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Star Ocean is a franchise of role-playing video games developed by tri-Ace and published by Square Enix (originally Enix). The series draws heavily from Star Trek; there is a Federation called the Pangalactic Federation, there is warp speed space travel and people wear communicators that can translate any language, to name a few examples. Star Ocean even uses a similar plot device, reminiscent of Star Trek's Prime Directive, dubbed the Underdeveloped Planet Preservation Pact, forcing characters trapped on "underdeveloped" worlds to forego their high technology.
Both the second and third games were somewhat famous for renaming characters whose names contained religious references, which some fans found unusual given the recent association with Square and other RPGs (most famously Xenosaga) who do not omit such references.
Currently there are three main games in the series:
Also, there is a sort of side story game, for the Game Boy Color. It is a direct sequel to Star Ocean: The Second Story.
There was also an unfinished manga, Star Ocean EX and later a similarly unfinished anime series of the same name based on it, which were both based on Star Ocean: The Second Story. They were never released in the US, but can be found via peer-to-peer networks in a fan-translated version. The anime covered the events in the first disc of the PS game-a few episodes for a second season covering the events of the second disc were created but never broadcast.
Regional record
Of the four games in the series two have been released outside Japan. Star Ocean: The Second Story was the first game to be published in the U.S., by Sony Computer Entertainment America. With the most recent installment -- Star Ocean: Till the End of Time -- Square Enix is hoping to attract more gamers, especially in the United States, where the franchise has not been very popular. Star Ocean: Fantastic Space Odyssey was fan-translated into English through emulation.
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