Dragon Quest is, to many, the impetus of JRPGs. What exactly was the first is up for debate, though. Wizardry, Ultima (1981), and Dungeon (1975) predate DQ. D&D was released a decade prior. There were plenty of text based games, which means we have to consider books, as well. The PC-88 has a dozen games with RPG stats on them. But Dragon Quest did something all those games didn't: combine them.
Dragon Quest was the first to have graphics, a top down perspective, multiple choices, stories, and be on a home console readily available. All of those gave it one final category that made it king: success. Reviews, sales, and money made all allow Enix to lay claim that Dragon Quest is the granddaddy of them all. I barely did any research for this claim because this is not a long essay. This is a review. But I kinda really want to do some research now. Soon...
I played the SNES version of Dragon Quest, which was patched by RPGONE (et al.) and patched again by Crackowia. I could have played the NES, but the graphical upgrades and QoL adjustments were just too promising. And I'm so glad I did. Before I get into why, let's be judgy.
Why does Dragon Quest suck?
The story is painfully barebones. There's plot at the start that works as background and sets the path. Then there are some vague directions until the last bit, where the story shows up to conclude itself. That doesn't fly today, but it was (presumably) all gamers needed in the mid 80s. Ultimately, this probably isn't a historical negative.
The same can be said for the playable cast and villain. There's only one of each, and neither have much personality. But, again, my parents were still in high school when this came out. I will give them credit in a moment, though.
The gameplay is the building block of the genre, even if it's very bland. There's not much strategy and only one attack spell (with an advanced version later on). The debuffs never worked, and a basic attack was better overall. But, again, I was six years from being born.
That's a lot of misnomers for the negatives. What does Dragon Quest do that's good.
All of the above! The Hero walked so the Warriors of Light could run, Roddick could fly, and Ness could swim. If you look upon DQ with only modern eyes, you miss the greatness that it is. I know I'm over romanticizing the groundbreaking aspects of the game, but there actually are great things that even a modern audience can enjoy.
The music, for example. I've had Tintagel Castle's theme in my head all weekend, and the Overworld track is perfect. As I said, I played the SNES remaster, which came with SNES enhanced chiptunes, adding to the enjoyment of it. I strongly recommend a listen through.
I was shocked that I had story choices. Saving the Princess is optional, and the ending is slightly different if you don't. Or you can bring her with you to kill Dragonlord. Speaking of whom, you can join him in his world conquest! It gets waved away, but I love the idea of trying anyway.
The world was pretty fun. Each city references others, and they're all equally important somehow.
I was starting to fear that the Dragon Quest franchise actually sucked. V is still the top, but IV and VI kinda sucked. IX was fun enough to keep me from canceling this themed month altogether, but it's not a wow moment. But we cut the fluff and went back to the basics, and it was so much fun.
Plot: 1986. Everyone and everything is as basic as you can get. Don't expect to get wrapped up. 6/10
Gameplay: 1986. Everything is as basic as you can get. Don't expect to get wrapped up. 6/10
Art: 1986. There were only about five monsters, each with four color swaps. This aspect didn't age as well. 4/10
Sound: modern? There are a small number of songs, but they're all great and unique. I absolutely adored what they did with the final dungeon themes. It's ahead of its time. 10/10
Charm: 1986. There's a surprising amount of stuff to do, but I can't say it's worth a replay. 6/10
Dragon Quest I is a terrible place to jump into if you're getting started with RPGs. It's probably a terrible one to play if you're only looking for a hot topic game. But, if you're invested in the franchise or genre, you need to play this. If you're a historian, you've probably already played it. It's quick but rewarding, and I needed this. Dragon Quest I is the best 32/50 game I've ever played.
Monday, February 27, 2023
Sunday, February 26, 2023
The Second Eldrick
"I didn't want to be a hero. I never desired to perform such an act. My dream was to settle down and just hang out somewhere. Maybe be a farmer or a blacksmith. A family sounds so nice. I wasn't against the idea of being an adventurer, traveling from place to place. Perhaps I'd even write about it or about the places I'd visit. I'm a big fan of local folklore. Instead, I have a destiny.
Even in the middle of it, I tried to escape it. I ran off into the middle of nowhere to carve out a home for myself. But there were so many demons. So many metal slimes... I killed them. And not just the men, but the women and children too. Especially the women and children. And I got good at it. I reached the point where I could fell them in one swing of a sword. I visited the fort city to buy a Fire Sword just because I could. It eventually got...boring. But still, they came for me. While sleeping one night, I had a dream from... an alternate reality. I saw Princess Laura locked in a cave guarded by a dragon. I had to go to her. Would that stop this guilt?
I somehow passed right by the target in the Marsh Cave. Behind a locked door was a fearsome beast. But the metal slime genocide taught me how to perfectly swing a sword and built up my constitution. I made quick work of the dragon. As my dream showed me, Princess Laura was behind it. She had a bed suited for her station, but her path was not. Dragonlord abducted her in order to marry her. She thanked me, and things got uncomfortable.
It could have just been a kiss. It could have just been a choir of angels signifying a royal future. To me, though, it was the final nail in my destruction. There's no coming back from a princess' love. I escorted her back to Tintagel and reunited Laura with the King. I got another kiss, so I quickly went on my way. I could have let Dragonlord take over the world, he even gave me a chance, but I decided to give in to the cravings inside of me.
I went to the Southern Shrine and spoke to the priest. He combined the Stones of Sunlight and Rod of Water to form the Rainbow Drop. There's a small river between the desert around the south Marsh Cave and Dragonlord Island. I used the Rainbow Drop there to create a magnificent rainbow bridge. It looked like a normal bridge, though... I walked around the cliffs where the castle stood and entered the keep.
There were stairwells on either side of the floor, but they went nowhere. In fact, nothing was here. Even the throne was empty. But I felt a breeze coming from behind it. I descended into the basement of the castle and faced off against the demons therein. More powerful dragons, knights, wizards, and furries lay deep inside. But not only that, there was a path slightly hidden from view. It led back up to the heart of B1. The Sword of Roto has been hiding here the whole time? I wonder how no one's found it. Maybe it's my blood? I discovered the less secret stairs up to the outside. After reaching the treasure horde, which contained a cursed belt, I found the true throne of Dragonlord.
He was glad to see me. He recognized my power and invited me to join him. This felt fruitless, and I got the feeling I'd wake up from a nightmare at the fort town, so I turned him down. After all, I don't want half the world; I want none of it! So the final battle of my journey started!
Dragonlord hit hard, but it was nothing my magic couldn't undo. I shudder to think of the pain had I not worn my ancestor's armor.
But then he transformed! Dragonlord is actually a dragon. His fire breath brought me to my knees. I had to heal twice for every sword swing. This was undoubtedly the hardest battle I have ever been in. It's been years, and the flames still stain my memories. But, on my last bits of mana...I felled the monster.
On the throne of the dead demon was the item I sought after: the Light Orb. It was once sealed to prevent Dragonlord's revival, but it's here now. I knew that I could stop this from happening again if I claimed it for all mankind. And thus, I brought light to the world. Even in the depths of the keep, I felt the world change. The poison swamps that have been claiming the land returned to fields of flowers. All the demons that once swarmed the world were gone. And I was finally fateless. I felt like something annoying was about the happen if I went back to Tintagel, so I took my time and visited all the towns I saved. They enveloped me with their praise. I even visited the tablet.
But I did return. The King's Knights stood before for celebration, and the King... He offered me his kingdom. Me, a King? I turned him down. I gave him the excuse that I should form my own kingdom and left. But Laura...oh, Laura. She insisted on coming with me. I tried to convince her to stay, but this princess was far too strong willed. I had no choice... And I'm glad.
And that is how I, Alef, saved the world just as my ancestor did. But what came of Eldrick Alef? Well, that's a story for another day..."
...
I had a lot of fun with Dragon Quest 1. I save scummed the crap out of it, but I'm glad I played this. It's a quick, two day journey, but it set up the sequels. I'm excited about the franchise again! Obviously, the plot was hella bare bones, but there were a lot of rad things here. Optional missions!? Even multiple endings? ...Sorta... Either way, this was the first turn based JRPG, and I needed this. Review tomorrow.
Even in the middle of it, I tried to escape it. I ran off into the middle of nowhere to carve out a home for myself. But there were so many demons. So many metal slimes... I killed them. And not just the men, but the women and children too. Especially the women and children. And I got good at it. I reached the point where I could fell them in one swing of a sword. I visited the fort city to buy a Fire Sword just because I could. It eventually got...boring. But still, they came for me. While sleeping one night, I had a dream from... an alternate reality. I saw Princess Laura locked in a cave guarded by a dragon. I had to go to her. Would that stop this guilt?
I somehow passed right by the target in the Marsh Cave. Behind a locked door was a fearsome beast. But the metal slime genocide taught me how to perfectly swing a sword and built up my constitution. I made quick work of the dragon. As my dream showed me, Princess Laura was behind it. She had a bed suited for her station, but her path was not. Dragonlord abducted her in order to marry her. She thanked me, and things got uncomfortable.
It could have just been a kiss. It could have just been a choir of angels signifying a royal future. To me, though, it was the final nail in my destruction. There's no coming back from a princess' love. I escorted her back to Tintagel and reunited Laura with the King. I got another kiss, so I quickly went on my way. I could have let Dragonlord take over the world, he even gave me a chance, but I decided to give in to the cravings inside of me.
I went to the Southern Shrine and spoke to the priest. He combined the Stones of Sunlight and Rod of Water to form the Rainbow Drop. There's a small river between the desert around the south Marsh Cave and Dragonlord Island. I used the Rainbow Drop there to create a magnificent rainbow bridge. It looked like a normal bridge, though... I walked around the cliffs where the castle stood and entered the keep.
There were stairwells on either side of the floor, but they went nowhere. In fact, nothing was here. Even the throne was empty. But I felt a breeze coming from behind it. I descended into the basement of the castle and faced off against the demons therein. More powerful dragons, knights, wizards, and furries lay deep inside. But not only that, there was a path slightly hidden from view. It led back up to the heart of B1. The Sword of Roto has been hiding here the whole time? I wonder how no one's found it. Maybe it's my blood? I discovered the less secret stairs up to the outside. After reaching the treasure horde, which contained a cursed belt, I found the true throne of Dragonlord.
He was glad to see me. He recognized my power and invited me to join him. This felt fruitless, and I got the feeling I'd wake up from a nightmare at the fort town, so I turned him down. After all, I don't want half the world; I want none of it! So the final battle of my journey started!
Dragonlord hit hard, but it was nothing my magic couldn't undo. I shudder to think of the pain had I not worn my ancestor's armor.
But then he transformed! Dragonlord is actually a dragon. His fire breath brought me to my knees. I had to heal twice for every sword swing. This was undoubtedly the hardest battle I have ever been in. It's been years, and the flames still stain my memories. But, on my last bits of mana...I felled the monster.
On the throne of the dead demon was the item I sought after: the Light Orb. It was once sealed to prevent Dragonlord's revival, but it's here now. I knew that I could stop this from happening again if I claimed it for all mankind. And thus, I brought light to the world. Even in the depths of the keep, I felt the world change. The poison swamps that have been claiming the land returned to fields of flowers. All the demons that once swarmed the world were gone. And I was finally fateless. I felt like something annoying was about the happen if I went back to Tintagel, so I took my time and visited all the towns I saved. They enveloped me with their praise. I even visited the tablet.
But I did return. The King's Knights stood before for celebration, and the King... He offered me his kingdom. Me, a King? I turned him down. I gave him the excuse that I should form my own kingdom and left. But Laura...oh, Laura. She insisted on coming with me. I tried to convince her to stay, but this princess was far too strong willed. I had no choice... And I'm glad.
And that is how I, Alef, saved the world just as my ancestor did. But what came of Eldrick Alef? Well, that's a story for another day..."
...
I had a lot of fun with Dragon Quest 1. I save scummed the crap out of it, but I'm glad I played this. It's a quick, two day journey, but it set up the sequels. I'm excited about the franchise again! Obviously, the plot was hella bare bones, but there were a lot of rad things here. Optional missions!? Even multiple endings? ...Sorta... Either way, this was the first turn based JRPG, and I needed this. Review tomorrow.
Saturday, February 25, 2023
The Memoirs of Alef
"I was born under unknown circumstances. My father is a complete stranger to me, and my mother can be one of several people in an unnamed village somewhere in the vicinity of Alefguard. Oh my god, I just realized I'm named after the planet!
My childhood was a very typical one. I was raised as a farmer but had a strong desire to pick up a sword. All my teachers at school had a strong relationship with me in one way or another. Some were tough but fair, others offered excessive praise, and one constantly hit on me. They always made me feel special, even to the detriment of my classmates. Teachers often forgot most of their names, despite me sitting in the back leftmost seat in the room. Around middle school, it started to make me uncomfortable.
My hair had been a strange color - a hue of red or yellow, depending on the light. I tried to dye it black every week, even though it would always wash out in a day or two. My female classmates always brought me homemade lunches, and they'd have a battle royal to see who'd feed me first. When I started eating alone, it only made them more ravenous. I started spending my free time on the roof. The wind would always blow, and it felt like I belonged here, so I started living in a closet. Why did the world revolve around me?
And then the world changed. A dragon began to rule the world. Across the planet, rumors of imminent death shook the people to their core. But a legend in the ruling state of Tintagel spread at this time. It spoke of a descendant of the Legendary Hero, Luto, would relive their ancestors' journey. The King called for any able bodied warrior to meet him. Something inside me compelled me to go, but I didn't want to. So I ran in the opposite direction of Tintagel. I crossed deserts, mountains, and seas only to arrive before the King. Curse this round planet!
The King repeated the legend, and the chancellor informed me about the kidnapped princess, Laura. With no other path to tread, I accepted my role as Main Character...
And so I battled the monsters and demons around the castle. For reasons no one's ever explained to me, dead bodies drop money. I saved up the gold from slimes and bats to buy the basics sold at the village store. The townsfolk "suggested" I should visit the village of Garintown to the northwest. En route, I discovered a cave. At the bottom was a tablet written by the Legendary Hero, Roto. It reiterated the legend and told me of their magical equipment that only their progeny can wear. Oh no...
Garintown is home to a Silver Lute, but it's behind a locked door. Rather than find the remote town that sells them, I traveled south. I saw a mountain cave near Tintagel, but I couldn't walk to it from there. After crossing a bridge, which are magical barriers that stop demons from crossing, I fought much harder mobs than before. They pushed me to my limit, but my Heal spell and desire to return to a town kept me alive. Fear is a survival skill! When I was strong enough, I found the Mountain Cave!
I'll never understand why so much gold was down here. I get the iron shield, but why the cash? There was also an entire army of mobs down here that I continued to exhaust myself against. There was nothing of note down there, but it set me up for this journey.
Going south was terrifying, so I traveled east. There's the village of...Lot nestled in the forest. They have better equipment, so I made myself stronger! I also enjoyed the hot bath. A lonely wife's mother told me her son-in-law ran off to find the village of magic keys, allegedly in the south! There's a poison swamp on either side of a channel, but the Marsh Cave sprawled beneath. There was totally nothing there. Further south, beyond a mountain range, was the town of Rimuldar. The key witch was hidden, and I needed to sneak around the town's moat to find her. The keys are surprisingly cheap! I also saved a relationship while there and was told the location of the Fairy Flute in Lot. It's just before the bath.
I returned to Garintown and found the secret passage to Garin's Tomb. The top two floors contain mobs that can be found outside. But the bottom basement was a horror show. I did a lot of running, herb abuse, and Healing, but I got to the Silver Lute. The priest on the Temple of Rain north of Lot wanted that. So I went there, and he gave me the Rod of Rain. A person in Rimuldar told me about the Rainbow Bridge I can make. With this Rod and the Stones of the Sun, which I found under Tintagel, I am able to create a rainbow!
Before I went to Rimu, I dared to travel south from Garin. It was a long and terrible walk, but it was worth it. Not only did I kill a metal slime (legitimately), but I found the Fort Town of Cantlin. It was defended by a Golem, but I overheard a man talking about the Fairy Flute being its weakness in Lot. There's a vendor for everything here, as well as a man living off his grandfather's money. Before the desert town was destroyed, his grandfather left Luto's Armor under a tree. I backtracked there and got attacked by a Demon Knight! I don't know how I won. I think I have magical time traveling powers! With enough Fireball spam, though, I won. I feel empty inside, but I killed a powerful demon. I checked the tree behind it and found the armor of legend! A priest with a painful floor also told me the location of a medal. It was a terrible clue... Lastly, this town had an incredibly powerful shield for sale. I killed metal slimes and a few gold men until I had enough money to buy it. I had to leave the Fire Sword, but I'm in no harm now! All I need is that sword. Oh, and maybe find that princess chick."
...
Welcome to an early Dragon Quest month! I decided to get a quick start because I don't think DQ1 is long. I'm nearly done with it, so it's shorter than I thought. I'm really enjoying it, though. I expected the plot and characterization to be nonexistent, so I'm not disappointed. I like that the first dungeon is optional, but I'll do some mandatory (and some less so) stuff tomorrow!
My childhood was a very typical one. I was raised as a farmer but had a strong desire to pick up a sword. All my teachers at school had a strong relationship with me in one way or another. Some were tough but fair, others offered excessive praise, and one constantly hit on me. They always made me feel special, even to the detriment of my classmates. Teachers often forgot most of their names, despite me sitting in the back leftmost seat in the room. Around middle school, it started to make me uncomfortable.
My hair had been a strange color - a hue of red or yellow, depending on the light. I tried to dye it black every week, even though it would always wash out in a day or two. My female classmates always brought me homemade lunches, and they'd have a battle royal to see who'd feed me first. When I started eating alone, it only made them more ravenous. I started spending my free time on the roof. The wind would always blow, and it felt like I belonged here, so I started living in a closet. Why did the world revolve around me?
And then the world changed. A dragon began to rule the world. Across the planet, rumors of imminent death shook the people to their core. But a legend in the ruling state of Tintagel spread at this time. It spoke of a descendant of the Legendary Hero, Luto, would relive their ancestors' journey. The King called for any able bodied warrior to meet him. Something inside me compelled me to go, but I didn't want to. So I ran in the opposite direction of Tintagel. I crossed deserts, mountains, and seas only to arrive before the King. Curse this round planet!
The King repeated the legend, and the chancellor informed me about the kidnapped princess, Laura. With no other path to tread, I accepted my role as Main Character...
And so I battled the monsters and demons around the castle. For reasons no one's ever explained to me, dead bodies drop money. I saved up the gold from slimes and bats to buy the basics sold at the village store. The townsfolk "suggested" I should visit the village of Garintown to the northwest. En route, I discovered a cave. At the bottom was a tablet written by the Legendary Hero, Roto. It reiterated the legend and told me of their magical equipment that only their progeny can wear. Oh no...
Garintown is home to a Silver Lute, but it's behind a locked door. Rather than find the remote town that sells them, I traveled south. I saw a mountain cave near Tintagel, but I couldn't walk to it from there. After crossing a bridge, which are magical barriers that stop demons from crossing, I fought much harder mobs than before. They pushed me to my limit, but my Heal spell and desire to return to a town kept me alive. Fear is a survival skill! When I was strong enough, I found the Mountain Cave!
I'll never understand why so much gold was down here. I get the iron shield, but why the cash? There was also an entire army of mobs down here that I continued to exhaust myself against. There was nothing of note down there, but it set me up for this journey.
