Do you have any memories of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time? Where do you think it ranks in terms of the series? Please consider supporting me at www.patreon.com/xygorgaming OR through KZfaq membership by clicking the JOIN button above!

A game I have completed literally over 100 times. Ran a bunch of challenges on it back in the 2000's. Now in my 30's, I play through it around twice a year. Masterpiece.

"SIDE kick. SIDE kick. Izz that all you gart?! SIDE kick. SIDE kick...... That was fun!" -The life and times of Fayt Leingod

I spent days in this game as a teen in middle school. The only star ocean I played but a banger. The cast, story, and battle system are so grand and ahead of its time.

The game that made you question EVERYTHING about the Tri-Ace titles up to then and beyond. Especially as they ALL used the "TRIA" goddesses in some way in their backstory. Which, after playing TtEoT, you'd realize what that _really_ means...

The Star Ocean original trilogy and Grandia were some era-defining games for me as a kid. Underrated games, all of them and most people haven't played any of them, but when I find someone who has played them we just geek out for hours and I've got instant kinship with them. Keep these videos coming man, the nostalgia feels really do be great.

Favorite PS2 game of all. It was my first very Star Ocean game and I dumped 1000+ hours into it because for over a month when I was playing it I somehow lost the memory card.... (Remember memory cards y'all?!) and so I couldn't turn off my console if I wanted to keep my progress and didn't want to tell my mom I lost my memory card. So silly in retrospect because she would have just rather get me a new one than leave a console on for over a month straight.

Thanks for covering this underrated RPG! I remember the Maze of Tribulations and synthesizing for hours in order to level up and beat the final boss ⚔️

never got to play to the end of this game but loved how it played after awhile i ended up using a game shark in the crafting section to get their most powerful weapons early, but the biggest twist was that you were the characters in a game and you were brought to the real world.

My favorite of this franchise; good memories of playing it on my PS2.

I saw Star Ocean 3 in a PlayStation magazine. My Nan got it for me for my birthday, and the disk was faulty. We got a replacement and the second disk crashed at the exact same spot. The third copy worked, and became one of my favourite games of all time. One of my favourite memories was playing it alongside my brother. Then one day I walked in whilst he was playing his save, and he had a little kid (Roger) in his party who I’d never even met, despite being further from him. The game is just such a unique and memorable experience, and I’m really happy to see someone else appreciate it for things as simple as the damage numbers and item creation. Thanks so much for making a video which shares in my joy for this game. It introduced me to the series, but it’s still my favourite one. Even with the controversial story beat at the end.

For me, this one was so good, I've had a hard time getting into any of the sequels since. Off topic but man, can't wait till November when 2s remake comes out.

It was great seeing this video and being reminded about all the things that made this game good. Unfortunately my strongest memory of this game is just how much the plot twist ruined it for me. Even though I finished the game I never wanted to revisit it and it even made me lose interest in the series. However, you are right that there actually is a lot to love here.

I remember thinking that game was so meh when it first came out. Playing it for about 5-6 hours and thinking I'm probably going to be giving up on it. Suddenly, it had become one of the most addicting RPGs I'd played since FFX at its time.

My buddy got this for me for Christmas one year. I loved it so much.

I loved that game. I liked some of the characters, the 4D space concept, the ending. I didn't ever finish the bonus after content, but I did most of it. Nel was my imaginary girl for a bit😂. I think that 3 was better than 2, which usually people think of 2 as the best. I liked 4 also, but not 5. Haven't played the new one, not sure I like the idea of my characters flying like they are Superman.

I bought this game brand new, day one, from GameStop at the mall. I love Star Ocean, but from day one I could not get myself to play the game long enough to like it. I don't know what's up with that, but I hear it's a great game.

I played the heck out of this game back in the day, probably the most era-defining PS2 game for me, possibly even ahead of FF8! The aesthetics, tone, story and soundtrack are all amazing, making it a pure joy to experience. I do have a couple of gripes though: firstly, many of the heavy attack powers cost HP to use and can leave your party members dangerously weak if you're not careful. I don't know if I wasn't optimising enough but they often didn't have enough power to justify the cost. Secondly, the end-of-game dungeons were just kind of ridiculous. Again, I don't know if I wasn't optimised enough but the amount of effort required to defeat those nigh-invincible enemies just wasn't worth it. In the end I skipped those fights and went straight to the final boss, who was actually fun to fight. Not to gripe unduly, I have immense love and nostalgia for this game, I still have the soundtrack on CD and bust it out every so often! Also, I had a strategy guide donated to the charity bookshop where I work not so long ago, thought it might have been a bit too deep a cut but it sold quickly! Thanks for shining a light on this awesome classic Xygor!

