Star Ocean: Second Evolution

Star Ocean: Second Evolution is a reworking of Star Ocean: The Second Story from 1998, an entry still considered among the series' fans to be one of the very best and most beloved. For the PSP in 2008, studio tri-Ace equipped it with new 2D graphics matching the style of the series' contemporary new releases, a reworked interface, and a number of minor balance tweaks based on the European and American release of the original PlayStation game. The story lets the player choose between two main characters, Claude and Rena, which fundamentally changes the narrative perspective, the order in which scenes are unlocked, and which companions join the party.

The game is famous for its huge number of possible endings and a branching relationship system between characters, driven by conversations and time spent together in the party - this system remained unchanged in the remake and is still one of the reasons players return to the game repeatedly, playing through it from different characters' perspectives. The combat system relies on action-oriented, fluid real-time clashes, where you can switch between characters on the fly and chain special attacks into longer combos, which at the time of the original's console release was among the most sophisticated in its genre.

Compared to the PSP version of the first entry, this is a substantially larger game with a longer campaign, a wider range of crafting, and the so-called Item Creation system, which lets the player craft their own equipment from gathered materials and recipes that can be discovered and combined almost endlessly. For a handheld, it's an exceptionally extensive title that can sustain dozens of hours of play, especially given repeated playthroughs for different endings and main characters, which makes it one of the longest games on the entire PSP platform and also one of the reasons the remake was received so warmly by fans.

Why play it: For JRPG fans, this is one of the most thorough remakes the PSP platform has to offer, and also the most convenient way to still play the legendary Second Story today.