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star_ocean_fanHello, fellow Star Ocean fans and people new to the fandom! My name is Autumn, but you may use one of the following monickers to call me by instead: Dragonfly Moonlight, Liana Bluestar, Silverblue Sakura, Fayt's Girl, or Dreaming Vision. Feel free to leave comments on any entry you find calling out to you.
Let me start off by welcoming you to this humble journal where I will discuss all things Star Ocean. This won't be just to review the games that are out there. Let's face it. There are only a grand total of five (this is counting the Gameboy Blue Sphere game) so there isn't much in the way of reviewing the games. For me, right now, that could be done in two entries, as I've only played Star Ocean: Till the End of Time and Star Ocean: The Last Hope International thus far. Even going with a merchandise list might only take an entry or two.
With this journal, I not only intend to review the games, compile a list of merchandise that's available to all Star Ocean fans, and reveal where said merchandise can be found, but showcase cosplays and artwork of others, write some character studies, discuss the high and low points of the games' plots, and post my own fanfiction for the series. I also hopefully will be able to show photos of my own Star Ocean cosplays, once I have them started and completed. Some of the merchandise that's available will take some time to compile as well, as I will be going by what's in my collection, the collections of friends from deviantArt, and what I've been able to find on sites like eBay. Any and all photos of cosplays and artwork will be credited to the proper people. There are many talented people out there, and they deserve any and all credit for their hardwork. All fanfiction in this journal will be mine. I'll post links to the fanfiction of others.
So what's first for the inaugural entry of a Star Ocean blog? The reasons for manifestation? Girl, what on Earth are you talking about? I am talking about two of the main character cast of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, Fayt Leingod and Maria Traydor. As most people who've played Till the End of Time know, the characters of Fayt Leingod, Maria Traydor, and Sophia Esteed are the ones chosen by a group of scientists (their parents) to save the universe. They are given the following powers: Destruction - Fayt, Alteration - Maria, and Connection - Sophia. I'm leaving Sophia Esteed out of the equation due to how and when her powers manifested in the game. Unlike the situations for Fayt and Maria, Sophia's situation for manifestation isn't severe. It's more of getting to the right point in the game when her powers trigger. The reasons for her power manifestation are completely different from those surrounding Fayt and Maria.
To start off with, let it be noted that both situations surrounding Fayt and Maria are quite extreme. For Maria, she's sixteen at the time (shown via a flashback in which Maria relates her story to Fayt), and the ship she's on is in danger of being destroyed. For those of you who haven't played the game, Maria is on an anti-Pangalactic Federation ship known as the Diplo. This anti-Pangalactic Federation organization is known as Quark, and Quark is founded by a Klausian man named Cliff Fittir. Cliff is also on the Diplo at the time of the attack, and, with his ship's engines down and very little hope of being able to return fire and get rid of this pesky Federation ship that's out to destroy them, he leans back and says something about giving up. Maria, flashed back to a painful childhood memory where she's lost both of her parents in the same fell swoop, declares, "No! We can't ever give up!" She then gives the order to fire the torpedoes, and they hit their mark. At the same time, her powers have manifested, symbols glowing bright from the center of her forehead. It is an extreme situation where lives are on the line, including the life of Maria Traydor. It is that situation that calls forth her powers of Alteration. Once the other ship is destroyed, Maria falls unconscious and fellow Quark members Mirage and Marietta run to her side.
Now, to possess the power of Alteration means that the one with said power is able to manipulate the matter of all kinds of objects. In a demonstration of her powers to Fayt, Maria singles out a vase in the castle of Aquaria and destroys all but that vase with a single shot from her phase gun. Fayt is stunned and wonders how it's even possible. At this point, I should mention that Fayt knows nothing about the research performed by his parents and their scientists friends. In fact, the group of scientists involved in this kind of research is quite small - Fayt's parents, Maria's mother, and Sophia's father. Maria discovers bits and pieces of the truth by hacking into the Pangalactic Federation's computers. It's how she learns about Fayt and decides she wants to meet him.
