STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R update adds new endgame content, CHAOS difficulty and more
The new update for the interstellar RPG adds new content, new features and a brand new difficulty level that will put you to the ultimate test.STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R is an amazing RPG, and it’s just become a little amazing-er.
A new update, available for the game now, adds a host of new features. There’s a new ultra-hard difficulty level, CHAOS, powerful enemies to battle after completing the story, new equipment and items, new character illustrations, some useful quality of life improvements and more!
Read on and we’ll tell you all about them:
New difficulty mode: CHAOS
CHAOS mode has been added to the game as a new difficulty level… and it’s harder than UNIVERSE!
Enemy stats are higher, and you’ll need to employ even more strategy and preparation to take on these challenging battles.
For example, on EARTH difficulty, these first enemies you encounter are easy to dispatch.
…but on Chaos, even these initial enemies are too strong to be defeated by a straightforward attack.
Good luck!
An endgame challenge: The Ten Wise Men
The Ten Wise Men, Claude’s adversaries in the main story, now appear as Raid Enemies that appear throughout the world!
As Raid Enemies, the Ten Wise Men are even more powerful than they were in the story battles.
Victory over these even more powerful versions of the Ten Wise Men...
…will give you “Jewels” that allow you to use the power of the defeated members.
New equipment added to Item Creation
New weapons for each party character and new armour have also been added. These new items can be obtained through Item Creation or as drops from Raid Enemies.
Some of the new equipment has all-new effects!
New NPC illustrations added to event scenes
Illustrations for six NPCs who appear in event scenes have been added to the game. All of these character illustrations have been newly drawn by Yukihiro Kajimoto!
Here’s Clyde as an example:
New Character Graphics Collection and playback feature for endings
The new update has added a Character Graphics Collection that allows you to look at all the character illustrations whenever you like, and a playback feature in the Ending Collection that allows you to revisit the endings you’ve achieved at any time.
It goes without saying that the Character Graphics Collection features Claude, Rena and the team, but you can also view art of the Ten Wise Men and the newly added character illustrations mentioned above.
The Ending Collection playback feature allows you to view any of the endings you’ve unlocked from the Special option on the title screen.
New features to customize subsequent playthroughs
Features have been added to allow you to customise your subsequent playthroughs after having completed the game.
Claude or Rena’s star will appear on the title screen, depending on what completed save files you have.
You can now choose whether to reset character levels when carrying over a save file (items etc. will be carried over).
As you can see, this new update takes STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R to new heights. If you’re yet to play this frankly brilliant RPG, it’s available now for Nintendo Switch, PS5 / PS4, and PC via Steam.
If you pick it up, be sure to check out our tips and tricks to give yourself a boost:
You can also check out our interview with the game’s Development Producer and Director Yuichiro Kitao and legendary composer Motoi Sakuraba:
Finally, to stay up to date with news and information about the game, be sure to follow us on social media: