Star Ocean 3 Party Member Tier List! Thanks to MeykTaruka for the footage. Check out their channel at: / meyktaruka Thumbnail Template by www.freepik.com
Albel is mine favorite character in Star Ocean. He's Ruthless and rude but at the same time he loyal to his country and will protect the people he cares for.
I LOVED albel. Played the game through 9 times( going for endings) including post game each time, and almost always brought albel. I loved that he wasn’t just a sterotypical “good guy” fighting for peace and justice, and that fact he is just a grownup angsty teen with an inferiority and superiority complex at the same time, with daddy issues. And his fighting style with the chain slashes was so smooth. Have to control him though cause his AI has brain damage
@@reginaldbanks3383 It's my least favorite Star Ocean out of the whole series. Just because it's your favorite doesn't mean it's one of the GOAT. It's meh.
For my team I usually ran Fayt, Cliff, and Maria until Sophia joins. By end game Fayt, Maria, and Sophia and I usually play as Sophia because I love mages and healers. My Sophia always hits like a truck and can mp kill really quickly. Always found Adray to be redundant and slow, and wanted another character in his place 🙃🙃
Yeah, i do love the magic in these games, especially the new Star Ocean 2 Magic effects, but i always hated that 3 only had 3 person parties and focused on pure attack power instead of letting you mix and match different playstyles.
Might be in the minority, but this is my favorite Star Ocean game and one of my favorite rpgs. It might be my favorite if they didn't do my girl Mirage dirty.
I think you missed out on Albel’s endless attacks if you create a good weapon for him. I’m talking not stop slashes at 1% fury per, clearing anything in the main game with ease.
Maria, paired with a tri emblem and the victory trophy from the Gemity Coliseum, is my favorite combo. Her normal attacked discretion is at +3 and the freezing effect from the trophy allows you to freeze long range enemies thanks to Maria's weapon of choice. This leaves all weapon slots open for synthesis. Paired with energy burst this combo is deadly, the only flaw is energy burst will randomly freeze and unfreeze the enemies. When I was a teenager, I was using this strategy to solo Gabriel Celestie because he kept killing the AI 😅 so that imo makes Maria the best characted.
Ok, Peppita is more than just a support. She is a POWERHOUSE HP/MP damage with her strong counter, Magic Hammer and Faerie Friend. Her charge could combo welll with Fayt Charge to play volleyball on Freya and loot her ass. There is a reason why Peppita, Cliff and Maria are considered the trinity of DPS for a long time. A lot of LV1 and LV10 trophies are done by her for a reason. Oh, for Maria? I got 3 words for ya, POINTBLANK SCATTER BEAM!!!! Can even DESTROY super bosses on 4D under 30 secs.
Peppita is one of the only characters in the game with a full invincibility counter just on her regular attacks , fayts side kick being second, and Albels side jump normal attack being third but you can still get hit in his. Peppita is NUTS with attack decision increase, and fireworks(look it up) with increase hp/mp damage. She can be an Mp tank with no guard into convert damage preserve Hp and her dances have Invincibility windows and are busted at high skill level especially power dance and she can heal and restore MP and inflict chaos damage. Fairy friend and dream hammer are nuts and dream hammer has an invincible setup, instanto blast has infinite range and splash damage at high skill level. I HAVE USED HER COUNTER THROUGH FREYAS ETHER STRIKE AT POINT BLANK RANGE. There’s almost nothing they DIDNT give this character it’s ridiculous. And her ai is great, if you don’t give her moves and level up her Ai it will use her counters by itself. She is by far my favorite char in this game and can be a monster at level 1 because IC is a thing and can do multiple battle trophy runs by herself.
@@cyrusstevenson880 I mean there is a reason why if you chose her, you forgo the other 3 optional characters. A Team of the trinity would break ANY superbosses. IC Cliff, Maria and Peppita ARE NUTS!!!!
@@zhaoyun255 you might as well just let those 3 auto the game. Give Maria healing, and put the controller down lmao. IC in this game let’s you run such busted setups
I always wish this game could get a remake with redone character balance. I wouldn't mind if the top 3 stayed as they were since at this point they're as much apart of the games identity as anything else but things like symbology being mega weak, character levels not being scaled up to where the current party is when characters rejoin, certain enemy attacks and ai and half the roster feel like they could use an update. Still love this game but it'd be nice to get those things.
I definitely agree especially about mages being weak. That has been an issue tho not just in this one but the other Star Ocean games as well. Magic users are OK at first, but eventually you get your melee fighters so OP that magic/symbology may as well be fireworks to entertain the kids while the enemies get smashed by fighters/ninjas instead. The only exception to that is using mages to cancel enemies attacks. lots of micro-managing necessary to do that tho. I have to say Divine Force I think think tried to to fix that issue.
