How to get ALL characters - Star Ocean Second Story R

[@SolaceAndDread]

Giveaway for Star Ocean The Second Story R will be on Twitter - Follow us! www.Twitter.com/SolaceAndDread

[@kennethamparo1138]

SolaceAndDread, it's no longer called Twitter... Instead, they redub it as we know as "X" ( Reference to Megaman X. ).

[@Toshinegawa]

Unless they changed it for the Remake, there's two things that you missed: Welch - Including Claude and Rena, you need to have recruited at least 4 characters or else she won't show when you initiate a PA in Lacour. Also, if you want her, you NEED to get her before you complete the Hoffman Ruins, otherwise she'll be missable for the entire playthrough Chisato - After the lengthy conversation with Mayor Nall, just outside of his office building, you need to take the *Left/West* path (Not sure which direction they'll use for the Remake due to the new camera angle). You'll know you took the correct path if you see a giant Pink Bunny blocking off some stairs. You'll also see Chisato a little down the path. Move towards her and she'll panic and run off. Next, in North City, you must find Chisato again. It shouldnt be too hard this time since you should trigger her scene by simply heading towards the Psynard breeding center. She'll run off again when you spot her. Only after all this is done can you trigger the scene of her dropping her ID Card in the Red Crystal Cave. You can accidently miss Chisato if you didn't view the scene of her in Centroplis. It happened to me in my first playthrough of Second Evolution which pissed me off to no end because I loved using her back during the original Playstation. Had to restart the entire game because of that!

[@helioastra]

To add to this, the best advice that you can give here is SAVE often and SAVE multiple copies at critical points so that you won't have to restart the entire game.

[@Essylte]

Who is this newbie Welch? I was shocked that the game makers decided to add this new character to the remake...

[@Toshinegawa]

@@Essylte She's not new to this Remake, she was added in during the PSP remake, back in the day. And she's no stranger to the series. Her debut appearance was in SO3 where she was the Item Creation Guild. Since then, she's been made to be the series Mascot character

[@ryanmoore1438]

So if im not at the ruins yet, I can still get her right?

[@ICountFrom0]

She's marked with a ! and an hourglass as a timed event as you get outside the office. You don't HAVE to go right to her, you can go save and then double back, but the window might close if you leave town.

[@itsOasus]

Its worth noting that you don't have to leave towns to enter private actions in the remake. One of my takeaways from the demo.

[@SBaby]

More than that, you CANNOT activate PAs on the overworld anymore. Being in town is now mandatory to activate them. Also, if you use the Fast Travel functionality, you can see which PAs are still available to do from the map. The game even tells you which ones are only available for a limited time. So it's alot easier to avoid missing things.

[@lightning13clair29]

​@@SBabyyup which is a function I really love about the game I'm glad it's got the fast traveling and that it list the pa and limited ones

[@SBaby]

@@lightning13clair29 The only thing to note is it doesn't tell you which PAs affect which character. Also this is for people that have never played the original. If you get into a PA with an NPC named Filia, be really freaking careful which PAs you activate after that point. Because if you see her again, the final boss will turn into a superboss.

[@johnlawful2272]

@@SBaby wth!

[@SBaby]

@@johnlawful2272 That is not a joke. It actually brick-walled many people the first time they played the game because they weren't expecting it. Star Ocean doesn't mess around when it comes to superbosses, and it has a little bit of La-Mulana in it. Don't even think of triggering that second Filia PA unless you plan to go through the optional dungeon, because there's no turning back once you do.

[@BingBangPoe]

6:56 I wouldn't say Welch has "no stand-out traits". She has one of the best Basic Attacks in the game, tied with Ashton, and she has the highest LUCK by far, which makes her the best at Item Creation (which fits her whole recurring role as handling it in other games).

[@dankdilly]

Welch is just cool so I want her anyways lol. I wish she was playable in every game because she is such a fun and quirky personality.

[@SolaceAndDread]

Her luck stat does make a difference early game, but orchestra and save scum work pretty well too 🤩

[@BingBangPoe]

@@SolaceAndDread gotta save dem conductors batons amirite. Haha.

[@alucarderipmavtube]

​​@@dankdillyAuntie Welch. I sure hope she was playable on Last Hope.

[@veghesther3204]

For her She's still PURE CRAP even in 2nd evolution and in First Departure Welch still SUCKS.

[@aaronfifty5]

Man, do I love the OST for this game... always evokes some serious nostalgia with me. One of the first JRPGs I got for my PlayStation back in the day. Comforting to know I wasn't the only person overcome with emotions when that Direct hit us with SMRPG and SS:R back to back-to-back 😂

[@IcarusGray]

The younger me who only found out there were characters you could miss via GameFaq and all of it's word art glory appreciates this so much. Protect this man at all costs. Long Live Black Claude Kenny

[@dbPopRocks]

Thanks!

[@SolaceAndDread]

Holy crap, thank you!!

[@carlaarnold5321]

Just started star ocean. Im loving the story so far ! Very fun. Thabka for your videos !

[@SolaceAndDread]

I'm just happy they're helpful to someone. 🙂

[@nicholasschmidt6835]

Can't wait for this to come out. I was always a Claude, Rena, Dias and Ashton Guy. With trophies in R I bet there will be a trophy for getting all the characters. So thanks for posting because I need a little bit of a refresher.

