Announcement of the English release Phantasy Star Online 2 after so many years it turned out to be unexpected. Last week passed closed beta games for Xbox onein which we participated. In this material we share our impressions and understand what is PSO2.
Despite the respectful age and lack of a western release, Phantasy Star Online 2 is one of the most successful projects. Segawho regularly visits free-to-play grossing tops. It is difficult to name the exact reason why PSO2 was not released in the West immediately, but most likely it is a combination of high financial risks (in the West they do not like the Asian model of monetization) and difficulties with licensing content outside of Japan. The fact is that PSO2 contains costumes from almost every second anime.
It was all the more strange to see the official announcement, and even with the support of Microsoft, but, apparently, through joint efforts the companies overcame legal and other difficulties, and now we are playing closed beta on Xbox One.
Phantasy star is an ancient and beloved by many series that dates back to the times Sega master systembut the online projects of this universe have always been niche in the western market. I was genuinely surprised at the server clogged to failure at the start of beta. A few hours later, SEGA opened a second server, and I managed to play, but even after that for a long time both servers were packed to capacity, and I had to wait several minutes to enter the game.
The next day, the excitement subsided, and, in addition to periodic slowdowns when loading training dialogs with NPCs, which I did not notice in the Japanese PC version, the game worked stably.
Of course, the age of the project is striking. You can’t look at some environmental textures without bloody tears, and in general the graphics look outdated. The rest of the game is remarkably preserved and plays better than many modern Action-RPGs.
Let’s start in order. If you were enthusiastic about the character editor Code veinthen I have good news for you. PSO2 has an even more advanced editor with virtually infinite freedom. You can recreate any character from any game, anime or manga.
The player is offered four races to choose from: humans, Newman elves, CAST robots, and Deuman half-demons with horns. Each of them has a different set of basic parameters, but veterans agree that it is better to choose the race that you like visually, because the real endgame content of PSO2 is a collection of endless costumes and accessories to create a truly unique character.
If you still can’t live without min maxing parameters, then a lot of guides will tell you which race to choose for the extra 0.5% dps (damage per second).
After choosing a race, you are given a choice of six classes. In total, nine classes out of twelve presented in the Japanese version are available in the North American version. The class defines the set of weapons and abilities used. It can be changed at any time, and after reaching level 20 they will let you choose a subclass, opening up additional possibilities for creating an interesting build.
All classes can be divided into three categories: melee fighters, arrows and magicians. The separation is pretty arbitrary, because in Phantasy Star Online there is no clear gradation to classical roles, and each class does damage, and the only difference is in the way.
Unlike most MMO games, PSO2 is more like an Action-RPG with a co-op of 4-12 people and its combat system is approaching purebred action games, like Devil may cry, Bayonetta or Ninja gaiden. The closest analogue to Phantasy Star Online 2 is Monster hunterbut PSO2 is less focused on training and hunting, and more on the battles themselves.
Each weapon in the game has many skills that you can equip and combine as you wish. For example, you can throw the enemy into the air, catch him there and pretty shred. Collect a pack of monsters at one point with a gravitational spell and set fire to all immediately fiery. This game has abilities for all occasions: for damage in the area and for fighting strong opponents.
Many bosses have several points of destruction at once, here by chance you will have a big sword or any other weapon that can hit several of them at once. Bosses also have special vulnerabilities – and the ability to manually aim when shooting with long-range weapons and special abilities that enhance damage at these points are already useful here.
In addition to the genre’s unique and truly exciting combat system, the game has a standard set of quests, daily tasks and other MMO routines. Craft, sharpening weapons, transmutation, reforging … – even an experienced player will find it difficult to immediately understand all the mechanics. If you follow the main quest, then the game slowly explains all the subtleties, but you need to read carefully, and you can easily figure it out.
Every few hours, a siren in the game notifies you of a server event – it can be like a battle with a huge boss, which you need to break into pieces, changing its behavior in the process, clearing the “dungeon” in which there are so many monsters that loot ripples in your eyes and a concert of a virtual singer.
Phantasy Star Online 2 – Definitely a game not for everyone, but if you like to destroy crowds of monsters together with your friends or spend hours tinkering in the character editor, because you got a new costume from your favorite anime, then you definitely need to give it a chance. Especially considering that it can be downloaded for free.
In the meantime, we are waiting for an open beta, the release date of which should be announced very soon. It will be held again on the Microsoft console, and the full version of the game should appear this spring on Xbox one and PC. The game will support cross-play, but only between these platforms. Whats with western versions for Ps4 and Nintendo switchthat came out in Japan a few years ago is not yet clear.
Read also: Waifu for every taste: all new figures from games and anime with Wonder Festival 2023 [Winter]
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