Star Ocean FAQ
Super Famicom
Version 1.0
Made by Exdeath
E-Mail: [email protected]
Page: http://gannex.simplenet.com
Exdeath’s Star Ocean FAQ
This is the Star Ocean FAQ. This copyright belongs to me and
may not reproduced in any way without consent of me. This is
freely distributed as long as the copyright remains. You may use
this Strategy Guide or parts of it, but give me full credit where it
is due.
If you would like to help me with this Strategy Guide, E-Mail me
at {[email protected]} I would really appreciate your help if
you could give it to me. If you see any mistakes that you wish
for me to clear up, mail me.
----------------
Version Info:
----------------
-Version 1.0
4/20/99
*Basic sections added
*Combat system and characters
*Frequently asked questions
*Partial Item Creation info
------------
Contents:
------------
About Star Ocean
Approval Ratings
-Ways to change Approval Ratings
Private Actions
Combat System
-Combat Controls
The Characters
Frequently Asked Questions
Item Creation
Thanks
----------------------
About Star Ocean:
----------------------
Star Ocean was made by Enix and produced by Tri-Ace. It
came in 1996, when the Super Famicom was heading for a
downfall, and the next generation systems were getting more
popular. Along with Tales of Phantasia, Star Ocean is the
largest Super Famicom cart made at 48 MB. It’s specially
rendered sound chips provide a possible 3 layers of sounds
during background music. It’s graphics are also very crisp,
and it is easily the best looking Super Famicom game. During
the battle, the characters actually talk! Before doing special
attacks, they usually call out what they’re doing, and before
and at the end of each battle, they say various things. This was
certainly ahead of it’s time as a Super Famicom game. Other
unique features are it’s Active Time Battle System, Private
Actions, unique Skills System, Link Combos, and much more.
Perhaps the most unique game made.
----------------------
Approval Ratings:
----------------------
This game is very unique in that every character has opinions
about each of the other characters. Depending on what you
do throughout the game, other characters can like or dislike
the other members. Approval Ratings start out at a set rate
between characters, and are changed through what you say
during certain situations. Even in battle, when one of your
characters is being beaten up, and none of the other members
go over there and help him, the beaten character’s AR
towards the other characters go down. If someone goes to
help that character, the character’s AR for that character
will go up. The end of the game, and especially ending rely
heavily on AR toward each character. There are multiple
endings depending on AR, characters, and what you’ve
done in the game.
Ways you can change AR:
1) Questions other characters ask you, or your actions to
other characters. This seems to be the biggest way to change
AR through the game. The nicer you are to particular characters,
the more the AR will increase. So, basically, be nice to your
characters throughout the game. :)
2) In battle. Sometimes when another character is being beaten
by the enemy, he/she will ask for help. If your one or more of
your characters run up and help that character, your AR for that
character will be raised. Similarly, if you don’t help that character,
your AR for he/she will be lowered. Also, sometimes a
character will thank another character for being healed.
This affects AR for the characters as well.
--------------------
Private Actions:
--------------------
In almost every town, you can do a private action. This is
another unique feature about the game. When you get to a
town’s gate, and in the upper-right corner says “Private
Action”, press Y, and your characters will split up and explore
the town or castle. Sometimes you can get special things
through Private Actions, but it’s not even necessary to do it
at all if you don’t want to. It’s a good idea, though, as you
can get a lot of great things through Private Actions that you
can’t otherwise get.
--------------------
Combat System:
--------------------
The combat system is probably the most unique part of Star
Ocean. It takes part in active time, and you must plan strategies
to overcome most battles. In this way, all of the characters
attack each other at the same time. One very unique thing is that
your characters can run around on the battlefield and make
different tactics to beat the enemy. You may only control one
character at a time in battle, but your other characters will follow
the tactics you provide for them. Most of the bosses require
special tactics that are tough sometimes, and most of the time
very difficult, so mastering the battle system will become a
challenge.
