Beginner hints and tips! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pbyJfJx7ktzJlWg.html All the Star Ocean Games RANKED? kzfaq.info/get/bejne/np9kldB5qbW6gqs.html Let's RANK all the Star Ocean 2 Characters! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ZrZ3acmrxpnWe58.html The Best Skills in Star Ocean 2: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/lbSRh8JmzbmRgKc.html Getting ALL Party Members! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qsqqhaZ5ltWbips.html

World maps make a game feel so much bigger and special. The first world map I ever experienced was in Lufia and the Fortress of Doom back in 95. That game made me fall in love with RPGS

I really hope we get more games remade with the 2D/HD look, honestly it looks amazing

You could argue there is something in game development called Gameplay loop and Every game has it. It's not always a time loop or repetitive activities like in Persona. It's more like an overall structure that creates the rythm of the fun. Star Ocean loop would be 1. Go to new town > 2. Get new quest > 3. Go to a new dungeon > 4. Fight a boss > Repeat. Is not so bad when the game has a great story or when every step of the loop is fun like in this Star Ocean for example

i have fond memories of watching my grandfather (rip) play the original back when i was a kid. i fell in love with the demo of the remake and can not wait to pick up my copy tomorrow - great work as always david

10:40 Fast travel, no-encounter mounted travel, and a traversable world map are an amazing combination.

When it comes to JRPGs I think gaming is in a very good state at this moment! We had gems like Octopath 2, Chained Echoes, Sea of Stars and now this game! We are living in great times as a JRPG fanatic

Certainly the best Star Ocean game and one of the best of the best RPGs.

I am so excited to play this tomorrow. I remember sinking so much of my time into the original game back in my college days, and now it’s even better! Played the demo only twice (one for each protagonist) and can’t wait to pick up with Rena first in the morning (or whenever it uploads). Sucks I have to work tomorrow…

It's really awesome when they can manage to take a game you can go back and play the original, with no complaints, and manage to add so much stuff to improve it. It's like having a really amazing pizza and then not only get the same pizza you just had but now you get free dessert.

i have been screaming Star Ocean 2's praises for decades and I am so excited to see this remake and know that new gamers will get a chance to play this game for the first time and for those of us who have fond memories a chance to play it all over again in a new version!

Love this game so excited for this remake. I think the fact that this, and Super Mario RPG are my two of my most hyped games. Pikmin4, Octopath2 Mario RPG and Star Ocean 2 are my hype games for the year. It's been a pretty damn solid year.

I am so happy this got a remake, now someone needs to remake Xenogears and I would die happy.

The visual upgrade to this game is absolutely stunning. Even if they only improved that and left the rest of the game alone, I'd still buy it. All the other upgrades make this an absolute must-buy. I haven't been this hyped for a game in years.

I’ve been looking to get into this after getting an itch of getting deep into JRPG’s again. I came across your channel watched this and other videos and felt like your genuine love for the genre, honest reviews expertise on the genre and how welcoming you are to all gamers makes you stand out from other content creators. Thank you for what you do.

Took the rest of the week off, even though I work from home (but don’t want to be interrupted ), to play this game. First star ocean game I’m so excited. Also just wanna say I love the content man. My go to rpg channel

Ah man playing this game was such a formative experience

I didn't know what to expect with this remaster. I still have the original in mint condition. I only played the demo of this remaster and I am very impressed. I see why they kept the character models relatively unchanged. Adds to the nostalgia. I personally would have liked an update like they did with Lunar on PSP. No other Star Ocean's really caught my attention. But this one reminded me why it was so special. Now if only I can get my Thousand Arms remaster lol "Blacksmith goes on dates to make powerful weapons?!" Original for sure.

Thank you for putting together this review! I'm very excited, it sounds like way more new stuff than I was expecting. Stoked to dig in this weekend! I did wanna point out though that "gameplay loop" normally refers to something different than looping games (which I agree, I'm generally not a fan of outside some very good rougelikes). "Gameplay loop" is an old game design term that just refers to the essential gameplay that you end up doing over and over. For a traditional RPG, the "gameplay loop" for a dungeon might be Battle -> Menuing (character progression and healing) -> Explore/Treasure finding -> Battle -> Repeat. So you can definitely have a core gameplay loop without being a boring, repetitive slog like Loop8!

Hi David! I remember playing the original SO2 not long after its release. It quickly became one of my favorite games of all time (and still is). The alchemy system was so cool. Can't wait to get the remake!

I can't wait to play it. I'm an older gamer too and remember playing this as a teenager many times and even as an adult a few times. One of my personal favorites. The fact that this was made and exists 25 years later is mindblowing.

