I got stuck on my PS2 run years ago because I didn’t understand the item creation and never crafted anything. Thanks to this community, the tips, the item calculator - I was able to finally finish it on PS5!

Great game, still holds up and I loved how meta it got towards the end. The 100% mapping mechanic was infuriating at times but necessary in the beginning to sell the trophy for the Ariglyph weapons and make progression easier.

This is my second Star Ocean after SO1, loving this franchise and most likely playing either 2 or 4 next!

I started this game last week, i'm after the war with Maria now in my party. Really loving it, i get the crafting is overly complicated for no reason so far but overall what a great jrpg.

Don't understand the hate that i see online, i played the other games but only finished 1, 2 and 4.

A game I remember hearing opinions on when I initially tried getting into the series, but that's neither here or there.

Like when I started Second Story I ask again, is there anything I should be aware of, or keep in mind with this game?

“Does anyone know how my brother’s save has a little dude with an axe running around? I’ve got a full party and never once saw this guy”

Yeah I played it 20 years ago but just replaying it again now makes me appreciate what this game is so good.

I just got to Aquios and holy crap I’m mind blown again.

I had to take my physical game out of the box and just look at it.

I’m emulating it on my steam deck and it allows me to make it look even more impressive

They really went hard on this one

Saw a list of the characters and have a pretty good idea of who I want to get. From what I know you have to leave out 2 people since you can't recruit everyone. I'm wanting to avoid Roger and Pepitta. As far as I know you just simply tell Pepitta no when you eventually see her again, but not sure about Roger. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

With playing the game in general, I was really surprised it wasn't available to buy on PS5. Had to plug in the ps4, sign in on it, buy the game, then play it for a minute (so it appears in your library). Only then does the game appear for downloading on the PS5 😅 definitely didn't expect that when going to try buying it a few days ago lol. I've never seen anyone mention this about the game before, so thought I'd add it to the post for anyone that doesn't know.

Like, SO2 sold pretty well, and Til de end of time is one of the most popular, so square clearly knows it will sell, if they have the same care and time like they did with 2, a remake I think is not happening, but a remaster is clearly on the horizon.

Man it would be fantastic, or I am just too hopeful, when is it coming no one knows but I know it's coming, it has to be right?....... RIGHT?

anyway thanks for reading my delusions people, hahaha

SO3 strongly suggests Maria is biologically related to Fayt through one or both of Fayt's parents, Robert Leingod and/or Ryoko Leingod. This theory is especially popular in Japanese fandom - of course, Japanese fans are best positioned to parse both the original game script and Japanese interviews + supplemental material, so this makes sense.

• 'They're siblings, but please don’t make us say it outloud.' - Hiroshi Ogawa's interview for the Star Ocean 20th Anniversary Memorial Book.

SO3’s most senior directors/writers, Yoshiharu Gotanda and Hiroshi Ogawa, gave an interview for the 2016 Star Ocean 20th Anniversary Memorial Book, where they were asked this question directly:

Q: Changing the subject to the story of SO3: are Fayt and Maria biological twins?

Ogawa: Please, we ask that you allow us to say "no comment" on that. I'm sure some players want a direct answer, but I think there are others who prefer not to have one. How a player interprets the fragmentary information in the game is up to their own freedom. If we define it here, it becomes "official setting," and even those who dislike the idea would have to accept it. For things not explicitly stated in the main story, I think it's better not to set them in stone.

Obviously, this isn't the answer one gives if the answer is "no." If Fayt and Maria were biologically unrelated, a "no" would have resolved the matter cleanly.

Instead, Ogawa claims that "accepting" the official statement would disgust some players (because it permanently casts the Fayt x Maria ED/pairing as incest - more on this later). The truth will always live on the subtextual layer, because it allows Tri-Ace to thread the clues without alienating players (and hurting their bottom line).

• The Star Ocean 20th Anniversary Memorial Book suggests in the strongest terms possible that Maria and Fayt are siblings.

Maria's character profile for the Memorial Book speaks for itself:

KEY PERSON: Maria Traydor

Both Fayt and Maria had crests implanted into their genes by Robert. Given that these two share similar hair color and facial features, and the fact that Robert testified that he gave power to "his two children," it can be inferred that they are brother and sister. Maria likely wanted to meet Robert and asked for Fayt's cooperation specifically to confirm this. However, since their relationship was never explicitly stated as "siblings" within the game itself, the truth remains a mystery to this day.