[@TheeLZ]

Bro! I was skipping around to see the character recruits and didn't notice you had a wig on. I nearly died, looks fly ass hell ngl

[@vigo2669]

Already got my recruits figured out: Claude Rena Rena Claude Celine Opera Ashton Welch Precis Bowman Leon Ernest Noel Dias Chisato Chisato For Claude's playthrough I'm gonna try a mage only run (Rena, Celine, Leon, Noel) and for Rena's a fighter only run (Opera, Bowman/Ernest, Chisato, Claude/Dias/Welch). All on Universe difficulty. I've played through both older versions of this game a lot back in the day so I think I'm ready (I hope D:)

[@masterclif]

Leon and Celine work great in the og. You just need to combo their spells for amazing damage and to play against elemental weaknesses. Leon has a goblin lizard spell that can be combined with a couple different spells. Position it correctly and you create a meat grinder. Especially when boosted with a spell combo.

[@Essylte]

Leon has some pretty wicked spells in that book of his. I like Celine a lot better, though.

[@decusq]

i can attest to Rena, Claude , Dias and Ashton for Rena's playthrough, it's the team that got me through the final bosses. I had my AI fighters hammer the bosses while i SPAMMED healing magic playing as Rena.

[@mermidion7552]

thats my favorit Party for Rena Playthroughs too. good taste my man. thought i prefered controlling either Ashton or Dias and have Rena back me up from behind.

[@airiakizuki5592]

i like that party as you get 3 characters that can wield the best sword in the game(3000 attack) cant recall what its called atm.

[@thinkwisely9191]

​@@mermidion7552yea dias is the best character to have . hes wholesome powerful

[@mrdarkstar3756]

As a kid I called them the swordsman protect Rena death squad.

[@erickreyes7902]

Its also possible to get all PHYSICAL ATTACKERS and RENA is the only CASTER.... It was the best PLAYTHROUGH of my life... I was pummeling the FINAL BOSS with TEAR GAS, DRAGON ROAR and POISON PELLETS.... I really feel I could do no wrong...

[@locloudanerpg]

Ran across your vid while doing research for my own tier list. Loved the format. Subbed.

[@SolaceAndDread]

Welcome friend! I think I've seen your stuff before. We did a full (proper) tier list in addition to the recruitment video. Excited to see how yours differs!

[@locloudanerpg]

@@SolaceAndDread I’ll send them your way for a second opinion.

[@shane8791]

I wonder if Vegh Esther knows they're a SO2 celebrity even after all these years.

[@ICountFrom0]

More like "Cryptid".

[@MaskedFireBird]

This should be helpful! :0 Thank you for taking the time to create this guide

[@SolaceAndDread]

Thanks for watching! Save it for when the game drops!

[@ubermaster1]

My first playthrough of this game as a kid, I somehow picked all the worst characters and lemme tell you, Gabriel humbled me HARD for my choices. Ain't gonna stop me from doing it again just to relive the magic(pain)

[@FoxyAreku]

No character choice will stop you from beating the game. Everyone is easily able to clear the story. ^^ You were just new to it

[@grantkeller4634]

They made magic a lot better from what I saw in the demo

[@indalcecio]

Imagine me accidentally removing the limiter....

[@renalanf0rd]

@@indalceciomy friend did that and saved after not knowing what they dud

[@Drock2360]

Btw I just took a look at the gameplay trailer and I noticed during a certain segment they have Dias and Opera/Ernest in the same party, do you think they might allow us to recruit everyone in this version of the game? It occurs at 3:43 sec of the Sep 14th trailer. AT least it shows Dias as an assist action, so not entirely sure if that means he is recruited or just usable as an assist for a portion of the story? But honestly I wouldn't mind being able to recruit everyone but it does sort of take away the replay value for picking claude/rena if that is the case. Or maybe we can recruit anyone in this version but only up to 8 characters? Not quite sure what it could be mean but it is interesting.

[@Edmund_Christo]

My favourite four in the original was always Claude/Rena/Ashton/Precis. I'm tempted to recruit Opera & Earnest instead though since I never really used them but I might save that for the Rena playthrough since I think it'd be more nostalgic to pick the former. The other four for the Claude playthrough would be Celine, Leon, Chisato & Noel. That way I've an equal amount of fighters & casters. My one main gripe with the remake is that I would have liked the option to use the original script/place names, even if it meant no voice acting. I grew up with the PS1 version & I didn't like some of the changes in the PSP one. I'm not talking about the Wise men censorship, just the way some of the dialogue was reworded made the characters a bit less charming imo. Thanks for making the video!

[@ReikuHidori]

Im facing that same thing thinking about this game since it was announced. Should I go with what I'm familiar with or tread unfamiliar ground and experiment. Theres just so much to do in the game.

[@Essylte]

I've decided to make four different games: one where Claude is the MC with Opera (missed Ernest, so I had to make a second one so I could pair her and Ernest together), Bowman, Celine, Leon, Rena, and Noel. I wanted to get Chisato, but I had already a full party. I have a game with Rena as the MC, and I have my favorite couple Ashton/Precis there, and Dias, but I missed Chisato (wanted to pair her with Dias!). Both first games with Claude and Rena I missed a key character, so I made two other games. I make a point to save a game during the Salva Mines event, that way, I can choose to get Ashton. My third game with Claude I'm getting Ashton and Precis

[@AlamMoBaa]

This is the first time I will be playing any star ocean game, thanks I already have a team in mind. Didn't know there's a game mechanics like this that you can't get all characters.

[@HaywurdHeel]

My playthrough as a kid went Claude/Rena/Celine/Ashton and I fully intend on running that the first playthrough of this, to squeeze every drop of nostalgia I can from this.

