STAR OCEAN: BLUE SPHERE General FAQ v1.2
Last Updated: October 10, 2001
By Kristina Ann Potts AKA Aussie2B or Succubus
E-mail: aussie_2b@hotmail.com


..............................
TABLE OF CONTENTS
..............................


Notes/Updates
Introduction
Where Can I Buy It?
Story
Menu
Characters
- Reports
- Type
- Moves/Spells
Battle System and Combos
Skill System - Coming Soon!
Field Actions
Item Creation - Coming Soon!
Stores - Coming Soon!
Item List - Coming Soon!
Enemy List - Coming Soon!
Private Actions
Contacting Me
Copyright Information
Thanks to...


..............................
NOTES/UPDATES
..............................


October 10, 2001 - version 1.2 - I got the Field Action section added, and I 
decided to add a new section to the list. It's to help you acquire a copy of 
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere. Added a Private Action and a few spells and moves 
too.

Yes, I know there are still plenty of Field Actions, moves, spells, and other 
stuff missing, not to mention entire sections. I'm working on it. ;) I want 
to get the walkthrough up, so it'll probably be awhile till the next update.

September 29, 2001 - version 1.0 (initial version) - Since no information on 
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere is currently available in English, I'm submitting 
this review as soon as I feel possible. Many sections are missing, but it has 
plenty of information already regardless. I will update with future sections. 
No need to email me about it. I will do it as soon as possible.

Also I am aware that some information is a bit off. The biggest offender 
would be the MP cost of moves. There's a skill that lowers the MP cost of 
moves, but I'm unaware of what it is. In a future update I will attempt to 
list all the moves at their base MP cost before allocating any points to that 
particular skill. Anyway, that's just one example. There are other minor 
things and probably some typos, but it will all be fixed in the future. Until 
then I hope what's available is useful. ^_^


..............................
INTRODUCTION
..............................


Star Ocean: Blue Sphere is a very complicated game. Arguably more so than the 
previous Star Ocean games, Star Ocean and Star Ocean: The Second Story. The 
game offers you no help. Few things are done automatically. You're in control 
of your growth, what moves and spells your characters learn, how successful 
you are in Item Creation, among many other things. Before you leap right into 
the game, I suggest you skim the basics of this FAQ. Understanding the menus 
and the battle system is a must. If you use my walkthrough, you should also 
use this coincidentally. Hopefully this FAQ will eventually let you acquire 
and do everything the game has to offer. Until then, it will give you quite a 
head start!


..............................
WHERE CAN I BUY IT?
..............................


I've seen this question asked several times on various message boards, so I 
thought I'd offer a few suggestions. The best way to get the game would be to 
find a local store that imports games from Japan. Ask them if their suppliers 
can get Star Ocean: Blue Sphere for you. If they can't, it would be too 
expensive, or you simply don't have any stores like that near you, your next 
best bet would be:

http://www.ebay.com

Most people are familiar with eBay, but in case you're not, it's an online 
auction site. You have to register to use it, and to do so, you either need 
an ISP email account or a credit card number. There's a trick around that, 
though. They only require a credit card number if you're using a free web-
based email account that they have in their database, like Hotmail and Yahoo. 
If you use something more unknown, they won't ask for a credit card number. 
There's also a rule that you have to be 18, so if you're not and you want to 
use eBay, I suggest you have a parent sign up or at least get permission. 
Anyway, it's free to use unless you're selling something, and you can find 
all sorts of imported games up for auction. If you're trying to get Star 
Ocean: Blue Sphere, though, you'll likely have to buy from a Japanese seller. 
It's not that hard; it only takes longer.

If you want some more tips about using eBay, email me.

If you're not into auctions, there are plenty of online import stores. The 
first one you should check out is:

http://www.ncsx.com

They got pretty good service, and I know they carried Star Ocean: Blue Sphere 
for awhile. They sold out, but I'm sure they'll get more eventually.

Here are some other online import stores that you might want to try, but I'm 
not guaranteeing that they'll have or ever will have Star Ocean: Blue Sphere:

http://www.videogamedepot.com
http://www.tronixweb.com
http://www.wolfgames.com
http://www.playthegames.com
http://www.buyrite.net


..............................
STORY
..............................


Star Ocean: Blue Sphere takes place two years after the events of Star Ocean: 
The Second Story. Some characters moved to Earth, some stayed on Expel, and 
others are elsewhere doing their own thing. Ernest and Opera are still 
exploring uncharted and primitive planets, and on one ocean-covered planet, 
known as the "Blue Sphere", they get stranded. They send out an SOS call to 
Precis, and then they simply vanish. Precis gathers up all her friends, 
besides Crawd and Rena, and they fly off in Precis' spaceship to the Blue 
Sphere planet. There is something awry with the planet's gravitational 
forces, though, which cause the ship to crash and the communication systems 
to break down. Ignoring their own plight, the gang heads out into the unknown 
to find their missing friends, with hope that Crawd and Rena will follow soon 
and rescue them...


..............................
MENU
..............................


Star Ocean: Blue Sphere has a very complex menu. Even if you have experience 
with the Star Ocean and/or Star Ocean: The Second Story menus, you could 
still find it a bit difficult to navigate Blue Sphere's menus if you don't 
know Japanese. Press start to access it and A to make selections. Until you 
got it memorized, use this little graph to figure it out:


Special Skill - Field
                Create
                Spell
Item
Equipment
Strategy - Technique Set
           Formation
           Battle Plan
Skill
Status
Save


SPECIAL SKILL: Choose the first option to set Field Actions, do all of your 
item creation, and heal yourself.

- FIELD: Select a character, and their list of Field Actions will appear. You 
can only use one at a time. Set whichever one you like, exit the menu, press 
select until that character is the on-screen character if he/she isn't 
already, and press B to execute the Field Action.

- CREATE: Select a character, and their list of Item Creation abilities will 
appear. Select whichever Item Creation ability you would like to use. If you 
don't have the necessary materials, you won't gain access to that particular 
Item Creation ability's menu. For information on the individual Item Creation 
ability menus, see the Item Creation section.

- SPELL: This is only for healing. If you have a healer currently in your 
party, select him or her, and their healing spells will be listed. Select the 
one you'd like to use, and select the character it will be use on if 
necessary.

ITEM: The items are broken up into groups. Scroll across horizontally to 
select the groups of items you want to gain access to, then select and use an 
item if you wish to. The order of the groups, from left to right, is as 
follows:

Weapons-Armor-Accessories-Potions-Foods-Tools-Battle Items-? Items-Key Items

EQUIPMENT: Select a character, and the equipment menu will appear. This is 
the order it's listed in:

Weapon
Head Gear
Body Armor
Shield
Greaves
Accessory 1
Accessory 2

Select the particular type of equipment you'd like to change, and all of that 
type of equipment that that character can use will be listed. Equipment he or 
she can't use will not be listed. Press select while the arrow is pointing at 
an item to scroll through all the information available on it. Equipment with 
red arrows pointing down will lower your statistics. Equipment will yellow 
arrows pointing right will not change your statistics. Equipment with blue 
arrows pointing up will improve your statistics. Some equipment has elemental 
attributes. Some enemies are weak to certain elements (like fish to fire), 
while others are strong against certain elements. If the piece of equipment 
has an element with a negative sign next to it, it will make YOU weaker to 
that element. Avoid using equipment with negative attributes.

STRATEGY: Choose the fourth option on the main menu to prepare your party for 
battles.

- TECHNIQUE SET: Select a character to set their moves or spells. You can 
only set 4 at a time. One for the button B, one for B + right, one for B + 
left, and one for B + up. Select the button or button combination you'd like 
to set a move or spell to, and choose one of your character's moves or 
spells.

- FORMATION: After choosing this option, choose a character, and then choose 
the character you'd like him or her to swap places with. In battle, the 
character at the top of list will be closest to the enemy, and the character 
at the bottom with be the furthest from the enemy. Place fighters up front 
and spell casters in the back.

- BATTLE PLAN: Select a character to set their Artificial Intelligence. This 
only applies to the characters you allow the computer to control. Unlike 
previous Star Ocean games, the characters all share the same AI strategies. 
They appear in this order:

Zenrokudekougeki - Attack continuously, paying no regard to MP use.
Hodohodo - Use spells and moves moderately.
Onzon - Try to preserve MP. Use moves and spells only when necessary.
Taiki - Do nothing. Wait to be given orders.

SKILL: Select a character, and you will be brought to the skill screen. The 
cursor's default is on the list with all of the character's skills. To only 
view the one's belonging to a certain type, press up, down, left and right. 
When you have selected the skill group you want, scroll up and down to select 
skills. Below your character, their Skill Level is shown, and below that is 
the Skill Points you have. To the right of a skill, the skill's level is 
listed. To the left of that is the number of skill points you must have to 
raise the level of that skill. For more detailed information on the skill 
system, see the Skill System section.

STATUS: Select a character to view their status screen. Next to their picture 
is the name of their favorite food or "??????????" if you haven't discovered 
it yet. Below that is their HP, MP, and all of their statistics. Press up or 
down to view what they currently have equiped and how their skills points 
have been allocated.

SAVE: On the save screen, you will see your current party, your location, 
your Fol (money), and your time playing. Select the first option to save or 
select the second to return to the main menus without saving.

When you are finished when the menu, press start to leave it instantly, or 
press B to close each individual menu.


..............................
CHARACTERS
..............................


