Phantasy Star Universe discussion thread
 

First of all... for those of you thinking PSU will only be another boring PSO game Sega slapped together for a quick buck watch this new trailer that was recently posted on www.pso-world.com

It shows off a whole bunch of the online game content and I must say that I am amazed by this. This game could serve as a nice break away from FFXI and WoW, which most of you have been playing for the past few years. I mean, look at all this new stuff you can do. Lobbies are now big cities. The old 1...2..3! attack system has been replaced with a bunch of cool looking weapon combos that fling enemies all over the screen. You and a group of your friends can take control of a big tank or ride on vehicles in different environments. There are new races to choose from with their own special abilities. Deep character customization. You get your own apartment which you can set up however you like and invite friends into. I am honestly impressed with what Sega has worked on the past 3 years.

The only sad thing is this game doesn't really seem to be getting much hype except from the PSO fans. I guess Sega of America should take part of the blame since they do little to promote the game. It could also be because people lost interest in it after all the delays it's been through. I'm just hoping enough of you GFFers here pick it up this fall so we can all go hunting together because it looks very fun. :3

I'd hate to admit it, but I've never played a Phantasy Star game. I know Lady Miyomi is a heug fan of this series, and yet have never sent her any messages about it. I was keeping track of Phantasy Star Trilogy and hoped that it would be my first experience, which from what gamespy states, it's basically a "redone iteration" of Phantasy Star: Generation 1, Phantasy Star II, and Phantasy IV: End of the Millennium into one package. I'm not too sure if I'm ready to take on the online experience since this will be my first MMORPG, so I'll just sit on the sidelines until I can see how the price and details work out.

::Sends PM to Miyomi::

Heh. PSO was actually my very first online experience. I liked it because Sonic Team made everything easy for even the first time online RPG players. I still prefer the guild card system to the buddy list systems most online RPGs use today. Instead of sending whispers to other players you could share guild cards with each other and send out little mails. You never had to memorize a bunch of silly / commands either since everything was nicely laid out in a menu. Leveling up in a party was fun too because instead of setting up a camp and fighting in the same spot you could run through a whole dungeon, destroy all the enemies, and then take out the boss. And the boss fights were very cool.

PSO wasn't really considered an MMORPG either. Probably due to the fact everything was instanced once you joined a team. The good thing about this is there's no one else to steal your kills and you could focus on working with your team.

well I did own the original PSO on dreamcast which I did really enjoy...for 2 days, because the name of the game say it all, phantasy star online truly shine online and at that time I didn,t have a broadband connexion so I was stuck with offline mode. Well the game was pretty fun and I did love the design (I still like it but less then before) but really the 1 2 3 gameplay thing was the worst thing sega could have put in the game and that,s was stop me from playing...the only thing that got me to continue was the dagger weapon which look more like a 6 hit combo and was more fun...

so to return to the subject, I was a little worried about this title and I really didn,t pay any attention to hit, but I watch some of the recent video and yes i'm really impress by the new look of the phantasy star MMORPG

I love the new graphic style, well new, I'm not sure but I think they return to the phantasy star rpg on genesis graphic style (at least for the character I think) and I do really like it better.

for the gameplay I,m really glad that they change the 123 and go beyond that with new combo system that really look fun! I like the tank transport^^
we don,t see much but I really hope they will give us a really good magic system, because in PSO I don't know for me a mage wasn't really good and even more boring to play.

really I'm impress by all those improvement and i'll probably get this too, I may wait for a free trial first though. Now we will have to see how Sega will manage this game, like how they will manage "botting" or "game money selling" and all those kind of thing that can make an MMORPG not very enjoyable to play...

In regards to PSU, I think the big thing that will be determining me getting involved is the whole issue of monthly subscription fees. I understand it's expensive for the gaming companies to run the hardware/servers/tech/whatnot, yet I just prefer to be the type to sit down and play whenever I want without having to try to cram in as much play time to get my months payment worth. So far the only online game I've played for PS2 is Metal Gear Solid Subsistance, mainly because it's free, so far.
So as of yet, is there any news of subscription fees, which I'd highly presume considering the type of game- online RPG, and fan base?

::Turns Korean::

I loooooved PSO on Xbox Live. If it weren't for that damned Hunter's License thing, I'd definitely still be playing.

I've been looking forward to PSU for a long time. That video got me even more excited for it. The combat looks a lot more fun than the slow, somewhat boring combat from PSO. I just hope you can turn off the little anime style portrait boxes that seem to show up whenever someone talks. It looks like it would get in the way in the heat of battle.

I can't wait for this game to come out! I've been playing Version 1 to death. :(

The only part I don't like about what I saw on the Japanese preview site is the fact that there's actual characters you have to choose. It's more fun making a character and naming them.

Well, you do get your money's worth just buying it since it contains a 1-player 40 hour RPG with real characters that develop to the point where you can actually care for them. It's loaded with fully voiced cutscenes and plays differently from the online portion. And of course you don't have to pay any fee for that part. I have no idea if it would be worth playing through as a solo game, though. You might want to hear opinions on it first if you bought it just for the 1-player Story.

PSOBB cost about 9 bucks a month I think. I'm hoping the cost doesn't go over 13 dollars a month myself since Sega is known for abandoning us US players while giving Japanese players all sorts of new content.

