The Star Ocean Universe

Yesterday, I asked the question what I believed everyone thought Edge's powers were based upon what they observed in the game. People can look at the in-game dictionary to learn a little bit more - I know I have - but I, personally, am still unclear as to what his genetic alteration's effects are on him. With Reimi, it's quite clear. She can recover from an illness once her body realizes how to combat it when said illness could kill another person.

Edge, we do get clues. When he receives a burst of adrenaline in an intense situation, the crest on his right hand lights up, and he's ready for battle. Really, though, what does that crest do? When looking at the weapons in The Calnus, Edge finds one and laments how he was never able to hit any target with it. The changes Edge undergoes aren't visible to us. We do know that he's quick at calculating what move to do next and when in a battle. This is all great for adapting to a harsh environment, but I feel like there is more to it than just being quicker with a sword and casting symbols in and out of battle.

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The Star Ocean Universe asks - Who do you think would win in this kind of a fight: Edge vs. Fayt using Symbology?

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Game Talk, Part Eight - Revamping Till the End of Time

I love, love, love the game of Till the End of Time. I love it. Please make no mistakes on that. At the same time I love it, I feel that it lacks a very strong tale for the wonderful characters that are presented to us. For this Game Talk, I'm going to break down the game's strong and weak points and what I'd like to see if Square Enix were to ever ask me what they could do to improve it for a re-release.

Note: This is not a game review!

Till the End of Time's Strong Points

1 - Graphics
The graphics are visually stunning. The landscapes are real. The characters are real in appearance. Everything about the graphics can lead a player to believe that such events could eventually play out in that kind of a future.

2 - The playable Characters
Each playable Character has a strength that lends to the battle party's overall ability to defeat an enemy. There's a variety from swords and daggers, to fisticuffs and symbology and guns. It's like Star Wars . . . without some creepy dude in black telling you he's your father.

3 - The battles are challenging.
Yes. The player mashes buttons, so to speak, but that doesn't mean the enemies are pushovers. If one isn't careful, it's game over. The player needs to keep an eye, not only on hit points but magic as well. In most other games I've played, no magic simply means the person with the magic can't cast a spell once it hits zero.

4 - Item Creation
I like creating items so that I can "survive" between save points. I like that I can boost the stats of a weapon or a piece of armor and potentially defeat the enemies at a slightly lower level. I like recruiting the inventors, too.

5 - The overall plot
Saving the universe can be quite a mind bender on the person who finds himself or herself in such a situation. Parents making a difficult decision to do what's right by sacrificing their children's forgiveness presents a very moral quandary. It has a lot of potential to be nerve-wracking, exciting and dangerous, and many of those elements are there.

Till the End of Time Weak Points

1 - The overall plot
Yes. The overall plot makes it into the game's weak points as well as the strong points. Saving the universe from destruction of an angry God bent on destruction is cool. Saving the universe from an angry God-like being because his bottom line is being threatened by anomalies and "viruses" and that everything is just a game? It's very lame. While it doesn't make Luther any less of an interesting villain (for me), it does make him to be a pathetic villain.

2 - Lack of Character growth and development
Let's face it. The only character who gets much in the way of development is Fayt. He's the only one who grows from his experiences. Yes, Maria does a little bit, but she still doesn't get much in the way of development. She, and Sophia, are key players as well. While I'm not going to complain about where they arrive as playable characters in the story, they are still flawed and really unaffected by the events taking shape around them.

3 - It doesn't take enough time
I like a good challenge. However, defeating a game in a grand total of three days' time isn't very challenging. People may think that's a long time for a game, but it really isn't that long.

4 - Not enough areas to explores
I don't know about anyone else, but I find it annoying that I can only leave Peterny in three different directions. I come from the south and need to head north once I reach it. I can also head west but not east out of Peterny.

The same holds true for Gemity. I don't want to head to just Arkives or Sphere 211. There's more to explore. The information technology industry is quite fierce. So what? We have Sophia! She has that amazing ability to "connect" to things! Why is it that we're just limited to Gemity?

I also ask what areas lay beyond the palatial cities of Airyglyph and Aquios. I'm an exploration nut. I want to go to all of these areas.

