Star Ocean: Till the End of Time is the third main game in the Star Ocean video game series. The game was developed by tri-Ace and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2 console system. It was released in Japan, North America and the PAL territories. The original Japanese release date was 2003 and it was re-released in 2004 as a "Director's cut" version. The North American and European ports were based on the second Japanese version. The game takes place Space Date (S.D.) 772 (2858 A.D.), over four hundred years after the first two Star Ocean games (which take place in S.D. 346 and S.D. 366 respectively).

Features

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While having many similarities to its predecessor, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time includes many elements that make it unique among the majority of console RPGs. Instead of menu-driven combat, Star Ocean 3 offers real-time interactive combat, similar to the Zelda and Grandia series. Like in most RPGs, the player deals damage to the enemy, and the enemy damages the player. If all the enemies die, the player is awarded money (Fol) and Experience Points (EXP). The player will die if they lose all their Hit Points (HP), or, unlike traditional games, if they lose all their Mental Points (MP). Enemy attacks can target either a player's HP or MP. Players will also lose HP from using certain skills or lose MP from using various types of magic (Symbology/Runology).

In addition, there is an in-game encyclopedia. Whenever a word appears, in a color different from the standard text, for the first time, a detailed entry will be added to the encyclopedia. It offers definitions and backgrounds for the different races, people, places, and other general terms. The encyclopedia also includes many of the scientific concepts that are introduced in the game, though the majority are only science fiction.

Star Ocean 3 also includes a VS. Mode to battle against a second player or against the computer with up to 3 computers and 2 players and 1 computer. Another difference is the use of Battle trophies which may be acquired by performing a certain action during combat. For example, a player might receive a battle trophy for winning a battle in under 30 seconds. These battle trophies add up to unlock different styles and game difficulty levels.

Item creation

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Star Ocean: Till the End of Time features a deep item creation feature that allows the player to create and enhance powerful weapons and items. Players can create items using Alchemy, Cooking, Smithing, Synthesis, Crafting, Engineering, Compounding and numerous shops located in towns throughout the game. Shops initially are not outfitted to produce items, but the player can spend Fol, the in-game currency, to upgrade the shop with various equipment needed to produce different types of items. Some shops are hidden in dungeons and can be upgraded, but allow the player to create items from unique materials they have found in a dungeon by only the characters in their party. Once a player invents an item, they can file for a patent, and get money from the profits made off selling those items in various shops. The player is also able to recruit inventors to aid them in creating various items.

Setting

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The universe of Star Ocean is science fiction in nature, although like the first two games in the series, most of the plot is set on an underdeveloped planet. It features a galaxy-spanning government (the Pangalactic Federation), several races and species of aliens, different factions, multiple colonized planets, and advanced technology. But despite this science fiction atmosphere, a form of magic exists in the universe - Symbology. Standard symbology involves tattooing crests and runes onto one's flesh to draw out apparently latent power in the form of spells, and numerous underdeveloped planets make extensive use of it. It should be noted that Symbology, despite its magical abilities, is actually a scientific study in the Federation.

Playable characters

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Also refer to Category:Star_Ocean_characters for character stubs to merge in.

Fayt Leingod: The main character of Star Ocean 3, Fayt is a seemingly-normal college student from Earth. His father, Robert Leingod, is a famous authority on Symbological Genetics, a highly controversial scientific field, and does much of his work on the orbital colony of Moonbase. Fayt is somewhat lazy when it comes to his college work and takes every opportunity during his vacation to Hyda IV, a famous resort planet, to ignore that work. He does this mostly by playing games, specifically, combat simulation holographic games. In spite of this, however, Fayt is a loyal and honorable young man who will never abandon someone in need of help. When Hyda IV is attacked and Fayt is lost on an underdeveloped planet, the combat "games" prove themselves to have been good practice with his weapon of choice - the sword.

Sophia Esteed: Fayt's childhood friend, Sophia was born on the orbital colony Moonbase and then moved to Earth. She is a fairly odd girl, at least for the era Star Ocean 3 takes place in, for she enjoys cooking, cleaning, and basic things traditionally considered "feminine". Despite this, she is rather strong-minded—when danger of physical pain is not involved—and while she is no genius, she is a skilled student of Healing Symbology. She is also very adept at other forms of Symbology that are very damaging to enemies. This becomes useful later in the game.

Because she is such close friends with Fayt and his parents, as well as her parents and Fayt's parents working together, she is considered a member of the family and refers to Fayt's father and mother as "Uncle Robert" and "Aunty Ryoko". Due to this, some western fans have wrongly interpreted Sophia as being a cousin of Fayt.

