In the early 2000s I began to dabble in the emulation scene. As the decade progressed, access to games was exponentially increasing, with some of the more popular consoles receiving the most attention.

Of course, the SNES was one of the focal points of the scene with compatibility increasing at a steady rate, and a blossoming community of fan translators giving English speakers, like myself, the opportunity to experience narratives previously locked away in Japan.

One of the first games I played was Final Fantasy V. As a completed translation of the SNES version, it provided the entire experience, with a huge advantage over the slow loading times of the Final Fantasy Anthology edition for PlayStation.

I immediately followed with the Fire Emblem SNES trilogy: Monshou no Nazo (Mystery of the Emblem), Seisen no Keifu (Genealogy of Holy War), and Thracia 776, the latter of which had an incoherent and essential barely usable translation (in 2019 TEAM EXILE fixed this issue by providing a near perfect translation HERE for details.)

Despite all the issues with Thracia, and the epilogue of Seisen no Keifu not being translated (ouch), I still immediately considered these three games some of my all-time favorites.

Thirsty for more of what I was missing, I then stumbled upon fan translations for Tales of Phantasia and Star Ocean, two games whose greatness were continually promoted on internet forums.

I started with the exceptional Tales of Phantasia, a JRPG, but upon entering battle the player is thrusted into a side-scrolling, action RPG-like battlefield. This novel battle system combined with the ability to cook food and modify items, provided an exciting experience that offered an engaging level of depth.

I wanted to experience something similar, but sufficiently different to provide a sense of nuance. So instead of diving more deeply into the Tales series, I decided to play the spiritual successor to Tales of Phantasia, the aforementioned Star Ocean.

Star Ocean promised an even deeper level of customization with a completely different, real-time battle system.

When I finally was able to configure the specialized add-ons to the ZSNES emulator and got my translation patch, I dove right in.

Visuals 9.5/10

While no game is truly visually perfect, Star Ocean, is easily one of the most gorgeous games on the SNES, looking like a borderline 32-bit 2D RPG, and coming as close to perfection as I have seen on the Nintendo’s 16-bit legend. This visual feat was aided by a massive 48-megabit cartridge, much like Tales of Phantasia.

Star Ocean, pushed the graphical limits of the Super Famicom a step further than its predecessor by using the S-DD1 chip, which greatly compressed the graphics on the cartridge. This addition permitted Star Ocean to surpass all that had preceded it on the Super Famicom. The chip responsible was only used in Star Ocean and Street Fighter Alpha 2, two games that didn’t even look like they belonged on the dying Nintendo console.

The powered-up visuals first become apparent with the sprite work, which is absolutely gorgeous. Large, unique, and detailed sprites grace every corner of this lush game world.

In battle, fluid sprite-animation is the norm. The battles are dynamic and real-time, with characters running around the screen and performing attacks, rather than the contemprary standard of remaining nearly static on the right side of the screen. This not only looks great, but makes the game feel modern. My screen captures cannot begin to do justice to how great the game looks in motion.

Magic and Techniques are also unanimously visually interesting, and often screen engulfing, working in tandem with the character animations to make each and every battle a sensory delight.

Enemy and boss sprites are also well-designed; many are colorful and have a unique gait or other form of locomotion that help give each enemy class defining traits beyond their appearance.

Though impressive, the game’s visuals are not perfect. One somewhat significant issue that occurs during battle, that I am consciously choosing to overlook a bit, is sprite flicker. I am willing to avoid criticizing this too harshly due its prevalence on consoles in those days, and the fact that it occurs only in particular situations; specifically when Milly is healing or Perisie is using one of her visually-busy techniques. The flicker stems from little angels or cats appearing all over the screen, respectively, and cause the console to compensate with sprite flicker.

Was able to capture part of the flicker, see Ratix in upper-left. Is much worse in reality.

