"Till the End of Time" was my first exposure to Star Ocean and it hooked me. I too had trouble getting the feel for chaining attacks at first, but once I did...this game became real damn fun. The post-game takes a big jump in difficulty though. I stayed up all night going through the Maze of Tribulations only to be crushed at the end by Gabriel Celesta, losing 6 hours of grinding! Surely there must be a save point coming up...yeah, right. But, I can proudly say that I cleared ALL the battle trophies here. Even beating Freya on 4D in under an hour. Overall a great challenge and a fun experience.
I really love the battle system in Till the End of Time. There are several different "builds" you can have for each character and each one are really fun to play out. Although in 4D, only some builds are viable, because the game don't play around, really.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. But it never had a staying power for me. Restarted the game a few times. But never got deep into it. For me, second story will always be the best
Did all that myself as well. The only trophy I never got was the 50,000 battles and the million button presses. Everyone suggested just using a bot or button turbo system, but if I have to do that to get a trophy, I’d rather just not have it.
Been waiting for you to cover these. SO3 was my entry into the series back in 2004 and it has remained my favorite from both a story and gameplay challenge standpoint
SOTEOT, I didn’t have a problem with the mini-games, my only issue with them is that I had to learn them and after I went through the section, never comes up again, they can put those type of mini-games in but make them an option for later on like getting new weapons are getting a cluster of treasure chests, but to put them in once, force me to learn the mechanics, and never bring them up again that’s what got under my skin. Great vid and 2nd
5:30 -> Wait what!? I have played the original and the PSP version multiple times and you can always leave the final dungeon. In fact, when you reach the last save point of the final dungeon, this will unlock the access to the Cave of Trials. In order to access it, you need to leave the dungeon and then go to Fun City. In Fun City, you need to go to the colosseum and talk to an old man. This man will bring you back to Expel and you will then be able to travel to the hidden dungeon.
Same here. It's actually what got me interested in other Tri-Ace games like Valkyrie Profile (VP2 is still one of my favorite PS2 era games of all time....and Celes is freaking broken in that game, especially for how early you can get her....if you're lucky enough to land the 30% chance to get her instead of Tyrith). I've played every Star Ocean game since as well.
That goddamn "protect Anne" mission in Integrity and Faithlessness was a complete nightmare for me. I had to grind for ages for that and ended up just spamming healing spells.
I put anne warrior slayer. princess and defender as primary roles to her and it works well. make sure somebody get a role of royal guard to protect the princess while she hacking the system
Agree with you. I felt the story was really good, for the most part, until the party got to 4D space. I was so annoyed by the story direction in 4D space that I rage quit the game, and never picked it up again.
@@SuperSupersoda Essentially Star Ocean Till The End of Time was my prep game for FF7 Remake. I'd still play them for the gameplay but the story is something that I just sigh and allow to act a fool while I just don't take it as seriously. Honestly I've been doing that alot with JRPGs.
@@HolyHadou I hear what you're saying, but one of my biggest problems is that the story is not part of the background for me, good stories are one of THE reasons I play RPGs. If the story sucks, I just lose interest in the game. Remember when the Matrix sequels came out, and people argued about the "matrix within a matrix" theory? Till the end of time comes from a generation where the matrix films were really popular. However, the problem is that unless it's done correctly, the matrix storyline is one of the easiest to mess up of all storylines out there. The biggest issue is that if it's all a simulation, and it's all part of a program running in a created world, what are the stakes? The matrix films kept the sense of stakes by having all the real humans connected to the matrix. However, if nothing is "real", then what does any of it matter? That's why the matrix within a matrix theory, that was such a focus of speculation, was never going to be the path that the film's creators took: if you have a matrix within a matrix, then all the real humans connected to the simulation are now themselves simulations, and hence, not real. It would completely destroy the impact of the plot. Star Ocean's writers weren't aware of this, and they went off this cliff. That's why I quit: I can't stand a story that sabotages it's own sense of stakes.
I just wanna say thank you. This channel is helping me get through one of the hardest times in my life. Maybe it's your personality and my love of rpgs but regardless this is my favorite channel by far.
The weird thing about SO3 is that, while it has (possibly) the most amount of spammable moves (Side Kick, Maria's half screen giant laser thing being the most notorious), it's also the one that rewards you the most for standing still and doing nothing. Many enemies (bosses included) are rendered useless once you learn which attacks can be blocked. I do agree that the puzzles are obnoxious, though. By the way, it's First Departure that has a point of no return, not Second Evolution. And it was kept that way on the PS4 port., sadly.
I'm actually playing through SO3 now, and am only a few hours ahead of the Kirlsa mines portion of the game. I kind of enjoyed that puzzle/mini game. It definitely required patience and time to experiment with different haulers but it felt rewarding to get to the other side of the dungeon. I agree that the battle system is pretty clumsy...I'm constantly missing enemies when I swing my weapon and often feel useless in battle, letting my AI partners finish up the bulk of the fight. Still, it's an enjoyable game, and also cool to note that there aren't too many JRPGs that blend medieval fantasy with utopian sci-fi.
The most memorable thing about what made SOTET so harsh was the side quest with the seven books from the first disc where one of the books required going into a dungeon with monsters that the party was more than likely woefully underleveled to tackle and the time limit to complete the quest was until the end of the first disc which meant that you either went in underleveled or you grinded for many hours if not days from the disc 1 monsters before you attempted it. From what I've heard, this has made quite a few completionists ignore that part of the quest where only those who were either stupidly determined to get the item from there, which was some berries that gave a tiny stat enhancement, or had no idea what they were getting into would even try that overleveled dungeon. Though the real cruelty is the fact that you go into a high risk area for little reward, unless you're looking for bragging rights. The harshness of the place is not the monsters in the area which can be avoided if you are good enough, but the boss that you are required to beat while underleveled in order to get to the area where the item is at.
I first played first departure R on the switch and honestly bro, I've been in love with the franchise, just got to finish 2 and 3 and then blue sphere, love these games. I watch your videos often when looking for new series of games to get into. thanks for all of your content bro
Somehow, kid me managed several finished playthroughs of Second Story, I still have the save files today. I definitely do remember getting stuck on that final boss, though xD
SO3 can be a bit of a headache if you aren't into crafting. I remember when I was way younger, I didn't do that or grind. I beat the Convictor on hopes and dreams.. And lots of running. I can't even remember how long the battle was. I just remember it was too long. But when I got older and understood the game better, the caverns and dragon flute still a pain in the butt.. But once crafting and some grind came into play, everything was just laughably easy until you go higher up on the difficulty setting. Outside of that, a few enemies. But it was more about keeping your party alive than yourself. Which boiled down to mechs spamming homing missiles, anyone without no guard getting stun locked and instantly knocked down everytime the smaller ones fire their machine guns that had too much range. Getting caught between the dragons of barr meant they to no end spammed paralyzing breath to which if you don't have an amulet of freedom equipped.. Goodluck to that party member. Could go through basil's like candy there. And lastly the biggest issue was the bonus battle gauge being broken by so much as a sneeze. Go 200 battles without getting hit. 201, the lightest touch shatters it...
"Till The End of Time" was definitely the hardest as you can die if you run out of MP, even if you're HP is full, which was just plain stupid. If Star Ocean "Till The End of Time" got a remake, it should be fixed so that running out of MP won't result in death, and exploration of Greeton is added.
Ah yes, Star Ocean: The Second Story: Mildly difficult up until the final dungeon, which throws a bunch of really hard bosses at you, capped off by the easiest final boss of any RPG I've ever played.
Why are you saying that it's not possible to leave the final dungeon in Star Ocean 2nd Story? This is false, infact to unlock traveling back to Expel and access the secret dungeon, you have to save your game at the last savepoint and then leave the dungeon and go to the fun city.
On my version for the ps2 when u saved over your file it wouldn't let u leave the dungeon....sounds like might have been some secret way out but I didn't know about it
this channel always spill out miss information every time he make some video . This video is prefect example of he doesn't understand anything about how SO game system work
@@ltb1345 heh ? it basically like all JRPG back in day . You save before final boss and run out of final dungeon . secrets dungeon is something you have to find out and explore the world to get access to . Not sure how convoluted about that when it suppose to be secrets
The hardest Star Ocean for me was 4 but mainly because I never used the crafting system and I never used the blindside mechanic (I was lazy reading the tutorials). I can still remember that overly long final dungeon, Tri-Ace's hatred of teleporters that teleport you to the dungeon entrance, and Tri-Ace's horrible cancerous idea of putting a boss rush IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FINAL BOSS FIGHT. I had to make sure I had enough resources to go through all of that in one go and beat the damage sponge that was the final boss. It was a miracle that I beat it on first try. Worst Star Ocean experience ever for me.
