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''Star Ocean: Till the End of Time'' is an
action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a video game genre that combines core elements from both the action game and Role-playing video game, role-playing game genres. Definition Action role-playing games empha ...
, the third main game in the ''
Star Ocean is a franchise of science fantasy Action role-playing video game, Action role-playing video games developed by the Japanese company tri-Ace and published by Square Enix (formerly Enix). Development History ''Star Ocean'' is known as one of the ...
'' series. The game was developed by
tri-Ace is a Japanese video game developer founded in 1995. They are known for their role-playing games, most notably the ''Star Ocean'' and '' Valkyrie Profile'' series. History tri-Ace was formed in March 1995 by former Telenet Japan employees Y ...
and published by
Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...
for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
console. It was released in Japan,
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, and the
PAL territories Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a color encoding system for analog television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25& ...
. The original Japanese release date was in February 2003 by
Enix was a Japanese multimedia publisher who handled and oversaw video games, manga, guidebooks, and merchandise. It was founded in 1975 by Yasuhiro Fukushima as Eidansha Boshu Service Center, initially as a tabloid publisher and later attempting t ...
, its penultimate release before its merger to become Square Enix. It was re-released in 2004 as a two-disc '' Director's Cut'' version with bonus features such as new characters and dungeons. The North American and European versions are based on the ''Director's Cut'' version with
Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...
handling publishing rights in Europe. ''Till the End of Time'' takes place four hundred years after the events of '' Star Ocean: The Second Story''.


Gameplay

While having many similarities to its predecessor, ''Star Ocean: Till the End of Time'' includes many elements that make it unique among the majority of
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
s. Instead of menu-driven combat, ''Star Ocean 3'' offers real-time interactive combat, similar to the '' .hack'' and '' Tales'' series. Battles occur when running into enemies on the main travel field or when certain pre-scripted events occur. In battle, the player directly controls one character, while the other two characters are controlled by AI. The player can, however, choose the tactics used by AI characters or switch which character they are directly controlling. Enemy attacks can target either a player's
hit point Health is a video game or tabletop game quality that determines the maximum amount of damage or fatigue something takes before leaving the main game. In role-playing games, this typically takes the form of hit points (HP), a numerical attribute ...
s (HP) or mental points (MP). Players will also lose HP from using special attacks or lose MP from using symbology or runeology, which is functionally equivalent to magic in other games. If a character loses all of their HP or, unlike most games, if they lose all of their MP, they are knocked out and unable to continue participation in the battle (unless certain revival items are used). Each character also has a Fury meter, which governs how fast the character moves over the battle screen, and how often actions can be performed. Standing still will replenish Fury, while any movement will continue to drain it or cause the character to lag. If all three characters are defeated, the game is over and the player must reload from their last saved game. If all the enemies are defeated, the player is awarded money (Fol) and
experience point An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experien ...
s (EXP). When some groups of enemies are defeated, the player's characters can also receive a small amount of HP/MP, to counteract the HP/MP that was lost as a result of using special attacks or symbology/runeology. When the player strikes an enemy, the Bonus Battle Gauge will fill. When the gauge reaches full capacity, the player will enter "Bonus Battle", where the player receives special bonuses, which can help benefit a character's EXP, Fol, items received after battle, etc. If a character receives a critical hit, runs away from battle, or dies, the gauge will deplete completely, resulting in the end of "Bonus Battle" and any bonuses the player received. The Bonus Battle Gauge will also reset if the player turns the game off and turns it back on, or restarts their save file. Like the previous games in the series, the game contains an Item Creation feature that allows the player to create and enhance a multitude of items. A variety of trades are offered, including Cookery, Alchemy, Engineering, and Smithery. Workshops for Item Creation are scattered throughout the towns and dungeons of the game and can be invested in by the player to allow a wider variety of items to be made there. Once a player invents an item, they can file for a patent, and get money from the profits made off selling those items in various shops. The player is also able to recruit inventors to aid them in creating various items. The ''Director's Cut'' version added a VS. Mode to battle against a second player or against the computer. Up to two human players could compete, either against each other or against another character controlled by the computer. Another addition was the use of "Battle Trophies" which may be acquired by completing various challenges in combat. For example, a player can receive a battle trophy for winning a battle in under 30 seconds, or for defeating a
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...
without receiving damage. Earning battle trophies unlocks bonus options such as harder game difficulty levels, alternate costumes, and a
sound test In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...
.


Story


Setting

The universe of ''
Star Ocean is a franchise of science fantasy Action role-playing video game, Action role-playing video games developed by the Japanese company tri-Ace and published by Square Enix (formerly Enix). Development History ''Star Ocean'' is known as one of the ...
'' is science fiction in nature, although like the first two games in the series, much of the plot is set on an "underdeveloped planet". The game is set in S.D 772 (A.D 2858). It features a galaxy-spanning government in the Pangalactic Federation, several races and species of aliens, different factions, multiple colonized planets, and advanced technology. Despite having a science fiction atmosphere, a form of magic exists in the universe: symbology, also known as heraldry in the Japanese version and in '' Star Ocean: The Second Story''. Standard symbology involves
tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...
ing crests and runes onto one's flesh to draw out apparently latent power in the form of spells, and numerous underdeveloped planets make extensive use of it. Despite its supernatural connotations, symbology is treated as a legitimate field of scientific study in-universe.