It can be a bit disorienting, especially when you are trying to see who you are targeting. The only reason I deducted points from the Visual score is because of this sprite flickering issue, and even then, it is only due to it directly affecting gameplay. Only a half point deduction, in an otherwise gorgeous example of what the SNES is capable of with innovative programming and a bit of addition firepower from the chip.

Aside from spritework, the backgrounds are also an absolute highlight, especially in the game’s overworld map. In fact, the overworld map does not have the change in perspective characteristic of contemporary JRPGs, with the character sprite traversing a world with towns smaller than them. Instead the same perspective is kept from the towns and dungeons, providing a sense of vastness to the world, and making town entrances appear almost daunting.

Thanks to this design choice, each area is highly detailed, absolutely vibrant and alive. Bright contrasting colors, use of shadows and reflections, and the flight of birds overhead, make the world of Star Ocean feel teeming with life and beauty.

The backgrounds in towns and dungeons are also well done, despite being inevitably a bit less colorful than the deserts, forests and snow fields of the outer world.

The dank cavern’s, space lab’s, and ancient temple’s muted colors provide a stark contrast to the lively hues of the overworld, giving the player a sense of isolation and dread, without falling into the trap of looking bland.

The bustling villages, though often constructed with gray stone are varied in style. Some rural villages stand upon grassy river banks and life is closely intermingled with nature. Other, more metropolitan, areas may have open-air bazaars or massive battle arenas. Some towns act as an oasis for travelers enduring the harrowing desert. Northern outposts beyond the tundra are picturesque, with snow covered fields and a large, inviting inn. Port towns, with their crowded bars, busy docks, and pirate underworld are a traveleler’s best friend, and worst enemy.

The planet Roak offer the player a visually stunning experience that feels and looks like a real world, filled with life and color.





Sound: 8/10

Star Ocean’s sound is a mixed bag. On one hand, the game performed and amazing feat by including voice over in battle and during the game’s Star Trek-like introductory sequence, on the other hand the music is hit-or-miss, and the sound effects are kind of ridiculous and out of place.

The inclusion of voice, though not unseen on the SNES, was certainly a rarity. Though the voice work is Japanese, and I can’t understand what they are saying, the voice actors do an exceptional job expressing emotion, making the mental state of the character obvious, especially in tandem with the sprites’ detailed facial expressions.

The music is definitely solid, but a few key themes are a bit underwhelming.

To start “New Age,” is a particularly well crafted piece. It provides both a sense of mystery and a feeling of emptiness, appropriate for the space theme of the early game.

The game’s battle theme “For Achieve,” is perfectly fast paced and triumphant, matching the real-time battle system well. The song never gets stale and is one of the more memorable battle themes among SNES/SFC RPGs.

“Dancing Sword,” the boss theme, on the other hand, is a total let down. It honestly just sounds bad to me, and is an obvious drop in quality compared to the normal battle theme. It starts with a slow, weird horn-like synth and devolves into a cacophony, that is a huge disappointment in a game with generally very high quality music.

“Innocence”, “Sunny Place”, “Secretly”, “Calm Time”, “What Should Be”, “New World”, “One Challenge”, “High Tension”, and “All for One” are some highlights of the OST for me, but even some of these gems suffer from repetitiveness due to early loops.

Another issue is strange placement of the songs. Occasionally, a song will be high quality, but not seem to be a fit in where the development team chose to use it, a bit nit-picky, but a valid criticism.

Aside from the few criticisms about the music, the sound effects are a bit underwhelming, and at some moments, ridiculous. The attacks in battle are sometimes jarring and feel out of place, the spells generally sound weird, and the few effects outside of battle are nothing short of bland. Luckily, this isn’t such a big deal, and is an absolutely tolerable offense.

Overall, the music in Star Ocean is generally well composed, but suffers from poor placement and occasional early looping. The sound effects are subpar, and the inclusion of voice is well executed, and a technological feat.