******************************
PRECIS F. NEUUMAN
******************************

Character Report:

Upon entering the dusty town of Linga in Star Ocean: The Second Story, Crawd 
and Rena literally ran into the hyperactive 16-year-old inventor girl Precis 
F. Neuuman as she was chasing her malfunctioning robot, Bobot. They once 
again meet her on their second trip to Linga, and this time Precis joins the 
cause to figure out the mysteries of the Sorcery Globe and to put her 
machines to the test.

Now two years later, Precis has moved to Earth to work on her inventions with 
the more advanced technology. She has modified her Bobot so that she can ride 
in it, but before the rumors begin to fly, she has not been crippled. On 
occasion she does walk about the old-fashioned way. Her Bobot can also hover 
above the ground and transform into various machines, among other things. 
Precis even has her own spaceship now. With all of her new invaluable 
resources and the same lust for life that she has always possessed, it's no 
surprise that Precis is the star of Star Ocean: Blue Sphere.

Type:

Precis is a fighter. She specializes in Spanner (wrench), and she gains her 
moves by creating them in Machinery. She's not particularly strong in battle, 
and she's difficult to combo with, but her Hover Field Action is necessary 
for advancing in the game, and she's good at Item Creation.

Moves:

MOLE - MP Use: 15

Mole is more or less the same as it was in Star Ocean: The Second Story. 
Bobot turns into a drill, goes underground, and pops up underneath the enemy. 
Damage is minimal, but it's a good move to use at the beginning of the game. 
You can get a bit more damage in if you start the move while right next to 
the enemy. The enemy will take damage from the spinning drill prior to when 
Bobot goes underground. This is also a quick and easy way to transport Precis 
right next to the enemy. You're left open to enemy attack right after you 
finish Mole, though.

BARRIER - MP Use: 12

Barrier has gotten quite strange since Star Ocean: The Second Story... In 
fact, it's an entirely different move in Blue Sphere. In The Second Story, 
Precis's Barrier attack involved throwing Bobot like a grenade, now in Blue 
Sphere, it's not even an attack... One of Bobot's hands turns into a large 
megaphone and sends out powerful sonic waves which causes the enemy to become 
peeped, ie little stars around their head and unable to move. Barrier stumped 
me at first. I tried it again and again waiting to see the damage, but it 
does none, it only peeps. Kind of disappointing, but it can prove useful on 
tough enemies and bosses that continuously and relentlessly attack over and 
over. By the way, you have to be within half a screen's distance from the 
enemy for it to "hit".

YURAYURA - MP Use: 52

"Yurayura" means something along the lines of "shake" or "temble". Bobot 
transforms into a giant jackhammer and shakes the earth so violently that the 
enemy falls over. The MP cost is high and Precis is open to attack for quite 
awhile if the move doesn't finish off the enemy, but it does a lot of damage 
and can hit from anywhere on the battle screen.

DOKKAN - MP Use: 36

When Precis performs Dokkan, Bobot transforms into a cannon and fires a 
cannonball at the enemy. It does a good amount of damage, but you have to be 
positioned somewhat close to the enemy. If you're too far, the cannonball 
will miss, and you'll waste quite a bit of MP.


******************************
ASHTON ANCHORS
******************************

Character Report:

After hearing rumors of a dragon in the Salva Drift, Crawd and Rena head to 
Salva to see the commotion for themselves. They arrive just at the moment a 
young swordsman named Ashton Anchors attacks the two-headed beast. He 
mortally wounds the creature, but all is not safe. The second Ashton turns 
his back to address Crawd and Rena, the dragons possess his body. Everywhere 
he goes, he has the two heads of the dragon looming over his shoulders.

Despite the love he has developed for the dragons, Gyoro and Ururun, over the 
past two years, Ashton still wishes to remove himself of the burden. 
Unfortunately for Ashton, the only method he knows of doing so would kill the 
dragons. He spent the last two years searching for a cure to his curse until 
Precis on Earth called for his help. His love for the young girl places him 
right in the center of this new adventure.

Type:

Ashton is a fighter. He specializes in Battle (sword), and he randomly gains 
his moves by pulling off combos and raising his Battle skill levels. He's a 
great character for battle, and he's fairly easy to combo with. His strength 
alone can get you through most of the game, and his Fireball Field Action is 
necessary to get through the second dungeon. It's also useful for surprising 
enemies. He seems to learn both Push and Pull Field Actions early as well as 
cooking.

Moves:

LEAF SLASH - MP Use: 11

When performing Leaf Slash, Ashton disappears in a puff of leafs and 
teleports himself next to the enemy to do a couple slashes with his short 
swords. You might think this move quickly becomes useless and too weak since 
Ashton comes with it so it's available from the very beginning of the game, 
but in actuality, Leaf Slash is one of the most useful moves in the game. The 
MP cost is low, it can be performed from anywhere on the battle screen, it's 
a safe method of transporting yourself right next to the enemy, AND you can 
do it over and over. Like all moves and spells, it stops the action on the 
battlefield, so if you perform it just before an enemy attacks, you'll be 
able to disrupt and stop that attack. But unlike most moves, it doesn't tire 
out Ashton very quickly. You can perform several before he gets tired. I find 
Leaf Slash invaluable when facing very quick-moving or quick-attacking 
bosses. Just jam out on that B button. ;)

HURRICANE SLASH - MP Use: 20

Hurricane Slash is right up there as one of the cutest moves in the game. 
Ashton spins around quickly creating a couple whirlwinds that travel across 
the screen towards the enemy. When he stops spinning, he gets dizzy and 
wobbles around on his feet. :) Overall, I don't find this move particularly 
useful. The amount of damage done is only average, and it'll miss if you're 
not within half a screen from the enemy.

DRAGON ATTACK - MP Use: 30

Ashton makes a violent leap at the enemy with the dragons Gyoro and Ururun 
head (heads?) first. Ururun snaps at the monster, and Ashton falls down. :) 
This move is pretty useless, IMO. It uses too much MP, you have to be very 
close to the enemy for it to hit, and the damage is average.

SWORD DANCE - MP Use: 33

This move is a lot less useful than it was in Star Ocean: The Second Story. 
Visually, it's about the same. Ashton does a lot of fanciful hacks and 
slashes. Unfortunately, though, you miss A LOT more often. If you're not 
right next to the enemy, most of the move won't even hit. Even if you do 
begin it next to the enemy, chances are Ashton will push the enemy away with 
his attacks, and yet again, he'll miss for most of it. Worst yet, it only 
takes ONE Sword Dance to tire Ashton out. The only good thing about Sword 
Dance is that it DOES do quite a bit of damage if a miracle happens and the 
enemy is hit by all the attacks. My advice: don't bother. Stick to Leaf 
Slash.


******************************
CELINE JULES
******************************

Character Report:

After their meeting with the king of Cross, Crawd and Rena witness a little 
squabble between some riffraff and the beautiful sorceress and treasure 
hunter, Celine Jules. Once she learned that Crawd and Rena were on their way 
to Cross Cave, Celine HAD to join them. It was the perfect opportunity to 
search the darkest corners of the planet for riches beyond her imagination. 
The mismatched group of adventurers found the Ancient Writings in the cave 
and defeated many powerful foes together. Celine was an invaluable member of 
the group, so they all decided it best for her to come along on Crawd and 
Rena's journey to the Sorcery Globe.

Celine used to have the habit of calling everyone "darling", but now that 
affectionate term is only for one - her beloved - Chris, the prince of Cross. 
She spent two happy years carrying on her affair with him, but now her 
friends are in trouble, and she is not about to abandon them.

Type: 
 
Celine is a spell caster. She specializes in Knowledge (book), and she 
randomly learns spells by casting spells over and over and raising her 
Knowledge skill levels. Casting spells that are related to stronger spells 
(such as Firebolt and Eruption, and Thunderbolt and Thunderstorm) seems to 
make her learn spells faster. Casting stronger spells speeds up her learning 
as well. She is very weak when it comes to fighting, and it's almost 
impossible to combo with her. Late in the game, you can get her Teleport 
Field Action, which allows you to teleport yourself to any spot on screen.

Spells:

FIREBOLT - MP Use: 6

Celine creates a ball of fire and hurls it at the enemy to roast it. This is 
a great move at the beginning of the game. Later on in the game you might 
want to use it to keep the enemy away from you or to stop its attacks since 
you can cast it very fast. Damage-wise it's not that useful beyond the first 
couple dungeons.

WIND BLADE - MP Use: 8

Celine calls forth a blade of wind (looks more like a whirlwind) to zoom 
across the screen and attack the enemy. It's basically like a slightly more 
powerful and different elemental version of Firebolt. Use it in the same 
scenarios.

THUNDER BOLT - MP Use: 16

Despite what the name might imply, Thunder Bolt is not a lightning elemental 
version of Firebolt and Wind Blade. It's considerably more powerful and isn't 
as quick to cast. When Celine casts it, a thundercloud is summoned to strike 
the enemy with a strong bolt of lightning. This spell is best used to fry 
robot enemies.

STAR LIGHT - MP Use: 24

Numerous stars float up towards the heavens and strike the enemy with their 
brilliant light. Damage done by this spell is average, so it's not really 
worth the time it takes to cast. You're better off with a quick weak spell or 
one of the stronger spells.

RAY - MP Use: 33

Little rays of light surround the enemy and attack it from all sides. This 
spell takes quite awhile to cast, but the damage is well worth it. Stick with 
this one for laying the smack down on enemies with low magical resistance 
until you're able to learn more powerful spells like Southern Cross.

