Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (26)

Ok, this is the first time Claude starts acting like a prick; well, he wasn't really that kind with Ketil, but this is far worse. Probably because of badly disguised jealousy ("I saved Rena's life twice and all I get is lunch from her mother?!"), he behaves horribly every time Rena talks about Dias, a childhood friend of hers who she seems very close to. I mean, it's alright to be a bit jealous about a guy who apparently showed up in front of Rena after a long time yet she looks all concerned about him, but between being jealous and being possessive there's a world of difference. It wouldn't have been a problem to me if the player was at least given some choice in Claude's behaviour: but here you can do nothing but watch as this scene here in Mars village (and later on at Lacour Castle) unfolds itself. Besides, the player also has no choice but accept the focus on the Claude-Rena relationship, even if his/her preference goes to another couple.

We're finally back on track to the port of Herlie (one of the most uninteresting towns in the game along with Hilton), but the journey is a long one and the party decides to stop by the town of Mars to rest; and of course, if you decide to press on, you'll find out that a plot device... I mean, a particularly rough sea will prevent the ship to set sail. So Mars is Celine's hometown, and a village of Heraldry masters (magic users, if you don't recall), and apparently there's some commotion about a tragic situation: some bandits kidnapped all the children and request a ransom the village can't afford to provide (a mysterious book of spells or something). The elder thought about hiring a mercenary to save the kids Dias Flac, but since not everyone agrees with the decision of letting a village matter be handled by strangers, Celine proposes to let her and her friends (Claude and Rena, two other strangers, go figure) take care of the problem. Of course Dias gets pissed off by such a proposal (maybe because he needed the money they would give him to get to Lacour?) and goes back to the inn. Rena, being his childhood friend, tries to talk to him, and convinces him to try working together with the group (without telling the others first). Then the above scene happens.

If you want a clearer idea about what is going on in this sequence, you'll have to play through the Rena part of the game. In the end, Rena resolves to accompany Dias in the mission, while Claude and Celine go on their own, and Claude eats his own liver because of jealousy. You'll have to endure this for a while. It's worth noting that in this version of the story you can't recruit Dias, so you won't see him again in the seconf half of the game; but even in the Rena playthrough Dias doesn't offer a lot of dialogue, much less any Private Action, so story-wise he's not a huge loss.