Star Ocean: The Second Story (referred to as SO2 from now on) is a great game in many ways. It has a great storyline, yet contains a high amount of non-linearity. It is my favorite RPG and I call it 'the God RPG' though many will probably cuss me out it is just my opinion OK?

Graphics: Beautiful graphics. I am not a big fan of FF8's graphics because... well they are too realistic, one of the reasons I play RPGs is to get away from reality, not nearer to it! Anyway I am a fan of super deformed or 2d graphics so it is just my opinion. SO2's graphics are beautiful, I don't know much about all the pre-rendered backgrounds with 3d characters or whatever stuff so I'll just say its graphics are great and fit the game very well. The only thing keeping me from giving a 100% to this category is the graininess of the movies.

Control: The worst part of the game. The control out of battle and in the menus is good, but in battles it gets annoying. Your characters sometimes run around the battle field like drunken idiots... either that or they are having spasms. Anyway, this can become very annoying since there is no button to cancel your actions and while your guy is running around like an idiot when you told him to attack an enemy, another enemy is killing another one of your party members. Right then you just wish that you could cancel your attack and tell the guy to attack the other enemy! Other than the few things I talked about above, the control is all right.

Sound/Music: Ok there aren't many sound effects in this game (that I noticed at least) besides the voice acting which most say is lame (which I agree is), but it is funny and contributes a lot of humor to the game; I have no problem listening to the characters blurting out a bunch of stupid phrases. While there aren't many sound effects in the game the music is just the best I have ever heard in any game, period! I wish there was a soundtrack for the game I would go out and buy it right away, and that is saying a lot, since I own only two video game soundtracks (Lunar:SSSC and FFA) and those because they came with the games. Some tracks are quite repetitive, but the battle music and the Expel world map music is great! I especially love Rena's Theme! Another great aspect of the music is that it isn't in MIDI format! I think it is in MP3, I can't be sure, but I can tell you one thing and that is the sound quality is great! Just listening to the music is well worth the uhh... well worth however much my parents spent on it getting it for me on Christmas :P. Also there is a way to get a music test option... just get 80% of all the spoken dialogue, which I just used my gameshark to get, and listen to the music all day ^.^ hehe.

Storyline: I loved the storyline. Most people, however, didn't. I think it is a great storyline. You start out as either Claud Kenni, a young boy from the Earth Federation or Rena Lanford a young girl that lives on the undeveloped planet of Expel. Though both stories are almost exactly the same, it gives you a chance to view the story through different peoples' points of view and also affects two people who can join you. The story sounds simple at first, Claud gets transported to Expel, an undeveloped planet, and saves Rena from a monster. Rena lets Claud stay at her village and there Claud finds that a meteor called 'The Sorcery Globe" landed on Expel a little while ago and ever since strange things have happened (like the usual animals becoming violent and natural disasters). Anyway, Claude thinks of nothing but getting home and that the Sorcery Globe may be the key. Rena tags along because she finds she was adopted and (as usual) the only connection to her past is a mysterious pendant she was wearing when her adopted mother, Westa, found her. She thinks the sorcery globe may be the key to finding out who she really is. The story sounds cliched and boring at first but it really develops from there.

Gameplay: Ok this game isn't your regular RPG. This game is FUN! One of the most fun parts of it is YOU get to choose how you interact with your party members. You choose whom you hate and whom you like and whom you love. Hey I think you can be a player and get all the girls if you were nice to each and every one. You can do this with private actions, in which each of your party members explore a town by themselves and you can run into party members and talk to them. You can make them absolutely adore you or totally hate your guts according to what you say to them. This can result in many different endings, over 80 I think. Another great aspect of gameplay is the battle system. It is a lot like Tales of Destiny, almost to the point I would call it an action RPG. This should be the battle system which future RPGs should use, it's just so darn fun! Another great thing about the gameplay is the skill system. After you reach a new level of experience, you get SP (skill points), kind of like JP from FFT. Anyway, the skill points let you learn different skills which will either make you better in battle, give you special skills (like talking with the god of creation, learning some secrets of the games, and composing music), or allow item creation. For example if you use a bunch of SPs on Chef and other food related stuff you can cook and make food, which can be used to heal and stuff. Another example is Art, which can be used to paint pictures, get cards that double experience or money after battle, summons monsters, or even paint portraits of the game's characters so you can see what they look like in whole (and check out the cute girls hehe). The gamplay is excellent, the best in any RPG so far!

Replay Value: The highest replay value in an RPG ever. With over 80 endings, characters who treat you differently according to how you treat them, seeing the game through two different characters' eyes, a total of 12 characters (of which you can only get a possible 8 in any one game, meaning you have to play at least two times through to get to know every character) and secrets, including a deep secret dungeon in which you can get some of the best items, you'll be playing for a long time.

Difficulty level: Another great aspect of this game is the fact that you can choose your own difficulty level based on how much of the voice acting you hear in the game. For example, on Earth mode with the last boss' limiter on, the game is fairly easy, but on universe level with the last boss' limiter off, I think the game might just be impossible! It is a great game for those of you who want a challenge, though you need to get 30% of the voices to play Galaxy and 50% for Universe. This game can be fairly easy up to impossible.

Overall: GET THIS GAME! It is the best game I have ever played, and it is a shame that its prequel never came to the states. I highly suggest this game. The storyline may not appeal to everyone but the gameplay definitely will! A must have for all RPG lovers!

Questions, comments, and death threats go to my E-mail address at: Chrono9860@aol.com.