ERUPTION - MP Use: 30

When casting Eruption, geysers of lava erupt from the earth and rain upon the 
enemy in a fiery inferno. It doesn't take very long to cast, and the damage 
is quite good.

THUNDER STORM - MP Use: 30

Thunder Bolt's big brother Thunder Storm fills the sky with very ominous 
black clouds. Then they release their stored up fury on the enemy in the form 
of numerous lightning bolts. Damage is pretty average. I prefer Thunder Bolt 
or stronger spells myself.

SOUTHERN CROSS - MP Use: 36

It takes a long time to cast, but Southern Cross is great. The sky turns to 
night, and each star forming the constellation known as the "southern cross" 
lights up. When the cross is formed, it starts spinning and hurtles itself 
towards the earth. It does a lot of damage, so I recommend you keep this on 
Celine's list of spells set to use during battle.

BLESS - MP Use: 14

In what could be called the most... sickening spell or move in the game, 
Bless causes a rainbow to appear above one of your characters, followed by a 
ton of little hearts surrounding him or her to temporarily increase that 
character's statistics. I find status enhancing spells pretty useless, so 
well... there you go.

ANGEL FEATHER - MP Use: 24

Ah, but I did use Bless! For your benefit. ;) I in turn learned Angel 
Feather. Sort of an uber-blessing. An angel comes down from the heavens and 
sprinkles its feathers on one of your characters to protect him or her. Yet 
again, quite useless.


******************************
LEON D.S. GEESTE
******************************

Character Report:

Crawd and Rena met the cocksure young genius Leon D.S. Geeste in Lacour 
Castle. The little scientist was hard at work on the Lacour Hope, the 
ultimate weapon to fend off the hoards of monsters showing up ever since the 
Sorcery Globe crashed into Expel. He begrudgingly accepted the help of Crawd 
and Rena in order to get the final material needed to power his weapon. With 
the Lacour Hope in tow and Crawd and Rena along for the ride, Leon and his 
parents headed for the continent of El. Things quickly turned disastrous when 
the powerful monster Shin attacked the ship. The Lacour Hope was no match, 
the ship was broken to pieces, and all those onboard were cast into the cold 
sea to die. Leon washed up on shore with Crawd. Not knowing if his parents 
were still alive, having no means to return to the continent of Lacour, and 
not having anyone else to care for him, Leon left behind his arrogant 
attitude and adopted the party as both his family and friends.

Leon grew up into a fine young 14-year-old man since his adventures ended two 
years ago. He moved to Earth and has been hard at work on his Heraldry. He 
had to put his studies aside, though, when Precis asked him to join her on 
the SOS mission to the Blue Sphere planet.

Type: 
 
Leon is a spell caster. He specializes in Knowledge (book), and he randomly 
learns spells by casting spells over and over and raising his Knowledge skill 
levels. The factors that affect to Celine's rate of learning spells affects 
Leon's learning as well. He is also quite weak in battle and very difficult 
to combo with.

Spells:

ICE NEEDLE - MP Use: 8

Leon creates a sharp needle of ice, which flies towards the enemy and 
shatters on impact. Like Celine's Firebolt, the damage it does is minimal, 
but it's powerful compared to your fighters' regular attacks at the beginning 
of the game, and later on it's good for stopping the enemy from moving or 
attacking.

STAR LIGHT - MP Use: 30

Leon's Star Light is identical to Celine's. Like I said before, you're better 
off using more powerful spells or spells that take less time to cast.

WOUNDS - MP Use: 16

Leon summons a shadow demon beast to appear before the enemy and strike it. 
I'm not overly impressed with it. Damage is only average.

ACID RAIN - MP Use: 21

Storms clouds gather together above the enemy and pour acidic rain on the 
enemy. The enemy writhes in pain as the rain burns its skin. The damage done 
by Acid Rain is above average, and casting time is pretty short, so I 
recommend it.

SHADOW BOLT - MP Use: 34

Logically speaking, Shadow Bolt is one of the weirdest spells in the game. 
Purplish bubbles and mist appear from below the enemy and do it damage. What 
is the purple stuff? Shadows? I guess. Regardless, Shadow Bolt's time to 
cast/damage ratio is very poor. It takes far too long for such a weak spell. 
Not to mention the high MP cost. You should avoid this one.

DEEP FREEZE - MP Use: 45

When Leon casts Deep Freeze, a blizzard of large ice chunks and snowflakes 
assaults the enemy. I wouldn't call the damage GREAT, but it's one of Leon's 
best spells. The MP cost is pretty high, but it can be lowered with proper 
skill point allocation.

PROTECTION - MP Use: 15

A shield of magic appears above one of your party members, spins down, and 
boosts his or her defense. It COULD be useful, I suppose, but why waste MP on 
status enhancing magic when you could be casting attack magic?

DELAY - MP Use: 18

Oy, as if status enhancing magic wasn't useless enough, they give us magic 
that affects the enemies statistics... randomly... A clock appears above the 
enemy and the time spins backwards. The spell is supposed to slow down the 
enemy's movement, but sometimes it won't. Scratch that - most of the time it 
doesn't work. And nine times out of ten you wouldn't even need something like 
that. Just... don't use it. 'Kay?


******************************
DIAS FLAC
******************************

Character Report:

Crawd and Rena encountered the antisocial mercenary Dias Flac many times, but 
as soon he showed up, he'd be gone. Not without getting in a few insults 
towards Crawd first, though. Rena was always forgiving because she knew his 
past. Dias's entire family was slain by bandits, so he had an unquenchable 
thirst for justice. Not even friendships and love could get in the way. At 
the Lacour front lines, Rena ran into Dias and tapped into that desire for 
justice. Despite his preference of doing everything on his own, Rena 
convinced him to join the party and to help them set right the evils of the 
world. Of course, Rena was more concerned about keeping an eye on her "big 
brother" and offering him some much-needed solace.

Little is known about Dias's whereabouts the last two years. He appears to 
have gone back to his old ways. Wandering the world alone and in silence 
searching for bandits and thieves to dispose of. Precis somehow managed to 
locate him, and his loyalty to his "little sister" Rena forced him to join 
the cause.

Type:

Dias is a fighter. He specializes in Battle (sword), and he randomly gains 
his moves by pulling off combos and raising his Battle skill levels. He's a 
bit more difficult to combo with than Ashton, but his strength makes up for 
it.

Moves:

CHAOS SWORD - MP Use: 13

When executing Chaos Sword, Dias charges his sword with power and flings two 
shots of it at the enemy. It's a pretty decent move. The MP cost is low, 
damage is pretty good, and the two shots will hit as long as the enemy is on 
screen with Dias.

KOGETSUSEN - MP Use: 17

Kogetsusen is more or less the equivalent of Star Ocean: The Second Story's 
Crescent Moon Slash. The sky goes black, Dias forms a crescent moon with his 
sword and then send it flying towards the enemy with a swing of his blade. 
Not only is it pretty high on the list of "bad ass"-looking Blue Sphere 
moves, it's very powerful and always hits as long as the enemies on screen. 
It's definitely my favorite Dias move, but it has one flaw - he can only 
perform two or three before getting tired. It comes close to being as good as 
Ashton's Leaf Slash but doesn't quite make it.

MUGEN - MP Use: 42

In Japanese, "mugen" means "dream" or "fantasy", or in this case, Illusion. 
Sound familiar Star Ocean: The Second Story fans? It is indeed the same move. 
Dias does four elaborate attacks with his sword not unlike Ashton's Sword 
Dance. Unfortunately, it's similar in more ways than just visually. Like 
Sword Dance, it uses a lot of MP, forces you to begin it right next to the 
enemy to have any chance of having every attack hit, tends to push away the 
enemy so you miss, and makes Dias tired after just one. In other words, stick 
to Chaos Sword and Kogetsusen.
 

******************************
BOWMAN JEAN
******************************

Character Report:

Crawd and Rena were disheartened when they were refused entrance at Keith's 
home, but they found Bowman Jean - their ticket to a meeting with Keith to 
get the Ancient Writings deciphered. Bowman, in his usual devious fashion, 
wanted something out of the deal for himself first, though. He requested that 
Crawd and Rena find him a rare herb from the Linga Sanctuary good enough to 
impress him. Risking life and limb, the team was able to find an unusual 
looking herb in the dangerous murky depths of the cave, so they hurriedly 
returned to Linga with hope that Bowman would accept it. Fortunately, he did, 
and Crawd and Rena got to visit Keith that very day to hand over the Ancient 
Writings. Feeling a little more generous, Bowman offered his home to them for 
the night, and they learned that there was quite a bit more to the man. On 
the surface, Bowman is a simple pharmacist, but beneath that exterior, lies 
the well-toned body of an expert at martial arts. Not to mention, he has 
superb skills at mixing herbs. Bowman was fascinated with Crawd and Rena's 
adventure and fancied himself a part of it. Crawd and Rena, needing all the 
help they could get, welcomed him with open arms.

Despite his lady's man reputation, Bowman returned to his wife and his 
pharmacist job in Linga after the Ten Wise Men were put out of commission. 
Not long after, his wife Nineh gave birth to their first child. While Bowman 
was enjoying his newfound fatherhood, his adventurous spirit didn't die, and 
when Precis called for his aid, he was more than willing to offer it.

Type:

Bowman is a fighter. He specializes in Feel (hand), and he randomly gains his 
moves by pulling off combos and raising his Feel skill levels. It doesn't 
take much practice to combo with him, and his combos can easily get into the 
double digits. He is overall weaker than Ashton and Dias, though, so it 
balances out. He learns how to combine herbs very quickly, and one Field 
Action unique to him allows him to find herbs occasionally.