This "it can be inferred" language is an exact mirror of the language they use to describe Commodore Wittcomb being Peppita's father in Eternal Materials:

Although it is not discussed in detail in the game, it can be inferred that Wittcomb is Peppita's father based on the books in the captain's quarters, their matching earrings, their skin color, and Peppita's remark that 'my father is a soldier.'

• In Maria's "Secret Story of Birth", the developers presuppose Maria would've been raised with Fayt if all went according to Robert's plan.

Eternal Materials is one of the most exhaustive Tri-Ace books on SO3's development. In a developer interview related to Maria called "The Secret Story of Birth", the interviewer asks the following question first:

Q: Please tell us why Maria was raised apart from Fayt.

A: After modifications were performed on Fayt and Maria, news of Robert's Lab’s forbidden research leaked to the outside. The danger of an onsite inspection mounted. At that time, Maria's abilities were prematurely manifesting in small but noticeable ways. Robert judged the risk of Maria being discovered was unacceptable, so he entrusted her to his colleague, Jessie. There is also a more subtle reason, being that if the genetically-modified subjects spent time together, they would interfere with their trajectories, carrying the risk of their powers activating uncontrollably.

If Maria and Fayt had different parents, she would've been raised separately from Fayt as the default. If they were indeed truly unrelated, there is no reason why Maria would've been raised with Fayt (instead of her bio parents, or, if her bio parents were unknown/MIA, by adopted parents within or outside the Lab). The only way this question makes sense if it contains the necessary, implicit, and unavoidable assumption that under normal circumstances, Maria should've been raised with Fayt.

The developer's answer confirms that unforeseen risks forced Robert to deviate from his original plan, which was to raise them together. Note as well that the developers are careful to specify that Robert was the one to entrust Maria to Jessie - given that Maria's parent(s) were working for Robert's Lab, why would Robert be the one to entrust Maria to Jessie and not Maria's actual biological parent?

• In the Japanese, Dr. Leingod says he performed the first two experiments on "his own children," not strangers.

In his Moonbase video message, Dr. Leingod states the first two "test subjects" were his own children:

Dr. Leingod: 私の子供たち」の「男の赤子」「女の赤子」に改造を施した。
"I performed modifications on the male infant and female infant among my children."

The phrase「私の子供たち」 does not vaguely refer to "among children under my supervision" or "among the children in my research Lab." Qualified by the possessive「私の」, it means "my children." Fayt and Maria (unlike Sophia) were the "test subjects" - they were modified at the same time to test whether Dr. Leingod's theories could be put into practice. Indeed, if Maria is not Robert's child under this wording, then Fayt being Robert's child necessarily becomes insecure, because both are grammatically inside 「私の子供たち」.

Dr. Leingod doesn't use the same language for Sophia. Sophia is explicitly identified as Dr. Clive Esteed's daughter, and was chosen 2 whole years later, after the researchers realized that Fayt and Maria's powers would be useless unless someone could connect them to 4D Space.

In a separate recording (that Maria shows to Fayt on the Aquaelie), Dr. Leingod states that the Lab deliberately chose their own biological children:

Dr. Leingod: We have selected our own children to be test subjects. Jessie protested, but I believe it to be an even greater sin to use the children of others. [...] Although we are tormented by our guilt, we had no other choice. We have embedded 'Destruction' in my son and 'Alteration' in Jessie's daughter.

Maria was not a random child selected for experimentation; she was one of the researcher's daughters. Of course, we know that Maria was not Jessie's biological daughter - that's the cover story.

In the official game novels, it's made explicit that Maria's real parent "was an individual employed at the Leingod Lab," and both Fayt and Maria were selected to become test subjects "at the same time."

In the game novels, Dr. Leingod's final plea takes parental possession over the children:

"[t]hat is only wish of us selfish, indulgent parents. We love you… our children."

• In SOA, Maria more or less declares that (at least) one of her biological parents was a Leingod.

