Phantasy Star Online 2

[Debug Mode]

No chance of getting banned or anything if you use this. Not it matters that much.

 

Did the first chapter and so far I'm liking it. Battle system is pretty fluid. Foie and Barta symbols looked like Shifta and Deband which was confusing. Also not used to using keyboard and mouse controls but they work well.

 

They do? I think I might know why. In Universe, all technics had an element attached to them (Resta was light, Megid was dark etc). Shifta and Jellen were attached to Fire element (which Foie basically is), Deband and Zalure were attached to the Ice element (which Barta basically is). I guess if they look the same, they probably plan to use the system from Universe.

 

EDIT: There was another 'emergency maintenance' event this morning to clear up some bugs and some of the lag. Still laggy and it even ended up locking people out of their characters if they were in a mission when the maintenance hit.

 

Chairs still locked (they had a suspicion this was causing the lag LOL). Matter board quest bug not fully patched yet, only some aspects. My first character is still stuck because of it heh.

Edited April 21, 2012 by Debug Mode

[Debug Mode]

I'll say only one thing about my experience with this beta: 52 hours played.

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Extended until Monday at 3pm out time. If you have an invite, get on it NOW!

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And it finished half hour ago that was so much fun, shame the Japanese friend I made hasn't been online since last week, I wanted their email D=

 

I'll post up a few of my screenshots later and some impressions. I really hope this does manage to get an English release as I can see us lot having a fucking blast with this.

 

Edit: And now for my impressions just in case any one is interested

 

Phantasy Star Online 2:

Shit is fucking crazy

 

Just in case there are also people reading this who are new to Phantasy Star, I will admit that there may be some bias in my impressions. Phantasy Star is pretty special to me. Much like Pokemon, it got me through some of the roughest patches of my teenage life. It may sound pretty pathetic, but it really did.

 

So after all these years of waiting and giving the main title of the Universe series a miss (played the crap out of the Portable series though), a sequel is finally near release for the title that got me into it all, Online. I've played through as much as I can, including the original series on the Master System and Megadrive, but Online always seemed to have the most elements I enjoyed.

 

The main feature of the Closed Beta and which I'll start off first with, is the introduction of the story. When you had received your introduction and finished ploughing your way through the incredibly complex but awesome character creation, you find yourself on Planet Naberius alongside another ARKS rookie callled Afin. During your little mission, an emergency is declared and beings known as Darker's appear out of no where (subspace any one?) and then you find yourself being rescued and introduced by the other 2 main characters, Zeno and Eko. Once you're back safe and sound in the Arks lobby, you're free to do whatever you please.

 

Continuing with more of the story, you will encounter a scientist named Shion in the shopping area who, after a brief but incredibly creepy introduction, will give you a Matter Board. The Matter Board is a gridded board with spheres in some but not all of the co-ordinates inside it and they are basically requests that you need to clear. Most of them are getting a certain drop from a specific monster, speaking to a certain character which grants you some more info regarding the story or finding these strange tablets during certain missions which provide more information. You can only do one Matter Board quest at a time and once you clear it, you can move on to another if the sphere you select is next to a sphere you have cleared.

 

You've got the same 3 races and classes from PSO in PSO2 except this time round you can change your class at a Class Counter rather than being tied to the same class permanently. There is no character level, every thing is done by class level so if you max out one class and change to another, you're back to level 1! Levelling also gives you a point to use in a skill tree which starts off basic enough with buffs etc but putting a certain amount of points into certain trees unlocked further more advanced skills.

 

Each class also has exclusive weapon types but all classes are compatible with Gunslashes (RIP saber's)

Hunters: Swords, partisans and wired lances (which are FUCKING AWESOME)

Rangers Rifles and cannons

Forces: Rods and Tali's (throwing cards)

 

Over all, the combo system is a lot like that in the Universe series in that you can spam regular attacks all you want but carefully timing the button presses enables you to hit harder. Also, I used mouse and keyboard the entire time so this may not apply to those who want to use gamepads.

