Starting off from where we left off last time, Star Ocean 3, or as I like to call it "Side Kick 3," was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2003 in Japan, and in 2004 in North America and Europe. The latter technically being a port of the Japanese director's cut. Unlike its predecessors, it has yet to receive a port of any kind since. Meaning that the PS2 is the only legit place to experience this game.
Before we start diving into the meat of things in terms of systems, gameplay, and story, I want to preface this discussion by saying that my feelings on this entry are very mixed. Its music, composed by Motoi Sukuraba, who composed the music for all past and future entries in the series as well as most Tales of games, knocks it out of the park again. I love all the battle music in this series. It's a great mix of high-energy instruments ranging from traditional orchestral sounds to rock-esque guitars, and electronic elements to boot. I forgot to mention it last time but if you have not heard the Lotus Juice Remix of the Star Ocean 2 battle music that was made as a part of the Persona 5 Royal collab with Star Ocean Anamnesis, you need to. While it can be hard to find some of the series's music due to Square Enix being the way it is with its music copyright, these OSTs are worth tracking down.