@@danielzelpher7335 I really like how they handled Midas in DF since you can use duma to re-position yourself while casting with him. Only problem is that without item factors, a lot of his stronger spells come out to late you could've already killed most regular enemies with somebody else.
What's funny is that the version released outside of Japan already DID have a balance pass made on it. The version we got was released in Japan as the 'Director's Cut' of the game. I don't know what all got changed exactly, but I know Nel got nerfed into the ground. Anyone who could deal high amounts of MP damage in the original build of the game got slapped around, but Nel got it in particular because Flying Guillotine was pretty much a win button. Even in the Director's Cut/western release it was still a pretty good move for enemies with relatively low MP.
@@danielzelpher7335 Yeah i always hated that the magic casters were not very optimal in the first 3 Star Ocean games, especially with how cool their effects were, I think looking back i realize that Casters are really strong for people who don't min-max, because when i was a kid playing Star Ocean 2 i always had 2 casters in my party because Leon can wipe things out with Daemon Gate, but once you get into postgame its basically useless. The remake kind of fixed this, the problem with Star Ocean 2 is Bloody armor/helmet being the easy win button and in the remake its even better cus you can just throw MP drain on your melee weapons and use the Bloody helmet, where you don't really lose much from it, statwise. As far as 3 goes, i honestly hope it gets the same treatment as Star Ocean 2 R, I feel like changing party size to 4 (even if that means you need to add 25% to all the monster HP or whatever) and rebalancing all the characters(maybe not the top tier, just bring the rest up to Fayt's level)
I am surprisingly OK with the tiers. Usually everyone has his own preferences and takes, but on a generalistic view, giving some regard to character tankiness (for AI control is important), lock ability and and endgame scaling the list is pretty much on point. I would rank Peppita a bit higher due to how broken she can be if player controlled and you know how to abuse her, but that's about it.
True story. Loved this game, especially it's post game dungeon crawling. All the way till I got to the very last super boss Freya. Kept kicking the crap out of me until I finally bothered to play as Maria. Then it was an easy win.
The only character I won Freya with is Albel. I put something on him that decreases enemies stamina - The bar that regenerates shield over time, whenever he hits a foe. I just spammed that to death never letting her use her one shot kill on me. Took me a good 30 mins probably lol.
U can actually get Sophia's magic damage to 9999 and buff elemental damage by 50% (it stacks) then prioritize lowering fury cost and chain cast her explosion skill repeatedly, which has infinite range and one of the highest aoe spreads. To be honest though if you're willing to spend countless hours crafting you can make any build broken.
ehh, with a guide it's not even countless hours though. early on you can craft equipment that can get you to the end of the main storyline at which point you can start crafting truly busted gear.
My personal tier list would be (Broken : Manuel, Sh*t: Auto). The star ocean games feature speed, stunlocks, control in combat over everything else. I can't fathom thinking about defense when characters like cliff can die to MP loss. I think you should maybe try doing post game tier lists, due to how so many characters get an undeniable power boost. I personally would lower fayt and put peppita and sophia higher but then again juggling a boss from 100% to 0 in manual is a thing.
I completely disagree with Albel. If you know how to use him and build him right, he can even solo the final boss of the game. Which is what I did on hard mode too.
I used to play as Roger and only had Charge, raging helmet and flying torpedo on him, don't remember his equipment, but endgame bosses would'nt last long because of how I synthesized his weapon to do ridiculous HP and MP damage. Man, now I want to replay the game...
I used to use roger albel and fayt but now albel fayt and Maria. I used to like roger I would put the extra attacks on rogers weapons and do his spin attack and it would melt people. I had to use other characters because of how it locks you into picking two. Albel I like to use his long slash you can spam it really quickly with a lower stamina use skill. Ha but honestly I've always loved samurais so really biased and I mained him
Loved this game so much until I remembered the last parts of it which explains why I haven't bothered replaying. But I guess I'll be doing that since this video gave me the necessary nostalgia dose.
Abel is probably the one I used a lot. Because of its weak attack continuous swipes I would make take MP instead of HP. As long as I break the shield bar. Would take them out in easy.
Nel is usually everyone’s (who write their own guides) S-Tier character since she’s pretty broken once you go from mostly taking HP Damage and start using the Skill to convert it into MP Damage…and if you know what you’re doing, like you would with Maria, her later skills (and some of her earlier ones) can SHRED ENEMY MP and make most bosses and Post-Game Dungeon enemies a total joke. Her/Sophia, Maria, and Cliff/Fayt are unstoppable as a team once you start playing with MP Damage as your priority
PS2 was just magical for JRPGS. FFX/X2, Kingdom Hearts 1&2, Radiata Stories, Star Ocean 3, Xenosaga, Suikoden 3, these were just some of the many stories I got to experience that really just stuck with me.
