Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (260)

Here's the extremely disappointing truth: see that large landmass on the left side of the map? That part wasn't accessible via the Synard because it was outside the energy barrier. Now that we're beyond that, we can't reach it either, because we couldn't carry the Synard with us, and walking there isn't possible. That area will never be accessible to us.

After riding the Herush to the port located right in front of Fienal (what? No CG video of the trip? No animation at all? Lame!), the attack squad readies for combat. Something feels off, though: in the whole area around the town there isn't a single enemy. That's enough to get us worried; I wonder what's up, but we can't go back now, can we?

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (259)

You know, I understand that it would have been hard for the developers to make a jump animation for every single character that hops onto the Herush, but then why make this pointless and boring scene at all? Just skip it!

Claude, Rena, Narl and the others meet up with Marianna and the squad who will assist them in the mission (what's with their uniforms anyway? Heraldry catalysts?). Our friends get to see the Herush, a fearsome shark-like creature floating about the wharf; they aren't scared by its looks (they've seen worse demons already), but rather by the thought of how it is employed to go underwater. Will they have to jump into its mouth? Actually, it's never shown or explained in the game. I guess this Herush creates a sort of air bubble around itself, so that its passengers can just sit on its back; this hypothesis is corroborated by the fact that everyone hops onto its back before leaving.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (258)

The Nedians' fascination with Heraldic beasts reaches new disturbing levels.

After the mayor has finished explaining some details about the mission, a woman enters the room from the teleporter: she introduces herself as Marianna, commander of the Nedian military forces against the Ten Wise Men. She's just come to communicate that their preparations for the mission are now complete (remember how on Energy Nede there don't seem to be any kind of telephone device); therefore, Narl decides to lead the group through the teleporter, bringing them to L'Aqua, the military post where the mission will start.

In brief, Narl explains that, because Fienal is (the only town of Nede) beyond the energy barrier surrounding the planet, they cannot attack by air. The only possibility to get through unnoticed (since they think the Ten Wise Men aren't keeping an eye on them) is to travel deep underwater, where the barrier doesn't reach. 'We'll need a submarine then' you might be thinking. Troglodyte! Here on Nede we only have the latest and finest vehicles available: for your underwater needs you might want to use a Herush. Yes, it's another genetically modified Heraldic beast like the Synard, only this time we won't need to go through that painful (for the beast) inputting process again, since others will be driving it for us.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (257)

Oh, please! Now you're just messing with us! What's this space-time shift shield system (or SSSS) anyway? Are you saying you're gonna pick up a whole planet from the past and put it into the present to skip its destruction? Whatever...

Narl is about to detail the plan that will lead our heroes to face the Ten Wise Men in Fienal, when Precis interrupts him to ask a question (game-wise, it could be any other Expellian to ask that, it's random): she's wondering if she could contact her father on Expel, since he might be worried about her being away for so long. Claude, Opera and Ernest already knew what became of Expel, but didn't tell the others yet, for one reason or another; now Narl thinks it's time to tell them the sad truth.

Do not think of Narl as being too harsh (or unwise, saying this just before a crucial mission): while he knows revealing Expel's destruction to our unaware friends might deprive them of any motivation to go on with the plan, he apparently has an ace up his sleeve. Nedians certainly have the most advanced knowledge in the universe, for Narl claims they're able to alter time and space to bring Expel back (don't ask too many details on how they can do that, it wouldn't make sense).

Hearing this news, Precis and the others are somewhat relieved that there's still hope for them to see their families again; however, now they've become more worried and nervous than ever, for the existence of Expel depends entirely on their success in defeating the Ten Wise Men. How, you may ask? It's simple: Narl claims that their 'space-time shift shield system' needs a huge amount of energy to work its magic and save Expel, but one of the generators that can power it is in Fienal, and it's needed to get enough energy for such a task. In short, unless they defeat the Ten Wise Men in Fienal, they cannot have Expel back. If you ask me, this is just a lame plot device; but I also believe that after playing Star Ocean 3 all this could make sense (to be fair, anything would after that).

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (256)

No, it won't, trust me. Narl is so short-sighted that he can't foresee two simple things: our heroes are still no match for the Ten Wise Men , and it's not certain that a defeat would mean the end. There are some hints about this not being the final battle scattered about the whole sequence, for instance the absolute lack of solemnity.

Back from their stroll about the Fields, the group is now ready for the next mission. Unexpectedly, Narl states that our heroes have become much stronger, certainly stronger than anyone on Nede (well, made a good number ov level-ups during our battles, but that's rarely taken into account in JRPG stories); I'm sure this has something to do with them overcoming their fears and all that jazz. Regardless, the plan is now to storm into Fienal, the city where the Ten Wise Men have taken siege.

One hint for the player: at this point a certain game sequence will start, and while you'll be able to save your game just outside of Fienal, you the Synard won't be accessible until the sequence ends. You'll be confined to the surrounding of Fienal and L'Aqua, the military base where you'll start the mission. Keep this in mind, for once you've talked to Narl there's no turning back.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (255)

Each character has his/her own animation when they're brought back to life by Rena's Raise Dead spell: they all have the character's 'soul' (more like an angel) descend on the body in a cone of light, but Precis's animation has her smiling and waving her hands as she goes down, which makes it the best one.

After our heroes have got the Jewel of Love, they work their way back (as usual) to the exit of the Field; unfortunately the enemies don't want to give up, and still attack them in hordes. Luckily Rena's just learned a new spell, Raise Dead, which brings a fallen character back up with half their HP restored: this is more effective than a Resurrection Bottle, although it takes time to cast.

Funny Bits in Star Ocean 2 (254)

See, even Claude admits this vision makes no sense at all.

The vision goes on by showing a sequence of dialogues between Claude and his father: taken with weird camera angles, the scene has an angry Claude shouting at the back of Ronixis, all this on a black background. Claude basically complains about his father not considering him, to which the commodore replies (at least I think HE does, it could be someone else, even Claude himself) along the lines of 'Is it really like that?'.

Taken by despair, Claude plugs his ears and kneels down, while the vision ends by transforming the black background into a shot of Arlia. About this last image, I'm not sure if it depends on which Claude's best relationship is, or if it's Arlia because that's where his journey began. However, this is probably the strangest scene in the whole game (there are worse JRPGs in that regard): the rest of the game is just bad dialogue (or bad translation, I don't know).