Star Ocean: Second Evolution
Star Ocean 2: Second Evolution
Star Ocean Second Evolution is an enhanced remake of the original Playstation 1 game, Star Ocean: The Second Story. The game has a compelling and fun story with a young lad named Claude (you) who is accidently transported to another world and meets up with a young girl who gets into trouble. Claude is thought to be the savior of the planet and they set off on a wonderful adventure. Now this is a cliché story and sounds like a thousand other Role Playing Games which came out of Japan in the last 20 years but this time the story is much better and complete with many less plot holes then you would come to expect.
Gameplay
To play and enjoy Star Ocean 2, you do not need to have played Star Ocean 1, which is nice since the first Star Ocean game is similar gameplay wise to this game. But for a complete experience and if you are a diehard role playing gamer, seeing the first game and playing through the great story will only make you appreciate the 2nd one even more. Other than a lack of action in the first 40-50 minutes of the game, other than some quick battles which lead to story parts, you will have to deal with some long boring conversation which is important to the story, but not so important you will not want to skip it, which you can if you turned on the option to skip conversations, something I highly recommend doing if you patience is short like mine is.
While Square Enix upgraded the graphics and audio to Star Ocean 2, they did not upgrade the gameplay completely beyond 3D backgrounds and general graphics and some much more intense combat based scenes. The action is fast paced and with most of the battles taking place very quickly with spells and swords and everything else being blasted all over the screen. Since it is an action game and not a turn based game like so many Japanese Role Playing Games. You can “pause” combat to use an item or change tactics of other players or even switch your player but most of the time you will be hitting the action button and the two shoulder buttons for special attacks.
The game is not very difficult compared to most of the older RPG’s from the PS1 era, but it has one major issue with the lack of save points. You will find them every couple of hours out in the world and in some dungeons you will find them all over, but the lack of visible save points (you can save in the 3D map with the camp feature) can easily result in you losing several hours of game time due to inattention in game. It is rare mind you, but if you can screw up in game to the point of losing time this is something I have done. An auto-save and/or more save stations would have made the entire experience more enjoyable for me and other gamers who get tunnel vision when playing their games and who then forget to save.
Wandering the world between dungeons and cities is similar to the first Star Ocean PSP game, Star Ocean First Departure, with a fully 3D rotatable map with hills, mountains, pathways and more to navigate your way around. While the actual draw distance is not very far and the mini map is almost useless other then letting you know the general direction to travel it is actually a nice touch to roam the world in this manner and not in a 2D limited manner.
Graphics
Graphically Square Enix has done a bang up job upgrading the graphics from the original now 11 year old Playstation title with only some issues such as your character becoming stuck on the environment, some fuzzy textures and when you are walking far away from the camera or when the camera is naturally just far from you, there are times when you are so small it is difficult to see what you are doing.
The video cut scenes are very well done and portray the action very well for the game and the events in the game, which is not surprising since it is a Square Enix game and they do know in game video better than most game developers.
Audio
Square Enix did a great job with the audio in every way for this PSP remake. A strong musical score, with mostly good and even excellent voice work and some very good sound effects make this game one of the better sounding PSP games in the history of the handheld. Beyond some slightly rare annoying speaking parts in the game there is actually no down side to the audio.
Value
Zero replay value and no multiplayer make this a onetime play through for most people, but its length and accessibility make it a worthwhile investment for your hard earned gaming dollar, especially now days when games cost a lot for just a few hours of play time. As a diehard gamer though, keeping this game, with the first Star Ocean and the upcoming prequel Star Ocean the Last Hope on the 360 will have a nice rounded out RPG experience I can come back to later on.
Bottom Line
If you are a gamer who likes their PSP (and what is not to love) then this action role playing title is for you and is a must buy. Especially if the upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive Star Ocean: The Last Hope interests you then find out why the series is loved by the older gamer who grew up on the original games.
Pros
+Great graphic and audio update
+Tons of Voice Over Work
+Gameplay holds up well
+Plenty of great level design and imaginative story telling pulls you along
Cons
-Skipping dialogue is not a default feature, you need to turn it on in settings
-Save points are RARE
Final Verdict
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
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