The Most Replayable PS1 RPG | Star Ocean 2

[@GamingBroductions]

Hey everyone, this is a re-upload from a video we released at the end of 2023. Unfortunately the original got copyright claimed due to one of the songs, which is pretty annoying considering we got from it a supposed copyright free music channel and also because it checked out fine initially... but it is what it is lol. We have since replaced the song and on the bright side it allowed us to fix a couple errors that were present in the original. If you watched the original and are choosing to watch this again out of support, we thank you very much and greatly appreciate it! And for those of you watching for the first time, we of course hope you enjoy it as well.

[@Rjmusic257]

Bummer it got taken down, but we appreciate you guys! Thanks for the effort put into this channel. Still my favorite gaming channel, and look how fast y’all growing!

[@daniel_cofresi]

Perfect opportunity to watch it again Don't get discouraged, keep up the good work!

[@dacollbns6336]

That suck, especially if the one claimed the copyright are not the one that made and upload the song to be use with good intention. Nowadays sadly its rampant in youtube due to their algorithm and automation dependency

[@nephilexfrost7202]

Ok thought/hoped that crud was done. Someone went a while ago and bought up a ton of the tracks listen on several "copyright free" sources. Retroactively messed up a ton of videos

[@MrDocSaturn]

Doing my part and rewatching the entire video plus a thumbs up o7

[@Morraak]

For the algorithm! Watching again and commenting to hopefully boost views this time around. Was such a good retrospective.

[@GamingBroductions]

Thank you, we really appreciate that support!

[@TheJbones24]

I'm such a star ocean 2 freak, i play the soundtrack all the time especially wrapping Christmas presents. It helps keep me calm, i hate wrapping Christmas presents.

[@thepaper888]

I will happily watch again, but it is so heartbreaking the circumstances that led to the forced re upload.

[@GamingBroductions]

Thanks for watching again, we really do appreciate it. Yeah the KZbin copyright system can be a little infuriating at times but it is what it is lol

[@EugeneKurlikin]

Golden age of RPGs was and forever will be PS1 era no doubt.

[@GamingBroductions]

Such an amazing mix of both 2D and 3D RPGs. No other system can really say the same

[@markusvhane5087]

PS1 is GOAT on JRPGs IMHO.

[@PinkyJustice]

It's why the launch model of the PS3 is the best non emulated console to have for jrpgs. You get PS1, PS2, and PS3 titles... Which pretty much includes all RPGs released before PS1 at this point haha PS1 era is also the golden age of making too many time sinks you'd only be paralyzed by 20 years later

[@NerevarineKing]

​@@GamingBroductions PS2 has amazing 2D and 3D games as well

[@murky16]

I first got into Star ocean cause of your videos. The remake that came out recently was pretty solid too👍 much love to both of y’all 💜

[@GamingBroductions]

Oh that’s awesome, hope you’ve been having a good time with the series! Thanks for the support 💯

[@nicklaserbeam]

Just got my food and sat down to eat. What a perfect combo! It's like turning the TV on and a great movie just started!

[@GamingBroductions]

Haha perfect timing! Hope you enjoy it

[@nephilexfrost7202]

Ill have to start this in an hour, but seriously, ty ahead of time. When i saw the notification i thought "awesome, but it will probably be a short thrill* looking forward to this two hour epic, again ,ty

[@GamingBroductions]

No problem at all, thank you for watching 👍

[@neverbeforeseen160]

Why yes, I will watch this banger video again.

[@GamingBroductions]

Ya love to see it

[@classictime123]

Thank goodness this gem has returned. One of my all time favorite games. And this retrospective in conjunction with that makes this piece of content my absolute favorite. Your talking points convey so much of my sentiment and channel both my nostalgia and excitement for what it is to experience a JRPG. I could gush for paragraphs and pages ~ but really just thank you for bringing me back to my childhood ~ a more simple time when mystery and intrigue guided me across the landscape of gaming. Keep doing what you do ~ Sincerely a faithful subscriber.

[@GamingBroductions]

Really love to read comments like this and that the video resonated with you so much. It’s awesome to hear from other huge fans of the game that feel similarly about it as I do all these years later. It’s a timeless experience for sure Thank you for watching and really appreciate all the kind words!