[@DRCE777]

16:19 Oh my God, I went with these 4 when I played this game as a kid and I remember finishing the Maze of Tribulations with this party, they are the best, tried and tested!

[@BrianK-g1l]

Awesome vid - bringing back old memories. Excited to play again

[@SolaceAndDread]

3 more weeks!

[@mauriciorestrepo343]

I get it now, the blonde hair with a red bandana is a tribute to Claude... this makes this video pleasant to watch.

[@dammitjames]

a) i love that this channel is covering this game, its -the best- JRPG ever made as far as I'm concerned. b) I don't agree on the 'best party' advice though -- I've played this game like 6 times since I was a kid and I feel like Claude, Opera, Precis and Chisato outperform the variant with Dias

[@SolaceAndDread]

a) I love this game so much it's disgusting. thanks for watching b) Don't sleep on the dps speed of Dias's Chaos Sword and air slashes. (Though Bowman can outpace him with explosion pills if they arent resistant to Fire.)

[@raulrojas9253]

Claude opera rena 4 slot is unknown in this ver

[@Fayt262]

My first time playing all i had was Claude, Rena, Celine, Bowman, and Noel. It was my first RPG and didnt know about character recruiting until second playthrough.

[@Ashaweshk]

Before i play? Nah im going in RAW like how i was a kid when i first played this gods damned masterpiece.

[@SolaceAndDread]

So then you're NOT going in raw, you've already played it.

[@joebarrett29]

I’ve never played a star ocean before. Got this one pre ordered the demo was just so insane. This art style is just fantastic

[@IdeonFukkatsu]

You're in for a treat, this is probably the best RPG ever made.

[@abw1317]

​@@IdeonFukkatsucouldn't have said it better myself. I've been wanting this remaster for almost two decades. Gonna be a good one

[@FewNewReasonss]

I couldn't tell the demo apart from 20 other demos released in the last two years.

[@joebarrett29]

@@FewNewReasonss like what?

[@abw1317]

@@FewNewReasonss That sounds like a you problem.

[@FooX917]

i just wanna hear my boy yell out ' SPLOSION PILLS '

[@letthewindsblow3067]

I've always wanted to get into star ocean and second R looks like a GREAT starting point but the way u get party members canda worried me, so a guide like this is amazing and I can't wait for the game to release.

[@SolaceAndDread]

Glad it's helpful! Enjoy this game! Take your TIME.

[@cobbil]

Whenever I see Dias, I heard the only thing I remember from him in my head: "CHAOS SWORD, CHAOS SWORD, FULL-MOON SLASH, CHAOS SWORD!"

[@Expelsword]

(Edited for R info): To see Welch's PA and recruit her, you need at least four party members. The last time you can do it is before you leave for the Hoffman Ruins with Leon (and Leon himself won't count). To recruit Chisato, you need to see her stalking you in Central City (leave the Mayor's building and go left toward the inn), and North City (on the way to the Psynard lab), for her to appear in the Cave of Red Crystal. These are not PAs in the R version. You won't miss them if you just check the map. I agree with the party recruitment you suggest in this video per-playthrough for various story reasons, however regarding the "best party", I think you're overselling Dias a bit. Bowman can easily fill that slot in a Claude game. It's tough to say anything definitive since R has changed mechanics, but I do expect Claude Rena Ashton Dias / Claude Opera Bowman Chisato to remain extremely dominant parties. (I was wrong on this)

[@veghesther3204]

Actually you can you just can't BEAT the Hoffman ruins itself its just that after getting Bowman you need to get Leon in the party BEFORE the Welch PA can actually be done so yes you can have Opera and Bowman as the only others to get Welch to join.

[@SolaceAndDread]

Noel will rise from the ashes.

[@lightning13clair29]

Bruh he didn't over sell dias dias is one of the best damage dealers in the game and out beats Bowman I think you are over selling Bowman he has never been better than dias 😂

[@Expelsword]

@@lightning13clair29 The game wasn't out yet when the video was made, so my sentiments above, and the video overall do ultimately contain inaccuracies, but because the video isn't actually about who's good, but rather how to get the characters and how you should distribute them (which it has correct, giving the most access to PAs and even special moves), I'd rather not get into protracted comment battles discussing the meta (as I have elsewhere). The game isn't hard no matter what party you use. That said, if you want a quick rundown: Fielding Rena is just silly with all the other methods of healing available now. Ashton is significantly worse in the main game, only returning to any relevancy in postgame. In a complete reversal, Precis is one of the best characters now, far exceeding Bowman. Chisato was nerfed into being merely ok most of the time. Opera is actually bad (please don't make me elaborate) and Ernest is quite good. Welch is also extremely strong now, although her start is slower since she gets her good moves much later. I actually do think Dias is one of the best characters in the game in R (he was solid in previous versions, though Claude is still the best overall, as he always was). My comment about Bowman replacing Dias wasn't necessarily meant to say that Bowman is better than Dias, (it definitely WAS true in previous versions, though) but rather that Claude is not lacking for options in terms of fighters just because he can't get Dias. Bowman is a character that starts with his best move ready to go out of the box, just like Dias does - in that respect they are interchangeable.

[@lightning13clair29]

@@Expelsword nah incorrect about opera opera is the second best healer in the game aside from rena and I rather you not elaborate on opera as I know you are just gonna spew a bunch of negative bs about her so let's not go there chisato is also incorrect she is still op nerfs don't mean anything the only character that isn't really good but still need to recruit just so you can get the trophy achievement is noel he was trash in the original ps version and PSP version and he ain't no different in the remake version

[@darkwolf9204]

I had a lot of fun back in the day with Claude, Chisato, Bowman, and Opera... all fighters with a healing Killer Move. Put on that and a good attack (dragon howl, @-1, 10k volts, explosive pills) and watch them go to work. It's arguably one of the stongest teams if you're going through the hidden dungeon to unlock the true final boss.

