Angst? What Angst?: Dietrich. While justified, it can be a little jarring to see how (apart from his event in Gunnitz) very little mention about his brother doesn't seem to bother him at all, almost to the point they are complete strangers.
Difficulty Spike: Chapter 2/Lutsk Sector is infamous for this. To elaborate, you start this chapter with only one slot available in your fleet and a weak destroyer ship. On the other hand, the enemies consist two or three ships, which is still not too bad since you can escape from them. If you're unlucky, however, a cruiser might appear among them and makes the battle inescapable, guaranteeing a quick Game Over for you. Until you learn Fleet Leader Lv. 2 and obtain ship blueprints from this chapter, good luck traveling around the sector.
Fridge Brilliance: The developers used Parental Abandonment with Yuri to hide the fact he's a Artificial Human. Since this is a JRPG you won't question it and forget about it. Then it gets brought up and used as proof as his status as one.
Fridge Horror: So that Dyson Sphere around the Sun? That means all life on Earth is dead and it's just a lifeless dustball now.
Except that we clearly see green on the surface. That alone is evidence that at least plant life survived. How, on the other hand, is another matter entirely.
Chemosynthesis. And assume that the green is inherited and just never evolved out, because it's not really a detriment to survival.
The art book also says that the Dyson Sphere was only there for a few weeks, at most. Certainly not good for the planet, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the Earth is completely devoid of life.
The Absoluta is hands-down the most powerful ship in the game. It boosts both your accurcy and evasion by an insane amount, meaning: You practically won't get hit ever while you can even hit enemies in the backrow consistently. Using the Absoluta as your flagship makes the rest of the game almost trivially easy.
Fighters fit a stricter definition of this trope, in that they're a "nuke" option in the Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors. They're more effective against enemy ships than ship-mounted guns, and they're also more effective against enemy fighters than anti-air guns. In addition, once they start attacking an enemy, that enemy is held in place, allowing you to choose the range of the battle, and that can include retreating beyond their gun range and letting the fighters kill all of the enemy. In other words, "throw fighters at it" is always a superior option to any tactic that does not include "throw fighters at it."
The names in the list of highest-ranked space pirates include the names of real-life corsairs and privateers like Walter Kennedy and Samuel Mason.
One of the first clues you can get regarding what happened in the Irvest sector is that the speed of light has changed in the area. Or, in physics terms, Irvest Sector has just gotten bigger.
Goddamned Bats: Almost anything you fight before you gain access to ships those will match the enemies, even in New Game Plus. The LMC pirate ships (Sodality, Junkyard, and Fellowship) are the most notable examples, since they're fast and have high durability compared to your SMC ships. They are also not very worth fighting since the reward is so small (except when they appear along with Hestia, which will drop a large sum of money), so it's usually better just to run away.
At one point in the game, Nia lightheartedly tells Celina that she plans to live longer than her. Guess who dies first.
Later in the game, Nia (yes, again) tells Yuri that she will kiss him when nobody is around, causing Kira to freak out. Cue First Kiss / Now or Never Kiss / Last Kiss.
After the battle against Orders in Act 2, Roth cries over his damaged-beyond-repair ship in such childish manner. This will remain funny if you recruit Katida, but if you don't, cue the final battle against Lugovalos, where Roth (already badly injured) overloads his ship's high-stream blaster to defeat Katida, guaranteeing his ship will be destroyed for sure.
An event that allows Princess Glorinda to be recruited has PM Falko asks Yuri if he has "special someone", in which if Yuri answered "yes", Torlo will (perhaps jokingly) states that his "special someone" is Kira. Later after the battle against Lugovalos is over, Torlo and Tatiana tell Yuri that he should find a girlfriend, and their suggestion? Glorinda. Granted, Yuri is the only one who remembers Kira, but considering what happened, it's really harsh.
Nightmare Fuel: Flux Space, Desmond Gate, Rubriko's clones, the Phages... plenty of stuff in this game can be disturbing, actually.
If fighting Mikelo five times isn't enough to freak you out, then watching how his spare bodies suddenly come to life while screaming and such before all of them fall to the ground should do.
The artificial Epitaph that Professor Minas created caused Trevor to merge with the Dead Gate nearby, turning said gate into some sort of primitive life force that will attack anything nearby.
Player Punch: Everything that isn't epic or funny in the game. The best example is when you just fought your way through a bunch of pirates and had to go through a dense meteorite storm to rescue a hostage that seems to be a new crew member. You get to her and when you move her out of her cell you realize too late that she was rigged with explosives. And she wasn't dead. Her death can be prevented if you execute Argun.
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Katida is not well-liked as a teammate, especially since she's a pain in the ass to recruit, but if she gets a Face–Heel Turn, she suddenly becomes a chillingly well-done villain.
The Scrappy: With so many characters, it is inevitable for some to not be given a second glance.
Franny is probably the most obvious example, as she is generally hated for annoying personality and low stats.
Some players dislike Katida's personality, while others hate her for having zero story importance whatsoever after all of the troubles to recruit her. At least it keeps Roth and Nele from being killed.
There is no option to delete the Database that logs all Celestial Objects, which would've allowed new playthroughs to gain 10 Fame for (re)discovering them. This has the knock-on effect of spiking the prices of physical new copies of the game.
Self-Imposed Challenge: The game has pretty good potential for various self-imposed challenges. For example, not using fighters at all.
Squick: Pipra constantly talking to Yuri about "paying with his body" or something around that line. Ick.
The Garner Sisters' song the first time you meet them.
That One Boss: Several, although it also depends on the player. Taurus Fortress is generally agreed as one due to the massive damage it can cause.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: One of your missions involves defusing a dispute over resources. Coulda been, you end up picking sides, or been one of the captains on either side. Nope. Wonderboy and Obi-wan get it fixed.
Of course, this basic plot does happen at least two other times, down to picking sides.
To add to that, Katida, for all the trouble you go through to recruit, doesn't get any sort of story (save for a minor event between Kira and her) in the second half of the game other than you rescuing her and becoming a permanent part of your crew. Although to be fair, having Katida in your party will prevent the Mummies at the Dinner Table above from happening.
Their is one somewhat useful command skill in the game that no character is assigned - Given the difficulty in recruiting her, some people suspect that it was originally supposed to be hers.
Arguably, how several plot-important characters' past (particularly Nia) are never brought up at all falls into this trope.
No, people, we wouldn't actually travel the Magellanic Stream. Which was hyped up as the most dangerous route in the universe and nigh-impassable.
and Samuel Mason