[@mrhappy0627]

Thank you for all your passion 😊

[@GamingBroductions]

And thank you for watching!

[@thepaper888]

I love the intro so slick. Starting with turtle hermit watching TV.

[@Arizona-kj4yp]

Just found the channel, love your videos. Keep on keeping on.

[@GamingBroductions]

Glad to hear you’ve been enjoying the content! Will do 👌

[@apex_prey]

This channel deserves way more notoriety.

[@juliusjohnson8046]

Will probably try to at least watch this in the background this week to help replace the views. But here's another comment saying how much I love this game and loved this video and how it perfectly captured a lot of my feelings and nostalgia for it. Great work as always.

[@GamingBroductions]

Appreciate that dude. Thanks for the kind words!

[@CastleStrongGaming]

Lmao this has to be the most I've heard u curse and I LOVE IT. sounds like my southern dad explaining a jrpg to me 😂😂😂

[@GamingBroductions]

Lol the midwestern accent did come out a bit stronger during some parts in this one 😅

[@CastleStrongGaming]

@@GamingBroductions I dig it. I know long winded vids like this can be a pain to write, edit, etc, but keep em coming my guy. Also I absolutely love the intro to your vids, it just hits all feels from my youth. Thank u Bro ❤️🤘

[@donperera5806]

Took most of the day to watch the whole thing, but well worth it. Just played the remake and it’s nice to see that there were bits that actually looked better in the OG. Especially the interiors of buildings and some vantage points of cities. Thanks for a great vid!

[@shimapanzer9930]

Great video. Star ocean 2 isnt my favorite in the series, but having replayed it ive gained a newfound appreciation for it. Especially those gorgeous backgrounds and sprites.

[@GamingBroductions]

Thanks! Just curious, which one is your favorite in the series then? I’m gonna take a guess and assume 3?

[@shimapanzer9930]

@GamingBroductions yeah, i started with 3 so I've been eternally biased towards it. I feel after 3 it kind of lost the plot, but I went back and played (or in 2's case replayed) and gained a lot more respect for the series. A lot of their older RPGs are very good, a new favorite of mine has been radiata stories.

[@fakeupchuck6073]

You guys are really putting in work that shows love for the art. I appreciate every video. Thank you 👏

[@GamingBroductions]

Thanks for the kind words, really appreciate that!

[@MatheusSSales-io2zu]

I love how I always seem to find videos on this channel about whatever PS1 JRPG I'm currently playing❤️ I hope eventually you get to cover every single PS1 RPG in general, with the same depth and dedication 😌

[@deathscythe8696]

This was such a great retrospective to one of my favorite games from my childhood. Though I thought the Second Evolution hate was a bit much, other than that such a great video. Can't believe two hours went by like that.

[@GamingBroductions]

Thanks! Yeah I definitely nitpick it a few times here but I do still enjoy it and is probably the version I replayed more often back in the day due to the portability. Any way to play Star Ocean 2 is a good way to play it in my book

[@User609-iu5co]

What a nostalgia! I remember playing this as a kid with my Playstation, I still have this game but no PSX to play it on...

[@raymondsellitto4867]

Watching this tomorrow when I hit the stairmaster 🔥

[@GamingBroductions]

Hell yeah, love watching KZbin videos myself when doing some cardio lol

[@AfroThunda999]

Video just popped up in my recommended. This is a great video to watch, for the first timewatching your channel.

[@GamingBroductions]

Welcome! Glad to hear you enjoyed the video

[@staffanstuff]

Awesome! Haven't played this one but I think I will after watching this. Great job btw.

[@KLNDR]

Putting Claude's "the enemy!" VA over him slapping Leon was a savage touch lol

[@dingliedangliedoodle9261]

lol Look at that face 1:28, kid knows what's up with Thousand Arms, he really had fun rizzing up the virtual ladies. I never finished that game, but I always thought that intro and start menu background music track were bangers though. That's how I learned of the Japanese Queen of Pop, that song was such a favourite of mine that I still know her name right off the top of my head even after 20+ yrs, and I'm not even really the kind of fan that follows her, that's the only song I know of her.