Gameplay: 8.5/10

Star Ocean, has incredibly deep gameplay mechanics, and is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining JRPGs on the Super Famicom. Despite this, it suffers from some rare, but significant bugs and a sub-par narrative that doesn’t capitalize on the promised science-fiction setting.

To start, the action-packed, real-time battle system is complemented by a skill system of the likes never seen on the SNES.

In Star Ocean, there are never “turns,” enemies are constantly attacking, as are the party members.

The entire party is controlled by AI, with the exception of the main protagonist, Ratix. Standard attacks are selected by pressing the A button and selecting an enemy, much like any standard turn-based JRPG, but the difference is that the speed of button presses and attack distance is incredibly significant. With poor timing, a party member could easily be countered and stunned by the enemy. This opens up the possibility of being absolutely rolled on by the opposition without a bailout from another party member. Sure, some battles can easily devolve into an A button mashing affair, but there is enough depth to the battle system to make up for it.

Another significant aspect of the battle system is the freedom to control any character. At any time, the player can change the character they control to fine tune their strategy, change AI behavior, use items, or even swap out active party members with those on the bench. This allows for more complicated strategums and the greater level of control many are accustomed to in turn-based RPGs, where control of every character is the norm.

The issue with this system is that Ratix has NO AI. This means he remains defenseless anytime the player chooses someone else to control. Sure, this can be remedied by quickly switching back and forth between Ratix and other characters, but this is a major oversight, and probably my only MAJOR criticism of an otherwise well executed battle system. It is a shame that this is the case, because the player will almost always find themselves controlling Ratix to avoid his death.

The AI is also kind of hit-or-miss, but far better than other experiences on the SNES, like Secret of Mana. The AI will occasionally behave stupidly, but is overall good enough to not be frustrating.

As the player, one also has more control of the AI than it appears on the surface; pre-selecting techniques or spells outside of battle can help narrow down the character’s moveset, and setting their AI strategy from the menu will ensure the characters behave in a way that is appropriate for their class or for the specific battle ahead.

For example, setting a magic user to “conserve MP,”may be appropriate when traversing a dungeon, but changing their AI to “attack using all MP,” is likely the correct choice for the boss battle.

Pressing Y turns off skills. They will appear as gray when off. Green Circles indicate the skill can be used outside of battle.

This is complimented by the ability to turn on/off certain spells to exploit specific enemy weaknesses, and avoid attacking with something they resist/absorb.

This level of customization is not exclusive to mages, however, physical attackers also benefit from a similar system of setting the AI to protect weaker party members, use all MP on techniques, conserve techniques or protect themselves only.

The customization of physical attacker AI is further complimented by a unique technique selection system, allowing different “Killer Moves” to be set based on distance. Both the L and R buttons can be assigned a short- AND long-range attack, leaving four possible starting attacks. Certain techniques are locked to certain distances, and the party member using it will automatically identify the appropriate attack to use.

These Killer Moves can also be stacked into combos, for a devastating result, by using the Link Combo skill. Teaching a character this skill allows up to a four hit combo; permitting the player to set four short- and four long range Killer Moves on each shoulder button.

Many unique combinations can be created in this manner, or the best attacks can be spammed x 4, for a cheap, but wildly successful strategy.

The distance limitation of Killer Moves can also be removed, thanks to a bug, allowing more freedom in combo creation (details: Here).

Link Combo is not the only skill that can be taught to party members; there is an extensive, deep skill system far beyond anything seen on the Super Famicom/ SNES.

Skills are learned by earning Skill Points (SP), gained at each level up, and must be spent on the Skills screen. Each major skill has multiple component skills that must be leveled up on this screen to gain access to the actual, usable skill.

Ranging from gaining the ability to sprint outside of battle, to crafting weapons and items, to duplicating items, to improving battle skills, to simply increasing stats, Star Ocean’s skill system provides both breadth and depth.