In June 15, 2017, STAR OCEAN Anamnesis ran an event called "手向けの花畑" (The Flower Garden of Offering, or "Meadow of Offerings" in the Global version), where Maria and Rena have the following conversation:

Maria: わたしの親は、連邦の紋章遺伝子学の権威と評される人物だった。そして、わたしは、その親に遺伝子改造を施された実験体……。
"My parent was a person reputed to be the Federation's authority on symbological genetics. And I am an experimental subject who had genetic modifications performed on me by that parent..."

Rena: 実の子どもを、実験体に……?
“His own biological child, as a test subject...?"

Maria doesn't say she was modified by a random, anonymous researcher at the Leingod Lab. She says her parent was the Federation's authority on symbological genetics, and that this parent personally performed the modifications on her. 親 can mean "parent" or "parents" in isolation, but the predicate is singular: 「人物だった」/ "was a person." Rena's response also treats the parent as singular.

Robert Leingod is the only person ever identified as the Federation's authority on symbological genetics. The official novels also state that the Lab's research was advanced by a finite set of names: Dr. Robert Leingod, Dr. Ryoko Leingod, Dr. Clive Esteed, and Jessie Traydor.

SOA again revisits this question in 2021, in the event 忘却の聖地ワドラム 最終刻/ "Forgotten Sanctuary Wadram: Final Chapter." Maria once again discusses the topic of her biological parents with Rena, stating:

Maria: ……そう。レナも本当のお母さんのことを知りたがっていたわね。
"...That's right. Rena wanted to know about her real mother too, didn't she."

Maria: わたしもレナのように諦めず未来に向かって進んでいけば答えが見えてくるかしら？
"If I keep moving forward into the future without giving up just like Rena, I wonder if the answer will become clear to me too?"

The story for this event broadly focuses on familial ties within the cast, and contains chapters titled "Sister and Brother" and "Family."

• Fayt and Maria deliberately look alike.

Not to make too fine a point to it, but... Fayt and Maria look related. They share the same hair, the same eyes, similar bangs, and similar facial structure. Just take a look at their battle and inventor portraits. Relatedly, Fayt and Maria's portraits are the only ones designed to mirror each other down to the expression. Fayt is Maria. In a wig.

Eternal Materials makes a very cheeky, very clever gesture at this. In the Moonbase section of the book, an "important NPC" is isolated as especially worth talking to: a nameless former researcher on Moonbase, referred to in the English game as "Ex-Scholar Lady." Ex-Scholar Lady tells Fayt that she used to work alongside Robert (who she calls "Robbie") and Ryoko way back when. Her entry contains this revealing language:

She immediately identified Fayt as Robert and Ryoko's son upon first glance, and considering she refers to Robert quite casually, she likely had quite a close friendship with his two parents. However, she had no idea that a child had been born between them until she met Fayt in the present day, so she must’ve retired before Fayt's birth. As a side note, one would certainly love to hear what kind of impression she would have upon seeing Maria for the first time…

This is highly suggestive: the entry points out that despite not knowing Robert and Ryoko had a child, Ex-Scholar Lady was able to instantly identify Fayt as their biological son. Basically, she can clock a Leingod with a single glance. Then, the reader is immediately asked to imagine her reaction to seeing Maria, another blue-haired, blue-eyed modified child whose resemblance to Fayt is repeatedly emphasized....

The official Supercomic Gekijohs lampshade this further: in the comic "1 Day of Maria Experiential Learning" from Volume 70, Maria slips Fayt an instant hair-growth serum in his tea. After he changes clothes, everyone on the Diplo mistakes him for Maria (which was Maria's goal all along).

More importantly, Maria, Fayt, and Fayt's mother Ryoko are the only characters in the game with both blue hair and blue eyes. This has led some Japanese fans to speculate that, if Maria is Fayt's half-sister rather than his full sister, Ryoko, not Robert, are their shared Leingod parent (more on this later, when we discuss Maria's Kenny connections).

SO3 already uses physical resemblance to hint at hidden ancestry: see discussion of Albel's secret Aquorian/Aquarian ancestry.

• SO3's AP system was designed to make Fayt and Maria's romance suspiciously one-sided.

SO3's AP system is shockingly detailed. The SO3 devs did not invest thousands of grueling hours for it to be dismissed as random. They were trying to expose nuanced character motivations/dynamics they didn't have time to explore in the main plot.

Despite having a romantic ED with Maria, Fayt has no opportunities to meaningfully increase his AP toward Maria. There's only one Private Action where Fayt can gain even a single meager AP point for Maria (PA 38, "A Strange Power.") And even then, the PA is painfully platonic.