Combat Controls:
A: This targets the enemy. When you press A, target arrows
appear over the enemies. You can switch enemies you want to
attack. When you press A again, you will attack that enemy. If you
target an enemy and press L or R, you will preform Hissatsuwaza
you have assigned to that character. Pressing B will cancel targeting
of any enemy.
B: You can select the character you want to control. Press B,
scroll to the character you want, and press B again. You can
control any of the characters. When you use this option, however,
Ratix will sit still, so he can be attacked, and he won’t fight back.
That is why through the whole game, just use Ratix as the character
you control, unless you want to cast a particular spell or use a
special Hissatsuwaza another character has.
Y: You can run manually on the battlefield. Press Y, move the
cursor to a selected point, and then press A. You will run to that
place on the battlefield, but if you encounter an enemy on the way,
you will automatically attack it.
X: This goes to the menu in which you can select various things
in battle:
Item: Selected character will use the item you choose.
Run: Run from battle. Your characters will run to the edge of
the screen. You’re vulnerable during this time, of course.
Tactics: You can change the tactics of each individual character.
Since Ratix is controlled by you, he cannot use Tactics.
Change: You can choose another character on the roster to enter
the battle that is not currently in the party. This option is useful
when characters get low on HP or MP, and you can always
switch back to any other character. This is also helpful when
certain characters are very weak in the current battle.
Special: This allows you to use the Jumon you have. Milly, Joshua,
and Ronixis are the only ones that can use this, since they’re the
only ones that have Jumon.
L/R: Press these while targeting to use the characters’ pre-assigned
Hissatsuwaza. The Hissatsuwaza that is assigned can be controlled
from the main menu..
Start and Select Buttons aren’t used at all in battle.
-------------------
The Characters:
-------------------
*Note: I’m taking these right out of the manual for the game.
Ratix Farrence
Age: 19
Clan/Race: Fellpool
Country of origin: Clatos Village.
Class: Kenshi
Height: 174 cm
Weight: 68 kg
Favorite food/drink: Hoikoro
About him:
He’s the main character of your adventure. He, Milly, and Dorn
protect the village of Clatos at all costs. His father was the
leader of the Clatos protectors before him, but he died. You
basically decide how you want to shape Ratix throughout the
game through Approval Ratings.
What I like about him:
-He’s very agile and quick, and his swords do a lot of damage.
-He’s the overall most powerful fighter in the game, and his
secret Hissatsuwaza is extremely powerful.
What I don’t like about him:
Well, there isn’t much not to like, except for the fact that you
can only get his best Hissatsuwaza through Ougi only by
having Ashlay in your party.
Milly Kiliet
Age: 18
Clan/Race: Fellpool
Country of origin: Clatos Village.
Class: Houjutsushi
Height: 164 cm
Weight: 46 kg
Favorite food/drink: Fruit Parfait
About her:
Milly has been friends with Ratix for a long time. She is
studying under her father’s fighting skills. She uses staves,
and is overall the best healer in the game. She really loves
Ratix, and is always daydreaming about him. She gets to be
really jealous of Iria.
What I like about her:
-Dispel is really useful later in the game when you’re turned
to stone by Medusa Eyes.
-The best healer in the game, will receive the strongest
healing abilities.
What I don’t like about her:
-She dies extremely easy, and she doesn’t have any good
fighting attacks.
-She dies easier than anyone else in the game, because she
has the lowest defense. If you have 3 other members of
the party that are stronger, I suggest you use the “Astral
Shift” formation.
Dorn Marto
Age: 19
Clan/Race: Fellpool
Country of origin: Clatos Village.
Class: Kenshi
Height: 181 cm
Weight: 75 kg
Favorite food/drink: Steak 240
About him:
He is Ratix’s best friend, and also helps him and Milly to
protect the village. His sister was killed by a raid of thieves,
which is why he is strongly protecting the village. He really
likes Milly, and would do anything for her.