Going south was terrifying, so I traveled east. There's the village of...Lot nestled in the forest. They have better equipment, so I made myself stronger! I also enjoyed the hot bath. A lonely wife's mother told me her son-in-law ran off to find the village of magic keys, allegedly in the south! There's a poison swamp on either side of a channel, but the Marsh Cave sprawled beneath. There was totally nothing there. Further south, beyond a mountain range, was the town of Rimuldar. The key witch was hidden, and I needed to sneak around the town's moat to find her. The keys are surprisingly cheap! I also saved a relationship while there and was told the location of the Fairy Flute in Lot. It's just before the bath.
I returned to Garintown and found the secret passage to Garin's Tomb. The top two floors contain mobs that can be found outside. But the bottom basement was a horror show. I did a lot of running, herb abuse, and Healing, but I got to the Silver Lute. The priest on the Temple of Rain north of Lot wanted that. So I went there, and he gave me the Rod of Rain. A person in Rimuldar told me about the Rainbow Bridge I can make. With this Rod and the Stones of the Sun, which I found under Tintagel, I am able to create a rainbow!
Before I went to Rimu, I dared to travel south from Garin. It was a long and terrible walk, but it was worth it. Not only did I kill a metal slime (legitimately), but I found the Fort Town of Cantlin. It was defended by a Golem, but I overheard a man talking about the Fairy Flute being its weakness in Lot. There's a vendor for everything here, as well as a man living off his grandfather's money. Before the desert town was destroyed, his grandfather left Luto's Armor under a tree. I backtracked there and got attacked by a Demon Knight! I don't know how I won. I think I have magical time traveling powers! With enough Fireball spam, though, I won. I feel empty inside, but I killed a powerful demon. I checked the tree behind it and found the armor of legend! A priest with a painful floor also told me the location of a medal. It was a terrible clue... Lastly, this town had an incredibly powerful shield for sale. I killed metal slimes and a few gold men until I had enough money to buy it. I had to leave the Fire Sword, but I'm in no harm now! All I need is that sword. Oh, and maybe find that princess chick."
...
Welcome to an early Dragon Quest month! I decided to get a quick start because I don't think DQ1 is long. I'm nearly done with it, so it's shorter than I thought. I'm really enjoying it, though. I expected the plot and characterization to be nonexistent, so I'm not disappointed. I like that the first dungeon is optional, but I'll do some mandatory (and some less so) stuff tomorrow!
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Evolution!
Star Ocean 2 is my third favorite game of all time. It contains some of my all time favorite characters, and the battle system is ripe for endless fun. I was thrilled to learn it was remastered when I was in high school, but I didn't play it until I was nearly done with college. I played the remaster of the first one at this time too. I noticed a few differences when I played it, and I've decided now is the time to compare them.
What do both do well?
Well, pretty much everything. The plot revolves around two lost people trying to get home. It's a simple story. It all blows up pretty fast due to an outside McGuffin. It wraps them up in a universal conquest war, and both characters get a happy resolution after a tumultuous familial journey.
And those endings are varied. While Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest only get one conclusion, Star Ocean gets eighty eight! Solos, couples, friends, and even a few special endings can all be obtained. Some can be tough to get, but I want to see them all. But I never have...
The battle system is fast paced and so much fun. As much as I enjoy turned based games, I understand why some people don't like them. But Star Ocean is an actual skirmish between two sides. And I noticed that even the battlefields can vary wildly. There are stage hazards and oddly shaped platforms that can alter the game. They're not too plentiful, but they're enough to change things up.
The Private Action system is the best thing in RPGs. My favorite part of Final Fantasy VII was the vacation in Costa del Sol because the party split up and did their own thing. I wished they had done it more often. In Star Ocean, they can! Any time you visit a city (with few exceptions), press square, and your party splits up to show some personality. Not all characters are equal, though.
Item Creation existed before Minecraft! And it's pretty in depth and malleable. Weapons, armor, and accessories can all be made, and they're usually better than what can be found in stores.
Because there are two distinct main characters and ten more secondary ones, replayability is off the charts!
This is Motoi Sakuraba's magnum opus. I called it my ninth favorite OST. This time around, I even picked up on the battle/rock themes. I didn't notice that all the wise men fights had their own tracks.
What do both do that suck?
I called Rena's twist comical, and I stand by that. It's over the top and a bit distracting. It kinda killed the weight of the scene for me.
A few characters are pretty lame. The party I ran with this playthrough lacked good PAs. I gave them mediocre marks in my first go around, but that's because I didn't know them well. Now that I've experienced them, I can confirm that Ernest sucks. He's the reward for Opera's side quest, but he's such a waste. He has no good PAs, nothing cute with his (kinda) girlfriend, and he's awful in combat. Bowman is fun when he wants to be, but a brawler isn't great in this battle system. Dias is that edgy douche that doesn't want to play with others. He's also meh in battle compared to others. Ashton, Precis, Leon, and even Noel are the better team. Crisato's pretty cool, though.
I wish there were more places to explore. Expel is a massive planet with a lot of empty space. It could have been used better, but this is a minor gripe.
But what of the differences?
The remake offers a visual novel style artwork when characters speak. I have the tendency to skip over names when reading, so this, along with the added voice work, makes character personalities pop. Every line of dialogue has a new voice actor during normal gameplay and not just for combat. It makes the voice collecting moot, and I can't recall if Philia's image was replaced. But I have issues with both of these.
The voices are fine, but nothing to drive home about. Is it better than the PS? Maybe. But it's less charming. TSS's voice work was so bad it's funny territory. SE is just mid.
In terms of art, why is Rena suddenly twelve? She was aged up for the PSP, but her portrait looks like a child. It's less cute and more creepy now.
The battle system has changed in one way. A combo system was added for melee characters. Instead of one sword swing, Claude now performs three if you press the attack button in quick succession. This is also bad! If you miss the first swing, you've now missed three. It felt like I spent a lot of time flailing about instead of being the Warrior of Light.
The PSP got a retranslation, and it's much needed. I can't recall any specifics, but I know a scene in the PS implied Rena could read the future.
Additional PAs have been made for the remake. Everyone who did nothing can now interact with other party members. Again, I don't know specifics, but I'll trust the internet on this. This is probably the most important change between the two games, and it should be pretty clear what game I'm going to suggest.
I don't like the art and voices because of my nostalgia. Ultimately, I can go either way with the combo system. But the new translation and PAs more than makeup for any minute negatives the others bring.
Plot: too many questionable characters. The Ten Wise Men are deep and interesting the first time you meet them. They get a bit bland later on, but only if you don't know their secret truth. Sadly, there are a few too many middling playable cast members that keep this from being perfect. I got closer to all three, but Ernest sucks, so we remained. 9/10
Gameplay: worth changing. Battles are amazing, but I'm making a change in my review process. Star Ocean has some of my favorite dungeons in the genre. I've been ignoring dungeon design for three years, but I need to start talking about it. I'm replacing the idea of tutorials. 10/10
Art: dreaded pallet swaps. Every enemy has multiple variants of itself. There are plenty of different types, but only a few colors. Fortunately, very few bosses get reused. 8/10
Sound: ninth best video game ost. Up and down the soundtrack are bangers and chill vibes. Every track is a worm, and I love the terrible voice work. It's one of those so bad it's good things. 10/10
Charm: give me more! Side quests and secrets abound. Every character has a success and fail text response to IC. There are just enough relevant side characters, and the abundance of playable ones (with endings) makes me want to play again. 10/10
With no negatives, Star Ocean 2: The Second Story and the Second Evolution get a 47/50. I'd suggest playing the PSP version, but both are amazing. I'm so glad I replayed this, even if my goal of pushing this to a perfect game failed. It actually went backwards, but oh well. I should play Blue Sphere at some point...
Dragon Quest month: coming soon!
What do both do well?
Well, pretty much everything. The plot revolves around two lost people trying to get home. It's a simple story. It all blows up pretty fast due to an outside McGuffin. It wraps them up in a universal conquest war, and both characters get a happy resolution after a tumultuous familial journey.
And those endings are varied. While Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest only get one conclusion, Star Ocean gets eighty eight! Solos, couples, friends, and even a few special endings can all be obtained. Some can be tough to get, but I want to see them all. But I never have...
The battle system is fast paced and so much fun. As much as I enjoy turned based games, I understand why some people don't like them. But Star Ocean is an actual skirmish between two sides. And I noticed that even the battlefields can vary wildly. There are stage hazards and oddly shaped platforms that can alter the game. They're not too plentiful, but they're enough to change things up.
The Private Action system is the best thing in RPGs. My favorite part of Final Fantasy VII was the vacation in Costa del Sol because the party split up and did their own thing. I wished they had done it more often. In Star Ocean, they can! Any time you visit a city (with few exceptions), press square, and your party splits up to show some personality. Not all characters are equal, though.
Item Creation existed before Minecraft! And it's pretty in depth and malleable. Weapons, armor, and accessories can all be made, and they're usually better than what can be found in stores.
Because there are two distinct main characters and ten more secondary ones, replayability is off the charts!
This is Motoi Sakuraba's magnum opus. I called it my ninth favorite OST. This time around, I even picked up on the battle/rock themes. I didn't notice that all the wise men fights had their own tracks.
What do both do that suck?
I called Rena's twist comical, and I stand by that. It's over the top and a bit distracting. It kinda killed the weight of the scene for me.
A few characters are pretty lame. The party I ran with this playthrough lacked good PAs. I gave them mediocre marks in my first go around, but that's because I didn't know them well. Now that I've experienced them, I can confirm that Ernest sucks. He's the reward for Opera's side quest, but he's such a waste. He has no good PAs, nothing cute with his (kinda) girlfriend, and he's awful in combat. Bowman is fun when he wants to be, but a brawler isn't great in this battle system. Dias is that edgy douche that doesn't want to play with others. He's also meh in battle compared to others. Ashton, Precis, Leon, and even Noel are the better team. Crisato's pretty cool, though.
I wish there were more places to explore. Expel is a massive planet with a lot of empty space. It could have been used better, but this is a minor gripe.
But what of the differences?
The remake offers a visual novel style artwork when characters speak. I have the tendency to skip over names when reading, so this, along with the added voice work, makes character personalities pop. Every line of dialogue has a new voice actor during normal gameplay and not just for combat. It makes the voice collecting moot, and I can't recall if Philia's image was replaced. But I have issues with both of these.
The voices are fine, but nothing to drive home about. Is it better than the PS? Maybe. But it's less charming. TSS's voice work was so bad it's funny territory. SE is just mid.
In terms of art, why is Rena suddenly twelve? She was aged up for the PSP, but her portrait looks like a child. It's less cute and more creepy now.
The battle system has changed in one way. A combo system was added for melee characters. Instead of one sword swing, Claude now performs three if you press the attack button in quick succession. This is also bad! If you miss the first swing, you've now missed three. It felt like I spent a lot of time flailing about instead of being the Warrior of Light.
The PSP got a retranslation, and it's much needed. I can't recall any specifics, but I know a scene in the PS implied Rena could read the future.
Additional PAs have been made for the remake. Everyone who did nothing can now interact with other party members. Again, I don't know specifics, but I'll trust the internet on this. This is probably the most important change between the two games, and it should be pretty clear what game I'm going to suggest.
I don't like the art and voices because of my nostalgia. Ultimately, I can go either way with the combo system. But the new translation and PAs more than makeup for any minute negatives the others bring.
Plot: too many questionable characters. The Ten Wise Men are deep and interesting the first time you meet them. They get a bit bland later on, but only if you don't know their secret truth. Sadly, there are a few too many middling playable cast members that keep this from being perfect. I got closer to all three, but Ernest sucks, so we remained. 9/10
Gameplay: worth changing. Battles are amazing, but I'm making a change in my review process. Star Ocean has some of my favorite dungeons in the genre. I've been ignoring dungeon design for three years, but I need to start talking about it. I'm replacing the idea of tutorials. 10/10
Art: dreaded pallet swaps. Every enemy has multiple variants of itself. There are plenty of different types, but only a few colors. Fortunately, very few bosses get reused. 8/10
Sound: ninth best video game ost. Up and down the soundtrack are bangers and chill vibes. Every track is a worm, and I love the terrible voice work. It's one of those so bad it's good things. 10/10
Charm: give me more! Side quests and secrets abound. Every character has a success and fail text response to IC. There are just enough relevant side characters, and the abundance of playable ones (with endings) makes me want to play again. 10/10
With no negatives, Star Ocean 2: The Second Story and the Second Evolution get a 47/50. I'd suggest playing the PSP version, but both are amazing. I'm so glad I replayed this, even if my goal of pushing this to a perfect game failed. It actually went backwards, but oh well. I should play Blue Sphere at some point...
Dragon Quest month: coming soon!
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Limited
This dungeon is shorter than I remember...
The team returns to the scene of carnage: the bottom floor of Pienal Tower. Waiting for us are three of the Wise Men. They introduce themselves as Jibril, Nicolus, and Ruprecht. All three of them fight us at the same time, and I don't remember anything special about them. Even when I was bad at the game, I thought they were pretty nondescript. After we win, we can begin our climb of Pienal.
The first third of this dungeon is a webbing path of hallways, treasure rooms, and dead ends. It's mostly dark, futuristic metal, but we can pass a lake and the broken city teleporter on the left side. Whether or not it's worth circling around and collecting everything is up to you. Halfway through this sector, the left and center combine. They also interact with the right path. The enemies here are, as you'd expect, some of the best to fight. Most of the rabble is the stuff Marcillo summoned earlier, but there's a decent chance of a giant bird or two green lizards. Both give more than 30000 exp. Both sides reform had a save point, and another Wise Men fight.
Decus and Vesper have voices! I really like them, too, especially the fire one. I used to be able to mimic his voice. I tried to keep Claude from stun locking them to collect voice samples, but Dias and Opera managed to solo their opponent for the most part. Vesper hit some weird attack and wiped Dias, but Decus couldn't muster a Mind Blast, which could petrify a target. I only saw one Spicule.
After them, we must navigate a door maze. We have to hit various switches in several rooms to find three locks to open up the final door in the maze. Fortunately, there are no random battles. Afterwards, the path is mostly straight. There is one off room (right), but we'll eventually reach Cyril. He's glad everyone else is dead since this means there's more for him to rule. Once he kills Indalecio, at least. As thanks, he grants us a reward: quick death. Usually, he tries to teleport around and cast Winds of Destruction. But I managed to stun lock him, so he didn't do anything. The last ascent is straightforward, with only one side path (left) after Cyril. Check the left path after the final save point.
If you save here, you can do one of three things.
1.) Return to Nede and visit Fun City. There's a guy at the arena who can return you to Expel.
2.) Return to Central City and turn on Indalecio's limiter. This makes him the hardest boss in the franchise. You should do this after you beat him once, though, for the sake of the conclusion.
3.) Finish the game. This is what I did.
Rena climbs three long flights of stairs to get to the overlook of Pienal. Indalecio is waiting for us with the completed Crest of Annihilation behind him. He, too, is unphased by his fallen comrades, but we have changed his plans. Rather than rule the universe, he's going to destroy it. Indy isn't much for words, so the final battle begins!
I almost died! Indalecio is a two part fight. Part one consists of him floating around, creating a toxic fart cloud. It's effective until you can get in and stun lock him. Eventually, though, he summons his angelic daughter, Phillia. If you did Crisato's secret side quest to learn the truth about the Ten Wise Men, you'd know how important she is. Phillia removes his dad's ability to be stun locked. Even while he gets attacked, she can charge up a spell. Explode, Noah, and the unique Divine Comedy are deadly. Him getting free reign also means his fart cloud and finger point moves are relevant again. Make sure Rena can defend against fire and water and hope your fighters keep his attention. Fortunately, Rena never died, and I had plenty of resurrection mists.
Indalecio's defeat means his failsafe begins. The Crest of Annihilation begins to shake the tower. No, all of Nede feels this, if not the whole universe. Mirage and Nall are able to join us now, and they remind Rena to activate the Crest of Enchantment. She does, and the shaking stops... for a moment. It starts again even stronger, and there's a reason why. In order to prevent the CoA, it needs to be reversed. The energy still needs to go somewhere. Nede is the only place in the universe that can absorb so much energy, so this means the planet will be destroyed. Every Nedian seems to be in agreement that this is acceptable. The Nedians haven't evolved in millions of years, and "a species that doesn't evolve shouldn't continue living." But this will return Expel to this world. Nall and Mirage bid Crisato (and Noel had we brought him) farewell as they'll be the last of their race. Why do they get to live with this burden?
Multi colored explosions are spotted on Nede. One giant, purple one evaporates the floating mass. All that's left is dust. And that dust is what reforms as the basis of Expel. The team is floating in space, and Claude tells Rena it's time to go back. From here, we see our ending scenes that depend on relationship values that are changed through battles, PAs, and writing books.
Crisato disembarks at Herlie. She says she can't dwell on the past.
Ernest is leading a research team at the same place Claude started his story at.
Celine is trapped by the maids at Cross Castle. She's craving adventure. King Clother tells the maids to let the Queen through, but she has to be back before the harvest festival.
Opera is thinking about her friends on her home planet. The butler, Alfred, is an attentive attendant.
Dias places a flower bouquet at Cecille's grave, which is where Rena and Claude had their first conversation.
Bowman gets a meeting with Keith, the translator. He tells our pharmacist about a paradise. Bowman has a feeling that place is called Nede. According to a developer interview, the scrolls somehow came over with Rena sixteen years ago.
Rena and Claude are living together in Arlia. She asks if Claude regrets leaving Earth, but he doesn't.
The credits roll as we witness questionable CGI scenes of various locals on Expel. It's mostly optional or less traveled areas. We see Ashton's side quest dungeon and the secret Cave of Trials. Most of it doesn't seem to be anywhere obvious, but it makes me love Expel more. We witness a herush swim through the seas and a synard fly the skies. It seems the Calnus also respawned. We also get a few glimpses of Nede, notably Giveaway. Giveaway is a location you don't NEED to visit...
Regardless, we see the final screen of Star Ocean: The Second Story. Their "Fantastic Space Odyssey" has just begun.
"fin."
The team returns to the scene of carnage: the bottom floor of Pienal Tower. Waiting for us are three of the Wise Men. They introduce themselves as Jibril, Nicolus, and Ruprecht. All three of them fight us at the same time, and I don't remember anything special about them. Even when I was bad at the game, I thought they were pretty nondescript. After we win, we can begin our climb of Pienal.
The first third of this dungeon is a webbing path of hallways, treasure rooms, and dead ends. It's mostly dark, futuristic metal, but we can pass a lake and the broken city teleporter on the left side. Whether or not it's worth circling around and collecting everything is up to you. Halfway through this sector, the left and center combine. They also interact with the right path. The enemies here are, as you'd expect, some of the best to fight. Most of the rabble is the stuff Marcillo summoned earlier, but there's a decent chance of a giant bird or two green lizards. Both give more than 30000 exp. Both sides reform had a save point, and another Wise Men fight.
Decus and Vesper have voices! I really like them, too, especially the fire one. I used to be able to mimic his voice. I tried to keep Claude from stun locking them to collect voice samples, but Dias and Opera managed to solo their opponent for the most part. Vesper hit some weird attack and wiped Dias, but Decus couldn't muster a Mind Blast, which could petrify a target. I only saw one Spicule.
After them, we must navigate a door maze. We have to hit various switches in several rooms to find three locks to open up the final door in the maze. Fortunately, there are no random battles. Afterwards, the path is mostly straight. There is one off room (right), but we'll eventually reach Cyril. He's glad everyone else is dead since this means there's more for him to rule. Once he kills Indalecio, at least. As thanks, he grants us a reward: quick death. Usually, he tries to teleport around and cast Winds of Destruction. But I managed to stun lock him, so he didn't do anything. The last ascent is straightforward, with only one side path (left) after Cyril. Check the left path after the final save point.
