The Star Ocean Universe

The Demon-Infested Worlds of Star Ocean

It isn't any secret that many people on Earth believe in the existence of demons. There are the mythical demons portrayed throughout in history from various religions, and then there are the personal demons that consume a person - drinking, drugs, sex addiction, gambling, etc . . . Depending on the culture determines whether or not the demons walk amongst us or need to be summoned into our world.

The same can be said of the underdeveloped planets presented in the Star Ocean series. Because the cultures are similar to that of Earth, the belief in demons, spirits, and other phenomena they don't know how to quite yet explain. It helps that such planets have the added bonus of symbology. Once magic is introduced into a culture, something that can manifest itself and defy all logical explanation for why it's happened, things can happen that no one has ever seen before. For example. Lymle, in The Last Hope, has entered the demon world as the Lemurisians know it. It's where she found Cerberus, and she uses symbology to summon him in battle. (This tidbit comes from talking to Lutea on Lemuris after the events on Aeos and En II.) Roak has Asmodeus, who has somehow managed to warp and pervert symbology in order to resurrect himself, and, on Elicoor II, there are demonic creatures roaming the Ancient Ruins of Mosel. Like Asmodeus, they, too, can use symbols when fighting enemies, and they rely on brute strength to crush their opponents.

Of course, given from where the games originate, much of the monster database could be considered demonic in nature. This would be more on the cultural level since, to my understanding, demons in Asia took on many forms as opposed to how Christians, Jews, and Muslims depict them in their story-telling. While demons in the Ancient Ruins of Mosel look very much like the demons depicted in Christian artwork, it could be said that the other creatures who roam the lands hail more from the Chinese and Japanese cultures - horned wolves, for example.

What creatures do you think could resemble demons?

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Game Tip - Stocking Up on Provisions

Many long time players of Star Ocean - indeed, most any game - will already know to to do this particular action. This is for the beginners who discover this journal.

Stock up on your provisions.

This is something I can't emphasize enough for the Star Ocean games. It goes back to the youtube clip I watched where the first time a player went up against Luther, I was mentally screaming in my head at the numerous mistakes I saw this person make (low on fresh sage to start, Sophia casting offensive spells instead of focusing on healing, and the fresh sage being tossed out instead of Sophia casting Restoration when she was alive, etc . . .).

Now, there is a limit on how much of any particular item the party can carry. It isn't like in Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, where the player can stock up on ninety-nine healing herbs, antidotes, etc . . ., or, in the case of Star Ocean, blueberries, blackberries, etc . . .

This is because, unlike in Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, the player can invent items that have similar properties as the restorative items bought in the game. Thus there is the limit of twenty compared to the ninety-nine in the other games. (I'm not counting Dragon Quest: Swords in this . . . that game is just flat out strange but I still love it.) Utilize those twenty slots wisely! I know it's annoying in Till the End of Time to have to guess what you're inventing, especially in the cooking and compounding categories (where most of the restorative items are created), but it's better to make a bunch of junk, sell, and continue your item creation over dying repeatedly in the same battle because you're not properly prepared.

So stock up on your provisions! Especially do this when you know you're heading towards a boss fight and will be too far from an inn. It beats having to leave a boss fight area after who knows how many defeats in order to do just that. Those resurrection mists and elixirs definitely come in handy.

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Happy birthday, Stephen D. "Lightspeed" Kenny

Yep. Here it is. Another assigned birthday by me, this time for Stephen D. "Lightspeed" Kenny!
 

Accomplishments

 

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Lightspeed Kenny

His ship's computers wailed and screamed at the amount of stress it was under. Around him, missiles exploded, rocking the vessel between each impact. Many of the ship's systems refused to cooperate with him, and he struggled to remain in the air. He wasn't about to give up, though. He couldn't give up. There was too much at stake. He wrestled for control . . .

Seconds later, he escaped the fire zone, and Stephen breathed a sigh of relief. Behind him, he still heard the explosions as other pilots conitnued their dogfight. A few commands later, he knew the extent of the damage to his plane, and he headed back into the fray. Somewhere out there was Shimada, hanging back and shouting out commands. Stephen didn't care. There was fighting to do, a battle and a war to be won.

He piloted the ship back towards the fray. Many enemy ships were in front of him as well as those of his allies. Stephen knew what he needed to do. He pushed himself forward, willing his ship to go faster, faster than the speed of light. The fighting had end. Too many innocent people were dying. If the fighting didn't end soon, there wouldn't be anyone left to tell the story. Let Shimada stand back and be the coward that he truly was. Kenny would win the fight, win the day.

It was what he had to do. For the people. For Earth.

For peace.