I understand your argument but Second Story… sheeeesh I remember rage quitting those bosses so many times back in the day, once you get to the “meteor” it’s hard mode lol
In star ocean first departure once you get Dragon Roar you can spam it since it stops the enemy animation while they take dmg , intended or not its very powerful.
Seeing this video, I definitely wonder if you're gonna do a similar one for the Suikoden series based on overall difficulty and ease of getting all 108 characters
I like the Star Ocean series a lot. Fully detailed games, tons to do,, good stories, good music, etc. I can see how the difficulty of some of them can turn people away or have people walk instead of finishing them. They require a lot more effort than many other RPGs, and that's fine IMO, but not for those who like RPGs just for a story and some music and casual effort to finish the games.
For Star Ocean Second Story, the final boss actually has 2 different versions, the original and a hidden harder version that can only be accessed by seeing a certain PA then returning back to that same character after getting to the "point of no return" and seeing another PA. (You'll need to be at least lvl 200+ to stand a chance against it's hidden version.)
I prefer the snes version of so1, but both are still great. so4 is my favorite and so3 being my least favorite. SO3's difficulty wasn't so bad until enemies started dealing damage to your MP and thats when I learned I could be downed by getting 0 mp, too. Its also pretty annoying to spend both MP and HP for heavy Techs.
SO3 is very difficult if you play w/o Item Creation. But then after you know how to IC, this is when they game became YOUR BITCH. You know those starter characters that you got? CLiff and Maria? Turns out they are the BEST CHARACTER IN THE GAME!!!! Cliff could easily kill the game with Hammer of Might or AERIAL ASSAULT. For Maria, I give you 2 words: SCATTER BEAMS!!!! Point blank Scatter Beam absolutely break the game. Just load her with a Laser Weapon+ a bunch of Oricalrium or Boost of Prowess and watching her destroy Main and Post game.
@Vegesther Oh, I remember you. THE BLOODY ARMOR GUY!!!! Also, Maria could if every level you get 2 DEF (Require resetting if you only get 1 DEF per level.) Stats was random but each character has maximum stats possible to increase randomly. Also, you would want that Blazing Pendant to have ATK boost as well but required A LOT OF TRIAL AND ERROR. Edit: You can also use DEF Berries as well.
I probably shouldn't have talked about my FAVORITES in a series within a comment for a video talking about DIFFICULTY between the titles in the series.
Nice, been eyeing this franchise so it's good to get a new video about it. I started playing Second Story a couple of months ago but haven't continued it.
Star ocean 2 is till my favorite. Hopefully in the future they go back to having the triggers/bumpers for special attacks only instead of forcing regular attacks first.
For someone whose first and probably last entry into the series is Till The End of Time, yea sir I totally agree with you. The difficulty is unspeakable. But But I had fun with it and the OSTs/BGMs are absolute banger! Cutting Edge of Notion FTW!
I never had any issues with Star Ocean 5 other than it being too short. That is my only complaint. The other complaints I never personally ran into. Star Ocean 3 is by far the most challenging and why it's my favorite in the series.
I haven't finished 5 because I seriously got bored with it unlike 1-4. I remember breezing through 1 and 2 because it's easy to stunlock the enemies, 3 gave me few troubles and 4's final boss was easy using Reimi but the enemies at the beach before you get that scythe guy as a party member gave me the most trouble.
On SO3, you forgot to mention the damn near straight vertical line the difficulty curve becomes around the same time you get hit with the biggest twist in the game. And it never lets up for the rest of the game.
I really enjoyed second story and it's my favourite Star Ocean. I know it was hard but I can't remember being that frustrated on final boss, it has been a while though. As for Till the end of time. I just gave up on the game after getting to the 4th dimension. Enemies just started ignoring the "rules" of combat that were always frustrating but at least had been established in the game till then. First time I ever just stopped playing an RPG
Learn to 'Cancel %' attacks, and it will become a walk in the park. I was about to give up beating the final boss. After I learned to 'cancel' with Maria, I just spammed Scatter Beam...
So, I'm playing First Departure on Switch. I'm at the part early on where they've just gone back in time, and I swear there are no healing items being sold in the towns. Now I ran out of healing items and I'm left running away from battles, struggling to survive. Bruh!
Bluebarries are healing items, and they are pretty much in every item shop. There isn't much healing items like Healing Potions sold in stores as you actually have to craft them by combining herbs together.
Till the end of Time was my first Star Ocean game, loved it and still do. Played First Departure, then Second Evolution and then Last Hope, really enjoyed them all. I bought but have yet to play Integrity and Faithlessness.
*Wallow in despair!* To this day I still can't beat that boss. Star Ocean 3 puzzles aren't really hard once you some thought into it, but in the final dungeon back tracking can be a pain with redoing the puzzles just to get out of the dungeon. The enemy, are pretty brutal, and don't get me started on the limited inventory which forces backtracking. Star Ocean 3 felt like a nightmare.
The final boss really tests your ability to fury block. The best strat is to stand next to him with 100 percent fury and not attack. His basic attacks will be countered by a fury block if you are at 100 percent fury and stun him, that is when you can attack. If you see him casting Perfect Symmetry you have to run as far as you can. He also has a nightmare move that puts spikes in specific spots on the battlefield. You have to stay close to the edges and avoid those spike spots. Best of luck if you try to go back to it. Keeping your whole party in manual control will also help keep them alive for hard bosses like that.
@Eternalwarpuppy Fury blocks? What's that? Didn't even know that exist and I relies on pure instinct through the whole game. Yeah, figure switching character is the best approach when he does his *Gate of the Netherworld* but his other attacks are crazy powerful.
@@outkastshadowking2719 Fury is sort of like your stamina meter, you lose fury by moving around and doing attacks and recover fury by standing still. If an enemy attacks you with a light attack while you are at 100 percent fury, you will block the attack and stun them. I don't remember exactly what his attacks are, but the final boss has 2 attacks that you can fury block. So you stand next to him at 100 percent fury and see what he does. If he does an attack that can be fury blocked you just wait and let your fury block stun him. If he starts casting Perfect Symmetry or Gate of the Netherworld you run away.
On the Second Story he said you can't leave the final dungeon. You can definitely leave the final dungeon. You actually have to get to the last save point before the final boss to even unlock the secret dungeon. After getting to the last save point you have to leave the dungeon and go back to the battle arena at the amusement park and talk to the old man there to teleport to a virtual version of the first world and fly your synard to the small island with the dungeon on it. Also some people accidentally unlock the final boss hard mode by doing the personal event in clik where the town gets destroyed.
I didn't finish Star Ocean 3 because, after the big twist, I had to stop playing for a week. When i returned to the game, I didn't know what was I supposed to do next. I explored every area I could and talked to everyone I found, but the story didn't progress. I might get the PS4 remaster one day.
I never beat the final boss on Second Story (psp) and just ended up watching the ending(s) on UA-cam. That was what switched me over from Star Ocean to Trails in the Sky and I'll never look back.
I actually beat indalecio unlimited on universe mode and yeah I hear yeah I never thought I’d ever see a boss that could do half the nonsense he could do.
The PSP remake, Second Evolution, was my introduction to the Star Ocean series. I loved that game so much that I bought the official guide after I had completed it one time on my own. The thing is I enjoyed the combat and the extra dungeon added in this version which was super hard.
The cave of trials was in the PS1 version, and it was just as brutal. The only thing that was added to Second evolution that wasn't in Second Story was Welch, who was also added to First Departure.
I still think indalecio unlimited on universe mode was the hardest boss of the entire series and therefore I think 2 is still the hardest game in the entire series. At least with the other games you could do a new game plus and stat boost.
Indalecio is way too fucking broken and OP. I got so mad watching him zoom around while casting spells. Even with bunny shoes on it seemed like I could never keep up
@@itsutsunagi He was suppose to be, the creators of the game actually stated they wanted to make a boss fight that matched his own story, and it worked too. I've played so many games, games untranslated nobody comes close.