I'm not understanding the argument for "gameplay loops" every single game has a gameplay loop. The critique is whether or not the game tricks you into thinking that you're doing something different. Star Ocean is Town dungeon town dungeon. They may just hide it a little bit better

I love your videos so much! They are the perfect blend of being informative and entertaining!

it still has a gameplay loop. the loop is just go to a new town talk to everyone complete the dungeon go to a new town. gameplay loops are generally a good thing, I can't even think of any games without it.

I am looking forward to play this game. I bought it on Steam so I still need to wait for one more day.

I loved this game back in the day. I didn't even know it was being remade until today. I hope the cooking master mini game is still in it. I played that so much.

I'm super excited to play this and neglect my friends for a month. When I was younger I unfortunately had the mentality "I can't play Rena, I'm a boy". Now i'm 40+ and bring on the Rena main character!!! My plan is to play as Claude first, but only because I want to play the 2nd time as Rena so I can get Dias for when I make the last boss x99 harder. If they still let us do that with the stealing option before that town gets flooded. Thankfully Super Mario RPG comes out later on this month, so I can beat this first, then beat Mario RPG and then beat Star Ocean again before FF7 Remake 2 comes out. Then Eiyuden! We eating good with the upcoming RPGs.

Very happy you reviewd this game David! I played the original back when I was a kid watching my older brother play it. I can now say as an adult this game is even better then I remember, defiantly shows what RPGS can be if a little love is put into them.

I loved Star Ocean the 2nd Story back in the day, to see it getting remade like this is a treat. Everything about it is just stunning. Between this and Dragon Quest Monsters: the Dark Prince? I think we'll be good to go for JRPGs.

This will be my first play through! So excited !!!

I remember playing this game, at least the first couple of minutes, as a kid. I think i couldnt get the hang of the controls and i didnt have the attention span for it. So glad to come back to this core memory i have and finally play it properly.

Tomorrow can't come soon enough! I'm so excited to experience the full version!

I’ve been getting more and more excited for this game. I’m definitely getting it after such a glowing review

Great review david! We need more games like this today

You have to have really niche tastes to find 2023 bad by any measure. It's been an incredible year for games! Star Ocean included!

SO2 was tri-Ace firing on all cylinders. There will never be another game like this. And Octopath II was excellent this year too.

By for my most anticipated games alongside World Of Horror,AC6 this year,since i have played original version back in early 2000,and from what i seen,the remake has improved the battle aspect as well among other thing(hopefully one day we can get Persona 2 and Xenogears remake with this level of faithfulness too)

This is the only way I would want to see FF6 redone

Great review! SO2 was one of my favorite PSX games growing up, and I’ve replayed it so many times. The remake is faithful to the original in all the right ways, and the quality of life-improvements detract nothing from the experience, but enhance them! This game IMO came in the shadow of games like FFVII-VIII, and may have suffered as a result. I always held it in high regard in my memories, and this remake has confirmed to me why. The combat system was already amazing, and they made it even more fun. This was a work of love! You earned a new sub. :)

This looks amazing! I cannot wait to get my copy. Thank you David, greetings from Chile 🇨🇱.

Im So excited to pick mine up tomorrow and have a marathon

I'm totally unfamiliar with this game and the Star Ocean series as a whole. But this review and all the enthusiastic comments have convinced me to try it. I love old hidden gem RPGs (I'm currently playing through the Baten Kaitos remasters) so I'm excited for this too.

Can’t wait to get this game and replay a treasured childhood memory! And although I understand why they made PAs visible and quest markers on the map, i wish they didn’t or had an option to turn that off

Great review!! I have been waiting a quarter century to replay this game from my childhood! It's a little sad they never topped this game in that long. also I hope you never realize real life is just a big gameplay loop haha

Super excited to finally check this game out!

Really exited about this game! Great and informative review as always

it does suck there arent many world map rpgs these days one of the last rpgs that had a world map that i enjoyed was tales of graces, its great that this is coming out again fully remade

Picture it: Traverse City Michigan, June 1999. I bought Star Ocean 2 and Lunar SSSC at a GameStop in the local mall. In my old age (40s), I don’t hold either game in high regard at all…I still am going to give this a shot. Maybe there will be more to it than just hit "X" over and over to win this time.

Keep on pumping iron and giving us fun reviews, David. I am A huge star ocean fan. Own a damaged copy of the ps1 version and used to own the psp version it was way too the the money , can’t wait to pick up my preorder today

This is such a great review. But i love even more that you referenced Okage: The Shadow King

Another game that I would love to see get an HD 2D remake are Lunar Silver Star Story and Lunar Eternal Blue, I still own the Sega CD versions of them.

The skill/crafting system in Star Ocean 2 was both awsome and a bit overwhelming (at least back in the day, for 14 year old me). It's great that the remake brings it back, but with quality of life improvements.

God, you nailed it with the "loops": I didn't know that was a thing, but once you said it everything clicked into place on why few JRPGs these days bring me half as much joy as the older ones do.