[@venomoussocks1017]

Can you perhaps do a guide on talents? If the introduction to Ashton was anything to go by, they'll be important.

[@SolaceAndDread]

that is a TALL order friend. I'll consider it, lol. that whole system got reworked, so it's a new dawn

[@Joe1up]

For Chisato, there's a scene in Centropolis as soon as you land in Energy Nede, (in front of inn, can't remember if it is a PA or not) and another in North City. Chisato is snooping on your party. I thought viewing these two were a requirement for her to show up in the cave. Am i wrong?

[@veghesther3204]

Those Chisato scenes are non PA only but you still must see all 3 for her to drop her ID card but IF she drops her ID card and you do NOT pick it up the card itself will permanently disappear making her missable. Also once all 4 Field dungeons Power Courage Wisdom and Intelligence are beaten Chisato disappears from Central City permanently so that she can't join and yes Claude/Rena are the only required party members so if you were to do a Claude/Rena only game its best to start as Rena so that you can't ever have Leon join the party its still possible to ditch Dias on a Rena game.

[@SolaceAndDread]

Yeah, you have to head right after walking out of the mayor's office. I have a feeling that second story r will change that like they did with Ernest. I forgot to mention that.

[@veghesther3204]

Actually its heading Left once you enter Central City/Exit the mayors office theirs only 2 ways to go West to trigger the Chisato scene or South where the weapon/item/food shops are.

[@FaytLinegod]

I haven't played this since it first came out so it's SO good to have the updated version in my hands again. Thanks for all this information. I'd honestly forgotten how to get Opera and Ernest.

[@Hyuga_Xeno]

I'm sorry but I just almost died laughing when I saw the blonde wig when it first showed you. Sub gained just for that 💀 😂

[@SolaceAndDread]

Claude Henny at your service

[@WeTheWounded]

You can use Noel on a playthrough that doesn't take Opera for healing in a Bloody Armor setup. Rena couldn't equip the armor, but Noel could. My first time beating Unlimited was with Claude, Ashton, Dias, and Noel in Bloody Armors actually. It IS a cheesy ass strat for sure, but if you really want to use it, and really want Ashton while doing so, Noel is your best bet.

[@Tone_E_Tone2181]

My party comp when I first played this all the way back on the PS1 was Claude, Rena, Celine (I love my Black Mage Waifus, even back then), and Ashton (His design just spoke to me)

[@deusvlad2.083]

Theres a fatal flaw in this remake, it takes forever to run around the map screen cause its so big and there's no run button lmao

[@SolaceAndDread]

? You're always running. Also you can summon a bunny with animal training and get around really fast. Also fast travel lol

[@deusvlad2.083]

@@SolaceAndDread Can you summon a bunny in town?

[@BLAZER_VA]

Celine English voice actor in second evolution is amazing

[@belldrop7365]

Man, this game got me to use guides back in the day. Seeing videos like this of the remake is scaring me like it's a jrpg version of Baldur's gate 3.

[@SolaceAndDread]

Lol it will never have that depth. But it does help the fun factor to know who to pick up ahead of time

[@Oag1992]

Claude’s pov will be Claude Rena Chisato/Bowman Opera Rena’s Pov Claude Rena Ashton Dias/Chisato Either way Claude, Rena, and Chisato will be in the group. It really looks like they may balance out some characters and I’m excited to see what they’ll do.

[@bigstopowens]

the party i ran most on the ps1 and the party im going to start with on the remake is rena claude dias and ashton, i had multiple playthroughs though and recruited everyone at one point and used them all, to try and get my sound board filled. in the remake i will probably recruit everyone and with your video i will grab the parties you have listed to try everyone out. i hope they change some of the recruiting and let you do ashton/opera in one playthrough, but i doubt it seems like the game is going to be the same story wise

[@TheKensei777]

been lookin for somethin like this. thanks 😁

[@sang_from_rushhour3009]

i've actually fawned over Celine mostly for the english voice. i did not expect to see a jab at that in the video lol.

[@DozenMarks]

16:30 Ah, yes. "Enthusiastic" is certainly one way to put it, haha.

[@deusvlad2.083]

As a remake this game should have let you collect every character in one playthrough so you can just enjoy everything and play again for either Claudes or Rena's playthrough. That way you wouldn' have to waste time searching online how to get this or that character. As if us humans dont have enough on our plate.

[@alvinv.5980]

My original 8 party members when i first played it in PS1 is Rena, Claude, Celine, Ashton, Diaz, Precis, Chisato, and Noel. My favorite party formation is Chisato, Precis, Rena, and Ashton. This formation can stunlock/corner enemies even bosses including Indalencio limiter off. Chisato with Tear Gas, Precis with Parabola Beam, and Ashton with Dragon's Breath while Rena applies Angel Blessing (?) buff to each character. But sometimes I sub out Ashton with someone else because Chisato+Precis combo is enough.

[@ShadesMan]

Good stuff, here!!!! This more or less applies to the remake as well, 100%! Hopefully ppl like Ernest will be tooled to be more effective fighters, and seems spellcasters will be more effective late-game! (and yes it's Noel like Christmas, not 'Nowl' like I thought back in the day! Same with Pre-sis... not Press-e's!)

[@SolaceAndDread]

i pronounced both the exact same way, lol. Thanks for verifying accuracy.