 

When playing with mouse and keyboard, you've got the choice of playing in camera mode or TPS mode which you can switch on the fly by pressing 'Z'. Camera mode, as the name implies, give you pretty good control with the camera and enables lock on and was the camera mode I pretty much used all the time as a Hunter and a Force. I would often change to first person mode as a Force when using Tali's though because it allows you to throw the card a t a specific spot rather than an enemy so I could charge a tech and it would detonate where I threw the card. Doing this with Razonde and watching a tripod of lightning rain down on enemies was pretty sweet!

 

Ranger I played 99% in TPS mode. The only time I would change to camera mode to enable lock-on was to target Agnis with my cannon as the fly around pretty fast!

 

In the closed beta there were 3 area's and 2 main bosses. Planet Nebarius is pretty much the forest area, Planet Amdouskia was the cave area and an emergency mission that popped up only for an hour at random took place within the Arks ship when some Darkers invade. Bosses include Vol Dragon and Dark Ragne but there are also a couple of sub bosses.

 

As for the maps, it's all pretty much as random as it's going to get. Maps are randomised by block much like Phantasy Star Zero but have a lot more variety and it's all open and seamless compared to Zero's maps which would only load by the block. Much like PSO though, they are separated into Area's and some missions have multiparty area's and some mission are comprised completely of multiparty area's except for bosses.

 

The Emergency Missions are no doubt where this game really excels. They're random and appear more frequently when playing in a group and shit can get crazy fast. Here's a list of the codes I've encountered:

Code Extermination: A certain group of enemies will appear and you have to defeat them all.

Code Attack: Help a character from ARKS kill the enemies they are fighting.

Code Protect: Protect a vehicle from exploding by defeating the enemies. A health bar is shown.

Code Rescue: A player gets taken to a random co-ordinate in a map by some demonic swirl looking thing and has to fend off enemies inside a caged area until the other players break the shell of the confined area.

Code Arrest: Quickly kill a certain number of rappies before they run away. I failed this a lot when I was low levelled!

Code Duel: This happens when you reach a sub-boss or boss. The problem is though, this can happen half way through a map or a mission on your way to a boss. I was unlucky enough to encounter 3 Dark Ragne's on my way to a sub-boss for a client order. Took me an hour to finish it!

 

Completing an emergency mission gives you EXP, meseta and some times an item. But some times, the code changes over and you have to do the same thing again or even worse, a basic Code Attack becomes a Code Duel against a boss out of no where!

 

Besides killing monsters and finishing emergency missions, you can also gain EXP from Client Requests. They range from killing a certain amount of a monster, gaining a certain number of drops from a specific monster (which is annoying for some rare enemies as they don't drop them all the time!) or completing a mission with only a certain type of weapon. There is one kid though who gives you a client order to see rare events or weather and can net you quite a bit of EXP!

 

Over all, it's PSO but not PSO! The original atmosphere and controls are long gone and have changed for the better as lets be honest, they were pretty clunky. Story's shaping up to be generic as fuck compared to the original which was a gold mine when you did your own digging.

 

But, mags are back (although slower to raise), free fields are back too and there are a lot of throw backs to the original.

 

My biggest criticism would be how easy some skills made the Closed Beta as they just seemed far too powerful. Using a Jellen Bullet from a rifle made the enemy only capable of hitting 1's against you for a good 20 seconds or more and 'weak hit' made a temporary weak point on an enemy allowing you to deal thousands of damage.

 

I may be a bit premature in that criticism though as in the grand scheme of things, level 20 is nothing compared to what they have planned considering the difficulty levels people have found in the client.

 

I hope this helps in some way or form to understand what the game is like. If not, fire questions away. Screenshots coming up later.

 

EDIT: Screen shots at the ready!

 

「画像は『PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2』クローズドβテストにおいて撮影された実機画像です。開発中のため、正式版とは異なる内容であり、今後改良される可能性があります。」

『PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2』公式サイト http://pso2.jp/

All of these images from the Phantasy Star Online 2 Closed Beta test.

This game is currently under development and the contents of these pictures may not reflect the final version.

The hour Closed Beta started, Emergency Mission starts. Level 16 monsters lol

Freaky ass CAST named Lisa. I wonder if any one recorded her voice..

Caution before people zerg rush the counter for the emergency mission

Group healing device that me and a Japanese player were confused about

My computer BSOD'd during this fight once. So many animations!

