6 replies to this topic

[taikara]

On a whim, I picked up a used copy of Star Ocean: Til the End of Time (SO3), with the expectation it would be an utter crapstorm of sticky-sweet, completely predictable Japanese RPG stylings (or so the awesomely bad, stereotypical cover led me to believe).

But you know, being me, I like to subject myself to torture for the sake of all things Japanese + RPG. I had just melted my brain with the railroad-nail-through-the temple known as Grandia III a few months ago, so I figured this couldn't be much worse.

I was so wrong.

In a good way.

SO3 is one of the best (if not the best) Japanese style RPGs I've played in years. I never had the opportunity to play the previous two games in the franchaise, but SO3 has renewed my faith in the genre. Not since Skies of Arcadia have I played a game that was so engaging on many levels. And really, SO3 beats Skies of Arcadia hands down (except for SoA's airships, which let's face it, are the coolest things ever).

The graphics are good - with the area graphics being triple A+ gorgeous, and the anime-inspired character graphics varying from pretty spiffy to fairly annoying at times.

The characters are interesting and well-developed, though I do realize a lot of people are instantly put off by anime style representation. Tough.

The puzzles are good, and challenging, without plunging gamers into complete tedium - nice balance.

The story is about the best for an RPG I've played in years, with the only competitors being the first installment of the Xenosaga series (the second and third were good, too, but they sort of went downhill quickly) and the .hack//GU series thus far. It could just be that I'm intrigued by the mixing of traditional fantasy elements with a more sci-fi environment that all three series have going for them to varying degrees, but then again, FF does that to some extent, though their execution is getting very, very tired. Rip Van Winkle tired.

The real kicker is just the sheer volume of hidden crap this game has. For avid story-seekers such as myself, it was a total blow to my ego to find out just how much crap I had missed. I pride myself, as many RPG fans do, on being able to find near everything my first time through a game, sans guide. My tally on stuff I've missed (and this is story bits, not goodies) thus far is at least 50% - giving the game true replay value to people who enjoy the actual story element to RPGs.

And of course, I have to mention the Invention module - dedicated players can register with a Craftsman Guild and go on to invent new weapons, potions, accessories, etc etc etc. The benefit to doing so is fame, fortune, and the ability to have freaking awesome gear fairly early on in the game. I managed to make Mythril armor really early on that lasted me through the entire first disk.

All in all, it's a complex, intriguing game that I can't really encapsulate short of a novel (okay, maybe I could do so in a novella, but still). I'm seriously considering hunting down the first couple games in the series just to see what I missed (and flog myself for managing to miss it).

[MdaG]

I just might pick that one up. My prior experience with Japanese RPGs is limited to Final Fantasy 7 & 8 and Grandia 2. That and I'm currently playing through Final Fantasy 10. I like the story telling, but the battles got old loooong ago.

[taikara]

Well, I think Star Ocean just kicked FF's butt, though it could present the story a bit better in places. Don't expect a lot of gorgeous cinematic scenes in SO3, anyway - though some people prefer those be tossed anyway. There's a few, but the majority of the game's story cutscenes are done using the same style graphics as standard play.

If you hate the eternal random battles of FF, you'll probably like SO3 a lot better - the monsters are on the area maps, so you can totally avoid them when you get sick of fighting, and rather than being a menu-based turn system, it's an real-time action system, so when you get bored of fighting in a certain style, you can always mix it up, take manual control of different characters that have different fighting styles while letting the others go on auto, etc.

Oh, and there's relief for people who hate FF's minigames.... there are a few in SO3, but omgXx0rz, they're actually fun  

[MdaG]

taikara, on Jun 16 2007, 12:42 AM, said:

Well, I think Star Ocean just kicked FF's butt, though it could present the story a bit better in places. Don't expect a lot of gorgeous cinematic scenes in SO3, anyway - though some people prefer those be tossed anyway. There's a few, but the majority of the game's story cutscenes are done using the same style graphics as standard play.

If you hate the eternal random battles of FF, you'll probably like SO3 a lot better - the monsters are on the area maps, so you can totally avoid them when you get sick of fighting, and rather than being a menu-based turn system, it's an real-time action system, so when you get bored of fighting in a certain style, you can always mix it up, take manual control of different characters that have different fighting styles while letting the others go on auto, etc.

Oh, and there's relief for people who hate FF's minigames.... there are a few in SO3, but omgXx0rz, they're actually fun  

Are there any other JRPGs I should look up? How about Dragon Quest VIII? It sure looks nice. Then there's Blue Dragon, but I'm not sure if it's out yet...

[taikara]

I haven't actually played any of the Dragon Quest series, unfortunately. I checked out the box to DQVIII, but chose to pick up Condemned instead.

I would say: Grandia II is a good choice in that series (but avoid Grandia III like the plague), Skies of Arcadia is spiffy, and the .hack series rocks my socks, especially //GU, as you don't really need to know the backstory to enjoy the game's story.

[MdaG]

I found both Star Ocean and Dragon Quest VIII for €50 at the shop as a bundle so I spontaneously went ahead and bought them. I'm still only halfway through FFX so it'll be a while before I will try any of them out. But real time combat is a good thing when I comes to JRPG in my opinion. Actually I think I prefer it overall. I recall XCOM and Fallout having nice turn based combat, but today I find it too time consuming...

[MdaG]

I've started on Star Ocean 3 now and I'm about 3h into the game (I've met Cliff and just "landed" on my second under developed planet). So far it's definitely been better than Final Fantasy X. Both the 3D environment and the battle system are far more to my liking. Can't wait until I get my new 42" LCD TV to enjoy this game on

Btw, there seems to be an awful shortage on "healing potions" or I've missed how one restores health in this game.

*edit*
Oh, the berries heal you. I get it...