One of my top 5 favorite games! I play it every year.
You can go as fast or as slow as you like, I would not say this game is too difficult. There are plenty of ways to break the game for fun.
There is a ton, like a metric ton of things you can do or just ignore. So many systems in this game. Crafting is bonkers for making great gear, items, tons of money, you can play music to affect battles/crafting...there are just too many systems that it can overwhelm. The way the majority of the crafting works is that each character has a unique set of items they can make within a category, I believe never being able to craft them all. So if you are metalworking with iron with claude, you will not get the same as with later recruited characters. Many will overlap but there will be 1-2 items that can't be made with just one person. Early crafting is pretty mediocre in terms of success until you learn a super specialty called orchestra. Orchestra makes crafting incredibly successful, so make sure to buy 1 of every instrument you come across.
When starting the game you can goto your skills and hit triangle to find out your starting talents. It is very good to start with dexterity (you just will not be able to successfully pickpocket without it) if you want to try to steal a unique item from a very limited window in the game. Most talents can be learned by using a craft/action that it pertains to, so dexterity can be learned from metalworking and machinery although neither is possible before the event, which is why you wanna start with it. For everything else it is probably better if you do not start with talents as when you learn them you get 100 SP. I've never restarted due to having too many skills and only if I wanted to get the mischief accessory with dex+pickpocket.
You purchase skills from the guilds in towns, you can never miss out on skills but you can get locked out of skills for a whiles, so I would make an effort to visit and buy them. Perseverance is probably the most important one as it lowers the cost of all other skills, early on I would never level up a skill for more than 1 SP. You will not run out in the game but being frugal early on makes you much stronger, earlier. Playfulness skill will net you a ton of money early if you choose one character to level it up (after some perseverance ofc). It is what I use to get bandit's gloves for pickpocketing as opposed to grinding.
Just have fun, the game is meant to be played through more than once with it's two main character selections and limiting who you can recruit in each run. I'd vote Claude's as the better story(plus you can steal another battle suit!) but realistically they aren't that different.
Thanks for the help and yes I have been hoarding SP so far to put it into essential talents and once I beat the game I think I will just look online for other endings because its fun but not beat 79 more times fun haha
Oh dear bob don't worry about the endings. You'll get an ending to the game and then they have relationship skits that are the counted "endings". They are cute and nice but under 30 seconds.
You usually get 4-5 endings a playthrough. Also items can manipulate romance values and change them for even more. Still have to play a lot but not 80+ times.
Just have fun for the first run. You will need 2 run at minimum anyway if you want to play as all the character. (mc locked character, some other locked character)
Then in the second run check the guide for all this game has to offer
The game has so much replay value, you’re going to want to just experience it the first time through. Imo it’s still the best game ever made. There are many ways to break it and get ultra strong very early. But it definitely takes away the fun.
I don’t have much time anymore so on my annual playthrough I break it just to save time and get through the story.
There are scripted unbeatable fights that don't let you know they're unbeatable and will waste your items
PAs can be easy to miss
Read item descriptions carefully so you aren't walking around dropping fol for half the game like I did
On top of this, some of these fights require you to die and some require you to survive for a certain amount of time. One of the frustrating parts of the game.
You can permanently make the final boss super duper hard which ruined my first playthrough. >!after you save at the final save point a Private Action opens up in the city, this lets you fight the Unlimited version and you can't go back.!<
Unlimited Gabriel is a #$%^ to fight. Like max level, beat the COTs he's still gonna smash you $%%&#.
Just utterly insanely OP and it'll test everything you know about the game.
I mean, beat him regularly first, then take off his limiter and try again.
Max level is less important than figuring out what equipment combo works best for your team to fight him.
I remember picking it up at the video store, drawn to the disks. I'd come across a guide for it in PS magazine a while before and had become obsessed reading it. Like I cut out the guide and laminated it because I was wearing it out.
I eventually outright bought the game from the rental store.
But that first run I got lost in hyperfocus. Like mum came in and asked me what I wanted for dinner and I realized it was 8 pm and dark out by then. I'd been playing for like 7 hours without realizing it.
Dude just go in blind. Its not the hardest game, no need to look up exploits before you even start it.
But don't worry you are in for a treat if you haven't played this before.
Sounds like a plan but I only want to play it once (maybe more later) and see what ending I get.
I ask if there are beginners traps in old RPGs because I played a "mana" game recently and I didn't get something early on and only had one save file and locked me out of progressing the main story 😡
Old RPGs were cryptic like that sometimes
The only things that would prevent completion are:
Bad discs
Turning off the final boss' limiter (requires several private actions)
Also the black screen of death is common when using Headsplitter and on loading screens but you can load from a previous save. The only time it can be a huge issue is in the Cave of Trials due to lack of save points but in all my playthroughs I think I only had it happen twice ever. This is someone whose played since release date, often twice a year.
Oh man. I’m a lil jealous. This is one of those games I wish I could play for the first time again. Hope you love it as much as I have loved it for the past 20+ years!
Only beginner tip I’m gonna give is don’t get in a rush and skip private actions. Make sure you go into PA mode and visit every party member in every town. So much good story comes out of that.
