Star Ocean: Blue Sphere
Encyclopedia
is a 2001 Game Boy Color
video game that is the direct sequel
to Star Ocean: The Second Story
. It has never been released outside of Japan
. The text is colloquial with an emphasis on "sci-fi" jargon. A mobile phone remake of the game was released in Japan on June 8, 2009.
and the defeat of the 10 Wise Men, all the characters have since moved on with their lives. Claude has taken Rena, Leon, and Precis to live on Earth with him. Ashton, Celine, Dias, Noel, Chisato, and Bowman still live on Planet Expel. Ernest and Opera are treasure hunting when their ship crash lands on Planet Edifice. Opera manages to send out an S.O.S. to Precis, who then rounds up the entire gang (sans Claude and Rena, who are on a Federation mission) in her self-built ship and heads to the planet. They are also mysteriously pulled down through the planet's atmosphere and crash-land. They decide to explore their surroundings and search for their missing comrades, hoping that Claude and Rena will rescue them, but they too crash-land on Edifice later on in the game.
Now 21 years old, Claude C. Kenni takes Rena, Precis and Leon with him to live on Earth after the events of Star Ocean: The Second Story. After helping Precis and Leon settle, he returns to the Earth Federation with a real job along with Rena. While constantly being sent on missions into space, Claude's relationship with Rena doesn't change much at all.
When Precis receives the SOS from Opera, Claude and Rena are on a mission and cannot assist immediately. Once the mission is complete, they travel together to Edifice where their ship is pulled through the planet's atmosphere and they crash. Claude is separated from Rena and contracts a deadly illness. He is bedridden in a nearby village and it's up to the player to find the herb that will cure his sickness.
gameplay to the Game Boy Color
. For the first time, random battles are removed and enemy characters can be seen on the field. When engaged in combat, the screen changes to a side scrolling view and retains real time combat. The characters can only move left and right, and the majority of fighting is influenced through combos. Battle techniques and magic can be assigned to button combinations, making the battle system more similar to Star Ocean's cousin series, Tales
. The game retains its predecessor's gameplay features such as private actions, where individual characters have side sequences, weapon and item creation, and branching plot lines.
Although the game was initially tentatively planned to be released in North America as well as in Japan, by June 2001, immediately prior to the game's release, Enix had decided not to port the game. This was partially due to the size of the game and therefore the difficulty in fitting the translated version onto a cartridge, but primarily due to Enix's change in strategy to focus on the newly released Game Boy Advance rather than the Game Boy Color; the company did not want to release any more GBC games and was unwilling to devote the resources to port the game from the GBC to the Advance.
based on it that was drawn by Aoi Mizuki and serialized in Monthly Shonen Gangan
. Oddly enough, Noel Chandler and Chisato Madison, two of the twelve main characters from Star Ocean 2, have been omitted from the storyline, since the Star Ocean: The Second Story manga
was cancelled prematurely before either character could appear in the storyline.
Composer Motoi Sakuraba
released a two-CD soundtrack for this game. The first disc was an arrangement album of selected tracks, while the second was the complete in-game score. The album was released on August 22, 2001 by Scitron Discs.
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
video game that is the direct sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to Star Ocean: The Second Story
Star Ocean: The Second Story
is a action role-playing PlayStation video game developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix. It is the second game in the Star Ocean series and the first game in the series to be released in North America and Europe , courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment...
. It has never been released outside of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The text is colloquial with an emphasis on "sci-fi" jargon. A mobile phone remake of the game was released in Japan on June 8, 2009.
