World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Secret World, Planet Side 2, Tera, Rift, Dragon Nest and V; What does these names all have in common? They’re MMORPG’s that have either been released or are slated to be release shortly for the PC (and MacOS). While some of these titles have managed to headline thousands upon thousands of articles they all have at least managed to make a name for themselves, desired or not. However if you’re like me you’re wondering why a certain name is up there among the others. Could it be the fault of the company that is developing this title and not giving it enough exposure? Well I believe that for this specific title that this is only part of the reason that it’s not on the mind of many PC gamers. Could it be that it’s so lackluster that no one feels that it’s worth following this game? No, I’d dare say those that aren’t following this title are sorely missing out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDxhMq8NK_I
So what is this title I am referring to? Phantasy Star 2, that’s what. The sequel to the console born MMO that spawned several expansions on consoles, PCs and even handhelds, Phantasy Star Online (Not to be confused with Phantasy Star 2, which was a great game) was Sega’s first attempt at an MMO, released in 2000 which combined action and rpg elements together that allowed you and 3 others to go planet hopping while stopping the bad guy himself, Dark Falz.
So far from what I can see the game is basically identical to the Phantasy Star Online as far as the game play is concerned; random dungeons set in a sci-fi setting. Many of the classes from the original (Hunter, Ranger, Cast) will also make their return. The character creator will also return but will vastly more customization for your character. I’d have to say that it is one of more advanced creation tools and it ranks right up there with Aion’s creator tool. Weapons still consist of beam swords, rifles, and knives. but this time around attacks won’t feel as static like they were in the original and now you can consistently use your light attacks combined with your heavy attacks, assuming your “PP” meter isn’t empty. Lastly if you’ve notiecd in the videos you can now jump and even use that with your attacks.
Phantasy Star Online 2 is currently in Alpha and Sega has allowed the Japanese public to test it out and thankfully they’ve release a massive flow of videos for those who aren’t lucky enough to get into the Alpha (C’mon Sega, we want to try it as well). Currently the game is at 50-55% complete so we’re looking at a early 2012 release (in Japan at least) if it doesn’t get released late 2011.
While there’s a ton of stuff regarding Phantasy Star Online 2, I’d rather refer to you to a place where you can get as much info as you desire – http://www.pso-world.com/news/02386-new-phantasy-star-online-2-game-information.
Character Creation:
Gameplay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB3skm_ZG68
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAECB6M9sPE