Star Ocean: Till the End of Time is an action role-playing game. It is the third main game in the Star Ocean series. The game was created by tri-Ace and released by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2. It was first sold in Japan, North America, and PAL regions. The original Japanese version came out in February 2003 by Enix, which was its second to last game before joining with Square to form Square Enix. In 2004, the game was released again as a two-disc Director's Cut version with added features, such as new characters and areas to explore. The versions sold in North America and Europe are based on the Director's Cut. Ubisoft handled publishing rights for the European version. The story of Till the End of Time happens 400 years after the events of Star Ocean: The Second Story.

Gameplay

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time shares some features with earlier games in the series but includes unique elements that set it apart from most role-playing video games. Unlike games that use menus for combat, Star Ocean 3 uses real-time combat, similar to games like .hack and Tales. Battles happen when players encounter enemies while traveling or during planned events. During battles, the player controls one character directly, while the other two are controlled by the game’s artificial intelligence (AI). However, the player can choose the tactics used by AI characters or switch to controlling a different character.

Enemy attacks can damage a player’s health points (HP) or mental points (MP). Players also lose HP when using special attacks and lose MP when using symbology or runeology, which work like magic in other games. If a character loses all HP or all MP, they are knocked out and cannot continue fighting unless special items are used to revive them. Each character has a Fury meter that controls how fast they move and how often they can act. Standing still refills the Fury meter, while moving drains it or causes the character to move slower. If all three characters are defeated, the game ends, and the player must reload from their last saved game. If all enemies are defeated, the player earns money (Fol) and experience points (EXP). Sometimes, defeating enemies also restores some HP or MP to help players recover after using special attacks or magic.

When a player hits an enemy, the Bonus Battle Gauge fills. When the gauge is full, the player enters "Bonus Battle," where they receive special rewards, such as extra EXP, Fol, or items. If a character is critically hit, runs away, or is knocked out, the gauge empties, ending the Bonus Battle and any rewards. The gauge also resets if the game is turned off or if the player restarts their save file.

Like earlier games in the series, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time includes an Item Creation system that lets players make and improve many items. Players can choose from trades like cooking, alchemy, engineering, and smithing. Workshops for creating items are found in towns and dungeons and can be improved by players to allow more types of items to be made there. After inventing an item, players can apply for a patent and earn money by selling the item in shops. Players can also hire inventors to help create items.

The Director’s Cut version added a "VS. Mode" for battling against another player or the computer. Up to two players can compete against each other or against a computer-controlled character. Another addition was "Battle Trophies," which players can earn by completing combat challenges, such as winning a battle in under 30 seconds or defeating a boss without taking damage. Earning battle trophies unlocks extra features, like harder difficulty levels, alternate costumes, and a sound test.

Story

The universe of Star Ocean is a science fiction setting. Similar to the first two games in the series, much of the story takes place on an "underdeveloped planet." The game is set in S.D. 772 (A.D. 2858). It includes a galaxy-wide government called the Pangalactic Federation, multiple alien races, different groups, many colonized planets, and advanced technology. Even though the setting is science fiction, a type of magic exists: symbology, also called heraldry in the Japanese version and in Star Ocean: The Second Story. Symbology involves tattooing symbols onto skin to unlock hidden power in the form of spells. Many underdeveloped planets use this practice. In the game’s world, symbology is studied as a legitimate scientific field.

Fayt Leingod, the son of a symbological geneticist named Robert Leingod, travels with his family and the family of his childhood friend, Sophia Esteed, to Hyda IV for a vacation. Without warning, the planet is attacked by the Vendeeni, an alien civilization with advanced technology that exists on only one planet. This attack causes the Pangalactic Federation to declare war on the Vendeeni. Fayt and Sophia escape with their families on a Federation starship, but the Vendeeni attack the ship. During the chaos, Fayt becomes separated from his family and ends up stranded on Vanguard III, an underdeveloped planet with technology similar to 16th-century Earth. While helping the planet’s people deal with a criminal, Fayt meets Cliff Fittir, a member of the anti-Federation group Quark, who is searching for him.

Cliff and his assistant, Mirage, offer to take Fayt with them, but they are forced to crash-land on Elicoor II, another underdeveloped planet with technology similar to 17th-century Earth. The group is captured by the Kingdom of Airyglyph, which is at war with its neighbor, Aquaria. Airyglyph assumes the three outsiders are engineers from the technologically advanced continent of Greeton because of their ship’s design. The group is imprisoned to extract knowledge about their technology. They are later rescued by Nel Zelpher, an agent from Aquaria, who asks for their help in turning the war in Aquaria’s favor. If they refuse, Nel threatens to kill them to prevent Airyglyph from using them. The group agrees to help and becomes involved in the conflict.

