? no, because with the promise of new areas to explore comes many more bosses, and tons more gameplay... see where i'm going with this?
oh, and shout out to these guys' ambitions. seriously, a large chunk of what i love about this game is how fuckin' weird and unique it is. a little jagged in places for sure (the models aren't great, voice acting's madly inconsistent, and the airyglyph vs aquios politics could certainly be more engaging) but those are just small blemishes on what's ultimately a damn good, heartful arpg that deserves WAY more credit than it tends to get
there's a solid sci-fi plot here with fun characters and some really neat developments especially in the second half, but i'd imagine it all being very fatiguing if not for the ridiculously addictive battle system. the story hits a lot of arbitrary roadblocks frequently; simple errands have a tendency to turn into ordeals spanning several dungeons. is this a pace-breaker? no, because with the promise of new areas to explore comes many more bosses, and tons more gameplay... see where i'm going with this?
oh, and shout out to these guys' ambitions. seriously, a large chunk of what i love about this game is how fuckin' weird and unique it is. a little jagged in places for sure (the models aren't great, voice acting's madly inconsistent, and the airyglyph vs aquios politics could certainly be more engaging) but those are just small blemishes on what's ultimately a damn good, heartful arpg that deserves WAY more credit than it tends to get
Star Ocean 3 became my favorite game after the first time I played it, as it gave me a unique feeling that I had never experienced before. It is, without a doubt, a fun game, full of content, which made my teenage self invest countless hours in it.
Playing it again this time, I can sum up the game in one word: 'identity'. Compared to SO2, the game introduced several new ideas, such as MP Death, a party with 3 members, a vastly different Item Creation system, map progression, and some incredibly creative and dynamic dungeons. Additionally, the game has a somewhat odd and unattractive graphical style, which, in some way, makes it unique as well.
I wanted to write something deeper about the story, which is the main highlight of the game, but it's simply IMPOSSIBLE without spoilers. All I can say is that the famous twist and the ending are incredible. There will be people both liking and disliking it because the game challenges you to get frustrated and that's okay. I understand those who demand better writing after the plot twist; I don't think it's bad, but I also believe it could be improved in certain aspects, a lot of this indicates that there were certain limitations in development (who knows, perhaps this will change in a possible remake).
In conclusion, it's an incredibly brave game that made a significant impact on my life and continues to do so. It's my favorite game, and probably, that feeling won't change till the end of time! (:D)
Playing it again this time, I can sum up the game in one word: 'identity'. Compared to SO2, the game introduced several new ideas, such as MP Death, a party with 3 members, a vastly different Item Creation system, map progression, and some incredibly creative and dynamic dungeons. Additionally, the game has a somewhat odd and unattractive graphical style, which, in some way, makes it unique as well.
I wanted to write something deeper about the story, which is the main highlight of the game, but it's simply IMPOSSIBLE without spoilers. All I can say is that the famous twist and the ending are incredible. There will be people both liking and disliking it because the game challenges you to get frustrated and that's okay. I understand those who demand better writing after the plot twist; I don't think it's bad, but I also believe it could be improved in certain aspects, a lot of this indicates that there were certain limitations in development (who knows, perhaps this will change in a possible remake).
In conclusion, it's an incredibly brave game that made a significant impact on my life and continues to do so. It's my favorite game, and probably, that feeling won't change till the end of time! (:D)
I like the battle system of this game a lot and is ultimately what’s keeping me interested. The story itself is also cool, but it’s held back by its slog of a pace. I feel my time is 70% in the boring town designs, 20% in boring dungeons, and 10% in the really cool battle system. I’ll come back to this game when I can, seems like my type of thing.
I wish Albel Nox was real so we could marry and have sex
Be warned, there is an infamously terrible plot twist in this game. Besides that, this is a great ARPG. At this time SO was doing combat way better then tales imo.
Lots and lots of content in this game: 3 post game dungeons, extra difficulties, battle trophies, etc. AN RPG WITH A SKIP CUTSCENE BUTTON FINALLY.
Lots and lots of content in this game: 3 post game dungeons, extra difficulties, battle trophies, etc. AN RPG WITH A SKIP CUTSCENE BUTTON FINALLY.
Had to start this one three times because the combat made no sense to me. even after getting more than half way through, I still don't fully get it. The controls are odd, the story is good but also confusing. I hate that when you get new allies they start at level one. One of those games you pick a team and just stick with them, because it takes way to much effort to level newbies up. It has moments of fun and is a good game, but it just doesn't hold my attention. may come back to it... but I doubt it.
A jrpg classic for the ps2.
