I found another awesome game for the Playstation 2. As I am quite a Playstation RPG addict, oddly enough, this one was a present for my stepdaughter, and I’ve pretty much taken over the console once I saw it.
The game is called Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. From Square-Enix, the same company that brought us (me, ME!) the Final Fantasy Series, this game is also an immersive RPG like the FF series, but with a few subtle differences.
First, in this game the battles are not turn based (which turns many people away from RPGs, but actual real time. Each button can be programmed for a different move (that you learn as you increase levels), and you are able to move around the battle area freely.
Second, in this game, after you get further into the story, you are able to invent things, using skills like Alchemy, Smithing, Engineering, etc. You can also recruit NPCs to come and work for you in various workshops, each having their own strengths.
The game takes place in the future, where mankind has explored 1/3 of the entire Milky Way, befriending several different races. You play as Fayt Leingod, son of a symbological geneticist. The story starts with Fayt and his family traveling to a resort planet, and suddenly becomes threatened by an unkown military force, separating him from his family. He later discovers that his parents have been captured by the enemy. He manages to get aboard a rescue craft, only to have it assulted by the same enemy; he manages to elude the enemy in an escape craft, only to crash land on a remote planet, nowhere near as adavnced as Earth is. This is where the true adventure begins.
I’d write more, but the storyline is so in depth, you’ll have to play it for yourself. I’m near the end of the game, and I recently was surprised by a plot twist (which for me, never happens with RPGs; usually they’re so predictable.)