Plot
Taking place 2 years after Star Ocean: The Second StoryStar Ocean: The Second Story
is a action role-playing PlayStation video game developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix. It is the second game in the Star Ocean series and the first game in the series to be released in North America and Europe , courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment...
and the defeat of the 10 Wise Men, all the characters have since moved on with their lives. Claude has taken Rena, Leon, and Precis to live on Earth with him. Ashton, Celine, Dias, Noel, Chisato, and Bowman still live on Planet Expel. Ernest and Opera are treasure hunting when their ship crash lands on Planet Edifice. Opera manages to send out an S.O.S. to Precis, who then rounds up the entire gang (sans Claude and Rena, who are on a Federation mission) in her self-built ship and heads to the planet. They are also mysteriously pulled down through the planet's atmosphere and crash-land. They decide to explore their surroundings and search for their missing comrades, hoping that Claude and Rena will rescue them, but they too crash-land on Edifice later on in the game.
Now 21 years old, Claude C. Kenni takes Rena, Precis and Leon with him to live on Earth after the events of Star Ocean: The Second Story. After helping Precis and Leon settle, he returns to the Earth Federation with a real job along with Rena. While constantly being sent on missions into space, Claude's relationship with Rena doesn't change much at all.
When Precis receives the SOS from Opera, Claude and Rena are on a mission and cannot assist immediately. Once the mission is complete, they travel together to Edifice where their ship is pulled through the planet's atmosphere and they crash. Claude is separated from Rena and contracts a deadly illness. He is bedridden in a nearby village and it's up to the player to find the herb that will cure his sickness.
Gameplay
Blue Sphere attempts to adapt traditional Star OceanStar Ocean
is a franchise of action role-playing video games developed by tri-Ace and published and owned by Square Enix .-Creation and influence:...
gameplay to the Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
. For the first time, random battles are removed and enemy characters can be seen on the field. When engaged in combat, the screen changes to a side scrolling view and retains real time combat. The characters can only move left and right, and the majority of fighting is influenced through combos. Battle techniques and magic can be assigned to button combinations, making the battle system more similar to Star Ocean's cousin series, Tales
Tales (role-playing game series)
The series is a franchise of fantasy console role-playing games published by Namco Bandai Games , and primarily developed by its subsidiary, Namco Tales Studio. Created in 1994, the series now spans over twelve flagship titles, over fifteen side games, and four animated productions, into several...
. The game retains its predecessor's gameplay features such as private actions, where individual characters have side sequences, weapon and item creation, and branching plot lines.
Development
During development, the game was intended to include multiplayer combat, as well as be available for both the original Game Boy and the Game Boy Color.Although the game was initially tentatively planned to be released in North America as well as in Japan, by June 2001, immediately prior to the game's release, Enix had decided not to port the game. This was partially due to the size of the game and therefore the difficulty in fitting the translated version onto a cartridge, but primarily due to Enix's change in strategy to focus on the newly released Game Boy Advance rather than the Game Boy Color; the company did not want to release any more GBC games and was unwilling to devote the resources to port the game from the GBC to the Advance.
Merchandise
Much like the other games in the series, Star Ocean: Blue Sphere also has a mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
based on it that was drawn by Aoi Mizuki and serialized in Monthly Shonen Gangan
Monthly Shonen Gangan
is a manga imprint of Square Enix . It publishes manga in several magazines aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese market. Its magazines are home to some popular manga series which were adapted into anime series, like Fullmetal Alchemist, Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit,...
. Oddly enough, Noel Chandler and Chisato Madison, two of the twelve main characters from Star Ocean 2, have been omitted from the storyline, since the Star Ocean: The Second Story manga
Star Ocean: The Second Story (manga)
is a seven volume manga series written and illustrated by Mayumi Azuma. Based on the tri-Ace video game Star Ocean: The Second Story, it follows the exploits of Claude C. Kenny, a young ensign in the Earth Federation who finds himself stranded on the Planet Expel...
was cancelled prematurely before either character could appear in the storyline.
Composer Motoi Sakuraba
Motoi Sakuraba
is a Japanese composer of video games, anime series, and television dramas as well as independent progressive rock albums.-Biography:Motoi Sakuraba was born in Akita Prefecture, Japan...
released a two-CD soundtrack for this game. The first disc was an arrangement album of selected tracks, while the second was the complete in-game score. The album was released on August 22, 2001 by Scitron Discs.