I’ve never played The Second Story. Only The Divine Force, but from the 3 hours I’ve played from the demo The Second Story R has RPG of the year written all over it.

SO2R is damn near perfection! They made so many great additions in this Remake: selectable overworld leader sprites, skill learning overhaul, non random enemy encounters, on the fly PA toggling, in-game index and guide, and a completionist checklist! The only things I have a gripe about are the lack of SO:SS voice over, the need for a EULA, and Denuvo. I really miss the old Precis, "Whee-whee!" line. But when it is all said and done, if I could only chose one of SO:SS, SO:SE, or SO2R to be the sole definitive version I play for the rest of my life, this one wins by a longshot! I truly envy anyone picking up SO2R having never played Second Story or Second Evolution; to experience this for the very first time! Here's hoping we get a First Departure R R in the future!

I'm excited to jump into this! Thanks for the review!

I loved the random reference to Okage: Shadow King, the first RPG I ever saw a review for and purchased with my own money :D I think you're the only person I've ever heard bring it up since it released in 2001.

I can’t believe I didn’t know about this game 25 yrs ago. Thanks for the review . Absolutely can’t miss it this time

I’m so excited about playing this game I could legit cry. One of the best games I’ve ever played

I can't wait for this! On my Christmas list!!! Great review!

Thanks to you Dave, i got into sea of stars and it was an experience of a lifetime for me (who thought my inner rpg child had died). So im really looking forward to buy this on release! Keep it up Dave 🥰🥰

FINALLY grabbed a copy from BestBuy because my amazon copy was in limbo. So excited to be playing this. This game is a testament that old school rpgs are very much alive and relevant :)

Curious to see if this game will change your Star Ocean 2 Characters ranking. Great video as always!

Just revisiting this video to let you know that I've started playing this game, I'm 10+ hours in and this game has everything that I could possibly want from an RPG and more. Thank you again for this wonderful recommendation!

I’m loving it so far, I had a smile just traveling and couldn’t believe I get to experience this game again in a remastered form.

Love this game. I love how you can break it right at the beginning and it's totally fine. In a way, it was way ahead of its time since many of its gameplay mechanics are essentially "accessibility features." Wanna literally speed through the game? Learn Bunny Call. Wanna AFK because you have to wash dishes? Learn Bodyguard and Scouting. Wanna turn hard mode into game journalist mode? Learn Art and make Goodie Boxes out of Magical Clay until you farm the best gear in the game. I also had no idea one of your party members had dragons attached to his freaking back, don't know how I missed hearing about that as a kid! Overall it's classic, silly, JRPG fun. I think what keeps it from gaining the heights of Final Fantasy though is seemingly inconsequential stuff like, why are there Symbology spells like "Laser Beams?" Ok like Fire Bolt or Thunderstorm make sense, but "Laser Beams?" How does Rena or Celine know what a "laser beam" even is? It's anachronistic. It's like a steam boat in ancient Rome. And sure Ezio had a gun in Renaissance Italy, but they didn't call it "a gun," and only Ezio had it. It wasn't part of the world like Symbology is with Star Ocean, where presumably any Symbologist could learn "laser beams." If they called it "Light Burst" or something like that it'd be a bit better. Laser Beams.. lol. They wouldn't be living in thatch-roofed cottages if they knew what laser beams really were, they would've discovered hard physics

Been waiting on this remake for YEARSSSSSSS! i never too like the ones after this one. the music, the characters, and the game play was so great. I enjoy listening to the music while I do my Animation. Will be getting this 100% thanks for you inputs, love the improvements.

Glad to still see how RPGs age like fine wine while so many other genres get so dull

Never played the OG but tried out the demo on steam, pre ordered instantly! I really like this graphics style they went for and the gameplay/music was great and on the highest difficulty it actually offered some challenge a problem I tend to have when I try out JRPG's as they tend to lean on the easy side. Look forward to playing it tomorrow.

This game, Octopath Traveler 2, and the SM RPG remake are probably going to be the top 3 to be in the JRPG of the year.

I’m so glad you brought up gameplay loops. I’ve been hearing that more and more and I hate it.

Just got my two copies today(gotta keep one sealed in my collection) and I literally played for 5 hours non stop. I didn’t play the demo but I’ve watched some videos, but damn I wasn’t expecting it to be this brilliant right of the bat. I’m 33 now and was probably 9 when the original came out. Loved it back then and I’m glad this game got a remake, I can’t believe I’m playing it 26@5 years after it originally came out,and the hope that every JRPG aficionado picks this up and supports the company! Thanks to square and thank you as always, David, for the wonderful Coverage. You’re videos have kept me afloat in a rough patch and I thank you for that, good sir.

I been excited to watch this video all day.

