News Star Ocean The Second Story R (Switch /PS4+5/Steam), November 2, 2023, [Update]: Demo now available

[MarcelRguez]

PSA for those wanting Star Ocean Second Story R physically on the Switch.

Seems Square Enix pulled a fast one as it is confirmed to require a download. 4.1GB. It was never on the cover prior to this week as far as I know:

Source: Reddit

Sigh preorder cancelled.

Well, this fucking sucks. Fingers crossed for the Japanese/Asian version including the whole game. Still, not psyched for having to pay like 15€ more + shipping just because SE is feeling cheap.

 

[7threst]

Well, this fucking sucks. Fingers crossed for the Japanese/Asian version including the whole game. Still, not psyched for having to pay like 15€ more + shipping just because SE is feeling cheap.

A poster on Install Base says the European version doesn't need a download:

Media Create Sales: Week 41, 2023 (Oct 09 - Oct 15)

It has been decided that the service of "SINoALICE" will end. The DMM GAMES version & browser version will end on December 26th, and the smartphone version will end on January 15th, 2024. 4gamer.net/games/371/G037. SINoALICE ending after +6 years. It's a shame about live service games. I...

www.installbaseforum.com

 

[Notsowise]

The box looks so beautiful that I would buy it even with a single download paper card i side.

 

[Bonejack]

A poster on Install Base says the European version doesn't need a download:

Media Create Sales: Week 41, 2023 (Oct 09 - Oct 15)

It has been decided that the service of "SINoALICE" will end. The DMM GAMES version & browser version will end on December 26th, and the smartphone version will end on January 15th, 2024. 4gamer.net/games/371/G037. SINoALICE ending after +6 years. It's a shame about live service games. I...

www.installbaseforum.com

Since it's the german version said poster made pics of, i took a look at them.

There is a DL mention.

But it's for dub/text.

The game comes with english and japanese voice, text and subs on cart. Subs and text for german, french, italian and spanish are a seperate DL, size about 3GB.

So there is a DL, but it looks like it's not mandatory and only language related.

 

[Semajer]

A poster on Install Base says the European version doesn't need a download:

Media Create Sales: Week 41, 2023 (Oct 09 - Oct 15)

It has been decided that the service of "SINoALICE" will end. The DMM GAMES version & browser version will end on December 26th, and the smartphone version will end on January 15th, 2024. 4gamer.net/games/371/G037. SINoALICE ending after +6 years. It's a shame about live service games. I...

www.installbaseforum.com

Thank fuck for that.

 

[dsm]

from reddit

 

[7threst]

I always wonder how and why shops breaking street dates.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

I always wonder how and why shops breaking street dates.

"Preorder at OUR shop, WE get the game early".

EDIT :
Can't understand why the german boxarts can't just let the PEGI age rating instead of adding this horrible square.
Like...

PEGI : This game is rated 12.
USK : YEAH, JUST WHAT HE SAYS, 12 !

 

[JRPGHurtsWallet]

Really bizarre the EU vs NA difference in carts. Can we tell if they’re using a bigger version for EU?

 

[BassForever]

Really bizarre the EU vs NA difference in carts. Can we tell if they’re using a bigger version for EU?

They must be since the game is 11gb on the eshop. I would have assumed it was due to having extra languages on the cart forced them to go to the next size up, but the extra languages are download only. So this is just Square Enix NA being cheap.

 

[ziggyrivers]

Same lol

I remember playing the first one on PSP, but didnt go very far

 

[Bonejack]

They must be since the game is 11gb on the eshop. I would have assumed it was due to having extra languages on the cart forced them to go to the next size up, but the extra languages are download only. So this is just Square Enix NA being cheap.

Not necessarily.

After all, 11GB - 3GB (as written on the PAL backcover) = 8GB. ;D

But i wonder why the US version has a mandatory DL that is bigger?

Could the US version text have added that day one patch to the other DL?

