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.