If you save here, you can do one of three things.
1.) Return to Nede and visit Fun City. There's a guy at the arena who can return you to Expel.
2.) Return to Central City and turn on Indalecio's limiter. This makes him the hardest boss in the franchise. You should do this after you beat him once, though, for the sake of the conclusion.
3.) Finish the game. This is what I did.
Rena climbs three long flights of stairs to get to the overlook of Pienal. Indalecio is waiting for us with the completed Crest of Annihilation behind him. He, too, is unphased by his fallen comrades, but we have changed his plans. Rather than rule the universe, he's going to destroy it. Indy isn't much for words, so the final battle begins!
I almost died! Indalecio is a two part fight. Part one consists of him floating around, creating a toxic fart cloud. It's effective until you can get in and stun lock him. Eventually, though, he summons his angelic daughter, Phillia. If you did Crisato's secret side quest to learn the truth about the Ten Wise Men, you'd know how important she is. Phillia removes his dad's ability to be stun locked. Even while he gets attacked, she can charge up a spell. Explode, Noah, and the unique Divine Comedy are deadly. Him getting free reign also means his fart cloud and finger point moves are relevant again. Make sure Rena can defend against fire and water and hope your fighters keep his attention. Fortunately, Rena never died, and I had plenty of resurrection mists.
Indalecio's defeat means his failsafe begins. The Crest of Annihilation begins to shake the tower. No, all of Nede feels this, if not the whole universe. Mirage and Nall are able to join us now, and they remind Rena to activate the Crest of Enchantment. She does, and the shaking stops... for a moment. It starts again even stronger, and there's a reason why. In order to prevent the CoA, it needs to be reversed. The energy still needs to go somewhere. Nede is the only place in the universe that can absorb so much energy, so this means the planet will be destroyed. Every Nedian seems to be in agreement that this is acceptable. The Nedians haven't evolved in millions of years, and "a species that doesn't evolve shouldn't continue living." But this will return Expel to this world. Nall and Mirage bid Crisato (and Noel had we brought him) farewell as they'll be the last of their race. Why do they get to live with this burden?
Multi colored explosions are spotted on Nede. One giant, purple one evaporates the floating mass. All that's left is dust. And that dust is what reforms as the basis of Expel. The team is floating in space, and Claude tells Rena it's time to go back. From here, we see our ending scenes that depend on relationship values that are changed through battles, PAs, and writing books.
Crisato disembarks at Herlie. She says she can't dwell on the past.
Ernest is leading a research team at the same place Claude started his story at.
Celine is trapped by the maids at Cross Castle. She's craving adventure. King Clother tells the maids to let the Queen through, but she has to be back before the harvest festival.
Opera is thinking about her friends on her home planet. The butler, Alfred, is an attentive attendant.
Dias places a flower bouquet at Cecille's grave, which is where Rena and Claude had their first conversation.
Bowman gets a meeting with Keith, the translator. He tells our pharmacist about a paradise. Bowman has a feeling that place is called Nede. According to a developer interview, the scrolls somehow came over with Rena sixteen years ago.
Rena and Claude are living together in Arlia. She asks if Claude regrets leaving Earth, but he doesn't.
The credits roll as we witness questionable CGI scenes of various locals on Expel. It's mostly optional or less traveled areas. We see Ashton's side quest dungeon and the secret Cave of Trials. Most of it doesn't seem to be anywhere obvious, but it makes me love Expel more. We witness a herush swim through the seas and a synard fly the skies. It seems the Calnus also respawned. We also get a few glimpses of Nede, notably Giveaway. Giveaway is a location you don't NEED to visit...
Regardless, we see the final screen of Star Ocean: The Second Story. Their "Fantastic Space Odyssey" has just begun.
"fin."
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
The answers.
The plots come to a head tonight!
We did our duty and sussed out all four Nedian fields. We return to Nall with the news, and we tell him we don't feel stronger. He, though, recognizes that no one on Nede can match our power. And with this newfound power, we'll finally defeat the Ten Wise Men! Before we do so, Bowman asks if he can speak to Nenih because he didn't pay attention. Nall tells them that Expel is no more for the reasons we (the player) already know. The people who didn't grow up on Expel were smart enough to recognize this, as well. But there is some good news. Energy Nede can create a time-space shift to return Expel to as it was before the crash. He admits there will be time paradoxes, but those'll never be important. But we'll need the power of every city on Nede, including Fienal, which the Wise Men are occupying and keeping off the grid.
And in walks a green haired woman! This is Marianna, general of the Nedian forces. She'll be in charge of our assault in the tower. We take the teleporter to L'Aqua and learn about another heraldic beast, the herush. It's a goblin shark that we can...ride in to take us 300 feet under the sea, beneath the barrier the Wise Men set up. So far, so good.
We enter the tower of Fienal, and the leader greets us. He's joined by two others. There's some back and forth before the Ten show off their new power. They plan to take over the galaxy, but Ernest tells them the Earth Federation will outpower them. They tell us the Earth shields are no match for their new antimatter guns. The camera pans to a screen above us with the image of a spaceship Claude recognizes. It's the Calnus, still floating around Nede.
The Ten begin to power their gun to ten percent, and we cut to the ship's crew. Ronix recognizes the impending attack and tries to open communications while powering the shields. A beam of light erupts from the purple energy field and strikes the Calnus. Their shields hold up, but it greatly weakened them. The Ten power up more, and the same thing happens. This time, the beam engulfs the ship, but they manage to hang on. Not one to go down without a fight, Ronix calls for a counterattack. They charge up their proton beam and aim for where the Ten's attack came from. No signs of damage. The red haired leader of our enemy orders one more attack while Claude pleads for mercy he won't get. The light takes out the Calnus' shields with ease, destroying it as if it were paper. We see the scrap floating in space.
Claude becomes furious as the two of the Ten teleports away. The remaining guy, Marsillo, summons two robots, and the battle begins. We fight two rounds of soon-to-be random encounters, with more of our backup NDF members dying every time. The last round is against Marsillo himself. We can't harm him and die in moments. With all hope lost, Nall orders us to retreat. Marianna will stay back to buy us time as we return to Central City.
We wake up the next day, and Nall hasn't surrendered the war. There's a place in Armlock that might be a clue to victory. In the back of the town is the Sealed Door. It leads to a building that only certain people know about, and it's well defended. The teleporter takes us to a forest, and the Shingo Forest music plays. Nall asks us to wait here while he goes ahead. He tries to tell Rena something before deciding it's best not to. After a moment, where Rena feels like she's been here, the group goes to the Symbolic Weapons Lab. There are only a few offshoots and one treasure (mind ring) in here. Take in the desolation of the area. Nall is in the back by a grand supercomputer. He informs us that there is a record of everything that's ever happened here. We'll only need to see the last few minutes; the destruction of the facility.
A woman who looks like the person in Rena's Field of Love vision is in a room with a warning clarion blaring. This place will blow in five minutes. Reema asks an intern to bring her daughter, Rena. Reema gives her daughter a necklace, an early birthday present, and wishes she could have gotten her a bigger stone when she got older. But that'll never happen now. Reema has a plan that might save Rena, but the intern warns her the space-time box has never been tested on living matter. But there's no other option; Rena is dead anyway. Finally, Reema looks at the camera and gives us a long code. We return to the present, and Rena comes to terms with the fact she really is a Nedian. More importantly, her mother is dead. Rena set out on this journey to find her, but she's gone. Rena asks when this event happened, and Nall says it was 700 million years ago. The box Reema put her daughter in interacted with the facilities space-time shield to launch her 700 million years into the future. With this mind blowing revelation, Rena runs off. We can find the room where Reema died, and there'll be a strange electrical field in the back. Makes ya wonder...
She looks up at a tree and wonders how long it could've been here. Certainly not 700 million years. Claude joins her, and he acts as a listener to her feelings. Rena predates the earliest fossils on earth and the dinosaurs by 500 million years. Out of curiosity, I spent an hour reading about the hypothetical future of our universe, so I need to quickly wrap tonight up. Rena asks Claude If he thinks her mother loved her. Claude mentions his mom and how she refused to give her magic research job and her son. His dead dad is brought up before they return to the group. Nall inputs the code, ejects the facility's memory, and we return to Armlock.
There's a weapon researcher here named Mirage, who Nall asks to make the weapons that Reema was developing. She can, but we'll need LEA Metal from the barkers old Nede kidnapped. They're in a cave to the west. Kill the giant one in the back. Be careful because it can ignore hit stun. After you win, you can explore the enemy less cave. Mirage begins work, and we head to Fun City to train for three days.
Mirage gives us Rena's best weapon, a sword for Claude, and a Void Stone for everyone else. With these, we'll be able to harm the Ten Wise Men. The party spars with the holograms once more, but three of the Wise Men show up. We kill Marsillo, defeat Shingo (after he vaporizes a family), and save Mirage from Berle. We return to L'Aqua and board the herush. As we board, Nall hands Rena the Crest of Enchainment. It's a counter crest to the Wise Men's Crest of Annihilation, so, as long as we do our part, that should prevent the destruction of our universe. I'll try to finish this game...
...tomorrow!
700 million is a maybe a bit too much. It's almost comical! Also, I kinda hate this blog. This is the first time I won't spend 100 hours in Fun City. And I won't be doing the Cave of Trials, either. This sucks.
There is one thing I've never fully understood. Nall says this is his first time seeing the destruction of the Symbolical Weapons facility, but he lets on that he knows who Rena is. Is this weird foreshadowing or something else?
We did our duty and sussed out all four Nedian fields. We return to Nall with the news, and we tell him we don't feel stronger. He, though, recognizes that no one on Nede can match our power. And with this newfound power, we'll finally defeat the Ten Wise Men! Before we do so, Bowman asks if he can speak to Nenih because he didn't pay attention. Nall tells them that Expel is no more for the reasons we (the player) already know. The people who didn't grow up on Expel were smart enough to recognize this, as well. But there is some good news. Energy Nede can create a time-space shift to return Expel to as it was before the crash. He admits there will be time paradoxes, but those'll never be important. But we'll need the power of every city on Nede, including Fienal, which the Wise Men are occupying and keeping off the grid.
And in walks a green haired woman! This is Marianna, general of the Nedian forces. She'll be in charge of our assault in the tower. We take the teleporter to L'Aqua and learn about another heraldic beast, the herush. It's a goblin shark that we can...ride in to take us 300 feet under the sea, beneath the barrier the Wise Men set up. So far, so good.
We enter the tower of Fienal, and the leader greets us. He's joined by two others. There's some back and forth before the Ten show off their new power. They plan to take over the galaxy, but Ernest tells them the Earth Federation will outpower them. They tell us the Earth shields are no match for their new antimatter guns. The camera pans to a screen above us with the image of a spaceship Claude recognizes. It's the Calnus, still floating around Nede.
The Ten begin to power their gun to ten percent, and we cut to the ship's crew. Ronix recognizes the impending attack and tries to open communications while powering the shields. A beam of light erupts from the purple energy field and strikes the Calnus. Their shields hold up, but it greatly weakened them. The Ten power up more, and the same thing happens. This time, the beam engulfs the ship, but they manage to hang on. Not one to go down without a fight, Ronix calls for a counterattack. They charge up their proton beam and aim for where the Ten's attack came from. No signs of damage. The red haired leader of our enemy orders one more attack while Claude pleads for mercy he won't get. The light takes out the Calnus' shields with ease, destroying it as if it were paper. We see the scrap floating in space.
Claude becomes furious as the two of the Ten teleports away. The remaining guy, Marsillo, summons two robots, and the battle begins. We fight two rounds of soon-to-be random encounters, with more of our backup NDF members dying every time. The last round is against Marsillo himself. We can't harm him and die in moments. With all hope lost, Nall orders us to retreat. Marianna will stay back to buy us time as we return to Central City.
We wake up the next day, and Nall hasn't surrendered the war. There's a place in Armlock that might be a clue to victory. In the back of the town is the Sealed Door. It leads to a building that only certain people know about, and it's well defended. The teleporter takes us to a forest, and the Shingo Forest music plays. Nall asks us to wait here while he goes ahead. He tries to tell Rena something before deciding it's best not to. After a moment, where Rena feels like she's been here, the group goes to the Symbolic Weapons Lab. There are only a few offshoots and one treasure (mind ring) in here. Take in the desolation of the area. Nall is in the back by a grand supercomputer. He informs us that there is a record of everything that's ever happened here. We'll only need to see the last few minutes; the destruction of the facility.
A woman who looks like the person in Rena's Field of Love vision is in a room with a warning clarion blaring. This place will blow in five minutes. Reema asks an intern to bring her daughter, Rena. Reema gives her daughter a necklace, an early birthday present, and wishes she could have gotten her a bigger stone when she got older. But that'll never happen now. Reema has a plan that might save Rena, but the intern warns her the space-time box has never been tested on living matter. But there's no other option; Rena is dead anyway. Finally, Reema looks at the camera and gives us a long code. We return to the present, and Rena comes to terms with the fact she really is a Nedian. More importantly, her mother is dead. Rena set out on this journey to find her, but she's gone. Rena asks when this event happened, and Nall says it was 700 million years ago. The box Reema put her daughter in interacted with the facilities space-time shield to launch her 700 million years into the future. With this mind blowing revelation, Rena runs off. We can find the room where Reema died, and there'll be a strange electrical field in the back. Makes ya wonder...
She looks up at a tree and wonders how long it could've been here. Certainly not 700 million years. Claude joins her, and he acts as a listener to her feelings. Rena predates the earliest fossils on earth and the dinosaurs by 500 million years. Out of curiosity, I spent an hour reading about the hypothetical future of our universe, so I need to quickly wrap tonight up. Rena asks Claude If he thinks her mother loved her. Claude mentions his mom and how she refused to give her magic research job and her son. His dead dad is brought up before they return to the group. Nall inputs the code, ejects the facility's memory, and we return to Armlock.
There's a weapon researcher here named Mirage, who Nall asks to make the weapons that Reema was developing. She can, but we'll need LEA Metal from the barkers old Nede kidnapped. They're in a cave to the west. Kill the giant one in the back. Be careful because it can ignore hit stun. After you win, you can explore the enemy less cave. Mirage begins work, and we head to Fun City to train for three days.
Mirage gives us Rena's best weapon, a sword for Claude, and a Void Stone for everyone else. With these, we'll be able to harm the Ten Wise Men. The party spars with the holograms once more, but three of the Wise Men show up. We kill Marsillo, defeat Shingo (after he vaporizes a family), and save Mirage from Berle. We return to L'Aqua and board the herush. As we board, Nall hands Rena the Crest of Enchainment. It's a counter crest to the Wise Men's Crest of Annihilation, so, as long as we do our part, that should prevent the destruction of our universe. I'll try to finish this game...
...tomorrow!
700 million is a maybe a bit too much. It's almost comical! Also, I kinda hate this blog. This is the first time I won't spend 100 hours in Fun City. And I won't be doing the Cave of Trials, either. This sucks.
There is one thing I've never fully understood. Nall says this is his first time seeing the destruction of the Symbolical Weapons facility, but he lets on that he knows who Rena is. Is this weird foreshadowing or something else?
Monday, February 20, 2023
The end of customization...
...except for Ernest because he sucks.
I finally return to Nall because I have the most boring group in Star Ocean history, and all the good PAs are with people who are dead. Now that we have an airship, we have full range of movement across Nede. But we're still not strong enough to take on the Ten Wise Men. We're gonna need to get stronger and combine our powers with the energy of Nede itself. Across the planet are four fields where we'll need to go. Something will happen at the core of these fields, and our power will grow. We'll visit the Fields of Intelligence, Courage, Power, and Love. Nall suggests Intelligence first, and I do too. The battles are the easiest, and it's the least fun dungeon.
FoI is on a hexagon island to the northwest. Inside are three mirrors that can only be used with the Field Codes Nall gave us. Inside are bad mirrors because they don't reflect anything. But they do act like doors. Take the left mirror first and follow the path. Yellow squares are forward, and red is back. We'll need to activate five spinning thingies to activate a new door found in the center room. You can leave, rest, and save if you need to.
In the center room is a floating sphere. There's also a giant hand that shoots lasers at us! Move Rena from the center of your side. Either place her at the top or bottom. There are four mini robots here that aid the Magic Hand. MH's only attack is a massive laser beam that will kill everyone in front of it, no matter how far away. This, surprisingly, is another boss I've had trouble with. I vividly remember Celine needing to whack the guy with her staff because I was out of other characters, healing items, and MP.
The plot separates for both Claude and Rena again. They both feel called to walk into the floating orb pyramid, but they see something different. Rena is a small child in the Shingo Forest, but she's crying. We can pick out the body of something lying before her. Westa comes into the shot to console her child, and we learn Rena's dog, Teenie Weenie, won't wake up. Weata tells Rena that her dog is very tired and sleeping. Rena stops crying and tells her beloved friend, "good night." I cried during this, and I'm crying again recalling it... We return to the present, and our MCs confirm they both saw something from their childhood and leave.
All of that got Celine to level ten of customization. But she still kept failing! I got upset and did something I've never done before: Orchestration! In my twenty five years of playing Star Ocean 2, I've never done this "mandatory" super specialty. I've always been lucky with item creation, I guess. After spending an hour trying to figure everything out, I composed the six melodies and played the song. Everyone has their ultimate weapons! Except for Ernest because he sucks. I did some blacksmithing, but I'm out of a few meteorites. I'll buy the Magical Rasp later once I get those five pieces of gear.
But it's on to the Field of Power, the mountain near Giveaway (and Crisato's conspiracy theory about the Ten Wise Men). We'll have to climb one of three lengthy paths, killing monkeys before they pull a lever that seems like a dumb thing to construct. The lever blocks the path, so keep one of your three fighters between an ape and the lever. They'll prioritize walking, so just keep wailing. If you get behind them, do not attack. It'll push them closer to their objective. There are three ways to climb halfway up the mountain, and it becomes just a single path from there. Save before the long bridge because the Field Guardian will test our strength.
I have no strategy at this point.
Behind him is an empty pedestal. Rena and Claude walk towards it, and they experience more memories of their pasts. Rena is playing one day until Westa collapses. She gets the doctor, who administers some medicine, but Rena hears him say, "tonight will be the worst of it." This upsets our white mage, but she remains by her mother's side. Out of fear, Rena casts her first healing spell. This was the night she learned of her Nedian powers. We return to the present, and we discuss what we saw. Rena's courage in the face of danger allowed her to overcome so much. But it appears Claude ran away from something. For a quick escape, walk onto a ledge where the three paths combine. It'll allow you to create an echo, which'll make an avalanche. Get caught in it, and you'll be at the bottom! The only downside is you have to look at a teenager's underwear...
The Field of Courage of east of Central City. It's a fairly typical dungeon with a bit of a Lost Woods feeling. The objective is to make it to the upper left corner to pick up a statue. Take that statue east of the entrance, go down an elevator, and place it on the dais. A guardian similar to the one at the FoP will test us. The scene after will have Rena alone in the dark. A voice tells her that Nede has been stagnating for so long and she should "sacrifice everything to save it all." Or, ya know, something like that.
The Field of Love floats in the air near North City. It's straightforward, and the only gimmick is you need to turn two floors to make a path. Head north from the first one before crossing the new bridge. I like the look of this place the most, but the enemies suck. Also, weirdly shaped battle arenas make for strange battle tactics. After the save, the Guardian of the Fountain will appear before us. It's a sexy lady. Oh, la la! As we approach her, she'll kidnap Claude (or whoever your MC has the most points with). This is not a guardian. Instead, this is Lover, a "manservant" of the Ten Wise Men. She demands the Rune Codes, and Rena hands them over as a trade for Claude's life. Lover will then attack us, but she also promises to let the hostage go. Her two ads are scarier than her... Rena's vision is of the armor shop in Armlock. A woman appears in there, but Rena doesn't recognize her. "Is this my love?" It's quite odd, but we have all four Field Gems. So let's return to Nall...
