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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Played: May 2021

Everything in this write-up is wrapped around the MASSIVE SPOILER. Skip if you want to experience it for yourself.

To date, this is the only Star Ocean I've played. I picked it up in high school, made it up through The Twist™, and then fell off through no fault of the game's own. If you need a reminder, the big reveal is that your characters find out they are… in a video game. It's vague on the mechanics, but essentially you are a computer program, and your creators, "4D beings", want to wipe you out with anti-virus software. Silly, bizarre, and mind blowing to a teenager. The twist lingered with me for so long that 15 years later, I forced some free time into my life to see how it ended. My big question was "how does everyone in the story contend with having their reality so thoroughly upended"?

And in asking that question, I put in stark contrast the things that mattered to me in storytelling as a teenager vs now as an adult.

Because, unfortunately, the answer turned out to be "they treat it like any other JRPG existential threat". 4D beings are just a different form of the world-ending antagonist. I didn't expect the game to completely change its battle system or mode of play once you interact with your creators (although, how neat would that have been!?), but even in the story as-told-through-cutscenes, it's a dud. As a teen, the twist alone was enough to get me excited and call it a day. Now, while I still find the idea fun, the lack of real psychological impact on the characters really drops the ceiling. Our heroes are just so steadfast that they "believe in themselves" through the whole ordeal with no scars to show for it. I give some credit to the melancholy nature of the endings that I got (there are multiple), but I wanted a more thoughtful reaction than just a loud proclamation of "No! Our lives do matter!". Not asking for Satoshi Kon levels of psychic collapse, but this was just so underwhelming.

This is a symptom of the larger character writing in the game, particularly the dialogue. The way they speak in this game conjures the image of an inexperienced writer trying to recall the way characters in their favorite sci-fi fantasy stories talk. Video games and JRPGs everywhere bristle with clunky dialogue and awkward turns of phrases, but there's a lack of personality to Till The End of Time that stuck out. There's little sense of interiority to anyone as human beings. Rather, the words put into their mouths serve to either force out a conflict, or neatly summarize a theme, or deliver exposition, or inject a clumsy attempt at personality. I describe it as being top-down, where you know what a scene needs to do, you have the general adjectives to describe your characters, and you know where an arc needs to go -- but you stumble your way through connecting all those dots. You're backing into what you're going for, instead of organically giving your characters life to get there. Also, a lot of the lines are just woefully clumsy and redundant -- fresh on my mind is Fayt waking up after a catastrophic event surrounded by his comrades, with 4 of them saying different variations of "took you long enough!", despite not having established that sort of playful relationship with him and despite the gravity of their circumstance. I'm sure much of that had to do with voice acting production, but it still hit the ear all wrong.

It's always fun to think about what mattered to me as a kid vs now. Back then, it was all about plot, lore, design, cool factor, and the broad strokes of character. Those things can still matter, but now I firmly prioritize characterization, texture, specificity, and point of view. I love a lot of JRPGs and shonen anime, but the ones that speak to me sing with personality, while the ones like Star Ocean 3 come off as joyless. For example, there was so much fun to be had when Nel, a ninja from a medieval planet, learns about the existence of more advanced civilizations -- and then the rug gets pulled out again when she learns that she's just an artificial intelligence program! Can you imagine how interesting it could've been to really delve into someone having their reality overturned 2 to 3 times in such a short span? Instead we get some snippets and grumbles of "Hmm, I don't understand what's going on, but I'll stick with the main character because I am a Loyal Warrior™". To go back to the twist again, all the characters' reactions are collectively the same. There's no meaningful distinction between how Maria vs Fayt vs Cliff react to this existentially devastating revelation. The game had such a cool kaleidoscope in its hands to view everyone's thoughts on free will and the human soul. Would've loved to see everyone splitting apart, dealing with it differently, maybe a time skip, and then coming back together. Or any number of variations. Man, this could've been a wild ride.

Still glad I went back to it. It was worth comparing and contrasting my high school and current selves' wants and needs from art. I didn't touch on much of the gameplay, which I think is so-so? It would be unfair to critique, because that wasn't what I was here to engage with. I'll give narrative props for choosing to make the enemies significantly more tough once 4D beings are introduced, but in execution that led to other frustrations. Lots of neat things on paper, and lots of stumbling on the actual trail. I enjoyed the beginnings of many story beats and the prospect of every new world, but I wished to see a lot more planets, too. All in all, the game had a lower ceiling than the boundless promise of a great subtitle like "Till The End Of Time".