Finally, a 4D enjoyer! It seems to be rare with how common of a complaint the twist is. But personally, I loved it. This was right around the time of peak Matrix popularity, so not sure why more didn't like it.

Great Video. I love this game. My channel name was even inspired by Fayt. Btw there are even 3 Bonus Dungeons. There's also the Ursa Cave Temple, locaded in the Ursa Lava Cave, where you have fight the Dragon at some point in the Story. Not the best bonus dungeon but quite enjoyable

I loved this game. This was my first Star Ocean game I have ever played and got me into Star Trek and made me a hardcore fan of Sci-Fi too. This is the best game I have ever played! And I’ll admit I love ALL the games. Even the ones fans hate and despise. Call me a true fan I’d say. 😊

I always wait till Sophia wins a battle and says "I deserve a medal" haha , what a great game!!!

I just got into the star ocean series last year but I can remember seeing this game on a playable display at blockbuster. Blew my mind walking around then starting a battle with a huge dino looking thing haha. My console at the time was the gamecube so I never played it. Id love to see this get a remaster in the coming years!!

Very good content. I really loved that game because like you said it got released at the perfect time for me and my ps2. The only detail was a bit disturbing is the video has a stretched ratio format. I think you set it up with 16/9 but displayed it with a 4/3 ratio. Hopefully we’ll get a remake one day! Can i suggest a future content? Shining force 3. An incredible and unique gem lost in the ocean of stars :)

To be frank, I don't like any other Star Ocean but Till The End of Time. A masterpiece through and through.

That game blew my damn mind. Chilled me to the bone.

My first PS2 game ever, and my first “real” RPG (other than Pokémon, ha.) So many fond memories spending months playing this in middle school. Really set the bar for me in terms of how much value a game can and should provide, and is so nostalgic to this day. The plot twist gets a lot of hate (and I remember being a little annoyed about it at the time too) but the way it ends is still hopeful. Props to the game for taking such a risk and for bringing up a lot of thought-provoking questions to teenage me, lol.

My Fave Star Ocean game to date.

hit the like button

Man, this is the only Star Ocean I've played, but I had a ton of fun with it. I think this was the last game I ever bought a physical guide for. There was just too much, in a good way.

I own all the star ocean games, got the remakes of 1 and 2 and everything on PlayStation 5. I originally played Till the End of Time on PlayStation 2 twenty years ago, and I thoroughly loved it. It's my favorite one thus far.....at least until I play the others....lol

You missed the bonus dungeon in the ursa lava caves in the Crosell boss fight where you fight Freya

I hope they remake this game if SO2R does well, this game needs more love.

2 is one of my favorite games ever and I was anticipating 3 greatly, but when it came out I was disappointed. I remember thinking all of the dungeons looked the same and the battle backgrounds were all very dark in a very repetitious way. This review coupled with some of the comments has me thinking maybe I was wrong and need to give it a 2nd chance.

I played twice and got close to the end twice. Haven’t finished but I’ve still got if somehow so this vid might inspire to to do that. Great vid, great game - cheers

the big question is which is your favorite ethereal queen boss map, flower field or inside the church ?

I put so many hours into this game. It's a great game. I love JRPGs. Sad thing is that I never finished the game. I would like to play it again.

This video is motivating me to pick this one up again🎉 Thank you.

What I’d like is a follow up to how the sphere does in the after effects of the events in this game. Does humanity continue to advance in order to explore 4D space freely and continue to establish their existence, or is there a disagreement among 4D beings and some try to personally exterminate all of it from the inside after said “delete” didn’t work completely.

Would love a Chrono Trigger's timeline level of dive into SO:TTEOT... but I also understand that might be more than a 5 hour video if it's as diligent as your Chrono Trigger vid I return to often. ^^;

Finally, someone that Likes the Twist of SO 3, everyone seems to hate it. SO 3 was the best one in the series. But SO 2 remake seems to be shaping to the be the very best with all the improvements to the combat.

I remember being absolutely hooked on this game back when it came out. I put tons of hours into it, but I think I got to some point after the big twist where there seemed to be a big difficulty spike. Standard enemies were suddenly wrecking me and I got stuck in some facility and stopped playing for a bit while intending to come back to it. I never went back. I have a feeling I was just missing something because I was young. I really need to play it again. I remember being addicted to the crafting system.

How do you always make great videos!? I am a big fan of your work! I always look forward to your videos 😁

Never played this one... kinda passed me by, but ehh... may have to look into it now.

Was really enjoying this but the ps4 version just kept crashing , got too stressful never knowing when it would happen.

I dont recall this graphics to be this good howd you do it?

OHO A REAL FIGHT! SPEHERE OF MIGHT! BLADE! OF FURY! SPHERE OF MIGHT! HAMMER OF MIGHT!

