Star Ocean 2, the original, was an action RPG released in 1999. Made by the ambitious and currently defunct developer company, tri-Ace, it featured a simple yet compelling formula: mix a real time action centric interpretation of the "standard" JRPG formula, as popularized by Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, with roleplaying mechanics manifested as additional, non violent yet useful skills that could be invested into. Your characters could either choose to play through the game in a straightforward manner, or pick up cooking to make healing items mid dungeon, or call birds to supply them in dungeons, or even smith all sorts of amazing gear. Sadly, as is the case with several tri-Ace projects, the final game fell way short of its ambitions. The alternative skills required absurd amounts of investment to pay off. Most of their results weren't worth the effort. Oftentimes even with excessive investment, failures were very common. As such, it was mostly used just to gamble on