CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Okay I want to buy star ocean but I wanted to see what other people thought about it before I did.

Which one? From my understanding, the first isn't available in the USA, the second is rare and expensive, and the third is rather mediocre.

infact, the first one is for the SNES. The others are for the playstation/playstation2

If you're thinking about the third one, I wouldn't reccommend it. It was incredibly slow moving and a tad pointless in my opinion. Plus, it was pretty weird. I've heard other people say that they like it, but I couldn't stand it.

up until the true antagonists are discovered, SO3 was decent enough; i've still yet to finish the game however.

Do you like action RPGs? I'm somewhat of a Tri-ace fan so...

The second one is quite fun, despite some hilariously bad voice acting on some characters and a cliche plot. But it does have good characterizations via the private action system and a great battle system. It's going to be fairly difficult to find. Probably my favorite of the series.

The third one tried to do too much and wound up with some critical technical and story-flow problems. There are some odd difficulty spikes at points and character development is pretty much non-existent for most of the cast. Also, there is a plot twist later on that attempts to make the story more complex but it is executed very poorly and doesn't add anything to the game at all.
It's a decent game otherwise however, I suppose.
It should be pretty cheap by now.

the third was alright at best. I didn't really like the fighting system all that much.

Well, do you reccomend any other turn-based rpgs? (other than final fantasy)

Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. :3 Chrono Trigger can be bought for the PS/PS2 under the name "Final Fantasy Chronicles," along with Final Fantasy 4. Chrono Cross is the 2-disc turn-based RPG sequel to Chrono Trigger, and it's my favorite game. Ever. So yes. I reccommend.

Okay I'll check into it. Thanks.

Orenji wrote:the second is rare and expensive

really? i found mine ok and got it for 20 dollars

really? i found mine ok and got it for 20 dollars

Oh...I can only find one used for $40...
Maybe it's just me.

Star Ocean three was great, but I like the wierd sci-fi ish stuff, but you'll end up forgeting that you're playing a sci-fi RPG about halfway through the game (too many swords, too little plasma cannons). Also, don't expect to have a party other than Nel, Cliff and Fayt. All of the other characters enter in far too late in the game with pathetic stats and they would take hours to level up, (even when using Fayt to win the battles singlehandedly against far more difficult monsters that the other party members could never face on their own or even combined). Well yeah that just about sums it up. I also found the final boss to be a bit over-powerful, he can basically wipe the screen clear of opponents at any point... I just had my character (Fayt) run around the outskirts and let Cliff and Nel pound it into him while I healed them... If I would have entered the center he would have killed us all in one move... which is WAY too powerful in my opinion.

Star Ocean is turn-based....right?

No.
It's an action RPG. You have a party, but the battles are in real-time. You control one character while the AI controls the rest.

I prefer the third over the second.
While I love the Second as well, I feel the plot and characters of the 3rd were much better and the plot was much more deep.

I sorta disliked the battle system of So3.
Firefly, I would seriously consider giving the 3rd one a rent.

I got 2 (The Sequel) on eBay for 30$.

If you like Turnbase, I HIGHLY recommend Grandia I or II.
Grandia III was okay but nowhere near as good as the originals.

Simply, the best combat system ever.

Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross are almost as good as the Grandias though.

Well I feel stupid I thought star ocean was turn-based. I read a review on Grandia in a magazine and I was considering it. Thanks for the advice.

Seriously, I recommend Grandia II over all games mentioned.

Grandia I seems like it would make a perfect anime series so you feel like your watching an anime when you play it.

Grandia II is much better IMO.