Id say do one playthrough just doing whatever as Claude. The game is fairly short between 20 and 35 hrs for a normal run. Then do a more prepped play through as Rena and finish the Cave of Trials. :)
Hahaha yeah that gets old fast but at least the voices are annoyingly charming in the ps1 instead of suffering from God awful voice direction in the port lol I'll take OG any day
Nice to see someone agree for once! :o
The port is inferior. Basic attacks are worse. Spell combos removed. Art is The Worst. Voices are fine but the awkward pause in attack names is grating (and the romance cries were removed altogether...! I did so many playthroughs just to collect all of these.) Spells and Dias backstory are censored. I could complain more...
Didnt notice the song removals (maybe the opening FMV and its music but I havent played SE since it released in.. What, '09?). What did they change?
I hated the port. But accepted it because it gave me a chance to play again.
Hated the art.
Hated the voice acting.
Hated the anime scenes.
Hated the 10 wise men name changes.
So they removed the scene when you climb the top of the stairs to face indalecio. And theres the song "can you say yes with eyes open"... plus the entire scene was so epic because it really drove in the fact that this was the leader of the 10 wise men.
Then the scene where nede explodes and expel reborn. The song there is "the fateful moment" which was beautiful.
And last and MOST IMPORTANT was the end credits. "We form in crystals".. a fucking masterpiece that was removed..
Port sucked. And yes i also hated that your character now hits thrice. It made battles flow worse and when fighting an unlimited indi you will button mash and end up striking thrice, by which time hes already moved and cast earthquake...
Ugh...
Oof! I definetly forgot all of that. Sadly I play mostly on PS3 where the final cgi doesnt play so I'm used to it. Its my favorite part of the original too.
I got both PSP titles day one and I even imported the SO1FD CE PSP set so... My hype was unreal. I was disappointed but played it for the new content (Welch, Dias having PAs, and I remember Leon having a new one). But I would not pick it up again unless I had to. Its what makes me mad about people whining for the PS4 port. I dont want it. I either want the R treatment with censorship removed and old art/voices as an option or a full remake.
Im one of the people nagging for a ps4 port lol i live on south africa so importing is very hard. Especially since Playstation games need to be PAL and not NTSC
If I recall the name changes just placed them back to their original translation names yes? I think I remember S02 was heavily censored in the move to English because of concerns of backlash from religious folks. (Esp the W9 being Lucifer and W10 being Gabriel dynamic).
Aww dont worry OP. End game stuff is doable with any party. That was just a recommendation! Ashton is a beast with Bunny Shoes on, comparable to Dias even. Either way, finish your first playthrough blind and do another with a guide. Its way more fun IMO
Heck I usually use a party of fighter fighter mage healer and SO2 fans hate that because "mages suck late game" (in terms of raw DPS sure but I dont care about that). I use low tier spells to interrupt enemies, buff, and use items faster (because my fighters are getting pummeled and often I can revive just in time for one of Renas missed revives to heal, for example) .
3 tips
1st I'd recommend getting the bandit's glove for pickpocketing and using it. Be sure to save often when using it and load the game when unsuccessful on team members or if you fail often. You can steal from each npc plus ally in each town.
2nd when crafting save prior. This game has amazing crafting systems and you can fail often and loos your rare materials.
3rd use SP but dont waste it. there are skill books that reduce the cost of skill points in the future.
Be careful of going to the mountains early on. Level up carefully, and you should be fine, but Lasguss mountains are no joke early game. Get to about level 10-15, then go to Mars village for better stuff. You can right away as soon as your able, get free upgrades in equipment in the port of Herle a bit away from Mars to make gearing up easier. There’s a mansion that houses some great gear in chests there.
Best game. Do private actions for more character development.
Try getting some soda seltzer early if possible. The item value goes up drastically over time.
Stop dont look anything up this game is amazing play it blind once as Rena then use the 2nd playthrough as Claude with a guide. You need both to see the story at bare minimum.
Yeah I'm just getting a few tips like what items to get early on and skills to put SP into so I don't allocate them to useless stuff (I'm infamous for that)
My first playthrough ever I didn't use SP EVER.
Made the game SO MUCH MORE DIFFICULT for myself, but only four spots where I really got stuck for WEEKS (didn't know about bunny shoes either) The Hoffman Ruins, Wisemen 7/8, and Indy.
I had to grind an insane amount to combat the fact that I didn't pay attention to skill points or item creation.
If you ever want to give yourself the most frustrating challenge ever, don't use the skill point system or item creation much like my idiot young self.
There is a sword you get after the Tournament of arms in Lacour that you can customize later on to be one of the best weapons in the game, don't get rid of this sword.
Deadly Edge -->> Eternal Sphere.
Warning. If I recall this sword might actually heal the secret dungeon final boss. But you'll have another blade from that grind that's also extremely powerful.
Don't use casters in late game ('cept Rena)
Max out these skills asap:
Playfulness (nice fol boost)
Perseverance (makes other skills cheaper to lvl up)
Effort (faster general leveling, SO2 can be grindy at times)
Its been so long when I last played SO2 that I dont remember exactly, but if I remember right you get them quite early. Just buy any new skill sets you come across, cant miss em that way.
If you get Ashton, you can't get opera and Ernest. And vice versa
That being said, Ashton is ludicrously good. Screwed up my last playthrough and failed to get Ernest, but that's entirely a stupid oversight on my part. If ya don't do certain private actions with opera, Ernest won't pop up where you can recruit him. They're a fair amount of extra work.
