Star Ocean: Second Evolution

February 11,2009 - Revealed during a Square Enix Party in 2007 alongside Star Ocean: First Departure, which was just released a little more than a month ago, Star Ocean: Second Evolution was a remake that fans have long been waiting for. Originally titled The Second Story, the game was the first actual Star Ocean game to be released in the United States, and it’s widely considered to be a PlayStation classic. Yoshinori Yamagishi, producer of the series, stated that he wants the remakes to feel as though they are completely new games. While both games do essentially feel new, does it actually make Second Evolution worth a purchase?

Second Evolution gives players the choice of playing as either Claude, a Federation ensign following in the footsteps of his famous and powerful father, or Rena, a young girl looking for her parents. As any RPG fan would know, the first overall goal never ends up being the goal at all, and it all ends up with some plot uncovering itself, leaving it up to the main characters to save the world. Unlike a game like Pokemon or Harvest Moon where the story is unaffected by your choice between the male or female, Second Departure’s story actually differentiates itself enough to warrant replaying as the other character. Both end up affecting each other, but in order to uncover most of the game’s surprises, it’s best to beat it as both Claude and Gena.

Right off the bat, it’s worth noting that the gameplay mechanics are very similar to First Departure—if not exactly the same. So those who have just beat First Departure will be in some pretty familiar territory which should help, but then again, if you came off the chore of beating the first game, playing through the second might seem like another chore. Players will be exploring what seems like oversized worlds due to the 2D pre-rendered backgrounds in cohesion with the PSP’s widescreen, as well as traverse the game’s slightly confusing world map. This time, however, there’s a zoom in and out option in the world map, making it a lot easier to navigate than in First Departure. It’s also worth noting that Second Evolution has nowhere near the amount of backtracking the first game had, which makes everything a lot less annoying.

Combat is also virtually unchanged. Star Ocean, which is considered by many to be the spiritual successor to Tales of Phantasia, features a real-time action battle system where characters fight monsters on a flat plain. Continuously tapping on the trigger (X) button will force the main character to dash themselves into enemies and strike them to oblivion. There are also some pretty school spells to be used in the game to cause big elemental damage, and just like in First Departure, you can’t skip the awesome animations, forcing players to watch them in all their polygonal glory.

Second Evolution features a lush visual presentation with glorious anime sequences to boot. Sometimes it may seem as if the developers relied a little too much on the anime, but a lot of Japanese RPG’s do that in this day and age. With the conventions of the PSP, they’re actually a welcome addition because of its widescreen presentation. The pre-rendered backgrounds still look great, while also producing an old-school feel that handheld gamers know and love.

The sound is in the same boat mostly because of Second Departure’s remixed Second Story soundtrack. The original game had great music, and hearing it redone on the PSP (with headphones) is just an extreme pleasure. The voice actors also aren’t bad, which makes everything that much better to listen to.  Besides, The Second Story was a game long criticized for bad voice acting, so it's a good thing Square Enix decided to address that issue.

Even though Second Evolution plays pretty much the same as First Departure, don’t let the similar conventions fool you—Second Evolution is a much better game. While the battles (other than the last boss) are extremely easy, the game has a stronger cast of characters, a better story, and perhaps one of the biggest plot twists in all of role-playing games. The game can essentially be beaten in a little more than 35 hours, but with the game’s two main characters, playtime is essentially doubled with tons of replay value, and additional difficulty modes to keep the game fresh. Star Ocean: Second Evolution is a game that stands tall against a lot of the other RPG’s and on the PSP, making it the first must-play game the system has to offer this year.

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