Rewind to several minutes before in the game where a decisive battle has been fought but not between enemies Quark and the Pangalactic Federation. Rather it's being fought between two kingdoms on an under developed planet called Elicoor II. Star Ocean 3 fans will recall this moment quite well. The fighting between Airyglyph and Aquaria is over land, and it's reaching a culmination, only to be ended by the arrival of what everyone dubs a celestial ship. That is, everyone but Cliff and Fayt dub it a celestial ship. They know it to be a vessel belonging to a shark-like group of aliens called the Vendeeni, and the Vendeeni are not out to play nice. They're firing indiscriminately at Glyphian and Aquarian alike, raining havoc and death on the land. The only thing the Vendeeni care about is capturing Fayt, and Cliff lets it slip as the two run for the village of Arias and witness as someone they know is caught in the crossfires. When he realizes what's happening, Fayt becomes not only frustrated but angry that the Vendeeni would not only hunt him down the way that they have but attack and kill innocent people. Cue Fayt's manifestation and the complete and utter destruction of the Vendeen ship. There isn't even space dust left. Exhausted, Fayt falls unconscious, white feathers floating to the ground where he lays.
As one might guess, both situations are extreme. One might even surmise that their lives were in mortal danger, and that is why their powers manifested as strongly as they did. In fact, in the manga for Till the End of Time, Maria says out loud her theory that their powers are triggered as self-defense mechanisms since their bodies are those of living weapons. I disagree with this theory.
While it is true both situations where the full manifestations are extreme and fraught with danger, only Maria's life was truly in danger in her situation. She is the only on a ship that's in danger of being annihilated. It helps that there are others on board the Diplo in as much danger as she, but the truth remains her life was the one truly in danger. I argue the exact opposite is true for Fayt, and here's why.
The first major boss of the game isn't on under developed planet of Elicoor II, but rather on under developed planet Vanguard III. Naturally, those playing Till the End of Time run around as Fayt Leingod. The story revolves mostly around him anyway, and the one thing that I find fascinating is the first attempt at Fayt's powers to manifest.
You see, Fayt is trying to keep a low profile on Vanguard III. He's escaped two hellish situations on Hyda IV and a Federation transport ship called the Hellre. Both have been attacked and nearly destroyed by the Vendeeni, and his escape pod has landed on Vanguard III with a distress signal being emanated for the search and rescue teams. He heads for the nearest village for safety, and hoping that those who find him will understand his motives for doing so and not press charges against him. He returns to escape pod so he can repair a music box for the little girl and her older brother who helped to save his life, only to find the escape pod has been torn apart. The next day he finds the older brother has gone missing. Fayt finds him in the "tender" care of another off-worlder, a man by the name of Norton. When Norton laughs and brags about how he's going to build his own kingdom on Vanguard III, regardless of who he has to kill to do so, Fayt is one POed camper, so much so, the center of his forehead begins to glow and symbols start to form. The only thing that saves Norton from complete annihilation is the appearance of Cliff Fittir. (Yes, people who have never played the game before, the same Cliff Fittir who founded Quark.) While it can be argued that, yes, Fayt's life was in danger from Norton, it wasn't his life he was worried about when he faced off against the other man before Cliff's arrival. It was the wanton killing of innocent people and his anger towards Norton that started to trigger his powers. Also, let's fast forward to the Vendeeni event on Elicoor II. While it's true they're firing at everyone on the ground, they're also taking great pains to avoid hitting Fayt. At this point in the game, their ultimate goal is to capture Fayt because of his powers. They're firing at random and yet not at random. They're trying to entice him to appear so that they can capture him. It's his anger, once again, at the wanton destruction and killing, that causes his powers to manifest.It's also the knowledge that they're doing so because they're after him and he doesn't understand or even know why that triggers such a strong emotional response in him.
Please understand, my fellow Star Ocean fans and people who have yet to play the games, this is just a speculation and a bit of a character study for both Fayt and Maria on my part. The situations that caused their manifestations to trigger are, indeed, different, as are their emotional responses to those situations. I'm not entirely sure what the writers' goals were with Maria and perhaps Sophia, aside from the romantic interests for Fayt at the end of the game and the fact they're needed in order to crossover from three-dimensional space over to four-dimensional space. (Sophia is the connection, Maria is able to unconsciously alter anyone with her as they cross over.)
I could keep on writing about which characters experienced growth from the moment he or she appeared in the game and which ones seemed to stagnate. I could, but I won't. That is actually an entry in its own right. This is more of a comparison between two people who manifested great symbological powers at two different points in the game (and the manga) and what caused those triggers. I realize that not everyone will agree with me on this, which is quite all right. :) I welcome all differing opinions.