There is a new game+ mode that allows you to create your own avatar to play offline with, just like the classic PSO. I think you have to beat the 1-player Story mode to unlock it.

I liked it better when it could create your character off the bat. I've seen lots of pictures of PSU and it looks ten times better. Do you know if they'll be a PC version as well? I wasn't able to find that out.

Yes. PS2 and PC versions are confirmed to be linked. So all PS2 and PC owners can play together. You can also use your online account to access your characters from either version of the game.

There will also be an XBOX 360 version, though I heard they'll be split onto their own server, which of course would cut them off from everyone else. =(

Yeah. I'd also like the game to be dupe free for at least a year when I actually get bored of it. Hopefully Sega will patch these things this time around. >_>

Will they have the same lobby system going on as it was with version 1?

well I think they are making it for PC, PS2 and Xbox360

and miyomi I don't understand what you're saying, because when I look at the video you do can create your character and not just pick one and name it...

I prefer character creation than having to pick from preset characters. But since Miles said it will be in there after you unlock it, everything's fine. :)

No. Everyone is in towns with everyone else.

If any of you want to see actual gameplay and not trailers, here's some footage from the beta. Also, I took a lot of screenshots. Lastly, I extracted all the music hidden in the data files for the beta which were encoded in .adx format, and transcoded them into Ogg Vorbis files which you can download here.

I barely scratched the surface in what PSU's going to have as far as content goes, and a lot of those cool looking attacks that you see in the trailers weren't accessible in the beta, and it already was better than PSO. The AI in the game wasn't brilliant, but it was a step up from PSO, and when I got up in the mid 20s with my level, the A-rank missions were pretty rough.

Thanks a lot for the links. I remember someone ripped the music somewhere else. Was that you as well?

I'll be getting this, but I'm gonna need a new computer first. Playing with GFF and my old Blue Burst buddies is gonna rock. ^_^

wow the game is so beautiful!!! really I like the design and all! where you on PC or ps2 for this beta?

I realy like the new gameplay, but I did see some lag issu (the video when you're in a team, the other character movement are very "lagy")

and I like the little cut-scen for the plane between planet ^^ (well i have t see it,s a rip-off the game Freelancer but meh I don't care XD)

I really like the animation, all is pretty smooth, the emote video really show that.

but will there be ani magic in this game? in all video I see a lot of fighting but I don't remember seeing any mage class, not that it will bother me, it's just a MMORPG without any healing spell or ability seem weird...

but really not I can't wait for the US release ; ; btw is there an official date?

Preordered my copy today. I wasn't a huge fan of PSO but for minor reasons - camera angle issues, wanting slightly more developed combat system. I'm thinking this will be a nice change of things compared to WoW or FFXI.

For those of you who were curious about character creation, you can sample some of the character creation here: http://psu-chara.com/create/

The one thing I also really like is the ability to change your class which is good for indecisive people like me.

Also, there will be Expert Classes although there is limited information about them so far. You can find out some basics here: http://www.psupedia.org/index.php?title=Expert_Classes

The official confirmed release date is set for October 24th. Unfortunately right around the same time .hack//GU and FFXII will be coming out making it an expensive month for people who like RPG's.

And last thing that I noticed on a really positive note, European Servers and American Servers will be linked.

If any of you decide you want to get into this, send me a PM and we can see about trying to get on the same World.

Oh hey. I forgot about this thread. Might as well post my journal bit here.

For the first ever I imported a Japanese version of an online game. Most would think this is hard since most online games require teamwork and teamwork is hard when you can't really speak the same language as your teammates. Well, luckily about 50 other people from PSOW decides to import as well and we all split into groups of 6 to play the game online.

First of all, I must say this game is a refreshing change from slower paced online games like FF11 or World of Warcraft. It doesn't take long to find a group at all, and there's no pulling of enemies or anything. Game flow consists of logging on, checking partner cards or finding people who want to do the same mission as you, buying stuff, and then starting a mission and moving from room to room juggling enemies around in the air. I find this a lot more enjoyable than waiting hours to find a group and finding a single camping spot the fight a single enemy over and over again. And just like in PSO, the boss fights return and are as spectacular as ever.

Screenshots are in spoiler tag:



Overall this game is probably 10 times better than PSO was. And I have to say those who never liked PSO should still give this game a chance since they'll probably like it. The US version launches the end of next month.

You can see the English website here: http://www.phantasystaruniverse.com

I reserved my copy today as well. Though, depending on my financial situation, I may have to wait a while before taking it online. Too bad I can't make a character and beef him up offline in the meantime like I could with PSO.

Has it been confirmed that the 360 players won't be able to play with everyone else? I reserved my copy for 360, but if that's true I may have to switch to PS2.

Yes. It was confirmed by an official Sega employee himself. This is why I am strongly suggesting that everyone pass the half-assed XBOX port and stick with the ps2/PC version.

Count me in for the PC version on day 1!

However I heard that the 360 version won't have a monthly fee.

Any credibility to that claim, or what?

I mean, it's a trade-off either way.

I've also heard about the 360 not requiring a monthly fee, just an XBL Gold account.

Until I can figure out how to connect the 360 online at school, however, it doesn't matter much for me.

http://www.xboxic.com/news/1578

Stick to the PC version. =o