[@lz7ification]

Your original video got me to buy the recently released remake (I somehow missed this gem 25 years ago). 50 hours and a platinum later, I watched it again and I agree with you that the plot is the weakest part of the game, but the rest was pure fun from start to finish!

[@jplayer073]

Great reminder to finally finish watching this

[@GamingBroductions]

Hope you enjoyed it 👍

[@doublezeta2025]

Time for a rewatch i think!

[@GamingBroductions]

Hell yeah, second time hits different

[@andrejones5441]

This was a great retrospective of this game. Now, I want to play this again…

[@SoundsOfSushi]

Awwwwwww kitty at the end is so cute! Anyway, the spammy voices during battles wore thin later on when one of the characters keeps yelling “Hillary” every five seconds. Other than that I love SO2ndS. My sister also loved the game because of the crafting. She likes making bad food.

[@jimtroeltsch5998]

This was my first RPG I played, when I was a kid, and this is still my favourite gaming experience. Played this a lot to beat it, in fact I had a crazy amount of hours and got my party to level 104 in order to beat the last boss. I wasn't very strategic lol so I just grinded until I could beat it. I really loved this game, and I found the music so inspiring and uplifting. I can still clearly remember so many summer mornings off from school waking up to play this before anyone else was up. Crash bandicoot 2, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid, and this game were huge in my childhood. Afterwards I played FF7 and I just didn't understand why so many people liked that game. I found this one to be so much more fulfilling and unique.

[@orwwan]

Rewatching this masterpiece 🙌🏻

[@GamingBroductions]

Thank you! 💯

[@WiseOwl_1408]

Game was very special to me personally.

[@RaineyDaysStudio]

Same!

[@jimtroeltsch5998]

I really loved the private action system for this game. It's something I realized was unique to SO, and something I missed in all other rpgs i played afterwards

[@lew-e]

One of my favorite games of all time and I mostly watched my brother play it. So many small things that can affect the outcome of the game. An amazing amazing game!

[@PinkyJustice]

Yeah ok, after the Vanguard Bandits love and this completely objectively true statement, I'm subbed One quick thing though! "Pre rendered" really just means it's not actively being... Well rendered in real time... It's an image or video that is rendered ahead of time, then just loaded and the characters are rendered on top of them... So... Hand drawn backgrounds ARE actually "pre rendered backgrounds," they were just not 3d renders. It's a little technicality, but figured it would likely increase your interaction metrics by bringing up this conversation starter

[@WilliamScavengerFish]

12:48 it is advantageous for characters to start with the fewest talents as possible as acquiring talents grants you 100 bonus skill points. The talents you want your character to come with are the ones that the specific character can't ever acquire.

[@mo_musashi_284]

The illest Utube channel intro 🔥

[@GamingBroductions]

Appreciate it dude 💯

[@TheSlammurai]

Star Ocean 2, Valkyrie Profile 2, Radiata Stories. My Tri-Ace holy trinity.

[@ProducerX21]

KZbin needs to fix their copyright system. And the fact that one person watched your video, saw the work that went into it, heard their song (allegedly) and instead of being happy that their song was used in a video, they decided to be a little weasel and copyright claim it. If it was my song I would reach out to the Channel and ask to be credited. There are just some really lame people on this planet

[@GamingBroductions]

I’m not sure if it was the channel that posted it or the artist themselves but yeah pretty lame regardless. Any music we use that’s not from a video game we always make sure we either have the permission of the artist whether talking to them directly or if they just make it clear in their channel description, and we always credit them in the description of our vids. This song though was from a 3rd party channel where they post other artists’ content but they’re all supposed to be copyright free, key word being ‘supposed’ I guess lol. So yeah I guess we’ll just avoid channels like that from now on and go to artists’ channels directly to make sure it’s cool

[@PixelsAmpersandBits]

Fortunately you were wrong about the cool credits sequence not being in the remake. They redid that as well thankfully, love the credits in the PS1 original and the remake

[@PixelsAmpersandBits]

Probably the PS1 game I’ve put the most hours into outside of FFVII. And the remake Second Story R was phenomenal as well