...tomorrow!
I got some Blacksmithing done. I remember it being more in-depth than this, but I need some damascus and moonites to finish. And then sell the Rasp because I forgot the star shields.
I finally return to Nall because I have the most boring group in Star Ocean history, and all the good PAs are with people who are dead. Now that we have an airship, we have full range of movement across Nede. But we're still not strong enough to take on the Ten Wise Men. We're gonna need to get stronger and combine our powers with the energy of Nede itself. Across the planet are four fields where we'll need to go. Something will happen at the core of these fields, and our power will grow. We'll visit the Fields of Intelligence, Courage, Power, and Love. Nall suggests Intelligence first, and I do too. The battles are the easiest, and it's the least fun dungeon.
FoI is on a hexagon island to the northwest. Inside are three mirrors that can only be used with the Field Codes Nall gave us. Inside are bad mirrors because they don't reflect anything. But they do act like doors. Take the left mirror first and follow the path. Yellow squares are forward, and red is back. We'll need to activate five spinning thingies to activate a new door found in the center room. You can leave, rest, and save if you need to.
In the center room is a floating sphere. There's also a giant hand that shoots lasers at us! Move Rena from the center of your side. Either place her at the top or bottom. There are four mini robots here that aid the Magic Hand. MH's only attack is a massive laser beam that will kill everyone in front of it, no matter how far away. This, surprisingly, is another boss I've had trouble with. I vividly remember Celine needing to whack the guy with her staff because I was out of other characters, healing items, and MP.
The plot separates for both Claude and Rena again. They both feel called to walk into the floating orb pyramid, but they see something different. Rena is a small child in the Shingo Forest, but she's crying. We can pick out the body of something lying before her. Westa comes into the shot to console her child, and we learn Rena's dog, Teenie Weenie, won't wake up. Weata tells Rena that her dog is very tired and sleeping. Rena stops crying and tells her beloved friend, "good night." I cried during this, and I'm crying again recalling it... We return to the present, and our MCs confirm they both saw something from their childhood and leave.
All of that got Celine to level ten of customization. But she still kept failing! I got upset and did something I've never done before: Orchestration! In my twenty five years of playing Star Ocean 2, I've never done this "mandatory" super specialty. I've always been lucky with item creation, I guess. After spending an hour trying to figure everything out, I composed the six melodies and played the song. Everyone has their ultimate weapons! Except for Ernest because he sucks. I did some blacksmithing, but I'm out of a few meteorites. I'll buy the Magical Rasp later once I get those five pieces of gear.
But it's on to the Field of Power, the mountain near Giveaway (and Crisato's conspiracy theory about the Ten Wise Men). We'll have to climb one of three lengthy paths, killing monkeys before they pull a lever that seems like a dumb thing to construct. The lever blocks the path, so keep one of your three fighters between an ape and the lever. They'll prioritize walking, so just keep wailing. If you get behind them, do not attack. It'll push them closer to their objective. There are three ways to climb halfway up the mountain, and it becomes just a single path from there. Save before the long bridge because the Field Guardian will test our strength.
I have no strategy at this point.
Behind him is an empty pedestal. Rena and Claude walk towards it, and they experience more memories of their pasts. Rena is playing one day until Westa collapses. She gets the doctor, who administers some medicine, but Rena hears him say, "tonight will be the worst of it." This upsets our white mage, but she remains by her mother's side. Out of fear, Rena casts her first healing spell. This was the night she learned of her Nedian powers. We return to the present, and we discuss what we saw. Rena's courage in the face of danger allowed her to overcome so much. But it appears Claude ran away from something. For a quick escape, walk onto a ledge where the three paths combine. It'll allow you to create an echo, which'll make an avalanche. Get caught in it, and you'll be at the bottom! The only downside is you have to look at a teenager's underwear...
The Field of Courage of east of Central City. It's a fairly typical dungeon with a bit of a Lost Woods feeling. The objective is to make it to the upper left corner to pick up a statue. Take that statue east of the entrance, go down an elevator, and place it on the dais. A guardian similar to the one at the FoP will test us. The scene after will have Rena alone in the dark. A voice tells her that Nede has been stagnating for so long and she should "sacrifice everything to save it all." Or, ya know, something like that.
The Field of Love floats in the air near North City. It's straightforward, and the only gimmick is you need to turn two floors to make a path. Head north from the first one before crossing the new bridge. I like the look of this place the most, but the enemies suck. Also, weirdly shaped battle arenas make for strange battle tactics. After the save, the Guardian of the Fountain will appear before us. It's a sexy lady. Oh, la la! As we approach her, she'll kidnap Claude (or whoever your MC has the most points with). This is not a guardian. Instead, this is Lover, a "manservant" of the Ten Wise Men. She demands the Rune Codes, and Rena hands them over as a trade for Claude's life. Lover will then attack us, but she also promises to let the hostage go. Her two ads are scarier than her... Rena's vision is of the armor shop in Armlock. A woman appears in there, but Rena doesn't recognize her. "Is this my love?" It's quite odd, but we have all four Field Gems. So let's return to Nall...
...tomorrow!
I got some Blacksmithing done. I remember it being more in-depth than this, but I need some damascus and moonites to finish. And then sell the Rasp because I forgot the star shields.
Saturday, February 18, 2023
3.7 Billion
Are you ready for genetic animal testing?
We (the player) hear the ten men discussing that we traveled with them. They're surprised a Needian would be on Expel, and they considered killing us now. They don't because they think so little of us. We'll die soon enough anyway.
A voice calls out to Rena, asking her to wake up. She does, and it's Claude! But he wasn't the voice she heard. But where are we? The rest of the group comes into the shot, and they ask the same thing. Rena knows this is a place called the Nede Outer Wall Paradise. She's not sure how she knows this but assumes this is why she's loved the Shingo Forest. Rena leads the group through the beautiful garden, and they wonder how Expel is because they didn't pay attention. Eventually, they come to a strange device, and a voice calls out to them: the same voice Rena heard. We're unsure if we should follow its advice and enter the teleporter before us, but Rena trusts it.
We exit into a futuristic place. Through the door is the body of the voice, Mayor Nall. He's the de jure leader of the high energy field that is Energy Nede. We ask if he knows who those ten guys were, and responds with "God's Ten Wise Men." Before going into anything else, he explains their past. 3.7 billion years ago, Nede ruled the galaxy with advanced heraldry and technology. They weren't tyrants, and their rule was amicable. Despite that, ten men rose to attack Nede. Nede eventually won but at a massive loss of life and through unconventional means. Nede couldn't kill the Ten Wise Men, but they could trap them in Eternity Space, a prison where time doesn't move and floats through space. After that event, Nede broke apart its home planet and has been existing as this strange thing I don't fully understand. And in that time, the Ten Wise Men broke out. Nall then suggests that our group aid in stopping them because Nede is weak, and we have different powers from them. We've got nothing else to do, and we don't want them to rule Expel, so why not! Our next task is to go to North City and get a synard. Explore Central and North City between. We'll stumble upon a strange woman with pink hair running away from us outside Central's inn (not PA), and she'll run into the bushes in North (PA).
We'll meet Artol at the Home, and no one is comfortable with this arrangement. To make a synard, they have to scan us and input that data into the beasts... or something. It's genetic engineering, and we're against it. But we have no choice. As we wait outside the scanner, we (the player) overhear the interns worrying if this will work with a non-Nedian? Meanwhile, we discuss contacting Expel again because we don't listen. We're quickly called into the office. The scanning goes easy, and I just stared at the crt tv flashing the Home's logo. It's four billion years in the future, but cathode rays are still king! Suddenly, the place begins to shake. The synard has become aggressive because Claude has bad DNA. Reluctantly, all we can do is kill it.
This was another fight I used to have issues with. The first time I ever played Star Ocean, I never bought skills. Kitchen Knife is a better strength boost than leveling up, and I know that now. After we win, that redhead will comment she missed a great story.
The interns hate their boss and storm out as we head back to his office. Artol knows our mission and how important the synard is. The only option we have now is to go through another teleporter. He avoids all questions, so let's just go...
We arrive at a cozy cabin, and the homeowner is upset we barged in. After we explain the situation, we meet Noel, the caretaker of the wildlife refuge. He picks up that we'll need to tame a wild synard even though there's only one left. The only way to do that is by combat. Noel will guide us to our destination.
As we enter the cavern, Noel senses the feeling of murder in the air. Something is attacking the synard, and we blame the Ten Wise Men. En route, the third screen is very important. Head down to pick up the chest. The red haired woman will appear again, trip, and drop something. Pick us Chisato's ID Card. Deep inside are the evildoers. This also was a fight I had trouble with back in the day. Double boss battles were my bane. But the Eternal Sphere can overcome any childhood trauma.
The synard falls in place as Claude prepares to battle it. It's wounded, so his heart fights against his needs. Not only that, but two cubs emerge from their mother. We prepare to return to Nall with bad news, and Rena heals it as we leave. Suddenly, she learns to speak synard. "You don't need words if you want to understand." The synard wants to help us. The beast takes to the skies, and we jump on. Noel asks to come with us, but I sadly turn him down. I only have room for one more character, and it needs to be someone I don't know much about. Many people don't like Noel, but I think he's fine. Apparently, he used to be "partisan with the Ten Wise Men." We should head to Nall for further orders.
Or...
Visit the second floor of the Central building. We'll see our ginger sitting in her chair. After she pretends she doesn't know us, we show her her ID. Chisato admits she's been following us because all of Nede is enthralled with our antics. Chisato is a reporter for the newspaper and will be following us one way or another. Rena can either tell her off or invite her into the group. I've never really dabbled with her, so I might use her instead of Dias. After I travel around Nede, getting better armor and weapons, I land back at Central City. I'll see Nall again...
...tomorrow!
Can synards reproduce asexually? I also loved the callback to these guys in Star Ocean 4.
Why is Dias so bad at customization?!?!
We (the player) hear the ten men discussing that we traveled with them. They're surprised a Needian would be on Expel, and they considered killing us now. They don't because they think so little of us. We'll die soon enough anyway.
A voice calls out to Rena, asking her to wake up. She does, and it's Claude! But he wasn't the voice she heard. But where are we? The rest of the group comes into the shot, and they ask the same thing. Rena knows this is a place called the Nede Outer Wall Paradise. She's not sure how she knows this but assumes this is why she's loved the Shingo Forest. Rena leads the group through the beautiful garden, and they wonder how Expel is because they didn't pay attention. Eventually, they come to a strange device, and a voice calls out to them: the same voice Rena heard. We're unsure if we should follow its advice and enter the teleporter before us, but Rena trusts it.
We exit into a futuristic place. Through the door is the body of the voice, Mayor Nall. He's the de jure leader of the high energy field that is Energy Nede. We ask if he knows who those ten guys were, and responds with "God's Ten Wise Men." Before going into anything else, he explains their past. 3.7 billion years ago, Nede ruled the galaxy with advanced heraldry and technology. They weren't tyrants, and their rule was amicable. Despite that, ten men rose to attack Nede. Nede eventually won but at a massive loss of life and through unconventional means. Nede couldn't kill the Ten Wise Men, but they could trap them in Eternity Space, a prison where time doesn't move and floats through space. After that event, Nede broke apart its home planet and has been existing as this strange thing I don't fully understand. And in that time, the Ten Wise Men broke out. Nall then suggests that our group aid in stopping them because Nede is weak, and we have different powers from them. We've got nothing else to do, and we don't want them to rule Expel, so why not! Our next task is to go to North City and get a synard. Explore Central and North City between. We'll stumble upon a strange woman with pink hair running away from us outside Central's inn (not PA), and she'll run into the bushes in North (PA).
We'll meet Artol at the Home, and no one is comfortable with this arrangement. To make a synard, they have to scan us and input that data into the beasts... or something. It's genetic engineering, and we're against it. But we have no choice. As we wait outside the scanner, we (the player) overhear the interns worrying if this will work with a non-Nedian? Meanwhile, we discuss contacting Expel again because we don't listen. We're quickly called into the office. The scanning goes easy, and I just stared at the crt tv flashing the Home's logo. It's four billion years in the future, but cathode rays are still king! Suddenly, the place begins to shake. The synard has become aggressive because Claude has bad DNA. Reluctantly, all we can do is kill it.
This was another fight I used to have issues with. The first time I ever played Star Ocean, I never bought skills. Kitchen Knife is a better strength boost than leveling up, and I know that now. After we win, that redhead will comment she missed a great story.
The interns hate their boss and storm out as we head back to his office. Artol knows our mission and how important the synard is. The only option we have now is to go through another teleporter. He avoids all questions, so let's just go...
We arrive at a cozy cabin, and the homeowner is upset we barged in. After we explain the situation, we meet Noel, the caretaker of the wildlife refuge. He picks up that we'll need to tame a wild synard even though there's only one left. The only way to do that is by combat. Noel will guide us to our destination.
As we enter the cavern, Noel senses the feeling of murder in the air. Something is attacking the synard, and we blame the Ten Wise Men. En route, the third screen is very important. Head down to pick up the chest. The red haired woman will appear again, trip, and drop something. Pick us Chisato's ID Card. Deep inside are the evildoers. This also was a fight I had trouble with back in the day. Double boss battles were my bane. But the Eternal Sphere can overcome any childhood trauma.
The synard falls in place as Claude prepares to battle it. It's wounded, so his heart fights against his needs. Not only that, but two cubs emerge from their mother. We prepare to return to Nall with bad news, and Rena heals it as we leave. Suddenly, she learns to speak synard. "You don't need words if you want to understand." The synard wants to help us. The beast takes to the skies, and we jump on. Noel asks to come with us, but I sadly turn him down. I only have room for one more character, and it needs to be someone I don't know much about. Many people don't like Noel, but I think he's fine. Apparently, he used to be "partisan with the Ten Wise Men." We should head to Nall for further orders.
Or...
Visit the second floor of the Central building. We'll see our ginger sitting in her chair. After she pretends she doesn't know us, we show her her ID. Chisato admits she's been following us because all of Nede is enthralled with our antics. Chisato is a reporter for the newspaper and will be following us one way or another. Rena can either tell her off or invite her into the group. I've never really dabbled with her, so I might use her instead of Dias. After I travel around Nede, getting better armor and weapons, I land back at Central City. I'll see Nall again...
...tomorrow!
Can synards reproduce asexually? I also loved the callback to these guys in Star Ocean 4.
Why is Dias so bad at customization?!?!
Friday, February 17, 2023
The Unvaying Fate
This tower isn't as big as I remember.
The team enters Eluria and walks across the bridge. This doesn't look like it belongs on Expel, but I've never understood why the base is a tower. As we approach the looming structure, a voice calls out to ask for ID. Everyone's shocked by the sound, but it automatically reads the item we got from the armory. The final dungeon climb begins.
Open the items in the back of the room. Opera gets a new weapon if you haven't been customizing. There's also a status ailment preventing necklaces, but more importantly, there's a meteor ring here. This allows the user to get a free second attack with a basic swing. It's about half as strong, but it's an easy 2000 damage at this point. Dias can't make use of it, and Opera only shoots things, so the Eternal Sphere gets stronger! There's also a glass statue in the middle.
Continue to climb up, riding light elevators, opening chests, and reading statues the whole way. Eventually, we'll come to a dead end, but there are two gates that we can open with a keycard. To get the card, find the statue that looks like a priest. It'll ask for five letters, and the answer is a bit strange. The five responses will be found on the glass statues and spell out: A-P-O-C-A. "Apocalypse. The new unvarying fate!" In the remaster, the code is DEATH, which is much simpler. Ignoring why this base has such a feature, we get the card key we need and can now open both gates. Go left first.
We'll come to a dead end, but something happens with Claude. His jacket speaks, and it tells him he'll be beamed up to the Calnus in a matter of seconds. Claude runs forward, and a triangle beam appears around him, confusing everyone. Why don't the Tentragenes recognize it? An hour later... Claude returns with the triangle beam. He warns everyone they need to get off this floor. He leaves his communicator behind, and Rena welcomes him home. The beam returns, and the communicator disappears. Had we been playing Claude, we could have viewed a reunion with his father and crew.
The other gate takes us to Shin. Rena shows her emotions and vows to kill him, which we easily do. I wonder why Shin is killable now but not before? There are two more elevators, and the second one is a point of no return. Check the right and left rooms before taking the second right path. At this point, though, I wanted to give customization another go. I've gained several levels, so maybe this time it'll go better. It did! Not only did Rena get her Empresia, but Opera has her Pulse Box. Dias has three weapons of similar strength, but I couldn't get the one everyone agrees is his best. I'll stick with the penultimate one, Hard Cleaver. Now take that final elevator ride...
We'll see an ornate round stone in the background. The Sorcery Globe is smaller than I imagined. But there are ten people in front of it, hiding in darkness. They light up when they speak, and they don't think much of us. They point out Rena's pendant, calling it a Quadratic Key. They don't understand how an Expellian could have one since only Nedians can make them, but they'll get their answer soon. After one tries to kill Claude, Rena heals him. Only Nedians can use restorative magic, so they start calling Rena a Nedian. The men ponder why an Earthling is here, and they even point out our three eyed party members. But... it doesn't matter. Expel is on a collision course with Nede, so we're all gonna die. Rena's Key combined with the Globe to speed that up, but this was the men's plan all along. We think we can save everyone, but we can't. One of the men, Berle, will kill us himself. We can't harm him, and all you have to do is survive for a minute. It's a long minute... Run up and down because Berle has quick reactions but a slow swing speed. The planet shakes as the ten men are close enough to Nede to teleport there. As they light up for us, we cut to a CGI scene. The camera is in space, looking at Expel. It's careening towards a massive, purple energy field. The field is stronger than the planet and begins evaporating Expel before it finally vanishes altogether.
We cut again to the deck of the Calnus. Ronix(is) laments that he's failed his son and the one billion people on Expel. His crew reminds him there was nothing he could have done. The ship couldn't save a billion people, and Claude made his choice to die when he returned to the planet. This doesn't help the admiral.
And that's how the game ends! I don't know what's on this so called disk two, but I might as well check it out...
...tomorrow!
Ronix was a main character in Star Ocean 1. Also, when are we gonna get El DLC? There's so much stuff here, and I want to see it! What did Eluria look like? What was in the three craters we can see while on the world map? I love Expel, but I have so many (unimportant) questions about it!
The team enters Eluria and walks across the bridge. This doesn't look like it belongs on Expel, but I've never understood why the base is a tower. As we approach the looming structure, a voice calls out to ask for ID. Everyone's shocked by the sound, but it automatically reads the item we got from the armory. The final dungeon climb begins.
Open the items in the back of the room. Opera gets a new weapon if you haven't been customizing. There's also a status ailment preventing necklaces, but more importantly, there's a meteor ring here. This allows the user to get a free second attack with a basic swing. It's about half as strong, but it's an easy 2000 damage at this point. Dias can't make use of it, and Opera only shoots things, so the Eternal Sphere gets stronger! There's also a glass statue in the middle.
Continue to climb up, riding light elevators, opening chests, and reading statues the whole way. Eventually, we'll come to a dead end, but there are two gates that we can open with a keycard. To get the card, find the statue that looks like a priest. It'll ask for five letters, and the answer is a bit strange. The five responses will be found on the glass statues and spell out: A-P-O-C-A. "Apocalypse. The new unvarying fate!" In the remaster, the code is DEATH, which is much simpler. Ignoring why this base has such a feature, we get the card key we need and can now open both gates. Go left first.
