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Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (PS4) |OT| Wait, whaaaaat? You're kidding, right...

thedan001

Member
I just purchased it, excited to replay it.

SO2 and 3 are my favorites, but I miss the blindside mechanic from 4.

I'm gonna rush through the beginning so I can start getting into the craft system, I spent a lot of time with that in 2004.
 

Leeness

Member
I remember very little of this game other than the twist, and rocking a team of Fayt, Nel and (does this count as a spoiler? Someone who joins later in the game)
Albel. He was one of my teen years bishounen crushes lol
.

Maybe I'll play it again when it gets cheaper. $28 in Canada is nope.
 
Will get this once we have it on sale. I really like this game and the comfy fantasy setting at the start. This is also the only game I know that uses the pressure sensitive buttons on the PS2 controller, I don't even know if that still exist as a feature for modern controllers. SIDE KICK!
 

Fisty

Member
"Well son, I could tell you the plot twist now, but why do that? Let's hurry to escape this strongly-related thing"
 

aravuus

Member
I wasn't planning to do it for a while, but this could be a fun time to replay the game. Gonna stick with emulation, though, hope I can still post in this thread lol.

SO3 in an image

4ueeSw1.png

Well now I'm having second thoughts
 

daevious

Member
SO3 in an image

4ueeSw1.png

This image physically hurts me.

At any rate, I've still got my PS2 so I might just replay that. Interested to see how people react to this game nowadays because even when I was a dumb kid I could tell that there were some awful design decisions that go way beyond "that" twist.
 

Mephala

Member
I think SO2 is my favourite. I really disliked the plot twist in this but I have a strange and strong desire to revisit this game. I was enjoying it quite a lot up to the plot twist and I think it is the last SO that I enjoyed without feeling like I should be playing something else.
 

FinalAres

Member
I bought this. Had this as a kid and never finished it (or came close) so hope to finally get through it!

Also really hoping for more Square Enix PS2 titles (come on Dirge of Cerberus!) so this is also a bit of a vote with my wallet situation.
 

Amherst_Wind

Neo Member
Anyone got any impressions of the version on the UK store? I remember the framerate/stuttering issues with the original batch of PS2 classics like Rogue Galaxy, not sure if they ever fixed it.
 

Korigama

Member
Aiming Device! Scatter Beam! Aiming Device! Scatter Beam! Aiming Device!

This remains the only Star Ocean I've played for myself admittedly, but I've since lost track of how many hours I put into the PS2 release. Would recommend
Nel and Albel
for the two optional characters for anyone new to the game in respect to gameplay and relevance (though there really was no excuse for either of them not being added by default).
 

squall211

Member
Weak

I loved all of Star Ocean 3 unconditionally.. I can't wait to grab this and play it again once I own a ps4. Does it have dual-audio?

I like you.

I absolutely adore SO2. Fantastic game, but I honestly don't see how so many consider it better than SO3.
 
aw man, I'm without my ps4 for a while, and this is one of my favorite rpgs ever! I'm dying over here. Hope everyone enjoys it in my place!
 
I like you.

I absolutely adore SO2. Fantastic game, but I honestly don't see how so many consider it better than SO3.

SO2 has (IMO) a better story and characters, no stupid "run out of MP and die" mechanic, a bigger and more varied world(s), and better music.

I honestly can't think of a single thing I prefer in 3.
 

Aeana

Member
The combat in SO2 is super shallow. I enjoy the game, but SO3 has it beaten handily in that department.

Also, I will defend MP death until I die. It's a great risk/reward mechanic that you can exploit easily on difficult enemies.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
SO2 has (IMO) a better story and characters, no stupid "run out of MP and die" mechanic, a bigger and more varied world(s), and better music.

I honestly can't think of a single thing I prefer in 3.

wut

characters ymmv (personally I thought outside of Ashton everyone in SO2 are annoying), but the mechanic is stupid? it's easily one of the best things implemented in the game for many reasons - the game treats MP and HP equally (fighters use HP for instance) and it allows mages to be tanks (via skills), the mechanic alone made mages in SO3 useful, the only time they're useful

also I disagree on varied worlds - most of them even reuse areas with a filter over

The combat in SO2 is super shallow. I enjoy the game, but SO3 had it beaten handily in that department.

Also, I will defend MP death until I die. It's a great risk/reward mechanic that you can exploit easily on difficult enemies.
You will not fight alone in the MP fight.
 

squall211

Member
SO2 has (IMO) a better story and characters, no stupid "run out of MP and die" mechanic, a bigger and more varied world(s), and better music.

