Okay, so I don't mind the "2D-3D" thing that has been going on lately with games like Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy. However, it's not like it's something that I actively prefer.

Star Ocean: The Second Story R is my first time playing any game in the Star Ocean franchise, and I'm still very early in. I was immediately struck by one aspect of the game: the lighting.

2D-3D presents a whole host of problems. Perhaps the most significant is making the obvious juxtaposition of dimensionality believable. Yes, the 2D characters are meant to contrast with the 3D environments. But they should still feel like part of the same world.

Observe, Rena and Claude approaching the first village in the game:

Claude is shaded by the trees and Rena is in full sun, casting a nice shadow. Nothing especially noteworthy here. However:

There are many detailed shadows cast by leaves and other objects . What gave me pause is how well these leaves, blowing in the gentle breeze, mapped onto the 2D sprites. It looks and feels great to play this game.

In fact, I was on the fence about this game until playing it. The trailers didn't convince me that I would have a good time, but now that I've played? This game is more engaging than anything else I've got my hands on these days. That goes for the presentation, but it also goes for the game as a whole. A full review will likely follow, but that may be some ways off...I'm feeling a compulsion to fully explore this one.