 

[dsm]

I think the carts are the same, they just chose to put the banner in the US version for some reason

 

[BassForever]

I think the carts are the same, they just chose to put the banner in the US version for some reason

Why would a US player want or be forced to download non English text options?

 

[dsm]

Why would a US player want or be forced to download non English text options?

Differences on how NoA and NoE handle these download warnings maybe. I'm not from the US but I always thought that are many spanish speaking people too

 

[PixelKnight]

Why would a US player want or be forced to download non English text options?

Is it because it’s not a US cart, it’s a NA one and people may want French or Spanish depending on where they are?

 

[rêverie]

"Preorder at OUR shop, WE get the game early".

EDIT :
Can't understand why the german boxarts can't just let the PEGI age rating instead of adding this horrible square.
Like...

PEGI : This game is rated 12.
USK : YEAH, JUST WHAT HE SAYS, 12 !

pleaseee hahaha that extra age rating is so ridiculous.

also, why the hell is it download only in NA? seems so unnecessary.

 

[Bokuringo]

 

[Seven]

Why would a US player want or be forced to download non English text options?

Because not everyone in the US speaks english; I know many people here in south Texas my age or younger who only speak Spanish.

Personally I have no problem if the download is extra languages, but I do think they should have been free DLC rather then a mandatory download.

 

[Jahranimo]

annoying to hear but, still so excited to buy this (physical.)

this'll be my first star ocean game and i am really looking forward to it. played the demo for like 45-ish minutes but stopped playing bc i could tell i already liked it. just want to delve in, no holds barred.

Yeah I'm still going to get the game, just not sure if it'll be physical or not. Portability is a strong reason for RPGs though so I'll keep an eye out for the other versions over the next week.

 

[Suswave]

this is crazy

I have no history with Star Ocean, but this really stood out to me in the direct for its new style!

That said, seeing these prior screenshots, there’s a touch of charm lost in the restyling of the protagonist portraits, even though a great amount of detail is gained.

The rest of the setup looks absolutely beautiful, though — a newer take on HD2D that really rises to the occasion.

Excited to play this!

 

[Koren Lesthe]

HOLY NEW FEATURES, BATMAN !

For the first time in the Star Ocean series, SO 2 Remake will feature... A FLIPPIN' NEW GAME PLUS !
FINALLY !

From the Gematsu article :

• Items and Character Stats That Carry Over
  • Player level, SP/BP, and skill level.
  • Acquisition and upgrade status of skills.
  • Weapons, armor, and accessories.
  • FOL, key items, and all other items.
  • Friendship level of each character.
  • Completion rate of all encyclopedias, etc.
• Aspects That Will Not Carry Over (That Will Be Reset)
  • Unlock status of Fast Travel points.
  • Psynard acquisition status.
  • Private Action progress.
  • Treasure chest acquisition status.
  • Key items related to the story and some other items.
  • Status of pickpocket usage.
  • Which Arts and Spells are equipped, etc.

The Gematsu article also features pretty good illustrations for all the playable characters AND The Ten Wise Men and I'm not gonna spoil anything about it, just that Gabriel is looking very, very threatening.

Square also published a new trailer that is very, VERY spoilery.

Gematsu article

EDIT :
Why is the NG+ such a big deal ? Because...
In SO 2, you start the game by choosing either Claude or Rena and you see the game from their point of view and they each have their private moments in the main quest. That's not all tho : some characters will only join if you are choose Claude or Rena and some others will join you if you didn't recruit another one before (like : Ashton <or> Opera AND Ernest).

Having a NG+ mode means that you can finally restart the game with the other character and not start from scratch. This also means you can keep growing your affinity levels with your team because it is carried over.

 

[Lelouch0612]

Excellent reviews for Star Ocean, best in the franchise ?

86 on MC/OC right now, don't sleep on that one.

 

[Bokuringo]

Linking @Vernal 's review thread here.

 

[MSnap]

@Jahranimo it sounds like the download is only for the non English/Japanese language packs for the physical version.

 

[Jahranimo]

@Jahranimo it sounds like the download is only for the non English/Japanese language packs for the physical version.