Moves:

KUGIKASE - MP Use: 12

During Kugikase, Bowman teleports high into the air and does a diving punch 
at the enemy. Damage is pretty minimal, but it's a good move for its low MP 
cost, and Bowman can perform it several times before getting tired.

SHIHOUJIN - MP Use: 24

Shihoujin is another move that wins my own personal "bad ass" award. Bowman 
charges up with power and disappears. In an instant you see him flashing 
across the screen at supersonic speed, punching and kicking the enemy from 
all angles. For such a powerful move, it uses very little MP, so definitely 
keep this one in your repertoire. Just be wary of the fact that Bowman gets 
tired after only one Shihoujin.


******************************
CHISATO MADISON
******************************

Character Report:

Everywhere Crawd and Rena turned they bumped in the energetic news reporter 
Chisato Madison. It wasn't just a strange coincidence, though. Chisato was 
after a big scoop, and Crawd and Rena were it. She knew they were up to 
something BIG on Nede, and she had to be the first to report it, even if that 
means making a pest of herself. Crawd and Rena were getting quite annoyed, 
and when Chisato was careless enough to drop behind her news ID card, Crawd 
and Rena tracked her down to confront her. They gave her an ultimatum - you 
can get your story by joining us and helping us out or stay out of our way. 
Chisato happily joined them, and Crawd and Rena forgave her for being a 
nuisance before.

With Nede gone, Chisato had to find a new home. She chose Expel, but she 
quickly realized that it was no Nede. Global communication on the planet was 
very primitive. She made it her goal to establish the media on Expel. It's a 
huge job for just one woman, but Chisato has a passion so strong for 
reporting that she can accomplish any journalistic feat. She diligently 
worked on her task until Precis contacted her with the bad news about Opera 
and Ernest's expedition.

Type:

Chisato is a fighter. She specializes in Spanner (wrench), and she gains her 
moves by creating them in Machinery. She is quite weak, but some say she can 
make HUGE combos. I've found her difficult to combo with, but maybe you'll 
have a different experience. She has an amusing but useless Field Action that 
allows her to take photos of monsters for a photo album.

Moves:

10 THOUSAND VOLT - MP Use: 18

Chisato whips out her stun gun, charges it up, and fries the enemy with 
10,000 volts of electricity. It's really quite a poor move. The MP cost is 
too high for such a weak move, you have to be VERY close to the enemy for 
every shock to hit, and it only takes two 10,000 Volt to tire Chisato out.

FLAME THROWER - MP Use: 20

When performing Flame Thrower, Chisato whips out a huge flame thrower from 
Tria knows were and torches the enemy. This move can be lousy or great 
depending on how you use it. If you start it a distance from the enemy, it 
won't hit many times, and it'll do minimal to average damage. If you begin it 
right next to the enemy, it should hit for the whole time and do a lot of 
damage. I don't recommend using this move if you'd like to stay close to the 
enemy and/or follow up with a combo, though. Each hit of the flame thrower 
pushes the enemy away. So basically, look at the length of the flame and know 
ahead of time how far the enemy will be from you when you finish the move.

MAIBO - MP: 25

We've all seen 'em... That curse from Japan... Those irritating robot dog 
toys. Apparently they're hip, but hell, so are those stupid scooters that 
make everyone look like fools. What was tri-Ace thinking? Do they actually 
like those things? Are they making fun of them? Or Chisato for owning one? 
Well, regardless, during Maibo, Chisato pulls out the remote control for her 
robot dog pet, and he comes happily hopping into the battle. He breathes... 
something... on the enemy, which of course does damage. He then does an 
about-face and hops off just as he came. This move actually does quite a bit 
of damage, but still... I don't want to watch that... thing... x_x

PREPARATION - MP Use: 34

I had a love/hate relationship with Preparation in Star Ocean: The Second 
Story. It was unique and kind of amusing to watch, but it was far too long. 
Nevertheless, I stuck with it until I got 999 proficiency. I thought it would 
leave too sour a taste in my mouth to enjoy it in Blue Sphere, but not so. 
Preparation is by far the cutest, most entertaining to watch move in the 
game. Chisato pulls out her cell phone, dials the number to call for 
missiles, taps her finger as she talks, and taps her foot impatiently after 
the call is over and she's waiting for the missiles to arrive. When she sees 
the missiles coming, her mouth drops open in surprise, and she ducks for 
cover as the enemy getting pelted with a row of missiles. Anecdotes aside, 
Preparation is quick to execute, fairly strong, and will hit regardless of 
where on the battlefield you start it. Practical and so adorable. Can't be 
beat. ^_^

FIRE SHOT - MP Use: 38

Good grief, where does the girl get this stuff?! First a stun gun, a flame 
thrower, a cell phone, and a robot dog, now a soccer ball! How does she store 
it all in that little business outfit? o_O And why is she still so confused 
about her profession? Is she a news reporter or a sports reporter? Getting 
past the weirdness of it all, Chisato creates an orb of power which in turn 
becomes a blazing soccer ball when she throws it in the air. She then kicks 
it at the enemy. Other than the novelty of it, this move is useless in 
comparison to Preparation. It does less damage, takes MORE MP, and tires out 
Chisato after only one.


******************************
NOEL CHANDLER
******************************

Character Report:

After Crawd and Rena's Synard, their only method of airborne transportation, 
went berserk and had to be killed, they left North City to seek the help of 
the peaceful zoologist Noel Chandler. Despite his absolute hatred of harming 
any living creature, he agreed to lead them through the Red Crystal Cave to 
find one of the last wild Synards. The team fought off many powerful 
monsters, and they arrived at the Synard's nest just in the nick of time. A 
savage beast was attacking the endangered animal. The group quickly put an 
end the threat. Just as Crawd and Rena were about to board the creature and 
fly off, Noel realized that he needn't feel guilty about harming animals that 
were evil. It must be done in order to save the peaceful animals' lives. To 
save ALL the animals, he must fight through the evil ones until he reached 
the Ten Wise Men, the ones who were responsible for mutating living creatures 
into evil beasts. Crawd and Rena were happy to have his help and welcomed him 
into the party.

Like Chisato, Noel needed to find a new home after the destruction of Nede. 
He also chose Expel, and it turned out to be the perfect place for him. Nede 
had stopped evolving, and in the world of nature, not evolving means death. 
Natural life on Nede was becoming more and more rare, both because of the 
evils the Ten Wise Men brought and the technology that sucked the life from 
the planet. On Expel, Noel found a lush green primitive world where birds 
constantly fly overhead, seas are brimming with aquatic life, and every cave, 
forest, and mountain as an infinite number of creatures to discover. Noel had 
found his paradise, but he had to part with it once Precis called.

Type:

Noel is technically a spell caster, but he is more of an all-around 
character. He is so-so at fighting, healing, and attack magic. He specializes 
in Knowledge (book), and he randomly learns spells by casting spells over and 
over and raising his Knowledge skill levels. The same factors that affect 
Celine and Leon's spell learning also affect Noel, but he can't learn attack 
spells by casting healing spells or vice versa. Despite that tri-Ace designed 
him to be an average fighter, he's very weak and poor at pulling of combos, 
so you should stick to casting spells for him. He's also the only healer 
available to you for most of the game, so if you're not into using items to 
heal, you should take him along at least sometimes.

Spells:

HEAL - MP Use: 3

When Noel casts Heal, a little green star appears above him, and then the 
character he chose is surrounded in green sparkles. In RPG land, that means 
you recovered some HP. It recovers about 30-40 HP. Good at the very beginning 
of the game, but it gets quite useless once the enemies start to do large 
amounts of damage.

CURE LIGHT - MP Use: 11

Thankfully, if you cast Heal a lot, you should learn Cure Light, a much more 
useful healing spell. In addition to the green star and sparkles, there's a 
blue bubble floating around the character being healed! Oooh! In RPG land, 
that means even more recovered HP! ;) Okay, enough silliness, Cure Light 
recovers around 150 HP. It's good for the middle of the game, but towards the 
end you'll probably want something that recovers a bit more than that.

CURE ALL - MP Use: 20

During Cure All, an image of a golden cross appears above the characters. 
Then the screen flashes, and each character is healed individually until the 
whole party has been healed. Cure All heals about the same amount as Cure 
Light for each character. This move is very useful early on in the game when 
in only a couple seconds every character can be near death.

FAIRY HEAL - MP Use: 30

Fairies fly in from all directions around the selected character. They leave 
behind dark healing orbs in the sky which then heal the character with the 
same animation as Cure Light, but your character will recover about 350 HP. 
You have quite a bit of trouble in the game if you don't have this move by 
the end.

FAIRY LIGHT - MP Use: 40

Three fairies swoop in on the caster of this spell, and they leave behind 
pinkish healing orbs in the air. Then each character is healed individually 
with the same animation as Cure Light. Fairy Heal recovers a bit more for 
individual characters, as Fairy Light only recovers about 200 HP for each 
character, but if everyone is low on HP, you're better off using Fairy Light.

DISPEL - MP Use: 20

A circular blue symbol appears above the selected character's head, and the 
following blue sparkles cure the character of any status conditions. This 
move can cure poison, stone, paralysis, slow, confusion, etc. The only 
condition it cannot heal is faint (ie death). Some conditions aren't a big 
deal because your character can continue to fight and the condition will go 
away in time or after the battle is over, but this move is a must in areas 
where the enemies frequently stone or paralyze your characters.