[@t.j.8388]

Unironically, this is my all time favorite game alongside Dark Cloud 2

[@nihouma11]

Motoi Sakuraba did the soundtrack for Beyond the Beyond, and i firmly believe that game's plot is carried 10x over by the music, as are the dungeons and even battles. Ive never played Star Ocean 2, but i'm adding it to the list just knowing Motoi Sakuraba did the soundtrack

[@revelnotion1060]

Definitely worth the rewatch. 👍

[@DavisGSee]

Finally watched this after finishing the remake. It was nice to see all the ways the original version differs. I definitely think there are at least some spots where what you showed was more visually interesting than what was done for the remake. One thing you didn't mention that bugged me was how every female character (at least the ones I recruited) has a thing for Claude to some degree. I suppose it's so he can have a paired ending with each of them, but when each character has so few personality traits, making 'wants to date Claude' one of them for so many characters really stands out and makes it obvious how shallow the character writing really is.

[@ShamanNoodles]

This game never got enough attention! One of my high school friends got me this for Christmas one year 😁

[@GamingBroductions]

Agreed, it was always overshadowed to some degree by the bigger titles

[@Sacrengard]

Im just here to give my like once more

[@GamingBroductions]

We appreciate it 👍

[@rilarr]

I too, really enjoy final Fantasy 8 and this, love the fact you can break the games with the whole customization you can do in both 🙂

[@robertm5067]

I grew up in the ps2 era but my dad was big into JRPGs so I grew up playing more of the ps1 games

[@WilliamScavengerFish]

Leo actually has the best attack to hitting aerial enemies.

[@WilliamScavengerFish]

Reverse side is a...special skill

[@saltyshalquoir8008]

During one of my playthroughs I was playing almost exclusively as Celine. I mostly got by using the quick casting, cheap costing Thunderbolt spell as an interrupt ability. I also used a lot of the spells I'd never really seen before when the computer was controlling her. Bless, to counter shield enemies since I wasn't controlling the fighters. Silencing enemy spell casters, giving allies magic resist while stealing MP. Ultimately it was kind of fun being the anti-magic specialist with a few allies out there doing the fighting. I've thought about playing through again and doing something similar but swapping in Leon or Rena to have access to more debuff/support abilities.

[@jeffmazziotta]

This has always been one of my favorite games and the first one i ever put more than 99 hours into (and could level above lev 99 as well- what?! blew my young mind) I am super gald to see it finally getting attention recently. I have been replaying it on my handheld recently and am also looking forward to trying out the Remake. Even though everyone is now talking about how good Second Story R is, it's still hard to explain just how good this game was at the time but how much it was slept on compared to games like FF7 and other ps1 rpgs even though in my mind SO2 was just as good if not better in so many aspects.

[@GamingBroductions]

Yep totally agree. This one always got overshadowed back in the day among the heavier hitters, but those who know know. Like you said the game did many things that you couldn’t really find anywhere else on the system, no other RPG gave you that combination of optional characters/item creation/etc.

[@jimtroeltsch5998]

I felt the exact same way! I thought it was crazy how you could go past 100. I put 90 some hours into it too. When I played other rpg's afterward, I realized how special SO2 was. So many amazing memories playing through this game.

[@Johan87577]

I just love this game. I'm from Europe and this was a really rare (at least in the mid 2000s after release) game. I remember paying probably around €80-100 on my PS1 copy. I enjoy the "remake" but the orginal always going to be my preference.

[@apex_prey]

KZbinrs sure love saying "with that said." With that said, the "touching more shoulders than Vegeta" line killed me.

[@AlexNyx]

I still play my original copy of Star ocean 2, The legend of dragoon, Digimon worlds 1 and 3, both Megaman legends and chrono cross to this day. star ocean 2 remaster is still good, but i like the original just a tiny bit more.

[@GamingBroductions]

I still need to play the remake, I’m sure there are some things I will like better but also things I’ll prefer about the original

[@AlexNyx]

@@GamingBroductions The originals will always hit that nostalgia spot in a way that remakes don't.

