Anbernic RG Cube Handheld - Gameplay Test - Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (PS2) (NTSC)

You knew it was coming. If a handheld plays PS2, I can't help but run Star Ocean on it. Here's a longer test of Star Ocean Till the End of Time on the RG Cube. This is the NTSC (60FPS) version running at 2X resolution and - at least so far - mostly full speed. Some of the previous videos of this game for other handhelds on the channel featured the PAL (50Hz) version of the game. This is running in the Whipple / Ruins of Coffir area a couple of hours into the game. Why not Airyglyph as usual? Mostly because it takes a good while longer to get there and I want to do some different games before a full review of the Cube.
Emulator tweaks are shown at the end of the video, but the main emulator tweaks are to change texture preloading to "partial" (this fixes slowdown in the game's menus) and change the hardware download mode as is usual on T820 handhelds. You'll notice some graphical glitches - particularly in transitions to battle. Part of this is changing the two settings I mentioned before, but part is probably caused by me using the Anbernic-provided AetherSX2 instead of the NetherSX2 (4248) I use on my RG556.
There's also some slowdown going into battles too, but not during them ... which I can live with for the extra screen resolution.
If the handheld shakes a bit, that's because it's slightly too narrow on the bottom to properly fit my stand.
0:00 Game titles and save game load
1:22 Star Ocean Till the End of Time gameplay
12:34 Emulator settings

[@tonyrosario1940]

This game looks cool! Is this considered an action RPG? I appreciate the lack of turn based fighting. 🍻

[@chemicalburrito782]

I think it depends on whether you’re a purist or not … it’s definitely an action battle system, even though outside of battles other elements are pretty traditional. If you like this style, you might also check out the “Tales of” series … also on PS2 and later consoles (and also PC).