@@itsutsunagi I also forgot to mention, it really comes does to timing and combo locks that work, I found if you can keep 2 people on each side you can actually push him into a wall or corner and it should kill him, but he can still get out if you're not fast enough and that's like within milliseconds.
I’ve been thinking of trying a star ocean game, I’m a big SCI-FI nerd and I just recently played Rogue Galaxy which was hard but still enjoyable, any recommendations for which star ocean I should do first?
I enjoyed Star Ocean 4 for the gameplay but the character models and overly anime stuff might bother you or turn you off from the series, i do highly recommend Star Ocean 2 though ^~^
@@TRUEKingEN If Xenoblade 2 wasn't too anime for you, then SO4 The Last Hope won't be either I would have thought. Honestly I'd recommend playing any of them except SO5 Integrity and Faithlessness as it's definitely the weakest game. I started with SO3, which is still my favourite and then played the first two games, then SO4 and SO5
In Second Story, I still have the strategy guide I bought along with the game and I remember there is a certain character who simply talking to them will cause the final boss to get even more powered up! I made to sure not to do this, and the boss was still pretty tough despite tons of side quests, finding characters and going pretty deep in optional dungeons.
Lol, I own the strategy guide too. I guess I got lucky, cause I didn't find out you can power up the final boss until after I beat the game. Maybe that's why Erick says it was so hard. It baffles me every time he brings it up, because my experience was much different. I still consider Indalecio to be the easiest final boss of any RPG I've ever played. I remember feeling very underwhelmed. About a minute into the fight, he transforms, and then nearly 30 seconds later, he was going through his death animation. I was like "Is that it?" I was happy to find out there was more content after the game with the Cave of Trials, but I only attempted that once before giving up due to how difficult it was. I should really pick the game up again. I mean, I loved the game so much, I even bought the official 3 disc soundtrack. ^_^
No, it isn't just talking to them, there is a lot more to this. You must witness a Private Action in a town that gets destroyed before it is destroyed... then you must reach the save point before the final boss... then you must return to the starting town of Disc 2 and witness an event there where you'll get an unique item.
2:42-2:52 kinda like how I was with Resident Evil 2. Played the original on PS couldn't beat it, played it again on the N64 and beat it. Went back to the PS version and beat that one. 🤔🤷
“Till the end of time” wasn’t that hard. But I’ll agree with the dang puzzles. As a kid with no internet it took a lot of dragon slaying to get pass that flute puzzle.
I'd say try to go in release order, if possible. Other than the fact that early games are pretty good, starting with the early games let you get a good feel on how the series evolved.
I found 2nd Story (PS1) to be the hardest, at least until I learned the obscure thing you're supposed to do to make the final boss easier, which is to *turn on his Limiter beforehand.* Should do that before the fight. 2nd Evolution (PSP) was easier (more balanced like 1st Departure). After 2nd Story I found them all to be about the same, once I felt comfortable with the systems, that is. But after Second Story I'll say that "Till the End of Time" was the 2nd hardest for me to get the "feel" of. Once I did, tho, I was fine.
360 version of SO4 had some issues. Especially when it comes to targeting. They actually nerfed exp/fol armor in the later versions. I actually think 5 is around the same difficulty as 4 for the most part.
Only played 1 and 2. Never got to far in the second story, hell i didn't even finished the first cd! I played and finished the first one through emulation. It was easy actually, and VERY linear. It does have replay value if you wanna use another characters in your party. Also i remember it being short in the main story. But i still recommend it!
I didn't have much trouble with Integrity and Faithlessness just because having 6 party members made it very unlikely to lose everyone and even if I got down to 1 or 2 party members I could resurrect some people and eventually take control of the battle again. Star Ocean 2 wins it for me because I had to grind 30 levels to beat the final boss. I didn't have any problems leaving the final dungeon though and I played on PS1.
Omg TTEOT was my first and so far only Star ocean game. I remember the wtf story twist ND i remember those weird "angels" with their creepy music creeping me out big time. Never managed to finish it
Just curious, are you factoring in the secret dungeons or just normal game? Cuz SO2 and SO4 secret dungeons were so hard, I never even completed the second secret dungeon on either of those games
I played SO4 for the first time late last year and attempted that first dungeon set of levels from the coliseum (think there were about 8 levels or so) and that was tough enough, but after I’d seen how many battles a mate of mine had got since doing the later one (20 levels) which were almost triple what I’d done in the entire game over 145 hours, I just though forget that. He never finished it due to how long it was taking and he’d leveled up everyone to 255.
In Integrity and Faithlessness, you can lock yourself out of a special something by selling an inconspicuous item that you find early on that there is only a single one of in the entire game and will require a replay from the start should you sell it. To avoid spoilers I am being vague, but those who played the game will know what I'm writing about. Aside from that, I&F isn't that bad in my opinion. Sure... The camera sucks and sometimes you get into inescapable damage loops but if you don't rush, then it is playable enough.
As I don't speak English natively, "till the end of time" and above, were very slow to proceed and know what to do. I didn't finished no one of these games, except "the first departure". Sorry by my bad English, I'm learning by myself.
Star Ocean 1 and 2 are the only games Im playing on emulator, I didn't really get into the SO series until playing SO3 which made me want to experience more. Some of the SO before 3 on this list sounds like they have quite some challenges to them. But 3 definitely takes the cake in difficulty if you don't do Item Creation, not to mention getting that bonus battle gauge up and trying to have the Triple EXP and Double Fol bonuses on is the real annoyance of battles. Heck even if you take 0 damage, chances are you just took a critical hit and that broke your gauge. Don't even get me started on annoying enemies that can take out your character so fast with just one move, whether it be HP OR MP. Regardless, the game is really fun once you get the hang of it especially in terms of just grinding your characters up and the interactions in this game can put a smile on your face. Oh and try not to fuck up on who you really want to join your party after the end of disc 1, you're only allowed two optional characters to keep.
Honestly I share the same opinion on each of them with the difficulty…..minus Second Story because I only got halfway through Second Departure on the PSP before I lost my PSP and all the games (Like a Dope, I placed it down and forgot about it…only took a that short moment for it to be taken! All that money!). 1. First Departure Enjoyed that one a lot, it’s my top favorite next to Last Hope. 2. Hated Blindside, But honestly, I enjoyed Last Hope (But it was the only game I played with SUBS! The VA on “Certain” character’s broke my tolerance on bad voice acting! It’s always fun looking back at how far we’ve come since the days of bad ear grating English Dubs of the past….even though Last Hope was around when it’s sister series Tales of was starting to get WAY GOOD AT THIS! With Legendia being the only one I remember where the Dub was not that Great. But then what do I expect from the one PS2 Tale of I wish we traded it for the Destiny 1 PS2 remake for!) 3. Fuck this game……...It was the only Star Ocean I REALLY hated (Bland character’s minus the two “Space” character’s and that’s mostly because of who the “male” is for us Second Departure/Story lovers LOL). Fuck this game, FUCK IT TO HELL. A Massive disgrace to Tri-Ace (I use to hold "Infinite Undiscovery as the bad one, and I didn't fully hate that game, only viewed it as "undercooked" when story and character's are involved! Tri-Ace is weird on how they're series have great lore and world building, but the story and characters are a coin toss on hit and miss) 4. This game reminded me of Arc the Lad 2 in that the latter half was a HUGE difficulty spike (Sadly never got to the final parts of course. But I heard the stuff of nightmares about it as you described and like Arc 2, the final boss is BS unless you cheese the game and DIDN’T skip out on the First Game and complete it fully! Which I won’t do! A great case of really should have took better account of players who would have started with the better sequel then the first entry! Good thing Mass Effect 2 took that to heart with how you don’t fuck yourself over in ME3 if you start with 2 rather then go through 1, then 2 before 3!). 5. This was my first Star Ocean and almost made me drop the series even when I fully played the game . Fuck some of those puzzles, barely used some of the mechanics. And never played again after beating it once! Thank God Last Hope saved this series for me and the two remakes of 1 and 2 did it for me! (Found it weird they reduced Party size to three when I played Last Hope, and found it weird it was the only RPG I played where hitting 0 in MP “KILLS YOU!” Plus after playing the others, I agree that the whole “Star Ocean’s world is another races MMORPG” was….really out there! I know the series was inspired by Star Trek, but even they wouldn’t have done that type of crazy out there!)