Oh yes, it is! Sorry I never posted here again after I found that out. I'm still going to grab the NA physical after all...I just hate seeing that banner this late in the Switch's life sometimes. Thanks for the ping!

 

[Koren Lesthe]

I finished Star Ocean 2 Remake.

Beat the main story (28 hours)
Beat the now post game Cave of Trials (got from level 101 to 191 during the exploration of the dungeon)
Beat all the Battle Group in the Coliseum aside for the last two that I don't know how to unlock.
Beat all the Raid Boss Battles.
Got all the secret item skills, battle skills, new magics and techs,
Died in 6 seconds against the Iselia Queen (in Easy mode, team mostly at level 201).

I had a blast and played all week-end (even forgot to play ESO). This is a new step in how to remake a game. I would've loved to see FF 7 take this road instead of the "Rebake" we got. So many QoL features have been added that it makes the original quite obsolete in terms of confort.

Example :
When you get a game over (and I did get quite a lot in the post game and against some of the Raid bosses), instead of getting booted the title screen, you can get back to the Camp menu to redo your preparations and try again, as many times you want. This alone made the Cave of Trials much, much more doable. Plus the teleporters you unlock in this dungeon are now permanently activated.

There's also a new team skill that allows your teammates to just instant kill weak ennemies in dungeons & the world map, and you still get their XP & Fol. There's a lot of new things all over the game, it's very impressive (like a new marathon in the Colisseum).

Regarding the re-orchestrated soundtrack, it is mostly amazing. I'm so glad that both "Integral Body & Imperfect Soul" and "We Form in Crystals" new versions are so beautifully done. We form in crystals was removed in the PSP remaster and replaced with a very generic jpop song that felt completely out of place. It was the best track of the original game and it is still now in the remake. A masterpiece. I still preferred some of the original musics tho, maybe because there was too much instruments / choirs added.

A bit weird that the endgame stuff is now only available after you beat the main story instead of using the save point before the last boss.

Also speaking of the final boss (no spoilers) : the Private Action regarding a certain character that unlocks the much more powerful version of the boss is now only available in the psot game, so you can't activate it by mistake before and you still have to meet this character during a time limited Private Action in Kurik.

Fun fact : I thought the "Galaxy" setting was the normal mode but it turns out it is the hard mode from the original Star Ocean 2 ; all ennemies have twice their health and I took me to fight the Wise Men to realize that their HP were way too high ^o^; but eh, I did it in Galaxy so ^^.

Verdict :
That sure was a ten out of ten ! / 10

 

[PixelKnight]

I finished Star Ocean 2 Remake.

Beat the main story (28 hours)
Beat the now post game Cave of Trials (got from level 101 to 191 during the exploration of the dungeon)
Beat all the Battle Group in the Coliseum aside for the last two that I don't know how to unlock
Died in 6 seconds against the Iselia Queen (in Easy mode, team mostly at level 201).

I had a blast and played all week-end (even forgot to play ESO). This is a new step in how to remake a game. I would've loved to see FF 7 take this road instead of the "Rebake" we got. So many QoL features have been added that it makes the original quite obsolete in terms of confort.

Example :
When you get a game over (and I did get quite a lot in the post game and against some of the Raid bosses), instead of getting booted the title screen, you can get back to the Camp menu to redo your preparations and try again, as many times you want. This alone made the Cave of Trials much, much more doable. Plus the teleporters you unlock in this dungeon are now permanently activated.

There's also a new team skill that allows your teammates to just instant kill weak ennemies in dungeons & the world map, and you still get their XP & Fol. There's a lot of new things all over the game, it's very impressive (like a new marathon in the Colisseum).

Regarding the re-orchestrated soundtrack, it is mostly amazing. I'm so glad that both "Integral Body & Imperfect Soul" and "We Form in Crystals" new versions are so beautifully done. We form in crystals was removed in the PSP remaster and replaced with a very generic jpop song that felt completely out of place. It was the best track of the original game and it is still now in the remake. A masterpiece. I still preferred some of the original musics tho, maybe because there was too much instruments / choirs added.