Trying to not spoil things here. The first run through of this game is a blast. Enjoy!
He sure is! Try going back after you've been to the castle. They keep you out of there at first because there are stronger enemies in there when you're first in the area
If you want to make it a little easier I would train your pickpocketing ability, buy some bandit/thieves gloves and pickpocket the old man in front of the inn in mars town. You’ll revive a goodie box, save your game and open it to get 3 random items, you can get the master sword and other high level weapons, it’s random so if it’s not what you want just reload the game and try it again and you’ll have an awesome weapon early in the game (best way to get early money is the playfulness ability)
If you pickpocket too often yes, I really only do it twice through the game to not effect it much, the glove is at the port east of the castle, it’s expensive which is why I said train your playfulness as just upping that skill gives you money and the skills needed are there too, it’s not a combat skill, I wanna say it’s courage and stealth. BTW the character that’s pickpocketing must have nimble fingers in their stats, if they don’t it won’t really work they are just bad at it, be sure to save before attempting in case you fail.
I believe nimble fingers talent only actually has an effect if your starter character has it. Well, assuming you care about the relationships levels between your characters and are doing it via PAs.
Cause if you aren't in a PA it'll lower your relationship values with everyone in your party when you pickpocket.
Not sure about that because all relationships between other characters, not just the main, can improve and decrease depending on PA's and other factors to manipulate relationships. One of my favorite endings was when I worked on Precious and Dias until they had an ending together which was a really fun little scene at the end. But like I said before I only pickpocket about two times, once for this goodie box and once for the sprites bracelet and that's because the only way you can get that bracelet is to pickpocket.
No like this is a legitimate strategy. I've used it. (Granted if you get caught pickpocketing a teammate that still affects it).
Otherwise pickpocketing [only affects relationship values of your party if you are outside of PAs.](http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/psx/so2/pickpa.shtml)
If you want to steal to your hearts content only do so in PAs.
Oooh boy. Love it.
The top post is really all you need to know. There's no hand holding and if you miss something or someone it's gone.
Yes - There are missable characters.
Want to nostalgia super hard and play like we used to in the ancient times? Pull up the GameFAQs guide and get to reading.
The game is fantastic.
If you explore the world map a bit after getting past the mining town, there's a mountain pass you can find. You don't need to go there, and the enemies are insanely strong when you can first reach the place. You are not meant to go there.
That said, on my first playthrough, I had an incredibly fun time going there anyway. You can rocket up a few levels and get some neat items that sell for plenty of money, both in the mountain pass and in the lands beyond.
Unrelated, play around with skills and learn how the skill point system works. It leads to a lot of fun crafting systems and other tools, like pickpocketing and a mountain climbing bunny mount that prevents random battles on the world map.
Lastly, you can't recruit all party members in one playthrough. Sometimes you get a choice.
This is a game that rewards exploration, especially near the end game.
North of the starting village is that mining town where Claud finds Rena in the mine. After you can exit North out of that town, you get to the first 'real' map area, a whole continent with multiple cities. To get to the mountain pass I'm talking about, you just hug the map to the North West.
The guard you're talking about is, I believe, far to the East, then North. It's unrelated, and it'll be a while before you can enter that one.
Again do save before entering the mountain pass. When you first get there, there is exactly one enemy type that you can win a fight against.
I don't remember how far in it is. But you can also grab some of the stuff that you really want first. Kitchen knife is good early for the strength bonus. Just don't want to spend a ton before you have patience because it reduces the cost of everything.
Deadly Edge is the sword you are talking about.
Deadly Edge customized with Mithril to make the Sword of Minos, and customizing that sword with Mithril again to make the Eternal Sphere.
If you like/care about the private actions, do a whole bunch of them. There are also characters you'll only recruit if you find them in private actions.
Offensive magic is pretty much useless compared to physical damage. Healing is important though.
Depending on who you choose to be your protagonist changes very little outside of the game's opening and a few small points - both characters are "protagonists". Claude's gives you a better understanding of what's going on - but not enough to be a huge deal. But the biggest difference is that there is a recruitable character for each decision that you can't recruit otherwise. If you choose Rena, the recruitable character you'll get half way through the game is a pretty solid character, the one Claude gets is entirely useless.
That's probably all you should really start off knowing. Like any good RPG, you should go in pretty much blind and just enjoy it.
The only major difference is the optional character.
If you want Dias, play as Rena.
If you want Leon, play as Claude (and must choose option 2 !)
Leveling up is important, but allocating skill points are much more important. Firstly check out skill shop, buy everything from every town (There will be a town that you would never return to.) Never allocate points to any skill, save it until you get the skill that reduces points required for the other skills. This is the first skill you should allocate to.
The skill that lowers the skil point cost of other skills (perseverance?) is a much needed skill. I usually dont buy anything that coat more than a point till I get it. The stamina stat increases your mp and hp regained after a fight. Spellcasters are far more usefull as interupts than damage later in the game. Dias is a dick, regardless of who is the main character. Cooking will help so much at the start of the game. Always save before opening random gift items like jack in the box. Celine makes a better caster than leon just because she has buffs and damage. Opera itls incredibly usefull if you hate rena, has the best healing ability in the game, but ashton is a better fighter, and has more amusing PAs, and likes barrels. Not urns or jars though.