You CAN leave the dungeon (Fienal?) In SO2, anytime you want. You have to anyways to access the bonus dungeon, Cave of Trials. The reason why the Ten Wise Men were so hard is because you were severely underleveled, and probably not specing your skills right/proper equipment. Eternal Sphere, Bunny Shoes, Battle Suits, makes all of them except Cyril and Indalecio a fucking joke. Also, for more fun unlock Indalecio's Limiter, now THAT'S a brutal fight.
I couldn't beat the final boss of the Second Story even with the help of state saves. Then I said to myself: "Screw this! I know the game has like 99 endings and want to see which one I would get, but I will just watch one on UA-cam".
@@mooserocka522 It is possible they didn't get Perseverance till wasting a lot of SP as in total this saves you up to 10SP a skill which actively saves 1,000s by the end of the game. The final boss will have such vastly better stats then you if you get ANYTHING other then stat boosting skills on top of that. The private action which makes them hard can only be gotten after reaching the final save.
Till the End of Time is the only Star Ocean i have played. All I remember is I loved the game and wanted more. Just never had a Playstation after the PS2.
If you know how to exploit the item creation in Second Story, you can completely break the game. Like near end-game weapons a few hours in kind of breaking.
So glad I wasn’t the only one who almost threw the controller out of frustration with that stupid beetle riding mini game. Or whatever it is. I was like 15 when I played it and I’m 26 now. Still hate it.
My damn game froze on s.o.2 on the last leader but not till i beat him after over a month of trying didn't help that i was locked into the battle cause i saved like an idiot .....i really love the colosseum part!
So2 isn't difficult at all... as long as you get Perseverance. It is possible to just play the game with both Training specialties enable and just walk through everything slowly but easily despite having otherwise lower stats when those are active. Or even just stun lock most enemies to death.
the second story, I found for 5$ when they dropped the playstation and found it fun and deep, with the trick that at the last save point is the only chance to leave and hit the bonus dungeon (the only real place to grind so you can beat the final boss). Till the end of time was probably the one that made me a bit obsessive to beat on all difficulty levels (god I wish they would drop a PC port of this on steam soon) even though the end was ... well not as good ad the rest of the game. last hope ... ok with this one the 360 was harder since it was (and advertised as) a direct port of the game while the PS3 was the international version that dumbed it down a bit (or a lot) which made it fit on one disk instead of multiple
The reason Star Ocean TLH could fit into one PS3 disc, is because PS3 games are on bluray discs, and 360 games were on DVD, no other reason. Same with Final Fantasy XIII and Battlefield 3 as examples.
till the end of time was the heard of and played and had no issues till the last boss when i first played it and now that ive played it a few times i have to say its a lot easier then you are making it out to be
SOTEOT i dont remember struggling aside the secret bosses like Freya , but that game was very dull for me after SOTS , that game is difficult, but if do some stuff right it can get very ez, getting feet symbol and berserker ring makes it very easy except universe difficult where wearing two feet symbol is a must , and the exploit of cursed plate make bosses ez , but some skills are not good to get, despise what they seems to be good, like the blown out skill , is bad because makes enemies flying away from you breaking combos, i once stun lock the final boss in a corner and he wasnt able to get out , Idelcio without limiters on universe difficult is an abomination.
STAR OCEAN 3 TILL THE END OF TIME NEEDS A REMAKE! IT'S MY FAVE STAR OCEAN AND NEXT TO THAT IS 2ND DEPARTURE! DAAAAAAMN! I MISS PLAYING THIS SERIES! HAHA WHAT MAKES STAR OCEAN 3 EVEN MORE FUN ARE THE ACHIEVEMENTS AND THE VERSUS MODE! XD ALSO 4D MODE! TAKE NOTE THE STORY IS ULALAH!
till the end of time will always be the most nostalgic game I have ever played and probably the closest one to my heart next to T O A simply because it was the first RPG I ever played, I wasn’t and I’m still not a fan of the hauler puzzle, and the dragon bone flute nonsense
I don't know if by playing til the end of time as my first star ocean, I didn't find it so hard. for me the hardest is the second one. or part 5(that one because of they shitty battle system)
I was enjoying SO3 until I had to ride that monster. That part of the game took away every enjoyment I had for the game. and as for SO2 I had trouble beating the Trial of power and Love or something like then I lost my PSone. Hopefully they bring it to the Switch so I can play it again.
While I completely agree with every point you made about each game, I still consider SO2 to be harder than TtEoT, entirely because of that final boss lol That boss was the second coming of Zeromus from FF4 for me, and just like Zeromus it forced me to waste literally dozens of hours of my life trying to beat it >.< Those bosses traumatized me lol Time to calm down by playing an easy JRPG, like Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne.. ;-P
It still does, most people I know never even beat him let alone on universe mode, I actually did it and I still think he's the hardest boss I've ever seen because he can do stuff most bosses will never do.
@@Eternalwarpuppy I was level 255 and even on earth mode he's a pain in the ass, let alone on universe mode, I actually beat him without the blood armors and 1 hit kill shield and I still think he's the hardest boss I've ever seen. I've gotten messages from people from Japan who couldn't bat him.
"Till the End of Time" was my first exposure to Star Ocean and it hooked me. I too had trouble getting the feel for chaining attacks at first, but once I did...this game became real damn fun. The post-game takes a big jump in difficulty though. I stayed up all night going through the Maze of Tribulations only to be crushed at the end by Gabriel Celesta, losing 6 hours of grinding! Surely there must be a save point coming up...yeah, right. But, I can proudly say that I cleared ALL the battle trophies here. Even beating Freya on 4D in under an hour. Overall a great challenge and a fun experience.
I really love the battle system in Till the End of Time. There are several different "builds" you can have for each character and each one are really fun to play out. Although in 4D, only some builds are viable, because the game don't play around, really.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. But it never had a staying power for me. Restarted the game a few times. But never got deep into it. For me, second story will always be the best
high five! Those darn trophy achievements are what makes the game even more fun and challenging!
Did all that myself as well. The only trophy I never got was the 50,000 battles and the million button presses. Everyone suggested just using a bot or button turbo system, but if I have to do that to get a trophy, I’d rather just not have it.
Been waiting for you to cover these. SO3 was my entry into the series back in 2004 and it has remained my favorite from both a story and gameplay challenge standpoint
SOTEOT, I didn’t have a problem with the mini-games, my only issue with them is that I had to learn them and after I went through the section, never comes up again, they can put those type of mini-games in but make them an option for later on like getting new weapons are getting a cluster of treasure chests, but to put them in once, force me to learn the mechanics, and never bring them up again that’s what got under my skin. Great vid and 2nd
5:30 -> Wait what!?
I have played the original and the PSP version multiple times and you can always leave the final dungeon. In fact, when you reach the last save point of the final dungeon, this will unlock the access to the Cave of Trials.
In order to access it, you need to leave the dungeon and then go to Fun City. In Fun City, you need to go to the colosseum and talk to an old man. This man will bring you back to Expel and you will then be able to travel to the hidden dungeon.
You're very right, you can leave the dungeon at the very last save point, and it's even encouraged to do so
Till the End of Time was my first SO game and I love it.
Same here. It's actually what got me interested in other Tri-Ace games like Valkyrie Profile (VP2 is still one of my favorite PS2 era games of all time....and Celes is freaking broken in that game, especially for how early you can get her....if you're lucky enough to land the 30% chance to get her instead of Tyrith). I've played every Star Ocean game since as well.
yeah me too, it brings back memories, i wanna play it again if i have the time ..
That goddamn "protect Anne" mission in Integrity and Faithlessness was a complete nightmare for me. I had to grind for ages for that and ended up just spamming healing spells.
I put anne warrior slayer. princess and defender as primary roles to her and it works well. make sure somebody get a role of royal guard to protect the princess while she hacking the system
Ironically though, the final boss was a joke as I think he glitched out and just stood there doing literally nothing while I wailed on him.
Just imagine if it was "Protect Anne" along with the SO4 Phantom Soldiers!
