Star Ocean: Till the End of Time [PS2]

By anyone's standards, Star Ocean was in the works for a long time. Thankfully, the extra effort put into this remake shows, and stateside gamers will be treated not only to an improved incarnation, but to a mass of new content, characters, locales, and minigames as well. And fair warning to all of you obsessive-completist types out there: Your lives, as you know them, are over... at least for a while.

A perfect clone of the Japanese director's cut, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time is a solid and greatly accessorized role-playing game with rich worlds, a satisfying combat system, and a plot progression that some players will define as "epic," and others will doubtless find "glacial." For a good idea of which side you might fall on, consider the cinematic-heavy Xenosaga as a gauge. If you were happy at those moments when the plot gleefully overrode the game itself with runaway cutscenes, you'll be at home here.

Which isn't to say there isn't a good story; quite the opposite, in fact. Till the End of Time takes place hundreds of years after the Claude-and-Rena-fest of Star Ocean 2. Entitled brat Fayt Leingod (whose name never got made fun of in school) is vacationing with his parents and closest friend on planetary resort Hydra IV when the place falls under attack from space.

As evacuatory drama ensues, the characters are separated. Fayt's escape craft then crashes on the developmentally backwater planet of Vanguard III. And -- because Fayt hasn't had a bad enough time yet -- he's evidently been followed. The ostensibly sci-fi game takes a lengthy detour into more traditional high-fantasy land, and we've even got a little Star Trek-esque "noninterference directive" philosophizing going on. Yes, it's become a sci-fi staple food... but it's still a good, chewy one.

It's easy to forgive unfortunate pacing, and even the bargain basement voice work, chiefly because of one stellar aspect: the combat system. The fighting takes place in real time with three active characters available -- toggle through the combatants to directly control the one you want, and put the others into a mostly reliable auto-mode.

We say "mostly," because there are really only six behavioral options to choose from. While your support fighters aren't the most tactically cunning bunch, they allow players to really focus on a surprisingly good manual combat system -- characters have combat moves tagged to two different controls as well as support and recovery skills. Further, these can be employed in combos, special, and magical attacks. Carefully crafted coordinated strikes can be set up prior to battles, so the level of potential strategic depth doesn't get too overwhelming. It's an impressive mix of options and streamlining, with something for relative newbies, as well as the firmly entrenched RPG nut.

But the character customization pales in comparison to the scheme for making and improving weapons and other items; it can fairly be called a game goal in itself. Not only can players work up the skills to make a mind-boggling array of items for themselves, they can actually employ (and profit from) "contracted out" inventors to keep the game's virtual supply line humming!

Till the End of Time is brimming with goodies and extras for those with the RPG tenacity. These include the "battle collection" game that ultimately yields at least 300 reward types for tackling particular (and sometimes Herculean) challenges. There are also waiting bonuses like new difficulty levels, costumes, and even a player versus player mode.

There is also a surprising variety of game endings and -- should you finish the game once -- new extras, dungeons, and characters. Battle booty collected in previous games can be used in new games, too.

With a few unfortunate flaws notwithstanding, Square Enix's latest entry is every bit as absorbing as we've come to expect from the developer. If there isn't enough incidental goodness in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time to satisfy you, then it's definitely time to get off the bean-bag and make your own sprawling RPG adventure.