5 - A pathetic villain.
I know. I've said it in the first reason, but Luther really is a weak point in this game. There has to be more as to why he's trying to eradicate these anomalies when all he needs to do is reboot the system, as it were, and start over to get rid of the "viruses" and "bugs". Maybe Luther isn't the true villain, but he's what we're given.

6 - Unrealistic actions in various environments
Okay, this comes from the fact that, in the mountains, the player can run from the castle to Kirlsa with no effect. However, when the player reaches the Mosel Desert, until a particular item is obtained, we have to hop from water hole to water hole because it's so unbearably hot. Why is the mountain not so unbearably cold that heat pockets need to be found in order to keep from freezing to death?

7 - Lame final boss fight
Luther is a challenge if you aren't aware of what it is you need for that battle, both in terms of items and battle set up for the main party. That said, fighting Luther isn't as challenging as it could be. Luther is the Creator. He should be healing himself when he's dangerously close to dead. He should be summoning up little crystal spheres like we see in the Shrine of Kaddan when we go after the Sacred Orb once more. Nearly everything the playable characters can do (minus the non-MP draining special attacks like Sidekick and Fists of Fury), Luther should be able to do as well and with more damage. He should be able to shoot energy from his spear. Luther could be a Bad-A** fight, but they wimped out on him.

8 - Travel time is boring
By this, I mean that it's just too easy in terms of distance and time to get from one city or village to the next. Geographically speaking, for how short of a distance it is to go from Kirlsa to Arias, Airyglyph should have overrun Aquios before Cliff, Mirage, and Fayt arrived, no matter what kind of weapons they created and used to fight back. They wouldn't have had the time.

With all of this in mind, I would definitely, if given the opportunity to talk to the game's developers, say revamp the game's maps and strengthen the plot. Give it more punch. Show us the changes that are affecting everyone.

One thing I'd also like, in addition to the costume changes, is to see the differences in armor for the playable characters. Not every single time a change is made, but often enough to know that they're equipped with different armor.

Finally, I'd love to see an ending for some of the NPCs and villains. I would love to see what happens to Luther afterwards to answer the question, "Is he really dead?". I'd love to see the alternate universe where he ends up with Fayt as his protege (in the event of the Fayt solo ending, based on affinity from others).

There is so much that could be done with this game, and it would definitely elevate the experience.

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Because I ended up procrastinating too much to get this entry done, this will be this week's Game Talk entry.

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Happy belated Birthday, Claude C. Kenny!

Sadly, I don't have any fan art or fanfiction to commemorate the day. If anyone wants to send anything for it, I will gladly post it.

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Birthday Reminders

Birthday List - covering January to June

January 1 (Late; assigned by me) - Crowe F. Almedio
January 23 (official) - Claude C. Kenny
January 25 (assigned by me) - Ilia Silvestri
January 31 (assigned by me) - Ryoko Leingod
February 3 (official) - Faize Sheifa Beleth
February 15 (assigned by me) - Peppita Rosetti
February 16 (official) - Noel Chandler
February 29 (official - can swing to either February 28 or March 1) - Precis F. Neumann
March 2 (assigned by me) - Roger S. Huxley
March 16 (official) - Meracle Chamlotte
March 28 (official) - Reimi Saionji
April 10 (assigned by me) - Adray Lasbard
April 24 (official) - Arumat P. Thanatos
May 5 (official) - Bacchus D-79
May 7 (assigned by me) - Blair Lansfeld
May 13 (official) - Rena Lanford
June 1 (assigned by me) - Cliff Fittir
June 29 (assigned by me) - Maria Traydor
June 30 (official) - Lymle Lemuri Phi

More birthdays will be added in, and reminders will be posted.

Upcoming Holidays:

Valentine's Day - February 14
St. Patrick's Day - March 17
Easter - March 31
Earth Day - April 22
Mother's Day - May 12
Father's Day - June 16

I've added in Earth Day to the list of holidays because of the message that lies behind The Last Hope. I think it's the kind of holiday that Star Ocean fans could have a field day with so I've included it for that purpose alone.

