[ShadowHeart]

There are a few important differences; unlike FF, Star Ocean is science fiction, sort of.. where ppl from advanced civilizations for one reason or another ends up on underdeveloped planet(s) where most or all of the story takes place.. and all battling is in real-time, no turn-based combat. There are still random battles in the older parts in the series though. Other than that they are pretty much classical japanese RPGs. Oh, and they all also feature neat item creation systems.