Albel is deff top tier, decent ranged attacks skills, even in his light attacks with a multi hit ability that closes the distance and knocks most enemies into the air if you distance him correctly. With a good weapon you can chain his Light attack stun almost endlessly far surpassing what even Cliff can do. His hand of doom is also insane burst damage in addition to a crazy MP drain. My end game party usually was Albel (main), Sophia and Fayte. Although on some replays I swap Marie in for Sophia.
Wait, can't Roger absolutely body end game bosses with Flying Torpedo? I've seen him make mockeries of Gabriel Celeste and Ethereal Queen using that tactic alone (though it takes a long time admittedly)
Fayt and Maria are definitely best character but Maria is such a the top best character along with Reimi in the star ocean series. I do love Peppita like her moves is definitely good because she does have invincible dancing move but gotta use it the perfect timing because Lenneth and Freya can definitely destroy her dancing. The problem of I have with Fayt is he's kind of a slow combat but he running speed is a god tier like damn but Freya can definitely still hit him from far range. Love Nel since her move of Mirror Slice and Divine Wrath are such a badass move. Sophia is good like I mostly play as her like Fayt, Maria, Peppita, and Nel but her AI along with some of them definitely wish they were better and wish they add more spells for the symbologist character like SO2 like they removed few many spells and elements.
Makes me want to replay this game. I used Fayt, Albel, and Cliff. I only didnt use Maria because I really didnt like her character but I want to try minmaxing this time
This was my favorite game and i have to agree with this tier list. However I also think mirage is top tier with her blazing cannon which does insane damage.
funny how years ago this was my team and i never made it far. if i recall with that dowsing thing u can do with investing money i got like a really good gauntlet for cliff and he was just a beast.
Sophia made for a good medic when it came to her revive and healing abilities I'd arguably say better then Nel magic wise even if you get her late places like moonbase make for a good spot to level her up quick
When I played this game, I loved Fayt, Cliff, and Nell. I never looked at Maria, but seeing some Speedruns and fast boss kills with her, I learned I was missing out.
With Maria the question is how do you choose to cheese the game... do you combo aiming device into energy burst or do you combo magnetic field into energy burst?
Or maybe scatter beam into scatter beam, or crescent locus into gravity bullet or triple kick, or even aiming device into itself or magnetic field into itself or radiation bots my god Maria was BUSTED. There was no reason for them to make almost every move she had just the cheapest easy win buttons in the game, like she low diffs the whole game, I have soloed all super bosses with her it’s ridiculous! She’s a human, cliffs race is supposed to be the super strong people!
You also forgot to mentions fayts Sheer tanking ability with max range O input since you're invincible (except to symbology, but you won't get stun locked) until his sword actually changed position
One of my favourite games. Just started playing on it on my ps4. I still have the ps2 disc version with my memory card saves. Be great for a remake with added extras in this game rather than these new ones they making. Unless they make something bigger and better.
Ive been using Fayt, Albel and Sophia, I control Albel. It's not the ideal team, but Sophia usually stays out of the way and keep things in place for all of Albels big moves like dragon roar, and Fayt might have the best ai in the game once you turn off his symbology. The ai chains Side kick to air raid or blade of fury consistently and dimension door is great at long o.
The only jrpg to this very day besides tales of the abyss, that I've done multiple playthroughs on. I might have to start another playthrough, and main peppita since she's the last character i haven't really played with. 😅 I really hope the new star ocean game is good, i didn't really like the last 2 that came out. 4 was missing alot of staples in star ocean like multiple endings, and i just comparing 5 to 3 but a little worse with the battle system. Loved the characters though, and at least the way 5 let's you customize your party members was pretty good.
I LOVE SO3. It was my intro to the series and even in spite of its flaws I still find it to be a great game. I mostly agree with this list too. I have played through this many times, I always control Maria at the end. She isn't just the best fighter, she is the best character imo. Fayt was always on the team as well. The last spot changes. Sometimes Cliff, sometimes Peppita, sometimes Sophia. This is a game I would love to see a remake for. Not an FF7 style remake but a true one with some improvements. Fix the item creation, everyone who has played this game knows what I am talking about. Rebalance the characters, I don't want to see the strong ones nerfed but rather the weaker ones buffed and made more viable. And balance the enemies around that. Also make MP killing a viable strat, it was a good idea but the MP values in endgame started outpacing the MP damage compared to hp by a really large margin. And finally address the twist. Don't get rid of it. Its not a bad thing. Its implementation was bad. There was no real exploration of the consequences or of the characters feelings on the matter. If you talked to them in town after you could get some thoughts on it but that really isn't enough. Nor did it do a very good job of exploring the main trio's (as late as she comes into the game for real, Sophia is still part of the main trio due to story reasons) feelings on what was done to them. The game basically just said "here is the plot twist, now get on the bullet train to the end of the story". Unless you side tracked for mini games and the like. The twist can work, if done properly. Also address the ending, A much better and more logical solution as to why they survived would be Blair managing to back up the Eternal Sphere simulation before it got deleted. Gives her a better role and makes a hell of a lot more sense than what we did get lol. Doesn't necessarily have to be that, just something that actually makes sense. Oh and keep a similar art style. Though do fix some of the body proportions. Seriously, I was playing through one time and saw Sophia at the very start of the game and noticed her neck is way to long and thin for the size of her head. And now I can never unsee that. And for anyone planning to play through this game again and hadn't noticed that, have fun with that lol.