A bit weird that the endgame stuff is now only available after you beat the main story instead of using the save point before the last boss.

Also speaking of the final boss (no spoilers) : the Private Action regarding a certain character that unlocks the much more powerful version of the boss is now only available in the psot game, so you can't activate it by mistake before and you still have to meet this character during a time limited Private Action in Kurik.

Fun fact : I thought the "Galaxy" setting was the normal mode but it turns out it is the hard mode from the original Star Ocean 2 ; all ennemies have twice their health and I took me to fight the Wise Men to realize that their HP were way too high ^o^; but eh, I did it in Galaxy so ^^.

Verdict :
That sure was a ten out of ten ! / 10

I just finished it yesterday (although I haven’t done the postgame). I also thought the enemies felt like they had a huge amount of health in the last third of the game, so Galaxy being hard mode doesn’t surprise me. To be fair I guess the player also has stuff like Assault formation in their corner too. Solid 9/10 for me, I love that it’s just the right length.

 

[HockeyBird]

The quality of life improvements cannot be overstated. I've at least played all of the Star Ocean games except the 4th one and the only one I liked was The Divine Force. The other SO games had a lot of BS to them that just dragged down the experience, specifically with the battle systems. The game pausing during magic attacks. Constant back attacks that end up with your magic users dying before you have a chance to act.

Seeing enemies in the field makes navigating dungeons a lot smoother. The combat is less frustrating and the option to retry battles makes it so you don't lose a lot of progress because of one bad encounter.

 

[Jahranimo]

I finally started this last night and after just under two hours I'm already interested. Didn't expect an isekai like premise but Claude seems to be a good guy. Looking forward to the party growing and the combat to become more in depth.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

I finally started this last night and after just under two hours I'm already interested. Didn't expect an isekai like premise but Claude seems to be a good guy. Looking forward to the party growing and the combat to become more in depth.

Some aspects of Claude might have not aged very well at first, but he gets better and acknowledge his behavior wasn't the best.

Think of it as a Star Trek TOS / TNG episode of a character stranded on an alien planet and trying to not break the First Directive while finding a way back to The Enterprise / The Calnus.

 

[Jahranimo]

Some aspects of Claude might have not aged very well at first, but he gets better and acknowledge his behavior wasn't the best.

Think of it as a Star Trek TOS / TNG episode of a character stranded on an alien planet and trying to not break the First Directive while finding a way back to The Enterprise / The Calnus.

Ah interesting! Gotcha.

I feel I'm still pretty early on in the game but I definitely see how the outcomes can branch off into different situations.

Spoiler

I feel like I accidentally messed up on Kurik which caused it to get hit with one of those earthquakes and tidal wave, so now the city is ruined and I can't turn in my guild missions. Oops!

 

[soundchaser]

Ah interesting! Gotcha.

I feel I'm still pretty early on in the game but I definitely see how the outcomes can branch off into different situations.

Spoiler

I feel like I accidentally messed up on Kurik which caused it to get hit with one of those earthquakes and tidal wave, so now the city is ruined and I can't turn in my guild missions. Oops!

Spoiler

That always happens! You'll have the opportunity to turn Guild Missions in throughout the game.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

This is it. Platinum trophy unlocked.

Just a few hints for some of the most obscure requirements of the last Group Battles in the Coliseum :

.Beat the game and save. Load your save and go talk to the old man in the Coliseum to access a special place.
.Beat the Cave of Trials (post game dungeon), defeat all the bosses including Gabriella Celesta.
.Learn the new musics with the Silver Trumpet. Save and play the final Demonic Aria theme on the world map. Exit the menu and die prepare yourself.
.Beat the Iseria Queen (good flippin' luck).
.Go to the Coliseum to see a new Group Battle unlocked that is the most insanely hard thing to do in the whole game. Have fun !

