Funny thing about SO3. The thing that bugged me more than the story was having 2 characters join you party at lv 1 once you already beat a chunk of the game. Oh yeah, they are going to survive long enough to level up.

@ Bo

Till the End of Time is 3, and I believe 4 is The Last Hope.

@ Jamos

Actually, that didn't bother me all too bad. I mean, jeez, they gain like 5 levels in their first fight. I know a few other games that do that. But it's not usually done in RPGs where those people are forced into your party. So if you don't want to train up a level 1, you really don't have to.

I kinda liked the game. I must admit I lost interest halfway, tho. But I did get to the plot twist (which I knew what it was before hand thanks to my brother)
I still want to play it again and finish it. Someday.

If you made it to the end of the first disc, just don't bother. That's the best the game gets.

@Lantis (and everyone else in earshot),

Awhile ago, without ever playing the first or second SO, I had considered getting Till the end of time but didn't based on a lack of enough time and interest to put this ahead of any other games. So I was familiar with the game but not 1, 2, or the controversy.

But this topic (thankfully) caught me up for a recent EGM review (November 2008) of Star Ocean: First Departure for the PSP. The reviewer praised The Second Story and bashed Till the end of time for reasons similar to yours.

He said that he felt First Departure was a proper 'sequel', his rating was good [spoiler](B+)[/spoiler] and said that he was cautiously optimistic (which I think is optimistic enough based on what we've been talking about here) for The Last Hope.

Have you played it? Have you heard other comments about it?

Funny you should ask...

http://www.rpgmmag.com/articles/staroceanfd.php

Hey great review Lantis!

I also have the .cso to preserve my disc (and system) as I am sure to log well over a hundred hours in this bad boy. I really don't want that spinning and wearing out my system or disc, but as you know I can't use it until I re-mod my formally modded but currently unmodded PSP.

I still haven't played more than the first couple hours of SO:FD as I am sooooo close to 1000/1000 (currently 885/1000) in Fable 2 that I want to finish that task first. I got the strat for SO:FD but its a bit disappointing, unlike the Prima for SO2. While it does list every item and monster and armor and weapon and so on, it does not go into huge detail about any of it like the SO2 strat did. Funny that even in strat guides SO2 wins again.

And on topic, SO3 is an overall well made game but the removal of what I would call some of the more enjoyable elements that Lantis commented on, was a big tick in the cons column. The story sucked monkey-nuts.

Lets just be grateful that SO4 is a prequel to the entire series.

i just bought first departure for the psp. i havent played a star ocean game before so im not sure what to expect. what good star ocean games are available for the ps and ps2? if i like psp id like to invest in some of the classics. unfortunately my snes is way dead.

Well no worries about the SNES as Star Ocean (which is the original release of Star Ocean: First Departure) as it was Japan only. Of course you could import but why bother if you have the better version on PSP right now and in english.

Then of course there's Star Ocean: The Second Story (SO2) which is where SO:FD got its engine. If you enjoy SO:FD you will enjoy SO2 as they are so very similar.

But its hard to find a playable copy of SO2 for the PS1 so I recommend you just stick with SO:FD for PSP until Jan. 6, 2009 when SO2 gets ported to PSP with dialogue enhancements and a few new characters.

The 360 is getting Star Ocean: The Last Hope (SO4) and it will be a prequal to the entire series. Due out March 3, 2009. Keep your fingers crossed it will be more like SO2 than SO3.

Edit: come to think of it, the title "The Last Hope" seems VERY fitting considering...