10 Gaming Franchises You Didn't Realise Are Still Around
5. Star Ocean
Though not as popular as other turn-based IPs, Star Ocean captivated the masses upon launch, since it was among the earliest role-players where your actions and dialogue choices dramatically affected the storyline. (In fact, Star Ocean: The Second Story contains over a hundred endings, which is the world record.)
Star Ocean was a cult-classic, but it never had a showstopper to turn it into universally recognised brand. And when the quality in the later entries' dwindled, the sci-fi adventure started to fizzle away.
Although Star Ocean seemed to disappear during the 2010s, up to two sequels were being pumped out every year. Unfortunately, these instalments weren't up to standard, which is why they came and went without generating much buzz.
Rather than calling it quits for good, tri-Ace released a sequel in 2022 and a remake of The Second Story in 2023. Although the sequel was panned, The Second Story R was superior to its predecessor (and its previous remake, and it's probably the best entry yet. If tri-Ace follows The Second Story R up with another hit, the developers could reinvigorate the deeply underrated property.