JRPG fans, unite! The critically-acclaimed Star Ocean: The Second Story is back today in a brand new 2D-HD version. It launches as Star Ocean: The Second Story R across Nintendo Switch, PS4/5, and PC today, November 2.
Second Story R is a faithful recreation of the original in a style reminiscent of Square Enix’s 2D-HD engine. If you’re not sure what that is, it powered Octopath Traveler, its sequel, and the remake of Live a Live.
Effectively, it combines 2D sprites with 3D environments. It creates a unique visual style that probably looks like your memories of these games do in your head. Except, this time, it’s on your PC or console.
While Second Story R isn’t quite 2D-HD, it’s very similar. It features the original game in all of its glory, but with several nifty features to help it stand the test of time. This includes new battle mechanics, fast travel, and additional voice overs and music.
If you’ve never heard of Star Ocean, it’s a classic JRPG series that plays a lot like the Tales games. It’s classic Final Fantasy in structure, with an overworld map to explore, towns to visit, and dungeons to conquer.
But the combat eschews turn-based for an action style. Oh, and it did this way before Final Fantasy made it cool. Much like in the Tales games, it’s all about pulling off mad combos with a mix of basic attacks and skills.
Second Story R sees you choose between two protagonists: Claude and Rena, with the story completely changing depending on who you play. It also swaps out the characters you can recruit, which encourages additional playthroughs.
You can get to know your party members better by interacting with them outside of combat. This can also affect the ending, which, again, helps with replayability.
If you’d like to check out Star Ocean: The Second Story R, grab it on Steam, Switch, or PlayStation right now.
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