WIND BLADE - MP Use: 10

Noel's Wind Blade is the same as Celine's. Use it all the beginning of the 
game or if you want a quick spell to stop the enemy.

GRAVE - MP Use: 22

Three small stalagmites burst from the earth and pierce the enemy three 
times. Damage is about average, but it's quick to cast, so it's a decent 
spell.

MAGNUM TORNADO - MP Use: 25

A powerful blast of dark tornado winds bombards the enemy to do damage. The 
damage is only average, so you're probably better off with grave unless you 
face enemies strong against the earth elemental.

EARTH GRAVE - MP Use: 36

Noel calls forth several giant stalagmites of earth to pop up from underneath 
the enemy. It does slightly above average damage, but it's not really worth 
the high MP cost.

ENERGY ARROW - MP Use: 30

Arrows of dark energy pierce the enemy from all angles. It does good damage 
and can be cast fairly fast, so it's a great "medium range" spell.

FOEHN - MP Use: 50

When Noel casts Foehn, little gusts of air float up in the sky. Then a huge 
powerful blast of burning hot air assaults the enemy. The MP cost may be 
high, but Foehn does high damage, and it's surprisingly quick to cast. Once 
you learn Foehn, I suggest you stick to it when you want to use Noel for 
attack magic.

BLESS - MP Use: 18

Same as Celine's Bless. Don't use it unless you enjoy wasting MP.

SILENCE - MP Use: 14

Ugh, yet another spell that doesn't have any real benefit. During the Silence 
spell, a tiny little angel appears next to the spellcaster. She throws her 
arms open, and four spheres of magical energy fly towards each corner of the 
screen. If the move fails to work, it will end then, but if it does work, an 
"X" will appear above the enemy. That indicates that the enemy can't use 
magical attacks. It works randomly and is useless overall.


******************************
OPERA VECTRA
******************************

Character Report:

From very early on in their adventure, Crawd and Rena kept bumping into these 
strange three-eyed people. First a man in Cross, then a bold beautiful and... 
drunk woman named Opera Vectra. Opera asked them if they had seen a three-
eyed man. They told her that they had, of course, and she darted off. Not 
without hinting at where she was heading, though. Crawd and Rena suspected 
that she went to the Mountain Palace. They returned to the continent of 
Cross, got permission from the king to enter the palace, and after getting 
confused and lost in the make-like ancient structure, they finally found 
Opera. In a private conversation, Crawd learned that Opera was also not from 
Expel. She hailed from the planet Tetragene and was in search of her 
boyfriend who always seems to leave her behind when he goes exploring. Crawd 
and Opera both agreed that it would be a good idea for her to join the party. 
Crawd and Rena would get some much-needed help, and Opera would get the 
opportunity to scour the entire planet of Expel for he boyfriend.

The current whereabouts of Opera is unknown. Over the past two years, she and 
her boyfriend Ernest have been investigating ruins on uncharted planets, but 
on a planet nicknamed the "Blue Sphere" they ran into misfortune. Their ship 
crashed, and shortly after their SOS call was sent, they disappeared.

Type:

Opera is a figher. She specializes in Spanner (wrench), and she gains her 
moves by creating them in Machinery. She is very difficult to combo with, but 
her moves are quite useful in battle. She's also unique in that she's the 
only fighter with a healing spell that affects the ENTIRE party. If you don't 
want to use Noel or Rena for healing, then bring in Opera with her Holy Star 
move.

Moves:

FLAME LAUNCHER - MP Use: 10

Opera's Flame Launcher is almost identical to Chisato's Flame Thrower. As I 
said before, it you start it from a distance, you won't hit the enemy many 
times, and each hit pushes the enemy away a bit. Unfortunately, even if you 
start Flame Launcher right next to the enemy and it hits several times, it 
still won't do much damage. It's MP cost is pretty low, though, so you might 
want to use Flame Launcher just to push the enemy away from you.

SPREAD RAY - MP Use: 21

Opera leaps into the air and fires several large shots from her gun at the 
enemy. For Spread Ray to hit, you have to be within about half a screen from 
the enemy, but this is still a great move to use. The MP cost is pretty low, 
and it's a fairly strong move.

COLD WIND - MP Use: 24

Cold Wind is similar to Flame Launcher, but instead of fire, it's a blast of 
freezing wind and ice twirling out of Opera's gun. Like Flame Launcher, it 
pushes the enemy away, and you have to be within half a screen for it to hit 
at all. Unlike Flame Launcher, though, it's MUCH more powerful. The MP cost 
is about average, so it's a good move to use, especially if you're fighting 
enemies weak against water.

GRAVITY SHELL - MP Use: 32

Opera fires a shell, which only flies a short distance before falling to the 
ground and exploding. You have to be within half a screen for this move to 
hit the enemy. Despite it's high MP cost, it's really far too weak. Spread 
Ray and Cold Wind do more damage and cost less. I recommend you avoid Gravity 
Shell.

LIGHTNING BLADE - MP Use: 35

Another different elemental version of the Flame Launcher/Cold Wind type 
moves. Opera points her gun to the sky in order to charge it with electricity 
from several lightning bolts, and then she fire the electricity at the enemy 
to shock it. Lightning Blade has far too many bad points to be useful. You 
have to be within half a screen from the enemy, it only hits about two times, 
damage is low, and the MP cost is high. Stick to Cold Wind.

HOLY STAR - MP Use: 15

When executing Holy Star, Opera fires a beam straight into the sky, which 
explodes and sends little stars of healing energy floating down lightly 
across the battlefield to heal every character. It recovers around 100 HP, 
and the MP cost is low, so this is a great move if you want someone who can 
heal but don't want to sacrifice a spot on your party for a healing mage.

HYPER LAUNCHER - MP Use: 48

Opera swings her gun forward, and the end of it widens in order to fire 
several large explosive shots at the enemy. Like all of Opera's other attack 
moves, you have to be within half a screen from the enemy. It also pushes the 
enemy away with each shot, so get in close. Hyper Launcher is VERY powerful, 
so if you don't mind the high MP cost, definitely go ahead and use it.


******************************
ERNEST RAVIEDE
******************************

Character Report:

Crawd and Rena first met the mysterious Indiana Jones-esque man Ernest 
Raviede in the city of Cross, but it was little more than a brush by. At the 
Hoffman Ruins, Opera thought she glimpsed him. She chased after the image, 
and the party followed. It was indeed Ernest, but after a brief conversation, 
Opera sensed that something was not right... Ernest had been possessed by an 
evil ghost, and Opera had to make the heart-wrenching decision to attack her 
love in order to save him. The team dispatched of the demon, and Rena healed 
Ernest until he was his proper self again. United with her love, Opera asked 
if Ernest would join them. She had accomplished her goal, but she made dear 
friends in the process and wanted to help them solve the mysteries of the 
Sorcery Globe with her boyfriend at her side. Ernest was interested in the 
Sorcery Globe himself, so it was an easy decision to make.

Ernest didn't let the ghost incident scare him, so he continued to explore 
dangerous unknown worlds. After defeating the Ten Wise Men, he had a bit more 
faith and confidence in Opera's ability to fight and protect herself, so this 
time he let Opera join him. It might have been a bad idea, though, because 
they BOTH found themselves stranded on the Blue Sphere planet.

Type:

Ernest is a fighter. He specializes in Feel (hand), and he randomly gains his 
moves by pulling off combos and raising his Feel skill levels. He's pretty 
easy to combo with, but he has a tendency to push the enemy away with each 
hit, thus ending your combo prematurely. His on-screen attack also doubles as 
a Field Action. It's the same as Precis's Winch Field Action. He can grab 
onto certain objects with his whip and pull the party across an abyss.

Moves:

CLOUD DUST - MP Use: 15

Cloud Dust was probably the most useless move in Star Ocean: The Second 
Story, but it's a bit better in Blue Sphere. It's very much like Ashton's 
Hurricane Slash. Ernest spins around and creates a small tornado of dust 
which flies at the enemy to do damage. The damage is quite minimal, and 
Ernest gets tired after only two, but the MP cost isn't too bad, so it isn't 
the worst move out there.

SONIC WHIP - MP Use: 36

Ernest whips a huge blue blast of sonic energy at the enemy to do massive 
damage. While it tires Ernest out after only one, the damage is well worth 
it.


******************************
RENA LANFORD
******************************

Character Report:

The happy-go-lucky Expellian girl Rena Lanford went to her favorite place, 
the Shingo Forest, one day to relax and be alone, despite her mother's 
warnings. Ever since the Sorcery Globe crashed into the planet, natural 
disasters had been occurring at an alarming rate, and monsters were roaming 
the land everywhere that people didn't inhabit. Rena wasn't worried, though, 
and her bizarre healing powers could protect her if necessary. But what 
happened that day she didn't expect... A huge ape beast snuck up behind her, 
and if it wasn't for a mysterious man who ran in and defeated the monster 
with a blade of light, she would have been killed. He must be the Hero of 
Light, the one who would come from a far off place to save Expel when it 
needed it most...

After her adventure, Rena moved to Earth to study medicine. She may have been 
blessed with the magical powers of healing, but there was also the power of 
science. Rena didn't want to see anyone else suffer and die. She devoted 
herself to learning all she could to help people, but she had to stop her 
studying to help those who mattered most to her - her friends.