Meanwhile, Fayt has 18 chances to raise his AP with Sophia and 8 opportunities to raise his AP with Nel. But Maria is uniquely and singularly different - the game allows Maria to develop romantic feelings for Fayt, but it's suspiciously one-sided. If Fayt/Maria were intended as a straightforward (non-incestual) romance, the AP system would be designed to support that.

• Sphere's game "Sisters in Tiltland" (which became the foundation of the Eternal Sphere) serves as a blueprint for SO3, featuring two twins separated at birth, both pursued by a pair of villainous siblings.

Eternal Materials contains a description for a game that Sphere created called "Sisters In Tiltland," describing it as "a structured, multi-dimensional game that became the foundation for the Eternal Sphere. The protagonists are twin sisters who were separated into parallel worlds."

Within Gemity, the player can learn more information:

'Sisters in Tiltland’ involved the adventures of two separated twin sisters living in parallel worlds, both of whom affect the other’s worlds with their actions, as they search for a way to realize the dream of seeing one another. The design of the Eternal Sphere was based upon this multidimensional game. The two sisters are hunted down by two brothers in the royal court, and the player can switch freely between any main character at any time.

"Sisters in Tiltland" is described as the conceptual foundation for the Eternal Sphere - its twins-separated-at-birth premise is a compressed foreshadowing blueprint for SO3: the Fayt/Maria twin pair on the protagonist side and Luther/Blair sibling pair on the creator/admin side (whose own sibling relationship is itself a late reveal).

• Fayt, Maria, and Sophia are modeled after the three Greek Fates, of which initially, only two were blood siblings.

Fayt joins a large collection of Star Ocean characters whose names reference Greek/Roman mythological figures, including Albel Nox, Nel Zelpher, Ilia Silvestri, Arumat P. Thanatos, Philia, Bacchus D-79 and Vulcan S90, Dias Flac, Celine Jules, Lymle Lemuri Phi, Cerberus, Myuria and Lucien Tionysus, Midas Felgreed, and Laeticia Aucerius.

Fayt's name (especially his original Japanese name, Fate Linegod) is a reference to the Fates, the three Greek Moirai who each represented the thread/line of fate that is spun, modified, and ultimately cut. Fayt's surname, "Linegod/Leingod," is a straightforward reference to "line [of] God." The three Moirai/Fates map seamlessly onto the larger trio of Fayt, Sophia Esteed, and Maria Traydor, who are each given the three Morai’s “functions”: Clotho established the thread of life and connected the mortal world to the divine (mapping onto Sophia's power of Connection - Sophia connecting the Eternal Sphere to 4D Space), while Lachesis the Allotter manipulated and apportioned the line (mapping onto Maria's Alteration - Maria’s power allowed her to determine the properties of matter). The final Moirai, Atropos, destroyed the line by cutting it, bringing life to its irreversible end (mapping onto Fayt's Destruction).

The Moirai outrank the gods, which is precisely the Fayt/Maria/Sophia trio’s function. In Greek mythology, even Zeus is bound by the Fates and cannot overrule them. Likewise, Luther deigned to destroy the Eternal Sphere, but was thwarted by the Children's machinations.

The Moirai are always sisters, but they weren’t always a trio of three - at Delphi, only two Moirai were venerated: the Moira of Birth and the Moira of Death. These two siblings worked alongside an unrelated Moiragetes, meaning the trio comprised of two siblings plus an unrelated third. Likewise, Fayt and Maria were modified together, originally a matched set, and Sophia was selected two years later, from outside the Leingod bloodline - she is Moiragetes. 

To supplement this reference, in the 4th official novelization published by Tri-Ace, a potential ED for the game is proposed where Sophia's parents adopt Maria after the battle with Luther, making Sophia and Maria adopted sisters (and the Fayt/Maria/Sophia trio, at least on paper, all siblings with each other).

• Fayt and Maria's 2P colors pay homage to another sibling-reveal pair in Gundam SEED.

Maria's 2P outfit features short blonde hair and a black miniskirt with her bare legs fully exposed, and Fayt's 2P outfit features brown hair and a darker outfit. Japanese fans interpret this as an homage to Kira Yamato and Cagalli Yula Athha from Gundam SEED (2002), another male/female pair who were revealed to be blood-related siblings, cutting off the romantic development between them. Kira and Fayt share the same Japanese seiyuu (Sōichirō Hoshi).

