Star Ocean The Second Story R Evaluation (PS5)

Many would argue that Star Ocean: The Second Story — initially launched for the PS1 all the way in which again in 1998 — is the top of the long-running RPG sequence, and we might be tempted to agree. In some methods it does really feel prefer it nails the core themes of the franchise, as sci-fi know-how clashes with medieval fantasy — and so we’re happy to report that Star Ocean The Second Story R, a trustworthy remake, is the perfect model of a traditional.

On a floor degree, this revival overhauls the sport’s visuals with 3D environments and all-new lighting results, and the result’s a genuinely fairly journey that blends outdated and new. Characters — from celebration members to monsters — are nonetheless represented via 2D sprites, however the entire fashion meshes shockingly nicely.

The consumer interface has additionally been utterly redone, with impressively neat menus and dialogue bubbles including an actual sense of polish. However maybe better of all, the brand new character illustrations that seem within the celebration menu and through conversations are immaculate, including welcome element to the core forged. It is an ideal instance of how a remake can efficiently reframe an present expertise.

However all of the graphical upgrades on the planet cannot outweigh decidedly dated gameplay. Fortunately, The Second Story’s core mechanics have principally stood the check of time. The action-based fight is probably a little bit clunky by at the moment’s requirements, and the dungeon design generally is a contact tedious, however total, this PS1-era RPG stays a blast to play via.

Let’s go over the story earlier than we dig into particulars, although. In typical Star Ocean vogue, the plot facilities round a younger space-faring hero who finally ends up stranded on an underdeveloped planet. You’ll be able to truly choose between two playable protagonists in The Second Story: the intrepid Claude, a younger ensign of the Earth Federation, and the considerably mysterious Rena, an inhabitant of Expel, the aforementioned planet. Your selection of lead character impacts numerous scenes and occasions, however the primary narrative stays the identical, as the 2 heroes staff up virtually instantly.

Initially, Claude and Rena set off on a journey throughout Expel for various causes. Claude is just in search of a technique to contact his ship, whereas Rena is saddled with treating her world’s present woes, which have been caused by the autumn of a wierd meteor. Naturally, these causes progressively entwine, with the story itself hitting some predictable, old-school JRPG beats — but it surely’s the private character improvement that retains issues fascinating.

To be extra particular, this remake options non-compulsory, character-driven aspect tales that breathe further life into the already vibrant forged. If you come to a brand new city or metropolis, you’ll be able to quickly disband your celebration and, together with your chosen protagonist, work together together with your companions. As such, the remake does a terrific job of constructing every character really feel like they’re a part of the journey — and that is necessary, since you do not have to recruit nearly all of out there celebration members.

Certainly, a very intriguing a part of The Second Story is you could ignore — or probably miss out on — numerous major characters scattered all through the sport. Thankfully, the remake utilises new map markers and menu icons to focus on issues like aspect quests, factors of curiosity, and celebration interactions, which is clearly an enormous high quality of life enchancment. Again within the day, the title’s unmarked occasions and obscure directions may result in frustration — or heavy reliance on a information — and so having this data clearly represented within the remake is good.

And the updates do not cease there. The battle system — a bit button-mashy and primary within the unique — advantages from expanded mechanics. For starters, now you can ‘break’ an enemy’s defenses with repeated assaults, opening them as much as large harm. What’s extra, celebration members who aren’t in your frontline staff of 4 can now be summoned to the fray; they’re going to unleash a novel transfer or buff that may assist you to lengthen combos and even flip the tide towards stronger foes.

Fight continues to be chaotic, although. Typically in a great way, typically in a “I can not see what’s taking place” form of manner. Character sprites can usually get utterly misplaced within the melee — a problem that is now compounded by all the new visible results — and celebration member AI will be annoyingly silly every so often. It is not a deal-breaker since you’ll be able to take management of your allies at any time, however particularly in massive boss fights, it is doable to hit a brick wall as a result of your AI buddies merely refuse to maneuver away from imminent hazard zones.

On that word, it looks like The Second Story R suffers from noticeable issue spikes now and again. Commonplace battles are normally over in ten to twenty seconds or so, and so they do not actually put together you for encounters the place bosses have large well being bars and may virtually one-shot your characters. This kind of uneven design looks like a leftover from the PS1 technology, and so it’s kind of of a disgrace that it hasn’t been smoothed out for the remake.

That mentioned, these are pretty minor criticisms within the grand scheme of issues. The overwhelming majority of fights are good, crunchy enjoyable — and the system’s pushed additional by addictive RPG character development. Levelling up, studying new talents, and spending talent factors on passive perks — all of it retains you invested in what generally is a sizeable celebration roster afterward (even when unlocking and enhancing character traits nonetheless feels needlessly convoluted, at the least within the opening hours).

Conclusion

Star Ocean The Second Story R is strictly what it must be: a trustworthy remake of a traditional PS1 RPG that drastically enhances the expertise for each new and returning gamers. A beautiful visible overhaul mixed with quite a few high quality of life enhancements and expanded battle mechanics make this a borderline must-play for anybody who’s in search of an old-school journey. Though the underlying PS1-era design does nonetheless have some tough edges — notably within the storytelling and fight stability — it is arduous to knock such a nicely crafted revival.