Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (274)

It's not really a funny bit, but I was wondering: would Rena's mother be still alive if she had somehow survived the explosion? Sure, the incident happened millions of years ago, but, having talked to some Nedians, one can assume their lifespan is largely different from that of ordinary humans. Who knows how old Narl really is... But yeah, living millions of years is too much of a stretch.

Minutes before the explosion, Reema calls for her daughter: she has decided to try and save her by using an experiemental space-time teleportation device. This device wasn't designed for living matter, and it was too small to contain a person, but her daughter Rena would probably fit in, and in this desperate situation it's certainly the best option for the little child. After a short but heartfelt mother and daughter moment, in which Reema gives Rena a shiny pendant as a goodbye present, the registration ends, but not before Reema turns to the camera and says an alphanumeric code for some secret, and apparently dangerous, information.

So Narl got what he was looking for, a secret code for accessing the hidden archives of the lab. However, this search also revealed a shocking truth. I wonder how Rena feels right now.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (273)

Either you choose to turn your brain off and ignore all this science fiction jargon, or you can't help but feel sorry for the eventual people who happen to be on the space-time continuum the explosion will be phase-shifted to.

Our friends explore the abandoned lab for a while, and they finally find Narl in the innermost room, busy tinkering with some huge machine. The mayor has apparently unlocked the database of the lab containing al the video recordings they made (this is why Nedians are awesome: how many databases last so long?); he thinks they might find some hint to the location of some weapon designs in them, so he plays the last one.

What you see here is a screenshot of the recording made just before the great explosion (which happened for unclear reasons) that destroyed the lab. Talking is the blue-haired scientist Reema: she seems to have resigned herself to death. She's confident the explosion will only affect the lab because of the weird containment area they built around it: this way, only the people who caused the explosion will perish, and the rest will be safe from harm. There's only one problem, though: her little daughter is in the lab as well (did she always bring her there, or was that a special day? We'll never know).

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (272)

I find it surprising that in an abandoned laboratory like this there's a broken machine that still emits sparks; considering the extremely long time it's been like this, it should have burnt or something.

After spending some time in North City, our heroes fly off to Armlock, where Narl is waiting for them: he's unlocked a sealed gate which conceals a mysterious transporter to 'a certain location'. The mayor's being secretive about the whole thing, as usual (you'd think he could trust you fully by now... or maybe it's just his laziness), but this time our friends won't have to wait too long for an answer.

The transporter takes everyone to a lush forest. While Narl goes ahead to prepare things (a picnic?), the group waits for a bit to look around. Rena feels like she's been here before: could this place have something to do with her Nedian past? Regardless, Claude decides they should follow Narl soon enough. Walking for a bit, they come up to the ruins of what appears to be a research laboratory (or at least that's probably what Claude thinks it is, everyone else might have a different picture in their heads).

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (271)

I don't know what's funnier, Precis knowing she looks silly most of the time, or her having 'moments'.

In this hypotetical scenario, Claude doesn't take Precis's thoughts too seriously. There's a variety of ways Claude can screw up and make Precis mad, and they usually cause her to spin around a lot (like she always does, only much faster). In one case, Precis becomes so furious she even kicks Bobot to a wall when it calls for her; in another, Claude becomes so confused about the situation (figuring out how girls think is not his forte) that he himself starts spinning.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (270)

Claude: There's no need to be worried, Precis. After all, your father's already dead; it's just a matter of seeing if we can manage to resurrect him. (If this sounds wrong to you, know that you're not alone)

Our heroes decide to take a small break to think about the current situation. Expel is gone, together with Rena, Celine, Leon and Precis's loved ones, and while there seems to be a way to get them back (no matter how ridiculous it sounds), it involves defeating the Ten Wise Men, probably the most powerful people in the universe. It's hard not to worry about it, and yet...

Everyone's taking their time in North City, maybe hoping the tranquil atmosphere of the town will help to calm their agitated minds. However, Claude can't help but notice Precis is merrily chasing her Bobot around, as she always does: surprised at her cheery mood, he starts talking with her. She tells Claude that just moping around will get nothing done, and she's trying to be cheerful to keep the group's morale up, even in the difficult situation they're in. But even our little machinery expert has to admit her uneasiness... How does Claude react to that? It's up to you to decide!

In-game, this is a Private Action event, quite unique in the number of choices. Depending on how you want Claude's relationship with Precis to develop, you can choose your dialogue options to have either funny scenes or somewhat romantic ones; this is a good chance if you want Claude to end up with Precis in the ending scenes, but you might also want to see Precis's reactions to Claude's rude behaviour. In any case, you can just save your game progress just outside town, pick a set of choices, then reload your save and repeat with different choices. Which is what I did this time: I'll show you the scenes I thought were the funniest.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (269)

By moon, do you mean Nede's satellite or Earth's Moon? In the former case, why is it called Moonite? Or, in the latter case, what in the world would a moon rock be doing on Nede?

Collecting and identifying minerals is fun and all, but it's a waste of time, considering something like alchemy exists. Why bother searching for rare rocks, when you can simply turn iron into whatever material you want? Naturally, you would need a friend who has 'the blessing of Manna' (i.e. an innate talent which only spellcasters have, and which cannot be learned through practice) and is proficient enough in this 'science'. Being in possession of a Leezard Flask is also important, if you want to make the rarest minerals.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (268)

Ok, I'm sorry, but either due to my mistake in game save management, or because of an emulator glitch, I never actually got that woman's ID card in the Synard's cave, therefore she didn't show up in Central City. The walkthroughs I read don't seem to mention that you need to pick up the card and use it before a certain event, but it appears you can't meet with her anymore if you do that anytime after the event in Fienal (or possibly after the completion of the four Fields).

What does this all mean?

• I won't be able to fill up my eighth party slot, so I'm stuck with a party of 7 characters
• I won't have access to any of the Private Actions and events with this character, including the research on the Ten Wise Men
• She won't be an available choice for Leon's Private Action in Fun City (more on that in a later post), which is a pity, since that could have been a nice Funny Bit
• It's now worthless for me to 'go back' to Expel from Nede, since the only reason I'd do that would have been a small Funny Bit with this character

Her name is Chisato Madison, reporter for the Nede Chronicle: hot-blooded and passionate about her job, she's an expert in martial arts (she could follow our heroes in the Synard cave after all), but strangely she's also pretty clumsy (you could probably tell already). A lot of her battle quotes refer either to journalism or movie direction. Other than martial arts, in battle she also uses machinery of sorts, and she can also call the aerial defense force (it's weird, but it works on Expel as well) to bomb-raid the enemy.

Why would she have chosen to follow our group? But of course, as per Claude's proposal, she could have kept covering them for the news without the need to stalk them, while proving herself useful in combat. That's all you need to know about Chisato; I won't be able to even see her again.