[@user-ni8rl6pf4q]

Pretty good video. I wish there wasn't so much unnecessary cursing though. I wanted to show it to my grandson so he could see Star Ocean 2, but I'm not going to show him a video with so much cursing in it.

[@fumomofumosarum5893]

You say pure 90es cheese, but somehow "Crawd's" voice fits so oddly well with the art XD I can't explain it... Another great video! Really lovely. That reminds me, I recently started playing "Granblue Fantasy" and its battle system did remind me of Star Ocean 2's - just in the best possible quality. ( It is really smooth / good, and the NPCs help out a ton ) Still, features- and story- wise, Star Ocean 2.... is way better than Granblue Fantasy ^^; GB Fantasy's story is so flimsy, safe, short and generic, it is barely there. I'm not kidding, the game might even be better without the story, I don't know why they even tried... Character-wise I'd probably also prefer Star Ocean 2. GB Fantasy is extremely polished and pretty but - very generic and child friendly overall.

[@GamingBroductions]

Ah yeah his voice definitely fits that art lol. I played the demo of Granblue Fantasy but not the full game yet, definitely seems like one of those RPGs I would play for the gameplay over story Thanks for watching!

[@WilliamScavengerFish]

41:37 music and orchestra are very useful.

[@runesoldierdan5614]

A wonderful salute to my favorite game, and I appreciate it all the more for the discussion of its flaws. Having now seen many of the endings, the Claude/Rena combos are ironically my least favorite. Both are well-intentioned, but I feel like they're accidentally toxic with each other. Claude's jealousy needs small introduction, but Rena saying "I can't imagine life without you" to someone she met like 3 months ago is putting way too much on the poor boy. Their endings also don't feel good: Claude functionally becoming his absentee father for a new generation is like a 'bad end' scenario, but him living at Arlia felt very weak to me as he never expressed any desire for the simple life. If anything, we see that the 'real Claude' has a fondness for machines and technology and 'being the hero', making his pairings with the others feel a lot more natural. Super agree on the villain pacing. The story would have been much smoother if we actually got to see the 10 wise men before the world changing mark: perhaps the rise of monsters was intentional meddling to keep the Expelians distracted, and we see them in projections, screens, or 'mwhahah-fly-away' after fighting Alen, in Mars, and the like. One could have easily taken the place of their flying general who earnestly had no explanation for being initially invulnerable. A point you didn't touch on, I would also criticize the hero pacing: the first solid quarter of the game has 2-3 party members, which lasts far longer if you go for Bowman/Opera over Ashton/Precis. Then during the last few dungeons of Expel it slams you with several new recruits. I would have been far happier if you could recruit Opera at the same time as Ashton rather than wait for a full sequence later to fill out the basic lineup. Star Ocean 2 R did make the ending feel a little better. They make it more clear the Nedians aren't just sitting down to die because evolution or whatever but because the big boom has to go somewhere and they just can't evacuate the populace. The old race dies so the young would live - I just beat the game again a few days ago and that ending always gets me. ;_;

[@WilliamScavengerFish]

42:38 there is a talent potion which temporaly grants you all talents.

[@lincolnshaughnessy5568]

Round 2 let's gooooooooo!

[@GamingBroductions]

Hopefully the last round with this video 😅

[@FictitiousCtrlGames]

I flipping loved this game. Unfortunately I never got to play the whole game though. :(

[@SeaSerpentLevi]

Such a banger intro

[@_alleycat_]

before watching this, i want to say that i am easily one of the biggest star ocean: the 2nd story fans. it is a centerpoint of many nostalgiac memories and remains my number 1 favorite RPG of all time. (yes, even over FF7) i am incredibly excited to watch this video and, even though im sure nobody will ever give a damn about this comment, i will edit with my thoughts. im already sure i will love this video. HERE GOES! (its 1:20am. kill me😅)

[@wimplo5414]

This may be a little late, but just bc your laptop stopped working doesn't mean you can't access it's data. You can still take out hard drive and connect it to a working machine. 🙂

[@darkrulerbob]

Wow. Legend of legaia was my childhood rpg

[@neosildrake]

I played this in 2000 shortly after release in Germany. I think it is one of the more difficult games in the Star Ocean series. I personally don't really like those types of combat. They feel so chaotic and uncoordinated. Micromanaging your companions skills and magic is an absolute neccessity to manage the fighting. The talent system was great. I love it. I personally prefer playing as Claude, as it gives me real isekai'd vibes. And I wish I could have Dias as companion instead of Leon. He's not bad, but... both him and Precis rarely are in my party, because I don't like taking kids into deadly battles. And as you can only have a limited number of companions... I prefer more mature fighters.

