Star Ocean: The Second Story.

[everdred12a]

Well, after NUMEROUS problems with ebay (it's really the seller I have a problem with, but it's easier just to generalize it as ebay.), I think I'm finally going to be able to sit down and play this game. It's kind of in play-time contention with Parasite Eve, which I also recently bought, though I think I'll be playing more SO2.

Anyways, as I start to get into the game, I'm sure I'll have stuff I'll wanna talk about, and maybe there are some others here who will want to discuss stuff with me ^^ Plus, I'll undoubtedly need help somewhere along the line. I don't think I've played my way through too many RPG's without at least a little help.

So anyways, I'm off to go start this game. That's right, I haven't actually started it yet. Just figured I'd go ahead and get the thread for it out of the way ^^

[Debitt]

I advise you get Ashton in your party. Ashton = good in so many ways.

[Nate]

Right, you have a choice between Ashton or Opera/Ernest. Opera and Ernest are not only hard to get, they're not worth the trouble...plus, if you take Ernest in your party, you won't be able to recruit both the Nedians (Noel and Chisato). Though that's not much of a problem, since Noel isn't that great anyway... >.>

I also recommend Precis over Bowman.

[everdred12a]

I have NO idea who ANY of those people are. XD I only just started guys. I just got past the decimation of Clik, and then I noticed it was 4am so I quit ><

EDIT: Okay, just some sort of weird update....thing. I refused Celine... I dunno why. I just think that her magic sucks. Her physical attacks suck too... I mean, even Rena does more than Celine does >< Also, I got Ashton without even knowing that I was getting him... I got to some town and people started talking about a dragon slaying thing in Salva, so I trekked back to do it, fully expecting to fight some dragon, and I get Ashton instead. So whether you guys had said so or not, I would have ended up with Ashton ^^

[Nate]

Right, Ashton is really easy to get. You don't need to worry about not having Celine if you're playing as Claude. You later get Leon, who is better in almost every way. If you're playing as Rena, though, you really needed Celine, as there really aren't any other magic users.

[Debitt]

Yay Ashton! ^.^

I also prefer Leon - though it's nice to have both Leon and Celine, so you can pull off the fun magic combos. They're not essential, though, and a bit of a pain to get the hang of.

[everdred12a]

No, I'm on the Claude game. Just made it to the tournament in Lacour, and I got killed in the second round >< I'm gonig to go back and gain about 3 levels before I try that tournament again. I want to at least get to the finals ><

[MasterDias]

You should have gotton Celine, as you will now wind up with at least one empty slot, but ah well...

And just so you know, while you can make the final round, you can't actually win it.

[everdred12a]

I didn't think I could. I'm assuming the final round is against Dias, so I didn't expect to. But I'd at least like to make it there. Also, I don't care about not having all the slots. Honestly, when I play through SO3, I prefer to keep my party with 2 open slots. It's difficult, but it's possible.

[Nate]

Yeah, the final round is against Dias, and he will mop the floor with you. Though of course, if you play as Rena and get him in your party, he's nowhere near as strong. :\

I never was particularly fond of Celine in the later levels, though I did like her Meteor spell from the Cave of Trials...never done the magic combos, though.

[everdred12a]

I'm in the middle of the tournament (again) right now. I decided to level to 25 before I started it (I was 20 last time >< ).

This whole Dias/Rena drama stuff is really getting on my nerves >< I'm a sucker for good drama XD This whole thing is just making me not like Rena (I didn't like Dias to begin with), though I suppose that's what they *wanted* to happen. This whole thing is probably supposed to irritate you. Though, no matter how much this whole thing is skewing my view of Rena, I'll go ahead and say that she's a million times better than Sophia was >< Nobody in any game I've ever played is as annoying as Sophia is, save for MAYBE Reith from Magna Carta.

[Debitt]

I vaguely dislike Rena and Claude to be honest - I found Precis, Ashton, and Leon to be much better characters. :3 But I agree completely with you about Sophia. sejgkwejgirgjawiga arrrgh keeel it with fire.

[everdred12a]

I like Claude and Rena... to an extent. I'm having a hard time *not* comparing this game to SO3... ><;; I like Claude, except for his voice... the voice gives me the impression of a dumb, macho guy. I just don't like it. And I liked Rena. I thought she was kinda cute when I was reading the book ^^ But then she turns out to be really snobby...

I do like Ashton, though. He strikes me as being a 'cool' character, though he's plagued by Ururun and Gyoro (hope I spelled those right). It's just funny ^^ And I haven't gotten to see much with Precis yet... I saw her once after I first went into a town (I forgot the town's name)... but that's it.

[Tommy]

Don't forget, Ashton loves Barrels.

Anyways, I remember playing through this game, it was a great one. It took me all summer to beat (my video game limit is an hour per day, MAYBE a little more).

The plot was nice, the characters were cool, and there were so many endings it is incredible.

I find Star Ocean II superior over Star Ocean III in ever way besides:

-Battle System.

Sorry, but So3 owns in that category.
The graphics to So2 are better, but the graphics to So3 are more realistic.
There's a difference.

[everdred12a]

I still find SO3 to be better, IMO. There are probably a lot of reasons why, but whatever. What do you mean, Ashton likes barrels?

[Tommy]

Ashton likes barrels. If you do Private Action, 9/10 times Ashton will be staring at a barrel and saying his favorite kind of barrel.

Now that I think of it, I actually DID like So3 better. I just found So2 to be a less fun version with worse voice acting and a worse plot.

By the way, I LIKED the plot twist in So3.

[Nate]

I liked Star Ocean 2 for many reasons, the first and foremost being the infinitely better skill system and item creation system. Sorry, but skills and item creation in SO3 were absolutely horrendous and an insult to the series.

I liked the characters in SO3 better, though, they were more fleshed out (still hated Sophia though).

[Tommy]

Sorry, but skills and item creation in SO3 were absolutely horrendous and an insult to the series.

Oh yeah....now I remember my pet peeve with So3.
I know what I've said before though, I can't decide between the two.

[Spiritsword]

I prefer SO3 to SO2, but I really enjoyed both games. Without giving too much away, I felt there were more extras on 3, and I like extras. Believe it or not, I completed SO2 twice, once with Claude and once with Rena, and have never had Ashton in my party... I almost played it a third time just to try him out, because he seems like an awesome character. Probably my favorite character on SO2 was Precis.

On SO3, hmmm, tough call but I guess Fayt, because I learned to kick some major butt with him in battle. I finally defeated Fr... but it took me awhile, like half an hour in battle.

[Tommy]

Maria was my star character. 30,000 dmg for one shot+having the last boss have like 300,000 = PWNZ!

[Spiritsword]

Yeah, Maria was pretty cool. After I leveled Fayt way up I beat up Ga..Ce.. with the metal (lead?) pipe. For some reason I found that amusing, kept thinking of "Clue".