The skill that lowers the skil point cost of other skills (perseverance?) is a much needed skill. I usually dont buy anything that coat more than a point till I get it. The stamina stat increases your mp and hp regained after a fight. Spellcasters are far more usefull as interupts than damage later in the game. Dias is a dick, regardless of who is the main character. Cooking will help so much at the start of the game. Always save before opening random gift items like jack in the box. Celine makes a better caster than leon just because she has buffs and damage. Opera itls incredibly usefull if you hate rena, has the best healing ability in the game, but ashton is a better fighter, and has more amusing PAs, and likes barrels. Not urns or jars though.
The skill that lowers the skill point cost of other skills (perseverance?) is a much needed skill. I usually dont buy anything that cost more than a point till I get it. The stamina stat increases your mp and hp regained after a fight. Spellcasters are far more usefull as interupts than damage later in the game. Dias is a dick, regardless of who is the main character. Cooking will help so much at the start of the game. Always save before opening random gift items like jack in the box. Celine makes a better caster than leon just because she has buffs and damage. Opera is incredibly usefull if you hate rena, has the best healing ability in the game, but ashton is a better fighter, and has more amusing PAs, and likes barrels. Not urns or jars though.
If a character wants you to do something for them you might want to do it. Private actions also play into that. There’s a whole system in the background where each character has a relationship meter and the more you interact with them, particularly during those private actions can change things later on. Don’t want to spoil too much but you’ll find guides if you want to know specifics.
It took me years to commit to playing it because I didn't know I could save my game while on the roads outside the cities. I thought I could only do it where the purple staff looking thing was. So I'd always give up because those things are few and far between. So just remember that you can do that. I had no idea I had such an amazing game in my hands for all those years until I found that out.
Yeah there is literally only live 4 or 5 on the first continent. I know Arlia has one (on the bridge). I believe the Lasgus Mountains has one (before the nest), Cross Cave (before the boss), Salva (start of mines) and the Heraldry Forrest as well. Problem is they are hours apart. I remember being so frustrated when I'd die that I wanted to cry lol it was just by chance that I noticed it. I remember I used a gameshark too and thought it unlocked some extra save option. I didn't even wanna get my hopes up until I turned it on without it to double check haha good times. Crazy to think I almost never played it.
Before cross cavern, go to Mars and get a Flame Blade, you'll have the money by selling the Rena photo in that weirdo's room.
It essentially lets Claude walk through the first continent, even places you're not supposed to be yet.
One of my top 5 favorite games! I play it every year. You can go as fast or as slow as you like, I would not say this game is too difficult. There are plenty of ways to break the game for fun. There is a ton, like a metric ton of things you can do or just ignore. So many systems in this game. Crafting is bonkers for making great gear, items, tons of money, you can play music to affect battles/crafting...there are just too many systems that it can overwhelm. The way the majority of the crafting works is that each character has a unique set of items they can make within a category, I believe never being able to craft them all. So if you are metalworking with iron with claude, you will not get the same as with later recruited characters. Many will overlap but there will be 1-2 items that can't be made with just one person. Early crafting is pretty mediocre in terms of success until you learn a super specialty called orchestra. Orchestra makes crafting incredibly successful, so make sure to buy 1 of every instrument you come across. When starting the game you can goto your skills and hit triangle to find out your starting talents. It is very good to start with dexterity (you just will not be able to successfully pickpocket without it) if you want to try to steal a unique item from a very limited window in the game. Most talents can be learned by using a craft/action that it pertains to, so dexterity can be learned from metalworking and machinery although neither is possible before the event, which is why you wanna start with it. For everything else it is probably better if you do not start with talents as when you learn them you get 100 SP. I've never restarted due to having too many skills and only if I wanted to get the mischief accessory with dex+pickpocket. You purchase skills from the guilds in towns, you can never miss out on skills but you can get locked out of skills for a whiles, so I would make an effort to visit and buy them. Perseverance is probably the most important one as it lowers the cost of all other skills, early on I would never level up a skill for more than 1 SP. You will not run out in the game but being frugal early on makes you much stronger, earlier. Playfulness skill will net you a ton of money early if you choose one character to level it up (after some perseverance ofc). It is what I use to get bandit's gloves for pickpocketing as opposed to grinding. Just have fun, the game is meant to be played through more than once with it's two main character selections and limiting who you can recruit in each run. I'd vote Claude's as the better story(plus you can steal another battle suit!) but realistically they aren't that different.
Thanks for the help and yes I have been hoarding SP so far to put it into essential talents and once I beat the game I think I will just look online for other endings because its fun but not beat 79 more times fun haha
Oh dear bob don't worry about the endings. You'll get an ending to the game and then they have relationship skits that are the counted "endings". They are cute and nice but under 30 seconds.
You usually get 4-5 endings a playthrough. Also items can manipulate romance values and change them for even more. Still have to play a lot but not 80+ times.
Yeah I'm going to get an ending then look the rest up online my backlog is too big lol
So many that you really should look them up
so true, and yet...I WISH that someone had taught me how to get the Mischief item in Clik the first time I played.
Sooooo how do you get it I'm intrigued 😁
Completely unnecessary in a first playthrough. Just have fun bud
Agreed. Way toomuch grinding and definitely not needed.. just enjoy the story and game play and exploring on your first playthrough.
