Star Ocean: The Second Story

Star Ocean: The Second Story is an action role-playing video game developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix for the PlayStation. It is the second game in the Star Ocean series and the first game in the series to be released outside Japan, arriving in North America in June 1999 and Europe in April 2000, by Sony Computer Entertainment. Taking place in a science fantasy universe, the story centers around a young man named Claude C. Kenny, an officer from a space-faring Earth organization who is stranded on an undeveloped, medieval-level planet where he meets a girl named Rena Lanford. There, they both meet several companions and must stop a plot from an evil group that spans multiple worlds. The game was the basis of manga and anime adaptations.

The game received favourable reviews on release and was lauded for its innovative gameplay elements not previously seen in the genre, while borrowing some of the best features of popular JRPG Final Fantasy VII. The game has garnered a cult following and is often considered the best entry in the series.

An enhanced remaster titled Star Ocean: Second Evolution, developed by Tose, was released for the PlayStation Portable in April 2008 in Japan, and 2009 in North America, Europe, and Australia. It features newly animated cutscenes by Production I.G, a re-recorded soundtrack, and additional story elements.

Second Evolution was later rereleased for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3 in 2015. The Download Version features enhanced graphics and BGM, a new theme song, and DLC items. Square Enix never released this version outside of Japan.

A remake titled Star Ocean: The Second Story R and developed by Gemdrops, was released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows in November 2023.