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jp's Star Ocean: Second Evolution (PSP)
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| [April 12, 2012 11:09:42 PM]
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I gave up.
I reached a point where I was spending more time grinding and frustrated with a particular boss battle that I felt it wasn't really worth it anymore. Especially after I checked online and realized that I was due for a series of multi-part boss battles that seemed absolutely uninteresting. I tried. I really did, but this game simply did not have anything I felt was all that interesting.
Maybe I should have spent more time actually engaging with the side-quests, but for what? Maybe I should have spent more time with the crafting system...but again, for what?
In all fairness, I will describe a few of the things I found interesting or worth noting:
1. Characters in the game can have a wide variety of skills and abilities that are not related to combat. This is actually quite special since, for the most part, the skills can actually be useful! Bonuses for this and that...sure. But i don't think I can remember a game where you can write books, compose music, cook food, direct and orchestra, and more! (yes, I can think of subsets, but not all of them). That's pretty special, actually. While most of the actions are simple menu selections (e.g. you don't actually write a book, you just choose a topic and then hope it works "roll" to see if it worked or not).
2. I think the voice acting might have played a role in my lack of engagement. I'm not usually a stickler for this, but it was really noticeable to me how little emotion there was behind a lot of the voices - especially in those situations that seemed liked the should have at least SOME emotional reaction. I had the strong impression that all of the recording was done separately and thus the characters never really sounded like they were talking to each other. They were just saying their lines...
3. In the end, there was a little bit of sci-fi. To be fair, the game is mostly a fantasy game so perhaps I just got off on the wrong foot?
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| [March 19, 2012 04:08:49 PM]
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So I'm not almost 30 hrs. in and, although I've come to respect the variety of systems/stats/ and things going on in the game, I've regrettably reached a point where I couldn't care less. For example, there's a crafting system you can use together with certain skills in order to create in-game items (as well as better weapons and so on). I tried it a few times, and meh. I just want to finish the game. Most towns allow you to take a "private action", which is sort of like a side-story involving only one of the characters in your party. I did one (by mistake) and meh. I just want to finish the game. I think you get the picture...
In all, although the story has moved along and I have a better sense of what's happening, the game is quite underwhelming in lots of regards. Maybe it's the voice acting which seems a bit flat and, in many cases, lacking the "proper" emotion. Maybe I'm just frustrated that a lot of the "cut scenes" are incredibly slow...
At this point, I just want the game to end, but I'm curious enough about the story to continue playing. We'll see what I think when I hit 40 hrs...
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| [March 7, 2012 03:52:53 PM]
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I thought this game was a JRPG in space. I should have READ the back of the case...or peeked in the manual. I guess I found the title evocative of space (and technology, for some reasons) that I was really shocked when I realized it wasn't. But it's weird though... one of the main characters (Claude) seems like a time-traveler/spacefarer who's stranded in the game's world. So maybe the game will become all spacefarey at some point?
I'm got about 8 hours of gameplay under my belt at this point and I can say that I'm JUST starting to get into the game. To become engaged with some of its systems and to actually start thinking of playing it outside of my regular commute. Those first few days were the opposite, I might have fallen asleep in fact!
The game seems curiously slow paced for a portable experience. I spend a lot of time watching characters slowly move around the screen before they slowly speak (and I quickly read and press "x" to continue). Also, the game seems strangely dated in its artstyle. Most of the environments are pre-rendered CG scenes that look like they were made in the mid-90s. This is quite the contrast with the anime characters/sprites that you see moving around. I get the sense that maybe this game is a remake of an earlier game? (a Playstation game perhaps?) I'll have to dig around a bit to see...
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jp's Star Ocean: Second Evolution (PSP)
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Current Status: Stopped playing - Got Bored
GameLog started on: Monday 27 February, 2012
GameLog closed on: Thursday 12 April, 2012 |
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This is the only GameLog for Star Ocean: Second Evolution. |
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