When it comes to the holidays and the birthdays, I am looking for the following: art, stories (one-shots), and poetry. The highest rating I will accept for stories and artwork is R. No explicit material please, and proofread your work. All submissions can be emailed to me at luthersfayt@gmail.com or thestaroceanuniverse@gmail.com and must be submitted no later than midnight the previous day. All genres except for smut accepted.

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Ask the Star Ocean Character For January - Adray Lasbard

There is a slight change for Ask the Star Ocean Character segments. Instead of weekly, the segments will appear once a month on the final day of the month. This will give people time to submit their questions, either here or at fanfiction.net.

The next character in the que is Adray Lasbard from Till the End of Time.

As per usual, the rules are as follows:

Limit three questions per person
No profanity.
Keep it clean (no sex talk)
Be nice
Have fun


Questions need to be submitted by midnight, January 28, 2013, and they can be submitted via comments, private message, or email (luthersfayt@gmail.com or thestaroceanuniverse@gmail.com).

One final thing - please let me know if you wish to remain anonymous or have a specific user handle you'd like for me to use. I will gladly keep the question asker anonymous or use the handle s/he has specified. Otherwise, I will use the name I know you by. This is something that I will be very flexible with because this is based on fan interaction as much as it is what I come up with for it.

For those of you wondering about the Roger segment, I have a few things I want to tweak on it, add to it, and I will post it this Saturday.

Halloween Reminder

Less than a week away from Halloween. Still seeking the following from fellow Star Ocean fans:

Photos - carved pumpkins, cosplay done for Halloween
Halloween art
Halloween fanfic

All Star Ocean games welcome. Submissions must be no higher than PG13 in rating. Implied sexual content is okay but nothing explicit. Chaptered fiction will be accepted on the basis that it's complete. Fiction submissions must include the following:

Title
World
Rating
Pairing (if applicable)
Warnings
Disclaimers on the established characters
Claimers on OCs
Summary
Author's Notes (if applicable)

Submissions should be emailed to me at luthersfayt@gmail.com

Thanks!

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Ask the Star Ocean Character - Deputy Director Shimada, Bacchus D-79, and Peppita Rosetti

Three more reminders for Ask the Star Ocean Character. Taking questions for the following three characters: Deputy Director Shimada, Bacchus D-79, and Peppita Rosetti. Limit three questions per character per person (meaning three questions for Deputy Director Shimada, three for Bacchus, and three for Peppita). No profanity, no vulgarity, or I won't use the questions, and let me know if you wish to remain anonymous or if there's a user name you'd like for me to use. Questions can be submitted to me via PM, comments, or email.

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Game Talk, Part Six - Seventy Years Before Till the End of Time

I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that this particular segment isn't about anything official from Square Enix or tri-Ace. Last I heard, there are no other Star Ocean games currently in the designing or production phases. This is merely what I'd like to see in more games in the future - wishful thinking at its best. Please don't ask me when such games will be released. Chances are, we will probably never see such games . . . not unless we start a petition going on what we'd like to see in future Star Ocean games. This is just a "for your information". It will also be vague so readers can infer their own ideas into what I'm suggesting. Thanks.

This would be a more difficult game to pull off, in my opinion. If I'm recalling correctly for Till the End of Time, the last "major" event to hit the universe was when the Twelve Wise Men set out to destroy the universe. At least, that's the summary given at Star Ocean wikia and in the strategy guide and game manual for Till the End of Time.

However, I think it could be pulled off if done correctly. The Last Hope was the universal threat never told. The same idea could apply to events taking place seventy-years before Till the End of Time and it could demonstrate whether or not changes should be made to the UP3. The pact has been in place for over seven hundred years. I personally wonder if any changes at all have been made to it or if it's been left in its original form since its inception.

A game like this would definitely give people new planets to explore, which is something Star Ocean fans adore. I know I mentioned it before, returns to Aeos and Lemuris, and, if not utilized in another game concept, the returns could happen here. I'd also like to see a break away from some of the usual cast of fighters. A swordsman is definitely in order - what would Star Ocean be without a swordsman in the group? - but a variety of swordsmen, i.e. ranger or ninja, etc . . ., would be interesting. Summoners would be a nice addition to the symbologists category. (We have Lymle in The Last Hope, but she has only one creature at her disposal.) Thieves and bards would be nice to have in the cast of playable cast. A change in how skills are learned would be unique, I like the Crystarium in Final Fantasy XIII as a new way to attain new skills and cross skill sets. That's just something in my mind, though.

