Star Ocean is a good experience for RPG fans, but other gamers may be let down due to its noticable flaws.
User Rating: 8.3 | Star Ocean: Till the End of Time PS2
Square-Enix, master of RPG's, the best at story telling, and creators of the world famous Final Fantasy series has gone back and created a third installment in their Star Ocean series. Star Ocean takes place in the year S.D. 772, which represents the number of years that humans have colonized in space (Around the year 2800 A.D.). You follow the story of a 19-year old boy named Fayt Leingod whose parents are the most famous scientists in symbological genetics. While on a vacation with his parents and his friend Sophia, the world that they are on is attacked by a hostile alien force and Fayt is separated from everything he knows and loves. On his adventure to reunite with his family, he meets new companions and travels to many different worlds. The battle system in the game is not far-fetched from that of Final Fantasy, you encounter an enemy on the trail you are exploring and you are warped into battle with the foe you just met. However, you fight the battle in real-time as opposed to turn-based in Final Fantasy. The real-time battle system gives you more freedom as you use your characters abilities, and it is just flat out fun. Unlike in a game like Kingdom Hearts, you can control all of your allies on the battlefield, and the ones that you aren't controlling run on an AI system that you can customize. The gameplay is very entertaining even though it is not very revolutionary. Star Ocean is also a very long game, the story portion of the adventure can last anywhere between 30 to 50 hours and you'll need to be a dedicated player if you ever plan on finishing this one. Square-Enix has a reputation for making excellent graphics and Star Ocean is no exception, everything looks very satisfying, and the anime-styled characters look great, even though the game lacks CG cutscenes. If Star Ocean falls in any category it is in sound. The soundtracks are horrible, you could be exploring ancient ruins deep in a forest and instead of hearing low, gloomy music as you would in any other adventure-RPG, you are hearing loud, hardcore jazz music that just makes you want to puke. The music just does not fit the mood of the game, but the voice work is nice and clear. Star Ocean is a great game, but it may not appeal to people who do not like RPG's because of its long, drawn out story and horrible sound. But Star Ocean is worth even a rental for people who are unsure about this game. If you are a fan of any work from Square-Enix you should buy this game now. 