Although not as well-known as its contemporaries, SO3 is a fun and challenging game complete with a competent sci-fi aestethic and strong world building.
Storytelling: It does not have to make sense and the developers nailed this aspect. Sci-fi plays with common customs and flips them over in order to find new ways of communications. SO3 mixes sword and magic with hi-tech narration quite well, in a way that is, by definition, nonsensical but fitting at the same time. This world building is fun, and there is no denying it.
Gameplay: dynamic. Always stay focused on the action, this is no turn based rpg. Both item management and reaction skills are required. Easy to learn on the surface level, but item-crafting requires too much experimentation and failing-redo cycles.
Soundtrack: Well defined on its own, suits the story and the environments perfectly. The main theme is also well composed and offers a long lasting comfort feeling. Definitely stream "The Little Bird Who Forgot How to Fly".
Conclusions: This game is really well made, but for some reason not many players have experienced it. You should try it.
Although not as well-known as its contemporaries, SO3 is a fun and challenging game complete with a competent sci-fi aestethic and strong world building.
Storytelling: It does not have to make sense and the developers nailed this aspect. Sci-fi plays with common customs and flips them over in order to find new ways of communications. SO3 mixes sword and magic with hi-tech narration quite well, in a way that is, by definition, nonsensical but fitting at the same time. This world building is fun, and there is no denying it.
Gameplay: dynamic. Always stay focused on the action, this is no turn based rpg. Both item management and reaction skills are required. Easy to learn on the surface level, but item-crafting requires too much experimentation and failing-redo cycles.
Soundtrack: Well defined on its own, suits the story and the environments perfectly. The main theme is also well composed and offers a long lasting comfort feeling. Definitely stream "The Little Bird Who Forgot How to Fly".
Conclusions: This game is really well made, but for some reason not many players have experienced it. You should try it.
This game really didn't age well, but I think even if I'd played it at the time I wouldn't have liked it too much. The 3D looks pretty bad compared to other PS2 games, the voice direction is terrible, it often sounds like the actors don't even know what's happening in each scene as they read the lines. The game doesn't at all signal to you what you're supposed to do to progress the story. The best I can say about it is that the combat is sorta fun I guess.
Easy contender for my top 10 of all time, my 3x3, etc. I can play this game over and over through the years and never get bored.
Just don't play it on PS4/5. Horrible game breaking bugs in certain areas that hard crash the system. Very unfortunate, but that's just how it is.
Just don't play it on PS4/5. Horrible game breaking bugs in certain areas that hard crash the system. Very unfortunate, but that's just how it is.
Okay. Here's a controversial one. Game is a classic and all and it has a lot of little details, some good music, some nice plot, especifically the earlier parts... but it's full of nuances and problems impossible to ignore. It's not a bad game, but neither a good one.
Plot twist is the ultimate pleb filter. Tri-Ace is quite literally playing 4D chess.
This review contains spoilers
This is likely the most mixed I've ever been on an RPG in my life. This review will largely be disorganized garble since I have a lot to say, but here goes.
Starting with the positives, I thought the story was pretty good? Funnily enough, I think people overreact heavily to the twist of the game, and I still don't really understand how it could possibly contradict the events of the other Star Oceans (Unless proper Gods come into play in future games.). I don't think the twist diminishes the previous games in any sense of the word either, because the story makes it INCREDIBLY evident that the characters in Star Ocean's world are completely sentient without any compromise to that idea. Hell, I think Flad being the one to explain the Eternal Sphere made me enjoy the twist more just because of how much a fucking weirdo he was. With that all said, much of the ending is very incomprehensible, when it basically just boils down to "The Eternal Sphere is now legitimately its own universe now."
I found myself enjoying the characters quite a bit as well, with 2 core exceptions, and not being big on those characters does hurt the game a lot due to their importance. Star Ocean's track record with male protagonists have been very half and half for me so far. You're either Roddick and you're the most generic character I've ever seen, or you're Claude C. Kenny who I've grown to respect as a character a fair bit over time. Fayt lies somewhere in the middle. I don't think he's generic like Roddick, but he never quite gained his footing in the way I felt that Claude did. I don't dislike Fayt, but he really didn't do it for me as a protag. Meanwhile, Sophia as a female lead just kind of annoys me? She felt very absent of character, and it felt like the very much substituted character importance for character growth.
Everyone else I really did like though. Cliff basically carried the story for me all the way until Albel joins. Maria is cool. I get the appeal of Nel even though I'm not as big on her as other people are. Mirage is cool, but should've joined the party earlier. Peppita is wonderful. I expected myself to DESPISE Roger, but he ended up one of my favorites. Adray is a psy-op of a party member and you can't tell me other wise, but I love him for that.
