[Preview] Star Ocean: The Second Story R

As somebody new to the Star Ocean sequence, I had heard so many various opinions on the sequence through the years that I’d all the time been inquisitive about leaping in, however not fairly positive the place to start out. Nicely, apparently the second recreation within the franchise is regarded by many followers as among the finest, so I used to be actually excited when Star Ocean: The Second Story R was revealed in a current Nintendo Direct (alongside a jaw-dropping new artwork fashion). I used to be in a position to demo this remake at PAX West 2023, and left with a particularly optimistic first impression; thrilling fight, old-school strategic depth and excellent manufacturing values are all lining as much as make this one in all my most anticipated RPGs.

Whereas some on-line have adopted the time period “HD-2D” to explain Second Story R’s new artwork fashion, it is a little bit of a misnomer; what we’ve got right here definitely shares some qualities and common polish with the artwork route of video games like Octopath Traveler II, nevertheless it actually is its personal factor and appears not like every other RPG I’ve performed. The pixel artwork of the get together members within the overworld is drop-dead attractive, and but their presence in a realistically textured and lit 3D area in some way additionally manages to really feel utterly pure. The small space I used to be in a position to discover was a mountainous area, with numerous weaving paths winding by the rock faces that alluded to a powerful scope of the world. There’s numerous little particulars, from gently swaying foliage to superbly puffy clouds that float by the peaks, contributing to a world that feels grand and vibrant. If this degree of care extends throughout the complete scope of the world, the sense of journey in Second Story R has the potential to really feel actually sprawling.

My demo didn’t cowl any important story content material, sadly, however did give me loads of possibilities to strive my hand at fight. Whereas exploring, blue clouds of vapors indicated fight encounters; touching them instantly transports the get together to battle arenas themed across the present biome. If any enemy will get the leap on you within the overworld, your get together would possibly get hit with a debuff proper initially, so like in different current RPGs there’s a very good incentive to sneak up from behind and strike first. Fight occurs in actual time, with numerous assaults mapped to the face buttons, nevertheless it’s additionally potential at any time to pause the motion and difficulty particular instructions for extra granular management. You may swap between controlling any of your get together members at will, and any that you just’re indirectly controlling will act on their very own. I discovered that their AI appeared moderately clever, however I appreciated the choice to intervene so I might line up some large damage-dealing combos.

I’d enter the fray by dealing some fundamental bodily assaults, utilizing the chance to gauge enemy assault patterns and potential weaknesses. So far as I might inform, the sport didn’t talk what these weaknesses have been through the warmth of battle until I managed to find them myself (though it’s very potential I missed these cues in some way), so some quantity of trial and error was part of my early battles. There’s a extremely big selection of actions to select from, however they’re largely sequestered into two classes – Gadgets and Spells – that comprise the whole lot you’d anticipate, from methods to heal your get together to large screen-filling particular assaults. All the pieces operates on a cooldown to stop gamers from relentlessly spamming highly effective assaults (which will even drain your MP), however there’s nonetheless a excessive diploma of onscreen chaos. I additionally had the choice to present directions to every get together member to outline a extra common technique for them, like “Don’t use MP”, “Assault them with the whole lot” or my private favourite, “Run round and evade” (which, when unsure, is all the time a minimum of a good survival technique.)

Fight is extremely flashy and makes you are feeling like an unstoppable pressure, but additionally makes it very simple to get distracted from monitoring your get together’s well being, so whereas it’s potential to only mash the assault button and a minimum of survive most encounters, carelessness does have repercussions. Moreover, breaking an enemy’s protection looks as if a very powerful aspect to maximizing assault energy – additionally permitting the participant to dish out very highly effective assaults known as Assault Actions – so there’s further incentive to develop a technique on the fly. The controls have been instantly easy to understand; actually, the factor that impressed me probably the most was simply how rapidly I used to be in a position to come to phrases with the fight system with minimal tutorials wanted. I’m knees-deep in a Xenoblade playthrough for the time being, so I actually recognize the way in which Second Story R’s mechanical depth manages to exist whereas encouraging gamers to dive into it at their very own tempo.

Exterior of battle, there are much more methods to customise your get together. The same old choices like totally different weapons and armor are all there, in addition to equipment that may increase sure stats whereas outfitted throughout sure fight conditions. You may as well degree up expertise for particular get together members – for instance, investing ability factors in Claude’s Psychological Science ability will increase his “information of the thoughts and supernatural powers,” which in-game implies that that his MP will increase by 5 every time he ranges up. There are a ton of those to spend money on, and I think about gamers who recognize extraordinarily granular get together administration will get lots out of this. You may even prepare the order during which get together members are organized initially of a battle, with totally different bonuses connected to totally different lineups.

If the remainder of Second Story R can match the depth and intuitiveness of the sport’s battle system, this might very nicely be the right entry level for franchise newcomers like me. I additionally merely can’t wait to see how beautiful the sport will inevitably look on the Change OLED’s display.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R launches on Change on November 2, 2023 – tell us within the feedback in case you plan on selecting this one up.