Given the countless RPG franchises under Square Enix’s belt, it still amazes me that the company finds the time and resources to revisit some of its lesser known and more niche series, instead of focusing exclusively on Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. One example is Star Ocean, a franchise I’m finally trying for the first time thanks to this brand new port of a 2023 remake of a 1998 game. Yep, a bit of a mouthful. Despite having heard about the series for years, I’d somehow never gotten around to playing one until now. So my first ever journey into Star Ocean begins with Star Ocean: The Second Story R.

Yep, that’s Claude. You’re probably wondering how he ended up in this situation…

I’d never played one of those games before. I’d known about the series for years, but never actually sat down to play one. The original Star Ocean was initially released only in Japan before eventually receiving its remake, while its sequel, which serves as the basis for Star Ocean: The Second Story R, was one of the many beloved JRPGs available to PlayStation owners back when I was a kid stubbornly waving the Nintendo 64 flag until the very end. About the only thing I knew about the series was that it mixed in sci-fi elements, although in The Second Story, those end up playing a much smaller role than I had expected.

The plot to Star Ocean: The Second Story (as well as the remake) revolves around a soldier from the future, named Claude, accidentally being transported back to a medieval land, and being mistaken for a long-awaited hero of legend as the locals assume his laser pistol is a mythological blade of light. In essence, the same premise as Army of Darkness, when you think about it. Upon meeting and befriending a local called Rena, Claude sets off on a journey to look for a way home, all while investigating mysterious occurences in the region, which have started to happen after the crash of a magical meteor.

It’s not a boomstick… it’s more of a pewpewstick.

The story starts off at a truly lethargic pace, also being hampered by poor voice acting (the music is fire, however). Once you get rid of the admittedly boring prologue, you’ll be greeted by, well, not exactly a CREATIVE storyline, as it’s your typical isekai tale interwoven with time and space, but one that’s easy to get invested with. You go from town to town, recruit new members for your squad, solve an issue, explore a dungeon, beat a boss, and move onto the next area. A progression system that is easy to digest and play for a chapter a time, a perfect fit for a portable system. But what really made me like Star Ocean: The Second Story R wasn’t its story. It was its gameplay.

I always say that an RPG is only as good as its combat system. And that a combat system is only really worth your time if the act of grinding on the overworld feels fun. Star Ocean: The Second Story R doesn’t go overboard with a complex combat system. It’s action-based; you gotta press the attack button like crazy, dodge when appropriate, and use spells when needed. You can also set up how your partners should behave: make them healers, distance attackers, or pure melee brawlers, depending on their style. Battles are quick, full of spectacle, and fun to partake on. It’s nothing overly special, nothing too revolutionary (I mean, this is still a game from 1998). But it’s fun. That’s what matters.

I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was playing an RPG version of that Dave Franco horror movie.

And that is just part of the gameplay, and what makes it so special. If the combat system is fun, but nothing out of the ordinary, Star Ocean: The Second Story R‘s character customization, most certainly taken straight from the 1998 original, is something that completely caught me off guard. We tend to say that JRPGs are shallow when it comes to actually being role-playing games with character builds and whatnot. Even if Star Ocean: The Second Story R doesn’t let you forge a character from scratch, its many, many, MANY cutstomization options sort of make up for those genre-specific shortcomings.

There are dozens upon dozens of different stats which can be improved by spending specific post-battle experience points. On a surface level, increasing your knife-wielding skill gives you a passive boost to your Attack stat, which already makes sense, but it is also one of the conditions to unlock your character’s ability to cook food while on the road. These additional “side jobs” of sorts allow you to further improve your weapons, cook better food to use as recovery items, improve your experience point gains in battle, and much more. There are more than three dozen of those specialties, and whilst there’s a lot of them to keep track of, they rarely feel overwhelming or unnecessary. It’s easy to unlock them, but hard to improve them. Thankfully, as mentioning, grinding for XP in this game is tons of fun.

HD-2D is getting stale at this point, but this game still manages to look pretty.

The game does a good job at not making any of its many features feel overwhelming or undercooked. Elements are introduced at a steady pace. A sizeable assortment of sidequests always pop up when you reach a new town, if you want to extend your overall playtime. It’s a game that can either be played by waltzing through it or by experiencing it slowly.

And there’s the presentation. Honestly, I will have to admit that the once-novel HD-2D art style popularized by Square Enix in games like Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy is starting to feel a bit too… uh… samey. But I also cannot state that it doesn’t look really good in a remake of a PS1 game from 1998. Environments look detailed and bright, with character models retaining their pixelated, but also oddly well-detailed look from back in the day. Not only that, but the game just runs incredibly well on the Switch 2, and looks great on portable mode. Impressive lighting effects, quick loading times and good animations are scattered throughout the entire game.

The best thing about Star Ocean: The Second Story R: its combat system.

An amazing surprise, without a doubt. I went into Star Ocean: The Second Story R knowing next to nothing about either the game or the franchise as a whole, and it completely won me over. It’s a gorgeous JRPG that more than makes up for its admittedly cookie cutter premise with a memorable cast, excellent presentation, and, above all else, an impressively deep gameplay system. You just have to push through its rather slow opening hour first. Do that, and you’ll be in for one hell of a ride.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R is available now on PS4, PS5, PC, Switch and Switch 2.

Reviewed on Switch 2.

A copy of Star Ocean: The Second Story R was provided by the publisher.