[@ShadesMan]

aaah NpNp, it was a pleasure!@@SolaceAndDread

[@lightning13clair29]

​@@SolaceAndDreadbro celene is actually the better caster over Leon Leon is good but his magic doesn't even compare to celene you can't actually believe that celene is bad as she is a huge help early game

[@Crangaso]

From my experience in the OG: Ashton was my favorite. I always named him after myself but Opera from my understanding (never picked her in all my playthroughs) is BA with her laser gun. I was never able to defeat Unlimited Indalecio. Fought him so many times the battles would last for hours. After nearly 4 hours I almost killed him but he got me. Limited Indelico wasn't too difficult.

[@feinne7652]

Gotta give it to He Who Shall Not Be Named. Dudes trolling was so good we still remember his obsession with Bloody Armors lol.

[@SolaceAndDread]

He's still around. Still giving the same speech. Even on this video in replies, haha

[@Nonfatproduct]

Good guide! I think ima try that character listing for Rena and eventually, Claude 😎

[@deusvlad2.083]

Your only allowed 6 extra party members, best party is Rena- /Dias/Celine/Opera/Precis/Chisato/Noel and in Claude- Celine/Ashton/Bowman/welch/Leon/Ernest did I miss anyone? lol sucks how you can't recruit them all whenever you want, there's too many missables in this game. I hate missables.

[@renaldybagussaputra1140]

Wait, I thought that Ernest can't be recruited without opera, but how can you not mention opera ini Claude playthrough?

[@deusvlad2.083]

@@renaldybagussaputra1140 I do believe in the remake they allowed it, but I can't say for sure because I haven't done it yet.

[@ThePancakeChef]

Thanks for this breakdown. I have played the original way waaaaaay back and I'm happy to see some quality of life changes are there for sure. I'm not set on who to put in my party. Started with Claude and alsways good to have Rena for her heals. I really like Opera and my 4th might be Leon or Dias, not sure yet. Subscribed to follow more of your content.

[@karmadevilin]

i played many times through each side. my 1st play I took claude, rena, ashton celine. after many different combinations i found the better groups was claude, ernest, rena, celine. fighting the final boss in the cave of trials and her sister afterwards this group did the best. the playstation version had an issue with your killers, if a boss would block it you are in slow time trying to complete it while they can move at hyperspeed. so to beat the boss you needed to have the eternal sphere weapon and spark whip/celestial bangle (cant remember if that is the actual name of it) (ashton attacked fast enough that you didnt need the celestial bangle from the final cave boss but you had to manually use him to only do his swing 1 attack but fast enough to pincer the boss between claude). the addition sparks that each of these added to the manual attacks made juggling the angels easier. celine was there to use her magic to stop the boss, you could also use items to hit the boss forcing them to stop. allowing you to reset the group to resume the clubbing again. The PSP version fixed the manual attacking and made it hard but you could more freely use the killers. this is where Ernest wins, his rose bloom killer spawned under multiple sections, partially tracks the enemy and can hit aerial targets. i took everyones advice that he sucked and never wanted to use him but opera was great. she was ok better than bowman on dps, worse on longevity, she doesnt regen enough MP per battle to make her worth it. noel to my experience did in fact suck and was a regret to have. get chisato before getting noel plz

[@ytshinichi9944]

i platinumed few days ago first departure. cant wait to get this game!

[@SageofStars]

Ah, my team, nice to see them again. Love how this series operated...you know in games 2 and 3 with several slots that you can fill how you want, and with unique characters that actually learn different skills and play almost completely uniquely thanks to their weapons, so no one's an obvious duplicate...some share some things but not completely. Meanwhile 1 and 4 are mostly picking between ANOTHER attacker or mage, 5 you have all of them and 6...is uniquely interesting in how it does combat so it's less a case of picking for that, and mostly picking who you want to adventure with storywise. And since other than a few characters in 4(And ALL of 5) the SO franchise characters are well written and grounded in their world, it's a nice choice to have.

[@SolaceAndDread]

I still think 6 is strongest in combat systems ❤️ and I agree, the characters in 2 feel so unique.

[@Asch519]

Mirage and Cliff are literal clones for the most part of their combat, so technically in 3 there's 2 req characters that are mostly the same. They share weapons too.

[@SageofStars]

@@Asch519 That is true, though that's due to her being an addition for the international version of the game(The only one outside of japan), so I'm willing to allow that.

[@Mr3DLC]

Till the end of time is kinda lame though Most of your party slots are filled by mandatories You only have four applicants for two slots when all is said and done

[@overwhelmingapathy721]

Rena main, claude dias and opera, she becomes backup healer and set up properly makes up for time when you hafta heal status or give buffs. I dont have much love for casters in this my second fav game ever but i love renas playthrough and i love healing

[@TheMagickHat77]

Love me some Star Ocean 2nd Story and I can't wait to sink my teeth into the Remake. The demo has got me seriously jonesing! It probably won't be on my first playthrough, but I kinda do want to try an all-caster party of Rena, Celine, Leon, and Noel just to see if it can be done. It'll probably be hard as hell, but still it'd be fun to try once I figure out wgat changes the Renake will bring.

[@SolaceAndDread]

I wanna try that too!!

[@cireratnacla993]

I have only played the original Star Ocean 2 PS1 version so, playing Welch is gonna be something else. I'm actually excited for this version.

[@deyon100]

If playing Rena make sure she starts with the pickpocket skill there’s a really unique item you can steal from mars village that can give you the best sword in the game 👍

[@SolaceAndDread]

I really should have mentioned checking her for nimble fingers...

