The favorite sidequests thread

[(Tunnels)]

I love Opera... but I love Ashton even more =/

What about the sidequest of curing the little girl for Ashton? That's a pretty endearing side quest which also gives him a unique ending.
I always get him that ending.

I do the same with Celine and Prince Cross, and I honestly don't pair her up with anyone else because of it.

[Annubis]

I do the same with Celine and Prince Cross, and I honestly don't pair her up with anyone else because of it.

Same

[Cyril]

The Opera/Ashton decision is brutal.  Nowadays I tend to go more for Opera because I play as Rena, and she gets Dias, but man. Ashton.

Serious props to Tri-Ace for making both such likeable, good characters.

[Monsoon]

The Opera/Ashton decision is brutal.  Nowadays I tend to go more for Opera because I play as Rena, and she gets Dias, but man. Ashton.

Serious props to Tri-Ace for making both such likeable, good characters.

I'm with you.  It sucks that they made two of the best five characters mutually exclusive.  Way tougher than any of the personnel decisions in the first Star Ocean. 

[Dincrest]

Re: SO2.  Annoying voice aside, I'd say Precis is the 4th best fighter after Claude, Ashton, and Dias.  In that town, it's a choice between Precis and Bowman and it's a no-brainer for me.  Bowman sucks. 

And I'll mention Eternal Eden not so much for its sidequests (which were fine) but for a game mechanic that encourages them.  See, there's a finite number of battle encounters in the game; once you've killed all the enemies in a hostile area, they're perma-gone.  This way, backtracking and exploring previously visited areas is actually fun and not tedious.  This made me WANT to do sidequests. 

[Annubis]

Bowman sucks.

Bowman is awesome. I don't want an annoying loli who likes Claude.
Claude is Rena's toy only.

[Dice]

Bowman sucks.

Bowman is awesome. I don't want an annoying loli who likes Claude.
Claude is Rena's toy only.

Bowman I've heard can be good

it's pretty easy to max characters out in this game, so Diaz's one hit attacks and special moves become really bad later on.  Chisato, as long as you can compensate her defense is really good in comparison.  ...But he's pretty cool (loved the hell out of his old PSX voice, oddly).  They both are.  It does unfortunately mean you have to play as Rena and go through a pointlessly elongated quest to get the man a damned sword. ....but it's not like Leon's actually worth having (or any mage).

I'm actually trying an  Opera run because she might actually be a good option over Rena of all people -- her Healing Star can heal 9999 at max proficiency and since it's a special "melee" move it doesn't have any real cast time.

...I COULD GO ON ALL DAY.

[Annubis]

...I COULD GO ON ALL DAY.

So could I! Time for a nerd out!

Dias's killer moves are terrible but since he can wield a Levantine, he's fine (Levantine + Angel Armband)
Anyone who can wield a Levantine + Angel Armband should just use normal attacks anyway (Claude & Ashton)

Chisato is special in the sense that she has a naturally high enough AGI that you can make her a dodger only. You can start her with a Mithril Dress + Jeanne shield and later go Valkyrie Garb + Star Shield. At level 255 with the prior items even Iseria Queen has a hard time hitting her. The Weird Slayer will also heal her whenever something does manage to hit her.

Bowman should only be used as a Poison Pill (and later Explosion Pill) tosser. All his other move are terrible and his normal attacks will never connect because of his 1 mm range. While it may sound bad, Poison Pill and Explosion Pill become REALLY strong with use.

Leon and Celine are both terrible later in the game but Leon is slightly better due to the Gremlin spell which is non-elemental and does multiple hits.

Ernest is bad... no saving grace. The only good thing about him is that you can steal 2 Battle Suits off him.

Noel has Earthquake and that's about it.

[Klyde Chroma]

this thread has officially planted the SO2 seed in me. i see a play-through in the not so distant future. never did entertain the psp remake and it has been long enough that I have effectively forgotten most of the game (always makes for the best re-plays... sense of both nostalgia and excitement... I love knowing I'm gonna love it without remembering why)

[Dincrest]

Whether it's the PS1 or PSP version of Star Ocean 2, one thing remains certain: Rena fails at naming dragons.  Given that she's a 17 year-old who begins the game acting like she's 8, there's no way she'd have chosen names like Jake Steel or Admiral Wolverine Lightningbolt as Billy from the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy did for a reanimated Fred Flintstone and a hungry space monster.  Best was probably when Grim turned Billy's mother into a little kid and Billy named her Corn.  (Billy rules at naming things.  Forgot what he named his temporary pet chupacabra, though.)   

I wished that SO2 let us, the players, name the dragons.  Like with the PS1 Final Fantasy games, I had a measure of fun with renaming.  I cannot be the only one who renamed Claude to Clod. 

My favorite Private Action was definitely the Fun City one where Celine has a mishap with the love potion.  That one you get when you play as Rena.

As for sidequests, I often liked sidequests that had me rebuilding towns or even building and decorating a house that I bought (the Aveyond games do that.)    Makes me feel like I'm leaving my own personal stamp in the world.

[Wild Armor]

this thread has officially planted the SO2 seed in me. i see a play-through in the not so distant future. never did entertain the psp remake and it has been long enough that I have effectively forgotten most of the game (always makes for the best re-plays... sense of both nostalgia and excitement... I love knowing I'm gonna love it without remembering why)

Haha, tell me about it. This thread had me wanting playing SO4: The Last Hope, so I ended up picking it up for $13 on ebay.