The fact that you think Star Ocean 3 has AI is why you think it’s crap. It’s just an archaic algorithm that operates on yes, if, and, or, no commands in a logic chain. I did love your tier list and ranking though. It felt very accurate
Yeah, I always take Fayt, Maria and MIRAGE for Lenneth. The last boss of the last bosses. It's obvious why. Only other character outside of Fayt who can cap defense and just run around without a care and her DPS is solid at this point.
Oof... Star Ocean 3 instead of 2 lol Since you're putting the character's AI into account, I can see why Peppita ranked so low. However, if you take control of her, she's actually one of the best fighters in the game not because of her skills, but because some of her attack animations have invincibility frames. Paired with her attacks holding magic fireballs or ice balls as counters every time she "dodges" while dancing in this animation, and you have yourself an character you can't be killed while the enemies, even bosses, slowly kill themselves trying to hit her
Star ocean is much more than theme, the first 3 games are incredibly well written despite some of the goofy anime stuff and they treat their characters with respect in the writing. Its the same reason why (until recently) the Tales Of series was so long running. Also star ocean was never scared (until recently) to experiment in its game design. While Tales of takes popular Anime tropes and cliches to draw casual audiences in but then build upon those ideas and concepts with depth and heart, the star ocean series tries to disguise itself as a normal RPG but then does something wierd or unconventional with its gameplay. Star ocean 3 is the best in the series if you ask me, followed by the second game.
Nel is best. I am not sure why that is even up for debate. Don't ask me why I say that, pretty sure it is apparent. Seriously tho use her as your primary and see the ass get kicked. Edit: gotta say I do agree with your opinion on Cliff, he is legit based and also his sense of humor is top notch, always loved him. "The whips on this planet hurt too" XD
Still; my favorite characters were Maria, Nel, Peppita and Adray. I really liked Roger and Albel too. Sophia I hardly ever used, same with Mirage. And true Fayt, Cliff and Maria definitely the best team set-up
I'm usually skeptical about re-releases and remakes, but this I think is a good candidate for a remaster/re-release. Especially since Lost Hope is available on Steam and all.
Or level up stun on his short x repeated slashes. It’s nuts. Yes, leveling up stun is a timesink but when you put multi attack decisions and fireworks on his weapon while all his hits stun lock, he’s a monster
Peppita's fans would be pissed knowing that you don't know her broken counters, which put her easily in God tier. I don't use her tho because I (too) don't know how to counter that well.
Dope list. Maybe I just don't see it, but I've tried Maria a lot and I can't get into her play style. She's gotten me killed more than my main party (Cliff, Fayt, and Nel), and she's so late game so she was under leveled in my party. Her skills are pretty lackluster also.
That team is best team pre-Maria. She may not be your cup of tea which is FINE, but once you get her levels up and into her skills she just BUSTED, though she is very glass cannon and cannot take hits unless she has convert damage
@@cyrusstevenson880 that's what I keep hearing, but I didn't think she was that good unfortunately, but I'm glad you got some good use out of her. I've just been more successful with this party personally.
Maria, Sophia and Cliff is the best team. Yah did Sophia dirty. There is nothing that can't be solved by Fists of Fury, Scatter Beam and Thunder Flare or Max Shockwave, Energy Burst and Explosion. Sophia's Fairy Light keeps that team topped off for all the HP those skills can go through on Universe or 4D Freya.
maria is so strong, my first time playing the game i had her and thought she was broken. scatter beam shreds enemies with low hp aiming device destroys enemies with low mp cresent locus and triple kick are good cc abilities. out of all her skills i found only laser blast and pulse blast are garbage
Loved this game so much back in the day. It's a shame how much Star Ocean has fallen since then. The 4th game wasn't terrible but it didn't hold a candle to this game in my opinion. I really hope that the new Star Ocean can exceed Till the End of Time. It doesn't have to have state of the art graphics to be good. I guess we'll see.
Right? 4th is decent but not exactly wow 5 seems like a whole lot of mess And 6 , all the new thing are nothing impressive in grand scheme of SO as a franchise , seeing some clips I feel 6 is a bit of a step back from so3 combat even in terms of variety they have so little symbology now Sad
