X
- T
- Square Enix
- T
- Square Enix
- T
- Square Enix
- T
- Square Enix
Star Ocean: The Second Story R
Released On: Nov 2, 2023
86
8.5
Where to Buy
Where to Buy
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 32 Critic Reviews
86
100% Positive
32 Reviews
32 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 32 Critic Reviews
86
100% Positive
32 Reviews
32 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a fantastic remaster of a game from the golden era of JRPGs. The newly arranged music is great and the voice acting is good as well, and the improvements to the battle system from the original to this one is leaps and bounds better. The graphical choices made in this remaster is spot on with a nod to the original sprite graphics mixed in with more modern environments. Anyone looking for a classic-style JRPG to play should pick this one up.
Star Ocean The Second Story R is not a time capsule. While many of the key elements of the original are preserved, including the character-driven story and diverse action, the sheer beauty of the harmony of its 2D characters and 3D environments is unquestionably a winning formula. Not only is The Second Story R the best way to experience a classic, it is a fantastic entry point into the Star Ocean series. But if we are lucky, this is the blueprint Square Enix will use to remake the most-wanted list of the many RPGs players haven’t seen in decades.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 105 User Ratings
8.5
86% Positive
90 Ratings
90 Ratings
7% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
8% Negative
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 105 User Ratings
8.5
86% Positive
90 Ratings
90 Ratings
7% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
8% Negative
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
An exceptionally high quality game.
Even as someone who played the most critically acclaimed releases on PC in 2023, I would consider this one of the top 3 game of the year.
It stands on its owm merits regardless of whether you have played the original, and even if you aren't a big fan of JRPGs this may be worth checking out.
Report
PlayStation 5
Un grandísimo jrpg con sabor añejo pero que se siente totalmente nuevo. Muy recomendable en todos sus aspectos.
Report
PlayStation 5
This remake is clearly a labor of love made by developers who were influenced by the classic game. Gemdrops managed to enhance everything great about Star Ocean 2 while still retaining the aesthetic and feel that was so essential to the original experience. The main narrative still feels a bit slow and underdeveloped at times, but so much has been improved that it hardly matters. Star Ocean The Second Story R truly sets a high new benchmark for how to remake classic RPGs.
With Star Ocean: The Second Story R, a JRPG classic is celebrating a glorious comeback. Thanks to its likeable characters and complex gameplay, this is a game that no fan of old-school JRPGs should miss out on.
Star Ocean: The Second Story R is the best example of how a game can become a jewel after being forgotten for years. A remake full of changes and improvements that surprises by adapting a niche JRPG and transforming it into a modern classic.
It was wonderful revisiting Rena and Claude yet again in STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R and it's undoubtedly the best edition of their grand journey so far. I wasn't expecting to be reminded of as much retro baggage as I was, though, but it's still a great RPG.
Star Ocean The Second Story R is exactly what it needs to be: a faithful remake of a classic PS1 RPG that greatly enhances the experience for both new and returning players. A wonderful visual overhaul combined with numerous quality of life improvements and expanded battle mechanics make this a borderline must-play for anyone who's looking for an old-school adventure. Although the underlying PS1-era design does still have some rough edges — particularly in the storytelling and combat balance — it's hard to knock such a well crafted revival.
Jrpg at its finest, no cringy depressed winy 14 yo mc, no QTE boss battles. Just a amazing adventure with tons of characters with endings based on choice. And sidequests that add to the story instead of bunch of fetchquest to pad the game..
Report
PlayStation 5
The game is very incredible, but technically it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of visuals, the game is excellent, but the characters are the same as the classic Playstation 1 version and there is a little strangeness in this case, but the game is excellent but the original version of the game remains the best in my humble opinion. Furthermore, the A.I., which is the artificial intelligence of the characters, was harmed, the Playstation 1 and PSP versions are better, oddly enough and I think it could change that and then be able to launch an expansion or a correction with an update to update correct because you can change the difficulty level whenever you want, very easy and you can retry, when I will try again, try the game again at the end of the game. And there is no more difficulty level, nothing has been added, there are no new enemies, there are no new scenarios, there are no new characters, everything is the same, the entire game is the same as it was before, they haven't added anything and that leaves a lot to be desired. The original really remains the best, that's my humble opinion. Congratulations to Tri-ace, who is the original developer of the game, because creating a game from scratch is one thing and taking an already made game with character history and everything and just updating it to the current graphics, so to speak, is very easy! The game is very good but technically it has a lot to be desired, they turned an incredible and great game into a small or tiny game.
Report
PlayStation 5
A remake of a classic that capturs the nostalgia for those who already experienced it and feel the sense of what really is Star Ocean for the new comer.
Report
PlayStation 5
Bloated, cramped and overloaded. It will be suitable for those who appreciate the sandbox component with the ability to create music, writing, and derive their own chemical/physical laws instead of actually, you know, saving the world, but that’s all - absolutely not what I play jRPG for. The amount of saves scumming the game encourages somehow surpasses even the third Baldurs Gate.
Report
PlayStation 5
Graphics are stunning. OST is first class but why make an action game with the battle format of a turn based RPG?
Just ruined it and made it stop start. It should have been done like Ys Origin, or SAO Hollow Realisation, where you scoot from enemy to enemy. Not animations in and out. It's not as bad as Ni No Kuni but it's bad enough to slow the pace a lot.
The dialogue felt repetitive too. Just been playing Nayuta and when something is being repeated, it says "they brought ........character **** to date on the events that had taken place". No need to repeat the same dialogue like SO2 does.
If repeated dialogue doesn't bother you and you don't mind the action being pointlessly stop start, then fire away. For me it just felt awfully dated, including the battle mechanics. It felt poor in comparison to the games I mentioned earlier and one of those is getting on for 20 years old.
OST is extremely important for me in games and I usually over look the game's flaws if the OST is this good and here there is even the gorgeous graphics in its favour too but it's not enough to make up for the boring gameplay.
As I have no interest in carrying on, it's a very low score from me, very glad I demo'd it. It's just too dated. I'm from the NES era too, so I grew up on things that are well and truly dated now but I didn't play the original, so for SO 2S R to feel this old and clunky, then God knows how bad the original was. It is quite simply very poor by today's standards.
Shame the game doesn't match the AV.
Report
PlayStation 5
Summary TWO WORLDS, ONE FATEFUL ENCOUNTER. The highly acclaimed second instalment in the STAR OCEAN series, returns as STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R. Brought to life with a unique 2.5D aesthetic, which fuses 2D pixel characters and 3D environments, this remake includes everything that made the original release so great while adding new el...
Rated T
for Teen
Platforms:
- Nintendo Switch
- PlayStation 5
- PC
- PlayStation 4
Initial Release Date: Nov 2, 2023
Developer:
- Gemdrops
Publisher: Square Enix
Genres:
