Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (59)

I understand that Rena and Celine might not know that Opera is holding and pointing at them right now is a deadly weapon, but Claude could at least be a bit startled. By the way, doesn't she look cute like that?

Remember how Rena told Opera that this place is dusty because it's a cavern last time? Well, after noting that Rena may have a point, Opera suddenly realizes she was alone just a moment ago, so this voice must be... enemies!! Quickly turning around and pulling out her weapon from nowhere (some ray gun equipped with a Booster Box, which looks like an old floppy disk), she points it towards our group. Fortunately, before pulling the trigger, she sees it's just a bunch of harmless adventurers in weird clothes, so there's no need to resort to violence. So now she simply needs to show off her charms and... wait, have I already used this joke before?

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I was a bit puzzled, the first time I played through this, at Rena's remark about this being a cavern; this is because I knew the term usually referred to a natural cavern. This time I've checked the dictionary and found out about the other more general meaning. Nonetheless I think the place is dusty because it's very old and abandoned, rather than because of what Rena suggests; but I'll forgive her because she's been really quiet for a while.

Luckily our heroes didn't have to go all the way down these ruins to meet up with Opera: there she is, in front of a crumbled wall not too far from the entrance. Now Claude only needs to approach her without the others noticing, get the location of her spaceship, then steal it and kiss this planet goodbye... But then he notices the legs with those three eyes.

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I don't know if the picture above can illustrate my point well enough: the whole ruins site here has this kind of flickery illumination, so beware epileptic gamers, you haven't been warned soon enough! And what about that poor soldier guarding the entrance? He might go crazy standing there all the time!

Claude & co. journey to lake Col and its ancient ruins in order to find Opera; the guard was apparently already informed of their arrival and lets them in, although with a bit of reluctancy after witnessing them looting the two treasure chests before his very eyes (heroes nowadays have no discretion, I tell you!). An additional bit of information: if you decided to opt for the sub-quest that allows you to recruit Ashton in place of Opera, you'd eventually turn out into this place, only a bit earlier in the game (which means harder random battles), to claim the Golden Goblet, which you can't obtain if you go for Opera instead. What does that imply? Nothing! Actually, I think that going for Opera allows you to get deeper into the ruins. Despite the fact that Ashton is generally considered the better option, as a fighter, Opera has one advantage: she's feminine, while Ashton is just a bit girly... Yeah, Ashton is way too whiny to be a man (sorry to all the girls who might be reading this, no offence, but it's commonplace).

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How could she know 'that look' when Opera's got three eyes?! Oh well, never doubt an old maid, as after all she's not far from the truth.

The group has crossed the sea again and has made its way back to Cross town, where Opera has probably gone to. Unfortunately they don't find her at the tavern, so they decide to ask help from the king, who promptly tells of his audience with the three-eyed lady: it seems she has taken off after the other three-eyed guy, who went to some ruins near lake Col some time ago. Upon Claude and Rena's request to get access to those ruins, not only does the generous king give them his authorization, he even gives you more travel money! If only the king of Lacour were half as good as him (you may find out later on).

Lake Col is about halfway between Cross castle and the now destroyed Clik, and the ruins are inside the mountains. You know, looking back now, planet Expel seems so empty at a first glance: it's only when you start thinking a bit about your characters' travels that it slowly starts filling up with life and places. You should try this with any old adventure game that sports very few details of the environments, it really adds to the experience.

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I could have sworn this sentence was slightly different, but my memory is probably pulling tricks on me; anyway, in both cases the wording is pretty odd. The thing that bugs me the most is that, while almost everyone I met during this sub-quest had mentioned the words "three eyes" (and a good number of them "legs" as well), nobody ever says anything about Leon and his animal ears, nor about Rena's elf-like ears, both one-of-a-kind on planet Expel.

A lot happened since last time: after the final Tournament duel, Claude regained consciousness in the waiting room, "light as a feather" because Rena had been casting her healing spells on him the whole time. As you could see in the last screenshot, Dias came into the room and faced an upset Claude, only to express his appreciation for the fight (and to tell him not to call him by his first name). Claude, one-upped by this and by Rena's caring, somehow makes up with his friends, and they all decide to go to Linga in search of a linguist who could decipher the ancient writings they had found in Cross cave; might as well pass the time while they wait for an audience with the king of Lacour (I've just realized neither of the kings on Expel have names). But before that, they stop by the Tournament sponsor to get the prize (Claude: "I can have a prize for being the runner-up?"), and pay a visit to grandpa Jamgee and Suphia, Dias's sponsor, to get some more congratulations for Claude and one of his swords, the Sharp Edge. One note: this sword is very important game-wise, because Claude can customize it to produce one of the best swords in the game, so don't miss it!

