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

Ultratech

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.

Yup. SO3 has a fantastic Battle System, especially once you learn the ins-and-outs of how it works and all that.

As for MP Death, I never really had much of an issue with it since it works both ways on allies and foes alike.
(Plus, exploiting it is how you get certain Battle Trophies IIRC by using items like MP Bombs and the like.)
 

Cornbread78

Member
Took these with a capture card:

mygreatcapturescreensp5s2v.png

mygreatcapturescreenstms5j.png


Nice we need more of these!!

Nice.
 

OmegaDL50

Member
Awesome.

Big fan of tri-Ace stuff, I will buy this as soon as I get paid this Friday.

Now hopefully this means Valkyrie Profile II is next, or possibly Radiata Stories, or both!
 

Fisty

Member
Awesome.

Big fan of tri-Ace stuff, I will buy this as soon as I get paid this Friday.

Now hopefully this means Valkyrie Profile II is next, or possibly Radiata Stories, or both!

Valkyie Profile 2, Drakengard, Grandia 3, Radiata Stories... want all of the SE stuff!

yes I even want Grandia Xtreme!
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
isn't Shadow Hearts a bit more on the legal trouble for bringing over, due to 1 and 2's publisher being Midway, 3 being XSeed (I think) and the company itself Nautilus going bellyup?
 

jj984jj

He's a pretty swell guy in my books anyway.
isn't Shadow Hearts a bit more on the legal trouble for bringing over, due to 1 and 2's publisher being Midway, 3 being XSeed (I think) and the company itself Nautilus going bellyup?

I don't think Midway and especially XSeed would be the problem. But the IP holder was Azure and they're now the Universal Entertainment Corporation who really mostly make pachislot machines. It would undoubtedly come down to whether someone can successfully negotiate with them.
 

Fisty

Member
I don't think Midway and especially XSeed would be the problem. But the IP holder was Azure and they're now the Universal Entertainment Corporation who really mostly make pachislot machines. It would undoubtedly come down to whether someone can successfully negotiate with them.

I believe Shane Bettenhausen does some of that for Sony, he would probably be a good person to ask
 

jman2050

Member
SO3 in an image

4ueeSw1.png

That's not a gif of blowing millions of Fol on failed item creations.

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.

See you know what's up, MP death is great.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
I don't think Midway and especially XSeed would be the problem. But the IP holder was Azure and they're now the Universal Entertainment Corporation who really mostly make pachislot machines. It would undoubtedly come down to whether someone can successfully negotiate with them.

isn't midway dead or owned by WB now
 

Syril

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.
MP just felt like a second type of health in this one, seeing as the physical skills cost HP to use also.
 
I'm honestly curious how many people buying this will be playing it for the very first time without any knowledge of dat plot twist.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
I beat Radiata once, i think the dude's arc. Fantastic game with excellent visuals. Willing to buy SO3 also, probably US ver. just in case.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Talk about feeling silly, I actually lost in the simulator tutorial battle. That didn't happen the first time I played. Haha.

honestly the only time I've completed the three rounds was in 4D mode, that shit was hard even in normal difficulty lol
 
So, about 5 hours in and only now am I reminded by the fact that some of the Personal Affection point allocation affects both team members you haven't met, and affect how Fayt feels about them deep down.
I'm curious to see who, if anyone new players wind up with in the end, with the likes of Maria and Nel being pretty hard to get without the aphrodisiac potions.
 
First game I bought and entirely played in English. It made me want to study English a lot more after that, and I gained access to a whole new world of entertainment.

Plus the game was pretty awesome and made me awfully excited for SO4
this game sucked though. I still bought the international version on PS3.

If you like classic RPGs, this will be a treat.

Just remember that save points can be quite afar from each other in dungeons.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
Would love to revisit this game, but I'm reminded of the crafting system where a guide felt absolutely mandatory. RNG bullshit mixed with save scumming and resetting, and an insane amount of variables with little direction towards creating the goods.

I think a massive chunk of the 130+ hours I put into the PS2 game was spent with a guide and that factory line...
 

Swiggins

Member
So, about 5 hours in and only now am I reminded by the fact that some of the Personal Affection point allocation affects both team members you haven't met, and affect how Fayt feels about them deep down.
I'm curious to see who, if anyone new players wind up with in the end, with the likes of Maria and Nel being pretty hard to get without the aphrodisiac potions.

Wait wait wait...
there were aphrodisiac potions? wtf?
 
