Review of Star Ocean Till the End of Time

Star Ocean is finally here, the game that we've been waiting for and an RPG that sparks a lot of interest in ways unimaginable.Surprisingly enough, the game is fairly addictive with the themes of a good RPG right off the bat, a good story, loveable characters and a grand battle system.

Star Ocean is a more science fiction like RPG.To put it simple, if you like RPGs and Star Trek, I don't need to tell you to get this game, chances are you'll already have it.

Star Ocean begins with Fayt, a boy staying at a hotel resort with his parents and childhood friend Sophia.Everything is going nice and well until the resort is suddenly attacked by starships.Fayt and company end up having to evacuate the resort but ultimately Fayt is separated from those he loves.Now he is stranded on an unknown planet to fend for himself and find his friends.It starts off nice and simple but as the game goes on the story developes more and becomes a bit more complex than it sounds.

Star Ocean is a little different from the traditional RPG.It eliminates random battles and instead you can see all the enemies running around on the field.Each time you touch an enemy you initiate combat and this is where Star Ocean is the most interesting.The other interesting tid-bit is that its all real time battle, and free roaming.When in battle you can run around as one of three characters freely either dodging attacks or blocking them. This makes the game more fun than it actually sounds.

In battle, each character has a "Fury" gauge.When at 100% the character can attack swiftly without fail, and block certain attacks.The more "fury" you have the more success you'll have in combat.If your characters fury guage reaches 0 then they can't attack.Luckily, the fury gauge fills up very fast when you stand still.You're also not limited to just one character.You can switch from one character to another any time you wish.

Each character also gets "Symbology" which is Star Ocean's form of magic.The magic is diverse in terms of how much there is and what they do (stun enemies, deal wide areas of damage etc.).Some skills cost more than others but its an RPG I'm sure you knew this.

Battles are fun but the game is a challenge.Especially bosses which can be unforgiving at times.It's easy to pick up the battle system, but it could take a moment to master.Dungeons are also overly populated with enemies.This wouldn't be so bad if the dungeons weren't so big, and if the number of items you could carry weren't so limited.

Star Ocean also has an "inventors" system.Each character, playable and non-playable, create inventions based on what they're best at.Some characters are best at cooking and make several different foods.Others are good at smithing and create useful weapons.When an item is "invented" it becomes available to buy.Some characters will create some pretty useless things but it makes the game bigger.

Star Ocean also features a system in which the characters have a hidden attribute as to how much they like you.Depending on the decisions you make will alter what the characters think of you and will also give you a different ending.

The game looks beautiful.Not quite as good looking as previous PS2 games before it, but those who liked the look and feel of Xenosaga will feel right at home.The games graphics look a little anime style with the big eyes and the multitudes of hair.The game is simply gorgeous.

The game also sounds really good.The voice acting is top-notch for a video game and the character voices go along quite well at times.The overall music isn't bad but takes a while to get used to.Not quite as deep as other games but it suits the situation just fine.

The game has A LOT of dialogue and the cutscenes are long but luckily you can skim though most of it without having to listen to each character word for word.If you read faster than the characters actually speak you might want to just turn off the talking all together.You can also skip cutscenes, but at least the game isn't as drowned out in dialogue as several other games out there (Xenosaga anyone?).

Star Ocean is a pretty good game overall.It has a few small problems but as far as games go, it stand above many out there.If you're an avid RPGer you might want to get this game and try it out.

The Good
+Beautiful Graphics
+Voices are pretty well done
+Battling is more interactive and fun
+Good music
+Good storyline
+The game will keep you busy for a while

The Bad
-Dungeons are ridiculously huge
-A lot of talking, making the story pace a little slow
-Most of the gameplay is spent leveling up your characters as opposed to actually advancing the storyline





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