To start crafting comes in a variety of useful flavors including Compounding Herbs, Customizing Super Weapons, Cooking up some favorite dishes and Smithing new weapons, to name a few. This makes almost every item useful; the player never knows what seemingly generic weapon or herb could be crafted into an all-powerful blade or cure-all elixir.

Importantly, most of the game’s items can be duplicated using the Art skill. This is INCREDIBLY useful, allowing a nearly endless supply of ores, herbs, weapons, and more. Sure, there are some limitations for balance, but the skill essentially makes saving one of every item for duplication the norm, rather than re-purchasing expensive items.

Character’s skills go beyond the visual Arts, with talents extending into music composition and performance. After learning the appropriate skills and purchasing instruments, the player can have a character attempt to compose a piece for each instrument. Upon success, the player will gain a new song, which can be played at any time. The effects of said songs will vary depending on the instrument.

Song effects vary from healing HP/MP ,to summoning super bosses, to altering the encounter rate, to increasing the likelihood of crafting success. These skills are obviously incredibly useful and alter the way the game is played, adding some convenience and ahead of its time quality of life improvements on the standard JRPG formula.

The Culinary Arts are another arena in which Star Ocean’s cast are adept. Cooking is a cheap and easy way to create a number of dishes, with the added bonus of eventually identifying each character’s favorite food.

Though not essential, finding favorite foods and cooking them results in a reliable and comparatively cheap way to fully restore HP and MP in one item use. This can eventually easily replace the need for a dedicated healer in battle, which is generally regarded as the best decision when choosing a party (I always use Milly for end- and post-game anyway).

Battle skills are also essential. Leveling up these skills allow for near-instantaneous spellcasting, parrying and counters, nullifying enemy defenses, and flipping behind the enemy to attack the exposed back.

It is also possible to level up each character’s martial art or sword-style to allow them to learn new Killer Moves . This can be done by repeated use of their current moves, when certain criteria are met. Again, another painstaking detail the developers did not overlook.

These wide range of Skills, in and out of battle, are not always executed with success however, the success rate depends on a character’s Talents.

Talents, much like real life, are certain aptitudes a party member has for executing certain skills. These Talents are both innate, assigned when the character joins the party, or learned, assigned after repeated use of a skill.

This is incredibly unique, and results in making every party member useful, even if they are not an active battle member.

To make it even more impressive, each character has a certain probability to start with or learn certain Talents, a probability that is different than all other characters. This makes each character feel even more special, defining their personality beyond what is simply exposed via their dialogue.

Speaking of the characters, Star Ocean provides a cast varied both in their personalities and approach to doing battle.

Most characters have a very interesting backstory and a variety of motivations to tag-along with the Ratix. Even more interesting is having some characters exclude certain others from joining the party, and are required for others to join. Considering this, and the fact that there are more characters than available party slots, it will take multiple playthroughs to try every character. This immensly increases the replayability, and makes each playthrough somewhat unique. Sure, they are not my favorite cast in RPG history, but there is enough charm there to keep the player invested.

Additional dialogue is provided by Private Actions, which are made available upon entering most towns. Anyone familiar with Star Ocean: Second Story, will understand how this works. For the uninitiated, they work much like the Support conversations made famous by the portable Fire Emblem games.

Simply, follow the prompt and press Y before entering a town, and the party will split up. The player will then control only Ratix, and have the opportunity to explore the town and speak to the other party members separately. The interactions in these situations will determine each characters Approval Rating (AR) for each other.

AR determines both how characters interact with each other in dialogue, and how their AI acts in battle with each other.

In dialogue, characters with low AR for each other may act a bit apathetic, while those with high AR may act more friendly. Unlike Second Story, there is no division between friendship and romance, and AR is MUCH HARDER to track in the SNES iteration, to the point that its not worth tracking precisely in my opinion. I tend to just generally try to interact positively with all the characters, which even in that case there are still some negative AR results that can occur. Despite being a bit complex, this is an incredible level of detail, and it is plain to see how much of a passion project Star Ocean was for Tri-ace.