Cliff Fittir: Born on Klaus III, Cliff is a member of the anti-Federation Organization Quark, which acts as an intermediary rather than a terrorist group as often depicted by the Federation government. He is incredibly strong, with stamina that far outpaces that of Earthlings—this is because Klaus III has gravity that is stronger than Earth's along with the fact that the atmosphere there is composed with higher levels of Nitrogen and less Oxygen. Cliff rejects blades and fights instead with fist gauntlets. Though on the outside he may seem like a brash, brawn-oriented man, it is really more of a ploy than anything. His intelligence of military tactics and diplomatic dealings is very high, and are quite obvious if he wants them to appear so. He tracks down Fayt on Vanguard III.

Mirage Koas: A long-time friend of Cliff and partner in Quark. Although quiet and mild-mannered, she is an excellent fighter, as befits the daughter of a dojo-owner. Cliff learned to fight at the same dojo club and throughout their youth had many matches. The rates are rumored to be 54 to 523, but neither ever mentions who holds them. As a fighter, she is Cliff's identical twin, and their fighting styles are so similar that only a handful of moves are different between them. While Cliff's moves involve mostly his fists, Mirage's moves involve using both her feet and fists.

Nel Zelpher: An agent of the Aquarian Kingdom on the underdeveloped planet of Elicoor II, she helps Fayt and Cliff escape from an Airyglyph prison after they crashlanded in a town. However, she forces them to promise to one condition - they will hand over some of their technology to her in order for the war to shift in Aquaria's favor. She is a skilled warrior both in hand-to-hand combat with a dagger and with Runology, the Elicoorans' name for Symbology.

Maria Traydor: An enigmatic young woman who is rumored to possess some very strange powers. Orphaned at a young age, she somehow became the leader of Quark, an anti-Federation organization most active in the Klaus System. She is the voice of reason in most situations, and often tells it how it is. In battle she is very useful for taking down foes in the air and at a distance with her weapon of choice - a gun - but that is not to say she is not good without one, as she has learned some of Mirage's moves and has some support symbology to buff up other fighters' strength.

Peppita Rossetti: A young performer from a group known as the Rosseti Troupe. Orphaned by her mother and later abandoned by her father, she goes to live with her uncle Piccolotto, the manager of the troupe. Although she is only 14, she deals quite a punch. Her main weapons are both her shoes and her bangles, making her a strange character with an unusual fighting style.

Albel Nox: The captain of the Black Brigade, one of the three military forces of the Kingdom of Airyglyph. His nickname is Albel the Wicked. In one-on-one combat he is said to possess skills comparable to Duke Vox, the commander of the Dragon Brigade. Socially, however, Albel is inept -- he refers to people as "worms" or "maggots" and cannot help but to look down on those around him. His fighting style is extremely fast, making good use of his ability to channel energy through his gauntlet. He also specializes in quick attacks and retreats using a katana, and high combo hits. The loss of his arm (which was burnt severely), which is now replaced with a prosthetic, clawed gauntlet (which serves as a secondary weapon, as well), may have something to do with this.

Roger S. Huxley: Roger is a young Menodix from the Lost City of Surferio which lies in the Sanmite Republic. He leads his small crew on tasks that only "real men" can compete in. He is very small, only 2 or 3 feet tall, but is energetic and very full of himself. He is portrayed as a small child that thinks he is grown up. His fighting style involves a large axe and a number of crafty traps and tricks such as landmines, though he is not the best fighter at first and often a new player will leave him in favor of others. However, his fighting prowess is proven later on within the game.

Adray Lasbard: The father of Clair Lasbard and member of the Crimson Blade on Elicoor II. Alongside with Nel's father, Nevelle Zelpher, they succeeded in supporting the growth and foundation of the Aquarian Kingdom. Due to his brash nature, though, he is usually sent on more dangerous missions on the northern areas of Giatt so he doesn't get in the way of the more diplomatic events. Adray uses Runology, which is what Elicoorians call Symbology, and when used effectively, can be very be useful.

Adray Lasbard and Mirage Koas are the two characters that were added into the Director's Cut version of Star Ocean: Till The End of Time. Mirage was in the game and was part of the story in the original version of the game, but she never joined the party. Adray is a completely original character who was not in the original version of the game at all, and was added primarily to increase the second release of the game's appeal.

Locations

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Planets

Hyda IV: A tectonically stable planet renowned for its generally mild, tropical climate. It has over the years become a resort world for people from all over the galaxy, within or from beyond the Federation's boundaries. The population of this world is unknown. The game begins here on one of its many resorts. This is the only planet that you cannot revisit later in the game.