We'll come to a dead end, but something happens with Claude. His jacket speaks, and it tells him he'll be beamed up to the Calnus in a matter of seconds. Claude runs forward, and a triangle beam appears around him, confusing everyone. Why don't the Tentragenes recognize it? An hour later... Claude returns with the triangle beam. He warns everyone they need to get off this floor. He leaves his communicator behind, and Rena welcomes him home. The beam returns, and the communicator disappears. Had we been playing Claude, we could have viewed a reunion with his father and crew.
The other gate takes us to Shin. Rena shows her emotions and vows to kill him, which we easily do. I wonder why Shin is killable now but not before? There are two more elevators, and the second one is a point of no return. Check the right and left rooms before taking the second right path. At this point, though, I wanted to give customization another go. I've gained several levels, so maybe this time it'll go better. It did! Not only did Rena get her Empresia, but Opera has her Pulse Box. Dias has three weapons of similar strength, but I couldn't get the one everyone agrees is his best. I'll stick with the penultimate one, Hard Cleaver. Now take that final elevator ride...
We'll see an ornate round stone in the background. The Sorcery Globe is smaller than I imagined. But there are ten people in front of it, hiding in darkness. They light up when they speak, and they don't think much of us. They point out Rena's pendant, calling it a Quadratic Key. They don't understand how an Expellian could have one since only Nedians can make them, but they'll get their answer soon. After one tries to kill Claude, Rena heals him. Only Nedians can use restorative magic, so they start calling Rena a Nedian. The men ponder why an Earthling is here, and they even point out our three eyed party members. But... it doesn't matter. Expel is on a collision course with Nede, so we're all gonna die. Rena's Key combined with the Globe to speed that up, but this was the men's plan all along. We think we can save everyone, but we can't. One of the men, Berle, will kill us himself. We can't harm him, and all you have to do is survive for a minute. It's a long minute... Run up and down because Berle has quick reactions but a slow swing speed. The planet shakes as the ten men are close enough to Nede to teleport there. As they light up for us, we cut to a CGI scene. The camera is in space, looking at Expel. It's careening towards a massive, purple energy field. The field is stronger than the planet and begins evaporating Expel before it finally vanishes altogether.
We cut again to the deck of the Calnus. Ronix(is) laments that he's failed his son and the one billion people on Expel. His crew reminds him there was nothing he could have done. The ship couldn't save a billion people, and Claude made his choice to die when he returned to the planet. This doesn't help the admiral.
And that's how the game ends! I don't know what's on this so called disk two, but I might as well check it out...
...tomorrow!
Ronix was a main character in Star Ocean 1. Also, when are we gonna get El DLC? There's so much stuff here, and I want to see it! What did Eluria look like? What was in the three craters we can see while on the world map? I love Expel, but I have so many (unimportant) questions about it!
Thursday, February 16, 2023
The Fall
The point of no return.
The Lacour Front Lines are to the north of the castle, through a narrow cavern near Hilton. There's a nice waterfall on our left, and head that way when you reach a fork in the road. This guy sells the best armor we can get. The general store has worthwhile weapons unless you came here a while ago. The goal is the general commander's room. Inside are three men: two randos and a guy with long, blue hair. Yep, Dias is here. He somehow doesn't see us enter. The guy in charge of the front lines tells us that we're the best of the best and vital to this mission. We're to remain here until further notice, which is when the Lacour Hope will be finished. Dias asks if this means the situation is dire because the kingdom is using mercs. The general abruptly finishes the briefing, and we all leave.
Rena is glad Dias is here, but Claude is less so. She calms him down by using the power of childhood friendship, but Claude asks why Dias is the way he is. She's reluctant to answer, but Dias joins the conversation and gives the okay (I think). Dias states that it seems he and Claude are destined to do this forever, and it's probably Rena's fault. He continues by waning about battle and loneliness before being edgy elsewhere. Claude responds with, "I, too, am an outsider on this planet." No one says anything, but Rena goes off to talk to her "big brother."
The Arlians reminisce about the past, and we (the player) see what happened. Dias' family was killed by bandits. He's been blaming himself ever since, and Rena knows it. She tries to get him to open up and even invites him onto the team. Dias is more interested in Claude and his relationship with Rena. Dias recognizes Claude's loneliness and asks Rena to stay with him. She's safer there. Dias is a loner and not a protector. Claude, meanwhile, fights best with someone at his back. Anyway, Dias joins the group, and Claude is, shockingly, down with it!
The next day... After aimlessly walking for a while, the front lines are attacked! Everyone is scared, but it's only one guy, and we're here. Shin is really strong! We can't do damage, so stall for time. Shin teleports away, and everyone thinks we showed them that humans have a counter.
Several days later... The infirmary is starting to fill up. We can only do so much, and attacks are relentless. And Rena doesn't want to heal anymore. After more aimless walking, we're attacked again. This time, though, the whole army is here! Everyone is worried about the approaching mass, but help is on its way. Leon tells everyone we're safe, walks up to the cannon in the background, and another wizard fires off a green blast. The scene is a mix of CGI and anime and is one of my favorites in the genre. The cannon sucks in green lights before launching a ball of energy at the horde. It explodes before contact and turns into a wave of smaller light beams, annihilating everyone across the landmass. From sorrow to hope: humans have a counter! We meet with Leon's parents, and they want us to see the King. The incursion to El will begin!
It goes bad. En route to El, we're attacked by Shin. Leon fires the Hope, but Shin blocks all of it with ease. He and his minions descend on us and wipe us out. There's no stalling for time here. He kicks us into the ocean, and everyone else jumps in, too, because sharks have a higher survival rate.
Everyone wakes up Rena, but someone is missing. Where's Claude? Dias is the one who tries to keep her spirits up and suggests he's simply washed ashore elsewhere. The group gets together and goes off to seek any survivors in El. There's a small set of houses hidden in the forest. The villagers suggest we see the chief, but Rena wants to wait for Claude. After a moment... Claude shows up! Rena runs into his arms, and they hold each other for the next long time. Eventually, our main characters recognize the awkwardness of this situation and talk to the guy in charge. We tell them we're from Lacour, and a maid gets excited. Sadly, we ruin the mood because Lacour has fallen to the horde. Or is about to... We ask about what's happening in El and the Sorcery Globe, and the head guy tells us that the Globe landed in Eluria, wiping it out. In the following days, demons began to emerge from the crayon and wreaked havoc. They wiped out several towns, and this is all that's left. Right now, the Sorcery Globe is in the warped remains of Eluria. And that's all Claude needs to know. We're gonna bust into Eluria and destroy the accursed meteor. The chief gives us access to the weapon stock, which contains a few good pieces of armor and a weapon for Bowman. They're in the barrels, which is neat. As we leave, the general shopkeeper hands us a strange item. Claude knows it's an ID Card, which Rena doesn't understand. Off to the east is Eluria Tower. But that's the game's final dungeon, so I'll climb that...
...tomorrow.
Ignore the odd thing called disk two that's packaged with the game.
I used to like Dias, but like so many other video game characters, he hasn't aged well to me. He's the edgy loner and lacks fun PAs. And his in battle stuff is bugged. He can't make use of accessories that have "attack chances" increased items. It reduces his attack proficiency by about half, so he's kinda bad.
The Lacour Front Lines are to the north of the castle, through a narrow cavern near Hilton. There's a nice waterfall on our left, and head that way when you reach a fork in the road. This guy sells the best armor we can get. The general store has worthwhile weapons unless you came here a while ago. The goal is the general commander's room. Inside are three men: two randos and a guy with long, blue hair. Yep, Dias is here. He somehow doesn't see us enter. The guy in charge of the front lines tells us that we're the best of the best and vital to this mission. We're to remain here until further notice, which is when the Lacour Hope will be finished. Dias asks if this means the situation is dire because the kingdom is using mercs. The general abruptly finishes the briefing, and we all leave.
Rena is glad Dias is here, but Claude is less so. She calms him down by using the power of childhood friendship, but Claude asks why Dias is the way he is. She's reluctant to answer, but Dias joins the conversation and gives the okay (I think). Dias states that it seems he and Claude are destined to do this forever, and it's probably Rena's fault. He continues by waning about battle and loneliness before being edgy elsewhere. Claude responds with, "I, too, am an outsider on this planet." No one says anything, but Rena goes off to talk to her "big brother."
The Arlians reminisce about the past, and we (the player) see what happened. Dias' family was killed by bandits. He's been blaming himself ever since, and Rena knows it. She tries to get him to open up and even invites him onto the team. Dias is more interested in Claude and his relationship with Rena. Dias recognizes Claude's loneliness and asks Rena to stay with him. She's safer there. Dias is a loner and not a protector. Claude, meanwhile, fights best with someone at his back. Anyway, Dias joins the group, and Claude is, shockingly, down with it!
The next day... After aimlessly walking for a while, the front lines are attacked! Everyone is scared, but it's only one guy, and we're here. Shin is really strong! We can't do damage, so stall for time. Shin teleports away, and everyone thinks we showed them that humans have a counter.
Several days later... The infirmary is starting to fill up. We can only do so much, and attacks are relentless. And Rena doesn't want to heal anymore. After more aimless walking, we're attacked again. This time, though, the whole army is here! Everyone is worried about the approaching mass, but help is on its way. Leon tells everyone we're safe, walks up to the cannon in the background, and another wizard fires off a green blast. The scene is a mix of CGI and anime and is one of my favorites in the genre. The cannon sucks in green lights before launching a ball of energy at the horde. It explodes before contact and turns into a wave of smaller light beams, annihilating everyone across the landmass. From sorrow to hope: humans have a counter! We meet with Leon's parents, and they want us to see the King. The incursion to El will begin!
It goes bad. En route to El, we're attacked by Shin. Leon fires the Hope, but Shin blocks all of it with ease. He and his minions descend on us and wipe us out. There's no stalling for time here. He kicks us into the ocean, and everyone else jumps in, too, because sharks have a higher survival rate.
Everyone wakes up Rena, but someone is missing. Where's Claude? Dias is the one who tries to keep her spirits up and suggests he's simply washed ashore elsewhere. The group gets together and goes off to seek any survivors in El. There's a small set of houses hidden in the forest. The villagers suggest we see the chief, but Rena wants to wait for Claude. After a moment... Claude shows up! Rena runs into his arms, and they hold each other for the next long time. Eventually, our main characters recognize the awkwardness of this situation and talk to the guy in charge. We tell them we're from Lacour, and a maid gets excited. Sadly, we ruin the mood because Lacour has fallen to the horde. Or is about to... We ask about what's happening in El and the Sorcery Globe, and the head guy tells us that the Globe landed in Eluria, wiping it out. In the following days, demons began to emerge from the crayon and wreaked havoc. They wiped out several towns, and this is all that's left. Right now, the Sorcery Globe is in the warped remains of Eluria. And that's all Claude needs to know. We're gonna bust into Eluria and destroy the accursed meteor. The chief gives us access to the weapon stock, which contains a few good pieces of armor and a weapon for Bowman. They're in the barrels, which is neat. As we leave, the general shopkeeper hands us a strange item. Claude knows it's an ID Card, which Rena doesn't understand. Off to the east is Eluria Tower. But that's the game's final dungeon, so I'll climb that...
...tomorrow.
Ignore the odd thing called disk two that's packaged with the game.
I used to like Dias, but like so many other video game characters, he hasn't aged well to me. He's the edgy loner and lacks fun PAs. And his in battle stuff is bugged. He can't make use of accessories that have "attack chances" increased items. It reduces his attack proficiency by about half, so he's kinda bad.
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Eternal Sphere!
Akin to nothing, I don't recognize "Til the End of Time" as canon. Fight me!
After checking out PAs with Bowman, who we learn is an overly romantic druggist, I finally return to Lacour. At least, it looks like Lacour.
The guard at the front gates informs us that the continent of El has fallen to monsters. This means Lacour is the likely next target. Out of fear of incursion, the King has ordered everyone to evacuate to the castle. He asks we do so, as well. We can walk around the desolate streets of the biggest city on the planet, and it's hard to tell a massive festival happened a few days ago. The roving crowds are gone, the bloodthirsty shopkeepers left their businesses, and even the innkeeper has left. The music that plays has changed too. I think it's a little overdramatic, but it works for a first playthrough to make that feeling of tension the game's about to force on you. The plot from here out changes.
Rena registers at the front desk of the castle, and we're officially stuck here. Wander around if you want; you can loot 10000 fol from the King and meet with the scoured princess who hates us. But the destination is the not-so-secret lab in the right wing. It's unguarded, and all the people on the floor are gone, so sneak a little further in behind a guard who's not doing a good job. From our vantage point, we can overhear a group of people talking about a missing piece. Someone's eager to get it, but others have reservations. Rena backs out, but she makes a sound and alerts the guard. He's not happy. Fortunately, Bowman is here!
He soothes it over with the guard, and even the King recognizes him. Bowman worked for this lab for six months a few years ago and made a big impact. So much so that he knows about the Lacour Hope, a weapon meant to keep other nations in check, but a demon horde is a good target. Along with the King are three other researchers, Murdoch, Florence, and Leon, their son. Leon is a brat. He's arrogant, self assured, and thinks he can get the missing piece of this weapon all alone. He questions our every move and doesn't want to work with anyone else. Leon's also ten... The thing keeping the Hope from being completed is away at the Hoffman Ruins. Leon's parents know it's dangerous and don't want their son to go alone, so Bowman offers to escort him as punishment for spying. Everyone agrees, and we head to Hilton.
Leon is another mage, so do with him as you will. Magic slows the game down for me, so I run three warriors and a Rena. He's also temporary here... The ship departs and heads north to Iceland. I don't know if those are glaciers or mountains, but the blue things make a natural barrier with only one landing point. The Hoffman Ruins are deep in the forest. We come to a structure that looks like the combination of a Mayan pyramid and an Eastern Orthodox temple (or whatever the generic name for the Hagia Sofia is). After a large set of stairs, we come to a just as large door that can't be opened. Leon claims to know how to open it and insists he's done this before, but he fails three times. Eventually, he asks Rena to press one of the buttons, and the L Gate works. The top floor of the ruins gives me prison vibes, but the bottom/mine area is where the fun starts.
The Hoffman Ruins are a maze of mineshafts. Passages web their way to and fro, and it's easy to get lost. This is one of the few dungeons I can remember with two paths to the boss. The enemy variety is very odd. You can fight two fire lizards or a floating cat. One is harder than the other... If you see a group with seven shield guys, just cast Light Cross. This is also the first battlefield where you may notice the stage hazards. Now, I still have nightmares about the upcoming boss. I once spent a whole week getting wiped by their Thunderstorm spell spam. Because of that, I want to be as strong as possible. And in Star Ocean 2, it's an easy overkill! If you fought Dias in the tournament, you should have spoken to Gamgee afterwards. He'll give you the sword Dias used (with a different name). That is the key to becoming a god! Save scumming the Radar skill can get you two pieces of mithril, a late game crafting component. Have Claude customize the Sharpness into a Midas Sword with the mithril, and then do it again. Save between tries. The end result should be the strongest sword in the game, the Eternal Sphere! Claude's attack is now over 2200! Both Harfanx die quickly. Even using that sword, I can tell the difficulty spike here is terrifying!
After the battle, Leon's gone!? He re-enters from behind a pillar he used as a hiding space. The ambush scared our arrogant wizard. There's some teasing, but everyone knows a child should react like that. Regardless, before the fight, Rena noticed her pendant started glowing, but it's stopped now. Leon gets the Energy Stone we came here for, and we pack up.
As we're about the leave, Opera sees something and runs after it. It's that three eyed dude we saw in Cross. He speaks nice things towards his girlfriend, but Opera gets the willies. This isn't Ernest? Eventually, Opera shoots the man and goes after the corpse. The body returns, holding her hostage and demanding we give it the Energy Stone. Our new enemy is actually a ghost that is possessing Ernest, so we attack it. Even without the ES, I don't think this is hard. Rena heals Ernest, and he comes to. He came to investigate some heraldic ruins on this planet but miffed it up. Suddenly, Opera realizes what this means. If Ernest is back, she has to leave. We can wish the couple luck, or we can bring them along. Ernest sucks, but I need to learn more about him, so guess what I do?
We board the ship back to Hilton, and the guard congratulates Leon for his unquestionable success. But Leon seems to be less talkative. Anyway, customization took forever, so I'll return to Lacour...
Right now! No, this isn't a phantom edit. Shut up!
Leon is insistent that we meet with the King. After we remark that everyone calls him "master," he hands over the Energy Stone. After seeking positive reinforcement from his parents but not getting it because the King's here, the Gehste's leave to work on the Lacour Hope. And now we get punished. King Lacour has looked into us and confirmed that we really are on a mission from King Cross. Out of respect for our abilities, he requests vital aid from us. Lacour can't spare the manpower to take us to El. Instead, we'll need to free up the Front Lines and save them from the monster onslaught. We have no other option, so we'll meet the general...
...tomorrow!
How did one dungeon take so long to write? I plan to brush up on my customization in the next few days, so I'm gonna fly through this game. So get ready to read 1500 words typed on a phone!
It turns out that customizable is a pain in the ass for Rena and Opera, so I'll save it for later. My characters are mid 40 already, so I should get on with it.
After checking out PAs with Bowman, who we learn is an overly romantic druggist, I finally return to Lacour. At least, it looks like Lacour.
The guard at the front gates informs us that the continent of El has fallen to monsters. This means Lacour is the likely next target. Out of fear of incursion, the King has ordered everyone to evacuate to the castle. He asks we do so, as well. We can walk around the desolate streets of the biggest city on the planet, and it's hard to tell a massive festival happened a few days ago. The roving crowds are gone, the bloodthirsty shopkeepers left their businesses, and even the innkeeper has left. The music that plays has changed too. I think it's a little overdramatic, but it works for a first playthrough to make that feeling of tension the game's about to force on you. The plot from here out changes.
Rena registers at the front desk of the castle, and we're officially stuck here. Wander around if you want; you can loot 10000 fol from the King and meet with the scoured princess who hates us. But the destination is the not-so-secret lab in the right wing. It's unguarded, and all the people on the floor are gone, so sneak a little further in behind a guard who's not doing a good job. From our vantage point, we can overhear a group of people talking about a missing piece. Someone's eager to get it, but others have reservations. Rena backs out, but she makes a sound and alerts the guard. He's not happy. Fortunately, Bowman is here!
He soothes it over with the guard, and even the King recognizes him. Bowman worked for this lab for six months a few years ago and made a big impact. So much so that he knows about the Lacour Hope, a weapon meant to keep other nations in check, but a demon horde is a good target. Along with the King are three other researchers, Murdoch, Florence, and Leon, their son. Leon is a brat. He's arrogant, self assured, and thinks he can get the missing piece of this weapon all alone. He questions our every move and doesn't want to work with anyone else. Leon's also ten... The thing keeping the Hope from being completed is away at the Hoffman Ruins. Leon's parents know it's dangerous and don't want their son to go alone, so Bowman offers to escort him as punishment for spying. Everyone agrees, and we head to Hilton.
Leon is another mage, so do with him as you will. Magic slows the game down for me, so I run three warriors and a Rena. He's also temporary here... The ship departs and heads north to Iceland. I don't know if those are glaciers or mountains, but the blue things make a natural barrier with only one landing point. The Hoffman Ruins are deep in the forest. We come to a structure that looks like the combination of a Mayan pyramid and an Eastern Orthodox temple (or whatever the generic name for the Hagia Sofia is). After a large set of stairs, we come to a just as large door that can't be opened. Leon claims to know how to open it and insists he's done this before, but he fails three times. Eventually, he asks Rena to press one of the buttons, and the L Gate works. The top floor of the ruins gives me prison vibes, but the bottom/mine area is where the fun starts.