[@veghesther3204]

About that the DEMO actually gives you 2 ITEMS that give out random items INCLUDING the Marvel Sword so theirs no actually NEED to actually STEAL that item in Mars for a 2nd Marvel sword to give to Dias on a Rena game so if you DO steal that item USE it for a +150 physical defense armor equip it to Claude on Earth mode and he won't be dying from physical hits in 1 HIT for a long time. In fact after that Steel armor for its 150 defense is gotten out of the STOLEN goodie box all the BUYABLE armors in the ENTIRE planet of Expel have a way LOWER physical defense stat then that in fact the only Blacksmith armors that are BETTER then that 150 defense armor during the first half you can get in the full game are the Mithril Mesh armors for Claude Dias Opera Bowman and Ernest 200 physical defense OR have 4x BLOODY armor users.

[@deyon100]

@@veghesther3204 I never realised that about the demo thanks for the heads up 👍

[@veghesther3204]

Exactly both that card item you get via that search point NW of Kurik and the free Chest item own 10% of all items in game about 100 in total BOTH can result in 1000+ str items but the card item only give out 1 random item and Goodie box still gives out 3. But still SAVE before using either one.

[@deyon100]

@@veghesther3204 I’ve actually still got a save on the ps1 version just outside of mars village I love getting the valiant boots also give you that super speed with the good defensive stats bunny shoes on steroids lol 👍

[@khfreak5531]

From what I could tell. They added a system to the combat where you can do combos with characters not in your party. Kind of like a tag team thing where they pop up for a few seconds. From the explanation of the gameplay, it seems to insinuate that you can actually get all of the characters if you want to and have them as backup characters. If that’s the case, that would make things quite interesting.

[@SolaceAndDread]

I don't think you can get everyone in one playthrough. I still think the max is 8 in a party.

[@khfreak5531]

@@SolaceAndDread You are most likely right. I don’t know as much about this series. So I was kind of just guessing. Lol

[@sepulchral.]

You do not get all of the characters; however, you can call upon party members not in the battle (and some non-playable characters) to perform actions.

[@alfaminer]

Never got to play the OG but i just finished remake just now. Clyde rena dias celine was fun af. Bowman n noel "forced" their way in because i didn't realize privet party was a thing till fun city😂. But definitely going to slow down and look into more of the raid bosses on NG+. Hitting lvl 102 on 1st playthrough blew my mind. Thought 99 was going to be max😂. Huge FF fan so i had to give it a try. Best choice I've made in years! Ty for vid now i can scoop up a few different characters and nab a few more achievements

[@Sabastion7031]

I must of missed it but is Leon recruitable in Rena’s play through

[@PixelatedPuzzlements]

Remember that one PSX walkthrough that REALLY encouraged you to solo the game with Bowman?

[@SolaceAndDread]

No, lol. Was this a gamefaqs thing?

[@Eughwwww]

Since one of my favorite ps2 games of all time was SO3 (i pretend the endgame twist never happened) i decided to play my first playthrough of SO2 blind with Rena. Watching this Im excited to try some other characters on my second playthrough as Claude. Got Dias, Celine, Ashton, Precis, Noel and Welch on my team. I really like controlling Dias but am actually having a lot of fun playing as Noel too - interesting to see how hated he is. Im around lvl 68 atm. I see why SO2 has been hailed my many as the best SO game.

[@Trace153]

I didn’t hear it said, but on new game plus do you keep the characters you recruited and why you can get everyone on a second run?? Or did I miss something.

[@KaoshiSan]

Well he did say max party size is 8 so I'm guessing no, unless that changes with this new release? I got told by someone that all the main SO characters would be added but idk if that's true, but if true that means party size should be bigger.

[@rezypm]

bloody armor strat seems really boring to me. i will try to use noel this time since there is no spell cast animation on most of his spell looks chaotic too and i love it. i notice on the demo when using celine her spell really helpful on breaking enemy armor, also there is sub stats on the equipment that you can regenerate mp each time you landed crit. it's kinda fun that i can do some experiment on the new remake later when it released playing on universe mode.

[@veghesther3204]

About Bloody armors if Healing Star doesn't restore 5000 HP I'll still use Opera over Ashton simply give party members HP drain factors and they will never die as long as you restore LIKE 5000+ HP PER hit that is Noel is still pure Crap.

[@rezypm]

@@veghesther3204 yeah yeah, just go run your boring play as usual. don't bother the others k?

[@runkinronut3605]

Wishful thinking, but I hope they remove bloody armors and forged medals form this game. Vegh is gonna love it.

[@rezypm]

@@runkinronut3605 ikr. i don't know why he keep bragging about the same boring strat over and over again, this is a remake and there is plenty things that people should try. as an old fan, i would love to try everything that the remake can offer too.

[@LucienWhite-fb5qk]

@@runkinronut3605 he'll have a heart attack lol

[@tetragene]

Great breakdown -- looking forward to how they may have made some of the recruiting less convoluted since a few characters had easily missable prerequisites, especially for new players. I've also always been curious if there's any measurable data regarding players' preferences with Opera/Ashton or Bowman/Precis.

[@SolaceAndDread]

Maybe we should set up some kind of poll in the subreddit. Would be fun

[@SolaceAndDread]

I have a feeling Ernest and Chisato specifically will be less missable.

[@lightning13clair29]

​@@SolaceAndDreadceline voice acting isnt terribel only thing terrible is you lieing

[@madkaiser4887]

Great video! Will keep this advice in mind, when playing. Excited for it's release!!!!! So close

[@SolaceAndDread]

2 weeks!!

