Future characters in Star Ocean: Anamnesis to watch out for

We don’t yet know if NA will keep the same release order as JP, but in any case, here is my opinion on some upcoming characters that are worth rolling for:

Claire (SO3)

Don’t let her non-Ace status fool you. Her party-wide super armor and ATK dmg defense buffs are quite valuable – she’s better than some of the early Defenders in many situations. She also has one of the best Rush Combo bonuses in the game, granting party-wide Damage +80% for 20 seconds.

Ratix (SO1)

Ratix’s entire selling point is his party-wide Stun +40% buff. There are many difficult bosses which become cake with a Ratix in the party because you can Rush Combo chain -> enemy stunned -> build up meter -> Rush Combo chain again once Stun wears off – > stunned again -> etc. for a near-infinite loop.

Reimi (SO4)

Reimi both boosts party damage (though not as much as Maria) and also reduces INT damage taken by the party, which makes her really helpful for some bosses and some of the Mazes. Her Rush also grants party-wide Regen; you may not need a Healer if Reimi’s in the party.

Evelysse (SOA)

To date she is still the only character in the entire game that can revive dead party members. She can definitely act as insurance of sorts before you get more used to dodging any given boss’s attacks, or if you’re playing Single. Until her Awakening her Rush takes forever to charge, however.

There are plenty of other good characters of course, but these ones are ones I found particularly helpful due to their unique Talents early on in the game.

EDIT: Looking back, it looks like in JP, Ratix, Reimi, and Claire were all released at the same time (within a few weeks of release), so it might even be worth hoarding gems until they’re all out.