StarOcean 3 really needs a remake, its an incredible game, and as a 1st gen ps2 title its graphics were dated soon after it came out
When I first bought it and found there were two discs of awesome, my pp got hard
And then you meet "Chibi" Freya and she immediately makes you reevaluate your life choices. :P
that would be amazing, I would love a remake of this game… Knock on wood
I loved Till The End of Time. Its my favorite Star Ocean though its story went off the deep end.
Agree with you. I felt the story was really good, for the most part, until the party got to 4D space. I was so annoyed by the story direction in 4D space that I rage quit the game, and never picked it up again.
@@SuperSupersoda Essentially Star Ocean Till The End of Time was my prep game for FF7 Remake. I'd still play them for the gameplay but the story is something that I just sigh and allow to act a fool while I just don't take it as seriously. Honestly I've been doing that alot with JRPGs.
@@HolyHadou I hear what you're saying, but one of my biggest problems is that the story is not part of the background for me, good stories are one of THE reasons I play RPGs. If the story sucks, I just lose interest in the game.
Remember when the Matrix sequels came out, and people argued about the "matrix within a matrix" theory? Till the end of time comes from a generation where the matrix films were really popular. However, the problem is that unless it's done correctly, the matrix storyline is one of the easiest to mess up of all storylines out there.
The biggest issue is that if it's all a simulation, and it's all part of a program running in a created world, what are the stakes? The matrix films kept the sense of stakes by having all the real humans connected to the matrix. However, if nothing is "real", then what does any of it matter? That's why the matrix within a matrix theory, that was such a focus of speculation, was never going to be the path that the film's creators took: if you have a matrix within a matrix, then all the real humans connected to the simulation are now themselves simulations, and hence, not real. It would completely destroy the impact of the plot.
Star Ocean's writers weren't aware of this, and they went off this cliff. That's why I quit: I can't stand a story that sabotages it's own sense of stakes.
I also struggled with blindsides on the 360. Awesome game though!
I just wanna say thank you. This channel is helping me get through one of the hardest times in my life. Maybe it's your personality and my love of rpgs but regardless this is my favorite channel by far.
Jrpgs
The weird thing about SO3 is that, while it has (possibly) the most amount of spammable moves (Side Kick, Maria's half screen giant laser thing being the most notorious), it's also the one that rewards you the most for standing still and doing nothing. Many enemies (bosses included) are rendered useless once you learn which attacks can be blocked. I do agree that the puzzles are obnoxious, though.
By the way, it's First Departure that has a point of no return, not Second Evolution. And it was kept that way on the PS4 port., sadly.
SO TRUE! THAT SHIELD REALLY HELPS HAHAAHA EVEN AGAINST BOSSES LIKE THE DAMN ANGELS! XD ALSO YOU NEED TO THOSE TO GET THE TROPHIES! HAHAHA
I'm actually playing through SO3 now, and am only a few hours ahead of the Kirlsa mines portion of the game. I kind of enjoyed that puzzle/mini game. It definitely required patience and time to experiment with different haulers but it felt rewarding to get to the other side of the dungeon. I agree that the battle system is pretty clumsy...I'm constantly missing enemies when I swing my weapon and often feel useless in battle, letting my AI partners finish up the bulk of the fight. Still, it's an enjoyable game, and also cool to note that there aren't too many JRPGs that blend medieval fantasy with utopian sci-fi.
I agree. SO3 was a good game despite some issues.
The most memorable thing about what made SOTET so harsh was the side quest with the seven books from the first disc where one of the books required going into a dungeon with monsters that the party was more than likely woefully underleveled to tackle and the time limit to complete the quest was until the end of the first disc which meant that you either went in underleveled or you grinded for many hours if not days from the disc 1 monsters before you attempted it.
From what I've heard, this has made quite a few completionists ignore that part of the quest where only those who were either stupidly determined to get the item from there, which was some berries that gave a tiny stat enhancement, or had no idea what they were getting into would even try that overleveled dungeon. Though the real cruelty is the fact that you go into a high risk area for little reward, unless you're looking for bragging rights.
The harshness of the place is not the monsters in the area which can be avoided if you are good enough, but the boss that you are required to beat while underleveled in order to get to the area where the item is at.
Im simple, I see star ocean, I click.
I first played first departure R on the switch and honestly bro, I've been in love with the franchise, just got to finish 2 and 3 and then blue sphere, love these games.
I watch your videos often when looking for new series of games to get into.
thanks for all of your content bro
Somehow, kid me managed several finished playthroughs of Second Story, I still have the save files today.
I definitely do remember getting stuck on that final boss, though xD
SO3 can be a bit of a headache if you aren't into crafting. I remember when I was way younger, I didn't do that or grind. I beat the Convictor on hopes and dreams.. And lots of running. I can't even remember how long the battle was. I just remember it was too long.
But when I got older and understood the game better, the caverns and dragon flute still a pain in the butt.. But once crafting and some grind came into play, everything was just laughably easy until you go higher up on the difficulty setting. Outside of that, a few enemies. But it was more about keeping your party alive than yourself. Which boiled down to mechs spamming homing missiles, anyone without no guard getting stun locked and instantly knocked down everytime the smaller ones fire their machine guns that had too much range. Getting caught between the dragons of barr meant they to no end spammed paralyzing breath to which if you don't have an amulet of freedom equipped.. Goodluck to that party member. Could go through basil's like candy there.
And lastly the biggest issue was the bonus battle gauge being broken by so much as a sneeze. Go 200 battles without getting hit. 201, the lightest touch shatters it...
"Till The End of Time" was definitely the hardest as you can die if you run out of MP, even if you're HP is full, which was just plain stupid.
If Star Ocean "Till The End of Time" got a remake, it should be fixed so that running out of MP won't result in death, and exploration of Greeton is added.
Ah yes, Star Ocean: The Second Story: Mildly difficult up until the final dungeon, which throws a bunch of really hard bosses at you, capped off by the easiest final boss of any RPG I've ever played.
Have you ever tried his unlimited form on universe mode? Huge difference.
Everything was hard until i got the bunny shoes. That item was broken
Why are you saying that it's not possible to leave the final dungeon in Star Ocean 2nd Story? This is false, infact to unlock traveling back to Expel and access the secret dungeon, you have to save your game at the last savepoint and then leave the dungeon and go to the fun city.
On my version for the ps2 when u saved over your file it wouldn't let u leave the dungeon....sounds like might have been some secret way out but I didn't know about it
this channel always spill out miss information every time he make some video . This video is prefect example of he doesn't understand anything about how SO game system work
That sounds like an obscure and convoluted method that most people wouldn't know about on their first playthrough.
@@ltb1345 heh ? it basically like all JRPG back in day . You save before final boss and run out of final dungeon . secrets dungeon is something you have to find out and explore the world to get access to . Not sure how convoluted about that when it suppose to be secrets
@@nickwierenga987 What do you meN with "your version for the ps2"? Afaik there never was a version for the ps2
The hardest Star Ocean for me was 4 but mainly because I never used the crafting system and I never used the blindside mechanic (I was lazy reading the tutorials).
I can still remember that overly long final dungeon, Tri-Ace's hatred of teleporters that teleport you to the dungeon entrance, and Tri-Ace's horrible cancerous idea of putting a boss rush IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FINAL BOSS FIGHT. I had to make sure I had enough resources to go through all of that in one go and beat the damage sponge that was the final boss. It was a miracle that I beat it on first try. Worst Star Ocean experience ever for me.
So that's why there was no teleporter in Star Ocean 3! That's pretty stupid.
I am playing The last Hope recently ^_^
It's a crime how SO2 still isn't available on modern consoles in America!
I understand your argument but Second Story… sheeeesh I remember rage quitting those bosses so many times back in the day, once you get to the “meteor” it’s hard mode lol
You got yourself a new subscriber...star ocean is my favorite rpg of all time ..
Played Star Ocean 5, but i think its time to port it to pc, or make a sequel as the aftermath of Star Ocean 3, too many questions.
In star ocean first departure once you get Dragon Roar you can spam it since it stops the enemy animation while they take dmg , intended or not its very powerful.
Seeing this video, I definitely wonder if you're gonna do a similar one for the Suikoden series based on overall difficulty and ease of getting all 108 characters
I like the Star Ocean series a lot. Fully detailed games, tons to do,, good stories, good music, etc. I can see how the difficulty of some of them can turn people away or have people walk instead of finishing them. They require a lot more effort than many other RPGs, and that's fine IMO, but not for those who like RPGs just for a story and some music and casual effort to finish the games.