Remember when I told you I was going to get a new character for my party after the Tournament? ...No? Well, I'm not even sure myself. Whatever. Here's what happens: the party decides to make a side-trip back to the tiny little port town of Hilton for no apparent reason. Ok, this doesn't sound right, how about this? Actually, during his state of unconsciousness after the finals, Claude had nightmares about the three-eyed man they met in Cross a while ago, and wanted to smell some sea breeze to get better. Coincidentally, the group accidentally meets a three-eyed woman at the bar, who's making drinking bets to get information about a three-eyed man, and failing. When asked about it, Claude, being the sober gentleman he is, doesn't ask for a drink to tell her about his nightmare... er, weird encounter at Cross: she then rushes out of the bar, determined to find that man, but not before politely making her presentations.

Of this three-eyed woman we've already gathered a few details: her name is Opera Vectra (no reference to the car model), she's blonde, dresses oddly (like "alien-raiments"), likes bets and drinks, and is very independent. Claude couldn't ignore her legs... I mean, her three eyes and way of dressing: he is certain she's an "alien" like him, and this means she might have a spaceship for him to get out of this dump backwater planet. Although I don't know what the other party members' motives are, our adventurers decide to get back to Cross to chase after her. In the screen above you may see the tavern of Herlie, which means Opera has stopped by, probably to have some drinks: maybe she drinks a lot because of heart matters, who knows.

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In my opinion Dias was a missed opportunity for a really cool character: look here, for example, at a great display of coolness from this... er, swordsman with incomparable strength and skill, long fair-coloured hair, a shady past and the lonely-wolf syndrome. Actually, his past wasn't really something special (more on this later on), but they managed to make him look like a cliché antagonist to Claude for the whole first Disc, while making him completely irrelevant in the second one (there ARE many differences, it's just that overlooking them is too easy). Not everybody may know what I'm trying to get at, but consider yourself lucky if you don't and avoid any questions about it, it's better this way.

I spared you the humiliation Claude has been subject to in the finals of the Tournament, but I'll briefly go over the rest: Claude and Dias walk up to the entrance of the Arena (this is the only time where both contestants enter from the same gate) and exchange some friendly advices with each other, then Dias mentions a promise Claude has apparently succeeded to mantain, unknowingly because it seems Rena has been quiet about it. I honestly don't remember that part in the Rena playthrough, so I'm sorry for not being able to elaborate on it.

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So big headed... Suddenly Claude thinks he's become an expert in swordsmanship and generously offers his valuable opinion on Dias's fighting skills after watching him fight. The whole scene goes like this: Claude ingenuously asks "Is Dias still winning... ?" (man, I hate all those dots), then Dias immediately enters the Arena to start his duel, wins without displaying particular skill other than his parrying ability and finally Rena remarks "He's won his way to the finals, Dias has" or something like that.

This part is taking longer than I thought... Have you noticed that blue-haired kid back there? He's Leon Geeste (I pronounced his last name wrong for a long time, that's why I remember it), a prodigious child, genious researcher of the Heraldic arts and technology. But more importantly, he's a spoiled brat, overconfident and yet longs for some friends to play with (no, he's not Ketil's brother). I think I've already mentioned that he's the only person of Felpool race on Expel, but nobody seems to notice or care, so why should I?

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I don't know why I did this screenshot, it's not funny, but I admit I had to look up for 'AWOL' and was surprised of its meaning. Maybe the funny dialogue I should have captured was about those three little girls with pink hair you can see here; they say:

"Actually we are"
"Triplets"
"It could be..."

Maybe it originally was a play on words which expressed certainty (actually) and uncertainty (it could be), or maybe it just doesn't make any sense and I'm over-elaborating again.

On the front row of seats, one on the far left and one on the far right, are the other two weapon shop owners you can choose as a sponsor for the tournament; the one on the left sponsored the winner of the past one, and is usually the recommended sponsor because of the equipment he gives you if you win. He awards you with very poor armour, but a powerful sword which is way better than anything you may have come by in your travels (excluding eventual weapon customization with Item Creation).

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I think this line refers to the "Koshien", a Japanese baseball tournament, where the losing team takes some dirt from the stadium for some reason I don't remember right now. I don't think this reference could be understood by most non-Japanese players, so maybe translators should have tried to adapt it for a broader audience; however I also understand that adapting such a phrase would be very hard, and it's also a very short dialogue which would probably be skipped by most players anyway, so it probably wasn't worth the effort.