While I didn't mention it in some of my other Game Talks, I'd like to see longer game play and more in-depth look at the characters. I don't like to have completed nearly 100% of my game in under thirty hours. It isn't challenging for me. I realize I'm probably one of a few people who are like that, but, as much as I love Till the End of Time and The Last Hope, a lot of my play time is from me running around, filling side quests (The Last Hope), leveling up my characters, and spending time in the optional dungeons. I don't mind new enemies appearing in the optional dungeons after defeating the game, but I don't think the challenges presented in them should be limited to those areas.

Of course, in the optional, post-game dungeons, fighting Gabriel Celesta and the Ethereal Queen are musts for the games I've mentioned in this little series of mine. I can't imagine post-game dungeons without them. Seeing Lenneth would be fun, too . . .

And that's this week's game talk. I'll try to carry it up to a total of thirteen games, to put it on par with the Final Fantasy series. We'll see what I can come up with in the process.

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Halloween and Halloween-like Holidays on Underdeveloped Planets

Halloween has been around on Earth for many centuries. It hasn't always been referred to as Halloween. When the customs surrounding the holiday began, it was referred to as All Hallow's Eve or Samhain. To this day, it's believed that, at the end of October/beginning of November, the veil between the spirit world and world of the living is at its thinnest. The souls of the dead can cross over to visit loved ones.

It isn't too far of a stretch to believe that, on an underdeveloped planet such as Elicoor II and Roak, a holiday similar to Halloween would exist. Belief in the supernatural and paranormal, especially on planets where symbology is common and used for military and healing applications, would be more than abundant among the population and respected. Even as the use of technology increases and more about the natural world is learned, it would still be hard for someone to denounce the customs that surround the Halloween-like holiday.

What such holidays would be called, I'm not entirely sure. One, it depends on the language of the culture in question and the planet as to what the holiday's name would be. How and when the holiday is observed also plays a factor as well as the beliefs surrounding what the supernatural and paranormal creatures that visit would do with the living. It could be similar to Halloween, All Hallow's Eve, or Samhain, or it could be something completely different. For this, it comes down to what the fan wants to do.

As for customs for the holiday in question, I believe there would be customs similar to carving gourds and wearing costumes in order to "confuse" the spirits of the dead and demons. That's something I feel would be universal, that fear of being snatched away in the night by some dark, evil creature . . .

It would be interesting to see how these holidays would compare, collide, mix, match, and clash with traditions we have on Earth.

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Birthday Reminders

October 27 (assigned by me) - Stephen D. Kenny
October 30 (assigned by me) - Albel Nox
November 5 (official) - Myuria Tionysus

Accepting fan art, fanfiction, and poetry for these characters. Please submit everything to me by midnight the previous nights via email: luthersfayt@gmail.com

And that's all for this Thursday. Until tomorrow . . .

Music of the Star Ocean Universe

This isn't a review of the soundtracks for the games, though it is something I can do in a later entry. Nope. This isn't a review of the music. This is more of a question about what the music in the Star Ocean universe would sound like.

I bring this up due to the events of The Last Hope, both in the opening sequences and in the game's events itself. World War III has destroyed everything we know, including the music we listened to as children and adults. No more records, CDs, cassette tapes, or MP3s. It's gone. The generations born during and after World War III won't ever know the sounds of the Beatles, Diana Krall, Garth Brooks, B.B. King, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Nikki Minaj, Adele, or any other artists we enjoy (or don't enjoy). At least, Edge Maverick doesn't know.

Now, if this is the case - the ultimate, unintentional mass destruction of musical formats - what happens to the instruments people use to play music? Granted, one doesn't need an instrument to perform music. Singing acappella is considered to be music, but many of us enjoy instruments to accompany singing or to be there without the singing. Many of us enjoy the sounds of guitars and drums, violins and cellos, flutes and clarinets, saxophones and trumpets, and pianos and xylophones, but, really, we can't afford to hire professional musicians to  play for us at our convenience.

