

The game retains its predecessor's gameplay features such as private actions, where individual characters have side sequences, weapon and item creation, and branching plot lines. Battle techniques and magic can be assigned to button combinations, making the battle system more similar to Star Ocean's cousin series, Tales. The characters can only move left and right, and the majority of fighting is influenced through combos. When engaged in combat, the screen changes to a side scrolling view and retains real time combat. For the first time, random battles are removed and enemy characters can be seen on the field. Gameplayīlue Sphere attempts to adapt traditional Star Ocean gameplay to the Game Boy Color. He is bedridden in a nearby village and it's up to the player to find the herb that will cure his sickness. Claude is separated from Rena and contracts a deadly illness. Once the mission is complete, they travel together to Edifice where their ship is pulled through the planet's atmosphere and they crash. When Precis receives the SOS from Opera, Claude and Rena are on a mission and cannot assist immediately. While constantly being sent on missions into space, Claude's relationship with Rena doesn't change much at all. After helping Precis and Leon settle, he returns to the Earth Federation with a real job along with Rena. Kenni takes Rena, Precis and Leon with him to live on Earth after the events of Star Ocean: The Second Story. They decide to explore their surroundings and search for their missing comrades, hoping that Claude and Rena will rescue them, but they too crash-land on Edifice later on in the game. They are also mysteriously pulled down through the planet's atmosphere and crash-land. to Precis, who then rounds up the entire gang (sans Claude and Rena, who are on a Federation mission) in her self-built ship and heads to the planet. Ernest and Opera are treasure hunting when their ship crash lands on Planet Edifice. Ashton, Celine, Dias, Noel, Chisato, and Bowman still live on Planet Expel. Claude has taken Rena, Leon, and Precis to live on Earth with him.

Taking place 2 years after Star Ocean: The Second Story and the defeat of the 10 Wise Men, all the characters have since moved on with their lives.
