Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (240)

Just now the Rune Codes Claude is carrying suddenly emitted a strong glow, so Rena was startled; however, for some reason she sounds like it's Claude's fault (unless she's talking to the Rune Codes here, which would be even more stupid).

It's a non-stop journey for our heroes, and we've fast-forwarded a bit, but don't worry: here's a summary of what we've missed so far.

Finally at the top of the mountain, the group could see some ancient ruins in the distance, but while they were walking on the bridge that led there, guess what? No, the bridge didn't collapse... A gargantuan monster appeared before their eyes, blocking the path. Actually, it looked like an android heap of scrap metal with a funny voice (or at least that's how I imagined it talked); it said that our heroes had passed the test of power... so far. Of course the last part of the test was to beat said android to pieces, which they did easily, thanks to the Eternal Sphere. The way to the ruins was then freed.

Walking up to the small ruins, they could immediately see what appeared to be the Jewel of Power, but they could only get their hands on it after watching anoter vision: this time it was about Claude's adolescence, and his career in the Earth Federation under his father's shadow. 'No! I never wanted special treatment!', said Claude, but that wasn't what most people around him thought, but that we knew from the very start of the game. I can't remember what Rena saw, but there goes; Claude and Rena finally got the Jewel of Power, and everyone worked their way down the mountain (a process possibly involving avalanches, but they declined to comment on that).

Feeling strong of their success in the Field of Power, our heroes decided to press on and tackle the next one, the Field of Courage. So here they are, inside of a cave with multiple paths, and even more monsters inside.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (239)

...But trying to echo on a snowy mountain like this one can lead to unfortunate events, like avalanches.

Don't worry, nobody's hurt (except maybe Claude, who might have been hurt in his pride), but everyone's now back at the foot of the mountain. If you were climbing up towards the Field of Power, you have made a mistake; otherwise, if you were coming back from the top after acquiring the Jewel of Power, and somehow had your way blocked by cave-ins (because of those meddling gorillas who love to play with levers), then you've probably found the only way out of the mountain. I don't know if you can get barred out of the Field of Power by many cave-ins, but I recommend reloading your last save if you let too many of them occur, since navigating the Field becomes harder.

Oh, right! The scene depicted in the above screenshot has Rena in Claude's place if you're playing the Rena version, whic means you can see her panties (you pervert! Actually, it still looks funny: remember the general quality of the sprites in this game).

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (238)

It certainly is, but... Imagine the scene: running through caves and climbing the mountain while fighting and slaying countless monsters, and then taking a break on a cliff to admire the scenery.

For some reason, Claude feels compelled to try the echo...

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (237)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
The assaulting monkey brute strikes again! And there's a lot more of them around here too.

Having gathered their strength in Giveaway, our heroes are now ready to climb the mountain on the top of which the Field of Power is located. This isn't a simple climb, however, as Claude doesn't have any suitable equipment, and the forking paths go through many caves hosting treasure, dead ends, and evil monsters. I mentioned treasure (not an unusual thing in this game) first because some treasure chests hold invaluable equipment for our friends, like the Atlas Ring (raises one's attack power exponentially, at the expense of magical resistance); there's also an elusive Marvel Sword, hidden far away from the main path, but if you already have the Eternal Sphere like me, you can ignore it.

There's something particular about this Field, other than strong monsters: in some caves you can find mysterious levers on walls and, more importantly, dangerous-looking gorillas guarding them. You have to walk by some them in order to go forward, and these gorillas aren't kind enough to ignore you passing by; once they notice Claude (or Rena, depending on who you're playing with), they'll run onto him (or her), doing... what you see in the screenshot above, and then a battle will start. There's four of those monkeys in the battle, and there's also a new rule: if any one of them gets to the right side of the field (the player's, which is where the aforementioned mysterious lever is located - weird, I thought it was behind THEM), the lever will be pulled, causing a gigantic explosion and a cave-in (and, incidentally, the end of the battle, with no experience points for us). The final result is often that either the path forward or the path back will be blocked. There's a lot of paths to get through the mountain, but all of them can be blocked this way, effectively trapping the party on the mountain. There is, however, a way out, which we will discuss in the next posts.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (236)

Was this supposed to be a joke, or a pun? It didn't turn out too well, I'm afraid. On the other hand, we now know this is a chemistry class; which is something, considering we're on Nede yet we know so little of its culture.

There don't seem to be many students in the Giveaway University (there's 3 or 4 per room); it certainly shares the calm atmosphere of the town.It must be the music, so soft and tranquil... But I digress: Claude sees it's taking too long for him to gather more information on the Ten Wise Men and Nede, so he thinks it'd be faster if he asked some teachers about it. Most of the teaching personnel, however, seems to be too busy lecturing in almost empty rooms, to either sleepy or distracted students. There's also this researcher, professor Reyfus (Dreyfus?), who is working on 'questionable' stuff, but we can't find out much about it (either just for now, or forever, depending on my luck).

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (235)

Um, I don't mean to bother you, but using only one password for all this time isn't a good security measure; even using a password system alone isn't enough if you're trying to imprison world-destroying people. I was actually surprised it took so long for them to be freed, but then I read about Star Ocean 3...

Claude wants to have a look at the university library: there may be some more information that could not be found in North City. Unfortunately there's no database in here, so he has to spend a long time to research, and only manages to find small snippets of the history of Nede. He has to wonder, though: who released the Ten Wise Men? This is a question that won't find an answer in the game.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (234)

I haven't the slightest idea what he's talking about. The only thing I know is that this guy habitually participates in the Cook-off contest in Fun City; as a matter of fact, if you try stealing from him, you'll get a cooking set or something.

Leon doesn't seem to like the cold too much, so he's staying inside the inn instead of playing outside in the snow. Precis instead seems to have a lot of fun in this town. Rena is walking around in the university, wishing there was one like that at home.