Star Ocean 3 vs 4

[avd2]

Well, I've never beaten either of them, or any Star Ocean game, for that matter.

In 3 (Till the End of Time) I stopped after I had gotten to disk 2, should I start playing it again (I don't have a PS2 so I'd have to emulate it)?

In 4 (The Last Hope) I only beat the first boss on the beach. The game looked beautiful, but I just didn't really want to play it, as I had been mega-obsessed with WoW at the time (More casual now ). I do have a PS3 so I can easily pick up a copy.

Which should I start playing again?
Also, would you recommend 1 and 2? (Psp version )

[Zaladane]

1 and 2 for the psp are pretty good, they've fixed the translation so things make a bit more sense and added extra characters and such. Pretty damn good.

number 3 was good, but it really drags on especially if you want to do all the synthesizing. I sorta lost the will to play star ocean games after this one. It was glitchy in battle and the cut scenes went on for ever. Not terrible but not great either. We used to joke that it would take til the end of time to beat it.

Never tried 4.

Overall though, number 2 remains one of my fave rpgs ever.

[avd2]

Does 2 have Gabriel Celeste in it? Me and a buddy pretty much just want to play some game and whoop his ass. Silly thing to look for in a game, I know lol. Can't get into Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth on PSP so I'm pretty much stuck with Star Ocean.

Also, how difficult is 2 compared to 3? I'm looking for a challenge Also, I totally agree, synthesizing was mega gay

EDIT: Is the story between 1 and 2 so connected that I have to play 1 before 2? :O

[crimsonedge]

I didn't like the boss battles in SO4, because they were more like trying to solve a puzzle than anything else. And I hate puzzles. Especially in a game like this. I also felt some of the normal battles took way too long to finish, and forced me to use a lot of skills/points which get depleted quickly in a large dungeon, so they encouraged you to avoid most fights instead. I like my fights fast paced, win or lose. In the last dungeon, I avoided every single enemy that I possibly could and just went straight to the last boss, because the fights were long and annoying and I was burning up resources quick. I would find a spot with some enemies that were easier to beat to grind at to keep my levels up to outweigh the fact that I was avoiding most of the battles I could in dungeons.

I didn't see the crafting in SO4 as really that useful. The best stuff you could craft at almost any point wasn't much better and most of the time even worse than the best weapons you could buy at that point. And you had to physically farm for the materials instead of buying them which was very tedious, and just not even worth it. A few weapons that required a lot of rare stuff didn't even give me a substantial boost over what I could buy or find which made it a complete waste of time. I beat the game without crafting many things at all. Crafting in SO4 was just trololol.

[Fugsnarf]

I've really wanted to try 4, just because it sounds like you get to fly your own spaceship.

3 was very enjoyable to me, but I found myself getting in many situations where I was horribly under-leveled.

Personally, I would suggest 2, which is my favorite. The PSP remake is excellent with great voice acting. I got into Star Ocean by playing the SNES translation of 1 before they came out with the PSP remake. After playing the remake, I actually still prefer the original for its SNES charm, but that's just me. A lot of people criticize the first one for its story, but I loved it so much. I still preferred 2, however. If you can get your hands on 2, play 2. Star Ocean 2 is by far my favorite Star Ocean game (on the PSP version, just make sure you set it to be able to skip to the end of the text when people talk. If not, you are forced to sit though the voice acting in cutscenes until they're done. I personally liked listening to the voice acting, but it's nice to be able to skip it if you want). If not, I can only suggest 3. I really love 3 though!

[Gypsy]

Yeah the PSP port of Valkyrie Profile isn't as good as the PS1 version.

I highly recommend 2, it's good shit. Haven't played 3 or 4 myself but my brother went through both. I'm sure he'll find this thread.

[IPITYTHEFOOLZ]

I did like four, but I will agree with the bosses being annoying. For some reason they have a health bar, but it never goes down. You'll just be hitting them and suddenly they die. Synthesis definitely seemed pointless. Overall I feel the game is pretty good and I enjoyed it. Considering how cheap it is now and the lack of great RPGs out I'd say it's worth a purchase. Gabriel Celeste is in it too as an optional boss btw.

[Slacker Magician]

There are some aspects where 3 is superior, 4 is better overall.

[Rune489]

I got halfway through SO3; the save points being so far apart was kind of annoying specially being under leveled and dying while looking for the next save point. SO4 was great though! If you can finish battles with critical hits you can gain experience really fast. I finished the game at level 74 without too much time input. Of course, the final boss wasn't too much of a challenge at that level. In my opinion both games had a really good story.

[crimsonedge]

I got halfway through SO3; the save points being so far apart was kind of annoying specially being under leveled and dying while looking for the next save point. SO4 was great though! If you can finish battles with critical hits you can gain experience really fast. I finished the game at level 74 without too much time input. Of course, the final boss wasn't too much of a challenge at that level. In my opinion both games had a really good story.

You actually thought 3 was harder than 4?

[Gypsy]

Neither one is remotely hard. Pretty sure my brother did not die once. Difficult RPGs don't really exist anymore. *waits for examples*

[IPITYTHEFOOLZ]

Neither one is remotely hard. Pretty sure my brother did not die once. Difficult RPGs don't really exist anymore. *waits for examples*

Have you heard of Cross Edge? I thought it was pretty challenging, at least on hard difficulty.

[Slacker Magician]

You actually thought 3 was harder than 4?

Neither is hard, boss battles are just stupidly slow in SO4.

Have you heard of Cross Edge? I thought it was pretty challenging, at least on hard difficulty.

Yes. I don't want to play until I have a physical copy though.

[Gypsy]

Have you heard of Cross Edge? I thought it was pretty challenging, at least on hard difficulty.

I've heard of it but not played it. Hard difficulty doesn't count. I've played quite a few newer RPGs where hard mode and stuff like optional bosses are fairly challenging (here is where I always mention Digital Devil Saga 1-2) but I'm interested to see a game that kicks your ass on normal.

[crimsonedge]

Neither one is remotely hard. Pretty sure my brother did not die once. Difficult RPGs don't really exist anymore. *waits for examples*

Demons souls, an action RPG. You will die in that game, lots. I love it, I think its the best RPG for the PS3. I still log in on PSN and invade some noobs on occasion. I got a level 26 with a meat clever, curse weapon, and second chance, its my trololol build. 1hkos every time. I love it when someone stands there holding up a shield thinking it will save them. Got several in the 100-200 range. Most people like level 120 for some reason as a good end game level to be at.