WARNING : The actions described below will PERMANENTLY affect the final boss, giving all of his stats a x2 increase and the ability to cast & move at the same time. He also gets two new spells that will ruin your team, even at level 255 in Earth mode (easy).
Rest assured : In the remake, you can only do this AFTER you beat the game (you could do it by accident in the original and the PSP remaster, whoops !)​

.Do Philia's Private's Action in Kurik as soon as you get to this town.
.Meet Philia again in Centropolis AFTER you beat the game. This unlocks the new version of the final boss.
.Beat the new final boss (gulps).
.Save and reload your save.

Now you can do one of the final Group Battle in the Coliseum which is a newer version of a previous one, but with the new version of the final boss.

Advice :
Always think to use a XP Card during boss battles or when you get into multiple battles, because it stacks to the Multi battle multiplier. If you maange to get the formation that gives a 125% XP boost at full power, it also stacks. You don't need to use a card at each segment of the multi battles, it counts for all of them, including some of the battles at the Coliseum that allow to use your own inventory.

 

[blue2425]

Just started this game on a whim to see what the fuss is all about. Will be my first Star Ocean game. My initial impression is that it feels like a 2D Xenoblade but with more concise systems. Liking it so far.

 

[blue2425]

Is Universe difficulty one shot central? Or can I actually build around it. Galaxy feels a bit easy but Universe I feel characters die way too fast.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

Is Universe difficulty one shot central? Or can I actually build around it. Galaxy feels a bit easy but Universe I feel characters die way too fast.

Here how it goes :

Planet : Easy mode, despite the ennemies & bosses have their original PS1 HPs, their stats are lower.
Galaxy : Is considered the Normal mode, but all ennemies have twice their HP from the PS1 version (probably to adjust with how faster the remake is and how magic & new stuff don't interrupt the battles).
Universe : Is the hard mode, everything have around a 1.5 to 1.75x boost to all their stats.

Universe is clearly hard, I'd strongly recommand a Galaxy mode for a first start, you can change the difficulty at any time, including after losing a battle and choosing to restart it ; the game boots you back to the menu letting you change your equipment, formation, team and settings. Or even reload your last save / autosave if you want.

To give you an example :

I've tried the Real final boss I've been warning people in my previous post. My team have both main characters at level 255 (the max XP level) with their best possible equipment (NG+) and the two others are level 222.

The boss wiped my team in around 20 seconds and I was trying in the Planet mode (Easy). That doesn't mean the "Usual Final Boss" isn't doable because I kicked his ass while being Lv 101 in Galaxy mode. It's just that some challenges are clearly made for post game (or New Game+ if you missed some quests / items). Don't feel bad to play in Galaxy ! (or even lower to Planet mode if you're getting stuck).

Then learn a bit about the Item Creation stuff to get some really powerful weapons & gear. It isn't cheating, the game is even encouraging you to do it if you talk to the Tria Oracle ^^; It will come in handy for the last part of the game and the post game.

 

[blue2425]

Here how it goes :

Planet : Easy mode, despite the ennemies & bosses have their original PS1 HPs, their stats are lower.
Galaxy : Is considered the Normal mode, but all ennemies have twice their HP from the PS1 version (probably to adjust with how faster the remake is and how magic & new stuff don't interrupt the battles).
Universe : Is the hard mode, everything have around a 1.5 to 1.75x boost to all their stats.

Universe is clearly hard, I'd strongly recommand a Galaxy mode for a first start, you can change the difficulty at any time, including after losing a battle and choosing to restart it ; the game boots you back to the menu letting you change your equipment, formation, team and settings. Or even reload your last save / autosave if you want.

To give you an example :

I've tried the Real final boss I've been warning people in my previous post. My team have both main characters at level 255 (the max XP level) with their best possible equipment (NG+) and the two others are level 222.

The boss wiped my team in around 20 seconds and I was trying in the Planet mode (Easy). That doesn't mean the "Usual Final Boss" isn't doable because I kicked his ass while being Lv 101 in Galaxy mode. It's just that some challenges are clearly made for post game (or New Game+ if you missed some quests / items). Don't feel bad to play in Galaxy ! (or even lower to Planet mode if you're getting stuck).