Oh my God! I've finally played this (I didn't play the demo) and I almost cried. This remake is FANTASTIC! It does everything right, it makes this masterpiece even better!

Gonna pick this one up tomorrow then. Looks awesome! Also I haven't finished the original. Thanks mate!

The demo was incredible and I'm can't wait to play this again after 20 years! To anyone who's going to play this for the first time, this is definitively the best version of the game and I know you'll love it

All these retro style RPGs we are really winning right now. Imagine if this was a basis to bring back something like Xenogears? I know itll never happen but dammit just imagine

This is gonna be so epic. Getting my physical copy tomorrow!

I was impressed by The Divine Forces two different intros (Rays hitting the emotions right away) and I’m so excited to play the game that inspired that mechanic. I LOVE Star ocean and I cannot wait to pick this up.

Super excited to pick this up! Never had an experience with 2 even though I wanted to. I'm really hoping they can do some magic with Star Ocean 3 and bring it to PC! The plot twist is contentious but it's a childhood nostalgic favorite of mine.

I love the plot twist in SO3... and I dont think it really changes or reduces the significance of the other games, it just puts our universe into a different context is all.

Looking good. Love your top!

As if I wasn't excited to start playing this, I had heard from another video that Motoi Sakuraba was the composer for this game. He's my absolute favorite and I can't wait to hear what other tunes this game has to offer.

Glad to see this while im playing through the first game :)

Idk how they made a masterpiece even better! This remake is absolutely stunning! The of care,choice is just fantastic! Motoi sakuraba's music as iconic as ever! The new additions to combat made it much better! Everything is snappy and smooth, image quality is fantastic, menus & presentation is amazing! One of my fav aspects actually! Now everything is more easier to do "private actions" new art portraits are gorgeous, choosing each character voice individually "Japanese" is nuts 😂🔥 in menus you can see all characters art portraits from the og, second evolution & the remake! You're not missing anything! The introduction of mini maps too! Fast travel! Man i can't shut up but i am so happy SE did a remake justice because part of me still can't believe they did this for SO2! 😭❤🔥

Minor nit-pick: Character sprites look odd on the 2d-hd backgrounds, they should have made them a bit less papery. Think it might come from the edges of he characters being white so it looks like it is paper. Like the Octopath style better.

cannot wait for this game im playing all the star oceans again and just finished first departure, totally ready for the second story, not sure about till the end of time though that looks mad hard

Still absolutely wild to think we got the two best entires in the Star Ocean series back to back in two consecutive years. When you pointed it out, it does hit me that many of the most well-received games this year, even outside the RPG sphere have either been remakes of games between 15 to 25 years old (This game, Resident Evil 4, Metroid Prime, Dead Space) or deliberate throwbacks to older gameplay design/styles (Sea of Stars, Octopath II, Mario Wonder, Baldur's Gate 3) it's easy to get pessimistic, but what I think it means is that the suits have started to realize what creators and us the audience have always known: these classic sensibilities still hold up. It's also telling that all of these titles were complete, finished games without a bunch of extra purchases built in, just a complete game for the up-front price. All that said, I am majorly excited with everything the devs have accomplished with this! I can't wait to go on one of my favorite adventures all over again!

"I'm over 40!" Haha my favorite part.

Can't wait to play this gonna love it just like the first two versions before it 😅

This is an awesome in depth review.

This game just went from eventual purchase to day 1. Glad to hear people talk about gameplay loops in this way. I'm fairly sure it's the big exec boardrooms and marketing departments that came up with the concept of "gameplay loops". It's their way to try and put games into numbers and measurable data. How else can you replicate success? Trying to measure and make math out of subjective art is a lot more difficult.

I bought the original PlayStation release at Walmart back in the day for $19.96, give or take a penny or few. Never finished it, but thoroughly enjoyed my time playing it. I still have it.

I need to pick this up ASAP

Been gaming my entire life and can’t think of many better years for gaming than this one. I can’t wait for this game tomorrow.

Thank you so much for your videos, this one especially, i love the game and have a great weekend with Second Story R. I'm playing as Claude, the voice actors and writing are great, and the game is definately one of the best JRPG remakes. It's up there with Trials of Mana for me personally, and i'm a huge Mana fan. Never got to play a Star Ocean game, this is my first, and i love the Sci-Fi and Fantasy mix they got going on.

They did such an amazing job with this remake that I found myself in tears I can finally live my childhood again with this game

Glad to see that the game is fantastic, can't wait to start playing.

Gameplay loop is such a vague concept to me. Every game has a gameplay loop. Star Ocean (or most JRPGs) is pretty much Exploration>Battles>Loot and repeat. Valkyrie profile has a really specific one : Spiritual concentration>Town>Spiritual concentration>Dungeon. It pretty much comes down to which loop you like better. And Persona has a great one.

Great review!