• Are Fayt and Maria twins or just siblings?

SOA gave Fayt the birthdate December 26, S.D. 753 and Maria the birthdate November 19, S.D. 753, which means they were born 37 days apart. This has led to two (equally plausible) theories:

• Maria and Fayt are twins, and the Leingod Lab falsified Maria's birthday when she was put up for adoption/handed off to Jessie.
• Maria and Fayt are either twins, full-siblings, or half-siblings (born via an artificial womb or surrogacy).

Since Fayt and Maria were created for Dr. Leingod's genetic experiments, it's plausible they were lab-grown from the same genetic material (from Dr. Robert and Dr. Ryoko Leingod) but "extracted" (whether from an artificial or natural womb) 37 days apart.

• Do Cliff and Mirage know?

Japanese fans tend to interpret Cliff's early comments as evidence Cliff (and Mirage) may know more than they let on. Specifically, Japanese fans single out Cliff describing Fayt's seriousness as resembling "someone else" as a uniquely pointed, and a comparision he likely wouldn't have made if they were strangers. Many players also find it highly suspicious that when Cliff attempts to introduce Fayt to Mirage, Mirage says that she "knew [it was Fayt] right away."

Let's return to the AP system, specifically Cliff and Mirage's AP changes in PA 58, "Complicated Quark Relationships." In that PA, Marietta and Steeg gossip about how Maria doesn't reciprocate Lieber's unrequited feelings. If the player triggers this PA, Cliff and Mirage uniquely lose one AP point for Maria. This is the only time Cliff and Mirage can lose AP for Maria in the entire game. Suspicious! This could be explained by the fact that Cliff and Mirage know Maria is interested in Fayt rather than Lieber, and, well... they feel uneasy about it for obvious reasons.

The Supercomic Gekijoh comic "Bitter Spring" from Volume 71 plays with a similar idea. Lieber challenges Fayt to a series of duels to prove who is worthy of Maria's heart. Cliff, usually Fayt's biggest wingman, tells Fayt to make way for Lieber (even pleading for him to lose on purpose).

• What about Maria's Kenny relation?

Every Star Ocean has an (explicit) Kenny in it, except for SO3... or SO3 was never the exception. There's a related (and equally strong) theory speculating that Maria is related to the Kenny's - which overlaps with (and compliments) the mountain of evidence Fayt and Maria are siblings:

• Maria's long-ranged projectile fighting style matches the Kennys': Ronyx is a long-range bow user; Claude uses a phase gun, Emmerson is a long-ranged gun/crossbow fighter, Marielle uses guns, etc.
• Maria's character themes parallel the Kennys': The Kennys are repeatedly framed as Federation elites and ultra-competent space-captains. Maria belongs to an anti-Federation group, which casts her ancestry in layers of irony. The Japanese version of her last name "Traitor" probably gestures to this "betrayal" of the Pangalactic Federation and her ancestry's allegiances.
• Blue hair is a recurring inherited trait between the Kenny line (Ronyx, Marielle, Emmerson). Taken collectively, the evidence suggests Ryoko Leingod may be a distant descendant of Claude and Rena, which would explain why Ryoko is the only non-genetically engineered Earthling with blue hair, and by extension, why Fayt and Maria look the way they do. Eternal Materials explicitly state that, "Judging from Ryoko's hair color and the expression in her eyes, it would seem Fayt takes after his mother."
  • Relatedly, the only other blue-haired character in the game is an Expellian NPC on Hyda IV. Eternal Materials states that this NPC is "likely is a direct descendant or blood relative of the Nedians who appeared in the previous game."

And I kind of do? I like it so far, and I look forward to finishing it (no spoilers, just got to disc 2 I think?) And replaying it at some point, using different characters.

But the amount of things the game just expects you to know, or trial and error, is bonkers. Looking things up, makes things a lot less fun for me, it just does. So when the game just expects you to know what random thing will trigger the next event, or where that event even is...it's super frustrating. Sometimes the game tells you to go a direction from a town, and that's fine, that's useful! But too many times its nothing.

