Some more NPC action - An Inconsistency/An Irritant/Cosplay Costumes You Can Find for Sale

[star_ocean_fan]

The Sibling Factor

In my entry on 02/20/2012, I wrote about an NPC interaction from the beginning of Star Ocean: The Last Hope. I spoke of it because someone had asked me what I thought of the ending for the quest of "The Missing Patient". This same person also asked about another NPC conversation that takes place before the quest issued by Airi. The conversation, of course, is with Rich, the missing patient from the aforementioned quest, and how Reimi reacts when talking to him before setting out to the Eremia.

Now, like the conversation with Airi, I'd started a new play-through to find out about Rich and his potential sibling status with Reimi. I initiated the conversation with Rich as he's on the Calnus, being treated for severe injuries. I think I went through the conversation a little too fast, despite trying to determine what he is to Reimi.

When you talk with Rich on the Calnus after the bug attack, he speaks as if he's dying. Given he's in a lot of pain and got his behind handed to him by bugs the size of monster trucks, he probably thinks he's dying. Because he speaks like he's dying, Rich speaks of his parents and his sister, and Reimi reacts with the "Don't talk that way! You're going to make it!" attitude that does speak volumes. Based on those interactions alone, I'd say Rich and Reimi are brother and sister.

However, I have a problem with the potential of a sibling on the same space exploration mission as one of the main characters of the game. For starters, the sibling gets shoved to the very back burner of the story. The sibling is only someone you can interact with by talking to so you don't get to know the character through game play. Also, as the game's events play out, the sibling hardly enters the main character or playable character's mind. It's like the sibling isn't an integral part of that particular character's life, despite the fact the two were raised together, played together, and fought in the way that only siblings can.

As the older sister in my family, I know I don't always think about my brothers, sister, and stepbrother when I'm off having a great adventure. However, the current times are not quite as turbulent as exploring habitable planets would be. Despite the Eldarian base, there are still dangers on Aeos. While I believe the character of Rich is, in fact, Reimi's brother (possibly older brother, considering her age), I also feel that mentioning him as her brother in the manner it was done is very cheap and exploitable in an effort to perhaps drum up sympathy for Reimi. After all, Edge is an only child and has already lost his family. For the most part, he's gained the player's sympathy for everything he's lost and the eventual guilt trip he puts himself through. Reimi, on the other hand, comes across as annoying and clingy. I'm quite confident that wasn't the designers' intentions when creating her, but, out of everyone in the game, she doesn't lose much, and her angst comes from her "secret" of having been genetically altered.

Which is one more reason why I have a problem with the whole sibling scenario that can come up in The Last Hope. If Reimi was given the ability to adapt to her environment (such as succumbing to illness), why wasn't Rich involved with this as well? Why only put one child through such an ordeal that  has caused some considerable trauma and not the other? Why pin all of your hopes and the hope for all of humanity on one of your children and not both? This is an inconsistency in details that I don't care for because it's these kind of details that can ultimately kill a storyline.

Finally, I don't care for the whole sibling thing because of what happens when the Calnus returns to the planet Aeos to discover the destruction of the base. Upon seeing the destruction, the first person's name to leave Reimi's mouth is Captain Grafton's name. Not the name of her alleged brother. What is the point of alluding to a potential sibling relationship if the sibling, when faced with the possibility of said sibling's death, isn't first and foremost in the character's mind when seeing the destruction first hand? The sibling factor wasn't really thought out well enough by the designers or the writers. Yes, you have to trigger the dialogue at the right point in order to get the allusion, but the overall inclusion of that bears no impact on the later events and thus makes the whole conversation with Rich before fighting the first boss of the game completely irrelevant.

 

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An Irritant
 

Now for some merchandise complaints. I haven't focused so much on compiling merchandise yet, being busy with writing and more writing and job hunting, but I have seen enough Star Ocean merchandise to know that Square Enix hasn't catered to the Star Ocean fans the same way they've catered to the Final Fantasy VII and Dragon Quest fans.

YES, my friends, there is official Star Ocean merchandise available. Knowing what to look for and where to look is key. However, if you haven't started to look for anything Star Ocean related aside from the games and strategy guides, there is something I must say in addition to Don't expect a whole hell of a lot.

There are collectible PVC figures for Star Ocean. Make no mistake on that. So far, from constantly checking eBay and typing "Star Ocean" into deviantArt's search engine, there is a very small selection of PVC characters available. There is nothing for the first Star Ocean game for collectible figures. For Second Story/Second Evolution, there are Claude C. Kenny and Rena Lanford for the Star Ocean Radiata Stories collection series.

