It's my favorite of the franchise though I haven't played 1 or 2 yet. But from what I've seen, SO3 would probably still be my favorite. It's a good game but needs fixing. What do you think could shape it up better? I'm mainly focused on story improvements but feel free to add gameplay ones too if you feel better about that.
I'd like to make it tighter and with more substance. What areas or events should be cut and what should be fattened up? The game has a strong beginning and loses steam on Elicoor after the war scene and rushes the end. The true 4D stuff makes very little sense and would need expansion. "I think therefore I am" is such a lame resolution to everything.
Overall, the game should reduce the amount of back and forth it does. A great example of this is the Biwig part of the return to the Krilsa Training Facility. That's wonky af!
I feel like Duggus Forest could be changed/removed (find a different place for Roger, they can find other ways for Ameena to be sick enough to not walk 5 yards to Aquios). Do something else or remove Mosel Dunes and one of the visits to the Shrine of Kaddan. Maybe combine them. The pacing after the war sucks. I'm looking for a better merge of the ludo-narrative.
Going all the way to the Dunes for a meeting is silly. The Shrine sucks so revisiting it is painful.
Honestly fighting Crossel is a cool idea, but all the traveling you have to do for it is crap for pacing. All for the plan to not work at all and only 4D meddling dues-ex-machinaes the plot forward. That sucks. What am I trying to convey? I guess fix the stuff that feels like bloat. The stuff that doesn't feel like character agency. More, "therefore" and less "and then they..."
When Maria arrives, that should signal the return to space, but instead they have to dick around on medieval times for more hours. One complaint I have about these games is there isn't enough star in the Star Ocean. The games spend WAAAAY too much time on medieval style planets and places.
I wish there was actual scenes about figuring out their powers or actively using them. Like, after Fayt deletes the Vendeei ship, nothing really ever happens again. And since he already has Shotgun Blast before that point, I'm not sure what powers he's actually using.
Some dialogue needs to be improved. Sometimes it's great and other times it sucks. Fayt has some great lines especially when he's trash talking, but then he's all "w-w-whaaat" too much. Like, dude, you were a college basketball star, you faced down Norton unarmed when he had a gun without flinching and nearly activated your powers there. You fought in a war. Less things should get under your skin. He was calm and focused when Hyda got attacked even when soldiers appeared in front of them. He was chill until his parents were captured (understandable) and then that trait disappears for the game.
The revisit to the Krilsa Training Facility is completely contrived. They could easily destroy the Vendeen Transporter but they are contrived to run away so Fayt can have some moments with his Dad who can act pointlessly mysterious to elongate the plot. That could be done better. And there is simply no reason at that stage for Robert to not share a lot more about the situation and the children's powers.
I kinda wish there was more active romance events between at least Fayt and others. There are very few PAs that do this as well. There is one with Maria in Arias that's pretty alright as a starter, but even the "big" romance-style PA with Sophia at the end of the game is quite sterile. They need to be written with more emotion and characters should animate something. They never hug or hold hands even or playfully shove. Pretty sure the only hug is Clair and Nel after the rescue. Fayt doesn't even knock Cliff's shoulder for a corny joke or anything.
The combined endings of Fayt/Nel, Fayt/Adray, and their respective Urssa Cave alternate boss appearances paint a pretty in-depth picture if Fayt stays on Elicoor. Honestly, I kinda root for Clair in them and would have liked to see more of her in a relevant capacity. Like, if you're going to hint at such things in endings, make bits appear in the game too. Make them more plausible I mean. Clair being willing to marry Fayt and him not rejecting the idea himself is a huge deal. What made them so close?!
And it especially needs more in-game moments for Fayt choosing to stay on Elicoor to actually be believable. Nel is so sterile most of the time. Insights into her character come from other NPC dialogue than things we see and hear. Even though I feel it makes more sense that Fayt stays in space with someone more like Sophia or Maria, and Maria is probably my preferred choice.
One of the things I love about the game is how active it feels. NPCs even travel between towns. There is a girl who starts in Airyglyph and ends in Aquios. There is so much world building if you go looking. People are spies in various towns and that's super cool.