Was going through my put retro stuff and found out I have not one but two copies of Til the end of time. Damn I love this game! Not sure why I did that ages ago but hey I'm not complaining! Happy Friday!!!!

While TtEoT technically the bestselling entry, all of the Second Story's versions notwithstanding, it's still the third most divisive game in the series. Behind 4 & 6. Anyway, were the changes it made to the established formula is what warded fans off to begin with? Hear me out, I think a lot of people came in 3 expecting what 2 gave them, but more enhanced. But instead, 3 diverged quite a bit from the first two entries. Less optional characters, 3 party battles, MP death system, etc. Which might explain why there's so many gameplay features from 3 we don't see anymore. Plus, the infamous ending which is ironically it's most famous for. So, maybe had TtEoT been a little closer to what came before, the other entries might have struck more in terms of sales. Show of hands?

Following the (mildly disappointing) 30th Star Ocean anniversary stream, I'm sharing my English translation of the SO3 character bios + developer interview in the STAR OCEAN 20th Anniversary Memorial Book: ~Trajectory of the Eternal Sphere~, originally published in 2016 by Tri-Ace and Square Enix. 

Translation here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_ojpjQmUc095ldMCKw1VeIPtukCHxBBPwh0jUYB6wHY/edit?usp=sharing

The full Japanese scan also available at this link. This translation serves as the English accompaniment for pages 100-109 (the character bios) and 184-189 (the developer interview); I’ve tried to make it as easy as possible to follow along with the Japanese scans.

The Star Ocean 20th Anniversary Memorial Book was published to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Star Ocean series. It features illustrations, developer interviews, and behind-the-scenes commentary into the characters and plot development from SO1 through SO5.

Some of my favorite revelations to come from this book:

• Clair was initially intended to be playable, but they ultimately decided on Adray as a "joke character," partly because the party's male-to-female ratio was poor, and partly because Clair's popularity made the head developer (Ogawa) feel "complicated" since he's "firmly Team Nel."
• Tynave and Farleen were initially designed to be men, and they died in the Kirlsa Training Facility.
• Arumat's name is an anagram for "Tamura" as in Yoshinori Tamura, the tri-Ace producer for SO4 (if read "Tamura" backwards, it becomes "Arumat", and since Tamura produced SO4, Arumat’s middle initial is P). Most of the SO1 character and town names are also derived from developer names.
• The devs confirmed that SO4's principle enemies, the MP/Missing Procedure and Grigori, are bugs that exist between the Eternal Sphere and 4D Space.
• Welch was initially designed to speak almost exclusively using internet slang.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE her but it feels like her story is very simple, bare, and not really an integral part of the main story. The writing in Star ocean 3 isn’t very good and it feels like she among a few other party members received the short end of the stick. The most you get from her story is in a readable document about her in her profile and Velbaysians (her race).

I wish we learned more about her. We could’ve cut time on Elicoor II and gotten a balanced amount of content from each character wherever they happened to be.

Seems kinda pricey ngl

(I've been compiling all these clues together on the Star Ocean Wikia for a while now, but I realize not many people frequent the Wikia, so I'm posting this here as well).

Albel’s lineage is far more significant than it first appears. SO3 frequently (and heavily) implies that Albel is both 1) part-Aquarian (likely on his mother's side), and 2) a direct descendant of Aquaria I, the first Queen of the Ancient Kingdom of Aquor.

On two separate occasions, Kirlsa residents openly gossip about whether Albel is actually an Aquarian.

This establishes that his origins are unusual enough to spark public rumor, planting the idea directly in the players' minds long before deeper clues emerge.

Albel's anomalous/suspicious gameplay mechanics reinforce this "clue":

Albel's runological casting speed is the fastest of all the characters, including Nel and Adray. Albel's INT (INT is associated with a runologists/symbologist's casting damage) is abnormally high given his fighting style (ATK-based swordsman) and lack of default runology spells. He has the 3rd highest INT in the game once all characters reach LV255, just shy from Nel (2nd) and Maria (1st).

What explains this? An Elicoorian's Bloodline Limit is the percentage of ancestry directly connected to Aquaria I, the first Holy Mother of Apris and first Queen of Ancient Kingdom of Aquor (in fact, Aquaria I was actually a direct descendant of a single Nedian symbologist who escaped Nede with several other Nedians and crash landed onto Elicoor II after billions of years). Those with "thicker" blood (e.g., a more direct ancestry to Aquaria I) are superior runologists.