Vanguard III: An underdeveloped planet with intelligent humanoid lifeforms around 16th century Earth levels of development. Its axial tilt results in extreme seasonal weather, making summers blazing hot and winters blisteringly cold, and the planet's inhabitants are weak physically because their world has fairly low gravity. The inhabitants of the planet generally hang around the forested areas of the coast and seem to live quite simplistic lives. Although they look exactly like humans in most ways, they do have elongated ears. Little else is known of Vanguard III.

Elicoor II: An underdeveloped planet with intelligent humanoid lifeforms around 17th century Earth levels of development, with a few exceptions. The planet consists of two large landmasses: Gaitt, where the player spends a significant portion of the game, and Greeton, a technological power that is never explored in the game. An archipelago exists which consists of the planet's abovesea crust. A variety of different countries and cultures exist on Gaitt, including the mighty military power Airyglyph, the matriarchal theocracy Aquaria, and the tribal confederation Sanmite. The bulk of the game occurs on this planet.

Planet Styx (aka Planet Stream): A lifeless, barren world with the ruins of an incredibly advanced civilization built upon it. This civilization was advanced enough to build the Time Gate, a device which can create portals in time itself and allow travel. However, the Gate is not a mere machine and is in fact sentient. As such, it chooses who accesses its time travel power. Ronixis J. Kenni used the Time Gate to cure a viral outbreak on planet Roak in S.D. 346 by finding the original virus and using it to create a serum. The Gate is, in fact, a doorway to 4-D Space.

Other

Moonbase: Not really a planet, but a large space station, complete with habitation and recreation as well as research districts, orbiting Luna (Earth's moon), where Fayt's father worked. It is very futuristic and definitely has a more science-fiction oriented theme. Very little game play is spent here, briefly coming here to recover Fayt's father's research on the Time Gate. However, much of Fayt's backstory is unveiled here as well as very important information on the events at the time.

4-D Space: The highest known dimension. It consists of eight cities, including Arkives, Gemity, and Lost City. The 4-D supercorporation known as Sphere Company developed the Eternal Sphere, a large, recreational three dimensional simulator featuring the Milky Way Galaxy.

Maze of Tribulations: An optional level available after beating the game. The transport pad is located inside a cave on the southern side of Kirlsa. The maze features bosses that are very much harder relative to any in the actual game. After defeating the final boss, recurring series "super-boss" Gabriel Celesta, he will tell you of an even harder level found in 4-D space.

Story

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Summary

The story of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time starts off on the planet Hyda IV where a young man, Fayt Leingod, and his childhood friend, Sophia Esteed, are on vacation with their family. Fayt is son of a famous scientist in the field of Symbological Genetics. For some unknown reason, the Vendeen Empire — an alien civilization with super-advanced technology that spans merely a single planet — attacks Hyda IV unprovoked, thus initiating a war with the Pangalactic Federation. Fayt and Sophia escape on a starship — getting separated from Fayt's parents, Robert and Ryoko Leingod — which is attacked also by the Vendeeni, and the two are separated.

Fayt winds up on an underdeveloped planet called Vanguard III, a planet with technology equivalent to 16th Century Earth, and discovers an offworld criminal, the exiled Rezerbian Norton, plotting to take it over. During this, he meets Cliff Fittir, a member of the anti-Federation organization Quark who helps him defeat this criminal. He then learns that Quark's leader wishes to speak to him and plan on rescuing his father for some mysterious reason. After getting off the planet with Cliff, the Vendeeni again ambush him — but they escape and crashland on another underdeveloped world called Elicoor II, this one being around 17th Century Earth in terms of technological advancement the database is not 100% sure about that. Fayt and Cliff are imprisoned by a country known as the Kingdom of Airyglyph, who think that the ship Cliff, Fayt, and Mirage had been traveling on was a weapon developed by the country they are at war with, Aquaria. They are rescued by an assassin-like agent, Nel Zelpher, who believes they are engineers from the technologically advanced continent of Greeton. She rescues them under the condition that they aid her country, Aquaria, with their technological knowledge. This leads the two directly into the war between the two kingdoms and eventually into a great final battle between them. Then a new — at least to the Elicoorians — foe appears in the skies above...

The game makes an abrupt change from a fantasy world to a science-fiction world as Fayt finds himself space-borne once more. Besides hearing the latest information on the whereabouts of Sophia and his parents, he learns of recent events that spell catastrophe.