Let me start off by welcoming you to this humble journal where I will discuss all things Star Ocean. This won't be just to review the games that are out there. Let's face it. There are only a grand total of five (this is counting the Gameboy Blue Sphere game) so there isn't much in the way of reviewing the games. For me, right now, that could be done in two entries, as I've only played Star Ocean: Till the End of Time and Star Ocean: The Last Hope International thus far. Even going with a merchandise list might only take an entry or two.
With this journal, I not only intend to review the games, compile a list of merchandise that's available to all Star Ocean fans, and reveal where said merchandise can be found, but showcase cosplays and artwork of others, write some character studies, discuss the high and low points of the games' plots, and post my own fanfiction for the series. I also hopefully will be able to show photos of my own Star Ocean cosplays, once I have them started and completed. Some of the merchandise that's available will take some time to compile as well, as I will be going by what's in my collection, the collections of friends from deviantArt, and what I've been able to find on sites like eBay. Any and all photos of cosplays and artwork will be credited to the proper people. There are many talented people out there, and they deserve any and all credit for their hardwork. All fanfiction in this journal will be mine. I'll post links to the fanfiction of others.
So what's first for the inaugural entry of a Star Ocean blog? The reasons for manifestation? Girl, what on Earth are you talking about? I am talking about two of the main character cast of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, Fayt Leingod and Maria Traydor. As most people who've played Till the End of Time know, the characters of Fayt Leingod, Maria Traydor, and Sophia Esteed are the ones chosen by a group of scientists (their parents) to save the universe. They are given the following powers: Destruction - Fayt, Alteration - Maria, and Connection - Sophia. I'm leaving Sophia Esteed out of the equation due to how and when her powers manifested in the game. Unlike the situations for Fayt and Maria, Sophia's situation for manifestation isn't severe. It's more of getting to the right point in the game when her powers trigger. The reasons for her power manifestation are completely different from those surrounding Fayt and Maria.
To start off with, let it be noted that both situations surrounding Fayt and Maria are quite extreme. For Maria, she's sixteen at the time (shown via a flashback in which Maria relates her story to Fayt), and the ship she's on is in danger of being destroyed. For those of you who haven't played the game, Maria is on an anti-Pangalactic Federation ship known as the Diplo. This anti-Pangalactic Federation organization is known as Quark, and Quark is founded by a Klausian man named Cliff Fittir. Cliff is also on the Diplo at the time of the attack, and, with his ship's engines down and very little hope of being able to return fire and get rid of this pesky Federation ship that's out to destroy them, he leans back and says something about giving up. Maria, flashed back to a painful childhood memory where she's lost both of her parents in the same fell swoop, declares, "No! We can't ever give up!" She then gives the order to fire the torpedoes, and they hit their mark. At the same time, her powers have manifested, symbols glowing bright from the center of her forehead. It is an extreme situation where lives are on the line, including the life of Maria Traydor. It is that situation that calls forth her powers of Alteration. Once the other ship is destroyed, Maria falls unconscious and fellow Quark members Mirage and Marietta run to her side.
Now, to possess the power of Alteration means that the one with said power is able to manipulate the matter of all kinds of objects. In a demonstration of her powers to Fayt, Maria singles out a vase in the castle of Aquaria and destroys all but that vase with a single shot from her phase gun. Fayt is stunned and wonders how it's even possible. At this point, I should mention that Fayt knows nothing about the research performed by his parents and their scientists friends. In fact, the group of scientists involved in this kind of research is quite small - Fayt's parents, Maria's mother, and Sophia's father. Maria discovers bits and pieces of the truth by hacking into the Pangalactic Federation's computers. It's how she learns about Fayt and decides she wants to meet him.