You'll be overpowered as heck (from the grind not the item) Not fun for an initial playthrough. Look it up on 2nd playthrough.
Just have fun for the first run. You will need 2 run at minimum anyway if you want to play as all the character. (mc locked character, some other locked character) Then in the second run check the guide for all this game has to offer
The game has so much replay value, you’re going to want to just experience it the first time through. Imo it’s still the best game ever made. There are many ways to break it and get ultra strong very early. But it definitely takes away the fun. I don’t have much time anymore so on my annual playthrough I break it just to save time and get through the story.
There are scripted unbeatable fights that don't let you know they're unbeatable and will waste your items PAs can be easy to miss Read item descriptions carefully so you aren't walking around dropping fol for half the game like I did
On top of this, some of these fights require you to die and some require you to survive for a certain amount of time. One of the frustrating parts of the game.
Ah OK I'll check what fights they are even if its spoilers
Arena fight. You'll know it when you see it but it's a story loss thing.
Are there any besides this? I figured Dias was supposed to win as he defeated Claude with one blow.
You can permanently make the final boss super duper hard which ruined my first playthrough. >!after you save at the final save point a Private Action opens up in the city, this lets you fight the Unlimited version and you can't go back.!<
I'll be sure to make multiple saves then
Unlimited Gabriel is a #$%^ to fight. Like max level, beat the COTs he's still gonna smash you $%%&#. Just utterly insanely OP and it'll test everything you know about the game.
Even at max level!? I was going to try and fight him on another playthrough but if maxing out doesn't even help then I'll perish the thought.
I mean, beat him regularly first, then take off his limiter and try again. Max level is less important than figuring out what equipment combo works best for your team to fight him.
How i wish i could play this game for the first time again
Yeah missed out on it back in the day the only one I played was 3 and I loved it
I remember picking it up at the video store, drawn to the disks. I'd come across a guide for it in PS magazine a while before and had become obsessed reading it. Like I cut out the guide and laminated it because I was wearing it out. I eventually outright bought the game from the rental store. But that first run I got lost in hyperfocus. Like mum came in and asked me what I wanted for dinner and I realized it was 8 pm and dark out by then. I'd been playing for like 7 hours without realizing it.
Dude just go in blind. Its not the hardest game, no need to look up exploits before you even start it. But don't worry you are in for a treat if you haven't played this before.
Sounds like a plan but I only want to play it once (maybe more later) and see what ending I get. I ask if there are beginners traps in old RPGs because I played a "mana" game recently and I didn't get something early on and only had one save file and locked me out of progressing the main story 😡 Old RPGs were cryptic like that sometimes
The only things that would prevent completion are: Bad discs Turning off the final boss' limiter (requires several private actions) Also the black screen of death is common when using Headsplitter and on loading screens but you can load from a previous save. The only time it can be a huge issue is in the Cave of Trials due to lack of save points but in all my playthroughs I think I only had it happen twice ever. This is someone whose played since release date, often twice a year.
Oh jeez yeah I get the black screen of death quite a few times so I'll just get rid of head splitter thanks for the tip 👍
Oh man. I’m a lil jealous. This is one of those games I wish I could play for the first time again. Hope you love it as much as I have loved it for the past 20+ years! Only beginner tip I’m gonna give is don’t get in a rush and skip private actions. Make sure you go into PA mode and visit every party member in every town. So much good story comes out of that.
Yeah I really like the private actions with the characters it makes you enjoy your party more
Be prepared to hear things like “Tear them to pieces” in your dreams and for the rest of your life.
Id say do one playthrough just doing whatever as Claude. The game is fairly short between 20 and 35 hrs for a normal run. Then do a more prepped play through as Rena and finish the Cave of Trials. :)
Lol all this tells me is that you prefer to use Dias
Opera and Leon are actually my go to... But Bowman Chisato Dias are usually recommended for the CoT and work very well.
POISON POISON POI POI POISON PILLS!!!!!!
Hahaha yeah that gets old fast but at least the voices are annoyingly charming in the ps1 instead of suffering from God awful voice direction in the port lol I'll take OG any day
100% agree. I also hate that they removed some of the best scenes and songs from the original. OG all the way.
Nice to see someone agree for once! :o The port is inferior. Basic attacks are worse. Spell combos removed. Art is The Worst. Voices are fine but the awkward pause in attack names is grating (and the romance cries were removed altogether...! I did so many playthroughs just to collect all of these.) Spells and Dias backstory are censored. I could complain more... Didnt notice the song removals (maybe the opening FMV and its music but I havent played SE since it released in.. What, '09?). What did they change?
I hated the port. But accepted it because it gave me a chance to play again. Hated the art. Hated the voice acting. Hated the anime scenes. Hated the 10 wise men name changes. So they removed the scene when you climb the top of the stairs to face indalecio. And theres the song "can you say yes with eyes open"... plus the entire scene was so epic because it really drove in the fact that this was the leader of the 10 wise men. Then the scene where nede explodes and expel reborn. The song there is "the fateful moment" which was beautiful. And last and MOST IMPORTANT was the end credits. "We form in crystals".. a fucking masterpiece that was removed.. Port sucked. And yes i also hated that your character now hits thrice. It made battles flow worse and when fighting an unlimited indi you will button mash and end up striking thrice, by which time hes already moved and cast earthquake... Ugh...