I do think that not all musical instruments end up destroyed in the razing of the lands. Many people who own such instruments would do what they could in order to save such beloved possessions (the same way parents and pet parents would try to save their babies) so music would definitely live on, but would it be in the same vein as we know it?

My answer to this is both yes and no.

For yes, here's what I think wouldn't change: The sounds and compositions of composers like Bach and Beethoven, just to name a few, would invariably find a way to survive as well as gospel music (where hymn books are still used in churches over flat-screen TVs). They would especially survive if the sheet music lay tucked in the cases of violins and cellos instead of on a thumb drive or hard drive of a computer. Thumb drives can be lost or damaged and computers can crash. Naturally, how the musician in question reads music for orchestras would depend on the conductor and the teacher who taught him/her to play, but I think the classical sounds would survive. Then again, anything with actual printed sheet music would survive so long as the people who own the music find a way to preserve them in such a violent time.

As for what would change, genres like rock'n roll, country, blues, jazz, and rhythm and blues would be different without some kind of reference for people who want to play that kind of music to listen to . . . they'd be guessing, unless books on music history and appreciation survive. The recordings, though, are gone so they won't know what it truly sounds like.

Would we have what the Beatles gave us? Jangly guitars and four-part harmonies? Would we have the smooth sounds of jazz and the heartbreak of the blues? I think so. I think, once things start to stabilize on Earth, people will find themselves wanting a distraction, a distraction only music can provide. Instruments will find their way back into the hands of musicians. There's just something about music that just resonates within us, that we just have to have it, and it'll find a way back to the masses.

They just don't know the joys of the music from the 50s and upward to the present day.

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Ask the Star Ocean Character - Bacchus D-79

Taking questions for Bacchus D-79, from The Last Hope. Anyone wanting to ask him questions have until September 19, 2012, at midnight to submit their questions. Limit three questions per person, keep it clean and friendly, and let me know if you wish to remain anonymous for the segment or if you have a specific name you'd like to go by.

Thanks!

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Game Talk, Part Four - Seventy-five Years Before First Departure

This would be trickier to pull off in that we wouldn't, and probably shouldn't, see a return to Roak. That's what, to my understanding, First Departure is for, the kick off for the entire Star Ocean series.

I'd like to find out how come we don't hear about the Morphus. I know from checking over the game manuals in First Departure and Second Story/Second Evolution, the Morphus don't play a huge part in the events of Roak and Expel (unless, of course, they're secretly working behind the scenes and indicating to the Terrain Alliance where they need to go in order to prevent total chaos from arising like in The Last Hope). However, it doesn't explain what happened to them by the time Till the End of Time came into play.

Naturally, the Morphus were probably created when they were coming up with ideas for The Last Hope, but it would still be nice to know what happens to them. When we first meet Bacchus on the Cardianon homeworld, he mentions that the Morphus are trying to escape their own destruction. Perhaps in a prequel to First Departure but a sequel to The Last Hope, we can find out if the Morphus continue to exist or if they die out and fade into anonymity.

As for the underdeveloped planets, which seems to be the recurrent theme for the Star Ocean games, I feel that a return to the planets of Aeos and Lemuris are in order. I'd like to see what becomes of the Eldarians and Lemurians, and how they eventually learn to co-exist with each other. I'd like to know if Lymle has any descendants and how, if any, mining operations survive on Aeos. A third,  unknown planet could be tossed in for good measure.

For the party, naturally, there would need to be a swordsman as the hero. No Star Ocean game is complete without a swordsman as the hero. Also a must are an offensive-line symbologist of some kind, an archer, a hand-to-hand combat martial artist, a healer symbologist, and the Star Ocean equivalent to Final Fantasy XIII's Synergist. (I love Hope.)

I realize that this is quite short in terms of what I'd like to see for a First Departure prequel. I feel like I need to play the other games to get a better feel of what's been done in them so as to not repeat what's been done. Of course, doing some of what's already been done before wouldn't be bad, either. :)

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Calling Out For . . .

Star Ocean doujinshi titles
Official Star Ocean merchandise (I have three lists from three different people but more help is appreciated)

HALLOWEEN IS AROUND THE CORNER!!