Not much to say here: Claude has dispatched the mons... er, his opponent thanks to his great sword skills, like making energy blasts by merely swinging his blade. Ok, that's actually just the very first Killer Move Claude learns, and it kind of sucks compared to the one Dias uses: they're both called "Air Slash" (Kuuhazan in the original), but Claude's is slower and Dias's looks a lot cooler. You might think Dias really is the better option as a fighter in your party (if you're playing the Rena version), but Claude has a couple advantages on him, namely his regular sword swing (which has broader reach and hits faster) and innate constitution (which I believe provides him with a greater defense on even levels of experience).

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When Claude was pitted against a red gorilla he let it go just because, after all, humans descend from monkeys, and because he was still new here on Expel and thought "Well, maybe they're not entirely like us Earthlings, gorillas may be like normal people to them". But now Claude is facing a mencacing green ghoul monster, who somehow resembles Alen-Tax when he turned into... well, a monster; not only that, this ghoul is actually announced as "an experienced and skillful fighter" with a full name! The more I progress, the more I think the Tournament is just a subtle ploy to get Claude killed.

Claude has finally entered the semifinals, and let me tell you right here: you can go all out on this fight, as you won't need your items nor your MPs in the finals. That's because Dias is too awesome to take damage from you, or from anyone on this playthrough for that matter; in the Rena storyline there are a bunch of fights where he does take damage, like the last one in the Heraldry Forest, and of course he loses his invincibility when/if you take him along on your adventure (it would be no fun playing with an invincible character, wouldn't it?).

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For a long time I had wondered how Celine could shout like that with her hands on her mouth. Then I realized she doesn't actually shout: just look at the punctuation! Then a new question arose: how do you say that aloud?

Claude is making a big show slaying evil oversized simians, and all the spectators are surprised by this strong warrior that literally came out of nowhere and has already given other well-known fighters a run for their money. In between fights, you may also notice a girl hanging around in the spectator area, who tells Claude: "I watched you fight. Mind if I fall in love with you?". Yeah, he's already gotten pretty popular: too bad nobody remembers his name.

In this screenshot you can see a couple of Tournament sponsors in the lower corners: the one on the left corner is Edda, the sponsor I chose this time, and she specializes in rare artifacts. Don't let her looks fool you (oh right, she's totally identical to Ketil's mother!), her lust for sweaty bodies and bloody swords is unparalleled on Expel. Why did I choose her as a sponsor again? ...I honestly can't remember.

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Um, is this a Tournament contestant? I guess he doesn't shave very often... What?! It's a monkey?! Then why is it fighting in the Tournament? ... ok, so what if the rules allow that, how could it sign in in the first place?
It's not only this, even the next opponent is a kind of monster, resembling what Alen Tax had turned into in the Salva mine. Lacour is crazy, I tell you...

Rena couldn't make it in time to watch Claude fight, but she congratulates with him nonetheless; Claude then sees Dias enter the Arena and easily beat his first adversary. Rena briefly explains that some people hid Dias's weapon to let him out of the Tournament: it turns out they were careless enough to get drunk at the tavern shortly afterwards, only to be beaten to a pulp by Dias and Rena. It appears Mr. Flac got his hands on 'Sharpness', a weapon forged by famed swordsmith Jamgee (Grandpa Jamgee for his friends), thanks to Rena and Suphia, Jamgee's granddaughter: you can go through the whole thing if you play with Rena instead of Claude.

You know what, forget about the argument between Claude and Rena: it just settles out eventually, especially if you manage to get Claude into the finals of the Tournament, but I lost interest in it already, and it keeps my attention away from my main objective, that is recruiting all the female party members of of the game. Claude needs to win two more fights before he can fight against Dias in the finals, only to lose miserably and delay our journey to El even more (remember? It's the continent where the Sorcery Globe had landed. What's that, you ask? I frankly don't care anymore).

I'm taking a break for Easter, I have no more screenshots to show and I probably won't be able to play the game for a while.

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Aside from the actual mistake in wording, this line stood out because it reminded me of Earthbound (a JRPG for the SNES that came out in 1995): I recall there was some character (or maybe it was a dog... what?) saying something similar, like "You're amazing! You talk to everyone!". Regardless of the possibility that it's a reference, it's quite funny, and also spot on because of the sheer number of people you can talk to in the Arena (this is just one of 6 screens).

Rena has just run away, but Claude has no time to lose, for his first duel draws near: he is quickly summoned to the entrance of the Arena, where you can make a last-minute check of your items (it's not really that useful, but you might have forgotten which support items you have for the battle). Entering the Arena, you listen to the announcer introducing the contestants, then the battle starts... oh, sorry, I'm so used to the term 'battle' that I use it for any kind of fight in the game (which is quite a common habit, almost jargon, since most JRPGs have a specific game view for fights).