Rewind to several minutes before in the game where a decisive battle has been fought but not between enemies Quark and the Pangalactic Federation. Rather it's being fought between two kingdoms on an under developed planet called Elicoor II. Star Ocean 3 fans will recall this moment quite well. The fighting between Airyglyph and Aquaria is over land, and it's reaching a culmination, only to be ended by the arrival of what everyone dubs a celestial ship. That is, everyone but Cliff and Fayt dub it a celestial ship. They know it to be a vessel belonging to a shark-like group of aliens called the Vendeeni, and the Vendeeni are not out to play nice. They're firing indiscriminately at Glyphian and Aquarian alike, raining havoc and death on the land. The only thing the Vendeeni care about is capturing Fayt, and Cliff lets it slip as the two run for the village of Arias and witness as someone they know is caught in the crossfires. When he realizes what's happening, Fayt becomes not only frustrated but angry that the Vendeeni would not only hunt him down the way that they have but attack and kill innocent people. Cue Fayt's manifestation and the complete and utter destruction of the Vendeen ship. There isn't even space dust left. Exhausted, Fayt falls unconscious, white feathers floating to the ground where he lays.
As one might guess, both situations are extreme. One might even surmise that their lives were in mortal danger, and that is why their powers manifested as strongly as they did. In fact, in the manga for Till the End of Time, Maria says out loud her theory that their powers are triggered as self-defense mechanisms since their bodies are those of living weapons. I disagree with this theory.
While it is true both situations where the full manifestations are extreme and fraught with danger, only Maria's life was truly in danger in her situation. She is the only on a ship that's in danger of being annihilated. It helps that there are others on board the Diplo in as much danger as she, but the truth remains her life was the one truly in danger. I argue the exact opposite is true for Fayt, and here's why.
The first major boss of the game isn't on under developed planet of Elicoor II, but rather on under developed planet Vanguard III. Naturally, those playing Till the End of Time run around as Fayt Leingod. The story revolves mostly around him anyway, and the one thing that I find fascinating is the first attempt at Fayt's powers to manifest.
You see, Fayt is trying to keep a low profile on Vanguard III. He's escaped two hellish situations on Hyda IV and a Federation transport ship called the Hellre. Both have been attacked and nearly destroyed by the Vendeeni, and his escape pod has landed on Vanguard III with a distress signal being emanated for the search and rescue teams. He heads for the nearest village for safety, and hoping that those who find him will understand his motives for doing so and not press charges against him. He returns to escape pod so he can repair a music box for the little girl and her older brother who helped to save his life, only to find the escape pod has been torn apart. The next day he finds the older brother has gone missing. Fayt finds him in the "tender" care of another off-worlder, a man by the name of Norton. When Norton laughs and brags about how he's going to build his own kingdom on Vanguard III, regardless of who he has to kill to do so, Fayt is one POed camper, so much so, the center of his forehead begins to glow and symbols start to form. The only thing that saves Norton from complete annihilation is the appearance of Cliff Fittir. (Yes, people who have never played the game before, the same Cliff Fittir who founded Quark.) While it can be argued that, yes, Fayt's life was in danger from Norton, it wasn't his life he was worried about when he faced off against the other man before Cliff's arrival. It was the wanton killing of innocent people and his anger towards Norton that started to trigger his powers. Also, let's fast forward to the Vendeeni event on Elicoor II. While it's true they're firing at everyone on the ground, they're also taking great pains to avoid hitting Fayt. At this point in the game, their ultimate goal is to capture Fayt because of his powers. They're firing at random and yet not at random. They're trying to entice him to appear so that they can capture him. It's his anger, once again, at the wanton destruction and killing, that causes his powers to manifest.It's also the knowledge that they're doing so because they're after him and he doesn't understand or even know why that triggers such a strong emotional response in him.
Please understand, my fellow Star Ocean fans and people who have yet to play the games, this is just a speculation and a bit of a character study for both Fayt and Maria on my part. The situations that caused their manifestations to trigger are, indeed, different, as are their emotional responses to those situations. I'm not entirely sure what the writers' goals were with Maria and perhaps Sophia, aside from the romantic interests for Fayt at the end of the game and the fact they're needed in order to crossover from three-dimensional space over to four-dimensional space. (Sophia is the connection, Maria is able to unconsciously alter anyone with her as they cross over.)
I could keep on writing about which characters experienced growth from the moment he or she appeared in the game and which ones seemed to stagnate. I could, but I won't. That is actually an entry in its own right. This is more of a comparison between two people who manifested great symbological powers at two different points in the game (and the manga) and what caused those triggers. I realize that not everyone will agree with me on this, which is quite all right. :) I welcome all differing opinions.
