Developer: Gemdrops
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: PS4, PS5, Switch (2), PC
Tested on: Switch 2
Star Ocean: The Second Story R (Switch 2) – Review
Well, this was a bit of a surprise, wasn’t it? We fully expected that our next Switch 2 Edition review after Fitness Boxing 3 would’ve been Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but Square Enix jumped the queue with a shadow drop. Released on the same day that it was announced, Star Ocean: The Second Story R is now available for Switch 2 owners. We’ll get to Xenoblade Chronicles 2 soon enough, but for now, let’s take a look at how well The Second Story R handles the transition to the Switch 2.
One of our fellow reviewers already tackled The Second Story R back in late 2023. As this is essentially the exact same game, we’ll refer you to their original review first before getting down to the nitty-gritty of the Switch 2 Edition. Given that the game has already been out for several years, is it worth double-dipping if you already own the first game? And yes, we did explicitly mean double-dipping and not upgrading. We’ll get to that. Before that, first let us confirm that three years later, The Second Story R holds up wonderfully as a reimagining of the 1998 PS1 classic. The story branches depending on which of the two protagonists you play as, which should be reason enough to play through the game more than once, and the timely release of this new port provides the perfect excuse to do so. Compared to that original PS1 release, The Second Story R has seen a massive overhaul to bring the game more in line with the expectations of modern-day audiences, but given its roots, it’s still much smaller in scale compared to your Final Fantasies and your Octopath Travelers, coming in at around 30 hours to complete.
The raison d’être for the Switch 2 Edition of The Second Story R is for the game to take advantage of hardware improvements compared to the first game. This results in an increase in resolution and a much smoother 60 FPS frame rate, up from 30 FPS. It’s a noticeable difference, but we wouldn’t go as far as to say that it makes the Switch 2 Edition the definitive version of the game. This release puts the Nintendo version of the game in line with its PS5 version (which, for some reason, doesn’t go above 1080P either). It is still surpassed by the PC version when it comes to things like draw distance and anti-aliasing. That’s not to say that the Switch 2 Edition is bad, especially when you factor in portability, but it does feel more like the game catching up instead of taking a leap forward.
If you happen to be an owner of the Switch 1 version of The Second Story R, you’re probably not going to be happy to learn that there is no upgrade path here. This isn’t limited to just this game, mind you. For whatever reason, Square Enix has decided to treat Switch 2 Editions as completely separate releases. This means that your existing save files cannot be transferred to the new version of these games, so you’d have to start over from scratch. Making matters worse though, is that Square Enix also expects you to pay the full price if you’re picking up the Switch 2 Edition even if you’re an existing owner of the Switch 1 game.
We’re willing to overlook the cross-compatibility issue, as there are other games, like Hogwarts Legacy, for example, where you’re unable to continue from an existing save file between Switch 1 and Switch 2 versions. However, owners of the Switch 1 version of the latter get a massive discount to pick up the Switch 2 version in the eShop, either by having the cartridge in their system or by having a digital copy in their library. Meanwhile, Star Ocean fans will still need to cough up €49.99. Both versions have the same RRP too, although the Switch 1 version goes on sale fairly often. As this is functionally the same game, we’d recommend against double-dipping. It’s a notable improvement, mind you, but not such a dramatic upgrade that it’s a no-brainer. If you’re yet to pick between the two versions, the Switch 2 Edition is clearly the better option, of course. If you don’t have the hardware yet but are planning to upgrade in the near future, then hold off on the game until you do.
Conclusion
More like Star Ocean: The Second Review, am I right? Groan-inducing pun aside, The Second Story R remains a fantastic game three years on. In this case, it’s particularly worth mentioning that our score reflects the quality of the game itself, and not the bafflingly consumer-unfriendly practices that sour the release of the Switch 2 Edition. The new port doesn’t warrant double-dipping if the game is already in your library, regardless of platform, but if you don’t own The Second Story R yet, this is definitely a valid option, especially over the Switch 1 or PS4 versions.
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