This is probably the best Star Ocean OST I've heard so far. Star Ocean 2 still has my favorite tracks in the series, but as far as consistently good songs go, this one has a definitive edge.
And now we get to the negatives, and hoooooo boy. I'm gonna be frank, the battle system was too much for me. Lategame enemies scale too quickly. Party member levels don't scale at ALL. Party AI is just blatantly bad unless your name is Roger for some reason?????? Boss fights were painfully easy until the difficulty spike right at the end of disc 1. Normal encounters were often harder than the actual bosses in a very not fun way. It got to the point where I legitimately had to use an EXP boost cheat to make the lategame more fun.
In regards to cheating, I don't know what madman thought the creation system in the game was even adjacent to a good idea, but I hope that they learned their lesson, because it's baaaaaaaad. It should not cost more to forge an item than to buy it in any rpg with a crafting system. Cooking becomes worthless as a result, because the whole point of cooking in previous games was to be able to stock up on a ton of healing items in a cost efficient manner. It was to make dungeon exploration more fun and allow for the harder encounters to exist, as there becomes little punishment for struggling in a random encounter. I cheated max creation stats onto Fayt and disabled item costs for this reason, because this mechanic is so unfun, that I just said screw it, and chose to bypass what I felt was the least fun part of the entire game.
That long rant over, aside from my issues with getting turned around and feeling like the game is pretty terrible with directions (something I think a lot of PS2 and PS1 era RPGs have issue with), that's really the gist of my problems with the game. It unfortunately means I have it rated lowest out of the Star Ocean games, but I do still like the game. Its characters, story and music do a lot of heavy lifting for it, and sometimes the gameplay can be fun when you do actually figure it out. I can definitely understand people who love this game to death and people who despise it as well. Ultimately, I'm somewhere in the middle, leaning towards liking, obviously. It did burn me out though, so I doubt I'll be touching the post-game of this one.
Starting with the positives, I thought the story was pretty good? Funnily enough, I think people overreact heavily to the twist of the game, and I still don't really understand how it could possibly contradict the events of the other Star Oceans (Unless proper Gods come into play in future games.). I don't think the twist diminishes the previous games in any sense of the word either, because the story makes it INCREDIBLY evident that the characters in Star Ocean's world are completely sentient without any compromise to that idea. Hell, I think Flad being the one to explain the Eternal Sphere made me enjoy the twist more just because of how much a fucking weirdo he was. With that all said, much of the ending is very incomprehensible, when it basically just boils down to "The Eternal Sphere is now legitimately its own universe now."
I found myself enjoying the characters quite a bit as well, with 2 core exceptions, and not being big on those characters does hurt the game a lot due to their importance. Star Ocean's track record with male protagonists have been very half and half for me so far. You're either Roddick and you're the most generic character I've ever seen, or you're Claude C. Kenny who I've grown to respect as a character a fair bit over time. Fayt lies somewhere in the middle. I don't think he's generic like Roddick, but he never quite gained his footing in the way I felt that Claude did. I don't dislike Fayt, but he really didn't do it for me as a protag. Meanwhile, Sophia as a female lead just kind of annoys me? She felt very absent of character, and it felt like the very much substituted character importance for character growth.
Everyone else I really did like though. Cliff basically carried the story for me all the way until Albel joins. Maria is cool. I get the appeal of Nel even though I'm not as big on her as other people are. Mirage is cool, but should've joined the party earlier. Peppita is wonderful. I expected myself to DESPISE Roger, but he ended up one of my favorites. Adray is a psy-op of a party member and you can't tell me other wise, but I love him for that.
This is probably the best Star Ocean OST I've heard so far. Star Ocean 2 still has my favorite tracks in the series, but as far as consistently good songs go, this one has a definitive edge.
And now we get to the negatives, and hoooooo boy. I'm gonna be frank, the battle system was too much for me. Lategame enemies scale too quickly. Party member levels don't scale at ALL. Party AI is just blatantly bad unless your name is Roger for some reason?????? Boss fights were painfully easy until the difficulty spike right at the end of disc 1. Normal encounters were often harder than the actual bosses in a very not fun way. It got to the point where I legitimately had to use an EXP boost cheat to make the lategame more fun.
