Q1: So in terms of the online play, is this one an actual MMORPG or does it play more like the classic PSO?

Q2: With that out of the way, how's the offline mode? Worth checking out or total throwaway?

It looks like it plays like the original PSO, but with a vastly improved battle system.

Online play: it's got PSO's core mechanics, but the combat is fleshed out a lot more. Things are faster paced, and all the tweaks and adjustments make for a really solid online action RPG. Juggling enemies in the air may seem like a simple improvement, but it really adds some character to the game, and makes PSO seem so pathetically boring in comparison. It's definitely not a MMORPG though, as everything is instanced for 6-man teams, though large amounts of people can be seen in towns.

Offline: It's very JRPG in its presentation, with tons of voice acting and cutscenes. The story and characters are pretty stereotypical, and so it's best to go in expecting everything to be fairly straight-forward, with little to no complexity behind the plot. If you go in with that mindset, you'll enjoy it. After all, Skies of Arcadia wasn't complex in any way, shape, or form, and it was one of the best RPGs made to date.

Damn, that's a lot of people :D Awesome. Digging the sittage, too.

Parn (or anyone that's played the JP version): question about the Beast rage dealy form: Do they pretty much all look the same aside from color? Or do they follow the same sliders designated for proportion? That is, will an extremely tiny Beast suddenly turn into this huge buff glowy thing?

I recognize some of the people in that screenshot lol.

I had to pass on PSU as I wanted to understand the storyline and items unlike PSO:BB where I had a better idea of the mechanics and basics without the need of someone to translate for me.

This is excellent to hear. I'm very pleased about the enemy juggling and improved action flow.
Well, that's fine I guess. Seems like about what I expected from a revamped PSO.
I approve.
Yes. Yes it was.

In case anyone is wondering, the soundtrack is very awesome. The music shares some elements from the PSO games, and so far, I have yet to hear one song that I didn't like. Time to hunt down a full soundtrack!

So did y'all import this or is there a trail somewhere I can hit up? It sounds freaking awesome.

Um, I'm waiting for the english version. And I'm dling the OST now (not the promo CD).

Where can the OST be found? I have the promo CD and I was pretty impressed with that. Also, I can't wait until the english version comes out!

I've never played anything related to Phantasy Star in my life. I couldn't name an event, character, or anything else to save my life.

However, as someone who is still fairly new to MMORPGs (started with FFXI on the PS2), I've been keeping an eye on this game for a while. It seems to feature more customization over your character over FFXI, plus the action-oriented gameplay would be a nice change from FFXI's auto-battle system.

I'm also hoping that starting a Party and investigating some deep dungeon will be a much speedier process than the typical 2-3 hour wait in FFXI.

The only thing I'm leary about is the online fee. Since I'm already paying $15 for FFXI, I'm not sure I can squeeze this game into my budget. Also, I can't for the life of me understand why there's a 360 version and not a PS3 one.

1. Everything in Phantasy Star Universe is fast-paced, aside from perhaps leveling progression, which doesn't feel much like a grind because combat is very involving and active. There is no waiting. Finding a group to play with is simple, because level gaps don't matter. You find someone to play with, and then you play. Experience is awarded based on who killed a monster... those who helped damage it get 2/3 of the experience value. That's another thing... in MMORPGs, players swarm a single monster that's usually half the size of a single character and fight it for a minute or two... in this game, you're fighting groups of monsters and constantly roaming. There's no downtime to speak of.

2. There's not a PlayStation 3 version because the PlayStation 3 isn't even out yet.

Whats the level cap on this one?

Now, I'm definately going to voutch for Miles on this. Him and I were lames on PSO and we played a lot. Nearly everyday searching for this and leveling for that. Even though I haven't played PSU, I can say it'll be an amazing experience. I've played every version of PSO, and they were pretty much the same (some added weapons, missions, leveling areas, quests in each different version)....but I still had plenty of fun.

My first online experience was RagnarokOnline (alpha), sadly. But once I touched PSO on DC...I couldn't put it down. After I sampled it, I bought DC solely for the purpose of PSO.

I already reserved my copy of PSU, and it's fully paid off besides 10 cents. =x I hand them a dime, and PSU is mine! I'm dead excited and I'm gonna join Miles being lame agian.