The Hoffman Ruins are a maze of mineshafts. Passages web their way to and fro, and it's easy to get lost. This is one of the few dungeons I can remember with two paths to the boss. The enemy variety is very odd. You can fight two fire lizards or a floating cat. One is harder than the other... If you see a group with seven shield guys, just cast Light Cross. This is also the first battlefield where you may notice the stage hazards. Now, I still have nightmares about the upcoming boss. I once spent a whole week getting wiped by their Thunderstorm spell spam. Because of that, I want to be as strong as possible. And in Star Ocean 2, it's an easy overkill! If you fought Dias in the tournament, you should have spoken to Gamgee afterwards. He'll give you the sword Dias used (with a different name). That is the key to becoming a god! Save scumming the Radar skill can get you two pieces of mithril, a late game crafting component. Have Claude customize the Sharpness into a Midas Sword with the mithril, and then do it again. Save between tries. The end result should be the strongest sword in the game, the Eternal Sphere! Claude's attack is now over 2200! Both Harfanx die quickly. Even using that sword, I can tell the difficulty spike here is terrifying!
After the battle, Leon's gone!? He re-enters from behind a pillar he used as a hiding space. The ambush scared our arrogant wizard. There's some teasing, but everyone knows a child should react like that. Regardless, before the fight, Rena noticed her pendant started glowing, but it's stopped now. Leon gets the Energy Stone we came here for, and we pack up.
As we're about the leave, Opera sees something and runs after it. It's that three eyed dude we saw in Cross. He speaks nice things towards his girlfriend, but Opera gets the willies. This isn't Ernest? Eventually, Opera shoots the man and goes after the corpse. The body returns, holding her hostage and demanding we give it the Energy Stone. Our new enemy is actually a ghost that is possessing Ernest, so we attack it. Even without the ES, I don't think this is hard. Rena heals Ernest, and he comes to. He came to investigate some heraldic ruins on this planet but miffed it up. Suddenly, Opera realizes what this means. If Ernest is back, she has to leave. We can wish the couple luck, or we can bring them along. Ernest sucks, but I need to learn more about him, so guess what I do?
We board the ship back to Hilton, and the guard congratulates Leon for his unquestionable success. But Leon seems to be less talkative. Anyway, customization took forever, so I'll return to Lacour...
Right now! No, this isn't a phantom edit. Shut up!
Leon is insistent that we meet with the King. After we remark that everyone calls him "master," he hands over the Energy Stone. After seeking positive reinforcement from his parents but not getting it because the King's here, the Gehste's leave to work on the Lacour Hope. And now we get punished. King Lacour has looked into us and confirmed that we really are on a mission from King Cross. Out of respect for our abilities, he requests vital aid from us. Lacour can't spare the manpower to take us to El. Instead, we'll need to free up the Front Lines and save them from the monster onslaught. We have no other option, so we'll meet the general...
...tomorrow!
How did one dungeon take so long to write? I plan to brush up on my customization in the next few days, so I'm gonna fly through this game. So get ready to read 1500 words typed on a phone!
It turns out that customizable is a pain in the ass for Rena and Opera, so I'll save it for later. My characters are mid 40 already, so I should get on with it.
Monday, February 13, 2023
What's the opposite of a sanctuary?
Herbal weeds in a cave...?
Our team of four heads across the sea to the university town of Linga. A famous linguist lives here, and we hope he can decode our writings because this McGuffin needs some explaining. The house near the co-op shop, opposite the town exit, is the place we're looking for. We enter the humble abode to meet with an assistant. This is an intern working for a man named Kieth. Kieth is very busy, so we'll have to make an appointment. Unfortunately, he's booked up for the next month. We don't have that time, so the intern shoves us out of the house. We now wonder how to expedite the meeting, and the only thing anyone can think of is making a mutual friend.
Across the river from the university is a pharmacy run by Bowman Jene and his wife, Neineh. Bowman's at the counter, and he's good friends with Kieth. We ask if he can get us an in, and we even show him the cool Ancient Writings. But he doesn't believe us. Cross Cave is dangerous, and this manuscript could be gibberish. If we want him to consider we could do such an act, we're gonna have to do it again. A nearby cave, The Sanctuary of Linga, is uncharted territory. Bowman thinks that a new, never before seen herb can be found there. If we bring a new plant, he'll hook us up. The party protests over the absurdity of discovering the unknown, but we have no choice.
The Sanctuary is across the field from Linga. Inside are several herbs, but most of them are the usual stuff you can buy at stores. Rena gets excited every time, but Claude breaks the truth. However, there are two herbs that will satisfy Mr. Jene. Both are deep and easy to reach, but the real tun is far beyond them. Throughout the area are skeletons of dragons and giants that indicate something big is here. Bowman warned us about a theoretical Door to Another World, as well. There doesn't appear to be a door here, but there is an optional boss fight. Three man eating clouds attack us, and these guys can be rough. As I said, they can eat a character, removing them from battle. They do, eventually, vomit them up, but that can take a while, and if everyone is consumed, you lose. You get a good amount of exp and enough fol to carry through the rest of disk one.
Return to Bowman, and he'll be thrilled. The clarisage is rare enough, but the dill whip is brand new. We don't care... Bowman joins us to visit Kieth, and he causes a ruckus! The intern comes to yell at us but changes his tone when he sees not Professor Bowman. The plan works, and we can see the linguist. Kieth is bored with the castle's stuff, so he takes a look at our scroll. Excitement runs through him! He makes references to stuff we can't possibly understand, but he'll begin to decode the writings immediately.
We spend the night at the Jene's, and Rena goes looking for Bowman. Our talk of the Sorcery Globe that night has gotten him riled up. He wants to travel with us! We can turn him down for his wife's sake, but I want to learn more about the pharmacist. The team goes to bed, and we (the player) see a conversation between Bowman and Neineh. She quickly agrees to let him go. After an unceremonious going away event, where Bowman insults everyone for wanting pomp and circumstance in everything, the five of us return to Lacour to meet with the King. We'll go to El...
...tomorrow!
Veteran Star Ocean players know there really is another world out there. We visit the Demon Realm in the first game. Sadly, we can't discover more, nor is anything else about this dungeon relevant. Fun fact, I only learned about this part of the Sanctuary in 2015. It blew my mind!
I also did my first customization. Rena has just under 1000 attack all of a sudden.
Also, also, it's a forklift and not a bulldozer.
Our team of four heads across the sea to the university town of Linga. A famous linguist lives here, and we hope he can decode our writings because this McGuffin needs some explaining. The house near the co-op shop, opposite the town exit, is the place we're looking for. We enter the humble abode to meet with an assistant. This is an intern working for a man named Kieth. Kieth is very busy, so we'll have to make an appointment. Unfortunately, he's booked up for the next month. We don't have that time, so the intern shoves us out of the house. We now wonder how to expedite the meeting, and the only thing anyone can think of is making a mutual friend.
Across the river from the university is a pharmacy run by Bowman Jene and his wife, Neineh. Bowman's at the counter, and he's good friends with Kieth. We ask if he can get us an in, and we even show him the cool Ancient Writings. But he doesn't believe us. Cross Cave is dangerous, and this manuscript could be gibberish. If we want him to consider we could do such an act, we're gonna have to do it again. A nearby cave, The Sanctuary of Linga, is uncharted territory. Bowman thinks that a new, never before seen herb can be found there. If we bring a new plant, he'll hook us up. The party protests over the absurdity of discovering the unknown, but we have no choice.
The Sanctuary is across the field from Linga. Inside are several herbs, but most of them are the usual stuff you can buy at stores. Rena gets excited every time, but Claude breaks the truth. However, there are two herbs that will satisfy Mr. Jene. Both are deep and easy to reach, but the real tun is far beyond them. Throughout the area are skeletons of dragons and giants that indicate something big is here. Bowman warned us about a theoretical Door to Another World, as well. There doesn't appear to be a door here, but there is an optional boss fight. Three man eating clouds attack us, and these guys can be rough. As I said, they can eat a character, removing them from battle. They do, eventually, vomit them up, but that can take a while, and if everyone is consumed, you lose. You get a good amount of exp and enough fol to carry through the rest of disk one.
Return to Bowman, and he'll be thrilled. The clarisage is rare enough, but the dill whip is brand new. We don't care... Bowman joins us to visit Kieth, and he causes a ruckus! The intern comes to yell at us but changes his tone when he sees not Professor Bowman. The plan works, and we can see the linguist. Kieth is bored with the castle's stuff, so he takes a look at our scroll. Excitement runs through him! He makes references to stuff we can't possibly understand, but he'll begin to decode the writings immediately.
We spend the night at the Jene's, and Rena goes looking for Bowman. Our talk of the Sorcery Globe that night has gotten him riled up. He wants to travel with us! We can turn him down for his wife's sake, but I want to learn more about the pharmacist. The team goes to bed, and we (the player) see a conversation between Bowman and Neineh. She quickly agrees to let him go. After an unceremonious going away event, where Bowman insults everyone for wanting pomp and circumstance in everything, the five of us return to Lacour to meet with the King. We'll go to El...
...tomorrow!
Veteran Star Ocean players know there really is another world out there. We visit the Demon Realm in the first game. Sadly, we can't discover more, nor is anything else about this dungeon relevant. Fun fact, I only learned about this part of the Sanctuary in 2015. It blew my mind!
I also did my first customization. Rena has just under 1000 attack all of a sudden.
Also, also, it's a forklift and not a bulldozer.
Sunday, February 12, 2023
Tournament of Arms
But we can't play it!
The party walks into Lacour, the titular capital of the largest kingdom on Expel, and they take note of the sheer mass of people. This is what Dias was talking about in Mars; a grand fighting championship is taking place soon. The women are excited, but Claude reminds them they have business to attend to. All the weapon shops are seeking warriors to represent them and won't sell us anything. So just head to the castle and meet with the King.
He's not taking audience requests. The tournament is too important, so he's busy with that. However, an attendant at the counter believes winners can meet with the King! Claude, using that as a guise, registers. Rena brings up Dias, which makes me (the player) realize Claude's looking for him. But we can't find the blue haired boy, so let's finish our registration. We'll need to select one of the four weapon shops on the east side of town to supply us. Each shop is different and has a varying selection pool. The differences in changes between them are attack, defense, and what items we can use in the battle. Since we can't control Claude on Rena's route, the sundries don't matter. And since I over leveled for this (25), I'm not sure the stats do either. Ultimately, I went with Slayer because the sexy propaganda outside the owner's shop. Once you select a shop, the party returns to the commons and prepares for the long haul of this arc. To continue, head to the inn. Once you're there, though, you're stuck. If you need more training, do it now.
Everyone heads to the room and prepares to do nothing for the next few days. There's a bulldozer in Hilton, but television hasn't been invented. After twenty seconds, Rena's already bored and goes for a walk. She winds up on an odd cliff. A small girl is trying to pitch her grandfather's sword to a tournament participant, but the man blows her off, thinking her grandpa is an eccentric old man. Rena, being an overly kind girl, offers to help Suphia. We take her to the bar and speak to a handful of men. None of them care. For some reason, Rena tries to leave. As she does, Dias enters. The Arlians discuss why Rena is here because Dias forgot he said he was coming. Claude's discussed... Three men begin to hound Suphia, so we try to protect her. Dias tells us he's not found a shop to support him because Lacour swords aren't what they used to be. This further angers the men, and they promise Dias will get his comeuppance in the arena. Dias scolds us as we leave the bar but tells Rena to return to Claude. He and Suphia will speak with Grandpa Gamgee.
Days pass, and the tournament begins. Rena is curious how Claude will do. And what about Dias? We head to the castle, and everything is fine with Claude. Dias enters as we finish, but his sword has yet to arrive. He heads out to find Gamgee, and Rena wants to help. She's responsible for finding Dias' blade, so she has a right. Learning this upsets Claude. Who's side is Rena on!? They get into an argument, and Rena goes after Dias.
We head to Gamgee's house, and he's not there. Suphia is, though, and she tells us the two were accosted en route to the castle. Head to the bar, and the three nerds emerge to attack us using Gamgee's sword. They're standard enemies. Dias gets his sword, and we can find Gamgee in the bar. We can also inform Suphia, but the destination is the arena. Fun fact, you can unequip Sharpness and customize it to something else. It's reequipped in a moment, but what would have happened if we had turned it into something else? I didn't, and everything was a go. Dias heads to battle and thanks Rena, who goes to the seating area. Celine is there, as is Claude. He won his first match and is enjoying some downtime. He doesn't relish it long because Dias enters and makes quick work of his round one opponent.
The rest of this section revolves around Rena and Claude having a lover's spat with Dias and Claude having battles as a backdrop. We can see Gamgee and Suphia across the field. She'll ask them to cheer for Dias because she has to root for Claude. Both men deal with round two, and round three is skipped on Rena's route. We jump to the finals.
Claude gets his ass kicked.
We cut to the infirmary and Rena's healing Claude. Claude has no memory of what happened, so Dias gave our male MC CTE... Dias enters and tells Claude that he's actually pretty good. Dias stated that he had to go all out, which I (the player) know is a lie, but whatever. Celine tells us the runner up gets a prize, so visit your shop of choice and get the gear they gave you along with 6500 fol. As they leave Lacour, they make a new plan to go to Linga. A potential linguist also enjoyed the tournament, so maybe we can speak to him now. Alternatively...
Uead to Hilton. If you saw the three eyed man in Cross, you'll see a three eyed woman drinking a guy under the table at the bar. She asks if we've seen anyone else with three eyes, and Rena will say that she has. After a "wait, what?," Opera introduces herself as thanks and heads to Cross. If we speak with the King of Cross now, he'll tell us Opera was just here and went to the Mountain Palace. He also gives us permission to go there, warns us about the boss, and gives us 10000 fol.
The Palace is just before Clik, up a mountain, and near a lake. The red sky is the giveaway. This place is a huge and winding maze that even I've never figured out. Hug the right handed exits to make a b line to Opera. Any exploration should be done with her because she's a bit under leveled. As we approach her, she pulls out a large stick, and Claude has a private chat before the Expelians break it up. Anyway, Opera is looking for her lover, Ernest, who she thinks is here. We now have to head deeper in, fighting new enemies who like status ailments. We'll eventually reach a room filled with futuristic machinery, but Ernest isn't here. Rena suggests Opera join the team, which she does!
Opera has a gun, but she'll choose to smack people with it instead of pulling the trigger. I think that's her killer moves, though. To advance her story, head to the back of the Shingo Forest to find her ruined spaceship that crashed there. She and Claude bond over being trapped here, which Rena and Celine don't understand. With a full, harem party now, we'll go to Linga...
...tomorrow!
Ashton is one of my favorite characters ever, so I kinda hate leaving him behind. But I have so little experience with Opera and Ernest, and I need to know more about them. I'll be doing the same with tomorrow's character too. Ashton's quest has two dungeons all about him, so he feels like a bigger piece. Can the Tetragenesus match him overall? Star Ocean 2 has a 49/50 on my rankings. It's only missing a playable cast tally (by .17 points) so I'm looking for anything I've overlooked. It's been twenty years since I've used Opera, Ernest, Bowman, and Chrisato.
The party walks into Lacour, the titular capital of the largest kingdom on Expel, and they take note of the sheer mass of people. This is what Dias was talking about in Mars; a grand fighting championship is taking place soon. The women are excited, but Claude reminds them they have business to attend to. All the weapon shops are seeking warriors to represent them and won't sell us anything. So just head to the castle and meet with the King.
He's not taking audience requests. The tournament is too important, so he's busy with that. However, an attendant at the counter believes winners can meet with the King! Claude, using that as a guise, registers. Rena brings up Dias, which makes me (the player) realize Claude's looking for him. But we can't find the blue haired boy, so let's finish our registration. We'll need to select one of the four weapon shops on the east side of town to supply us. Each shop is different and has a varying selection pool. The differences in changes between them are attack, defense, and what items we can use in the battle. Since we can't control Claude on Rena's route, the sundries don't matter. And since I over leveled for this (25), I'm not sure the stats do either. Ultimately, I went with Slayer because the sexy propaganda outside the owner's shop. Once you select a shop, the party returns to the commons and prepares for the long haul of this arc. To continue, head to the inn. Once you're there, though, you're stuck. If you need more training, do it now.
Everyone heads to the room and prepares to do nothing for the next few days. There's a bulldozer in Hilton, but television hasn't been invented. After twenty seconds, Rena's already bored and goes for a walk. She winds up on an odd cliff. A small girl is trying to pitch her grandfather's sword to a tournament participant, but the man blows her off, thinking her grandpa is an eccentric old man. Rena, being an overly kind girl, offers to help Suphia. We take her to the bar and speak to a handful of men. None of them care. For some reason, Rena tries to leave. As she does, Dias enters. The Arlians discuss why Rena is here because Dias forgot he said he was coming. Claude's discussed... Three men begin to hound Suphia, so we try to protect her. Dias tells us he's not found a shop to support him because Lacour swords aren't what they used to be. This further angers the men, and they promise Dias will get his comeuppance in the arena. Dias scolds us as we leave the bar but tells Rena to return to Claude. He and Suphia will speak with Grandpa Gamgee.
Days pass, and the tournament begins. Rena is curious how Claude will do. And what about Dias? We head to the castle, and everything is fine with Claude. Dias enters as we finish, but his sword has yet to arrive. He heads out to find Gamgee, and Rena wants to help. She's responsible for finding Dias' blade, so she has a right. Learning this upsets Claude. Who's side is Rena on!? They get into an argument, and Rena goes after Dias.
We head to Gamgee's house, and he's not there. Suphia is, though, and she tells us the two were accosted en route to the castle. Head to the bar, and the three nerds emerge to attack us using Gamgee's sword. They're standard enemies. Dias gets his sword, and we can find Gamgee in the bar. We can also inform Suphia, but the destination is the arena. Fun fact, you can unequip Sharpness and customize it to something else. It's reequipped in a moment, but what would have happened if we had turned it into something else? I didn't, and everything was a go. Dias heads to battle and thanks Rena, who goes to the seating area. Celine is there, as is Claude. He won his first match and is enjoying some downtime. He doesn't relish it long because Dias enters and makes quick work of his round one opponent.
The rest of this section revolves around Rena and Claude having a lover's spat with Dias and Claude having battles as a backdrop. We can see Gamgee and Suphia across the field. She'll ask them to cheer for Dias because she has to root for Claude. Both men deal with round two, and round three is skipped on Rena's route. We jump to the finals.
Claude gets his ass kicked.
We cut to the infirmary and Rena's healing Claude. Claude has no memory of what happened, so Dias gave our male MC CTE... Dias enters and tells Claude that he's actually pretty good. Dias stated that he had to go all out, which I (the player) know is a lie, but whatever. Celine tells us the runner up gets a prize, so visit your shop of choice and get the gear they gave you along with 6500 fol. As they leave Lacour, they make a new plan to go to Linga. A potential linguist also enjoyed the tournament, so maybe we can speak to him now. Alternatively...
Uead to Hilton. If you saw the three eyed man in Cross, you'll see a three eyed woman drinking a guy under the table at the bar. She asks if we've seen anyone else with three eyes, and Rena will say that she has. After a "wait, what?," Opera introduces herself as thanks and heads to Cross. If we speak with the King of Cross now, he'll tell us Opera was just here and went to the Mountain Palace. He also gives us permission to go there, warns us about the boss, and gives us 10000 fol.