What I like about him:
-Is similar to Ratix in agility and swordsmanship.
What I don’t like about him:
-Well, I can’t really tell very much what I like and don’t like
about him, because you play him for a VERY short amount
of time at the beginning of the game.
Ronixis J. Kenny
Age: 38
Clan/Race: Human
Country of origin: Earth.
Class: Monshoutsukai
Height: 179 cm
Weight: 64 kg
Favorite food/drink: Matsutake
About him:
He’s the captain of the Federation Starship Kalnas. He’s
called to investigate Roak, and beams down to the planet
as he finds Roak. He is taught Magic by Milly when they
are separated from Ratix and Iria in the gateway. He uses
a bow in battle, and is very talented in attacking Magic.
What I like about him:
-Has very powerful attack spells similar to Joshua’s.
-He’s a better attacker than the other spellcasters in the
game in that he uses a bow that can reach enemies from
far away.
What I don’t like about him:
-Like all spell casters in the game, he’s weak, and dies easily.
-He starts off pretty powerful, but during the later stages of
the game, Joshua is an all-around better character.
-Like Joshua, sometimes he constantly casts spells that heal
the enemy, this gets rather annoying.
Ira Silvestolie
Age: 23
Clan/Race: Human
Country of origin: Earth.
Class: Kakutouka
Height: 171 cm
Weight: 48 kg
Favorite food/drink: Tama no Hikari.
About her:
She’s the chief science officer serving under Ronixis. She is a
martial arts expert, and she is good at talking to people,
unlike Ronixis. She gets irritated and flustered if something
bad happens. She’s intelligent, and she is a good fighter.
What I like about her:
-She’s really strong, especially at the beginning of the game,
and makes good hits, and has some nice early hissatsuwaza.
-Nice combos later in the game.
What I don’t like about her:
-She is really weak, especially towards the beginning of the
game.
-Her attacks are often too slow to be very useful, and does
not have very good agility.
--------------------------------
Frequently Asked Questions:
--------------------------------
Here are some common things you can get stuck at in Star
Ocean. A lot of these questions were asked by me when I
was first going through the game.
Q: The King of Van is testing me in a cave. I’m at the end,
and there are 7 doors. The middle door is locked, and
I can’t get by. There are switches in the other 6 rooms.
What am I supposed to do to proceed?
A: On the stone in front of this room, it reads “OXOOOXX
from where the sun rises.” The sun rises from the East, so
it’s changed to “XXOOOXO”. The “O” in the middle can
be ignored because it refers to the door you’re trying to
open. A “O” refers to a switch you need to hit, and you
can just ignore the “X” rooms. What confuses most people
here is that you have to hit the switches in the right order,
starting from right to left (similar to the sun, east to west).
So, go all the way to the far right room, hit the switch, then
skip the next door to the right, and hit the switch in the
room 2 rooms from the right, ignore the center “O” and hit
the switch in the room 2 to the far left, and you can enter.
Q: I hear you need the “Ocarina” to get Perisie. Where is it?
A: After you’ve beaten the Velcant Pirate’s hide-out, you
find a girl in the jail there. She doesn’t respond to anything
you say, and when you return to Portmis, she runs off.
Notice that a small sparkling object is dropped when she
falls down. Go over to this object, and press “A”, and you
will receive it.
Q: After the private action in Sylvalant, Milly is supposed to give
me a “Omamori”. I didn’t get one. What happened?
A: If you have Ashlay in your party, she doesn’t give one to you.
But, you can still get them by using Milly’s “Customize” item
creation, and customizing a “Magical Persia”.
Q: I have 8 characters in my party, and I want a different
character to join me. Is there any way I can ditch someone
in my party to make room for this new character?