As the war reaches its final battle, two Vendeeni battleships attack Elicoor II, threatening both nations. In a moment of desperation, Fayt discovers a hidden power within himself that destroys the ships. Later, Quark’s leader, Maria Traydor, locates Fayt, Cliff, and Mirage. She reveals she plans to interrogate Fayt’s father, Robert Leingod, about "crimes" related to Fayt’s power. The group learns the Vendeeni have taken control of an unusual artifact on Elicoor II. They confront the Vendeeni and find Robert being held prisoner. Robert is fatally wounded before Maria can learn the details of his research on symbology.

Fayt travels with Quark and his allies to investigate further. They discover a new threat: powerful space beings called "Executioners." Both the Vendeeni and the Federation are unable to stop them, and Earth is soon attacked and destroyed. Using a clue from Robert, the group searches a research facility on the Moonbase, where Fayt reunites with Sophia. Records reveal that Fayt, Sophia, and Maria were part of a major project in symbological genetics.

The project began after explorers discovered a highly advanced structure called a Time Gate on the planet Styx. When the explorers activated it, a voice warned that their experiments in symbological genetics had angered a being called the "Creator," and they were being punished for their actions. The Federation believed the Time Gate connected to a dimension called "4D Space" and that symbology could be used to access it. Robert, his wife Ryoko, and Clive Esteed (Sophia’s father) decided to use their children in an experiment. Maria, who was adopted by Robert’s colleague Jessie Traydor, was also included. All three were altered through symbology: Fayt gained the power of Destruction, Maria the power of Alteration, and Sophia the power of Connection. These abilities allowed them to activate the Time Gate together and reach the Creator’s dimension. The Vendeeni discovered the project and sought to stop it.

The group travels to Styx to confront the Executioners and access the Time Gate. They enter 4D Space, where they learn their universe is a massive computer simulation called the "Eternal Sphere," a game for 4D Space inhabitants created by Luther Lansfeld, owner of the Sphere Company. The Executioners are anti-viruses sent by Luther to delete what he considers anomalies in the Milky Way section of the game. Luther’s sister, Blair, helps the group understand their existence. She reveals the inhabitants of the Eternal Sphere have achieved sentience equal to 4D Space citizens. Luther, who sees the universe as "mere data," becomes angry and plans to delete the entire Eternal Sphere. Fayt and his allies fight Luther and defeat him. Though Luther is destroyed, the group realizes the Eternal Sphere cannot be stopped from being deleted. Fayt decides the sentience of the universe’s inhabitants makes it impossible to destroy. The inhabitants choose to become independent of 4D Space. The group separates, with Fayt’s "affection" level determining his final choice.

Development

One of the big changes in the design of Star Ocean: The Second Story compared to Till the End of Time was inspired by Star Trek. The combat system stayed mostly the same as before, but characters were drawn in 3D instead of 2D, and more strategy was added to the battles. Moving to a fully 3D environment from a mix of 2D and 3D was a long process, and it was only possible because the PlayStation 2 had more power. In terms of the story’s message, game producer Yoshinori Yamagishi said the main idea the game communicates is "trust." Some characters and areas were not included in the final version, but most of the developers’ ideas were used. Gameplay was changed slightly between the Japanese and American versions, and technical problems from the original Japanese release were fixed.

Soundtrack

The music for this game was created by Motoi Sakuraba, who has worked with tri-Ace for many years. The soundtrack was released in four parts:

• Original Soundtrack Volume 1 – a 2-CD set that includes mostly softer and orchestral music from the game.
• Original Soundtrack Volume 2 – another 2-CD set that includes more energetic music, such as battle and dungeon themes.
• Arrange Album – a collection of game tracks that have been rearranged into different musical styles.
• Voice Mix – similar to the Arrange Album, but it includes music combined with dialogue from the Japanese version of the game.

The limited edition of Volume 1 also included a box to store all four albums.

When the game was updated to the Director’s Cut, Sakuraba composed additional music and released an album with these new pieces.

The song "The Small Bird That Forgot How to Fly" (飛び方を忘れた小さな鳥, Tobikata Wo Wasureta Chiisana Tori) by JPop singer Misia was used for the game’s ending credits.

Reception

At first, the game was not well received in Japan. Some parts of the game had problems and did not work properly on older PlayStation 2 models called SCPH-10000. Enix said Sony was responsible because they used features from newer software that did not work with older PlayStation 2 systems. Sony said they were not to blame. Despite this, the game's sales were affected. To address complaints, Enix released a version called the Director's Cut in 2004, which fixed the problems and added new features.

In North America, the game was praised by both critics and players. GameRankings, a collection of reviews, gave it an average score of 80.99%. As of July 2006, Star Ocean 3 was the 96th-best-selling console game of the PS2/GameCube/Xbox generation. It sold about 630,000 copies in the United States, earning $23 million. In Japan, the original version sold 533,373 copies in 2003, while the Director's Cut sold 207,881 copies between 2004 and 2009. Worldwide sales totaled 1,371,254 units. IGN ranked the game's ending, "Till the End of Time," as number 58 on their list of the "Top 100 PlayStation 2 Games."