The initial release of Star Ocean felt especially stereotyped, recycling ideas from Tales of Phantasia while downplaying its weak characters/story in a mostly medieval fantasy backdrop, despite the science fantasy background. The active combat system - fusing a turn based menu usable with real time combat, was ruined by its dense repetition. Its one saving grace was the elaborate skill system, that rendered each character fully customizable in terms of passive abilities. However, the ambiguity surrounding most of the skills and the lofty grinding needed to fully enjoy it hampered what was an otherwise unique idea.