What's different from the PS1 version?

[Pizzarugi]

Hello, I played this game back on the PS1 when I was a kid. The combat was what sold me on enjoying this series as I found the real-time aspect to be more enjoyable than Final Fantasy 8. Of course there were other aspects of the game that I also found enjoyable such as crafting and stuff. It wasn't until I became an adult and picked up an emulator to play on my computer did I sit down and actually delved deep into parts that I missed when I was younger, such as private events and discovering the secret extra characters.

That all being said, what's different about Second Story R? Obviously I know there was a graphical overhaul to bring the game more in line with modern standards, but were there any other changes? Any balance passes? New content? Expansion on endgame besides the one dungeon and uber boss?

[di eshor ribly]

Besides the graphical update that you mentioned, crafting was tweaked a little - a couple recipes shifted and or added, and the whole process sped up quite a bit.

Most of the dialogue is now voiced (not just some combat quips).

A "new" character was added from one of the other games - Welch. She hits things with a glove on a stick. Some characters were balanced a bit better (Earnest doesn't suck quite as much, Chisato's Tear Gas was nerfed).

There are now "assault actions" where you can slot team members or cameos of other Star Ocean games characters to perform an attack or cast a spell. You can have a team of four fighters (not Rena) and still have Rena pop in to cast a heal spell, for example.

World "Raid Bosses" which are super boss versions of enemies found on the world map. Sort of like Emerald and Ruby Weapon from Final Fantasy. Run into one and get into a tough fight with new loot.

Lots of bug fixes including the Lost Dungeon, no more random crashes while trying to get down to the eighth floor.

New gear and equipment, like ultimate weapons for each character. Balance passes for things like Bloody Armor.

I can't remember if the PS1 had a fishing quest line, but there's a fishing quest line in this one. You can even turn the fish you catch into seafood for cooking.

Edit: I forgot the "auto farming" feature. Random encounters aren't quite as random any more, and your teammates can kill "packs" of encounters automatically and get experience and loot. You can "chain" packs together for boosts to rewards. It's a bit difficult to explain but once you see it in action it's pretty simple.

All in all I'm quite happy with version. It feels faithful to the original while cleaning up a lot of the rough edges.

[aSoulBelow]

Literally the only downside is the battle camera is mostly fixed to the side view..and doesn't turn, or zoom out/In. On PS1 when you execute special moves the camera would either zoom in, or turn, or zoom out to give the special attacks more depth.. they did not take that into consideration for this remake SADLY. For example on PS1 Claudes move where he jumps literally high off the screen, the camera would zoom way out which gives more depth and satisfying feel that you can see, then the camera would zoom back in to Claude as he comes crashing down on the target. Everything else is a plus and faithful to the original though.. but still the most satisfying aspect of the game was combat imo.. and to not include that dynamic camera factor into the remake is kind of a huge, huge miss...