A: If you don’t want Marvel, there is a way to lose her. Go to
the Sylvalant Ruins (you can enter here secretly from slightly
north of a bridge close Sylvalant, just enter the crack in the
wall). Behind a locked door here that is only accessible
through the king of Sylvalant, and a few rooms down, along
the left side of the wall are 2 rows of 3 small pillars. Go along
this path. Once here, head into the door north of it and there
will be a small cut scene, and Marvel will die. Now you can
leave and put someone else in the party.
Q: In the final dungeon, I keep running into Medusa Eyes!
These are utterly annoying! They keep petrifying my
characters, and I keep having to play it over! Anything I
can do to get by here safely?
A: Yes, having Milly here and the Dispell Jumon works really
well, it will un-petrify one party member. It’s also a good
idea to stock up on Stone Checks here by using Art and
duplicating them. If you don’t use Milly or Stone Checks,
you’ll be forced to using Cure Stones or Recure Bottles,
and you want to conserve your items for late in the lair.
Q: How do I work the link combos?
A: After you get the “Link Combo” skill, build it up a few
levels, then check the “Tokugi” screen. You can now
scroll over and create combo links by assigning
hissatsuwaza to second, third, and forth pages (you get more
pages the more levels you bring it up). The more you build
the skill up, the more hissatsuwaza you can link. Certain
combinations of link combos work better, but it’s really
good to experiment with a lot of combinations, and pick
the ones you like the most.
------------------
Item Creation:
------------------
This is yet another interesting and unique feature about Star
Ocean, the ability to temper your weapons with ore, make
weapons that suit your style, duplicate items by art, or even
cook herbs for your party to use. Each character’s Talents
play a large role in how often you will succeed certain item
creations. For example, for using the “Customize” item
creation, the talent “Originality” is needed if you want this
to succeed more easily. Talents are randomly chosen at the
beginning of the game, but you can possibly gain new Talents
throughout the game, but that doesn’t happen too often.
Also, thanks to Ian Kelley ([email protected]) for
giving me a lot of information on Item Creation.
Saiku:
You can create various special items for combining various gems
and minerals that you have. The more rare a stone it is that you
are working with, the harder it is to create different items. In
other words, it’s very easy to make a Poison Check, while making
a Regenerate Ring is very hard, even with a Kiyo na Yubisaki
skill rating of 10. Saiku is overall the toughest item creation to
do.
Here is a list of some the Saiku items you can create, thanks to
Ian Kelley {[email protected]}:
Iron: Poison Check, Stone Check, Paralyze Check
Gold: Gold Ring, Gold Idol, Gold Brooch, Stone Check
Silver: Silver Idol, Poison Check, Silver Ankh, Silver Ring
Ruby: Ruby Persia, Berserk Ring, Flare Ring, Shield Ring
Sapphire: Necklace, Aqua Ring, Feat Symbol, Paralyze Check
Green Beryl: Talisman, Fairy Ring, Crown, Emerald Ring
Crystal: Reflect Ring, Resist Ring, Kaeru, Paralyze Check
Diamond: Brooch, Pretty Idol, Purple Mist, Reverse Doll
Star Ruby: Star Crest, Star Necklace, Star Ring, Protect Ring
Rainbow Diamond: Magical Drop, Magical Persia, Dream Crown
Moonite: Misty Symbol, Lunar Talisman, Lunatic Ring, Lunar Tablet
Orihalcon: Levitate Ring
Kenja no Ishi: Piyohan, Mental Ring, Regenerate Ring, Dream Crown
Failed Saiku:
Waraeru Katamari, Hen na Katamari, Busaiku na Yubiwa, Hen na
Ningyou, Hazukashii Kazari, Sense Nai Yubiwa, Heppo Konakazari.
----------
Thanks:
----------
-Ian Kelley, for putting up with so many of my annoying questions
having to do with this game. :)
-Enix and Tri-Ace, for making what is definitely one of the greatest,
if not the greatest, console RPGs of all time.
-My friends, for putting me to work on this FAQ.