PSE Burst's are like a chain system that give you bonuses like extra meseta etc. Monsters spawn like crazy during them

Charging at an infected Dragon boss with my claymore like a boss

Got kidnapped in a Code Rescue and there was a sub boss in my cage. Bricks were shat.

Rappy got hit by a car..

All classes maxed..

..at the expense of nearly 17,000 monsters and 110 hours of my time!

「画像は『PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2』クローズドβテストにおいて撮影された実機画像です。開発中のため、正式版とは異なる内容であり、今後改良される可能性があります。」

『PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2』公式サイト http://pso2.jp/

All of these images from the Phantasy Star Online 2 Closed Beta test.

This game is currently under development and the contents of these pictures may not reflect the final version.

 

Edited April 30, 2012 by Debug Mode

[Ike]

Sakai posted a message following the Closed Beta Test report:

 

Thanks to everyone who participated in PSO2′s Closed Beta Test. During the test they had several network problems with disconnections and lag. After some investigation, it was discovered that the main cause of the problem was due to their machine settings. They want to arrange the opportunity to run the test again to make sure the network problems do not occur in the Open Beta Test. So the next test will be called the “Pre-Open Beta Test“. Unfortunately he can not announce the exact schedule at this time but this Pre-Open beta Test starts in late June.

 

On May 23rd, 2012, he will start registrations for the Open Beta Test. New registrants will also be able to participate in the Pre-Open Beta Test. For those who participated in the Closed Beta Test, you do not need to register again. If there are no major issues in the Pre-Open Beta Test, he will then start the Open Beta Test. The data from the Open Beta Test will be transferred to the Official Game.

 

From the Open Beta Test, he will collect feedback and reports and assemble a list of responses based on the feedback.

 

He thinks there’s still some ways to go and aims to make the game as enjoyable as possible.

 

http://bumped.org/psublog/phantasy-star-online-2-pre-open-beta-test-and-closed-beta-test-report/

 

They are beta testing the beta test...

[Debug Mode]

It's most likely one last stress test and making sure all the bugs that were encountered in the early game are actually dealt with. I'm surprised how quickly people, including myself, ran into problems with the matter board and had to create a new character and that could potentially put a lot of people off considering it's going to be an open test.

 

But yeah, late next month sounds pretty fucking good. I would love Sega to pull a surprise announcement of their ass at E3 about an English localisation being available for the open beta so I can get some more friends to join in.

[Ike]

Pre Beta test starts on the 15th and ends on the 16th with limited hours (7pm to midnight Japan time). New desert area will be opened and you get a weapon code for completing it.

 

Apparently characters will be wiped after the test though (or maybe rolled back if they allow Alpha characters to transfer?), Beta test will start soon after if no issues come up.

 

http://phantasystar.sega.jp/psportal/notice/20120608/

[Ike]

There is an update available for the Beta client, SEGA are recommending updating before the weekend since it's a big update.

Edited June 12, 2012 by Ike

[Debug Mode]

I presume you mean the closed beta client right? Alpha client had to be deleted aaages ago!

 

Alpha and closed beta characters are gone forever, they wont be bringing them back. Pre-open beta characters will also be deleted once that's finished, but characters made in open beta will be carried on to the official release version. It's also important to note that because you're unable to purchase AC during pre-open and open beta, you will only be allowed to play as one character.

 

If any of you are qualified and able to play pre-open beta, it's 11am to 4pm BST (12am to 5pm CET). Open beta rumoured to start on the 21st of June, but that may change if something goes drastically wrong during Pre-open beta. You can update the closed beta client if you have it by running it and then clicking 'file check' (ファイルチェック(should be the third option if I remember correctly) and it'll patch itself.

 

Clear the desert area once during pre-open beta and you'll be given the Bouquet Rifle during open beta or when the game launches. Usable on any class, though you can only use photon arts if you're playing as a ranger.

Edited June 12, 2012 by Debug Mode

[Ike]

I presume you mean the closed beta client right? Alpha client had to be deleted aaages ago!

 

Err yeah, Beta. Too many Open/Closed/Alphas/Betas/Pre-Betas got confused :P

[Debug Mode]

Err yeah, Beta. Too many Open/Closed/Alphas/Betas/Pre-Betas got confused :P

 

Haha I don't blame you. The only reason this has been stretched out for so long is because of the big number of complaints they received during Alpha.

