Lost in Space
While Star Ocean sounds, and generally is sci-fi orientated, you will be spending a lot of time (i.e. Most of the first disk) in more fantasy styled settings, where dragons and mysterious temples are the order of the day. Crashing into the middle of these planets is difficult enough, but the main character Fayt, is bound by the UP3 agreement, which is similar to that rule in Star Trek, where they must not interfere with underdeveloped planets. However, when you crash a spacecraft made of various exotic elements into the middle of a city that has a technology level similar to that of 18th centaury Earth, you are probably going to raise more than a few eyebrows from the local populace. So, you end up being dragged into wars, as you try and remain as inconspicuous as possible. Cue lots of fighting against insane heads of local military brigades while trying to keep up the facade that you're not from space, just from the technological superpower that just happens to exist across the ocean somewhere. The problem with the first part of the game is it feels slightly sidetracked to the main part of the plot, so it is nice to return to the stars to continue the plot onwards.
Hey! It’s not your turn to smack me!
The battle system in Star Ocean is certainly different from its other RPG counterparts. All battles are real time, your characters can easily exploit weaknesses in the enemy by simply running behind them or canceling enemy attacks with well-timed strikes. The system itself revolves around Minor and Major attacks and guarding. You also have a Fury meter, which is reduced in attacking, at 100% though, you will guard Minor attacks against you, and the same applies to your enemies. Minor attacks are fast, but if guarded, you can suffer effects from the enemy’s Anti-attack aura, and of course, the same happens to your enemies. These include being stunned and blown into the air. Major attacks on the other hand take longer to wind up, but can go straight through Guard and cause severe damage. With the battle system though, it is possible to simply move out of the way to counter-attack. With easy to execute special abilities, battles are fun and incredibly hectic, boss fights doubly so. While attacks consume HP/Fury and "Symbology" (Magic) uses MP, your character is rendered unconscious if wither HP or MP is reduced to 0, so in these hectic situations, care must be taken with both, otherwise you'll be getting Game Over faster than you think. Star Ocean also has something called Battle Trophies, these are gained from meeting certain objectives during battle. Collecting these unlocks costumes for the games two-player arena, and harder difficulty levels.
Character customization is both simple and complex. Skill Points gained from level ups can be distributed to HP, MP, Attack and Defense to give a little boost to these stats, while all others will rise only according to your level. Level ups also grant you capacity points, which are needed to assign special skills to your character. Since these are very limited, you need to decide either to have a couple of high CP skills, or many low CP skills. As for equipment, you have a weapon slot, an armour slot, and room for a couple of accessories. This leads into the item creation system. Recruiting inventors and then assigning them to workshops mean that with your help, they can develop new items in a number of areas. Some of these items are very potent, and will help your characters loads in some of the more difficult battles you will have to fight. To get your characters to level 255, you are going to have to put some effort, and rack up bonuses (Obtained by comboing the enemy and avoiding critical hits) for large EXP rewards.
Outside battle, the world you travel around in is pretty in places, like on the temperate planet of Elicoor II but also distinctly functional elsewhere, like on board Moonbase and the ships you travel the galaxy on. Traveling these areas will often only reveal the map as you travel, and uncovering the entire area (For sadists only) will net you some items that you can make a good profit off. The outdoor areas are pretty easy to navigate, while you will probably get lost in dungeons, which can be a good thing, as you might find some extra treasure lying around (As it does in RPGs). Later areas are large and very expansive and will take at least a couple of hours to explore fully. When you need to go somewhere, there is usually an informative scene between your characters and other NPCs which explains where you need to go and what you need to do, which avoids the problems of wandering around trying to figure out where you should be going. Of course, this isn't good if you like figuring this out for yourself.
Star Ocean also comes with your standard set of side quests and also a large amount of post game fun for high-leveled characters. These include the Maze of Tribulations and Sphere 211. These areas include horrendously tough enemies and new bosses for your characters to fight, extending the lifetime of Star Ocean well beyond the original storyline. To finish all there is to do, you must be prepared to spend lots of cash on item synthesis and time on leveling your characters, and be prepared to meet your doom several times at the hands of some very nasty special attacks.
In all, Star Ocean is a very well rounded RPG, that combines elements from real time battle systems with the traditional RPG elements like curving plots, side quests and mini-games, as well as lots to do post game. Its a pity that the storyline may seem disconnected at certain points, and the difficulty curve certainly makes things difficult with some really tough bosses later in the game. If you like an RPG with an element of sci-fi and don't mind being smacked around a lot in battles, then Star Ocean is certainly an RPG for you.
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