[@Slif1988]

I never found Leon annoying. I love playing Claude and keeping my teams even I would have Claude, Rena, Leon and Chisato and then I swapped Ashton, Noel, Celine, Precis. I had a weird thing of keeping everyone the same levels and ability usage around the same as well.

[@AdachiCabbage]

I don't remember Welch in the original SO2 on the PlayStation so she might be a new addition in the more modern games.

[@Schrient]

I'm super excited for this game! So happy Square Enix is remaking it. Looks pretty awesome! Hmm. I'd always main Rena in my playthru as a kid. I think I'd try Rena, Celine, Dias, and Claude maybe. We'll see! In my Claude playthru Leon kept getting destroyed.

[@MarxasThomas]

Damn is leon's defense that bad?

[@KlydeVividarium]

Did you reference VeggEsther at the end? I remember him from GameFAQs in the late 00's, glad to see his advice has stuck with people :')

[@SolaceAndDread]

He's still here. in the comments of this video even. 😅

[@KlydeVividarium]

@@SolaceAndDread Oh wow, well at least he's dedicated? 😭

[@mjd11452]

Hey just getting into this series do you recommend the first game or someplace to jump into it?

[@XDantevsVergilX]

Can the old walkthrough work with this game? Becausw they seem to be adding a lot of new stuff

[@lazaro4351]

on original game, i use claude, rena, celine, catboi because i like to only control claude, so celine and catboi freely use their spells as much as they want

[@xidan8146]

I remember on my first playthrough as a kid my party was: Core party: Claude Rena (Story) Ashton Precis Reserved party: Celine Noel Dias Chisato Noel for me at high level worked great!

[@gwelengu]

Omg. Your hat (wig?) is amazing 😂 I want one. Subbed

[@SolaceAndDread]

I'd say that's worth about 80 points!

[@SchwarzmagierLuemml]

Great video! I still don't get it, why they didn't remake the sprite of ashton which doesn't fit to any artwork of him ...

[@SolaceAndDread]

Precis is even worse. her colors are the exact oposite of tthe sprite's colors. and Noel's ears don't make any sense either.

[@dhsyn666]

I have the OG PS1 version, If you invest in the correct skills you can make up for short comings. If you skilled right you could make Rena at least for the first half of the game on par or even stronger than Claude and Ashton. Celine has a wider elemental spell range she gets infintely better with Motormouth and spell speed items. I chose her over Leon who mostly deals in Dark and chance to insta-kill Magic which doesn't work on Bosses especially Serpahic Gate content. Despite the skill buffs though Ernest was still trash, I hope they balance him because yes he can be used but there are way better and easier options especially on Universe Difficulty.

[@mistahkrazy805]

This. Thank you. You need those mage combat skills to make Rena, Celine, and Leon truly viable. And I too prefer Celine over Leon for the better spread of magic skills, and Leon isn't useful in some of the end game dungeons as well. Precis is one character I tend to use as well because she is fast and has strong attacks, and good multi hit specials. Was my favorite game on PS1, and I'm so glad it's finally coming out! I can't wait to spend hours on it again.

[@MarxasThomas]

I’m going for Claude, Rena, Oprah, Ernest, Precis , Leon, Chisato,and Welch.

[@richardb4796]

I'm going to create an all caster team! Celine, Noel, Leon, and Rena!!

[@SolaceAndDread]

I'm jealous, I wanna do this, hahaha. someone else said they would do this too.

[@veghesther3204]

That party sucks and yes you MUST doing a Claude run for that to happen but Dias is still way better then Leon ever is.

[@ninototo1]

​@@veghesther3204 What if Leon is better in the remake?

[@veghesther3204]

He still sucks since Dias is still going to be 100% BETTER besides Celine IS still PURE CRAP in the DEMO when you already have Claude and Rena's 100% Str weapons FOR Cross Cave itself in the Demo/Full game.

[@ninototo1]

@@veghesther3204 But Celine sucks, Leon is way better than Celine

[@Garland042]

My go to party in second story was allways Claude, Opera, Chisato and Bowman/Precis...Starting R this week so remains to be seen if I go for the same setup=)

[@SolaceAndDread]

we made a ranking video on the characters. 2R reworked a lot of them, and they aren't as amazing as they used to be, while others are way better. Highly recommend checking that video out! (Chisato went from god tier to... well. you'll see.)

[@Garland042]

@@SolaceAndDread allready did good sir! glad I found your channel earlier today. Have a great day!

[@funnyavi]

My favorite characters were Claude, opera, bowman, chisato. Pictures of party healing, self healing ,long range, mid-range and close range attacks, and no spell casting!

[@Essylte]

Heh, I usually always chose Precis and Ashton in my party. I never really got to recruit Opera and Ernest, nor Bowman. This time around, I may try and get them to see what they're like.

[@SolaceAndDread]

Ernest and Opera are SO much better now. It's crazy.

[@love2lovesum1]

I haven’t played this game yet but when I do, I will have Rena, Claude, Ashton, and Dias as my party for Rena and Claude, Rena, Opera, and Ernest as my party for Claude.

[@LB41st]

Great video. Strongly recommend everyone recruits Bowman because spamming Poison Pill is the most satisfying thing you can do in all of videogaming.

[@josephsaga]

You have the game early? It’s not even the release date. If so is it possible to play the game offline on switch

[@kamarrawlings6285]

So Welch was something that they added on to the game she’s not on the original ps1 release?