The extra TLC is not lost on AR in battle either; those with high AR will protect each other and rush to help their friends in a bind, those with low AR, not so much. These behaviors in battle can also increase or decrease AR accordingly. For example, if a character allows a friend to get rolled on by the enemies, there will be a related decrease in AR between them.

One of the major benefits of being in battle with party members with high AR for eachother is the increased likelihood of the Anger Explosion psuedo-status effect.

An Anger Explosion occurs when a character’s friend, someone they have high AR for, is incapacitated in battle. This results in the remaining character turning red and threatening the enemies. This berserk-like state increases attack power 2-3 times depending on how high AR is for the downed character, but leaves the player in complete control, unlike other game’s berserk states. The Anger Explosion state will even persist after the fallen character is revived, opening up even more potential strategies.

Anger Explosion also increases the chances of learning new Killer Moves, by repeated use of a pre-existing skill, as long as the player obtained the appropriate “Ougi.” Just consider a Ougi an “item” obtained from the narrative or side quests that allows the learning of new Killer Moves. For the added damage and the ability to gain these secret techniques, the importance of the Anger Explosion state should not be understated.

The importance of character relationships inside and out of battle are critical for Star Ocean, specifically because they overcompensate for what I consider a fairly weak story.

Not only is the story average at best, it doesn’t take enough advantage of the Sci-fi setting, and instead quickly becomes medieval fantasy with some sci-fi sprinkled in. While the blend is appreciated, I am a huge fan of the Dune series of books, I would have liked to see the sci-fi portion shine a bit more, especially in a genre overwhelmed by fantasy settings.

The story is not boring by any stretch, but it is not what keeps me replaying Star Ocean so often. Its a shame that the game’s underlying space travel lore and the relationship of different factions, which are very interesting, are not explored more deeply. Without giving too many spoilers, I would also like much more detail with regards to the virus that sets the story in motion.

Another negative aspect of the story, is certain character arcs are not clearly explained, specifically, Joshua and Marvel having somewhat unclear arcs. These arcs are clarified in the Star Ocean: First Departure and First Departure R, the game’s remakes.

Even with all my criticisms, the narrative is still solid, and not even close to the worst story I have come across in the JRPG genre.

Another negative aspect of Star Ocean, is a few bugs that are incredibly annoying. The game may freeze at a variety of points in the main game’s progression, as well as in a few specific scenarios.

Luckily, I did not experience any bugs when entering certain dungeons, which apparently can occur.

I did however come across a bug while playing the song Violin 2, a music skill. This skill increases the chances of learning a new talent when crafting continuously, an incredibly useful function. The only problem is when the song is playing and a new talent is learned, the game will freeze, thus defeating the purpose. Luckily, there is an easy workaround: let the music finish playing before pressing A and closing the “you learned a talent” dialogue box. Regardless of workarounds though, this is a horrible bug.

Bugs aside, overall, Star Ocean provides an incredibly deep battle experience, with gorgeous visuals, solid music which bolster an average storyline. Despite, its few short comings, its is easily one of my favorite JRPGs on the Super Famicom/SNES. I highly recommend it to any JRPG fan.

Resources

Secrets Guide: Star Ocean’s (SNES) Seven Star Dungeon, Ultimate Weapon Guide, Gabrielle Secret Boss Fight, Infinite Money, Range Bug and Santa’s Secret Shop… by me

Talents and Skills Guide: A guide to the deep, and spectacular Talent and Skill mechanics of Star Ocean… by me.

Music Skill Song List: Description of the very useful music skill…by me

Star Ocean Shrine: the RPGClassics comprehensive Star Ocean Guide, has everything needed to fully grasp this wonderful game

My Top 10 Japan-Only SNES Games: check out one of my early articles that includes Star Ocean on the list. Each game on the list was not released in North America. Definitely worth checking out.

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