The galaxy has not stood still. Shortly after the apparently unprovoked attack on Hyda IV, a threat of staggering magnitude emerges in the form of ultra-powerful space-borne beings calling themselves "Executioners." The best ships of the Federation and the Vendeeni are powerless against these new beings, and are quickly being forced into full retreat. Fayt and his friends, acting on a hint from Fayt's father, venture to the Moonbase research station.

While on the station, they are confronted by an angelic-looking Executioner that calls itself Proclaimer. It launches itself to attack, telling them in no uncertain terms that they must be destroyed. After its defeat the being repeats, robot-like, that their end is at hand.

Investigation of the Moonbase records reveal the truth behind the Executioners and their appearance. During the charting of a planet called Styx, explorers encountered an extremely advanced, extremely old Time Gate. When activated, it informed them that their forays into the field of symbological genetics had angered the Creator, and that they were to be destroyed. Even if they were to abandon symbological genetics, the reins would be taken up by another soon enough. Their elimination was judged necessary. It ended with the ominous statement that they were not being warned — they were being sentenced.

The explorers beat a hasty retreat and informed the Federation of what they had found. Studies soon suggested that the statement came from another plane of existence; an entirely new universe. Further study revealed that symbology might be used to access this universe. The scientists agreed to use their own offspring; the subjects were Fayt Leingod, Sophia Esteed, and Maria Traydor. The three were symbologically altered in such a way that if they worked together, they could gain entry through the Time Gate.

As they approach Styx, they find the area flooded with Executioners. Escaping their ship in a small shuttle, they witness the mysterious beings and their awesome might first-hand as an entire battleship is incinerated within seconds. On the surface, they discover more Proclaimers, as well as large, dragon-like beings called Enforcers. At last, they reach the Time Gate, where the reason behind their entire existence is revealed. The party are forced to face the truth of their existence and come to terms with the "Creator" of their universe: Luther Lansfeld.

Plot twist

Upon entering "4D" space, Fayt and his allies encounter a civilization of 4D beings. The group eventually learns that the universe is actually not real in relation to 4D space. Rather it is a computer program developed by Luther, the "Creator" and Owner of Sphere Company. It is similar to the concept of humans creating living and thinking two dimensional games and characters, but one dimension higher. However, it must also be noted that their existence is not simply a computer program any longer, as it has developed factors that have set it apart as a reality unto itself. This is a plot twist that is hotly controversial among some video game fans, who loudly criticize it as being extremely similar to The Matrix and Simulacron-3. Nevertheless, this is a common philosophical concept, which is addressed in multiple genres of entertainment and faith.

Voice actors

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Trivia

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Other than the Eternal Sphere development team, the names of Sphere employees are based on the names of Judeo-Christian demons, though this has been obscured by the English translation. The original names are as follows:

• Azazer: Azazel
• Belzeber: Beelzebub
• Berial: Belial
• Luther: Lucifer

This is an inversion of the original naming scheme for the Ten Wise Men of Star Ocean: The Second Story, who were named after Judeo-Christian angels.

If you complete the game and get Fayt's ending where he is by himself, and you go to the Urssa Lava Temple extra dungeon, you will notice that when you fight Fayt's mirror image (sub-boss) the boss will be teamed with Luther; who ironically is wearing a different costume that makes him look exactly like Cyril from Star Ocean: The Second Story. In the Japanese version of that game, Cyril was originally named Lucifer. At one point in Star Ocean: The Second Story, Cyril calls one of the other Wise Men a "failed program" (although this may be a reference to the Wise Men being cyborgs, rather than natural beings). One of the entries in the dictionary of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time states that sometimes "Sphere employees will affect events in the Eternal Sphere purposely."

"Eternal Sphere" was also the name of a legendary weapon for Claude in Star Ocean: The Second Story, and it was described as being a "magic sword of the universe".

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, like many other tri-Ace games, makes reference to other tri-Ace games. In the vs. Mode, you can unlock alternate outfits for each character. Fayt unlocks an outfit very similar (but not exact) to Claude C. Kenni in Star Ocean: The Second Story. Albel as well unlocks an outfit, where he has no shirt, and you can see the tattoos of two dragons, red and blue, that seem to make reference to Ashton Anchors from Star Ocean: The Second Story.

Manga

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A manga with the same title was serialized in Monthly Shonen Gangan.

External links

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• Official site
• GameFAQs' Star Ocean: Till the End of Time walkthroughs

PlayStation 2 games | 2004 computer and video games | Computer and video role-playing games | Enix games | Square Enix games | Star Ocean

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time | スターオーシャン Till the End of Time