For Star Ocean Second Story, the final boss actually has 2 different versions, the original and a hidden harder version that can only be accessed by seeing a certain PA then returning back to that same character after getting to the "point of no return" and seeing another PA. (You'll need to be at least lvl 200+ to stand a chance against it's hidden version.)
I prefer the snes version of so1, but both are still great. so4 is my favorite and so3 being my least favorite. SO3's difficulty wasn't so bad until enemies started dealing damage to your MP and thats when I learned I could be downed by getting 0 mp, too. Its also pretty annoying to spend both MP and HP for heavy Techs.
Agree with SNES version of SO1 being the hardest. Also, my favorite is SO4 =D
SO3 is very difficult if you play w/o Item Creation. But then after you know how to IC, this is when they game became YOUR BITCH. You know those starter characters that you got? CLiff and Maria? Turns out they are the BEST CHARACTER IN THE GAME!!!! Cliff could easily kill the game with Hammer of Might or AERIAL ASSAULT. For Maria, I give you 2 words: SCATTER BEAMS!!!! Point blank Scatter Beam absolutely break the game. Just load her with a Laser Weapon+ a bunch of Oricalrium or Boost of Prowess and watching her destroy Main and Post game.
@Vegesther Oh, I remember you. THE BLOODY ARMOR GUY!!!! Also, Maria could if every level you get 2 DEF (Require resetting if you only get 1 DEF per level.) Stats was random but each character has maximum stats possible to increase randomly. Also, you would want that Blazing Pendant to have ATK boost as well but required A LOT OF TRIAL AND ERROR.
Edit: You can also use DEF Berries as well.
I probably shouldn't have talked about my FAVORITES in a series within a comment for a video talking about DIFFICULTY between the titles in the series.
Nice, been eyeing this franchise so it's good to get a new video about it. I started playing Second Story a couple of months ago but haven't continued it.
Good luck with the end you’re gonna need it, I’ll help you out if I can.
Star ocean 2 is till my favorite. Hopefully in the future they go back to having the triggers/bumpers for special attacks only instead of forcing regular attacks first.
One of the bosses in the PS4 version of the last hope was such a damage sponge it took me 45 minutes to beat and I went through most of my inventory.
The Cult leader and his followers and shadow beach fight
How ? None of this fight should take more that 10 minutes at worst.
It's so easy to stunlock enemies in First Departure
can also do it in second story to some degree
I just posted the same conclusion 🤜🏻🤛🏻
For someone whose first and probably last entry into the series is Till The End of Time, yea sir I totally agree with you. The difficulty is unspeakable.
But But I had fun with it and the OSTs/BGMs are absolute banger!
Cutting Edge of Notion FTW!
awesome video man
I never had any issues with Star Ocean 5 other than it being too short. That is my only complaint. The other complaints I never personally ran into.
Star Ocean 3 is by far the most challenging and why it's my favorite in the series.
I haven't finished 5 because I seriously got bored with it unlike 1-4. I remember breezing through 1 and 2 because it's easy to stunlock the enemies, 3 gave me few troubles and 4's final boss was easy using Reimi but the enemies at the beach before you get that scythe guy as a party member gave me the most trouble.
Same, I had to force feed my way thru 5
I need to give 4 a try again, lymle' voice acting ruined the game for me entirely, and no I hate played subbed as I think that's worse.
On SO3, you forgot to mention the damn near straight vertical line the difficulty curve becomes around the same time you get hit with the biggest twist in the game. And it never lets up for the rest of the game.
I really enjoyed second story and it's my favourite Star Ocean. I know it was hard but I can't remember being that frustrated on final boss, it has been a while though. As for Till the end of time. I just gave up on the game after getting to the 4th dimension. Enemies just started ignoring the "rules" of combat that were always frustrating but at least had been established in the game till then. First time I ever just stopped playing an RPG
Learn to 'Cancel %' attacks, and it will become a walk in the park.
I was about to give up beating the final boss. After I learned to 'cancel' with Maria, I just spammed Scatter Beam...
I expect 4 to be the hardest.
So, I'm playing First Departure on Switch. I'm at the part early on where they've just gone back in time, and I swear there are no healing items being sold in the towns. Now I ran out of healing items and I'm left running away from battles, struggling to survive. Bruh!
Bluebarries are healing items, and they are pretty much in every item shop. There isn't much healing items like Healing Potions sold in stores as you actually have to craft them by combining herbs together.
Till the end of Time was my first Star Ocean game, loved it and still do. Played First Departure, then Second Evolution and then Last Hope, really enjoyed them all. I bought but have yet to play Integrity and Faithlessness.
*Wallow in despair!* To this day I still can't beat that boss. Star Ocean 3 puzzles aren't really hard once you some thought into it, but in the final dungeon back tracking can be a pain with redoing the puzzles just
to get out of the dungeon. The enemy, are pretty brutal, and don't get me started on the limited inventory which forces backtracking. Star Ocean 3 felt like a nightmare.
“Death awaits the over confident, remember that”
The final boss really tests your ability to fury block. The best strat is to stand next to him with 100 percent fury and not attack. His basic attacks will be countered by a fury block if you are at 100 percent fury and stun him, that is when you can attack. If you see him casting Perfect Symmetry you have to run as far as you can. He also has a nightmare move that puts spikes in specific spots on the battlefield. You have to stay close to the edges and avoid those spike spots. Best of luck if you try to go back to it. Keeping your whole party in manual control will also help keep them alive for hard bosses like that.
@Eternalwarpuppy Fury blocks? What's that? Didn't even know that exist and I relies on pure instinct through the whole game. Yeah, figure switching character is the best approach when he does his *Gate of the Netherworld* but his other attacks are crazy powerful.
@@outkastshadowking2719 Fury is sort of like your stamina meter, you lose fury by moving around and doing attacks and recover fury by standing still. If an enemy attacks you with a light attack while you are at 100 percent fury, you will block the attack and stun them.
I don't remember exactly what his attacks are, but the final boss has 2 attacks that you can fury block. So you stand next to him at 100 percent fury and see what he does. If he does an attack that can be fury blocked you just wait and let your fury block stun him. If he starts casting Perfect Symmetry or Gate of the Netherworld you run away.
On the Second Story he said you can't leave the final dungeon. You can definitely leave the final dungeon. You actually have to get to the last save point before the final boss to even unlock the secret dungeon. After getting to the last save point you have to leave the dungeon and go back to the battle arena at the amusement park and talk to the old man there to teleport to a virtual version of the first world and fly your synard to the small island with the dungeon on it.
Also some people accidentally unlock the final boss hard mode by doing the personal event in clik where the town gets destroyed.
If you go past that Save point you can't leave, but if you reload from that save point you can. SO1 has a point of no return as well.
Nice video!
I didn't finish Star Ocean 3 because, after the big twist, I had to stop playing for a week. When i returned to the game, I didn't know what was I supposed to do next. I explored every area I could and talked to everyone I found, but the story didn't progress. I might get the PS4 remaster one day.
I never beat the final boss on Second Story (psp) and just ended up watching the ending(s) on UA-cam. That was what switched me over from Star Ocean to Trails in the Sky and I'll never look back.
I actually beat indalecio unlimited on universe mode and yeah I hear yeah I never thought I’d ever see a boss that could do half the nonsense he could do.
Dang I was just playing star ocean second evolution on the psp and this gets posted. Nice.
The PSP remake, Second Evolution, was my introduction to the Star Ocean series. I loved that game so much that I bought the official guide after I had completed it one time on my own. The thing is I enjoyed the combat and the extra dungeon added in this version which was super hard.
The cave of trials was in the PS1 version, and it was just as brutal. The only thing that was added to Second evolution that wasn't in Second Story was Welch, who was also added to First Departure.
I still think indalecio unlimited on universe mode was the hardest boss of the entire series and therefore I think 2 is still the hardest game in the entire series. At least with the other games you could do a new game plus and stat boost.
Indalecio is way too fucking broken and OP. I got so mad watching him zoom around while casting spells. Even with bunny shoes on it seemed like I could never keep up
@@itsutsunagi He was suppose to be, the creators of the game actually stated they wanted to make a boss fight that matched his own story, and it worked too. I've played so many games, games untranslated nobody comes close.