Then learn a bit about the Item Creation stuff to get some really powerful weapons & gear. It isn't cheating, the game is even encouraging you to do it if you talk to the Tria Oracle ^^; It will come in handy for the last part of the game and the post game.

Okay thanks. Ill probaly stay on Galaxy then, I push the limits of RPG mechanics so I tend to play on highest difficulty. I beat the W&C sidequest boss on Universe but wasnt thrilled that 2 characters fainted quickly and almost lost a 3rd even though my party is probaly overleveled and I made very little misplays...if any.

Hopefully Galaxy will become more challenging as time goes on. I cant beat any of the raid bosses I have seen yet, so there's that.

 

[Glitchypixel]

Please sell well enough so we can have a xenogears 2d hd remake. ;-;

 

[Yamanoi]

Tempted to replay on Switch Lite and make use of suspend mode. Feels like a good game to keep installed there in my bag to play outside. But I need to play Mario RPG!

 

[touchfuzzy]

Got it for Christmas and really enjoying it so far.

Only thing that bugs me at the moment is Ashton's dragons are different colors on his sprite vs. his character portrait.

 

[karmitt]

I bought and finished this game and never really dropped my feedback anywhere but - I didn’t think it was very good.

The visuals, combat and overworld exploration were satisfying enough, but just about everything else in the experience was shallow. I felt like I was being rushed through a poorly written space opera; Everything happens so fast, and much of it feels contrived as a result - relationships, plot “twists” etc.

I’m happy I played it, and I really want Square to make more games in this visual style, but my experience was at best a 7.

 

[Aurelia]

I played the demo through to the end and I enjoyed it, but it's a shame that the systems I hear so much about (crafting, breaking the game wide open) apparently come into play beyond that. Otherwise I find it annoying how random things like positioning can get you wiped in 3 seconds. In the 3 hours I played I didn't encounter anything special. To the "when it hits a deep digital sale" wishlist. Alack, alas.

 

[Jahranimo]

I played the demo through to the end and I enjoyed it, but it's a shame that the systems I hear so much about (crafting, breaking the game wide open) apparently come into play beyond that. Otherwise I find it annoying how random things like positioning can get you wiped in 3 seconds. In the 3 hours I played I didn't encounter anything special. To the "when it hits a deep digital sale" wishlist. Alack, alas.

Friend of mine who's played the entire series says that this is essentially a Star Ocean thing. You can play it as straightforward as you want or bust all the systems right open when investing in the right skills early on.

I'm actually getting towards the end of the game and I've been really enjoying it. There are some tropes I'm not a fan of......but I suppose that continues to be the territory for some RPGS so it is what it is. I can tell this remake was made with the Switch in mind because later on once your party members starts learning those really powerful spells that create a bunch of visual effects on the screen it doesn't really chug much.

Very glad I got this.

 

[Bokuringo]

Thank you for your continuous support on #StarOcean The Second Story R!

We’re preparing an update so that you can continuously enjoy your journey through the stars. Keep your eyes peeled for more information soon. #SO2R

 

[9-Volt]

An update and also, Till the End of Time HD Remaster hopefully. AND the rest of the series on Switch. Please?

 

[rêverie]

was so excited for this, bought it, played it for 10 hours, and literally feel so dumb. idk why, but i can't get a handle on any of the mechanics and feel like i'm so easily killed in random encounters. no one else seems to be as bad as me though, so maybe it's just not for me ugh

 

[Semajer]

Any idea what this could be? The game seemed very complete, and if they were going to remake Blue Sphere the same way I'd expect it as a standalone game rather than an update or DLC.

 

[Bokuringo]

Any idea what this could be? The game seemed very complete, and if they were going to remake Blue Sphere the same way I'd expect it as a standalone game rather than an update or DLC.

That would be a very welcome update, but I kinda have my doubts about that.

 

[LonkFromPA]

Literally playing through this right now. Just arrived at the Field of Love