Wait wait wait...
there were aphrodisiac potions? wtf?

Yeah, but comically they each had the same opposite effect to their name, i.e. they'd decrease the party member's overall PA point to everyone. You get them through compounding. A common trick to getting the various endings was to save before the final boss, then dump dozens of these into other characters to the point that only Fayt and the desired party member have any real affinity to one another.
 

Swiggins

Member
Yeah, but comically they each had the same opposite effect to their name, i.e. they'd decrease the party member's overall PA point to everyone. You get them through compounding. A common trick to getting the various endings was to save before the final boss, then dump dozens of these into other characters to the point that only Fayt and the desired party member have any real affinity to one another.

Hahahaha, that's fucking hilarious.

"Hey everybody, drink this shit until you hate me...except you...."
 
Hahahaha, that's fucking hilarious.

"Hey everybody, drink this shit until you hate me...except you...."

Lol, pretty much.

You'd still have to follow certain conditions for each party member, as (as far as I can recall), there's no way to boost their affection point outside of the side-events and some very obscure conversations - conversations with NPCs, that seemingly have no bearing on a character's opinion of Fayt, that also take place when party members haven't even been introduced, and yet these somehow ultimately tally up to Fayt's standing in their eyes - oh, and vice versa for him too. The game's flow is predisposed to Sophia - since she is the heroine as far as marketing the game is concerned, so raising another party member's standing, whilst not boosting Fayt/Sophia's affinity is pretty hard without those potions I mentioned. Like I said, it'll be interesting if anyone new here get's some of the 'harder' partner endings - especially if they did it without a guide. Particularly Maria, as much as she is a long-standing bae for me in RPGs, she can be annoying as fuck to win over. She's got a whole lot of inconsistencies to what she likes Fayt to do/be, at times she wants you to be kind to everyone, whereas she sometimes gets the most points when you are a complete arsehole.
 

Perineum

Member
Totally ruined the franchise. SO2 is god tier then the story of this just shit on all the potential this franchise had.

Great combat tho...
 

Fisty

Member
I think im finally finished in the Airyglyph Aqueducts. Managed to grind out 500 Chain on the skeletons, along with 100 solo wins and 100 no damage wins. Ended up with plenty of Regeneration Symbols, which I sold to afford the Holy Sword, Damask Gauntlets, and Osprey Dagger. I think it should be smooth sailing for quite awhile.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
I think im finally finished in the Airyglyph Aqueducts. Managed to grind out 500 Chain on the skeletons, along with 100 solo wins and 100 no damage wins. Ended up with plenty of Regeneration Symbols, which I sold to afford the Holy Sword, Damask Gauntlets, and Osprey Dagger. I think it should be smooth sailing for quite awhile.

the soldier enemies outside are also not meant for you to fight since they're unusually high level yet you're dropped off quite near to them, so it's hilarious that if you could survive them, you gain lots of exp
 
the soldier enemies outside are also not meant for you to fight since they're unusually high level yet you're dropped off quite near to them, so it's hilarious that if you could survive them, you gain lots of exp

I was convinced I simply wasn't playing the game well enough back them as I threw myself at the soldiers again and again back during my first playthrough. It didn't occur to me to simply leave them be since I assumed the Dragon Brigade was ahead of me i.e. they'd be a boss fight I had to grind for.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
It wasn't amazing, sure, but it had a certain charm to it. But 3's is just garbage-tier nonsense, and tied to one of the dumbest twists I can remember encountering in a game.

I'd argue SO3's twist made SO2's story sensible. And I'd argue it wasn't charm - it was hogwash as it was yet another "medieval fantasy" that was quite a clique back then. The original had the unique feel to it rather than this one, which really played up the "stuck in medieval setting 90% of the time".

I was convinced I simply wasn't playing the game well enough back them as I threw myself at the soldiers again and again back during my first playthrough. It didn't occur to me to simply leave them be since I assumed the Dragon Brigade was ahead of me i.e. they'd be a boss fight I had to grind for.

I know that feel, it doesn't help that the area they spawn are required for map completion. Though if you are good with AAA you can easily beat them.
 