Till the End of Time does see a better selection, but it is very screwballed. Naturally, there are figures for Fayt Leingod. He's the hero of the story, and you can find at least three different figures for Fayt. One is by Kotobukiya while the other two are by Trading Arts. For the first Trading Arts, Fayt is poised to either defend or attack. The second, which is the Star Ocean Radiata Stories set, has Fayt posed for his Ethereal Blast attack, wings and all. There are also figures for Sophia Esteed, Cliff Fittir, Nel Zelpher, Roger S. Huxley, and Peppita Rosetti with Welch Vineyard and the Ethereal Queen as secret characters for their respective series. Star Ocean Radiata Stories only see Fayt, Sophia, Claude, Rena, and the Ethereal Queen, while the other set sees the aforementioned characters with Welch as the secret character. Trading Arts also does variants - Star Ocean Radiata Stories have painted and ivory/marble copies of each character while the other set sees the painted and a blue/clear set. Kotobukiya, to my knowledge, didn't do any variants.

The Last Hope, in terms of figures, is less pathetic than Second Story/Second Evolution, but is more pathetic than Till the End of Time. Once again, Trading Arts has released PVCs for the game, but the selection is very miniscule, five characters in total - Edge, Reimi, Faize, Lymle, and Meracle. Play Arts has released two pose able figures in Edge and Reimi, but the rest of the cast gets stinted.

The selection for collectible figures is very disappointing, and it has had many fans scratching their heads, saying, "WTF?!", especially when it comes to Till the End of Time. Of the characters released as collectibles, only four make sense - Fayt, Sophia, Cliff, and Nel. Fayt because he's the hero, Sophia and Cliff because they're ones you get no matter what, and Nel because she plays a huge part in the game. Granted, she's not one who you're "stuck" with for the entire game, but most people recruit her because she's been an integral part of the party dynamics since the crash-landing on Elicoor II. What isn't understandable are the inclusions of Roger and Peppita, Welch, and, to me, The Ethereal Queen. Peppita's impact on the story is only at the beginning of the game and then again on Moonbase after arriving. (She throws a stone at Fayt and hits him in the back of the head, knocking him down.) Roger, the only way a player will even truly know of his existence is either by heading to the thieves' cabin or, if not heading to the cabin and triggering those events, at the end of the game which shows him still in the cage after the credits have rolled. Welch and the Ethereal Queen are somewhat understandable . . . Welch plays an integral part of the story with item creation (and is in at least two of the games - players of First Departure, Second Story/Second Evolution, and Blue Sphere will know if she appears in them in some other form), and the Ethereal Queen is the boss one fights after fighting all the way through Sphere 211. However, I don't understand the Ethereal Queen . . . I realize she's a villain of sorts, but she isn't in the main story of the game. Luther is the main villain of the game. The Ethereal Queen is from Valkyrie Profile. Also, in terms of characters playing major parts in the storyline, I don't understand why Maria was left out of the collectible figure scene or Albel Nox, Mirage Kaos, and Adray Lasbard. Mirage and Adray are ones who are like Cliff, Sophia, and Maria - you don't have a choice about keeping them. They're your characters to play as how you see fit. The recruitables are Nel, Albel, Roger, and Peppita.
As for The Last Hope, it baffles me as to why there weren't more released and why Meracle was chosen over Bacchus, Myuria, Sarah, or Crowe in part. I get that she's a cat, basically, but her pose as a PVC seems a bit strange (she's jumping in the air). I'd like to see more for this game as well.

The lack of collectible figures for this series is irritating. Heck, the lack of overall merchandise in general is irritating to me. I love this series. I'd love to collect anything and everything that I can when it comes to the official merchandise, even for the characters I don't like. However, at this point in time, it seems very doubtful that, unless the series experiences a surge in popularity that can rival that of Final Fantasy VII and the Dragon Quest series, we'll see any more official releases of merchandise.

 

 

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Cosplay For Sale

I'd like to end this entry with cosplay. Those who've attended conventions have seen people dressed up as beloved characters from favorite cartoons, anime, manga, JPop/JRock artists, and video games. Star Ocean is no different. For those of you who wish to dress up as a beloved character from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, there are some costumes you can buy relatively cheaply on eBay, especially if you're in danger of sewing your fingers together. :)

On eBay, one can find costumes for Maria Traydor (outfit only), Nel Zelpher (outfit only), Peppita Rosetti (outfit and shoes), and Albel Nox (outfit and wig). If those are not the ones you're interested in cosplaying as, please contact the people who are selling the costumes. Some will offer to do commissions for a relatively cheap price.