 

I wonder if they nerfed the ranger skills because I was pretty much unstoppable with a launcher. Jellen bullet launcher skill, switch to machine gun for weak point skill, back to launcher to hit the new weak point!

 

I think they need to introduce some unavoidable attacks.

[Debug Mode]

Day 1 of pre-open beta finished! And all I can say is.. wow. It's pretty much ready. Only had 4 lag spikes, one of which disconnected me, but aside from that it's performing very well!

 

New desert planet was cool as hell. The music is good, the enemies are pretty unique and actually give rangers a hassle with their projectile attacks. New collect mission was a surprise, it's like capture the flag except you've gotta make sure the enemies don't kill you whilst you're operating the drills (which will come to a grinding halt if you overheat it by pressing 'E' too much when it's not flashing).

 

Got to level 10, got my mag, just finished the free forest mission before the servers shut so tomorrow I'll be trying to beat the dragon =3. And then all the progress will be whiped, ready for open beta which no doubt will start next week seeing how well this test performed.

[Esequiel]

Can't wait for this, my PC is ready

[Debug Mode]

IT'S READY.

 

In the last 2 hours of the pre-open beta, they announced that everything had been going pretty damn well (hitting over 40,000 simultaneous players) and that on the 21st of June at 16:00 Japanese time, open beta will start. Character made in open beta are permanent, carrying over to the official game when it's ready.

 

Fun times ahead!

[Sheikah]

I'm waiting for this to come out in English, a while back during one of the betas I played through some quest but had no idea with regards to the Japanese or what I was selecting. Combat seemed pretty decent, felt quite like the original PSO.

[Debug Mode]

I'm waiting for this to come out in English, a while back during one of the betas I played through some quest but had no idea with regards to the Japanese or what I was selecting. Combat seemed pretty decent, felt quite like the original PSO.

 

Probably the best idea. The English patch people worked on no longer works and any new one will be as limited as the first seeing as the bulk of text is server side.

 

To be honest though, if you ever change your mind there's plenty of guides to learn from. That's how I started with Phantasy Star Zero and ended up learning how to read the text, setting me on the course I'm on.

[Sheikah]

Thanks, I was going to get more into the PSO2 beta but then the Guild Wars 2 beta started and that took my attention away. I think when it comes out for Vita I will probably be hooked.

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I'm personally hoping the Vita version is like how the Portable series was to Universe to be honest. My laptop isn't all too good yet it can play it pretty well and I just couldn't justify playing the Vita version if it's a port. Doesn't mean I won't buy it though, because I'm a massive fanboy and like such things to be on my shelf heh.

[Sheikah]

Well hopefully it'll all be free. Recently put together a good PC so I should be able to play it on PC too with no problems.

[Debug Mode]

Less than 24 hours to go.. Is there any one else on here that plans on participating?

 

Ship 2 is yet again the one to go for, there'll be a massive English speaking community present there, particularly in Block 20.

[Esequiel]

Is there a link to the open beta site? Is speaking gobbeldy gook a neccesity?

[Debug Mode]

Is there a link to the open beta site? Is speaking gobbeldy gook a neccesity?

 

Official players site here

 

You wont need to speak gobbeldy gook, but reading in gobbeldy gook would be helpful! You can easily register and play without much knowledge of the language (plenty of people have done this), as there's guides everywhere!

 

I recommend Bumped as there's quite a few helpful guides there and they can be quickly accessed in the contents on the right side of the page.

[Ike]

Which ship is everyone playing on? I hear Ship 2 (well 1-5 actually) has had problems today.

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A lot of ships got locked down due to the population, should all be good now.

 

I'm on Ship 2 (where most of the English community is), but there are other communities on Ship 9 and 10.

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Looks like things aren't going as planned. They were planning on fully releasing this today or tomorrow, but the lag problems have been too frequent so they're conducting a 27 hour maintenance from 3am Thursday morning to 6am Friday.

 

I'm guessing they were using the weekend performance to determine whether everything's stable or not, but it was fucking awful to the point of nearly being unplayable. Hopefully this weekend goes good and the exchange rate gets back on the up again because I'm going to need to buy some AC.

 

So, am I the only N-E player on the JP game? Heh.