@@itsutsunagi I also forgot to mention, it really comes does to timing and combo locks that work, I found if you can keep 2 people on each side you can actually push him into a wall or corner and it should kill him, but he can still get out if you're not fast enough and that's like within milliseconds.
hey sir erick, may i know what is your reaction for star ocean 6? and if there's a connection of star ocean 6 to other star ocean series? thanks
7:15
THA GODDAMN FLUTE PUZZLE!
That made me quit the game and never look back.
I’ve been thinking of trying a star ocean game, I’m a big SCI-FI nerd and I just recently played Rogue Galaxy which was hard but still enjoyable, any recommendations for which star ocean I should do first?
I enjoyed Star Ocean 4 for the gameplay but the character models and overly anime stuff might bother you or turn you off from the series, i do highly recommend Star Ocean 2 though ^~^
@@FormXO I’ve beaten Xenoblade Chronicles 2 so I think I’ll be fine with the anime stuff, still, thanks for the recommendation
@@TRUEKingEN If Xenoblade 2 wasn't too anime for you, then SO4 The Last Hope won't be either I would have thought. Honestly I'd recommend playing any of them except SO5 Integrity and Faithlessness as it's definitely the weakest game. I started with SO3, which is still my favourite and then played the first two games, then SO4 and SO5
In Second Story, I still have the strategy guide I bought along with the game and I remember there is a certain character who simply talking to them will cause the final boss to get even more powered up! I made to sure not to do this, and the boss was still pretty tough despite tons of side quests, finding characters and going pretty deep in optional dungeons.
Lol, I own the strategy guide too. I guess I got lucky, cause I didn't find out you can power up the final boss until after I beat the game. Maybe that's why Erick says it was so hard. It baffles me every time he brings it up, because my experience was much different. I still consider Indalecio to be the easiest final boss of any RPG I've ever played. I remember feeling very underwhelmed. About a minute into the fight, he transforms, and then nearly 30 seconds later, he was going through his death animation. I was like "Is that it?" I was happy to find out there was more content after the game with the Cave of Trials, but I only attempted that once before giving up due to how difficult it was. I should really pick the game up again. I mean, I loved the game so much, I even bought the official 3 disc soundtrack. ^_^
No, it isn't just talking to them, there is a lot more to this. You must witness a Private Action in a town that gets destroyed before it is destroyed... then you must reach the save point before the final boss... then you must return to the starting town of Disc 2 and witness an event there where you'll get an unique item.
@@Buglin_Burger7878 I didn’t want to spoil too much about the mechanics/story on this but yes you are correct.
@@Alan_Chapman ua-cam.com/video/qNTD_-z0wnk/v-deo.html
2:42-2:52 kinda like how I was with Resident Evil 2. Played the original on PS couldn't beat it, played it again on the N64 and beat it. Went back to the PS version and beat that one. 🤔🤷
“Till the end of time” wasn’t that hard. But I’ll agree with the dang puzzles. As a kid with no internet it took a lot of dragon slaying to get pass that flute puzzle.
Newbie here. As someone who have switch and ps4, should i start with first departure or integrity and faithlessness?
First departure is the best choice since it's the first game and easy to get into as a newcomer.
Start with First Departure and learn everything from this series
Well if you have a PS4 you have access to all but the second game.
I'd say try to go in release order, if possible. Other than the fact that early games are pretty good, starting with the early games let you get a good feel on how the series evolved.
Playing First departure. It's definitely easier than any of them, but the original SNES version was VERY hard especially towards the end.
I found 2nd Story (PS1) to be the hardest, at least until I learned the obscure thing you're supposed to do to make the final boss easier, which is to *turn on his Limiter beforehand.* Should do that before the fight. 2nd Evolution (PSP) was easier (more balanced like 1st Departure). After 2nd Story I found them all to be about the same, once I felt comfortable with the systems, that is. But after Second Story I'll say that "Till the End of Time" was the 2nd hardest for me to get the "feel" of. Once I did, tho, I was fine.
with his Limiter off he's a pain in the arse even at level 250.
360 version of SO4 had some issues. Especially when it comes to targeting. They actually nerfed exp/fol armor in the later versions. I actually think 5 is around the same difficulty as 4 for the most part.
Only played 1 and 2. Never got to far in the second story, hell i didn't even finished the first cd! I played and finished the first one through emulation. It was easy actually, and VERY linear. It does have replay value if you wanna use another characters in your party. Also i remember it being short in the main story. But i still recommend it!
What if I told you, second story has a hard mode and very hard mode
@@windwaker0rules well. Then i'll beat it only once :p
I didn't have much trouble with Integrity and Faithlessness just because having 6 party members made it very unlikely to lose everyone and even if I got down to 1 or 2 party members I could resurrect some people and eventually take control of the battle again. Star Ocean 2 wins it for me because I had to grind 30 levels to beat the final boss. I didn't have any problems leaving the final dungeon though and I played on PS1.
I now feel like a boss for beating TteoT.
Omg TTEOT was my first and so far only Star ocean game. I remember the wtf story twist ND i remember those weird "angels" with their creepy music creeping me out big time. Never managed to finish it
Just curious, are you factoring in the secret dungeons or just normal game? Cuz SO2 and SO4 secret dungeons were so hard, I never even completed the second secret dungeon on either of those games
I played SO4 for the first time late last year and attempted that first dungeon set of levels from the coliseum (think there were about 8 levels or so) and that was tough enough, but after I’d seen how many battles a mate of mine had got since doing the later one (20 levels) which were almost triple what I’d done in the entire game over 145 hours, I just though forget that. He never finished it due to how long it was taking and he’d leveled up everyone to 255.
Second story final boss took me forever to beat when I was a kid
In Integrity and Faithlessness, you can lock yourself out of a special something by selling an inconspicuous item that you find early on that there is only a single one of in the entire game and will require a replay from the start should you sell it. To avoid spoilers I am being vague, but those who played the game will know what I'm writing about.
Aside from that, I&F isn't that bad in my opinion. Sure... The camera sucks and sometimes you get into inescapable damage loops but if you don't rush, then it is playable enough.
...I find it hilarious that the only two games in the series that I've finished are ranked at the top of the list.
As I don't speak English natively, "till the end of time" and above, were very slow to proceed and know what to do. I didn't finished no one of these games, except "the first departure".
Sorry by my bad English, I'm learning by myself.
Star Ocean 1 and 2 are the only games Im playing on emulator, I didn't really get into the SO series until playing SO3 which made me want to experience more.
Some of the SO before 3 on this list sounds like they have quite some challenges to them. But 3 definitely takes the cake in difficulty if you don't do Item Creation, not to mention getting that bonus battle gauge up and trying to have the Triple EXP and Double Fol bonuses on is the real annoyance of battles. Heck even if you take 0 damage, chances are you just took a critical hit and that broke your gauge. Don't even get me started on annoying enemies that can take out your character so fast with just one move, whether it be HP OR MP. Regardless, the game is really fun once you get the hang of it especially in terms of just grinding your characters up and the interactions in this game can put a smile on your face. Oh and try not to fuck up on who you really want to join your party after the end of disc 1, you're only allowed two optional characters to keep.
Did anyone else spend an hour and a half fighting Freya with her 20 million HP and her Ether Strike that drops holy death on the entire battlefield?
I have only finished first departure !
Honestly I share the same opinion on each of them with the difficulty…..minus Second Story because I only got halfway through Second Departure on the PSP before I lost my PSP and all the games (Like a Dope, I placed it down and forgot about it…only took a that short moment for it to be taken! All that money!).
1. First Departure Enjoyed that one a lot, it’s my top favorite next to Last Hope.
2. Hated Blindside, But honestly, I enjoyed Last Hope (But it was the only game I played with SUBS! The VA on “Certain” character’s broke my tolerance on bad voice acting! It’s always fun looking back at how far we’ve come since the days of bad ear grating English Dubs of the past….even though Last Hope was around when it’s sister series Tales of was starting to get WAY GOOD AT THIS! With Legendia being the only one I remember where the Dub was not that Great. But then what do I expect from the one PS2 Tale of I wish we traded it for the Destiny 1 PS2 remake for!)