Type:

Rena is a spell caster who focuses on healing. She specializes in Knowledge 
(book), and she randomly learns spells by casting spells over and over and 
raising her Knowledge skill levels. You don't get her until late in the game, 
though, so she already comes with many of her spells. All the factors that 
apply to Celine, Leon, and Noel's spell learning affect Rena as well, and 
like Noel, you can't learn a healing spell by using attack spells over and 
over or vice versa. Rena is very weak at fighting and almost impossible to 
combo with, but if you want a healer, she's the best one available.

Spells:

HEAL - MP Use: 3

Rena's Heal is the same as Noel's. Since you recruit Rena at such a late 
point in the game, this move is pretty useless. You don't even need to use it 
in order to learn stronger healing spells because Rena comes with Cure Light 
when you first get her in your party.

CURE LIGHT - MP Use: 11

Rena's Cure Light is also the same as Noel's. It's not too useful when you 
finally get Rena, but you'll need to use it if you want to learn stronger 
healing spells for Rena.

FAIRY HEAL - MP Use: 24

Same as Noel's version yet again. You should try to learn Fairy Heal as soon 
as possible with Rena because at that point in the game you'll need it.

FAIRY LIGHT - MP Use: 18

Rena's Fairy Light is identical to Noel's Fairy Light. Use it when everybody 
is low on HP rather than Fairy Heal.

ANTIDOTE - MP Use: 5

A shower of healing mist (and more silly green sparkles) surrounds the 
selected character and cleanses him or her of all toxins. Sounds good, but 
Antidote is actually a really stupid move. It only cures the poison status 
anomaly, and unlike Star Ocean and Star Ocean: The Second Story, poison is 
nothing to worry about. After the battle, the poison status is gone. Not to 
mention there seems to be a bug related to Antidote. If you have Antidote 
selected for use, the AI will cast it on characters who have status anomalies 
other than poison. Thus the character won't be cured, and Rena will have just 
wasted some MP. Worse yet, she'll do this even if you have Dispel selected 
for use. She won't use Dispel at all unless you make her manually or remove 
Antidote from her list of moves to use in battle.

DISPEL - MP Use: 20

Another spell that Rena shares with Noel. Like with Noel, it's a good spell 
to use when exploring areas that have enemies who stone or paralyze, but 
other status conditions usually aren't much of a problem. If you have both 
Rena and Noel on your party at the same time (which I don't recommend to 
begin with), it isn't necessary to have both characters set to use Dispel. 
One is adequate.

RAY - MP Use: 42

Rena's Ray is identical to Celine's. As I said when describing Celine's, Ray 
takes awhile to cast, but it does a lot of damage. Considering how high 
Rena's MP should get, the MP cost isn't bad at all. Rena only comes with two 
attacking spells, Ray and Press, so I recommend you use this one until you 
learn something stronger.

PRESS - MP Use: 18

Rena conjures up a 100-ton weight and drops it on the enemy. Despite Press's 
low MP cost, it's a surprisingly powerful spell. If you don't have the time 
to cast a more powerful spell, Press is a good alternative. Rena casts it 
very quickly.

LIGHT CROSS - MP Use: 40

Little sparkles and crosses of light fill the battlefield and explode all 
around the enemy to do massive damage. The MP cost is a tad high, but not a 
problem at all when Rena had several hundred MP total. I highly recommend 
this spell for when Rena isn't busy healing. The only downside is that it 
takes a very long time to cast.

TRACTOR BEAM - MP Use: 30

When Rena casts Tractor Beam, a huge beam of reverse gravity fills the 
battlefield and lifts the enemy up in the air. Then it drops the enemy to the 
earth. It does above average damage, but you're probably better off with a 
stronger spell or a weaker one that's quicker to cast.

STAR FLARE - MP Use: 38

A huge star, not unlike the sun, appears above the enemy and sends a massive 
wave of heat and fire towards it. It does high damage, and the casting time 
and MP cost aren't too bad, so it's definitely recommended.

PROTECTION - MP Use: 15

Same as Leon's Protection spell. It has the potential to be somewhat useful, 
but you're really probably better off sticking to regular healing magic and 
attack magic for Rena. You characters will benefit a lot more from recovering 
HP than a small temporary defense boost.

HASTE - MP Use: 15

Haste looks almost the same as Delay, except the hands on the clock move 
clockwise rather than counterclockwise. Also, rather than the bad looking 
dark mist at the end of Delay, you see yellow sparkles, which of course must 
be good. Haste supposedly makes your character move faster (maybe cast spells 
faster too?), but really, even if it worked, would you ever really need it?

ANTI - MP Use: 16

When Rena casts Anti, a symbol similar to the one Dispel has, only yellow, 
appears above the battlefield, spins around, and disappears. Then every 
character individually is surrounded by yellow sparkles. It raises all of the 
characters' magic defense, but, eh... still not very useful.

DELAY - MP Use: 18

Rena's Delay is identical to Leon's, and it's still useless.

SILENCE - MP Use: 11

Same as Noel's Silence spell. If you're facing an enemy that has strong 
magical attacks, it MIGHT be useful, but then again it only works sometimes. 
Just don't bother with it.

DEEP MIST - MP Use: 11

A thick mist fills the battlefield and randomly affects the enemy's vision. 
Supposedly it makes the enemy's hit percentage drop, thus causing it to miss 
more often, but I haven't noticed much of a difference. Another enemy status 
affecting spell you don't need.

FIXED CLOUD - MP Use: 22

American Star Ocean: The Second Story fans know this move as Energy Net, but 
in Star Ocean and Star Ocean: Blue Sphere (and maybe the Japanese version of 
Star Ocean: The Second Story?), it's called Fixed Cloud. Rena summons the 
clouds to form a large mallet, which pounds the enemy several times in an 
attempt to peep it, ie make it dizzy and unable to move or attack. It could 
be useful... if it worked. Most of the time it doesn't, so it's just more 
wasted MP.


******************************
CRAWD C. KENNY
******************************

Character Report:

The young man who Rena believed to be the Hero of Light was actually Crawd C. 
Kenny, an officer of the Earth Federation. His "blade of light" was his phase 
gun, which he father Ronixis gave him. Rena, being from a primitive planet, 
couldn't grasp such technology. Crawd explained to Rena that he wasn't the 
Hero of Light, but he was still stuck. While exploring some ancient ruins on 
the planet Milocinia, he somehow got transported to Expel. He had no ship to 
leave, his communicator stopped working, he was hopelessly lost. He's a good 
soul, though, and decided that while he was there, it was his duty as an 
officer of the Earth Federation to aid in their crisis with the Sorcery 
Globe, and to, for once, prove to his father that he is brave and can do 
things on his own. Rena developed a bit of a crush on the dashing young lad, 
so she decided to come along and help with her healing powers. She also had a 
few things about herself she hoped to figure out along the way...

Crawd, like his father did with his adventures on Roak, proved himself to the 
Earth Federation by defeating the Ten Wise Men. He also moved out of his 
father's shadow. He even got his own ship. After Precis and her friends were 
gone for an unusually long time and couldn't be reached, Crawd and Rena 
suspected that they met the same fate as Opera and Ernest. Crawd and Rena 
took off in Crawd's ship, but they, like everyone else, crashed into the Blue 
Sphere planet after entering its strange gravitational force.

Type:

Claude is a fighter. He specializes in Battle (sword), and he randomly gains 
his moves by pulling off combos and raising his Battle skill levels. He's 
probably the strongest fighter in the game (if you allocated everyone's skill 
points equally), but pulling off combos with him can be a bit tricky at 
first. You usually have to be up close to an enemy. He seems to punch more 
often than use his sword. o_O

Moves:

PHASE GUN - MP Use: 17

Many Star Ocean: The Second Story fans were disappointed when Crawd's phase 
gun frizzled out after only reaching the Salva Drift. I guess Crawd 
remembered to bring good batteries this time 'cause you can use the Phase Gun 
move for the entire game. :) When Crawd executes Phase Gun, he whips out his 
gun and fires a shot of energy at the enemy to do minimal damage. You have to 
be within about 3/4 of a screen from the enemy. It's a decent move, but it's 
kind of weak.

KATSUJINKEN - MP Use: 7

Katsujinken is more or less the same as Energy Sword from Star Ocean: The 
Second Story. Well, except a bit more useful. Crawd spins his sword around, 
and then holds it pointing up and straight right in front of himself. A 
circle of energy forms around him, and he recovers around 40 of his HP. It's 
not too terrible. The MP cost is low, and Crawd can easy pull off several at 
the beginning of a battle to refill his HP.

GAKURETSUHA - MP Use: 20

Pear into peaches! Hehehehe, Gakuretsuha is the same as Star Ocean: The 
Second Story's Ripper Blast move. Crawd strikes the ground with such a 
powerful blow that the earth in front of him gets pushed out and up and 
impales the enemy. Damage is only average and Crawd gets tired after two, but 
since the MP cost is low and it can hit airborne enemies, I would still 
consider Gakuretsuha a very good move.

SWORD BOMBER - MP Use: 32

Seems like most, if not all, of Crawd's moves are taken from Star Ocean: The 
Second Story, unlike most of the other fighters who have some original moves. 
Anyway, when Crawd performs Sword Bomber, he jumps up into the air and fires 
three explosive bursts of energy at the enemy. Since damage is only average 
and Sword Bomber tires out Crawd after only one, I'd stick to Gakuretsuha.


..............................
BATTLE SYSTEM AND COMBOS
..............................


Even if you have had a ton of experience with battling in Star Ocean and/or 
Star Ocean: The Second Story, you will probably still be a little confused by 
the finer points of the Star Ocean: Blue Sphere battle system. The most 
foreign addition to the Star Ocean battle system is combo system. Other 
changes are minor and natural to adjust to, but for those who need it I will 
cover the basics.

