Star Ocean: The Second Story R — A Masterpiece

I decided to dive deep into the Star Ocean franchise a little over a year ago. I had played about a third of First Departure and Till the End of Time way back in 2009, and always regretted never finishing them. As of writing this, I can happily say that I’ve now beat every single Star Ocean game there is. Star Ocean: The Second Story R was the only game I haven’t had access to (without the use of emulators) and I was ready to resign myself to a pirated copy of the PSP remake until they announced this improved remake a few months ago. It has been well worth the patience. Many reviewers say The Second Story is the best in the franchise. Now, I understand why.

Here’s our review of Star Ocean: The Second Story R.

Star Ocean’s Story Continues

The story takes place twenty years after the events of Star Ocean: First Departure. We are reintroduced to Ronyx J Kenny and his son, Claude. While on an exploration mission, Claude ignores federal safety regulations and approaches an unknown device that is seemingly deactivated. Once within range, it activates and teleports him across the universe to an unknown and underdeveloped planet. There, seeing a girl in trouble, Claude immediately chooses to once again ignore the intergalactic federation. Using his phaser gun, he saves the girl’s life. The girl, Rena, mistakes it for a sword of light and believes that Claude is the prophesized hero destined to save their planet from the slow-cooking apocalypse terrorizing them. Thus begins Star Ocean: The Second Story R.

JRPG Gameplay

If you’ve never played a Star Ocean game, consider it to be similar to the Tales series. Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a 2.5D game with action-based combat on a grid system. Players control one character while the remaining party members act on AI-selected modes (act freely, focus on healing, conserve MP, etc). Shoulder buttons allow for special skills or spell usage and right-side buttons are for basic attacks.

Outside of combat, Star Ocean: The Second Story R is what you’d expect of a JPRG from the late ’90s: an overworld map, pre-rendered backgrounds for dungeons, and maybe a puzzle for specific scenarios.

Still, a number of updates have made the quality of life vastly superior to every other game in the series thus far. Fast travel saves a lot of time. Private Actions (essentially the Star Ocean equivalent of Fire Emblem’s support conversations or Persona’s social links) and available side quests are shown from the fast travel map. This saves players hours of wandering around the world, revisiting every town whenever they recruit new party members or advance further in the story. Color-coded ghastly enemy indicators replace random encounters. All of these are avoidable on any map. Green encounters, which symbolize weak enemies, don’t antagonize you, which makes backtracking through early dungeons and levels smoother.

And something I always look forward to is brand-new art direction and character illustrations. This time, Square-Enix outdid themselves. The game looks exceptional. The experience has completely spoiled me and makes it hard to consider going back for a replay of the older games, especially First Departure R.

A Few Cons

There isn’t much wrong with this game. In fact, the only flaw is a double-edged sword, being its characters. Don’t get me wrong. I love all of them. Really, every single character is distinctive, charming, and adds their own splash of color to the party. However, with the exception of Claude, Rena, and Dias, none of the characters feel like they belong to the overspanning story. They have their time and place for a segment or two, but no one feels truly part of the whole narrative. After their respective chapters conclude, they go silent and feel like ghosts. Unless they get a last-minute private action in one of the final cities, such as Ashton randomly inviting Claude to have tea.

This same problem occurred in Star Ocean: First Departure, and didn’t see much resolution until Star Ocean: The Last Hope. Still, every character in The Second Story R feels memorable and likable. The con lies in the format of storytelling, which is a product of the late ’90s. A complete overhaul of each character and the story might solve that, but, in the end, it isn’t terrible.

The early Star Ocean games are known for needing multiple playthroughs. Star Ocean: The Second Story R is no exception. It’s impossible to get every character in one playthrough. Some characters are exclusive depending on your protagonist of choice. Others are locked out if you recruit certain characters early in the game. With ninety-nine endings, you’ll have to have at least five or six separate save files if you’re a completionist. But again, these are staple features of the series that encourage replayability and aim to provide unique experiences for all. It’s hard to say if that’s a con or not.

Final Verdict

This new version of a beloved cult classic is, without question, the definitive way to play Star Ocean: The Second Story. If you’ve ever been interested in this series, now is the time to give it a chance. You won’t be disappointed. 2023 has been a great year for games, and I’d honestly say Star Ocean is the game of the year for me.