I'm actually surprised it took this long to review this gem.

Great video! I absolutely loved this game when it came out and would still play it if my PS 2 hadn't died on me. It had a few flaws, but I really loved the idea of it all being a simulation that had to be wiped out.

I this a remake of the first snes star ocean or is it a true kind of sequel? if it is a seqiuel which oen is it?> # 2, # 3 etvc? i wana decide to play the new one or if I play the O GH snes version [patched

That plot twist killed the intense immersion I had for this game, killed it dead that I was unable to finish it, sadly. Before that though, I was having so much fun, great music, battles and the story was got progressively hype.

Not my favorite Star Ocean (that would be Tales of Phantasia), but easily the one I've played the most. I've probably put over 3000 hours into it at this point and I'm still not done with it. There are still some character combinations I need to try out and I still need to add some things to my SO3 guide. I will say, though, I find the the game far more interesting without Ori weapons and Energy Burst. That's a bit of a cop out. It's kind of like using a P-Wing in SMB3. It's worth pointing out that, while Gotanda designed (and programmed) ToP, SO1, and SO2, he passed on the torch to Masaki Norimoto for SO3. Norimoto is also the one who designed VP1 and VP2. To an extent, SO3 still plays rather similar to SO2. You can still blow enemies away with cool hissatsuwaza, but it's not all that simple anymore (not unless you're using Ori weapons and Energy Burst). The Fury system and hitstun RNG mean that you have to get familiar with enemy attacks and pay attention to frame advantage/disadvantage, among other things. If you're actually capable of keeping track of what's going on during battle (and some people can't, which is fine, it's just a game), it has so much to offer. Getting familiar with the battle system could take a while, but it feels *so* rewarding. That said, there are some things you can't easily figure out yourself, but you don't really have to. You can just read up on it in my SO3 guide that you can find on GameFAQs, for instance. Edit: Correction: Norimoto was the lead designer since the very beginning. He hasn't worked on Star Ocean since SO3, though.

I wasn't able togo past the Crystal Cerberus, and at that point I was already annoyed with the crafting system and battle sytem, and I never tried it again afterwards. But I watched a playtrough of the rest of the game. I still have to play the second game and finish the 5th and 6th, the 5th probably never, but I would probably put it at number 2 or 3.

If you have a problem with the voice acting, try to find one of the Undubs and listen to the japanese VA, its really good. Took me a few tries to get into it, but I really do enjoy the game.

I had a blast with that game back in the days. I had grinded everything, crafted every damn item, reached the final boss, saved my game, and the next morning when I booted up the game my save was gone. So now I hate this game hahaha

Probably in my top 7 RPGs of all time

i love this game i got to meet some of the voice actors

I read or heard something from the devs about End of Time: If they had used 4 characters in combat (unlike the older games), it would have made the team overpowered.

Okay, same curiosity I have for this game. I would like to see top 10 ps2 rpg lists of people that put this game in their top 10 ps2 rpgs. This one at least makes some sense. More sense than suikoden 3 being a top 10 Playstation rpg.

Every star ocean game is a new experience however they can sometimes makes strange changes for example SO 3 had everything nice characters amazing story epic skills and magic but than they do that strange twist in the story . But despite that the game is still good and I never played a bad SO game

This is my favorite Star Ocean but its story is all sorts of drugs on drugs with the plot twist. However it also single handedly made this one of the more infamous JRPGs since its pretty generic otherwise. Unfortunately, I also believe it prevented the series from making a new game past this one in the series timeline.

I liked this game, but I'm a Final Fantasy girl. I was drawn in by the promise of a adventure across the galaxy and the vast majority happens on some backwater hole with dark age Europe technology. We never even got to see the technologically advanced civilization that was on that God-forsaken planet.

Still the best Star Ocean game, perfect in everyway. The backtracking is meant for you experience more of the game and discover new things, like inventors, ways to tackle new challenges, battle trophies. (Dont get me wrong, I will groan everytime I have to backtrack from Crosell to Ariyglyph, but it lets you slow down and do things like up your gear.) Nobody can argue the game isn't balanced. Battle Trophies are proof the game is perfectly balanced, every decision was made with Battle Trophies in mind.

Very good game, still one of my favorite games on the ps2

Talking about the OST, I remember the atariage forum posts about this game. Good ol' Tommy Tallarico arguing with people about how much he didn't like it and how video game was in a failing state since his time. Hilarious!

Starocean 3 is my favorite one it was my first starocean game I love 4 and 6 I think 5 is okay.

