Star Ocean 2 Tips & Tricks on Universe Mode - Part 1 - Cross Continent

Channel:

Abaddon Daemon

Subscribers:

421

Published on August 14, 2021 5:00:24 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP6l8-ffg-g

Game:

Star Ocean: The Second Story (1998)

Duration: 36:20

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17

Here is the guide I reference that discusses why Dias is so complicated in this game:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps/198763-star-ocean-the-second-story/faqs/55358

This is in may ways a remarkably deep game for its era. I've been playing it most of my life, but every time I revisit it I feel like I have to consult 80 different resources to remember all of the tricks, and which ones are especially useful. Even with all the information out there, I feel like there are still aspects that aren't fully explored.

The purpose of this series will be my personal attempt to get all of the best guidance for this game into a single place. I'll be playing a very rapid run on Universe Mode, the hardest difficulty setting, and attempting to repress my levels as much as is reasonably possible, performing what I would call, if not a low-level run, at least a "natural level" run. If you follow along with this guide, you should find that at all points your party's level is staying ahead of mine, assuming you're doing the dungeons in a natural fashion. The one exception might be the Cave of Trials, where I use a few Extension Cards and deliberately exit/re-enter the dungeon a few extra times to gain levels for Gabrie Celesta. Even if you fall behind me there those levels can easily be made up in just a few fights on Floor 11.

There are too many party combinations in Star Ocean 2 for me to give solid advice for all possibilities, so instead I've chosen to use a single four-person team throughout the run, using Celine as a placeholder until I get my final character. I believe this team has the overall easiest time getting through all of the various challenge spikes throughout the game, but there will certainly be places where you could have a better team for a specific battle or dungeon. In particular I don't get much opportunity to use Chisato, who is a very good character who can easily stack huge AVD and I highly encourage you to play around with her.

In this video I take you through the beginning of the game and do the majority of story content on Cross Continent. There are three major secrets to uncover here: the Mischief, the game's first Treasure Chest, and the first Rainbow Diamond.



0:00 Step 0: Unlock Universe Mode
0:37 Step 1: Rena's Talents
2:55 Step 2: Claude's Talents
3:51 Optional: Portrait B
4:04 Step 3: Escape Salva Drift
5:15 Step 3: Escape Salva Drift (Alen-Tax)
6:12 Optional: Ring of Happiness
6:44 Optional: Purple Mist
7:45 Step 4: Unlocking Sense of Taste
10:10 Step 5: Obtain 40,000 Fol
15:03 Optional: Luna Tablet
15:41 Step 6: Bandit's Gloves
16:09 Optional: Treasure Chest
17:51 Step 7: First Rainbow Diamond
18:29 Optional: Early EXP (Shout)
19:50 Optional: Get your investment back on the Bandit's Gloves
21:45 Step 8: Mischief
23:14 Optional: Early Paralysis Check
23:57 Step 9: Celine Starting Talents
27:25 Optional: Magical Camera and Film
27:44 Step 10: Gear Up
30:24 Optional: Early Reverse Dolls
32:39 Step 11: Berserk Ring
33:28 Optional: Dias Starting Talents
34:03 Azamgil
35:09 Step 12: Finally head to Lacour

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