In regards to cheating, I don't know what madman thought the creation system in the game was even adjacent to a good idea, but I hope that they learned their lesson, because it's baaaaaaaad. It should not cost more to forge an item than to buy it in any rpg with a crafting system. Cooking becomes worthless as a result, because the whole point of cooking in previous games was to be able to stock up on a ton of healing items in a cost efficient manner. It was to make dungeon exploration more fun and allow for the harder encounters to exist, as there becomes little punishment for struggling in a random encounter. I cheated max creation stats onto Fayt and disabled item costs for this reason, because this mechanic is so unfun, that I just said screw it, and chose to bypass what I felt was the least fun part of the entire game.
That long rant over, aside from my issues with getting turned around and feeling like the game is pretty terrible with directions (something I think a lot of PS2 and PS1 era RPGs have issue with), that's really the gist of my problems with the game. It unfortunately means I have it rated lowest out of the Star Ocean games, but I do still like the game. Its characters, story and music do a lot of heavy lifting for it, and sometimes the gameplay can be fun when you do actually figure it out. I can definitely understand people who love this game to death and people who despise it as well. Ultimately, I'm somewhere in the middle, leaning towards liking, obviously. It did burn me out though, so I doubt I'll be touching the post-game of this one.
This review contains spoilers
If anything, Star Ocean: Til the End of Time was the first in the series to feature extensive science fiction themes, as opposed to the previous two game's fleeting plot devices. But the complete removal of the skill system in favor of its own convoluted and uninteresting invention system left much to be desired, even though the engaging combat system's dramatic overhaul rewarded creativity instead of tedious repetition. The generic soundtrack, uninspired characters, horrific graphics, and laughable voice-acting prevailed here, despite the surprising meta twist. Maybe the skill system was all the series had going for it.
changed a lot about what really makes star ocean for me, so its a bit on the iffy side but even then it has its great moments
A story twist so bad it retroactively hurts the entire franchise.
The game that brought me into the series when I was younger! I have alot of nostalgia for this one and when I went back to play it again through the PS4 port, I was instantly reminded why. The soundtrack is one of the best in any JRPG ever, the combat is tough at times but alot of fun, the story is FANTASTIC and yeah, I even love the infamous twist at the end, there's honestly not much I don't enjoy about this title, aside from perhaps some of its difficulty spikes, but I didn't find them too hard to manage after some light grinding. My favorite of the series thus far.
this game is one of my childhood faves and i keep coming back to it every once in a while (current tally: 9 playthroughs). it's wonky in spots and pretty solid in others but it's also just really unique in a lot of ways.
i found the characters really likeable and fun even if they're frequently not very well-written, and the plot is... something. without spoiling, this game is kind of (in)famous for having what i've frequently seen described as "a plot aneurysm" partway through. it's really fun to experience if you're down for weird jrpg story stuff.
combat-wise, it's pretty straightforward and somewhat similar to other SO titles. the MP KO "feature" is... an interesting idea, and it at least gives a couple funny bosses as a trade-off for your healers/casters dying like flies until you figure out how to wrangle the system.
the crafting and other side mechanics are for the most part so incredibly obtuse even a guide struggles to make sense of them, but the good news is that you don't strictly need them to finish the game (even if it might make 1-2 spots a tad easier and/or trivial if you cheese stuff). the other good news is that if you do figure them out, you feel like a genius and you can trivialize everything except the post-game if you so wish.
in terms of visuals, i like most of the character design even if, again, it sometimes goes in... interesting directions. the graphics were pretty dang good for ps2 at the time and still don't hold up too bad, honestly.
as for the audio, it has the same sound effect set as other games in the series, and the usual OST by motoi sakuraba who is having the time of his life banging on his synth. i'm so happy for him.
i found the characters really likeable and fun even if they're frequently not very well-written, and the plot is... something. without spoiling, this game is kind of (in)famous for having what i've frequently seen described as "a plot aneurysm" partway through. it's really fun to experience if you're down for weird jrpg story stuff.
combat-wise, it's pretty straightforward and somewhat similar to other SO titles. the MP KO "feature" is... an interesting idea, and it at least gives a couple funny bosses as a trade-off for your healers/casters dying like flies until you figure out how to wrangle the system.
the crafting and other side mechanics are for the most part so incredibly obtuse even a guide struggles to make sense of them, but the good news is that you don't strictly need them to finish the game (even if it might make 1-2 spots a tad easier and/or trivial if you cheese stuff). the other good news is that if you do figure them out, you feel like a genius and you can trivialize everything except the post-game if you so wish.
in terms of visuals, i like most of the character design even if, again, it sometimes goes in... interesting directions. the graphics were pretty dang good for ps2 at the time and still don't hold up too bad, honestly.
as for the audio, it has the same sound effect set as other games in the series, and the usual OST by motoi sakuraba who is having the time of his life banging on his synth. i'm so happy for him.