Plot

Fayt Leingod, son of symbological geneticist Robert Leingod, accompanies his family on a vacation to Hyda IV, alongside the family of his childhood friend Sophia Esteed. Without warning, the planet is hit by an unprovoked attack by the Vendeeni — an alien civilization with highly advanced technology that spans only a single planet — which prompts the Pangalactic Federation to declare war on them. Both Fayt and Sophia manage to escape by a Federation starship with their family, only for the Vendeeni to attack it. Seeking an escape pod on the ship, Fayt finds himself separated from his family, and eventually becomes stranded on Vanguard III, an "underdeveloped plant" on par with the technology of 16th Century Earth. Whilst offering to help some of the inhabitants deal with a threat posed by an exiled off-world criminal, he finds himself encountering Cliff Fittir, a member of the anti-Federation organization Quark, who came searching for him. Unwilling to explain the reason why, except that Quark's leader wishes to speak to him, Fayt agrees to accompany Cliff and his assistant, Mirage, in their ship. The Vendeeni, however, track down the vessel and attack it, forcing the group to crash-land on Elicoor II, another underdeveloped world with technology on par with 17th century Earth. The group quickly find themselves captured by the Kingdom of Airyglyph, which is currently locked in a war with its neighbour Aquaria, and who presume that the three off-worlders are engineers from the technologically advanced continent of Greeton based on what they witnessed of their ship's design after its arrival. Imprisoned to attract what knowledge they have on their technology, Fayt, Cliff and Mirage are resecued by Nel Zelpher, an agent from Aquaria, who seeks their assistance in turning the tide of the war in Aquaria's favor, under threat she will kill them to avoid Airyglyph using them to the country's advantage. With little choice, the group agree to assist, becoming embroiled in the conflict. As the war descends into a final battle between the two nations, two Vendeeni battleships track down Fayt and enters the planet's orbit, threatening both nations. Finding himself threatened, Fayt unexpectedly taps into a previously unknown power of his to destroy it. In the resulting chaos, Quark's leader, Maria Traydor, manages to track down Fayt, Cliff and Mirage, and contacts them, revealing she intends to interrogate Fayt's father over "crimes" he committed, revealing they involve Fayt's power. Learning the Vendeeni have taken control of an unusual artifact that is out-of-place on Elicoor II, the group confront them to force them off planet, encountering Robert being held prisoner at the site. The battle leads to Robert being fatally wounded, dying before Maria can learn the scope of his experiments into Symbology. Forced to leave Elicoor II, Fayt travels with Quark, accompanied by his allies (including one from his recent adventures in Elicoor II), to uncover more behind recent events. To the party's horror, they learn that a new threat recently arrived following the attack on Hyda IV, in the form of ultra-powerful space-borne beings calling themselves "Executioners". With both the Vendeeni and Federation powerless to stop them, Earth is soon attacked and devastated. Seeking answers, the party uses a hint from Robert to seek answers at a research facility on the Moon, where Fayt finds himself reunited with Sophia. A search of the facilities records reveals that Fayt, Sophia and Maria were all the product of a major project in symbological genetics. The project came about following the discovery of an extremely advanced structure known as a Time Gate on the planet Styx. When the explorers who found it activated it, a voice informed them that their species forays in to symbological genetics had angered a being called the "Creator", and that they were to face sentencing for their actions. In response, the Federation determined the Time Gate was a link to beings from another plane of existence, referred to as "4D Space", and that the power of Symbology could be used to access it. Robert and his wife Ryoko, and Clive Esteed, Sophia's father, decided to use their offspring for a major Symbological experiment; Maria, who was adopted by one of Robert's colleagues, Jessie Traydor, was also included in the project. All three were Symbologically altered — Fayt gained the power of Destruction, Maria the power of Alteration, and Sophia the power of Connection — allowing them the power to activate the Time Gate when together and access the Creator's dimension. The Vendeeni found out about the project, and sought out all three in hopes of avoiding their destruction. With the knowledge they acquire, the party travel to Styx, dealing with the Executioners' forces, and accessing the Time Game, traveling into 4D Space. Once in 4D Space, the party discover their universe is actually not real in relation to the dimension's inhabitants, but a massive computer simulation dubbed the "Eternal Sphere" — a
massively multiplayer online game A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players to interact in the same online game world. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, although t ...
for the inhabitants of 4D Space, created by Luther Lansfeld, the owner of the Sphere Company. Fayt and the others learn that the Executioners are anti-viruses, sent in by Luther to delete what he believes to be anomalies in the
Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...
section of the Eternal Sphere. His sister Blair, who helps the party learn the nature of their existence, determines the inhabitants of the Eternal Sphere have achieved a level of sentience equal to that of 4D citizens. Luther, considering the universe to be "mere data", become furious with being unable to contain the situation and decides to delete the entire Eternal Sphere, forcing Fayt and the others to fight him and ultimately defeat him. Even though Luther is deleted in his arrogance, the party discover they cannot stop the universe facing deletion. Unwilling to let that happen, Fayt determines that their sentience makes it impossible for the universe to be destroyed, resulting in the will of its inhabitants to undo the damage and make themselves independent of 4D Space. The party goes their separate ways with the situation resolved, with Fayt's "affection" level dictating whether he goes with one of them or goes off on his own.


