STAR OCEAN(tm) Till the End of Time(tm) Official Strategy Guide [Paperback]

To put it simple, if you're looking to complete Star Ocean: Till the End of Time this is a good guide. But as it says in the heading, the information is all over the place and that means there's A LOT of page flipping.

Don't be fooled by the exhaustive size. The guide just has thick pages. The book is heavy but each page is full of tons of info, to the point where its helpful enough so that you can get through the game without fail.

The guide will quickly help you adjust to the game in an easy way. The font size is small so there's a lot on one page but this shouldn't be a problem. The screens are crystal-clear.

The characters section is really helpful giving a little bio and then a list of what level the character will learn Battle Skills, Support Skills and spells. Then there's a handy table of the battle skills they posses, showing the weak position and strong position.

The walkthrough is different. It is divided into chapters and at the beginning of each chapter is an outline of everything you'll do. In the outline they tell you when all the private actions come up and where, all the main events, bosses (but no strategies in the outline), battle trophies and any time you can sign an inventor. The outline also directs you to the proper page. This is very handy if you want to get the most out of the game without the guide taking away the fun.

The walkthrough also lists all the enemies in an area and has some detailed maps with a handy dandy items lists. Boss strategies are detailed but they take a little while to get to the actual strategy.

The guide details all the bonus dungeons, mini-games and sidequests. In the process they also have an entire section dedicated to the Private Actions. In the Private actions section they show you the consequences of each one. Who you'll gain points with and who you'll lose points with. You'll also know exactly when its availible, the requirements, where it is and of course, the guide tells you what page to turn to to find it.

Along with the items and equipment lists you've got an item creations sectoin. In the Item Creators section they'll tell you what character specializes in what, where they are and the signing requirements.

The Bestiary is huge but it works. Rather than most guides you have to search through each of the enemies alphabetically, in the walkthrough not only are the enemies basic stats listed, but each enemy has a number. On the side of each page in the bestiary it tells you what numbers your looking at. It's much easier to find the enemies number than to find their name. It works too.

This is an incredible tome but there are a few little tidbits that annoy me. For one, this guide is heavier than most of guides of this length. The second is simply the walkthrough moves a little too slowly. Sure they tell you all you need but sometimes they waste too much time trying to catch you up on what you're supposed to be doing. At least they don't spoil the storyline but sometimes I wish BradyGAMES would get to the point. My last small tidbit is to fully utilize this guide you've got to flip around a lot. Especially if you plan on doing all the Private Actions. Its clear the guide wants you to use the Private Actions list in the back.

Overall, the guide deserves five-stars. The walkthrough is a little sluggish at times and you've got to flip pages a lot (you may want to bookmark some) but the guide is a great resource in helping to do all the game has to offer.

OVERALL

The Good

+Nice game basics

+Good walkthrough

+Outline of events makes the walkthrough easier and faster to use

+Bonus Dungeons and Private Actions covered

+Item Creation

+Easy to use Bestiary

The Bad

-For 272 pages this guide is thick and is kind of heavy

-A LOT OF PAGE FLIPPING!

-GET TO THE POINT BRADYGAMES! The walkthrough is sluggish

But if you need help with the game, grab the guide.

A very indepth analysis of the game system. Gives a good walk through of the game, with plenty of tips on how to best level up ones characters. Like most RPG'S Star Ocean second edition, requires time to level up one's character's in order to move on with the progress of the story. Yet isn't that the fun part, engaging in lots of battles in order to level up one's character's and discover treasure items. A typically excellent game guide, better than some I've used in the past for other games. Would highly recommend to anyone wanting to experience the overall experience of Star Ocean Second Edition. Gives an indepth view of the various styles of game play available involved in going through the game the second and third time. To really experience the realm of Star Ocean Second Edition, playing through all 3 levels of expertise is a requirement, and without the guide this would be extremely difficult to figure out on one's own. I realize some puristist's believe game guides are like cheating, yet with the difficulty of most games now days, the average player needs a little nudge at times to head in the right direction. This tutorial works extremely well in that department.

Star Ocean is such a thorough game that the only way to truly experience its full richness is with the help of a guide.

The guide has these features:

basic explanation of gameplay

walkthrough and bonus dungeons (with explanation and answers to puzzles therein)

a thorough guide to the possible dialogues with characters in the game and a guide to the different possible endings

a list of enemies and their stats (bestiary)

and perhaps most helpful a chart that expedites the item creation process

So I would rate the guide as very helpful.

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