Originally Posted by Opaque
Ok I'm 10 hours in, here's my little break down:
Characters and Cut Scenes: from what characters I have met and played, I’ve been pleased with the variety and the development. The Voice acting is top notch, and recognizable voice talent is everywhere. The cut scenes are were also an unexpected surprise. Some rival even Xenosaga in length and story, and all have some of the best character animations I’ve ever seen, with the exception of faces. Faces show little to no emotion and have hideous mouths, especially characters with a small role. The one bad part about cut scenes? The ever so often prolonged silence. Many, many times during conversation, characters will say nothing for a period of thirty second, utter one line, and wait another thirty seconds before speaking. This is not because they are moving, or thinking hard, or anything meaningful. It is simply weird and awkward.
Dungeons and Towns: the towns in Star Ocean: Till the end of Time may be the best looking and best designed towns in recent memory. The amount of homes and streets placed only for visual flare and realities sake is astounding. The graphical detail is also quite high, and the ability to rotate the camera adds a lot to the exploration. Speaking of exploration, the Dungeons; which are also gorgeous, have introduced perhaps the best mapping system ever. Making the map as you go is nothing new but has always been a favorite of mine (if only because it keep you from retracing your steps too much) but being rewarded for completing a map (you receive bunny statues that increase speed in battle or at the very least can be sold for a good amount of flan) gives you just one more reason to explore every inch of every cavern.
Battle System: It's fast, real time and damn good looking, but something doesn't hit right. Holding down the attack buttons to execute said moves somehow slows down the action and creates a break in fluidity, I think the shoulder button control scheme from Star Ocean: The Second Story was far superior. The fury gage, for all it's meant to be, is done very well; It runs out fast but recharges fast, if nothing else giving battles a little more strategy than they would have other wise. Then there's the bonus gage, the single greatest aspect to the fighting system; do enough damage to enemies through out a few battles and you begin to pick up little bonuses after battle such as triple exp, double flan, extra items, extra healing, it's wonderful. You start out with one bonus and after the first five battles you fight without breaking the bonus gage you get another one. At twenty consecutive battles you have all four. There are three ways for the gauge to be broken: A party member being knocked out, a party member taking a critical hit, or escaping from battle. However, if you fight enemies just below your ability level, they will almost never get a critical hit in (it's never happened to me, but it may be possible) they won't kill you and you will have no reason to escape battle, but when you get the triple exp bonus you will likely get double the exp you would fighting things at your level. Truly a great system.
Sound: So-so is the best way I can describe the music at this point. It ranges from beautiful orchestrated scores to fumbling guitar riffs at the drop of a hat, often resorting to complete silence at cut scenes, which makes the previously mentioned extended breaks in speech even the more unbearable. Like I said before, voice acting is top notch, when they are saying something, and the saving grace in the sound department.
Other random high points: The trophy collecting adds fun and replay value. Item creation is introduced well and seems to have the depth hardcore fans will want, but is still simple enough for those of us that just want to get some stuff made and be done with it. Save points are usually placed exactly where you want them, often accompanied by healing circles in dungeons.
Other random low points: The story is cliché at points, but not as bad as it could have been; honestly though, who can name an RPG that’s come out in the last two years that hasn’t had a cliché story? MP death, possible the worst idea ever.
Over all though it’s a winner at this point, and seeing as how Star Ocean: The Second Story was as great as it was because of the hidden dungeons and later part of the game, I’m going to have to believe that the farther we get into this new game, the better it will get. Especially with the 200+ level extra dungeon at the end.
The over all point? Just buy the game already. You won’t be disappointed.