[@traviswayne556]

Suikoden 2 retrospective. Do it.

[@melonusk6120]

JUST ! DO IT !!!!!!!

[@GamingBroductions]

Ah shiettt… it’s only a matter of time

[@WilliamScavengerFish]

4:09 there was a lot to stuff into that cartridge.

[@zoricgames]

Sucks this had to be taken down! Throwing in a comment for the algo

[@Inuzumi]

After playing the third game I thought I was done with this franchise. I truly despised that game. Star Ocean 3 and 5 have to be some of the worst JRPGs I have ever played. But your restrospective on this one made me reconsider things a little. It looks so nice and clean and just nice to play. I want to give it a shot by myself.

[@WilliamScavengerFish]

39:17 tough? Gabrielle Celesta's evil twin has 4.5 million hp...she is a royal pain.

[@Khalith]

To me, the jrpg golden age was the snes and ps1 era. Nothing before or after ever hit quite the same. There have been amazing RPG’s but when we’re talking about the golden age? Snes/ps1

[@GamingBroductions]

Can’t disagree with that. Personally I would also throw the PS2/Gamecube era in there as they had some great RPGs as well. The 90s and early/mid 00s were peak JRPGs for me

[@WilliamScavengerFish]

34:56 mastered headsplitter isn't as useful as unmastered.

[@tv_tim]

I have this on PSP around here somewhere...sadly, I'm pretty sure my PSP doesn't actually work anymore.

[@WilliamScavengerFish]

51:52 is it tear into pieces or....pear into peaches?

[@PapaWesLPs]

Commenting for algorithm :)

[@GamingBroductions]

Thank you!

[@WilliamScavengerFish]

And the cave of trials?

[@usvidragonslayer3091]

Neat

[@veghesther3204]

But these days due to the random crashing after ANY battle is over which happens a LOT in the Cave of Trials which is 13 floors and NO saving I'll never play the PS1 version any more the PSP/R remakes those crashing glitches never actually happen.

[@GamingBroductions]

Yeah that is extremely annoying, I don’t blame you. Luckily I had gone out to save not too long ago but near the very end on the final floor my game did crash and I had to reload. If I hadn’t saved in like 5+ hours I probably would have rage quit and just gave up

[@veghesther3204]

Also 2nd Evolution PSP did get a PORT on the PS3 PS4 Vita but its only in Japanese and even THAT version never has the game crashing after a battle is over bug. The R version as Auto Saving though for the 13 floors its likely turned off.

[@WilliamScavengerFish]

When was there a golden age of rpgs? I believe that would depend on what market you are in. The Japanese market had theirs since the beginning. North America, on the other hand, is a completely different story. The Western market had its general taste, which did not include rpgs of any kind. There were those who did embrace rpgs in the west. Unfortunately, they were a slim minority of the population. It took pandering to really break into the western market.

[@veghesther3204]

As for the R version IMHO that remake is pure IMHO CRAP the ONLY good thing about that remake is auto/quick saving and that's IT the game itself make all your SP cost moves cost like 10 times as much so instead of needing 130 lvs to max out BOTH the Item creation and BATTLE skills in the R version its going to take 100 MORE LVS then that and even by lv 130 your still better off bloody armoring Claude Opera Dias Bowman/Chisato instead of trying to max out everything.

[@TripMX]

Sorry, but I 100% wholeheartedly disagree with your opinion about SO2R.

[@GooseGumlizzard]

nah, game is dogshit

[@joejoyce6371]

I've been playing the remake on my switch. I love it.

[@89b6cf3]

this video is my favorite “cooking dinner” companion 🩵

[@GamingBroductions]

Haha nice! Long form stuff is great for multitasking with it in the background