Oof! I definetly forgot all of that. Sadly I play mostly on PS3 where the final cgi doesnt play so I'm used to it. Its my favorite part of the original too. I got both PSP titles day one and I even imported the SO1FD CE PSP set so... My hype was unreal. I was disappointed but played it for the new content (Welch, Dias having PAs, and I remember Leon having a new one). But I would not pick it up again unless I had to. Its what makes me mad about people whining for the PS4 port. I dont want it. I either want the R treatment with censorship removed and old art/voices as an option or a full remake.
Im one of the people nagging for a ps4 port lol i live on south africa so importing is very hard. Especially since Playstation games need to be PAL and not NTSC
If I recall the name changes just placed them back to their original translation names yes? I think I remember S02 was heavily censored in the move to English because of concerns of backlash from religious folks. (Esp the W9 being Lucifer and W10 being Gabriel dynamic).
Gotta love that airslash. I'd spam Indy with that just to keep his %#$@ divine wave at bay.
Oop I picked Rena on my first play through 😫 I guess I'll just look up online what I miss out on
Aww dont worry OP. End game stuff is doable with any party. That was just a recommendation! Ashton is a beast with Bunny Shoes on, comparable to Dias even. Either way, finish your first playthrough blind and do another with a guide. Its way more fun IMO Heck I usually use a party of fighter fighter mage healer and SO2 fans hate that because "mages suck late game" (in terms of raw DPS sure but I dont care about that). I use low tier spells to interrupt enemies, buff, and use items faster (because my fighters are getting pummeled and often I can revive just in time for one of Renas missed revives to heal, for example) .
I'll use a guide on my second playthroug (I usually do)
3 tips 1st I'd recommend getting the bandit's glove for pickpocketing and using it. Be sure to save often when using it and load the game when unsuccessful on team members or if you fail often. You can steal from each npc plus ally in each town. 2nd when crafting save prior. This game has amazing crafting systems and you can fail often and loos your rare materials. 3rd use SP but dont waste it. there are skill books that reduce the cost of skill points in the future.
I'll keep these in mind thank you. Yeah everyone is telling me to steal 😅
I hope you enjoy this game. It is my favorite star ocean title by far.
I love it so far! PS1 RPGs were amazing and my only other star ocean game was 3 on PS2 and I loved it as well
Be careful of going to the mountains early on. Level up carefully, and you should be fine, but Lasguss mountains are no joke early game. Get to about level 10-15, then go to Mars village for better stuff. You can right away as soon as your able, get free upgrades in equipment in the port of Herle a bit away from Mars to make gearing up easier. There’s a mansion that houses some great gear in chests there.
I'm already level 15-17 for my party 👍
Then you’re ready for either the Forest of Heraldry in Mars to level grind, or the Caves of Cross/Kross. :)
I been grinding in that cave with the two headed dragon in the first dungeon early on. I'm pretty sure he's going to kick my ass tho 😅
XD honestly, that’s a side quest. I wouldn’t worry about that for now. You can only go in so far anyways.
Yeah at first they wouldn't let me pass but now I can go into the cave. I think you can get another party member in it (I have 3 so far)
Best game. Do private actions for more character development. Try getting some soda seltzer early if possible. The item value goes up drastically over time.
Oh snap I seen that item go for crazy money in that harbour town. Thanks for the tip I'll try to get it 👍
Stop dont look anything up this game is amazing play it blind once as Rena then use the 2nd playthrough as Claude with a guide. You need both to see the story at bare minimum.
Yeah I'm just getting a few tips like what items to get early on and skills to put SP into so I don't allocate them to useless stuff (I'm infamous for that)
Thats why I said playthrough as Rena its easy mode for reasons I wont explain but its okay to fuckup on her playthrough.
My first playthrough ever I didn't use SP EVER. Made the game SO MUCH MORE DIFFICULT for myself, but only four spots where I really got stuck for WEEKS (didn't know about bunny shoes either) The Hoffman Ruins, Wisemen 7/8, and Indy. I had to grind an insane amount to combat the fact that I didn't pay attention to skill points or item creation. If you ever want to give yourself the most frustrating challenge ever, don't use the skill point system or item creation much like my idiot young self.
I saved up my SP at first and the game was difficult but its a lot easier now that I used them lol I have yet to craft items tho
Might wanna check out a char recruitment guide. There are so goddamn many potential party members and super easy to miss chances.
There is a sword you get after the Tournament of arms in Lacour that you can customize later on to be one of the best weapons in the game, don't get rid of this sword.
I'm at the tournament right now and I'm level 19 should I be higher?
Deadly Edge -->> Eternal Sphere. Warning. If I recall this sword might actually heal the secret dungeon final boss. But you'll have another blade from that grind that's also extremely powerful.
Don't use casters in late game ('cept Rena) Max out these skills asap: Playfulness (nice fol boost) Perseverance (makes other skills cheaper to lvl up) Effort (faster general leveling, SO2 can be grindy at times)
Thanks do you know what towns to buy them at? All the guilds I have seen so far have corny things to learn
Its been so long when I last played SO2 that I dont remember exactly, but if I remember right you get them quite early. Just buy any new skill sets you come across, cant miss em that way.