[@SolaceAndDread]

That is correct

[@SolaceAndDread]

Specifically, she was added on to the psp remaster

[@KorenLesthe]

Hi Solace & Dread ! I wonder if you've beaten the Ten Wise Men RAID boss with the new update ^^. I've died already 15 times against the last one !

[@SolaceAndDread]

Nope! Looking forward to trying it!

[@kanetidus]

wait, so before you meet a character, you check his talents , if he doesn't have good ones, you can reload the save, the talents gonna be different?

[@SolaceAndDread]

That's right. It's RNG

[@KokoKrunchs]

When the game release, my party would be Claude-Rena-Leon-Celine. 1 melee, 1 healer, 2 casters. I just love magic 😂

[@SolaceAndDread]

This is a good party, lol. I'm so pro caster right now

[@EternalWeaponX]

Yeah, how they redid magic in R is pretty nice. Depending on how the spells DPS works I may go 2 casters myself. Both Leon and celine simultaneously sounds so cool!

[@izecjaxn9971]

Claude, Rena, Dias and Ashton. Love this team.

[@kinh0t]

Magic is shiet in this game

[@bayumahendra1797]

Magic was great at early game, but the cutscene is too long only for deal 4digit damage while claude can deal 6digit damage I wish they change the system where you can take action when magic is casted

[@colebuschle]

I'm gonna save this for my send play through. I got to do it on my own the first time. Also had to change to to psp music.

[@hachiko187]

Where is confirmed that he is the son of Ilia? I dont remember this.

[@Shishigamiwolf]

I can get Opera still if I am playing through Rena playthrough right? Just wanna make sure. She seems fun XD

[@4Clubs]

Brother, can''t tell you how excited I was for this video, the topic certainly lends itself to some spirited discussion. Picking between Ashton and Opera will never not be a hard choice for me, I always default to my boy Ashton when he is available just to leaf slash myself to the front. Having said that, the original healing star/bloody armor strat was pretty godly, and forgoing Rena just to have and all fighters team demolish the battlefield will never not be amazing. I think Dias is a tad bit overrated, personally. He certainly hits hard early on but he doesn't multihit as well as Claude and Ashton (heck, or Precis and Chisato). As for Bowman, I don't think he is that boring, !!!!!spoilers!!!!!, but the guy just leaves his wife in multiple endings, that just cracks me up, it''s so fucked up. Noel and Ernest are just bad and unfun characters to play as, I hope the remake gives them some love. As for my party, I think I've already settled on my two playthroughs: Claude: Rena, Celine, Ashton, Precis, Welch, Leon, Chisato Rena: Claude, Dias, Opera, Ernest, Welch, Bowman, Noel Precis only has access to her best KM via Ashton and their Private Actions together are always extremely funny. Can't remember the PA synergies very well, but Bowman and Ernest together in the same party with Opera feels spicy. God bless you, brother. Apologies for the long post, but I really love this game and I'm loving your channel. I'll be waiting for that obligatory Universe mode pickpocketing guide, Claude Kenniggah.

[@SolaceAndDread]

Naw man, thank YOU for the discussion, I LOVE nerding out over this!!! - I know Dias doesn't excel in multi-hit but his Air Slash and Chaos Sword are so FAST that just spamming the button is a multi-hit in itself. - Yeah, Ashton/Precis pretty much need to be together, for Precis' sake. That's why I listed them together, but I don't know if they will change that in the remake. - Bowman is so boring what do you MEEEEAAAANNNN - Honestly I might mirror your Rena Playthrough and swap some characters. I want the Dias, Claude, Opera Rena combo so badly. - I'm gonna give Ernest and Noel FULL consideration as we go through the 4 fields on "Disc 2" and see if they're better... man do I hope.

[@veghesther3204]

I'll still abuse Bloody armors if you can so Celine Ashton Precis Noel Leon Welch are still going to be pure CRAP.

[@4Clubs]

@@SolaceAndDread I get what you mean, Dias is a fun character to play as because of how fast he is. The air slash spam is probably going to be nerfed though, it was way too cheap and effective. Can't imagine they'll change the conditions because Percis's robot literally dressed up as Ashton. Just imagine Bowman returning home to his soon to be ex-wife with his new big booba girlfriend Opera. Just imagine his wife crying her eyes out and Bowman going "Hey, do you know why we moved to Ligma after we got married?" "Why?" "LIGMA B...!" Now tell me that he's boring, I dare you. Bowman is lowkey the most Japanese character in the entire game. He's kind of amazing. Though I will probably curse him to end up with Welch as punishment for his ungodly behaviour. At least she'll poke one of his eyes out once his gaze starts straying again. I'm not entirely settled on my Rena playthrough. I might swap Welch just to have a full team of Nedians. But what will settle things for me will be me recapping the PAs and seeing what makes more "sense". Celine in the same party as Opera, Ernest and Bowman feels like prime time Japanese drama. Part of my motivation is making Bowman reconsider that dog of a woman that he married. You can definitely can see Ernest working with just a couple of tweaks to his hitboxes and his animation speed. Now Noel needs to be fully reconsidered, it's kind of amazing how much he sucks. Other than that, I'm just salty that the character limit means that l won't be able to change Opera's name to Ungoogled Chromium. Firefox it is. Cheers, mate. And may the good Lord bless you and your wife.

[@4Clubs]

@@ChadVigilante Going minimal, nice. Just be warned that Leon has a legendary PA in Fun City if you have a lot of ladies in your party.

[@MarxasThomas]

​@@veghesther3204christ you're everywhere 😂😂

[@Xilibrius]

Never played through as Rena don't know if that'll change