If you care too much about the story and plot this game is not for you.
If you think the most important thing for a videogame is its gameplay, mechanics and mood then you would love it.
One of the most time consuming offline games if you want to 100% it 500h+, could be top three JRPG for PS2.
If you think the most important thing for a videogame is its gameplay, mechanics and mood then you would love it.
One of the most time consuming offline games if you want to 100% it 500h+, could be top three JRPG for PS2.
Pretty good story with one of the weirdest battle systems ever. Cheesing everything is necessary to beat anything, luckily it's really easy. The twist is also definitely bot something I was expecting
formative rpg for me, hit at the right time. i don't think the "twist" is that egregious . we were post matrix, post mmo rpgs, its no surprise this type of story made its way into fantasy jrpgs. it doesn't cheapen the moody planet stuff at all in my opinion . the combat is engaging for a jrpg, sure by end game you're just spamming the strongest moves, but its still fun, if you decide to grind its not even that bad. besides the weird end game stuff it feels similar to second story, similar plot points. mid 2000s anime va so prepare for that, i don't mind, i have nostalgia for that era. music is awesome, that synthy-prog rockish instrumental rock. always wish the space travel bits were a bit more fleshed out and more integral but otherwise this is a personal canon fav.
This was a better video game made by people in a place at a certain point in time. Battle system was fun and spamming strong moves is as fun as ever and the story was actually pretty cool. I like the plot twist and Maria is a good character and I think that's the only memorable part about the game aside from the ending being pretty good. "I think, therefore I am" ass bitch lmao
Despite the good, the game has some of the worst enemy design ever. I hate those disk 2 enemies sometimes dawg they are so fucking shit annoying to fight
Despite the good, the game has some of the worst enemy design ever. I hate those disk 2 enemies sometimes dawg they are so fucking shit annoying to fight
This might be my favorite one. I generally loved everything about it. Really annoying enemies near the end, but it was too fun so I never gave up. That ending was really ballsy, but I can imagine ways to retcon it for the better if they ever go back to it.
a game carried by its battle system. im not sure if ive felt this way about a game's story before but its definitely something. but holy fuck the music. and battle system. this shit blew my mind as a kid, fayt leingoat is consistently on timing
would've been a 5 if it had a good story. if you play the game for the battle system and ignore facets of the story you WILL love this game if you like fast paced action RPGs
would've been a 5 if it had a good story. if you play the game for the battle system and ignore facets of the story you WILL love this game if you like fast paced action RPGs
the best star ocean for me so far very engaging gameplay with really cool dungeons i'd still prefer second story item creation though but this one is not that bad,the story and characters however were honestly quite under baked with most of the cast are just one note and only few of them are likeable or the first half of the story while great idea,took too long to get invested atleast the second half makes up for it and yes,the twist.
honestly?i like it and with the message it's trying to tell?i quite like it,it is something you have to check out for yourself instead of let someone else spoils to you.
honestly?i like it and with the message it's trying to tell?i quite like it,it is something you have to check out for yourself instead of let someone else spoils to you.
One of the dumbest stories and plot twists in all of gaming... retroactively makes everything, including its own franchise, much worse.
Battle system is alright, and breaking the HP limit back then was pretty neat... dying when losing all your MP not so much...
Story, characters, and voice acting range from bad to god awful. Music is good though.
The plot twist through the ending of the game really soured me on the entire experience and pissed me off. I hated it by the end and will never revisit it... nor do I recommend anyone, even diehard JRPG fans, play it.
Battle system is alright, and breaking the HP limit back then was pretty neat... dying when losing all your MP not so much...
Story, characters, and voice acting range from bad to god awful. Music is good though.
The plot twist through the ending of the game really soured me on the entire experience and pissed me off. I hated it by the end and will never revisit it... nor do I recommend anyone, even diehard JRPG fans, play it.
Fun game, very ahead of its time. Some aspects are outdated but I found the confusing dungeon design, choices, plot twists, and inventing system very gripping
I love this game and am blinded by nostalgia for it, but I can recognize its flaws, especially in regards to the story and its ramifications on the series as a whole. Even still, I still enjoy it quite a bit, though Peppita's voice makes me want to strangle her.
One of my favorite RPGs.
best star ocean game and its not even good
the 3rd title in the classic JRPG series, it takes the familiar trappings of both Star Trek and medieval fantasy to create a pretty entertaining product. It is infamous for a plot twist, and the divisive reaction was warranted.