The Palace is just before Clik, up a mountain, and near a lake. The red sky is the giveaway. This place is a huge and winding maze that even I've never figured out. Hug the right handed exits to make a b line to Opera. Any exploration should be done with her because she's a bit under leveled. As we approach her, she pulls out a large stick, and Claude has a private chat before the Expelians break it up. Anyway, Opera is looking for her lover, Ernest, who she thinks is here. We now have to head deeper in, fighting new enemies who like status ailments. We'll eventually reach a room filled with futuristic machinery, but Ernest isn't here. Rena suggests Opera join the team, which she does!
Opera has a gun, but she'll choose to smack people with it instead of pulling the trigger. I think that's her killer moves, though. To advance her story, head to the back of the Shingo Forest to find her ruined spaceship that crashed there. She and Claude bond over being trapped here, which Rena and Celine don't understand. With a full, harem party now, we'll go to Linga...
...tomorrow!
Ashton is one of my favorite characters ever, so I kinda hate leaving him behind. But I have so little experience with Opera and Ernest, and I need to know more about them. I'll be doing the same with tomorrow's character too. Ashton's quest has two dungeons all about him, so he feels like a bigger piece. Can the Tetragenesus match him overall? Star Ocean 2 has a 49/50 on my rankings. It's only missing a playable cast tally (by .17 points) so I'm looking for anything I've overlooked. It's been twenty years since I've used Opera, Ernest, Bowman, and Chrisato.
Saturday, February 11, 2023
Party Split
I probably shouldn't have played tonight, but I wanted to open up the map. I'm really bad at Smash, by the way.
The events at Clik have docked all the ships at Herlie. After Rena saved a man named Yul from the local gangster, Zand, the party went to Celine's hometown of Mars. The streets are empty, and the few adults tell us something terrible happened. All the town's children have been abducted. We head into the Elder's house to see him, Heraldic Master, Celine's parents, and a man with blue hair.
Egert and Laub fill us in that a group of bandits kidnapped the kids. We know this because the Master, who was training in the sacred Heraldry Forest, was snuck up on by a bandit. The bandit told him they've taken the children and are demanding a ransom. For half a million fol and a sacred book, they'll return them. The people in this room have a plan, but they're unsure if to enact it for the sake of the kids. And this brings us to the blue haired man. He's a world renowned swordsman who was traveling through town. Rena knows him because he's the guy aunt Rachel told us about: Dias Flak. Dias has agreed to save the kids as a warmup to the Lacour Tournament of Arms, but Celine seems uncertain of him. Rena vouches for him, which calms her down, but she's already done damage. Dias doesn't want to work anymore. He leaves, but Rena tries to fix the divide. By appealing to Dias' little sister complex, she does so. His "other little sister" tells him that Cecille thanks him too. As Rena leaves the room, Dias tells the aether that "Heaven is too far away. I didn't hear anything."
Sadly, Claude doesn't want to work with him. If Dias is so good, why do we need to fight together? I'm glad the lives of children are set pieces to all this. I sense that someone has a Swordpoleon Complex! Out of anger, Rena leaves the party and plans to accompany Dias in the morning before anyone wakes up.
The entirety of the Heraldry Forest is a side scrolling dungeon, which I think is kinda neat. Battles are the same, so it changes nothing. The gist is several groups of bandits walk up to Dias and Rena. Dias insults them, they attack us, and Dias murders them. Keep Rena out of the way and enjoy the free exp. Dias is unlikely to be killed, so just let your level thirty five sword master do his thing. Rena tries to make Dias a better person, but her words fall on deaf ears. The hardest part of this dungeon is keeping Rena alive in the random battles. Groups of sexy wizards are terrifying.
Eventually, a child who escaped from the bandits comes up to us. Her name is Cecille, and Dias thinks for a moment. Behind her is the bandit house. It's unguarded, which confuses Dias. Why leave the target open? Is this a red herring? As he asks that, a knight enters the clearing. Azamgil tells us the real plan was to draw away the mages from Mars and loot the whole town. The kids were only an added bonus for the slave traders. That was the plan the boss came up with, but this guy is not the boss. One of the hardest fights in the game begins regardless.
Ama is flanked by four shield guys. These four can only be harmed from the back, which AI controlled Dias sucks at. In hindsight, maybe the player should control him? Instead, I spammed Ray with Rena to keep everyone occupied. Once I ran low on MP, I ran around to keep more off Dias and used berries to heal him. He can and will, be harmed in this fight. I have memories of dying here, so I'm glad to be past this. Afterwards, unequip Dias because he won't need gear. We get the key, so free the kids and return to town. En route, we see Claude and Celine standing over the monstrous body of the Master. Dias, in his own way, compliments Claude's sword work and leaves.
We cut to Rena curing Eglan, who was harmed while we were away. She leaves the Jules family and hangs out with Claude. They talk about Dias again and what he might be doing. Claude misunderstands Dias and Rena's relationship, and she hurriedly changes the subject to the Sorcery Globe. They come together and leave Mars. A voice yells at them to wait, and Celine comes after us. The heroes need their banquet!
We speak to Eglan, and he tells us his thoughts about the Globe. It's a ball of demon energy. He wishes we wouldn't go after it, but Celine tells him, "too bad." In the morning, they escort us to the exit. As we leave, Eglan tells us to visit Linga. There might be someone who can decipher those writings. So head to Hurley and take the ship to Hilton. And here's where I messed up. I went to Linga and saw a teenager chase after a mechanical blue egg Claude called a radio controlled car. I came here because I thought the Skill Shop sold Sensibility 2. Instead, Hilton sells it. I've been looking for the skill Perseverance for the last five hours. That lowers the amount of skill points needed to raise all other skills a level. Combine that with a cheap Kitchen Knife, and your strength stat will skyrocket. Rena's attack is nearly 300, fifty over Claude. I am now ready to dig into item creation...
...tomorrow!
Actually, no. I want to raise my stats first. Also, Hilton had an actual, engine powered bulldozer in the port. How does a society based on medieval Earth have a bulldozer?
Also, there's a scene at the hotel where Rena witnesses Claude calling out to the stars.
The events at Clik have docked all the ships at Herlie. After Rena saved a man named Yul from the local gangster, Zand, the party went to Celine's hometown of Mars. The streets are empty, and the few adults tell us something terrible happened. All the town's children have been abducted. We head into the Elder's house to see him, Heraldic Master, Celine's parents, and a man with blue hair.
Egert and Laub fill us in that a group of bandits kidnapped the kids. We know this because the Master, who was training in the sacred Heraldry Forest, was snuck up on by a bandit. The bandit told him they've taken the children and are demanding a ransom. For half a million fol and a sacred book, they'll return them. The people in this room have a plan, but they're unsure if to enact it for the sake of the kids. And this brings us to the blue haired man. He's a world renowned swordsman who was traveling through town. Rena knows him because he's the guy aunt Rachel told us about: Dias Flak. Dias has agreed to save the kids as a warmup to the Lacour Tournament of Arms, but Celine seems uncertain of him. Rena vouches for him, which calms her down, but she's already done damage. Dias doesn't want to work anymore. He leaves, but Rena tries to fix the divide. By appealing to Dias' little sister complex, she does so. His "other little sister" tells him that Cecille thanks him too. As Rena leaves the room, Dias tells the aether that "Heaven is too far away. I didn't hear anything."
Sadly, Claude doesn't want to work with him. If Dias is so good, why do we need to fight together? I'm glad the lives of children are set pieces to all this. I sense that someone has a Swordpoleon Complex! Out of anger, Rena leaves the party and plans to accompany Dias in the morning before anyone wakes up.
The entirety of the Heraldry Forest is a side scrolling dungeon, which I think is kinda neat. Battles are the same, so it changes nothing. The gist is several groups of bandits walk up to Dias and Rena. Dias insults them, they attack us, and Dias murders them. Keep Rena out of the way and enjoy the free exp. Dias is unlikely to be killed, so just let your level thirty five sword master do his thing. Rena tries to make Dias a better person, but her words fall on deaf ears. The hardest part of this dungeon is keeping Rena alive in the random battles. Groups of sexy wizards are terrifying.
Eventually, a child who escaped from the bandits comes up to us. Her name is Cecille, and Dias thinks for a moment. Behind her is the bandit house. It's unguarded, which confuses Dias. Why leave the target open? Is this a red herring? As he asks that, a knight enters the clearing. Azamgil tells us the real plan was to draw away the mages from Mars and loot the whole town. The kids were only an added bonus for the slave traders. That was the plan the boss came up with, but this guy is not the boss. One of the hardest fights in the game begins regardless.
Ama is flanked by four shield guys. These four can only be harmed from the back, which AI controlled Dias sucks at. In hindsight, maybe the player should control him? Instead, I spammed Ray with Rena to keep everyone occupied. Once I ran low on MP, I ran around to keep more off Dias and used berries to heal him. He can and will, be harmed in this fight. I have memories of dying here, so I'm glad to be past this. Afterwards, unequip Dias because he won't need gear. We get the key, so free the kids and return to town. En route, we see Claude and Celine standing over the monstrous body of the Master. Dias, in his own way, compliments Claude's sword work and leaves.
We cut to Rena curing Eglan, who was harmed while we were away. She leaves the Jules family and hangs out with Claude. They talk about Dias again and what he might be doing. Claude misunderstands Dias and Rena's relationship, and she hurriedly changes the subject to the Sorcery Globe. They come together and leave Mars. A voice yells at them to wait, and Celine comes after us. The heroes need their banquet!
We speak to Eglan, and he tells us his thoughts about the Globe. It's a ball of demon energy. He wishes we wouldn't go after it, but Celine tells him, "too bad." In the morning, they escort us to the exit. As we leave, Eglan tells us to visit Linga. There might be someone who can decipher those writings. So head to Hurley and take the ship to Hilton. And here's where I messed up. I went to Linga and saw a teenager chase after a mechanical blue egg Claude called a radio controlled car. I came here because I thought the Skill Shop sold Sensibility 2. Instead, Hilton sells it. I've been looking for the skill Perseverance for the last five hours. That lowers the amount of skill points needed to raise all other skills a level. Combine that with a cheap Kitchen Knife, and your strength stat will skyrocket. Rena's attack is nearly 300, fifty over Claude. I am now ready to dig into item creation...
...tomorrow!
Actually, no. I want to raise my stats first. Also, Hilton had an actual, engine powered bulldozer in the port. How does a society based on medieval Earth have a bulldozer?
Also, there's a scene at the hotel where Rena witnesses Claude calling out to the stars.
Friday, February 10, 2023
Treasure Hunt
Alternate Title: Clik, clik, doom.
We're supposed to meet the King, but the world gets dark as we approach the city. Day breaks as we get away, but it's still a really cool effect. Because it's the middle of the night, we visit the hotel. The attendant is Rena's aunt, Rachel. She makes a few remarks about Claude, which upsets Rena. She's really defensive about her not-boyfriend. Claude gets defensive about Rena's defense... As Rachel takes us to our room, she informs her niece that Diaz was in town a few weeks ago. When our party is alone, Claude asks who Diaz is. Rena, with sorrow in her words, tells him Dias once lived in Arlia but left when "something sad happened." Claude reads the room and asks no further questions. They both tell each other that they're enjoying traveling with each other. How cute!
In the morning, Rachel is mildly annoyed that Rena and Claude only "slept well," but we have to meet King Cross! Make your way up the narrow alley, across the bridge, and under the grand archway. There's a reception desk we check in at, and Rena shows them the message from Regis. That'll expedite our audience with the busy ruler. We can explore the castle and steal 600 fol from the missing prince. He's ill and resting elsewhere, so he won't miss it. After, head to the main hall and enter the throne room.
The King remarks that it's been a long time since he's seen Rena. But we get down to business as a strange, scantly clad woman enters the room from the side. We ask the King three questions, but I'll sum it up fast. Cross has sent a scout team to investigate the Sorcery Globe, but they never returned. Because of it, they know nothing about the meteor except the scant rumors about El, which is in constant war with monsters. They don't even know it the Globe is the cause of these disasters. The King notices that Claude is a fine lad but urges Rena to go home. But she has to aid Claude, so he changes his mind. He gives us a passport to travel to El and 600 fol as a gift. We can head to Clik to travel to Eluria, a city on El. We exit the throne room, Claude says he didn't say anything, and we get ready to travel.
As we reach the center of Cross, we see an argument between a woman and a heraldic sorcerer. They both yell mean things, which annoys Rena. She pushes herself into the dispute, which upsets the wizard. He starts to cast a big spell, but the woman magics up a quicker fireball, stopping him. He runs off, swearing we'll regret this. He'll never be seen again.
We speak to the woman who knows who we are. Word around the castle was two interesting people had an audience with the King, and she had to meet us. This was the woman who eavesdropped on us earlier. Her name is Celine, and she's a treasure hunter. She just bought a new map and asks if we'd like to come along for a hunt. We have the option to say no, but I'm pretty sure this is mandatory. Our goal is a secret treasure room in the back of Cross Cave.
But first, I explored further into the continent. There's a town called Hurley. In this port is a large mansion with a sword for Claude that triples his attack. Before Hurley is Marz, which has a knuckle that triples Rena's attack. There's also some armor around, but those weapons will make this dungeon a breeze.
I really like Cross Cave. The first time I did this, I found the correct path right off the bat. For sake of time, it's cool, but you miss seventy percent of the dungeon. There are a ton of hidden passages, giant skeletons that tell a tale that needs to be told, and a deeper understanding of the battle system. Celine is a black mage and should be kept at the starting point. She's not very good, though, and two of her spells suck. Turn off Fireball and Wind Blade. Lightning Bolt is great, though. If you explore, she'll learn Ray, which damages the whole field. Every mob dies in two hits, so nothing is scary. Eventually, we'll reach a glowing, green pillar. It's a dead end. Celine tries to convince herself that her expensive map isn't fake, but we don't believe her. She quickly changes the topic to point out Rena's healing abilities, even if Rena didn't heal yet. Celine informs us that heraldic magic doesn't have healing spells, so she's curious. Rena doesn't understand her powers either, so nothing comes from it. Before heading back, Claude checks the map. He notices strange words on the bottom, and Celine knows it's a spell. She casts it, and a new path is opened. But the green glow is gone.
In that new room are four treasures around a Star of David. Three of them are bland, and one has Ancient Writings. No one can decipher the writings, but maybe someone is Mars can. But that's for later... The last chest is a trap, and it summons two gargoyles. With weapons and armor beyond what we're supposed to have, it's an easy 300 exp. They're optional, too, if you're having trouble. As we leave the cave, we prepare to go to Clik. Celine prepares for her next adventure, but Rena asks if she wants to join. We have the option later in this conversation to decide against it, but I kept her on. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have, but oh well. It's a long run to Clik; good luck with the mage.
Clik is a trade town, so make your way to the docks. Actually, wait. Do a private action first. Claude and Celine are at the fountain, listening to a prophetess foretell the doom of Clik. No one takes her seriously... At the docks, we hand our passports to the captain, but the ship isn't ready to set sail. So return to town to rest. A kid will tackle Rena and steal her purse.
We look around town, asking locals and kids, until we find the perpetrator. He denies anything, but that might be because Claude is scaring him. Rena soothes the young boy and convinces him to return our money. He did it because he got sick of other kids calling him a "rich kid" and wanted to make his own money. For some reason, Rena requests Ketil to give us a tour of Clik.
We can visit his house, where his mom assumes we're kidnapping her son. She stops caring when her servant says her boat is ready. The next stop is the restaurant. We can eat food there, and I choose the Tim Yan Kun. I looked up what it was, and it made me hungry. Rena didn't seem thrilled. We then visit the clothes shop, where Ketil can choose an outfit for one of our party members. Rena and Claude would look like Elvis, but Celine has a skimpy bikini. Ketil's a pervert. Rena felt an earthquake before these scenes, but no one else did. Finally, head to the docks. There are two kids there, and we try to make Ketil some friends. The two kids don't like him because their moms told them to never play with rich kids. Terrible parents. Claude shows his fatherly skills and manages to make a nice friendship circle. Talk to the captain, and he'll say he's almost done. There's time for last minute preparations, and I wanted the local ice cream.
Alas, an earthquake rocks the town. We manage to get to a high place, which I don't think is sound earthquake defense. A hauntingly beautiful CGI scene plays where we witness the devastation of Clik. A steeple falls, buildings collapse, and the fountain statue crumbles. We make it along with the captain, one boatman, and his wizard friend. The caption returns our passport and suggests we head to Hurley. Despite seeing what we did, he's shocked we still want to go to El, and via Lacour is our only hope. We can climb higher, but more disaster strikes. A tidal wave sweeps through the remains of Clik, drowning any hope of survivors. Ketil is alive, but the girl who had a crush on him isn't. We can return to the world map and continue our journey.
A few Private Actions should be performed now, all at Cross. Firstly, walk toward the castle to see a three eyed man. Rena is amazed.
The next set involves Celine. We can join her for tea, but a man who can't afford his food ruins the experience. We pay his ten fol debt because he didn't know he'd have to pay. His name of Chris. Chris from Cross better make us jump.
The next is when we see Chris waiting for Celine. The two walk away, and we see Celine in a worried state of mind after.
Finally, we can overhear her and Chris in the alley. The two are in love and embrace each other for a long time. And then three soldiers come to take him away, calling him "Prince Clothier." Rena can force Celine to go after him or drop this side plot. I encourage this love affair. Chris, the Prince of Lacross, is getting married to Princess Rosaline of Lacour. The chapel is guarded, but hell hath no fury like a woman in love with a man she met ten minutes ago. Or at least her wing woman. We break up the wedding, and Rosa seems okay with it. Later on, Chris proposes to Celine, but she can't say yes. She needs to finish this adventure before she can't go on anymore. Rena thinks it's a dumb excuse, though. As we returned to the entrance, Claude asked us what the commotion was. We'll visit Mars...
...tomorrow!
I don't hate Celine, but I don't find her compelling, either. Really, any mage is kinda annoying. Their spells look cool, but they slow the game down and aren't great in the DPS department. But she's a character to trade remarks with...
We're supposed to meet the King, but the world gets dark as we approach the city. Day breaks as we get away, but it's still a really cool effect. Because it's the middle of the night, we visit the hotel. The attendant is Rena's aunt, Rachel. She makes a few remarks about Claude, which upsets Rena. She's really defensive about her not-boyfriend. Claude gets defensive about Rena's defense... As Rachel takes us to our room, she informs her niece that Diaz was in town a few weeks ago. When our party is alone, Claude asks who Diaz is. Rena, with sorrow in her words, tells him Dias once lived in Arlia but left when "something sad happened." Claude reads the room and asks no further questions. They both tell each other that they're enjoying traveling with each other. How cute!
In the morning, Rachel is mildly annoyed that Rena and Claude only "slept well," but we have to meet King Cross! Make your way up the narrow alley, across the bridge, and under the grand archway. There's a reception desk we check in at, and Rena shows them the message from Regis. That'll expedite our audience with the busy ruler. We can explore the castle and steal 600 fol from the missing prince. He's ill and resting elsewhere, so he won't miss it. After, head to the main hall and enter the throne room.
The King remarks that it's been a long time since he's seen Rena. But we get down to business as a strange, scantly clad woman enters the room from the side. We ask the King three questions, but I'll sum it up fast. Cross has sent a scout team to investigate the Sorcery Globe, but they never returned. Because of it, they know nothing about the meteor except the scant rumors about El, which is in constant war with monsters. They don't even know it the Globe is the cause of these disasters. The King notices that Claude is a fine lad but urges Rena to go home. But she has to aid Claude, so he changes his mind. He gives us a passport to travel to El and 600 fol as a gift. We can head to Clik to travel to Eluria, a city on El. We exit the throne room, Claude says he didn't say anything, and we get ready to travel.