Hmm.. I don't know how I can put my excitement into text form, but I've never been more excited for a game in my life. It makes me sad to think that I won't have the money to go online on launch day, but god damn, just thinking about playing it for the first time makes me cream myself. PSO was my favorite game ever. I've never had so much fun with one game. I've been playing it since early 2001 and I still play Blue Burst from time to time. It's just impossible for me to get tired of it.

So far the level cap has been set to 50. I think they plan on increasing as soon as they unlock more game content since we're still lacking access to multiple areas and another whole planet.

I'll probably get right in on launch day, gonna go head out to preorder the PC version either today or tomorrow so I can start early for sure. I do have some questions though..

I've played all four of the original PS games, but never played any of the PSO releases. About how much of the active PS lore would I find in a online PS title, and furthermore, how steep is the learning curve to getting into PSU if you're starting from scratch?

'Lore'? The PSO and PSU storylines are entirely separate from the original PS storylines. There may be subtle references to the originals here and there, but only as jokes or something.

The learning Curve is nothing too big. The game is actually quite simple. The changes made here from the original are huge, but at the same time similar enough to be able to pick up quite fast.

If you like shooting stuff up, be a Ranger
If you like casting nuke spells, be a Force
If you like up close and personal combat, be a Hunter

I hear one new thing is the advance classes. You can sorta be a hybrid of some classes after playing for a while. The combat system is also as simple as it gets, yet it's one of the best for any online RPG out there. It also kills off the feeling of grinding, by making you go through stages instead of grind in this spot, and kill this enemy untill you hit level X then move here, rinse repeat. The boss fights are absolutly amazing too! So yeah.... Simple, but fun!

"Lore" in the Phantasy Star universe being like the Algol System, the Mother Brain concept, Palma/Parma, Dezolis/Desoris, and Motavia/Motabia as existing planets, the races/class types, and the like. Like are there any rough references to people like Alis from PS1 or Rune/Lutz from PS4, and such. If monster types are directly pulled from the old games, etc etc.

I like the sound of things thus far, sounds real nice when compared to other MMOs these days. I must ask though, there is no raid or die concept in this game, is there?

If by that you mean any sort of PVP then no. The game focuses on teamwork. We had a pretty good team on the Japanese version and did multiple dragon runs in such short time. Tons of EXP, meseta and job EXP from that. xD

I mean like the whole "You must spend every waking moment in a raid in order to progress" type mentality. PVP doesn't bother me that much as long as it isn't griefer style PVP, but I'm beyond tired of the letters "D" "K" and "P" rearing their ugly selves into every MMO.

I'm not sure if I understand what you mean. :3 If you're asking if you need a group in order make any progress in the game at all then the answer is nope. Sometimes it's better to solo on lower ranked missions if none of your friends are on because then all the items and meseta that is dropped goes to you opposed to getting split between 6 people. It's a very good way to make money. Meanwhile playing in a party is the fastest way to get EXP since a large party allows you to rip through each set of enemies in much faster time.

Unlike FF11 though, it is incredibly easy to find a party. If none of your friends are on it's easy to select an open game from a list and join on their progress. Of course you don't get the full rewards for joining a mission that's in progress already, but you'll most likely repeat or move onto another mission right after anyway. And seriously, I love how level makes little difference in this game. You can have a level 30 player join a mission full of level 5 people and still get the same EXP as long as the 30 isn't killing everything in one hit.

Not knowing what I mean at this point is a blessing for you, because it means you probably haven't pulled your hair out playing EQ or World of Warcraft yet. But in those games, the only way you're ever able to see any end-game content or any big time equipment pieces is by raiding. Non-stop raiding. 25-72 (WOW minimum to EverQuest maximum) people all together doing the same encounters week in and week out. Repetitively dull and boring getting 1-3 pieces of a gear a MONTH except to those who have a great deal of friends to talk to in those raid parties. I mean things like that.

So everything is designed around six person parties? Can parties can any bigger than that or is that the max?

6, Im pretty sure that's the max.

However I am unsure of how guilds will work. In PSO:BB I have like 40 people in my guild/team.