******************************
THE BASICS OF BATTLES
******************************

In Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, you are limited to left and right movement in the 
battlefield. You can only control one character at a time, but you may switch 
between the other two characters by pressing select. Once you have the cursor 
over the character you desire, press confirm. When your character has fainted 
(died) or been completely immobilized in another way, you will automatically 
be switched to another character.

You only face one enemy in each battle, but each enemy has several body 
parts. The enemy's HP is displayed at the bottom of the screen in the form of 
bars for each body part. If a body part loses all its HP, the enemy can no 
longer use it. So attack an enemy's legs, and it cannot move. Attack an 
enemy's jaw or hands, and it cannot bite or claw at you. Usually if you 
deplete all of an enemy's body or head HP, it will die. Different attacks, 
moves, and spells hit different parts of the enemy's body. Try to hit the 
head for a quick death, or attack a certain pesky body part that the enemy 
keeps using to attack you. Experiment to figure out where each attack, move, 
and spell will hit. You cannot manually choose what body part to attack (ie 
there is no cursor to switch between them all.)

To execute a regular attack in Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, press A. Most 
characters, in particular fighters, have many different normal attacks. They 
will change depending on your distance from the enemy.

To perform a move or spell, press B or a certain direction on the D-pad in 
addition to B. You cannot perform moves or spells unless you first go into 
the menu prior to battle and set them for that character or set them sometime 
during the battle. Spells that affect the enemy or spells that affect your 
entire party will be cast immediately after you press the button or button 
combination. Spells that affect only one member of the party will make a 
cursor appear at the top of the screen. Move the cursor left or right to 
select the character you wish the spell to be cast upon, and press confirm.

You may have noticed that B + Down can't be used for moves and spells. That's 
because Down is used for defending. When an enemy is attacking or about to 
perform an attack, quickly press down to defend. If it's a particularly 
powerful attack, it will most likely still do damage, but defending 
significantly lessens the damage you receive. If it's a weak attack, you may 
receive no damage at all when you defend.

To get to the menus, press start. A cursor appears at the top so you can 
choose which character you will be performing the actions with or on, and you 
are presented with three options on the bottom of the screen which you can 
scroll up and down through. The first is items, the second is for setting 
moves and spells, and the third is for setting character AI. They're all 
basically the same as in the regular menu, except for items, which is a bit 
more limited. You can only use items from two groups - potions and battle 
items. Select which group the item you want is in, and select the item you 
wish to use. Then you'll go back to the battle screen, and the character will 
use the item.

To run away from battles, run right, ie away from the enemy. If you get far 
enough, all your characters will escape, but often times the character trying 
to run away will get tired at least once before successfully escaping. When a 
character is tired, he or she can't move. They just stand or sit there 
breathing heavily until they get enough energy to fight again or until an 
enemy knocks them out of the tired state. It's a very dangerous time for the 
character, but it's pretty unavoidable. Besides running away, numerous 
performances of moves and spells or very strong moves and spells will tire 
out characters. Long combos and even lots of regular attacking will tire out 
characters as well.

******************************
COMBOS
******************************

Okay, you got the basics down? I can actually explain combos in a lot less 
words, but I feel it deserves its own little section. It was one of the most 
confusing things to me at first, but it's actually rather simple. The easiest 
way to explain it is to think of Super Mario RPG's timed attacks, or Squall's 
timed attack in Final Fantasy 8 for you RPG newbies, but TO THE EXTREME. 
Combos are often times more effective than even the most powerful moves and 
spells, and performing a well-executed long combo can mean the difference 
between life and death. So as you can imagine, nearly every battle consists 
of mostly combos.

All you got to do is press A right as a regular attack hits. You may want to 
use the little star-shaped impact an attack makes to help time yourself. If 
you time it right, you should pull off another attack immediately, and a 
little number should pop up in the upper left area of the screen. Try to do 
this with the second attack, the third, and so on. If you learn the timing of 
all the various attacks a character does, you can pull off VERY long chains. 
My longest ones usually don't get higher than the upper teens, but I've heard 
of people managing to get them into the twenties and even thirties. Some 
characters are easier to combo with than others, and some combos have to stop 
after a certain point.

One final note about combos, besides being very powerful, you will need to 
perform combos in order to learn new moves for many of the fighters. See the 
character section for information on each individual character's combo 
abilities.


..............................
FIELD ACTIONS
..............................


Field Actions are another new addition to the Star Ocean series. Most RPGs 
limit you to walking and running on the field screen, but Star Ocean: Blue 
throws some Zelda-like action into the mix. You can jump, push and pull 
blocks, shoot various projectiles, pull your party across gaps, set bombs, 
and perform many other actions. Every character comes with at least one Field 
Action, but most of the other ones have to be learned by allocating skill 
points to the proper skills.

For information on setting Field Actions, see the menu area, but I'll give 
you a little helpful tip here. I stumbled across this accidentally after 
already having spent dozens of hours on the game. To easily switch Field 
Actions without having to constantly go into the main menus, just hold 
select, and press B. Instead of switching characters, your Field Action will 
change. Keep pressing B to scroll through them all. And now for the list (in 
alphabetical order):


---------------
BOKUDAN (BOMBS)
---------------

If you have at least one of the item Field Bomb (shows up in the Key Item 
list), you can use Bokudan. Just press B when you're standing next to a 
cracked or thin wall or rubble to set a bomb. You lose one Field Bomb item 
every time you use Bokudan. To know if a wall can be bombed, try to "talk" to 
it. If your character comments on the wall, it most likely can be bombed (or 
has to be opened in some other special way). Rubble on the other hand usually 
won't give you a message, but if there's junk blocking your way to something 
important, it can probably can be destroyed or moved. You need Bokudan at the 
very beginning of the game, so be sure to have at least one Field Bomb always 
on you.

Characters who can use: Ashton, Bowman, Celine, Chisato, Crawd, Ernest, Leon, 
Opera, Precis, and Rena

----
DASH
----

Press and hold B to move at twice the speed you have normally. Good for 
running away from enemies or for simply saving time.

Characters who can use: Ashton, Crawd, Dias, Ernest, Opera, and Precis

------------
DUNGEON HINT
------------

If you use Dungeon Hint while in a dungeon, Leon will tell you some sort of 
clue about it. But it's useless to you if you don't know Japanese... And even 
if you do, it's completely unnecessary to use Dungeon Hint throughout the 
course of the entire game.

Character who can use: Leon

---------
FIREBALLS
---------

Fireballs is arguably one of the best Field Actions in the game. Not only is 
it absolutely necessary to have in the second dungeon (thankfully Ashton 
comes with it), but it's useful for the whole entire game. It surprises 
enemies from a distance, like a few other characters can do, but it also 
burns down many obstacles. Something all those other moves cannot do.

Character who can use: Ashton

---------------------------
HOVER IDOU (HOVER MOVEMENT)
---------------------------

If Fireballs isn't Star Ocean: Blue Sphere's best Field Action than Hover is. 
Like Fireballs, you HAVE to use Hover in some areas to advance in the game. 
It's also a hell of a lot easier for crossing gaps than jumping. I recommend 
you make Hover as soon as you get a Material Kit. If you can only afford one 
Material Kit, then just keep resetting the game until you make Hover. It's 
THAT important.

Character who can use: Precis

----
JUMP
----

Press B to perform a small hop. Not too useful since the jumping distance is 
so short. If you're trying to clear a gap, you'll likely not make it. You're 
better off with Hover or at least Winch. Jump can get you out of a pinch if 
you're without anything better, though.

Characters who can use: Every character

----------
MAGIC SHOT
----------

Celine casts a spell to send a shot of magic towards the enemy in order to 
surprise it.

Character who can use: Celine

------
MAPPER
------

Mapper creates a map of everywhere you've been. On the "overworld", it gives 
you a bird's eye view of the continent you're on, which is pretty looking, 
but not overly useful. In dungeons, it creates a map of the floor you're on. 
It's a very simple map. All it shows is a square for each room and the 
passages to other rooms. Rooms that you haven't been into yet don't show up. 
This Field Action is a must-have by the time you get Ernest.

Characters who can use: Ashton, Chisato, Crawd, Ernest, Leon, Noel, Opera, 
Precis, and Rena

--------------------------------------------
MONSHOUJUU "infinity" (MAGIC GUN "infinity")
--------------------------------------------

Yet another Field Action for surprising enemies. It looks just like Celine's 
Magic Shot too.

Character who can use: Opera

--------------------------
MUCHI IDOU (WHIP MOVEMENT)
--------------------------

Press B while facing a stump-like object, and Ernest will latch onto it with 
his whip in order to pull himself across. Not overly useful, but it can help 
out in a pinch, ie Precis not on your party or without Hover and AND the 
particular gap you want to cross happens to have the objects necessary for 
Muchi Idou to work.

Character who can use: Ernest

--------------------
OSU/HIKU (PUSH/PULL)
--------------------

Osu/Hiku or "Push/Pull" is an odd Field Action because it's actually two 
Field Actions combined into one. In Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, you always learn 
Osu or Push first. Then if you allocate skill points to the proper skills, 
you'll learn Hiku or Pull. Instead of it being added on to the Field Action 
list separately, it's just added on to Osu. It makes sense since you'll 
likely be using both at the same time. Use Osu/Hiku to move various blocks 
and crates around. Sometimes you'll need to move them to certain spots on 
screen, and other times they're simply blocking your way. Press and hold B to 
grab onto the object, and then just press the direction you wish it to go in.