Claude's first opponent is some knight in green armour and an unmemorable name, like all the other participants bar Dias; I think that if you lose this duel, you still have one more chance, but I've never tried. He's quite slow at attacking, so you shouldn't waste your MP and use regular sword slashes to get an easy win. One note: in the Rena version you can't control Claude directly (which is what made me lose to a fight once). After the fight, Claude wonders if Rena has watched him fight, so he heads to the spectators area to make sure... but not before talking to everyone! (I'm something else!).

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Oh boy, here's where Claude snapped. Sure, Rena shouldn't have been quiet about what had happened between Dias and her, but because there was no scene about her returning to the inn the day before, I guess Claude didn't ask her either. Anyway, "artificially complicated" seems a good fit for this part of the story to me: I mean. really... ?

Our heroes are at the reception desk of the arena, and Claude has just gotten his hands on the equipment for the battle (I went with Edda's rare weapons this time, I know it's not the best choice but whatever), when Dias suddenly shows up and asks whether his weapon was ready. Maybe a bit upset by the negative answer he is given, Dias bitterly states he's going to check the weapon shop he was sponsored by, and walks away ignoring the others, only to be stopped by a concerned Rena, who accidentally reveals she was involved with his sponsorship. Then the scene above happens: Claude gets pissed off beyond reason and acts even more horrible than in Mars village (I wonder why Rena still sticks with him at this point... oh, right, being saved twice, Sword of Light etc.). Rena feels hurt by Claude's words, then chases after Dias.

Claude is left without any sympathy from his friend(s): in this case it's just Celine, who remarks he doesn't know how deep a girl's feelings can be hurt (but she doesn't seem that hurt about it later on, she really is a strong girl - and she can cook as well!), but the player may have one or two more party members who may comment in her place. One party member, Ashton Anchors, I purposefully missed (so I can get another one), the other one I'll get later, although I hope delaying it so much won't make me miss her as well.

A bit off topic: I saw a few videos of the PSP remake of the game, and Rena does really look like a child. At this point I don't know if I'm more concerned about the possible loss of character for such a 'strong' woman, or about the Claude x Rena ending where (*spoilers*) she gets pregnant (*spoilers*). I think I'll have a look at that.

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Wait wait wait! Noone told me this Tournament was about fighting to the death! I'm outta here!
Wow, that's pretty brutal. I missed this line in my past playthroughs, so it hit me this time. I don't think Claude'll be facing him, luckily enough.

On our way to the arena, you can encounter many people who might not want your autograph. Despite there being a lot of replicated sprites, like the ones shown above, there's actually a fair amount of variety, and even some unique sprites for some unimportant NPCs. Unfortunately the arena looks pretty empty in comparison, but you can't expect that much from a console of that time, especially if you consider that the spectator section can be freely entered and you can talk with almost everybody. Anyway, they could have shown at least the announcer for the battles, if not the king's seat. Screens will be provided later on, because the battle arena is a recurring location in many JRPGs (possibly starting with Final Fantasy VI in 1994, but I'm not sure it was the first).

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Claude: "Yes, I are entered, but I can not write, sorry" *backs away* "Freaky green-haired bum..."
If you go to the reception of the Tournament Arena, you'll also find a couple of girls who ask an autograph... not to Claude, to the one behind him.

The day of the Tournament of Arms at Last! Lacour is even more crowded than it was yesterday, and Claude, Rena and Celine must make their way through a torrent of people to get to the Arena in the castle; well, not really a torrent, rather an unusually large amount of NPCs for an RPG of that time.

Since there isn't much to say here, I'll just put it here: it wasn't until I had watched Star Ocean EX (a cartoon based on this game) that I learned the right way to pronounce Rena, that is "Réna" (short close e). The English version of the game makes the characters say it as "Reena", and I think this was left unchanged in the PSP remake. It doesn't bother me too much though, I've played JRPGs with way worse adaption issues.

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Ok, Celine may be smarter than Claude most of the time, but sometimes she fails to show it properly. Darling.

Rena isn't helping by just endlessly walking back and forth in the room until evening, so she decides to go out for a walk. Besides, there's only two beds here, so she might as well try and find Dias, so they could share his room and leave Claude and Celine having fu... I mean, enough room and a bed each. Nothing really happens afterwards in the Claude version of the story (no, Claude's romance level with Celine doesn't affect this part), and it'll be a new day very soon. If you're playing the Rena version instead, you'll experience a short "subquest" about which Claude will only learn later and with much less details. Having already played both versions multiple times, I may be biased in judging the story from Claude's point of view: first-time Claude players may find this part a bit confusing and badly-handled instead.