As we reach the center of Cross, we see an argument between a woman and a heraldic sorcerer. They both yell mean things, which annoys Rena. She pushes herself into the dispute, which upsets the wizard. He starts to cast a big spell, but the woman magics up a quicker fireball, stopping him. He runs off, swearing we'll regret this. He'll never be seen again.
We speak to the woman who knows who we are. Word around the castle was two interesting people had an audience with the King, and she had to meet us. This was the woman who eavesdropped on us earlier. Her name is Celine, and she's a treasure hunter. She just bought a new map and asks if we'd like to come along for a hunt. We have the option to say no, but I'm pretty sure this is mandatory. Our goal is a secret treasure room in the back of Cross Cave.
But first, I explored further into the continent. There's a town called Hurley. In this port is a large mansion with a sword for Claude that triples his attack. Before Hurley is Marz, which has a knuckle that triples Rena's attack. There's also some armor around, but those weapons will make this dungeon a breeze.
I really like Cross Cave. The first time I did this, I found the correct path right off the bat. For sake of time, it's cool, but you miss seventy percent of the dungeon. There are a ton of hidden passages, giant skeletons that tell a tale that needs to be told, and a deeper understanding of the battle system. Celine is a black mage and should be kept at the starting point. She's not very good, though, and two of her spells suck. Turn off Fireball and Wind Blade. Lightning Bolt is great, though. If you explore, she'll learn Ray, which damages the whole field. Every mob dies in two hits, so nothing is scary. Eventually, we'll reach a glowing, green pillar. It's a dead end. Celine tries to convince herself that her expensive map isn't fake, but we don't believe her. She quickly changes the topic to point out Rena's healing abilities, even if Rena didn't heal yet. Celine informs us that heraldic magic doesn't have healing spells, so she's curious. Rena doesn't understand her powers either, so nothing comes from it. Before heading back, Claude checks the map. He notices strange words on the bottom, and Celine knows it's a spell. She casts it, and a new path is opened. But the green glow is gone.
In that new room are four treasures around a Star of David. Three of them are bland, and one has Ancient Writings. No one can decipher the writings, but maybe someone is Mars can. But that's for later... The last chest is a trap, and it summons two gargoyles. With weapons and armor beyond what we're supposed to have, it's an easy 300 exp. They're optional, too, if you're having trouble. As we leave the cave, we prepare to go to Clik. Celine prepares for her next adventure, but Rena asks if she wants to join. We have the option later in this conversation to decide against it, but I kept her on. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have, but oh well. It's a long run to Clik; good luck with the mage.
Clik is a trade town, so make your way to the docks. Actually, wait. Do a private action first. Claude and Celine are at the fountain, listening to a prophetess foretell the doom of Clik. No one takes her seriously... At the docks, we hand our passports to the captain, but the ship isn't ready to set sail. So return to town to rest. A kid will tackle Rena and steal her purse.
We look around town, asking locals and kids, until we find the perpetrator. He denies anything, but that might be because Claude is scaring him. Rena soothes the young boy and convinces him to return our money. He did it because he got sick of other kids calling him a "rich kid" and wanted to make his own money. For some reason, Rena requests Ketil to give us a tour of Clik.
We can visit his house, where his mom assumes we're kidnapping her son. She stops caring when her servant says her boat is ready. The next stop is the restaurant. We can eat food there, and I choose the Tim Yan Kun. I looked up what it was, and it made me hungry. Rena didn't seem thrilled. We then visit the clothes shop, where Ketil can choose an outfit for one of our party members. Rena and Claude would look like Elvis, but Celine has a skimpy bikini. Ketil's a pervert. Rena felt an earthquake before these scenes, but no one else did. Finally, head to the docks. There are two kids there, and we try to make Ketil some friends. The two kids don't like him because their moms told them to never play with rich kids. Terrible parents. Claude shows his fatherly skills and manages to make a nice friendship circle. Talk to the captain, and he'll say he's almost done. There's time for last minute preparations, and I wanted the local ice cream.
Alas, an earthquake rocks the town. We manage to get to a high place, which I don't think is sound earthquake defense. A hauntingly beautiful CGI scene plays where we witness the devastation of Clik. A steeple falls, buildings collapse, and the fountain statue crumbles. We make it along with the captain, one boatman, and his wizard friend. The caption returns our passport and suggests we head to Hurley. Despite seeing what we did, he's shocked we still want to go to El, and via Lacour is our only hope. We can climb higher, but more disaster strikes. A tidal wave sweeps through the remains of Clik, drowning any hope of survivors. Ketil is alive, but the girl who had a crush on him isn't. We can return to the world map and continue our journey.
A few Private Actions should be performed now, all at Cross. Firstly, walk toward the castle to see a three eyed man. Rena is amazed.
The next set involves Celine. We can join her for tea, but a man who can't afford his food ruins the experience. We pay his ten fol debt because he didn't know he'd have to pay. His name of Chris. Chris from Cross better make us jump.
The next is when we see Chris waiting for Celine. The two walk away, and we see Celine in a worried state of mind after.
Finally, we can overhear her and Chris in the alley. The two are in love and embrace each other for a long time. And then three soldiers come to take him away, calling him "Prince Clothier." Rena can force Celine to go after him or drop this side plot. I encourage this love affair. Chris, the Prince of Lacross, is getting married to Princess Rosaline of Lacour. The chapel is guarded, but hell hath no fury like a woman in love with a man she met ten minutes ago. Or at least her wing woman. We break up the wedding, and Rosa seems okay with it. Later on, Chris proposes to Celine, but she can't say yes. She needs to finish this adventure before she can't go on anymore. Rena thinks it's a dumb excuse, though. As we returned to the entrance, Claude asked us what the commotion was. We'll visit Mars...
...tomorrow!
I don't hate Celine, but I don't find her compelling, either. Really, any mage is kinda annoying. Their spells look cool, but they slow the game down and aren't great in the DPS department. But she's a character to trade remarks with...
Thursday, February 9, 2023
A tale of two protags
But I'm the mage!
Star Ocean 2 has been one of my favorite games since I bought it off my friend's brother for six bucks in 1998. I wound up scratching the disks at some point, so I had to buy it off the usual friend (I've brought up a few times) some years later. But it's been a long time since I played the PS version. I've played the PSP remake a few times, even as recently as 2018. I was going to play that again, but I own the original, so why not play it? There are a few differences, so let's consider this a comparison. I'll do that later, though...
As we boot up the game, the menu scene shows a meteor flying through space. It lands, presumably, peacefully on a large, green planet. Pressing "new game" takes us to the option to select the main character. Star Ocean 6 recently came out, and I hear it has two MCs too, but this is where it started for the franchise. We can select the Earthling, Crawd, I mean, Claude Kenni, a space force ensign, or the Expelian, Rena Langford, a girl with mysterious powers. Both stories are pretty much the same, but there are a few scenes one gets that the other doesn't. Claude is rad and all, but I like Rena's story more, so I pick the healer!
The camera cuts to a green world and zooms down onto a landmass. We go through the clouds, down a fjord, and into a forest. A small ball of plasma appears over the woods before sinking into the canopy. We cut again to a small hamlet nearby, and a house with a blue roof seems important.
We head to actual gameplay scenes and see a young girl exit her home. Her mother, Westa, is worried about her daughter, Rena, and her antics. Our MC spends a lot of time in the nearby Shingo Forest, but it's not safe anymore. Animals are getting aggressive, and earthquakes are becoming common. Rena tries to assure her mom but runs off mid sentence. We explore the village of Arlia to learn more about the world and the influx of natural disasters occurring. We also hear the legend about the Warrior of Light!
Rena makes her way into the forest and decides to go deeper in. The forest has always made her calm and relaxed. Maybe too much... We (the player) see a giant ape sneak up from behind, and a voice calls out, telling her to run. Rena notices just in time for a blond man to have the first battle of the game. Had we picked Claude, we could fight this, but not now. ???? shoots a blinding light at the ape, killing it in three shots. The man tries to speak to Rena, but she's shocked at his appearance and weapon of choice and runs off. She stops in the next area, remembering he he asked, and our savior runs to us. Both apologize to each other for their strange behavior before finally introducing themselves. This is Claude, and both stories are synced up at this point. Rena thanks Claude for saving her and invites him to Arlia. Just outside, the two have a conversation about Claude. He says he's a traveler from Earth. Rena has no clue where "Urth" is, so she assumes he's from the continent of El across the ocean.
We enter Arlia, and Rena shows Claude around. We can meet the priest, the lovey-dovey couple, and the kids who've been alone for two weeks. We also visit the shop, where we can learn Claude doesn't know what a herb is. Eventually, we get to Rena's house. She asks Claude to wait outside while she tells Westa what happened. She also informs her that she believes he's the Warrior of Light! Westa starts to make dinner while Rena gets Claude. She finds him on the bridge, and they talk about the air quality. Urth isn't a comparable place, it seems. But the two return home and see a gigantic dinner waiting on the table. It's been three minutes, Westa! Is that Rena's mysterious power too?
An hour later, Claude is full. Rena's annoyed that her mom made too much, but Claude compliments her. His mom is a terrible cook. Rena needs to see the mayor, Regis, so she heads to get him. She tells the old man the Warrior of Light is at her house. He's suspicious but knows he needs to check it out. As they enter, Westa is in a tizzy. She admits she's told Claude who she thinks he is, and he's confused.
The four of them sit down to have a talk. Regis asks Claude who he is, and Claude's cagey. He reiterates that he's a traveler, but he doesn't give any specifics. Regis calls him out for lying but agrees with Rena. Claude must be the Warrior of Light! They've confused his laser gun for a sword, his army uniform for "alien raiments," and the catastrophe afflicting Expel. Three months ago, a large asteroid, which they call the Sorcery Globe, landed in El. Since then, the world has been in turmoil. Even after this, Claude denies he's the WoL. Eventually, everyone drops their ideas. Everyone except Rena, who runs out.
The next day, Rena wakes up and goes to the forest. While there, she asks her father what to do about Claude. We see a flashback from the night her dad died. She eavesdropped on Westa and Regis' conversation to learn she's not Westa's child. The pendant is important. Claude walks up to her, and they have an awkward conversation. Once again, both apologize for last night. Claude understands her confusion, though. But he leaves her with her thoughts after a moment. She returns to Arlia, but a sketchy dude is waiting for her. An old friend named Alen is on the bridge. During their interaction, Rena realizes he's gone mad. Alen calls for three knights to kidnap Rena because he's going to forcefully marry her! The village tries to stop him, but Alen assaults Westa, and Regis gives them passage. We cut to Alen's mansion in Salva, and he goes to prepare for the ceremony. We get control of Rena as she tries to escape the house. It's locked, and the servants try to help us, but there's nothing they can do. After a maid suggests a secret passage in the study, Rena finds a basement behind a bookcase. Inside is Bossman, a worker from Arlia who warns us what's in the Drift. Alen found a stone a few weeks ago and has been acting strange ever since. Behind us is a cave, the Salva Drift, and he suggests finding the mine exit.
The Drift is the first dungeon. As Claude, all the monsters are easy to kill. As Rena, though, it's a lot harder. She's a mage and not supposed to attack. She can perform DPS very well if you build her for it, but that's not doable now. Alas, she has no other option... After a few level ups, it becomes a breeze, though. If you need to, run off to a side and cast Heal. Rena's not just a mage but a healer! After exploring, make your way to the back. Alen's waiting for us in a chapel and is thrilled his bride found her way in. Rena tries to run, but soldiers stop her. They tie her to the podium, but Claude arrives to save her, and the first boss battle begins.
Alen-Tax has no strategy, so just attack.
We think we killed Alen, but he wakes up after a moment. He has no idea what just happened! During the fracas, we destroyed the green stone that Alen was holding. When we meet back with Bossman, we wonder if that stone was the cause of this. But we'll think about it more later because Westa is worried sick.
Back in Arlia, Claude and Rena are in Regis' house. Regis asks Claude to investigate the Sorcery Globe. Claude agrees, but Rena gets worried. He promises not to over exert himself and to stay away from things above his strength. But then Rena asks to come along! Regis tells her to get Westa's permission first. Reluctantly, Westa relents. Rena and Claude have an impromptu talk on the bridge about why Rena wants to go on this dangerous journey. It's not just to be a guide and a healer but to find her biological mother. "I'm going not to leave but to return." In the morning, the village sees us off, and the journey begins! Our destination is Cross Castle. Apparently, Rena knows the King! But I'll do that...
...tomorrow!
The coolest thing Star Ocean does is the Private Action mechanic. We can split the party in town and interact with them living their own life. Claude compares Arlia to Earth, and he seems to like it here more. SO2 was my favorite game for a while, and I think it holds up. As you can tell by the massive amount of stuff I typed, I'm excited!
Star Ocean 2 has been one of my favorite games since I bought it off my friend's brother for six bucks in 1998. I wound up scratching the disks at some point, so I had to buy it off the usual friend (I've brought up a few times) some years later. But it's been a long time since I played the PS version. I've played the PSP remake a few times, even as recently as 2018. I was going to play that again, but I own the original, so why not play it? There are a few differences, so let's consider this a comparison. I'll do that later, though...
As we boot up the game, the menu scene shows a meteor flying through space. It lands, presumably, peacefully on a large, green planet. Pressing "new game" takes us to the option to select the main character. Star Ocean 6 recently came out, and I hear it has two MCs too, but this is where it started for the franchise. We can select the Earthling, Crawd, I mean, Claude Kenni, a space force ensign, or the Expelian, Rena Langford, a girl with mysterious powers. Both stories are pretty much the same, but there are a few scenes one gets that the other doesn't. Claude is rad and all, but I like Rena's story more, so I pick the healer!
The camera cuts to a green world and zooms down onto a landmass. We go through the clouds, down a fjord, and into a forest. A small ball of plasma appears over the woods before sinking into the canopy. We cut again to a small hamlet nearby, and a house with a blue roof seems important.
We head to actual gameplay scenes and see a young girl exit her home. Her mother, Westa, is worried about her daughter, Rena, and her antics. Our MC spends a lot of time in the nearby Shingo Forest, but it's not safe anymore. Animals are getting aggressive, and earthquakes are becoming common. Rena tries to assure her mom but runs off mid sentence. We explore the village of Arlia to learn more about the world and the influx of natural disasters occurring. We also hear the legend about the Warrior of Light!
Rena makes her way into the forest and decides to go deeper in. The forest has always made her calm and relaxed. Maybe too much... We (the player) see a giant ape sneak up from behind, and a voice calls out, telling her to run. Rena notices just in time for a blond man to have the first battle of the game. Had we picked Claude, we could fight this, but not now. ???? shoots a blinding light at the ape, killing it in three shots. The man tries to speak to Rena, but she's shocked at his appearance and weapon of choice and runs off. She stops in the next area, remembering he he asked, and our savior runs to us. Both apologize to each other for their strange behavior before finally introducing themselves. This is Claude, and both stories are synced up at this point. Rena thanks Claude for saving her and invites him to Arlia. Just outside, the two have a conversation about Claude. He says he's a traveler from Earth. Rena has no clue where "Urth" is, so she assumes he's from the continent of El across the ocean.
We enter Arlia, and Rena shows Claude around. We can meet the priest, the lovey-dovey couple, and the kids who've been alone for two weeks. We also visit the shop, where we can learn Claude doesn't know what a herb is. Eventually, we get to Rena's house. She asks Claude to wait outside while she tells Westa what happened. She also informs her that she believes he's the Warrior of Light! Westa starts to make dinner while Rena gets Claude. She finds him on the bridge, and they talk about the air quality. Urth isn't a comparable place, it seems. But the two return home and see a gigantic dinner waiting on the table. It's been three minutes, Westa! Is that Rena's mysterious power too?
An hour later, Claude is full. Rena's annoyed that her mom made too much, but Claude compliments her. His mom is a terrible cook. Rena needs to see the mayor, Regis, so she heads to get him. She tells the old man the Warrior of Light is at her house. He's suspicious but knows he needs to check it out. As they enter, Westa is in a tizzy. She admits she's told Claude who she thinks he is, and he's confused.
The four of them sit down to have a talk. Regis asks Claude who he is, and Claude's cagey. He reiterates that he's a traveler, but he doesn't give any specifics. Regis calls him out for lying but agrees with Rena. Claude must be the Warrior of Light! They've confused his laser gun for a sword, his army uniform for "alien raiments," and the catastrophe afflicting Expel. Three months ago, a large asteroid, which they call the Sorcery Globe, landed in El. Since then, the world has been in turmoil. Even after this, Claude denies he's the WoL. Eventually, everyone drops their ideas. Everyone except Rena, who runs out.
The next day, Rena wakes up and goes to the forest. While there, she asks her father what to do about Claude. We see a flashback from the night her dad died. She eavesdropped on Westa and Regis' conversation to learn she's not Westa's child. The pendant is important. Claude walks up to her, and they have an awkward conversation. Once again, both apologize for last night. Claude understands her confusion, though. But he leaves her with her thoughts after a moment. She returns to Arlia, but a sketchy dude is waiting for her. An old friend named Alen is on the bridge. During their interaction, Rena realizes he's gone mad. Alen calls for three knights to kidnap Rena because he's going to forcefully marry her! The village tries to stop him, but Alen assaults Westa, and Regis gives them passage. We cut to Alen's mansion in Salva, and he goes to prepare for the ceremony. We get control of Rena as she tries to escape the house. It's locked, and the servants try to help us, but there's nothing they can do. After a maid suggests a secret passage in the study, Rena finds a basement behind a bookcase. Inside is Bossman, a worker from Arlia who warns us what's in the Drift. Alen found a stone a few weeks ago and has been acting strange ever since. Behind us is a cave, the Salva Drift, and he suggests finding the mine exit.
The Drift is the first dungeon. As Claude, all the monsters are easy to kill. As Rena, though, it's a lot harder. She's a mage and not supposed to attack. She can perform DPS very well if you build her for it, but that's not doable now. Alas, she has no other option... After a few level ups, it becomes a breeze, though. If you need to, run off to a side and cast Heal. Rena's not just a mage but a healer! After exploring, make your way to the back. Alen's waiting for us in a chapel and is thrilled his bride found her way in. Rena tries to run, but soldiers stop her. They tie her to the podium, but Claude arrives to save her, and the first boss battle begins.
Alen-Tax has no strategy, so just attack.
We think we killed Alen, but he wakes up after a moment. He has no idea what just happened! During the fracas, we destroyed the green stone that Alen was holding. When we meet back with Bossman, we wonder if that stone was the cause of this. But we'll think about it more later because Westa is worried sick.
Back in Arlia, Claude and Rena are in Regis' house. Regis asks Claude to investigate the Sorcery Globe. Claude agrees, but Rena gets worried. He promises not to over exert himself and to stay away from things above his strength. But then Rena asks to come along! Regis tells her to get Westa's permission first. Reluctantly, Westa relents. Rena and Claude have an impromptu talk on the bridge about why Rena wants to go on this dangerous journey. It's not just to be a guide and a healer but to find her biological mother. "I'm going not to leave but to return." In the morning, the village sees us off, and the journey begins! Our destination is Cross Castle. Apparently, Rena knows the King! But I'll do that...
...tomorrow!
The coolest thing Star Ocean does is the Private Action mechanic. We can split the party in town and interact with them living their own life. Claude compares Arlia to Earth, and he seems to like it here more. SO2 was my favorite game for a while, and I think it holds up. As you can tell by the massive amount of stuff I typed, I'm excited!
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