Remakes, remasters, reboots—those are (usually) the orders of the day when it comes to various forms of media. Video games are no exception. When it came to my attention that Star Ocean: The Second Story would get a remaster (or, in this case, a 2DHD remake), my eyes immediately lit up as the memories of a painstakingly difficult yet very enjoyable JRPG came flooding back. As with all remakes, remasters, or reboots, the main question is—does Star Ocean: The Second Story R do justice to the original? How does it keep itself relevant in 2023, a year with numerous contenders for Game of the Year consideration?
First off, the graphics are nothing short of amazing for a 2DHD remake. The second I opened the game (and, of course, turned up the settings), the visuals popped out at me. We’ve come a long way since 1999, after all, so this is expected. You can play as Claude C. Kenny, an ensign in the Earth Federation, or Rena Lanford, a mysterious girl from the Expelian village of Arlia. Claude ends up on Expel due to an intergalactic mission gone wrong. The mayor of Arlia then sends Claude and Rena to investigate the Sorcery Globe, which is thought to be the reason why Expel is undergoing chaos, and uncover a plot that threatens the very existence of the entire universe itself.
Choosing to play as Claude or Rena also affects the events you see in the game, as the story is told from either of their perspectives. There are slight variations during certain events. Playing as Claude or Rena also means you get access to certain characters. There are also side quests that allow you to recruit other characters for a maximum of eight characters. However, recruiting certain characters blocks off access to others, so you might want to choose who to recruit depending on your playstyle.
You can choose a particular character as your leader and control them while setting up the other characters to do certain actions, such as unloading all their MP on the enemy, healing allies, or even just avoiding enemies. Certain tactics allow you to either boost attack, defense, avoidance, or even increase experience and currency (FOL) after each battle. I usually stuck with increasing experience and FOL until I reached the final dungeon and the optional dungeon. These areas contain some of the hardest enemies in the game (and probably JRPGs in general). You can even summon characters from other Star Ocean games to assist you in battle. I personally chose to control Claude despite choosing Rena’s story, but depending on what you like to do, you can control any party member.
Combat takes place in real time, which means there is no fixed position for your party or predictable patterns for enemies. Physical fighters utilize Killer Moves, while casters use either healing spells or offensive spells to wreak havoc on the battlefield. You can stun enemies after hitting them enough, allowing you to kill them a lot faster. In some fights, you might come across enemy leaders. Leaders either buff their party or debuff your party, and killing them stuns every enemy on the battlefield. You can even play on harder difficulties in battles: Earth (default), Galaxy, or Universe. As someone who played the original game, Universe is very unforgiving, and the slightest mistake could mean a Game Over.
The insane level of customization is what drew my interest to the game as a kid, and it is no less true now, as Gemdrops has kept many of the original skills and even added a few new ones to boot. You can learn a variety of skills that increase your combat stats, or professions that allow for item creation that are too numerous to list in this article. One of my favorites is Pickpocketing, which allows you to steal from NPCs and even your own party members if you enter into Private Actions (PAs) for some of the most rare and powerful items in the game. Just like in real life, stealing comes at a cost—your relationships with other characters will decrease, which may affect the ending(s) of the game. PAs also allow you to increase (or decrease) your friendships with other members of your party and thus also influence the game’s endings. You can even get more backstory about your party members in PA mode.
While challenging if you play on the higher difficulties, Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a valuable addition to any gamer’s library, as the numerous side quests and party customization open up numerous avenues for players to do what they want during the game. It also helps that the game looks great as well. If you want something to sink hundreds of hours into and still feel like there’s more to do, or just enjoy remastered JRPGs from the PlayStation era, I recommend highly that you buy this game, as it was the first JRPG that truly tested my knowledge and skill in the genre.
Developer: Gemdrops
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch
Words by Jose Alvarez
Also published in GADGETS MAGAZINE November-December 2023 Issue