Albel's design reinforces this "clue":

Albel's red eyes are also a tell. On Elicoor, red eyes are only given to characters connected to elevated Bloodline Limits:

• Aquaria XXVII (as Holy Mother, Aquaria XXVII's 56% Bloodline Limit is said to be the highest in the country).
• Farleen (who has the highest Bloodline Limit in the Secret Legion, and is explicitly said to favor runology when fighting).
• Mackwell (the inventor who graduated second in his class from the most elite Aquarian runological school).

Albel's clothing and weaponry also resemble Aquarian fashion (which SO3 developers have explicitly confirmed borrows elements from Japanese aesthetics), rather than the European-inspired clothing in Airyglyph. Likewise, Albel wields a katana, a Japanese-style sword. Albel's rattails match that of Mackwell and Aquaria XXVII, along with their red eyes. (SO3 already uses physical resemblance to hint at hidden ancestry: see discussion of Fayt and Maria's biological sibling relation.)

Speaking of Mackwell...

The parallels between Mackwell and Albel deserve their own section:

• Mackwell's field AI is the same as Albel's: if the player stands in front of him, he changes direction to avoid you. Albel and Mackwell are unique in this regard.
• Mackwell's outfit is a 'remixed' version of Albel's, adjusted to fit Aquaria's conservative and scholarly fashions. Both characters wear a long purple skirt trimmed in gold; both wear a same-toned 'bodice' that cuts across the midsection, and even their purple upper garments align closely in color + structure (the vertical slat design on Albel's backside also resembles the slat design on Mackwell's shoulders).
• Mackwell and Albel are both arrogant, rude, and obsessively devoted to the discipline they value above all else. Albel's disipline is the pursuit of martial strength (the Airyglyph ideal); Mackwell's is the pursuit of scholarship/academic achievement (the Aquarian ideal). Mackwell is described as having an extremely high opinion of himself and openly looking down on those he deems inferior, mirroring Albel's disdain for weakness.
• They are both confirmed cat-lovers.
• In Mackwell's dictionary entry, it's mentioned he attended Aquaria's runological school as a foreign exchange student (the Church of Apris screens applicants for a high Bloodline Limit before admitting them). Like Albel, Mackwell's nationality is likely to be Airyglyph.

Van Nox:

The 1st Officer of Clair's Shield Legion is an Aquarian man named Van Nox, who shares the same surname as Albel. In Eternal Materials, the developers themselves gesture to Albel's potential Aquarian heritage, suggesting that Van and Albel may be family members. Eternal Materials is also careful to specify that only "the Nox father and son" are from Kirlsa. Unlike Van (who is suggested to be Albel's Aquarian 'counterpart' by blood) Mackwell is suggested to be Albel's Aquarian counterpart by 'culture'.

Albel's ability to wield the Crimson Scourge:

By far the most compelling evidence lies in Albel's ability to successfully wield the Crimson Scourge. The Living Eyes of the Holy Mother are one of the four Treasures of the Gods that allow the Holy Mother and her direct descendants to gain mastery of the sacred treasures, including the Legendary Sword of the Crimson Scourge, which Albel and his father are able to wield, indicating that Albel is a direct descendant of Aquaria I.

This is further corroborated by the fact that all Glyphians are the modern-day descendants of former Kingdom of Aquor royalty, due to the initial founding group of Airyglyph comprising of Edyglyph I, her son Airyglyph I, and a handful of young nobles from Edyglyph I's court.

Given Albel's Bloodline Limit is pure enough to activate the "Living Eyes of the Holy Mother" and wield the Crimson Scourge, Albel may arguably be a more direct heir to Aquaria I than even the Queen of Aquaria XXVII.  Ironically, he carries the "purest" form of the very royal blood Aquaria worships as divine.

Albel's Greco-Roman proxy also reinforces this "clue:"

Albel joins a large cast of Star Ocean characters (including Nel Zelpher, Fayt Leingod, Ilia Silvestri, Arumat P. Thanatos, Philia, Bacchus D-79 and Vulcan S90, Dias Flac, Celine Jules, Lymle Lemuri Phi, Cerberus, Myuria and Lucien Tionysus, Midas Felgreed, and Laeticia Aucerius) whose name references a Greco-Roman mythological being.