I honestly can't think of a single thing I prefer in 3.

I'll grant you the MP death thing is stupid, and the fact that SO2 has an actual world map is a huge plus, but I definitely enjoyed the SO3 cast more, and SO3's OST is one of my all time favorites (though 2's soundtrack is great as well).
 

Korigama

Member
Never cared much for MP kills, but SO3's OST is easily some of Sakuraba's best work. I liked most of the cast, but would say the setting was largely wasted potential.
 

Z3M0G

Member
So how many hours does it take before you actually gain a 4th party member? I believe I gave up after 15 hours back in the day.
 

FinalAres

Member
Anyone got any impressions of the version on the UK store? I remember the framerate/stuttering issues with the original batch of PS2 classics like Rogue Galaxy, not sure if they ever fixed it.

I've bought it and will be playing in about 5 hours. I don't know what kind of impressions I can give though. I generally don't notice performance like stuttering, frame rates, resolutions etc.

Let me know if there's anything specific you want me to check out!
 

bomblord1

Banned
Any comparisons to the game in PCSX2? I actually own a PS2 copy and would be willing to grab some comparisons if someone can give me a PS4 image to compare it to.
 

poncle

Member
I really wanted some tri-Ace action lately, so Started Star Ocean 5 just recently... battles last 2 seconds and I feel like I have zero input on what's happening on the screen.
So I'm going back to 3 apparently.

Can you remap the controls?
Does the EU/UK version has any weird banding or aspect ratio?
 
I've bought it and will be playing in about 5 hours. I don't know what kind of impressions I can give though. I generally don't notice performance like stuttering, frame rates, resolutions etc.

Let me know if there's anything specific you want me to check out!

How do they deal with the pressure-sensitive button stuff?
 

Zafir

Member
Still a bit annoyed over the price but at least the conversion rate isn't too bad, at £17.

Even so I'll probably wait for some impressions. I know the EU version of SO3 was pretty eh.
 

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
I forgot that this game has MP death. I remember the first time I played this game I randomly died despite having over 50% health and didn't realize you could die by expending MP. It was definitely something that no game that I played up until that point.
 

Abylim

Member
The combat in this is rough.

I can't remember if you get something eventually that allows you to chain abilities?

I'm at Kirlsa now, and I have to admit I'm struggling.

Played the shit out of it like 10 years ago but I don't remember it being this bad
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
The combat in this is rough.

I can't remember if you get something eventually that allows you to chain abilities?

I'm at Kirlsa now, and I have to admit I'm struggling.

Played the shit out of it like 10 years ago but I don't remember it being this bad

???

you could always chain attacks since the beginning
 

OrionX

Member
Whew I played this game so many times as a kid. Definitely gonna pick it up at some point.

Also Fayt/Cliff/Nel 4ever.
 
I think SO2 is my favourite. I really disliked the plot twist in this but I have a strange and strong desire to revisit this game. I was enjoying it quite a lot up to the plot twist and I think it is the last SO that I enjoyed without feeling like I should be playing something else.
I'm right there with you. I don't even look at this game favorably but something about seeing those screenshots is awakening a nostalgia for this game I didn't even know I had.
 

Aeana

Member
The combat in this is rough.

I can't remember if you get something eventually that allows you to chain abilities?

I'm at Kirlsa now, and I have to admit I'm struggling.

Played the shit out of it like 10 years ago but I don't remember it being this bad
Chaining attacks is called cancel bonus, and you do it by timing your button presses. Try side kick -> side kick. Press the first button to do the attack, then press the other one right as the first finishes (put side kick on both attack buttons)
 

FinalAres

Member
Man I'm so impressed with the quality of this port. After psone classics and ps2 classics on PS3, this is so much nicer. I hope square Enix bring other ps2 classics like drakengard.
 

Cornbread78

Member
So, If I pre-order the deluxe edition of Destiny 2 and a $1 avatar, I would get $15 back at the beginning of June to buy this game, for $6? hmm.... that is just what is going to have to happen here...


Man I'm so impressed with the quality of this port. After psone classics and ps2 classics on PS3, this is so much nicer. I hope square Enix bring other ps2 classics like drakengard.

Need screen pics ASAP! post up!
 

InfiniteNine

Rolling Girl
I figured it'd be cleaner than that but I'm used to replaying in PCSX2.


Old screen from when I last replayed.

I'll be buying after I get paid next anyways since I'd like some more SO games of its quality in the future, slim as that may be.
 
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