I Need to Get My Game ON
Jul. 20th, 2017 11:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
star_ocean_fanI currently have Star Ocean: Till the End of Time sitting in my PS2 when Star Ocean: Second Story deserves at least one play-through from me, if not two or three, based on the different ways to recruit characters. As I chose Claude for my first play-through, I cannot Dias Flac, and he's turning out to be one of my favorite characters from the game (based on the interactions I've had with him). I'm also loving Ashton, but I will have to not allow my pity for him to guide me so I can at least get to know other characters.
Part of my problem with the second Star Ocean game is that I feel like I've played it before . . . in Final Fantasy VII. Final Fantasy VII was released in 1997, and I didn't get to play it for many years after the fact until like . . . 2009 or thereabouts. (My brother loaned me his copy of FF7 so I could play, and, man, was I ever excited over it!)
I haven't gotten very far in Second Story right this moment, but, based on everything I've learned so far in the game, a lot of the elements are extremely similar to Final Fantasy VII. Extremely. An object falling from the sky, causing trouble. The angst-filled hero . . . Comparing Second Story with Till the End of Time, story-wise, Till the End of Time, story-wise, can actually stand by itself because it isn't relying on copying FF7's success or storyline.
Of course, Star Ocean does cash in on some of the success of the Final Fantasy franchise. The stories of each game are actually very independent of each other so playing Game 5 is not reliant on playing Games 3 and 4. So that particular aspect is quite refreshing (especially since, until Sony released the games on the PSP, no one in the U.S. had ever played the first game, and I played Till the End of Time first over Second Story and The Last Hope went in another direction entirely).
And, in speaking of The Last Hope, I want to bring this up as a conversation topic, to get everyone's input on this.
A while back, on facebook, I shared a link to a story that crossed both games. The story has long since vanished from Archive of Our Own (which is a bummer - I did want to read how that was going to play out), but, in their author's notes, the writers mentioned that The Last Hope actually took place outside of the Eternal Sphere and thus had no connections whatsoever to any of the previous Star Ocean games. They said it because that's what the Perfect Guide for The Last Hope had mentioned.
Now, I do want to get my hands on the Perfect Guide (simply because it is Star Ocean and every bit of information helps in maintaining these blogs and pages), but, at the same time, I have a hard time believing this, if only because of how the game plays out. Everything that happens in The Last Hope has an effect on what happens in the games that follow. In fact, because OF The Last Hope, I put forth the theory that the entire gaming platform of the Eternal Sphere was that of one massive MMORPG where 4-D beings could play at any given point in history and place in the Eternal Sphere.
So how would this be possible, the events of The Last Hope being outside the events of the entire Eternal Sphere? While maintaining that the Eternal Sphere is this massive, multi-timeline, multi-planet MMORPG, The Last Hope could fall outside of the Eternal Sphere for this particular reason: It's a reboot of the gaming system. A pilot program, if you will.
Mind you, there is nothing in the game itself that suggests it's outside the events of Games 1-3 and 5. The UP3 is there, or at least its conception. The beginnings of the Pangalactic Federation are there. The last name of Kenny is there (which, if everyone remembers, Kenny is the prominent name throughout the whole series and at least gets honorable mention in Game 3's dictionary).
That is my theory on how The Last Hope can exist outside the Eternal Sphere. It doesn't necessarily explain Welch's appearance in every. Single. Game. But it is something.
By the way, guys, those of you who are claiming that Welch is a 4-D being and that's how come she's in every. Single. Game. I BELIEVE YOU. I really do. That particular theory lends to my theory of the Eternal Sphere being the MMORPG on that massive scale.
Lend me your thoughts on the MMORPG theory and where The Last Hope stands in the comments, guys. I would love to hear from you on that.
Some cosplay notes: My green coat for the Fayt Leingod cosplay variant needs some repair. One of the buttons came off, no biggie, really, and I need to find some braiding that won't fall off. I now have some styrofoam balls and paints to try and recreate Fiore's weapons from Integrity and Faithlessness for the Fayt cosplay. Fayt can use symbology some so why not, plus they're going to be easier "weapons" to carry at cons and in public than, say, swords (though I plan on creating a sword for the cosplay, too).
I'll get pictures up as soon as I have things completed.
