About Star Ocean

Have you ever had a game where the weight of all the extra content felt like so much pressure that you couldn't even muster the courage to boot up the game? If so, then we are on the same page. If not... c'mere. Take a seat. I've got a story to tell.



Star Ocean. One of the last hurrahs of the SNES (or, more accurately, the Super Famicom) before the N64 launched. If you've never heard of the game, it's either because a) you don't care much for RPGs, or b) the fact that it was never released outside of Japan in its original format. The way I was introduced to the Star Ocean series itself is a little convoluted-- a friend who made a Dungeons and Dragons campaign based on Star Ocean 2-- but once I started learning about it, I just HAD to try it. Of course, this was before the big fan translation was finished (and THAT was in 2003, so you have to understand that I was young, curious, and completely unprepared).

Playing a game with only the dialogue translated normally isn't too much trouble, even today. Most games have menus that aren't severely complicated, and The Internet will usually provide translations for what button does what. The fact of the matter is, back in the early 2000's, with limited resources for understanding an untranslated game, Star Ocean was a behemoth of nested menus and incomprehensible subsystems. Don't get me wrong though; these are what made the game a surprise hit in Japan, and the series has since been translated to English, including a port of the first two games for the PSP.

I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten very far back in those days, even if I completely understood every aspect of the game, simply because there is just so much to it which had for the most part never been seen before in RPGs. The combat system was just one of a very limited number which strayed from the standard Final Fantasy setup-- you know, line 'em up, make 'em wait, push a button, things happen. None of that for Star Ocean: along with Tales of Phantasia, this game experimented with a real-time combat system which let you run around, gave you various options for different actions, and managed to straddle the fine line between turn-based rpg and action-rpg without falling completely onto the other side.

But the combat, at least for me, is the LEAST defining feature of the game. (Tales games did it better, even back then. But that's just my opinion.) The story itself apparently lasts maybe a good 10 hours, which is sad by today's standards... hell, even by THOSE days' standards. The real meat of the game was everything else. It sounds a little vague, but I mean that in the fullest sense of the term. Star Ocean was packed with content that you'd almost never see in other games: NPCs with not only pages' worth of dynamic dialogue, but that actually moved from place to place with purpose; a relationship system incorporating all of the recruitable characters which added both a deep sense of character development, and severely changed many sections of the game depending on how friendly you were with who; and above all, the item creation. Oh, man.

The item creation. If you've never played a Star Ocean game, let me tell you right now: that shit is ridiculous. It's changed from one game to the next, but let me show you just how much this game had to offer:

• Craftsmanship (making accessories to be equipped and some sculptures for selling)
• Cooking (making your own healing items)
• Mixing (combining herbs to make potions, bombs, etc.)
• Customizing (lets you improve your weapons-- this is in fact the only way of getting the characters' ultimate weapons)
• Art (mainly used for duplicating items which you already posess)
• Writing (make books which can be used to learn new skills or improve ones you already have)
• Music (you are literally composing bits of music which can affect your HP/MP regeneration, summon specific monsters to fight against, all kinds of crazy effects)
• Alchemy (take iron ore and turn it into all kinds of different gems or metals)
• Weaponsmithing (this one speaks for itself)

And if that isn't enough for you, the real kicker is that these are a subset of abilities which are used for all kinds of other things, such as modifying enemy encounter rates, sending a familiar to go back to town and shop for you, identifying unknown objects, and more. All of these are built into a very complicated, and very rewarding system of skills, talents and abilities which you could write an entire walkthrough about. Which was in fact absolutely necessary back before there was a full english translation, because ALL of it was completely incomprehensible, and if you couldn't make full use of it all, you were boned.

Which is to say, I was boned.

And yet, that is what brings me back to Star Ocean today. The most fun I've ever had with RPGs rarely came from beating bosses, or even the stories of the games, which necessarily must be a central point for the genre. I've just always loved being able to lose myself in a part of a game for hours at a time-- even if it does not serve to advance the plot AT ALL-- as long as I get something cool out of it by the end, something I can use to play the rest of the game with.

Star Ocean is made of this feeling. I look forward to the days to come.







Side note: I'm playing what eventually became the full fan english translation of the game, and not the remade PSP version. This is because I want to play it like people HAD to play it back in the day, and because it makes it easier for me to take screenshots. However, this has already backfired on me, since it seems the ROM I'm playing on has a tendency to crash every once in a while. We'll see how things go-- I may just find myself picking it up for PSP if the SNES version refuses to cooperate. Which is to say, DON'T PIRATE GAMES THAT COMPANIES CAN STILL MAKE MONEY OFF OF, KIDS. It's just bad business for everyone.

I ain't giving a fuck, quit pressing your luck

Having watched Beard take the initiative to create the blog, I couldn't help but feel the urge to join him with a welcome post. Truth is, Beard's a lot more excited to get this going than I am. That's not to say I won't do it, I just fear that forcing myself to play a game I haven't beaten before will turn into a chore. Don't get me wrong, this blog is the perfect motivation to play an old game I own but never beat. That being said, why spend money on new games when I have old stuff I haven't enjoyed to the fullest. I ain't got the money to keep spending on brand new games.

Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man's world

I think I will find a way to throw an Abba lyric into every blog post I write. I haven't decided which console I'll be playing on or what game I'll be playing - but expect an answer from me anytime from tomorrow to when Beard smacks me upside the head in a couple of weeks. Welp, I think I'll list all the games I own and haven't beaten on my next post and maybe people can gimme some recommendations.

Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away?

Wait, that's horrible. I'm going to stop there before I refer to myself as the dancing queen.

An Explanation

I grew up around video games. Not with them-- sadly, my childhood was technologically sterile-- but they certainly surrounded me as I aged into my teens. So by the time I got into "gaming," mainly on the computer, there was a wealth of old titles for me to sink my beard into. Emulation was a huge thing for me, giving me a chance to try out all the games I'd heard about so often, or maybe tried for a few minutes at a friend's house. The floodgates opened back then, and by now they have most likely rusted off their hinges: I consume games at an almost frightening pace these days.

I should qualify that last statement. I don't beat games very quickly. I just jump from one to the next, sticking around as long as the game holds my interest, and jumping ship as soon as I show signs of being bored with it. I dare say that I've played at least few hundred different games in my time, but beaten maybe a dozen, maybe two dozen tops. I know this isn't a problem unique to my own personality; maybe I'm looking too deeply at the situation and making a big deal out of nothing. Despite that little bit of paranoia, the truth remains that I am fairly ashamed of myself for being so fickle with my gaming habits.

Which brings me to the purpose of this blog. I'd been talking to my good friend (who I will choose to call Johnny for the purposes of this blog) about the whole situation, and when I found out that he shared my tendencies, the first thought was "Is there a way we can motivate ourselves to play those old games that we never beat?"

This blog is the solution. Here, Johnny and I will be discussing what games we gave valiant attempts at earlier in our lives, and if possible, document our renewed attempts at beating said games. We may also talk about those games we HAVE beaten, and why we were able to do so. Through this, we can hopefully find out just what it is that makes a game easy to play through all the way to the finish... and maybe... just maybe, we'll find a little bit about ourselves along the way.

And hopefully you won't have to endure the same kind of prosaic bullshit that I just typed out from Johnny.

Anyway. Welcome to Games Which Have Eluded Me. We hope you enjoy your time here.







By the way, the first game I will be taking a look at is the original Star Ocean for the SNES; I should have my first post on it up in the next few days. Johnny's still deliberating on what he'll start out with, but expect something from him soon.