Star Ocean The Second Story Rhas a large cast of characters and all sorts of mechanics for players to learn, making for a daunting experience for those not familiar with the base game. A lot of the original game’s mechanics and systems have stayed the same, with a fresh coat of paint to fit the refurbished 2.5D look.
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Throughout the main character’s journey through Expel, there will be all sorts of characters to meet and skills to learn and master. This game also has dozens of possible endings, with the smallest of decisions affecting which ending will be seen.
10Make The Right Party
Protect Your Mages & Healers
Multiple characters in the game are powerful mages who fight best in the back of the battlefield, casting spells. Almost all spells have a cast time, with more powerful spells having a longer cast time that can be interrupted by getting attacked by an enemy.
When deciding which companions to use in battle, it’s important to have a healthy mix of both frontline melee fighters to protect the back-line mages. Having characters with high Relationship Ratings fighting together will also have them protect and support each other more often.
9Complete Challenges
Easily Collected Rewards For Simple Tasks
The game starts with a long list of challenges that can be found in the Challenge Missions section of the Missions tab of the main menu. Many of these challenges are fairly simple tasks, many of which are completed without even knowing they exist.
Challenges that are completed can be turned in for large sums of money or special items and gear. Thanks to the simplicity of many challenges, they can often be seen as free items to be collected while players focus on the main story.
8Use Character’s Specialties
Get Unique Consumables & Gear
Specialties are bits of side content players can engage with after a character can participate in once they have a level in that specialty, such as Fishing. Side activities like these offer unique items that will greatly benefit players in powering up their party and getting powerful consumables to use in combat to restore HP and MP.
These Specialties can be further upgraded to maximize their chances for success while also offering the ability to produce better items. These systems are easy to miss over but are well worth the time and points investment.
7Learn New Talents
Get Large Amounts Of SP & BP
Talents are learned by completing a specialty and can make that character even more efficient with the affected specialty. While the higher chances for success are useful, learning a new talent awards that character with 100 SP and BP.
These points can then be reinvested into learning other talents or into other skill boosts to the same effect as leveling up more than once. Having characters branch out and learn multiple specialties will have them learn multiple talents and make your party much more effective in combat.
6Pick Your Companions Carefully
Some Character Will Lock Off Others
Of the 11 possible companions in the game, players will only be able to recruit six additional members after the required Claude and Rena. Some of the early-game party members will need to be declined as stronger party members become available later in the game and will need two spots to be recruited.
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Adding certain party members to your group will also lock off the ability to recruit others, leaving the ability to lock in the best party member later in the game in exchange for a quick and not as powerful party member now.
5Look For Unique Spots
Free & Easy Sums Of XP
Unique Spots can be found both in the open world and in cities. Investigating a Unique Spot only takes a brief moment and will reward the entire party withlarge sums of XPrelevant to the recommended level for that party of the game.
For players wanting to grind and level up fast, finding Unique Spots will often be a quicker and more efficient method for those focusing on the main path of the story. Most Unique Spots are along the main path for the game, making them simple sources of XP.
4Watch Your Map
Main Missions, Private Events, and Side Quests Are Always Marked
It isn’t always made incredibly clear where players need to go next, or a location will be mentioned that players aren’t sure where exactly to find it. Luckily, the map will always have an orange exclamation mark icon indicating where players need to go to progress through the story.
Other bits of content, such as shops, Private Events, and side quests, will also be clearly marked on the map, along with many having an hourglass icon in the bottom corner. This hourglass icon lets players know that a particular activity is time-sensitive and needs to be completed sooner rather than later.
3Go Fishing
Free Items & Lots Of Fish To Trade
Fishing is one specialty that stands above the rest thanks to its plethora of rewards and ease of completing. Fishing can be done early in the game, and the mini-game to fish is incredibly easy, with a low chance of failure.
Fishing offers two sets of rewards in the form of the Rewards List for discovering new species and by trading individual fish with the merchant Reel. Between these two options and a wide array of rewards across both, Fishing is a very lucrative pastime.
2Maximize XP
Level Up Quickly & Easily To Steamroll Any Fight
There are many different systems that allow players to increase how much experience they get in a battle. Chaining multiple battles together will not only reward players with multiple battles worth of XP but will also be multiplied based on the number of battles chained together.
Through Specialties, players are also able to activate the “Train” condition, which lowers a character’s stats but rewards them with 50% more XP for each battle. The Effort Skill also lowers the total XP needed to level up, making it a great investment early into the game.
1Complete Private Actions
Friendship Levels Determine The End Of The Game
Private Actions are the most straightforward way players are able to raise the Friendship Rating of their party members. The Friendship Rating of a character determines how their AI acts in battle while also having a major impact on the end of the game.
Completing all availablePrivate Actionswill help players get the ending they want while also making their party more effective in combat. Some Private Actions also act as small side quests that will reward players with unique items or quick battles for easy XP.