3. Fuck this game……...It was the only Star Ocean I REALLY hated (Bland character’s minus the two “Space” character’s and that’s mostly because of who the “male” is for us Second Departure/Story lovers LOL). Fuck this game, FUCK IT TO HELL. A Massive disgrace to Tri-Ace (I use to hold "Infinite Undiscovery as the bad one, and I didn't fully hate that game, only viewed it as "undercooked" when story and character's are involved! Tri-Ace is weird on how they're series have great lore and world building, but the story and characters are a coin toss on hit and miss)
4. This game reminded me of Arc the Lad 2 in that the latter half was a HUGE difficulty spike (Sadly never got to the final parts of course. But I heard the stuff of nightmares about it as you described and like Arc 2, the final boss is BS unless you cheese the game and DIDN’T skip out on the First Game and complete it fully! Which I won’t do! A great case of really should have took better account of players who would have started with the better sequel then the first entry! Good thing Mass Effect 2 took that to heart with how you don’t fuck yourself over in ME3 if you start with 2 rather then go through 1, then 2 before 3!).
5. This was my first Star Ocean and almost made me drop the series even when I fully played the game . Fuck some of those puzzles, barely used some of the mechanics. And never played again after beating it once! Thank God Last Hope saved this series for me and the two remakes of 1 and 2 did it for me! (Found it weird they reduced Party size to three when I played Last Hope, and found it weird it was the only RPG I played where hitting 0 in MP “KILLS YOU!” Plus after playing the others, I agree that the whole “Star Ocean’s world is another races MMORPG” was….really out there! I know the series was inspired by Star Trek, but even they wouldn’t have done that type of crazy out there!)
You CAN leave the dungeon (Fienal?) In SO2, anytime you want. You have to anyways to access the bonus dungeon, Cave of Trials.
The reason why the Ten Wise Men were so hard is because you were severely underleveled, and probably not specing your skills right/proper equipment. Eternal Sphere, Bunny Shoes, Battle Suits, makes all of them except Cyril and Indalecio a fucking joke. Also, for more fun unlock Indalecio's Limiter, now THAT'S a brutal fight.
....and nooooow he gotta worry about SO: The Divine Force! :)
I couldn't beat the final boss of the Second Story even with the help of state saves. Then I said to myself: "Screw this! I know the game has like 99 endings and want to see which one I would get, but I will just watch one on UA-cam".
This is because of the limiter. You switched a private action thst made him. Hard as balls. If you don’t do that one private action he dies in 2 hits.
@@mooserocka522 It is possible they didn't get Perseverance till wasting a lot of SP as in total this saves you up to 10SP a skill which actively saves 1,000s by the end of the game. The final boss will have such vastly better stats then you if you get ANYTHING other then stat boosting skills on top of that.
The private action which makes them hard can only be gotten after reaching the final save.
ua-cam.com/video/qNTD_-z0wnk/v-deo.html Here's how to beat him on universe mode no deaths.
SO3 is the only one I did not finished.. I gave up after recruiting all the party members, right after the 3D universe... SO2 is still my favourite!
I remember like none of these and I've played almost every star ocean..
Till the End of Time is the only Star Ocean i have played. All I remember is I loved the game and wanted more. Just never had a Playstation after the PS2.
Finally I've been commenting about s.o.2 for a minute now....a lot of people actually don't know about this series
A lot of games nobody knows about, I love this series. :)
@@bowserlv100 You're not kidding I was still shocked anybody could beat indalecio unlimited on universe mode.
You didn't even mention the MP death.
If you know how to exploit the item creation in Second Story, you can completely break the game. Like near end-game weapons a few hours in kind of breaking.
I always go for Eternal Sphere in every playthrough
So glad I wasn’t the only one who almost threw the controller out of frustration with that stupid beetle riding mini game. Or whatever it is. I was like 15 when I played it and I’m 26 now. Still hate it.
These are my favorite jrpg games.
First Departure R would have played amazing on the vita... And where's Second Evolution R?
My damn game froze on s.o.2 on the last leader but not till i beat him after over a month of trying didn't help that i was locked into the battle cause i saved like an idiot .....i really love the colosseum part!
So2 isn't difficult at all... as long as you get Perseverance.
It is possible to just play the game with both Training specialties enable and just walk through everything slowly but easily despite having otherwise lower stats when those are active. Or even just stun lock most enemies to death.
the second story, I found for 5$ when they dropped the playstation and found it fun and deep, with the trick that at the last save point is the only chance to leave and hit the bonus dungeon (the only real place to grind so you can beat the final boss). Till the end of time was probably the one that made me a bit obsessive to beat on all difficulty levels (god I wish they would drop a PC port of this on steam soon) even though the end was ... well not as good ad the rest of the game. last hope ... ok with this one the 360 was harder since it was (and advertised as) a direct port of the game while the PS3 was the international version that dumbed it down a bit (or a lot) which made it fit on one disk instead of multiple
I paid 25$ dollars for s.o.2 it had only been out for a month or so at the time...i was young af...
The reason Star Ocean TLH could fit into one PS3 disc, is because PS3 games are on bluray discs, and 360 games were on DVD, no other reason. Same with Final Fantasy XIII and Battlefield 3 as examples.
till the end of time was the heard of and played and had no issues till the last boss when i first played it and now that ive played it a few times i have to say its a lot easier then you are making it out to be
SOTEOT i dont remember struggling aside the secret bosses like Freya , but that game was very dull for me after SOTS , that game is difficult, but if do some stuff right it can get very ez, getting feet symbol and berserker ring makes it very easy except universe difficult where wearing two feet symbol is a must , and the exploit of cursed plate make bosses ez , but some skills are not good to get, despise what they seems to be good, like the blown out skill , is bad because makes enemies flying away from you breaking combos, i once stun lock the final boss in a corner and he wasnt able to get out , Idelcio without limiters on universe difficult is an abomination.
STAR OCEAN 3 TILL THE END OF TIME NEEDS A REMAKE! IT'S MY FAVE STAR OCEAN AND NEXT TO THAT IS 2ND DEPARTURE! DAAAAAAMN! I MISS PLAYING THIS SERIES! HAHA WHAT MAKES STAR OCEAN 3 EVEN MORE FUN ARE THE ACHIEVEMENTS AND THE VERSUS MODE! XD ALSO 4D MODE! TAKE NOTE THE STORY IS ULALAH!
till the end of time will always be the most nostalgic game I have ever played and probably the closest one to my heart next to T O A simply because it was the first RPG I ever played, I wasn’t and I’m still not a fan of the hauler puzzle, and the dragon bone flute nonsense
Star ocean last hope 360 : armor could be upgraded easily at 9999 , that wasnt the case with ps3 version making bonuses dungeons harder.
I don't know if by playing til the end of time as my first star ocean, I didn't find it so hard. for me the hardest is the second one. or part 5(that one because of they shitty battle system)
I was enjoying SO3 until I had to ride that monster. That part of the game took away every enjoyment I had for the game. and as for SO2 I had trouble beating the Trial of power and Love or something like then I lost my PSone. Hopefully they bring it to the Switch so I can play it again.
While I completely agree with every point you made about each game, I still consider SO2 to be harder than TtEoT, entirely because of that final boss lol
That boss was the second coming of Zeromus from FF4 for me, and just like Zeromus it forced me to waste literally dozens of hours of my life trying to beat it >.<
Those bosses traumatized me lol
Time to calm down by playing an easy JRPG, like Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne.. ;-P
star ocean 3 is one of the games i love but i haven't gotten yet q.q
You'll love it.
I remember a time when beating indaleccio with his limiter off scored you a badge of honor 😁
I never came close to doing that. I was about level 180 and couldn't even survive 2 minutes.
Never did try it. I beat the secret dungeon with them intent to go back and attempt him after but never did.
It still does, most people I know never even beat him let alone on universe mode, I actually did it and I still think he's the hardest boss I've ever seen because he can do stuff most bosses will never do.
@@Eternalwarpuppy I was level 255 and even on earth mode he's a pain in the ass, let alone on universe mode, I actually beat him without the blood armors and 1 hit kill shield and I still think he's the hardest boss I've ever seen. I've gotten messages from people from Japan who couldn't bat him.
@@Bartimaeus9064 You'll definitely see a huge difference, even on earth mode it's insane.