Fisty

Member
the soldier enemies outside are also not meant for you to fight since they're unusually high level yet you're dropped off quite near to them, so it's hilarious that if you could survive them, you gain lots of exp

Where are these soldiers? I dont remember seeing them, I want to wreck some higher level stuff lol
 
Where are these soldiers? I dont remember seeing them, I want to wreck some higher level stuff lol

After leaving Airyglyph, you go into a cutscene involving a wagon. Once it's played out; you, Cliff and Nel travel on foot to the East to the next town, but as Doogie said, if you want to complete the map you can go west (where you travelled from), that side of the map isn't meant to be explored until later into the story, so the soldiers are a lot more powerful than any of the other enemies. As far as I can remember, as long as the game doesn't lock you out of that area after progressing (like Fayt denying you access to that path), you can go back and explore at any time.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Where are these soldiers? I dont remember seeing them, I want to wreck some higher level stuff lol

Yeah as Steadfast said, after the wagon cutscene, you're supposed to go to the autumn-y part of the road. The snow area on the west is an area you're not supposed to go through yet (if you run around town before leaving, you see the equipment being more expensive as you're not meant to purchase them yet). You're allowed to explore that to complete the map, but the mobs there, the soldiers, are heavy hitters!

I forgot if you could enter the town or not though. I think you can't?
 

Fisty

Member
Thanks for the replies, I was so burned out after 500 chain last night I couldn't go on anymore lol. Will try this out when I get home. Need some good exp since those skeletons only give 9 with the 3x boost
 

rulerk1

Member
still have my 400pg guide for this lol. I only made it to the Moonbase before my save file got deleted. I cant wait to play this again :(. I gonna try to do the factory stuff. This will be my Atelier this summer
 

Mudo

Member
I have to admit - the $20.99 price raised me eyebrows but i love this game so I bought it and am 9 hours in after 2 evenings wow. The game is just pure fun to me, plot twist be damned. Looking forward to going home and playing all night.

Oh and I saw online that you can get the Holy Sworxd for Fayt when you first get to Airyglypg so I did it, and it's SO. MUCH. POWER LOL. Also got 3 Regeneration Symbols from the skeletons in the Airyglyph dungeon and holy cow I had no idea how game changing they are. The description says you gain 3% MP at regular intervals during battle so I thought...whoopie that sucks. In reality, most battles end with my characters at FULL MP. Damn. I'm never unequipping these!

Question: I read up a lot on the NPC AI and how to distribute between HP/MP/Attack/Defense. I did not find a consensus. Is it safe or a good idea to initially level Attack and Defense (alternating) until I get to level 4 and then start focusing on MP/HP? Or do I go further than that with them or something totally different????
 
So, dicking about reading through the Dictionary and damn is there a lot of reference text in this, like, I kn there was but to be reminded of such. There is so much on forces and places we never, ever visit in this series, like
Greeton or the Aldian Empire
, and it reminded me of one of the reasons why I loved this game. IT presents these other forces and entities that aren't simply older game references, they are just other political entities that exist, because of course they do and even through they are powerful and negatively influential to our cast, they're just... there. No foreshadowing to an inevitable introduction like you would get in a lot of other RPGs, wherein if a place or force is mentioned, it will certainly make an appearance in the plot. Here, they're just there.

Also, by exhausting all dictionary prompts by the time I reached Kirsla,
I - or Fayt if we're assuming he's reading this - is now fully aware of ALL political background of Elicoor, to the extent even Nel knows less, and is fully aware of who Maria, lol

I have to admit - the $20.99 price raised me eyebrows but i love this game so I bought it and am 9 hours in after 2 evenings wow. The game is just pure fun to me, plot twist be damned. Looking forward to going home and playing all night.

Oh and I saw online that you can get the Holy Sworxd for Fayt when you first get to Airyglypg so I did it, and it's SO. MUCH. POWER LOL. Also got 3 Regeneration Symbols from the skeletons in the Airyglyph dungeon and holy cow I had no idea how game changing they are. The description says you gain 3% MP at regular intervals during battle so I thought...whoopie that sucks. In reality, most battles end with my characters at FULL MP. Damn. I'm never unequipping these!

Question: I read up a lot on the NPC AI and how to distribute between HP/MP/Attack/Defense. I did not find a consensus. Is it safe or a good idea to initially level Attack and Defense (alternating) until I get to level 4 and then start focusing on MP/HP? Or do I go further than that with them or something totally different????

Considering how the game gives you Fayt and Cliff, who are each amongst the easiest to control a battle with given their cancel bonus moves, I always dumped a lot into the party's HP/MP to begin with, as they'd do little more than draw attention whilst you chop away at any enemy with decent HP. I wouldn't worry too much about Attack and Defence until you can start really rotating the cast. That's by no means the de facto strategy btw, just what always helped me on the harder difficulties.
 
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