Development

One of the major influences of the design changes from '' Star Ocean: The Second Story'' to ''Till the End of Time'' was ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
''. The combat system was mostly unaltered from the previous title, but characters were rendered in 3D instead of 2D and more strategy was incorporated into the fights. Transitioning to a completely 3D environment from a 2D/3D mix was a lengthy process, and was only possible due to the increased power of the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
console. In terms of story message, game producer Yoshinori Yamagishi stated that the main message the game communicates is one of "trust". Several characters and dungeons did not make the cut for the final version of the game, but most of what developers wanted found its way into the game. Gameplay balance was adjusted between the Japanese and American releases, as well as fixing various technical errors that occurred in the original Japanese release.


Soundtrack

The music for this game was composed by
Motoi Sakuraba is a Japanese composer and keyboardist. He is known for his numerous contributions in video games, including the '' Tales'', ''Star Ocean'', ''Mario Golf'', '' Mario Tennis'', ''Golden Sun'', and ''Dark Souls'' series, as well as several other a ...
, a long-time collaborator with
tri-Ace is a Japanese video game developer founded in 1995. They are known for their role-playing games, most notably the ''Star Ocean'' and '' Valkyrie Profile'' series. History tri-Ace was formed in March 1995 by former Telenet Japan employees Y ...
. The soundtrack was eventually released in four parts: * ''Original Soundtrack Volume 1'' - a 2-CD set containing mainly the softer and orchestral pieces from the game. * ''Original Soundtrack Volume 2'' - another 2-CD set containing the upbeat music, primarily the battle and dungeon themes. * ''Arrange Album'' - a selection of tracks from the game reworked in different styles. * ''Voice Mix'' - similar to the Arrange Album, but featuring dialogue sampled from the Japanese version of the game along with the music. The limited edition of Volume 1 also came with a box to hold all four albums. When the game was revised into the Director's Cut, Sakuraba composed a few new pieces of music and released an album for them. The song "The Small Bird That Forgot How To Fly" (飛び方を忘れた小さな鳥, ''Tobikata Wo Wasureta Chiisana Tori'') by the JPop singer
Misia commonly known as and stylized in all caps, is a Japanese singer and songwriter. Born in Tsushima, Nagasaki, Misia moved to Fukuoka at the age of 14 to pursue a recording career. There, she continued her secondary education and briefly attend ...
was used to accompany the game's ending credits.


Reception

Initially, the game received a somewhat negative impression in Japan. Parts of the game were alleged to be buggy, and the game refused to work at all in older SCPH-10000 PlayStation 2s.
Enix was a Japanese multimedia publisher who handled and oversaw video games, manga, guidebooks, and merchandise. It was founded in 1975 by Yasuhiro Fukushima as Eidansha Boshu Service Center, initially as a tabloid publisher and later attempting t ...
blamed
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
, as they had coded ''Star Ocean 3'' with features from updated libraries that were apparently not backward-compatible. Sony denied all responsibility. Regardless, it impacted the game's sales, and Enix released the ''Director's Cut'' in 2004 to assuage grievances about the original by fixing the bugs and adding features. In North America, the game was initially well received among both critics and players, with
GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
, a compilation of critical reviews, giving it an average score of 80.99%. ''Star Ocean 3'' was the 96th-best seller among console games of the PS2/GameCube/Xbox generation as of July 2006; it had estimated U.S. sales of 630,000 copies, with revenues of $23 million. In Japan, the original release sold 533,373 in 2003, while the ''Director's Cut'' sold 207,881 copies between 2004 and 2009, bringing worldwide sales to 1,371,254 units. ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' placed ''Till the End of Time'' at number 58 on their "Top 100 PlayStation 2 Games" list.


Notes


References


External links

* * (Director's Cut) {{Authority control 2003 video games Action role-playing video games Enix games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation 2-only games Science fantasy role-playing video games Simulated reality in fiction Space opera video games Square Enix games Star Ocean Tri-Ace Tri-Crescendo games Video games about vacationing Video games about virtual reality Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Motoi Sakuraba Video games set in the 29th century Video games set on fictional planets