Another old school RPG from the Playstation era is here, go and get it while its still available!
Genre: RPG-Action
Developer: Squareenix
System: Playstation Portable (PSP)
Total Score: 90/100
Value Score: 9/10
• Story: 9/10
o The storyline takes place 20 years after the events of Star Ocean First Departure, players who played the first game will notice a familiar character named Ronyx who now has a son is a admiral. However when the player first starts the game, they have a choice of starting as Claude who is Ronyx's son or play as the new female character, Rena. The storyline overall is the same, however with a few minor changes such as which character would join you and with a few minor different storyline views depending on who you choose in the beginning. Majority of the storyline revolves around something called the Sorcery Globe which seems to be the source of all evil and monsters in the planet Expel (where the storyline takes place). The 2nd part of the game goes more into depth revolving around Rena's past and origin, a new evil organization named the 10 wise men and of another world.
• Characters: 9/10
o The characters in Star Ocean Second Evolution are far more better than the previous game's. The main characters are a less shallow than the first game's, and it seems like the main protagonists actually have more of a impact on the storyline unlike the first game's. The villains themselves make their appearance halfway through the game rather than the end of the game like the first game's. Each main party member that joins has a unique personality and brings forth a decent part in the total plot line with their own issues and problems. Though it will take at least 2-3 times of play through to get all of the characters. There are about 80 different endings or so in this game depending on how you interact with your characters in each town.
• GamePlay: 9/10
o The gameplay is a exact replica of Star Ocean First Departure, there are not any major changes in the set up of the gameplay other than the fact you get battle skills much later into the game and the fact that there are no special skills that teach you combination skills. Each character has their unique fighting style and can bring different skills and spells to the battle field. Enemies are a lot more difficult than the first game's along with that you cant abuse leveling up like you can in the first game however there are methods of another way via the skill usage.
• Graphics: 8/10
o Because of the fact that this game was made at the same time as the first one, the graphics are pretty much the same, even the interface on the menu system and battles are the same. Character designs are a bit different from the previous game, however not much of a difference. Same with the sprites, they've recycled the same sprites from a few monsters from the first one to this game. Other than that, nothing much to say about it.
• Sound: 8/10
o The voice overs in the game are a lot better than the previous game, however the way the voice overs are done is still a bit mediocre. The sound quality isn't bad and doesn't overlay the background music and vice versa like Star Ocean 3. The majority of the sound effects are the same as the previous game which isn't bad thing.
• Music: 10/10
o The music score for this game is completely different from the first and it's a remake of the Star ocean second story, all of the tracks are remade to be in sync with the game's overal quality and it does fit perfectly well, a few of the theme songs are noticeable such as the "Incarnation of the Devil". There are a lot of familiar songs, which old and new fans of the series will enjoy.
• Length: 10/10
o The length of this game is a lot longer than the first game, as the original game was originally 2 discs long on the Playstation console. The first half of the game deals with some character introductions and a war between demons and humans. The second half of the game ties in the two story lines and a new storyline involving a new enemy group called "The 10 wise men". If that isn't enough, the player is given the choice as well to play the game all over again with the other character that they did not choose, which will thus put them in new scenes and situations that the other character whatever they chose before wasn't forced to make. Not a huge difference, but still something noticeable.
• Replay Value: 9/10
o Not much on the replay value however the fact that you can choose to play another lead character and have some different storylines along with the fact that a 2nd run through would be necessary to know the storyline of other characters give more than enough reason to give the game the score of a 9. However there is no new game plus, but you do get to see movie scenes and listen to different sound effects and part of the OST in the menu screen.
• Player Value: 8/10
o Overall a far better game than the first Star ocean, storyline wise at least. If you loved the first star ocean remake, you will love this one , no doubt. it's a must have for all RPG fans, Star Ocean fans and of course the anime community. A great storyline, good characters, decent graphics and sound, incredible OST, this game is a must have for any RPG game collector.