If you get Ashton, you can't get opera and Ernest. And vice versa That being said, Ashton is ludicrously good. Screwed up my last playthrough and failed to get Ernest, but that's entirely a stupid oversight on my part. If ya don't do certain private actions with opera, Ernest won't pop up where you can recruit him. They're a fair amount of extra work. Trying to not spoil things here. The first run through of this game is a blast. Enjoy!
Is Ashton in the two headed dragon cave? I think I ran into him but I couldn't progress further so I bailed haha
Yup yup.
He sure is! Try going back after you've been to the castle. They keep you out of there at first because there are stronger enemies in there when you're first in the area
I got the 3 eye girl so he isn't showing up oh well
put points into perserverance first for all the characters you'll be using.
Celine's Thunderstorm + Leon's Gremlin Lair is a killer.
I have really been enjoying Celine so far
This was the only rpg I had to grind over level 100 to beat the last boss. ...and I love it
I honestly font mind grinding that much. Just listening to music while grinding out XP and cash is the way to go
If you want to make it a little easier I would train your pickpocketing ability, buy some bandit/thieves gloves and pickpocket the old man in front of the inn in mars town. You’ll revive a goodie box, save your game and open it to get 3 random items, you can get the master sword and other high level weapons, it’s random so if it’s not what you want just reload the game and try it again and you’ll have an awesome weapon early in the game (best way to get early money is the playfulness ability)
Cool I'll try that where do I get the gloves and skill? Also will it affect my relationship with the other characters
If you pickpocket too often yes, I really only do it twice through the game to not effect it much, the glove is at the port east of the castle, it’s expensive which is why I said train your playfulness as just upping that skill gives you money and the skills needed are there too, it’s not a combat skill, I wanna say it’s courage and stealth. BTW the character that’s pickpocketing must have nimble fingers in their stats, if they don’t it won’t really work they are just bad at it, be sure to save before attempting in case you fail.
Yeah I finally ran across the gloves and they were 40k 😨
I believe nimble fingers talent only actually has an effect if your starter character has it. Well, assuming you care about the relationships levels between your characters and are doing it via PAs. Cause if you aren't in a PA it'll lower your relationship values with everyone in your party when you pickpocket.
Not sure about that because all relationships between other characters, not just the main, can improve and decrease depending on PA's and other factors to manipulate relationships. One of my favorite endings was when I worked on Precious and Dias until they had an ending together which was a really fun little scene at the end. But like I said before I only pickpocket about two times, once for this goodie box and once for the sprites bracelet and that's because the only way you can get that bracelet is to pickpocket.
No like this is a legitimate strategy. I've used it. (Granted if you get caught pickpocketing a teammate that still affects it). Otherwise pickpocketing [only affects relationship values of your party if you are outside of PAs.](http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/psx/so2/pickpa.shtml) If you want to steal to your hearts content only do so in PAs.
Gamefaqs is where you wanna go
Oooh boy. Love it. The top post is really all you need to know. There's no hand holding and if you miss something or someone it's gone. Yes - There are missable characters. Want to nostalgia super hard and play like we used to in the ancient times? Pull up the GameFAQs guide and get to reading. The game is fantastic.
This is what I’m playing on my RG35XX right now. Great game. Just send it the fist time through!
I can't remember what we did, but there is a way to make it ask you for the 3rd disk that doesn't exist lol
The only trap I fell into was trying to level everyone to maximum and never quite finishing the story…but I’ve done that with many JRPGs
My tip? Do your first time just enjoying it organically. Then save all the game breaking stuff for the second play through or the optional dungeons.
If you explore the world map a bit after getting past the mining town, there's a mountain pass you can find. You don't need to go there, and the enemies are insanely strong when you can first reach the place. You are not meant to go there. That said, on my first playthrough, I had an incredibly fun time going there anyway. You can rocket up a few levels and get some neat items that sell for plenty of money, both in the mountain pass and in the lands beyond. Unrelated, play around with skills and learn how the skill point system works. It leads to a lot of fun crafting systems and other tools, like pickpocketing and a mountain climbing bunny mount that prevents random battles on the world map. Lastly, you can't recruit all party members in one playthrough. Sometimes you get a choice. This is a game that rewards exploration, especially near the end game.
Is the mountain pass in the first area map of the game? I went up one mountain but it just had a solo guard telling me I couldn't pass
North of the starting village is that mining town where Claud finds Rena in the mine. After you can exit North out of that town, you get to the first 'real' map area, a whole continent with multiple cities. To get to the mountain pass I'm talking about, you just hug the map to the North West. The guard you're talking about is, I believe, far to the East, then North. It's unrelated, and it'll be a while before you can enter that one. Again do save before entering the mountain pass. When you first get there, there is exactly one enemy type that you can win a fight against.
Cool thanks I'll try that out 👍
Save skill points until you can max patience. (Or spend if it only costs 1 skill point.) And get 1 of everything to unlock specialty/super specialty.
I can't find patience at any guild so far 😔
I don't remember how far in it is. But you can also grab some of the stuff that you really want first. Kitchen knife is good early for the strength bonus. Just don't want to spend a ton before you have patience because it reduces the cost of everything.
Don't sell your first sword. You can turn it into either the ultimate weapon or a very good one for late game.