Finally, well, I want to attempt yet again to revive the Ask the Star Ocean Character segments to this blog. I actually had fun doing those. I'll post tomorrow the rules I've set forth. Know that I will start over again, and I'll be starting with Reimi Saionji.
That's all for now! I have a book to write!
Part of my problem with the second Star Ocean game is that I feel like I've played it before . . . in Final Fantasy VII. Final Fantasy VII was released in 1997, and I didn't get to play it for many years after the fact until like . . . 2009 or thereabouts. (My brother loaned me his copy of FF7 so I could play, and, man, was I ever excited over it!)
I haven't gotten very far in Second Story right this moment, but, based on everything I've learned so far in the game, a lot of the elements are extremely similar to Final Fantasy VII. Extremely. An object falling from the sky, causing trouble. The angst-filled hero . . . Comparing Second Story with Till the End of Time, story-wise, Till the End of Time, story-wise, can actually stand by itself because it isn't relying on copying FF7's success or storyline.
Of course, Star Ocean does cash in on some of the success of the Final Fantasy franchise. The stories of each game are actually very independent of each other so playing Game 5 is not reliant on playing Games 3 and 4. So that particular aspect is quite refreshing (especially since, until Sony released the games on the PSP, no one in the U.S. had ever played the first game, and I played Till the End of Time first over Second Story and The Last Hope went in another direction entirely).
And, in speaking of The Last Hope, I want to bring this up as a conversation topic, to get everyone's input on this.
A while back, on facebook, I shared a link to a story that crossed both games. The story has long since vanished from Archive of Our Own (which is a bummer - I did want to read how that was going to play out), but, in their author's notes, the writers mentioned that The Last Hope actually took place outside of the Eternal Sphere and thus had no connections whatsoever to any of the previous Star Ocean games. They said it because that's what the Perfect Guide for The Last Hope had mentioned.
Now, I do want to get my hands on the Perfect Guide (simply because it is Star Ocean and every bit of information helps in maintaining these blogs and pages), but, at the same time, I have a hard time believing this, if only because of how the game plays out. Everything that happens in The Last Hope has an effect on what happens in the games that follow. In fact, because OF The Last Hope, I put forth the theory that the entire gaming platform of the Eternal Sphere was that of one massive MMORPG where 4-D beings could play at any given point in history and place in the Eternal Sphere.
So how would this be possible, the events of The Last Hope being outside the events of the entire Eternal Sphere? While maintaining that the Eternal Sphere is this massive, multi-timeline, multi-planet MMORPG, The Last Hope could fall outside of the Eternal Sphere for this particular reason: It's a reboot of the gaming system. A pilot program, if you will.
Mind you, there is nothing in the game itself that suggests it's outside the events of Games 1-3 and 5. The UP3 is there, or at least its conception. The beginnings of the Pangalactic Federation are there. The last name of Kenny is there (which, if everyone remembers, Kenny is the prominent name throughout the whole series and at least gets honorable mention in Game 3's dictionary).
That is my theory on how The Last Hope can exist outside the Eternal Sphere. It doesn't necessarily explain Welch's appearance in every. Single. Game. But it is something.
By the way, guys, those of you who are claiming that Welch is a 4-D being and that's how come she's in every. Single. Game. I BELIEVE YOU. I really do. That particular theory lends to my theory of the Eternal Sphere being the MMORPG on that massive scale.
Lend me your thoughts on the MMORPG theory and where The Last Hope stands in the comments, guys. I would love to hear from you on that.
Some cosplay notes: My green coat for the Fayt Leingod cosplay variant needs some repair. One of the buttons came off, no biggie, really, and I need to find some braiding that won't fall off. I now have some styrofoam balls and paints to try and recreate Fiore's weapons from Integrity and Faithlessness for the Fayt cosplay. Fayt can use symbology some so why not, plus they're going to be easier "weapons" to carry at cons and in public than, say, swords (though I plan on creating a sword for the cosplay, too).
I'll get pictures up as soon as I have things completed.
Finally, well, I want to attempt yet again to revive the Ask the Star Ocean Character segments to this blog. I actually had fun doing those. I'll post tomorrow the rules I've set forth. Know that I will start over again, and I'll be starting with Reimi Saionji.
That's all for now! I have a book to write!