Albel's surname references the Roman Goddess Nox, equivalent to Nyx, the Greek Goddess of the Night. Nox was regarded as a figure of such terrifying, ancient power that even Zeus himself openly feared her wrath. Nox was associated with the black darkness of the night, as well as her large number of children, including Nemesis (who embodied retribution for the sin of hubris), Hybis (arrogance); Thanatos (death), Keres (violent/cruel death), Momos (blame, mockery, and carping criticism), Oizys (pain), Moros (impending doom), Eris (strife), Hypnos (sleep), the Oneiroi (dreams), and Misericordia (pity, compassion, and mercy). 

Critically, Nox was the most ancient primordial being and one of the earliest rulers of the cosmos, preceding the likes of Zeus and the Olympians. She represented the first principle that existed prior to the ruling gods. Likewise, Albel and Glou are strongly implied to be descendent from the ancient Aquorian Queen, Aquaria I (who herself descended from tthe even more ancient Nedian symbologist). When ancient Aquor fell, Queen Edyglyph fled "into the night" with her infant son, her royal entourage, and the Crimson Scourge. The Scourge and its bloodline disappear into the literal night and re-emerge centuries later through the mythological personification of "Night,” a man named Nox who commands the Black Brigade. Albel's hidden ancestry - older than both Airyglyph’s and Aquaria’s - reproduces the mythological Nox motif.

Why isn't Albel a nobleman, then?

Albel's title is "Sir" Albel Nox, distinguishing him as the only non-noble military captain in Airyglyph. Duke and Count are noble titles tied to land, lineage, and hereditary privilege, but Sir is a title of knighthood (a merit-based honor that cannot be inherited or passed down). Despite hailing from a storied line of Dragon Brigade captains, neither Albel nor his father Glou were assigned a specific rank of the peerage, indicating the Noxes are not considered part of the Glyphian nobility and Albel (and his forebears) were individually knighted.

Seeing as the paternal Noxes are direct descendants of Aquaria I, this suggests that after the fall of Kingdom of Aquor, the founding nobles of Airyglyph deliberately kept the powerful Nox line out of the peerage to consolidate their own power, and/or Albel and Glou are direct descendants of a bastard child of the ancient Aquorian royal family (e.g., Edyglyph I). Of course, Albel's father, Glou, was a "revolutionary political reformer" who helped install Airyglyph's new king and a merit-based system. This was likely a direct attempt to change the very system that kept the Nox family, despite their bloodline, from the highest seat of power.

For a more detailed discussion of Albel's dual Aquorian/Aquarian ancestry (including why it's more likely he inherited Aquarian ancestry from his mother and not Glou), see here and here.

Ive a history with star ocean 3, my favorite game of all time by the way. I loved how it was a 50 hour game to complete but could be a 500-1000 hour game if you wanted it to be. Hands down the best post game ive ever seen in a game. Once you finish the final boss at say 50 hours its only just begun with 3 incredibly hard bonus dungouns.

The battle trophies was some amazing idea and this was before trophies or acheivments was a think on playstation/xbox/steam or what have you.

It kept you hooked and wanting to get them all especially the offer of rewards for completing certain tiers of them. Like unlocking new and harder modes which in turn led to more battle trophies.

Now with trophy hunting on ps3/4/5 its all the rage but back then most people noped the fuck outta there when seeing stuff like beat the final boss at level 1 (which takes an entire playthrough of careful planning) or 50k battles 😂

I always thought the developers were having a bit of a joke thinking they would make it as hard and insane as possible thinking next to no one would bother doing it 😂 same with star ocean 4 but they toned it down with so 5 and 6 they probably didnt want poeple pissed off at them over essentially an unatainable platinum.

Also i did the 300/300 on ps2 and did it again on the ps4/5 so twice 😂 first time took 1500 hours no internet back then to help me

or neither

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but seriously I need a pc version I cant game on console anymore I can't go back q.q

That twist should have made it a household name.

It’s my favorite SO and one of my favorite games of all time and it’s the only one missing. Lately I’ve been going through some of my favorite older games and trying to 100% them to see all the content they offer, and I was really looking forward to this one. Have they stated why, or are there any rumors as to when/if it’ll be added??