Star Ocean 2: The Second Story is Sony's second domestic RPG release for this year.  (The first, of course, being the excellent Legend of Legaia.)  Developed by Tri-Ace and Enix, the maker of the famous Dragon Quest series, Star Ocean is their second signature series which takes RPG gameplay involvement to new levels. Enix's RPGs have always promoted story and characters above flashy graphics.  This can be clearly seen in the style of their Dragon Quest games. For some companies, this would be a criticism.  It's helped Enix to be the major competitor against Squaresoft in Japan. Star Ocean, while not revolutionary by any means, is a strong contender to succeed in the increasingly crowded North American RPG market.

Continuing from the First Story, which was released only on the Super Famicom, the sequel tells the tale of the son of the main hero from the first game. Claude is an ensign in the Earth Federation on a mission with his father to investigate a mysterious energy field on an abandoned planet.

Upon arrival Claude becomes impatient and rashly activates an alien device which sends him to the world of Expel, the setting of the game. There he meets Rena, a native girl who is not what she appears. Together they set off on a quest to solve the mystery of the Sorcery Globe, a meteorite which collided with her world and has been producing evil monsters ever since.

Eventually, the plot takes on an epic scope with a huge world, up to 12 usable characters, and infinite replay potential due to the 86 possible endings.  The game can be played from the perspective of either Claude or Rena.  Whomever the player chooses as the main hero effects the route of the game and the character interactions.  

Adding to this complexity is the Private Action option that appears in every town. Here, the party can be separated and go off on their own. Talking to members of your party scattered around the town can trigger certain events or flashbacks which delve deeper into the backgrounds of the characters or may affect the plot in some way. Up to 3 or 4 different Private Actions can be triggered in each town, allowing constant branching of story events. 

Finally, each character has what's called an Emotion Level. Based on your relationships with the characters developed through conversations, a certain affinity level between sets of characters can arise. This feature basically determines who gets paired off with whom and results in one of the possible 86 endings. While this may seem too complex for some, I found this feature very interesting.  Characters really developed their feelings gradually and you never knew what direction their relationships would turn next. While the story was slow to start, it really got going by the second continent and held my interest throughout.

The graphics, while not overly spectacular, are still very  dynamic.  Characters are sprite-based, but generally small in the style of old school RPGS.  The backgrounds are pre-rendered and have a rich color scheme.  Details -- such as birds flying over houses or fog setting on the city streets -- add an immense atmospheric feeling to the game. The overland environments are three dimensional and rotate left and right with a map screen in the corner. Dungeons include caves, forests, ravines, and mountains -- each with extensive detail that brings the game alive.  Added to this is a spectacular FMV opening and further impressive sequences throughout.  The beginning feels like a Star Trek movie (only better) because it really delivers the epic dimensions of the game and the series.  

What really stands out is the music that goes along with your travels.  Each piece is suited to the game environment and ranges from spectacular orchestral themes to subdued melodies which serve to add to the plot.  Some areas, like the castles, have their own particular music which complements the colorful feel of the buildings and the royal settings.  

The translation from the game's native Japanese to English is adequate, but lacks the humor and cultural jokes of other recent RPGs.  Characters also react to most situations with bubble effects above their heads, such as question marks, dots, tears, or other assorted pictographs. While funny to look at for a while, it does slow the game down. Generally, though, this is a small fault for an otherwise very solid game.

Gameplay is where Star Ocean makes its greatest innovations for the genre.  Combat is action-based with all of the characters running around the 3D battlefield, attacking or healing depending on what strategy is set for them.  Each has his or her comments to make and battle cries to shout during combat. On the surface, the translation for these is uproariously funny.  It adds a certain hectic feel to the combats, which either leaves the player  confused and overwhelmed or really into the combat.  The combat mode takes extra steps to remain above the common boring encounters in more traditional turn-based battles. 

There are three settings to the combat. These include Auto, which basically is turn-based; Semi-auto, where the character has complete freedom of movement but must target an enemy before attacking; or Manual, which means you actually have to hack the enemy in real time. During combat, the player can control only one character at a time but there is an option to change your selection. Each character can either run in and attack with a weapon,  stay back and fight with magic or use items. Each non-player controlled character has numerous combat settings ranging from defensive to offensive strategies. Each character also has special Killer Moves which get stronger with usage. Additionally, a certain item in the game allows combining Killer Moves into even more deadly attack chains which will pummel even the strongest of enemies.  Knowing which character to control, how to make use of their talents effectively, and targeting your enemies at the right times adds limitless strategic value to the combats.

Another very important feature of this game is the skills system. Each character starts with a certain set of skills ranging from Metalworking, Scientific Knowledge, and Alchemy, to seemingly useless Whistling, Cooking, and Drawing. Upon gaining levels, the characters acquire skill points which can be distributed to any skill the player desires to develop. At some point, the character can master a specialty, which is a combination of lesser skills. Even the specialty can be leveled up.  

Characters can use skills for item creation, another novel concept. From minerals, foodstuffs, and strange potions found throughout the world, valuable items can be created.  These can include healing and status effect items to armor and weapons which are stronger then anything you can buy in the stores scattered throughout the game.  Because the possible combinations of skills and items are limitless, you never know what you are going to get.

As the game progresses, characters can buy skill sets from skill masters and increase the range of what they can develop.  While these endless options may be too complex for the casual gamer, they nevertheless add immeasurable depth to the game world and story which is lacking in simpler RPGs. Conversely, the player can simply avoid the Private Actions, skills, and item creation tasks and just go for the main story progress which itself is intriguing and challenging to even the most jaded RPG player.