Also, I'd liked to add in my favorite sidequest of all time after being reminded of the Suikoden series: The Post-game of Suikoden III if you collect all the 108 Stars of Destiny.

Code:

Love, love, love that I got to see the story play out through the Antagonists eyes. That was the best darn reward for me, EVER.

[(Tunnels)]

this thread has officially planted the SO2 seed in me. i see a play-through in the not so distant future. never did entertain the psp remake and it has been long enough that I have effectively forgotten most of the game (always makes for the best re-plays... sense of both nostalgia and excitement... I love knowing I'm gonna love it without remembering why)

Haha, tell me about it. This thread had me wanting playing SO4: The Last Hope, so I ended up picking it up for $13 on ebay.

Also, I'd liked to add in my favorite sidequest of all time after being reminded of the Suikoden series: The Post-game of Suikoden III if you collect all the 108 Stars of Destiny.

Code:

Love, love, love that I got to see the story play out through the Antagonists eyes. That was the best darn reward for me, EVER.

I will always feel cheated by Suiko 3 because of that.

Code:

I collected all the stars, but had one die during a mass battle. Thing is, I didn't realize it, so when I beat the game and nothing happens after the credits, I'm like, "Dafuq?"

[Wild Armor]

this thread has officially planted the SO2 seed in me. i see a play-through in the not so distant future. never did entertain the psp remake and it has been long enough that I have effectively forgotten most of the game (always makes for the best re-plays... sense of both nostalgia and excitement... I love knowing I'm gonna love it without remembering why)

Haha, tell me about it. This thread had me wanting playing SO4: The Last Hope, so I ended up picking it up for $13 on ebay.

Also, I'd liked to add in my favorite sidequest of all time after being reminded of the Suikoden series: The Post-game of Suikoden III if you collect all the 108 Stars of Destiny.

Code:

Love, love, love that I got to see the story play out through the Antagonists eyes. That was the best darn reward for me, EVER.

I will always feel cheated by Suiko 3 because of that.

Code:

I collected all the stars, but had one die during a mass battle. Thing is, I didn't realize it, so when I beat the game and nothing happens after the credits, I'm like, "Dafuq?"

Wait, what? I had no idea that characters could actually die in Suikoden 3. Maybe I just looked out when I was I played it years ago? I never had that problem, although, I never used characters during war battles that I feel were going to keel over dead if I had the option. This is news to me.

[Dice]

Whether it's the PS1 or PSP version of Star Ocean 2, one thing remains certain: Rena fails at naming dragons.  Given that she's a 17 year-old who begins the game acting like she's 8, there's no way she'd have chosen names like Jake Steel or Admiral Wolverine Lightningbolt as Billy from the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy did for a reanimated Fred Flintstone and a hungry space monster.  Best was probably when Grim turned Billy's mother into a little kid and Billy named her Corn.  (Billy rules at naming things.  Forgot what he named his temporary pet chupacabra, though.)   

I wished that SO2 let us, the players, name the dragons.  Like with the PS1 Final Fantasy games, I had a measure of fun with renaming.  I cannot be the only one who renamed Claude to Clod. 

My favorite Private Action was definitely the Fun City one where Celine has a mishap with the love potion.  That one you get when you play as Rena.

As for sidequests, I often liked sidequests that had me rebuilding towns or even building and decorating a house that I bought (the Aveyond games do that.)    Makes me feel like I'm leaving my own personal stamp in the world.

Rena looked like hell in the PSP version.  Terrible outfit and her 8 year old face really pissed me off.  I actually adored her old tomboy look in the PSX artwork.  

The dragon thing was just some awkward translating.  IIRC, didn't Gyaro and Ururun are more in tune with japanese sound effects or something about describing them?  Kinda weird playing an English game that goes, "LET'S CALL HIM URURUN CUZ THAT'S SAD" or whatever.  Creepy and Weepy were cute but cheezy.  

I hated calling Claude "Crawd", I know that stuck around more than it should have, and yeah "Clode" is bad too.

Fun City PAs were awesome, and I did love playing Star Ocean Iron Chef.

...I COULD GO ON ALL DAY.

So could I! Time for a nerd out!

Dias's killer moves are terrible but since he can wield a Levantine, he's fine (Levantine + Angel Armband)
Anyone who can wield a Levantine + Angel Armband should just use normal attacks anyway (Claude & Ashton)

Chisato is special in the sense that she has a naturally high enough AGI that you can make her a dodger only. You can start her with a Mithril Dress + Jeanne shield and later go Valkyrie Garb + Star Shield. At level 255 with the prior items even Iseria Queen has a hard time hitting her. The Weird Slayer will also heal her whenever something does manage to hit her.

Bowman should only be used as a Poison Pill (and later Explosion Pill) tosser. All his other move are terrible and his normal attacks will never connect because of his 1 mm range. While it may sound bad, Poison Pill and Explosion Pill become REALLY strong with use.

Leon and Celine are both terrible later in the game but Leon is slightly better due to the Gremlin spell which is non-elemental and does multiple hits.

Ernest is bad... no saving grace. The only good thing about him is that you can steal 2 Battle Suits off him.

Noel has Earthquake and that's about it.

100% on all the above, you're right that Diaz can be good, I didn't mea to single him out.

Biggest offence with Noel....fucken terrriiible PAs.  
Which reminds me, I love how other than doing the North City library sidequest, Giveaway is a completely skippable city.

[Ashton]

If you don't choose Ashton, you're wrong.