Yes, I realize that it's only the 13th of September, and Halloween is the 31st of October. That doesn't mean I can't get a head start on the upcoming festivities. (Halloween is tied for first most favorite holiday, along with the Fourth of July.)

So why the announcement about Halloween right now, you ask? Oh, it's quite simple. I WANT PHOTOS!! Yes, yes. I want photos, fan art, fan poetry, and fan fiction. I want photos of your Star Ocean figures in a Halloween setting. I want photos of fellow fans in their Star Ocean costumes. It doesn't have to be too extravagant or anything like that - just something fun and having to do with Halloween. Photos can be submitted between now and October 30 to the above email address. (After Halloween will simply be too late.) The fan art, fan poetry, and fan fiction must deal with the holiday itself.

This isn't a contest. I, unfortunately, can't do contests right this moment, thanks to the lack of funds. (Believe me, if I could run this as a contest this year, I would, but no money makes it hard to give out prizes.)

Thanks to a series of storms traveling across Michigan and grocery shopping, I wasn't able to log onto the internet yesterday. The power outage was the biggest impediment to posting, but that's quite all right. :) I can play catch up for today.

Game Talk, Part Two - Crossover Between Till the End of Time and The Last Hope

This is more for me to toss out and bandy ideas from others on this. However, there is a plausible way to cross Till the End of Time and The Last Hope together and still have a great game to play. The idea stems from what I know about the Eternal Sphere itself and is something I'm exploring in a fanfiction piece titled "Changing the Tides of Fate and Time", with the name being a partial play off of Fayt's name.

First of all, the idea of crossing the two games (and, indeed, tossing in First Departure and Second Story/Second Evolution) wouldn't be difficult to pull off. In looking over Till the End of Time's in-game dictionary, the Eternal Sphere itself is a multi-timeline RPG system, or what we would now call an MMORPG. As the events of The Last Hope are playing out, so are the events of First Departure, Second Story/Second Evolution, and Till the End of Time. Luther was genius for setting up an MMORPG like that. If some of the code ends up deleted and needs to be replaced, it's more than entirely possible to screw up the timelines. Edge and Fayt could end up living in the same time, working aboard the same ship . . . anything is possible. 

In my story, that's precisely what happens. During the final battle, while no one's watching, Blair manages to get the backup files for the Eternal Sphere. With Luther "missing", she tries to restore the Eternal Sphere back to what it was, but, for as genius as she is, she doesn't possess the same finesse that her brother does and inadvertently does damage to the Eternal Sphere's timeline. Because of her attempts to restore the Eternal Sphere back to what it was before the release of the Executioners, Fayt and Edge end up living in the same era. Most around them aren't aware that something is wrong, that Fayt shouldn't be aboard the same vessel as Edge. It takes a few events for Edge and Fayt to truly discover the truth, but, when they do, they set out to rectify the situation. The answer lies within finding Luther, as it's obvious that he's not in the 4-D realm. Finding him is an adventure unto itself. When they do find him, the question will be: Will he help them to restore their world to the way it should be or is the Eternal Sphere forever doomed to an altered timeline?

The idea itself would make for a very interesting crossover game. With the accidental altering of the timeline, different planets could open up for exploration. The search for Luther could introduce new monsters, new bosses, and new dungeons for exploration. It'd be far better than the rumored combat fighter style I'd heard about a potential Till the End of Time/The Last Hope crossover game.

Next Game Talk, I want to deal with ideas for descendants for Edge and Reimi for sure. I think it would be interesting to see if they actually marry each other or go their separate ways. I kind of know what I'd like to see for a Till the End of Time sequel, but I'd like to flesh my ideas out a little more on paper before I post them to my journal. Beyond that, well, there are seven hundred years worth of stories to delve into for potential games.

Also, for Game Talk, I'd like to showcase what others would like to see. Email the ideas to me at luthersfayt@gmail.com. As with the game reviews, fanfiction, and fan poetry, please be sure that you've followed proper writing techniques. If you'd like for me to proofread before posting, let me know, and I'll gladly do so. Just please don't assume that I will, 'kay?