Characters who can use: Ashton, Bowman (only Osu/Push), Chisato (only 
Osu/Push), Crawd, Dias, Ernest, Noel (only Osu/Push), Opera, Precis, and Rena 
(only Osu/Push)

---------
PHASE GUN
---------

Crawd is weird in that his phase gun is both a move AND a Field Action. Phase 
Gun shoots a beam of energy to surprise an enemy from a distance.

Character who can use: Crawd

---------------------------
HEYABUNSEKI (ROOM ANALYSIS)
---------------------------

Like Leon's Dungeon Hint, this Field Action is only useful if you know 
Japanese. When in dungeons, just press B to make Ernest comment on what's in 
the room. Entirely unnecessary, so if you don't know Japanese, you're not 
missing out.

Character who can use: Ernest

-----------------------
SATSUEI (PHOTOGRAPHING)
-----------------------

Press B to bring up a cursor, and press A when it's over the enemy. Chisato 
will take a photograph of it, which will appear and be saved in the Monster 
Picture Book (second item in the Key Items list). The pictures don't serve 
any real use, but they're fun to collect.

Character who can use: Chisato

--------------------
SOSEI (RESURRECTION)
--------------------

This has got to be the weirdest Field Action in Star Ocean: Blue Sphere. Took 
me awhile to figure out too. If you destroy some object or defeat an enemy, 
perform Sosei in the spot where it was, and Rena will revive it. This can 
prove very useful if you're trying to gain skill points. Just find an enemy 
that gives a high amount, and fight it over and over. You'll also need Sosei 
to solve a few puzzles (in the Leviabor Ruins, for example), but those 
puzzles aren't necessary to complete.

Character who can use: Rena

----------------------------
TEKIBUNSEKI (ENEMY ANALYSIS)
----------------------------

Press B to bring a cursor up, and when it's over an enemy press A. Data about 
the enemy such as location, statistics, items dropped, and other useful 
tidbits of info will be listed and saved in your Monster Picture Book. Useful 
if you're worrying about how strong an enemy may be.

Characters who can use: Noel and Opera

--------
TELEPORT
--------

Press B to bring a cursor up, and select a location. If it's a place that 
your characters can walk, Celine will raise her staff up into the air and 
teleport to that location. Since this Field Action would take the challenge 
out of many of Star Ocean: Blue Sphere's puzzles, you can't learn it the 
normal way. Once you reach the final area of the game, return to your 
spaceship and walk outside (with Celine NOT in your party), you should see 
her walking up to you. Then she'll tell you about how she learned the Field 
Action Teleport. If you don't see her, don't worry. The game kind of strings 
you along making you think you're in the final area a few times. You'll know 
for sure when the secret dungeon to the left of your ship opens up.

Character who can use: Celine

-----
WINCH
-----

Winch works exactly the same as Ernest's Muchi Idou Field Action. If you 
perform Winch while facing an object that looks like something you can latch 
onto, Bobot will grab onto the object and pull Precis across the gap. You're 
really much better off with Hover, but Winch can be useful if for some reason 
you don't have Hover. Of course, it's of no help if there are no objects to 
grab onto.

Character who can use: Precis

---------------------------------------
YAKUSOUTORI (MEDICINAL PLANT GATHERING)
---------------------------------------

Took me a long time to figure out this one, but Yakusoutori is actually quite 
simple. Just press B while over those strange, candy cane shaped plants, and 
Bowman will pick them. Since there aren't as many items available for sale in 
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere as the other Star Ocean games, this is a good way to 
stock up on herbs, which you can use to make good items like Resurrect 
Bottles.

Character who can use: Bowman


..............................
PRIVATE ACTIONS
..............................


If you have played Star Ocean or Star Ocean: The Second Story, you surely 
know what Private Actions are. When you reach a town, a little message pops 
up on the screen saying "Private Action". If you press the corresponding 
button, your party would enter the town and split up. Then you would use the 
main character to speak with all the other party members. Sometimes they'd 
say very little, but other times you'd get into a long conversation or 
scenario. They mostly just add to the story or affect how the characters feel 
about each other, but sometimes you'd get useful items.

But once you played a little ways in Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, you were 
probably saddened to see the Star Ocean trademark Private Actions missing. 
Not so. They just take a different form. Occasionally during your travels 
you'll come across the characters not currently in your party wandering 
around. If you talk to them at the right time and with the right character in 
your party, a little conversation may take place.

NOTE: I don't have many Private Actions right now, but I will list them as I 
find them.

******************************
INSIDE THE SPACESHIP
******************************

Hard for me to pinpoint exactly when these Private Actions become available, 
but I would say around 3/4 through the game. So around the time when you 
reach Scream (don't hold me to that, though ;) ). Anyway, speak to Chisato 
and Ashton with anybody in your party, and they'll each give you a weapon 
that they use. (Gyoro and Ururun seem to spaz out too.) Both weapons appear 
to be really crummy, so I can't really say what good they're for. Maybe you 
can turn them into powerful weapons with Item Creation.

Later on, after you get teleported out of the Grand Knott by the three 
masters of Aqua, speak with Dias, and he too will give you a strange weapon 
with no statistic bonuses.

******************************
FOREST OUTSIDE CRASHED SHIP
******************************

After completing Mile Dungeon, you should find Bowman wandering around just 
to the left of Scout Village's entrance. He'll give you a bunch of herbs. I 
don't believe it matters what characters are in your party.

******************************
ABA CITY
******************************

After finding Opera, put her in your party and speak to Celine in Aba City's 
inn. Opera and Celine will have a short conversation, and then Celine will 
give her the system that enables Opera to learn her Holy Star move. Sure, you 
can easily make it with Machinery, but this Private Action can save you a 
little work. ^_^

If you speak to the boy in the far left area of the town while Chisato is in 
your party, you'll be forced to run an errand for him. You won't be able to 
talk to the king or leave the town until you finish it. Just talk to everyone 
in the town, including all the shop owners (be sure to break all the debris 
to find two shops), and then return to him. Unfortunately, you don't seem to 
get anything from him for doing this.

******************************
BANISU CITY
******************************

After getting Opera, speak to Ernest with her in the party. They have a 
conversation, but nothing more than that seems to come from this Private 
Action.

******************************
DESERT AT KNOTT'S ENTRANCE
******************************

Around when you reach Aqua, teleport to Knott and step outside. You should 
see Opera standing at the edge of the cliff. Speak to her with Precis in the 
party, and they'll have a conversation. You're given two options, but I don't 
believe either results in much of anything.

******************************
NUSA BEACH
******************************

After opening the door in Leviabor Ruins that leads to the Grand Knott, take 
Rena to the forest outside the crashed ship. Climb down the ladder in the 
cliff that leads to Nusa Beach, and you should find Chisato wandering around. 
Speak to her, and she'll have a conversation with Rena. You're given two 
options, but neither results in anything.


..............................
CONTACTING ME
..............................


Since I don't know Japanese, some of my translations could possibly be 
incorrect, but with the aid of Katakana and Hiragana charts, my 
knowledge of previous Star Ocean games, Japanese and Chinese Star 
Ocean: Blue Sphere sites, and other resources, I think I got almost 
everything right. If you feel that a translation is incorrect, or any 
other information for that matter, let me know. Some translations come 
down to a matter of opinion, though, so I won't necessarily change 
something just because you don't like my translation ("Knott" and "Not" 
for example. Until I see something official that says one or the other, 
I'm calling the area "Knott".) When and if there is a fan translation 
of Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, I will NOT change my FAQ or walkthrough to 
match it. If you email me about doing such a thing, I will delete your 
email, and if I'm not in a particularly good mood, you may get a not-
so-pleasant reply. ;) If there's any information you think is missing 
or info that you'd like to see added, email me about that. I will NOT 
include info relating to the ROM or Game Genie codes. That's not my 
thing, and I encourage all Star Ocean: Blue Sphere players to actually 
go out and buy the game. If you'd just like some help with something in 
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere, I would be happy to help. Please don't ask 
questions that are already answered by my FAQ or walkthrough, though. 
Don't bother asking for the ROM either. I will promptly delete your 
email. If you just want to chat about the game, that's fine. I love 
talking about tri-Ace and the Star Ocean games. ^_^ My email address 
is: aussie_2b@hotmail.com


..............................
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
..............................


This FAQ is copyright 2001 Kristina Potts. This FAQ may be used only if 
the author has been contacted and gave permission, nothing is altered, 
and the FAQ is used in its entirety. Credit must also be given to the 
author. This FAQ may NOT be used for commercial purposes.


..............................
THANKS TO...
..............................


tri-Ace for making yet another masterpiece. I hope Star Ocean 3 will be 
just as good...

Enix for publishing this game.

Nintendo for not including regional lockout on any of their Game Boy 
systems.

The dude who sold me Star Ocean: Blue Sphere. First copy ever on eBay, 
baby! Oh, and no thanks to the lousy online import stores that didn't 
get the game until a few months after it had been released.

GameFAQs for giving a home to my reviews and FAQs. Not that my site 
doesn't do the same, but more people visit GameFAQs...

My dear, loving soul mate Andreas. Thank you for just existing. But as 
far this FAQ goes, thanks for all the encouragement.

And I thank myself because I'm a narcissistic fruitcake with an unhealthy 
obsession with all things tri-Ace. And I'm a little old to be finding Leon 
sexy. o_O