I run and dance to Bitter Dance theme

Man lost count of how many hours i played star ocean 2 on my ps... i remember reaching bizarres difficulty spikes on the end game Plus I think it's a series that kind of lost itself nowdays

For me personally the BOLD Plot Twist with the Meta involved Took more away from me when it comes to the series as a whole. Because no other Star Ocean game while using the same timeline goes past TTEOT because even the developers have no idea how to get past it now, because TTEOT is now the definitive end of the franchise. Sure the Meta commentary is bold and at the time with the Matrix being so popular the developers saw this as a interesting plot twist for shock value. However it makes you see the entirety of the franchise as something lessened afterward like the stakes no longer matter when you see the grand design. For example games after TTEOT no longer felt like they mattered to play because we know how it all ends now, and playing each game knowing the plot twist almost takes something away form it, that wonder of exploring the cosmos and more. Even the title now feels lessened because of the plot twist because the developers are now stuck in the same retelling of the same story. Scifi People team up with Fantasy people, it's a near repeat story in every game now. The series has gotten lazier with each new game in terms of storytelling and world building or Space Building in this case.

LOL is the title an auron reference 👀

Was the star ocean game before this turn based? I think the main character has blond hair???

The Japanese always come up with interesting fashions for their characters. This time, the main lad and his blond pal have loincloths, seemingly to cover between two separate pant legs or something.

I've been playing this on emulator on my phone.

How does it compare to the new FF16?

Awwww hell yeah. This game was amazing. Got it on PS4 a few years ago. Love the battle system and being able to control anyone. Nel spam was fun and Albel was just cool and edgy.

Man i miss the old games. Its also funny that the ps2 game had better face models than the ones on ps4 lol. The creepy doll thing just isnt a good look

This is one of those games that just didn't work for me. I loved 2, and 1 was OK when I played the remake. I was absolutely one where you have to use the "but it gets good after the first 6 hours" mentality. I guess I felt 2 was more like Claude searching for a way home, and just getting caught up in events, where this one felt like events took front seat Fayt was just along for the ride for too long.

14 yr old self playing a GAME TO FIND OUT YOUR IN A GAME PLAYING ANOTHER GAME. Such a mind Fck when I first played. Easily dumped 200 hrs

Best star ocean.

I would give it a solid grade C+ or B-. I played Star Ocean: The Second Story and in a similar genre, made by some of the same creators, the Tales of (x) series and these were far better games. The plot twist being the world in the game is a simulation was awful, but the garbage controls really made me angry. I am glad I only paid around $3 for a used copy at a pawn shop as the scenario was as phony as a $3 bill.

Good video but i don’t agree with the 19 endings argument , there isn’t anything more sad than missing a better ending just because of some (meaningless) choices , i can agree for a secret ending but 19 is kind of dumb

Oh God I loved this game until the twist.... killed.ot so bad for me lol

I can not like this game. Nostalgia is too strong. The game is too big, and yet its mysteries and willingness to help you uncover its secrets make you want more. You should have noted the map exploration percentage. But also the lore book that continually expends, and helps you remember what is going on. The mix of sci-fi and fantasy is done just right. You should have mentioned runology (but maybe that's a spoiler). Anyway, more importantly, and I begin to wonder if you played this game at all. This game is one of the only RPG where losing all your MP means KO. And that makes sense, and it adds so much depth to the combat system. I am also pretty sure magic danages MP, while attacks damage HP, but my memory could be wrong. Worth mentioning how the tutorial part of the game is well done, which is critically important.

Shooting staaar

I didn't like the fact your party was reduced to 3. Also didn't like symbology. Kinda useless half way through the game. Sophia was the only real healer and she was lv1 when you got her while your party is around 40 or higher. Overall I enjoyed the game

omg... just 10min of content about star ocean?

Daddy

My number 1 issue with SO3 is that you effectively have 2 health bars, HP and MP and if either hit 0 you die as opposed to every other game where MP is MP and HP is health.

The plot twist made me so mad, I quit the game!! I also did not like that upgrading your facilities didn’t carry from Planet to Planet

Absolutely disliked the game and most of its characters. Yet I also absolutely loved it gameplay-wise, and played the heck out of it. Granted, I rarely find a story that I consider good in JRPGs. Gameplay/Battle-Mechanics/Character interactions are what I'm looking for. Still, one of my favorite JRPGs despite its many flaws.

Am I being gaslit by everyone saying this has the best combat in the series??? I’m playing it right now and the combat feels HORRIBLE. My character and the enemies running around in a 3D space, virtually every attack missing because they move faster than my dumb sword strikes I have to use because otherwise they block the fast ones… this is awful

The first 2 star oceans were good. This game caused me to give up on the franchise. The characters were boring, the story was innane and the combat wasn't fun.

It’s strange, Til the end of time is my least favorite entry in the series, and a large part of that is the gameplay/battle system. And I feel very alone in that opinion.