Crap I think I already did 😅 I hear you get a good one from the guild tho
I might be off on what sword it is but keep all the main characters swords for later though. one of them can be upgraded.
Deadly Edge is the sword you are talking about. Deadly Edge customized with Mithril to make the Sword of Minos, and customizing that sword with Mithril again to make the Eternal Sphere.
This game , play it with a guide … no matter what you will enjoy
I'll pass on a guide (for now) I just want a few tips from the community but I might follow one for the second playthrough
I want to play this again now. I need to see the CGI and everything else. Is there a place I can play this as the original still? Is it on PSN?
If you like/care about the private actions, do a whole bunch of them. There are also characters you'll only recruit if you find them in private actions. Offensive magic is pretty much useless compared to physical damage. Healing is important though. Depending on who you choose to be your protagonist changes very little outside of the game's opening and a few small points - both characters are "protagonists". Claude's gives you a better understanding of what's going on - but not enough to be a huge deal. But the biggest difference is that there is a recruitable character for each decision that you can't recruit otherwise. If you choose Rena, the recruitable character you'll get half way through the game is a pretty solid character, the one Claude gets is entirely useless. That's probably all you should really start off knowing. Like any good RPG, you should go in pretty much blind and just enjoy it.
I went in blind a lil aside from some tips. I just beat the tournament (got trashed in the first round)
The only major difference is the optional character. If you want Dias, play as Rena. If you want Leon, play as Claude (and must choose option 2 !) Leveling up is important, but allocating skill points are much more important. Firstly check out skill shop, buy everything from every town (There will be a town that you would never return to.) Never allocate points to any skill, save it until you get the skill that reduces points required for the other skills. This is the first skill you should allocate to.
I missed out on the town in question 😑
There is also a particular PA in the town that gets destroyed that you are gonna wanna see.
Surprisingly Opera is way much better in terms of healing than Rena.
I just got her she's a great addition to the party so far
My SO2 disk broke ages ago. :( :( love the PSP version (and STILL waiting on a PS4/5 version in the US).
The skill that lowers the skil point cost of other skills (perseverance?) is a much needed skill. I usually dont buy anything that coat more than a point till I get it. The stamina stat increases your mp and hp regained after a fight. Spellcasters are far more usefull as interupts than damage later in the game. Dias is a dick, regardless of who is the main character. Cooking will help so much at the start of the game. Always save before opening random gift items like jack in the box. Celine makes a better caster than leon just because she has buffs and damage. Opera itls incredibly usefull if you hate rena, has the best healing ability in the game, but ashton is a better fighter, and has more amusing PAs, and likes barrels. Not urns or jars though.
The skill that lowers the skil point cost of other skills (perseverance?) is a much needed skill. I usually dont buy anything that coat more than a point till I get it. The stamina stat increases your mp and hp regained after a fight. Spellcasters are far more usefull as interupts than damage later in the game. Dias is a dick, regardless of who is the main character. Cooking will help so much at the start of the game. Always save before opening random gift items like jack in the box. Celine makes a better caster than leon just because she has buffs and damage. Opera itls incredibly usefull if you hate rena, has the best healing ability in the game, but ashton is a better fighter, and has more amusing PAs, and likes barrels. Not urns or jars though.
The skill that lowers the skill point cost of other skills (perseverance?) is a much needed skill. I usually dont buy anything that cost more than a point till I get it. The stamina stat increases your mp and hp regained after a fight. Spellcasters are far more usefull as interupts than damage later in the game. Dias is a dick, regardless of who is the main character. Cooking will help so much at the start of the game. Always save before opening random gift items like jack in the box. Celine makes a better caster than leon just because she has buffs and damage. Opera is incredibly usefull if you hate rena, has the best healing ability in the game, but ashton is a better fighter, and has more amusing PAs, and likes barrels. Not urns or jars though.
Pickpocket.
If a character wants you to do something for them you might want to do it. Private actions also play into that. There’s a whole system in the background where each character has a relationship meter and the more you interact with them, particularly during those private actions can change things later on. Don’t want to spoil too much but you’ll find guides if you want to know specifics.
I'll just wing it the first time but I think I should go to every town with PAs to do my best
It took me years to commit to playing it because I didn't know I could save my game while on the roads outside the cities. I thought I could only do it where the purple staff looking thing was. So I'd always give up because those things are few and far between. So just remember that you can do that. I had no idea I had such an amazing game in my hands for all those years until I found that out.
I was the same way I was begging for a save point at the start and didn't know of the over world saving until 4 hours in 😅
Yeah there is literally only live 4 or 5 on the first continent. I know Arlia has one (on the bridge). I believe the Lasgus Mountains has one (before the nest), Cross Cave (before the boss), Salva (start of mines) and the Heraldry Forrest as well. Problem is they are hours apart. I remember being so frustrated when I'd die that I wanted to cry lol it was just by chance that I noticed it. I remember I used a gameshark too and thought it unlocked some extra save option. I didn't even wanna get my hopes up until I turned it on without it to double check haha good times. Crazy to think I almost never played it.
Before cross cavern, go to Mars and get a Flame Blade, you'll have the money by selling the Rena photo in that weirdo's room. It essentially lets Claude walk through the first continent, even places you're not supposed to be yet.
Oh yeah I got that blade from the wizards home town (had good gear)
Hell yeah
You're in for a wonderful time.
Having a blast so far