The plot of Star Ocean 2 is a little more of the same, but adds in some new twists that directly affect the outcome of the game (there are 86 endings in all). You have your choice of two lead characters; Claude Kenni, an ensign aboard his father's starship, and Rena, a simple country girl with mysterious healing powers. In a fateful accident, Claude ends up transported onto the planet of Expel, Rena's homeworld. From there the adventure begins. The story itself is a tad cliche and tired, but what makes the game that more exciting is the numerousm (and I do mean numerous) side-quests that the player can take. The story is a rather unusual mix of high-technology meeting old-world themes and traditions. Although many of the plot twists are familiar (the front line defense smells of Chrono Trigger), they are not dragged out, and you never feel bored from any of the scenes.

Tri-Ace, the developers who gave us the rather excellent Tales of Destiny have struck again with their gorgeous pre-rendered backgrounds and well designed FMC's. Moments after the introductory sequence, you're instantly drawn into a world that is teeming with life. The feel of the game is a combination of elements derived from Final Fantasy 7 and Tales of Destiny, employing 2D sprites onto 3D rendered backgrounds. The result, an astonishing success as the game never slows down and you'll never find sprites flickering when scaled. In addition, the backgrounds themselves are not only appropriate, but surpass the mighty Final Fantasy in terms of design and quality. Each scene seemed to be handled with the uproots care and concern. Also noteworthy of mention are the emotion bubbles that appear on top of the character's heads during key events during the game. For those who are into anime or anything Japanese related, these icons will be instantly recognizable to the player. They range from sweat drops to exclamation marks to little ol' hearts. These expression symbolize what the character is thinking of when they're conversing with each other or with other people. They add some humor to a rather serious game. Although the characters themselves are well designed and look great, sometimes they can be mistaken for regular NPC's (non-playing characters) when the game camera is zoomed out a lot.

When I started frequenting various Star Ocean 2 message boards, one of the major gripes was against the quality of music in the game. Quite frankly I don't find anything wrong with the soundtrack. The themes range from average to absolutely amazing, especially the two themes when Lacour is under siege. If anyone is a collector of video game soundtracks, I would definitely recommend that they pick up this OSV.

Unless it has the voice acting in it.

The voice acting is a stark contrast to the rest of the game's audio. Some of them were so poorly done that I started having fits of laughter just from listening to them. I don't think that I would've complained about the voice acting provided that they were more concise and articulate. The voice acting comes off rushed and unemotional, and at times, makes Resident Evil look good in the voice acting department.

One of the more innovative aspects of the original Star Ocean was its battle system. Instead of the more traditional menu-based combat, you're presented with a real-time system (e.g. fighting on a plane), similar to the Tales of Destiny series. A few key highlights to point out include the ability to upgrade the battle system fighting in full 3D environments. For example, you can dodge and lure enemies into your tactics, a feature previously unseen or undeveloped in previous RPG's. The computer AI for your party was executed very well, as they make few mistakes when battling; these guys actually obey your commands when you order them to 'Flee the enemy' or 'Spread out and Attack!'. The enemy AI on the other hand is somewhat weak, as most of the enemies you will encounter will clumsily forge into battle with one or two simple attack patterns.

Another relatively new feature to the console RPG is the skills system. Similar to Ultima Online, you are given Skill Points when you level up to distribute to the various skills you have purchased from a Skill Guild. When you reach certain marks with your skills, you are given a new set of skills, or your skill level will rise. This is one of the main draws of Star Ocean 2; to allow the player to customize their character to suit their desires. You want to have a character that can cook up food to heal HP and another to blacksmith armor for your party? Go for it! You can also use Super Specialty Skills, which involve the entire party and are very useful throughout the game. One of the better SS Skills is the Identify All! skill, which allows you to manipulate the price of items in the various shops you visit throughout your adventure, or the Come on Bunny! skill, which summons a rather large bunny for you to ride on (a la Chocobo). Very cool stuff.

In direct relation to the skills system are the variety of "creation skills"; that you can learn throughout your trek. Throughout your journey you will learn how to make various pieces of armor, weapons, and even items that are not available any way else. You can even pickpocket NPC's in towns and receive small goodies from them. Be wary not to do this when your friends are around or you'll find your relationship meter will drop, thus it will affect the outcome of the ending sequence ;)

All in all, Star Ocean 2 gets my nod for most innovative RPG of the year. It combines many features seen on PC RPG's (like a skill system) and marries them beautifully with totally new material. If you're someone who likes RPG's fresh, and wouldn't mind something other than Lunar, go get Star Ocean 2.

· · · Reno