The Difficulty Level (戦闘モード, Sentō Mōdo?) of a game in the Star Ocean series is a setting that determines enemy strength and limitations the player will be presented with during gameplay.
Overview[]
Difficulty levels first appeared in Star Ocean: The Second Story, though the fourth-tier setting debuted in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. The main difference between each level revolves around around the HP and MP of the enemies.
Prior to Star Ocean: The Divine Force, players could only select their difficulty level when they first started a new game, and it could not be changed later (likely due to this, players were also prevented from doing a first playthrough on harder difficulties). Generally, the levels from hardest to easiest are Chaos Mode (カオスモード, Kaosu Mōdo?), followed by Universe Mode (ユニバースモード, Yunibāsu Mōdo?), Galaxy Mode (ギャラクシーモード, Gyarakushī Mōdo?), and then Earth Mode (アースモード, Āsu Mōdo?). The methods to unlock harder difficulties depend on the game.
Appearances[]
The Second Story[]
In Star Ocean: The Second Story and its remake Second Evolution, the default difficulty is Earth Mode, while Galaxy and Universe must be unlocked.
Enemy | HP | MP | ATK | MAG | AVD | HIT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Earth | x1.00 | x1.00 | x1.00 | x1.00 | -- | -- |
Galaxy | x1.50 | x1.00 | x1.50 | x1.00 | -- | -- |
Universe | x2.00 | x2.00 | x1.67 | x1.33 | +128 | +80 |
In The Second Story, to unlock Galaxy and Universe Modes the player must complete 45% and 55%, respectively, of their Sound Collection. In Second Evolution, the player must defeat 2000 enemies total (including bosses) in a single save file to unlock both modes. Players can keep track of how many enemies they have defeated by speaking to the fortune teller in Fun City.
The Second Story R[]
The modern remake, Star Ocean: The Second Story R changes the difficulty balancing so that Galaxy Mode is the default while Earth Mode is easier. The Version 1.1.0 update added Chaos Mode as an option. All difficulties are unlocked from the start, and players can switch the difficulty at any time, as in Divine Force.
Enemy | HP | MP | ATK | MAG | AVD | HIT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Earth | x?.?? | x?.?? | x?.?? | x?.?? | -- | -- |
Galaxy | x1.00 | x1.00 | x1.00 | x1.00 | -- | -- |
Universe | x2.00 | x2.00 | x1.67 | x1.33 | +128 | +80 |
Chaos | x?.?? | x?.?? | x?.?? | x?.?? | +128 | +80 |
Till the End of Time[]
In Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, the difficulty levels are Earth, Galaxy, Universe, and as the highest difficulty, 4D Mode (FDモード, Efu Dī Mōdo?). The first time playing only Earth and Galaxy are available, and Universe and 4D levels must be unlocked by collecting battle trophies, which can only be done in Galaxy level and above.
Enemy | HP/MP | Notes |
---|---|---|
Earth | x0.70 | Cannot collect trophies. |
Galaxy | x1.00 | Default setting. |
Universe | x1.50 | Unlocked with 75 battle trophies collected. |
4D | x1.80+ | Unlocked with 195 battle trophies collected. |
The Maze of Tribulations will temporarily increase the difficulty to Galaxy if the player is on Earth Mode. There are several AI glitches in 4D Mode, leading some players to consider Universe Mode to be more difficult, and the Gutsy Bunny accessory can also be equipped to make enemies even more powerful. Beating the game in Universe and 4D difficulties earns the player the "Master of the Universe" and "Toughest Challenge" trophies in the PS4 remaster.
The Last Hope[]
In Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Earth (easy) and Galaxy (normal) are the default settings. Beating the game on the latter setting unlocks Universe Level, and in turn, beating Universe level unlocks Chaos Level. In Galaxy Level and above, players can obtain battle trophies.
Enemy | HP/MP | ATK | INT | GRD | Rush Gauge |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Earth | x0.70 | x0.80 | x0.80 | x0.80 | -- |
Galaxy | x1.00 | x1.00 | x1.00 | x1.00 | -- |
Universe | x1.30 | x1.30 | x1.30 | x1.30 | Increase rate x1.5 |
Chaos | x1.70 | x1.70 | x1.70 | x1.70 | Increase rate x2.0 |
In Chaos Mode, the targeting cursors for the characters disappear (making Blindsides more difficult due to not knowing who is being targeted). Completing the game yields the "Chaos Conqueror" trophy/achievement.
Integrity and Faithlessness[]
In Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness, the modes available are Earth Mode, Galaxy Mode, Universe Mode, and Chaos Mode. Universe is unlocked after an initial playthrough, and completing it unlocks Chaos Mode. Battle trophies can be obtained in Galaxy level and above.
Enemy | HP | MP | ATK | INT |
---|---|---|---|---|
Earth | x0.80 | x1.00 | x0.80 | x0.80 |
Galaxy | x1.00 | x1.00 | x1.00 | x1.00 |
Universe | x1.50 | x1.20 | x1.20 | x1.20 |
Chaos | x2.00 | x1.50 | x1.50 | x1.50 |
Beating the game in Universe and Chaos difficulties earns the player the "Universally Renowned" and "Survivor of Chaos" trophies, respectively.
Anamnesis[]
Reminiscent of mainline games, Star Ocean: Anamnesis has difficulty levels for event missions, although it has a different naming system. The higher the difficulty, the higher the stamina cost but the better the reward in terms of currency. Generally, the higher difficulties require Multiplayer cooperation. Event titles can be earned by beating a given boss in Misery 3 missions and above, usually if victory is achieved in less than a minute (6☆ titles) or three minutes (5☆ titles).
The difficulty scale is as follows: Easy (初級, Shokyū?) → Normal (中級, Chūkyū?) → Hard (上級, Jōkyū?) → Expert (超級, Chōkyū?) → Misery 1 (獄級, Gokukyū?) → Misery 2 (滅級, Metsukyū?) → Misery 3 (絶級, Zekkyū?). However, there also were the monthly Misery 4 (覇級, Hakyū?) events, retooling early bosses for added difficulty. In Twin Eclipse, the highest difficulty was added, God (神級, Shinkyū?), reserved only for Cave of the Seven Stars bosses Gabriel Celeste, Crosell and Ethereal Queen.
The Divine Force[]
In Star Ocean: The Divine Force, the difficulty levels are once again Earth, Galaxy, Universe, and Chaos, and the player can now switch between them at any time. The first three are available by default, and defeating the final boss with the game set to Universe will earn the player the "Universal Master" trophy, alongside Chaos Mode as an option. The "Master of Chaos" trophy can then be earned in a similar fashion.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Due to sharing its engine with Second Evolution, Star Ocean: First Departure has the Galaxy and Universe modes, but they are "dummied out" and are only accessible via hacking the game.