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 Star Ocean 3: Til the End of Time Developed By: Square-EnixReview By: HeavyBlade Written on: Thursday, June, 22nd, 2006 at 07:33:46 pm Rating: 96% Site: here System: Playstation 2 Star Ocean. Man, do I love this series. Ironically, it was the pushing of both Ramza and another friend of mine to really get me into this, but the second I saw the opening trailer for this game, I knew I had to have it. Not to boast, but I\'m rarely wrong with such hunches. So... was I right this time? Let\'s find out! Gameplay: 9/10 I\'d love to give gameplay a ten, really! but, ironically, perhaps this games greatest strength - its\' unparalleled depth, can also be its\' greatest weakness. Most people, as I was, will simply be \"Star Oceaned out\" by the time they finish - and it\'ll be a while before they\'ll want to play through it again! It\'s LONG, no doubt about it, and it\'s not the quickest game to play through either. But every time you come back and start that DVD up, you\'ll KNOW you\'re in for one of the best rides gaming has to offer. Combat... ah, the combat! The combat is an amazing breath of fresh air for the genre. No more ATB for you - in this game, you\'ll be fighting the enemy in real time! True real time! If you imagine \"Dead of Alive\" or even \"Soul Calibur\" meets \"Final Fantasy\", you\'ve got an idea of what this is all about. You want to dodge an attack? If you\'ve got the skill, go ahead and dodge it. You want to rush the enemy? Make use of the \"Cancel\" bonus chain to rack up a disturbingly powerful combo! (Over 117 consecutive hits, in my case >: D). This game finally gives you the freedom to fight exactly as you\'ve always wanted to. Best of all, every character in Star Ocean 3 fights in their own distinctive manner. Fayt\'s a superb \"Cancel\"er and also has a small array of spells to boot. But his techniques are really his strong point. Cliff Fittir does huge damage per hit, and the trick with him is to use combos. If you can land one, the enemy is GONE! Then there\'s Albel Nox, the Captain of the Black Brigade. He wields a katana (yeaaa), and his speed is unmatched. To be honest, I was still enjoying myself after my 2,000th battle. It\'s THAT fun. What if you beat the game? Is that it? All that work for naught, so to speak? Not hardly. The game boasts a surprisingly large \"Game Ex\" - while you can\'t start a \"New Game Plus\" ala Chrono Trigger, or even \"Final Fantasy X-2\", you CAN save and play from just before the final boss. A teleporter can take you to where ever you desire. From there are THREE huge bonus dungeons awaiting you. And these dungeons WILL challenge you. Storyline: 10/10 The story is one of the best to date. It starts off during a relaxing summer vacation - Fayt Leingod and his parents, along with his friend, Sophia, hit the resort world of Hyda IV. The peace, however, will not last long. Fayt gets wrapped up in the world of video games at the expense of Sophia - something which royally pisses her off, and then, shortly after, the world is attacked by the Vendenni military! The story is two-fold. The first covers Fayt\'s flight from the relentless Vendenni threat, and the second... well, that\'s a surprise. Suffice to say that Fayt and company soon find themselves facing a much stronger enemy then the Vendenni! Fayt\'s travels take place over multiple worlds, each with a unique feel to them - unique customs, speech, species, and characters. In short, each world feels like a different world. Each world, of course, is besieged with its\' own problems. Fayt as an firm believer in justice soon finds himself becoming the swordsman he once role-played, and attracts a vast arrange of other characters, from the awesome Cliff Fittir to the dark Albel Nox. Of course, being a Star Ocean game, your interactions with these characters has a great impact on the rest of the game. There\'s a huge number of endings, one for each character, dependant on their ending relationship with you. Of course, there\'s always the \"YOU SUCK!\" (losing to the final boss) ending, but what fun is that? If you loved obtaining the multiple endings in previous Star Oceans, or in Chrono Trigger, then prepare to have a ball, my friend. This story is one of the most vibrant ever to cross the video screen. Graphics: 10/10 Star Ocean 3 boasts beautiful 3D and particle graphics, though, in a sharp change from Final Fantasy X, the characters feature a distinctly more \"anime\" style appearance. The graphics are beautiful, from the stunning FMVs (the INTRO alone would be enough to earn this a ten), to the smaller details - character\'s hair blows about in the wind, long blades of grass waver about in the breeze, walking through the snow leaves footprints that eventually fade... all of this, and more is covered beautifully. Best of all, the game hardly ever slows down trying to render it all. Really, you can\'t ask for much more. Sound/Music: 8/10 I\'d love once again to give this a ten. Some of the tracks are mind-blowing - I especially loved \"The Color Of Rust\" - played in the mining town of Kirlsa. Unfortunately, the reason for the dock is that some tracks just seemed out of place. It seemed SILLY to me, to go through a prison/execution complex and having the game blare a high-paced song at me that seemed more appropriate for a sci-fi complex. Haunting melodies and the ilk are not present here, period, which is a dissappointment as Square-Enix so often excels in those regions. There wasn\'t a single track I DIDN\'T like, but music is all about generating atmosphere, not always pumping the player up. Sound. From footsteps (which changes depending on what ground you\'re on) to rushing waterfalls, from the clang of the hammer on anvil, to plasma rifles and fierce punching combos, all is accounted for in spades here. Best of all even the voice acting is all aces. From fury, to anguish, off-hand jokes to threats, the full spectrum of emotion is accounted for perfectly here. Each character has a distinct voice, and for each the range of emotions fits perfectly. You\'ll feel like you\'re right beside them during the audio-speech cut scenes (voices don\'t play for every single line of the game simply to save space!) A perfect score in the SE department. Features: 10/10 You can\'t ask for more. Want a combat arena? You get one. Want bunny races? You know you do, and you\'ve got them. How about a chess-like game for some sweet swag? Got that too. Ah, you think. I beat it doesn\'t allow you to create your own items! Wrong, it does. It boasts well over 2,000 total items that you can create during your journey using the \"Inventor\'s Guild\". Hell, you can even read the titles of books on the bookcases. ALL OF THEM. Each dungeon also has debris and stuff that barracades your path during your earlier play time. Eventually you\'ll get an item you can utilize to blow this crap away and get the hidden stuff behind it! - they even manage to make a mini-game out of this. To be honest, \"Star Ocean 3: Til the End of Time\" is aptly named. You can play it, TO THE END OF TIME. Final Opinions: Star Ocean 3 is literally unmatched in terms of it\'s sheer depth, and while you might need a break before playing it through a second time, you\'ll know that the ride you\'re in for is one of the greatest gaming has to offer. To be honest, \"Star Ocean 3: Til the End of Time\" is aptly named. You can play it, TO THE END OF TIME. An all around SUPERB effort, this game is worthy of a place among the titans of RPGs - \"Final Fantasy VII\" and \"Chrono Trigger\" to name but a few. Final Score: 96% Screenshots    write a review
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