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Asiasoft's English language version of Phantasy Star Online 2 has ended its second beta phase of development and the team will spend the next month plus working on polishing the game and preparing it for the May 29th release date. MMOCulture.com has a neat little interview with PSO2 developers that adds a few details about that process.
Q: While the level cap for Closed Beta is set at 30, what will be the new cap for the official launch?
A: After the official launch, the level cap would be 40.
Q: Are there any new game features players can expect to see for the launch version?
A: Other than raising level cup to 40, the majority of the content remains the same as per what was released during Beta. We are working with SEGA to come out with series of content that we will release gradually.
Read the full interview at the link above.
Comments
I've played the Japanese version with bootleg English translation. Please be advised, the only people who should be playing PSO2 are Phantasy Star fans (even though the PSU/PSO games completely butchered Phantasy Star IMO). I honestly hope they get a more mature version released but Japanese devs (Asian in general for that fact) are VERY stubborn and a bit delusional.
The story is horrible, the interaction is childish. If you don't like Wildstar you'll despise this. It's very 1990s arcade-y and it's not really MMO. There are lobbies where people can form groups of and run out into very heavily instanced maps occasionally bumping into other groups on certain maps.
The fact they waited so long to release this state side is pretty sad as well. It doesn't really fit in with the cycle of games being released here.
It is action based combat, but honestly the system they had is Phantasy Star Universe was WAY better.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I haven't played a Phantasy Star game since PSIV on the Genesis. I tried the PSU game but just couldn't get into it, so I don't see how PSO will have any appeal to me.
There should just be an agreement amongst the Western/English speaking press to ignore this game's existence. Seriously.
Sega treats us like dirt, they have a fully functional English-translated version of the game (known about for at least 2-3 years prior to now), and have continued to refuse to acknowledge the market outside of Asia-specific regions exist other than a "maybe later".
With Sega's track record in general, we won't be seeing this game. Any decent game they make isn't released outside of Japan, and frankly they don't care. Sonic sells in spite of the regularly terrible games that make up the series now for the most part, and Sega is as much a company steeped in selling gambling equipment and profiting off of that as they are, and maybe more so than, profiting off their gaming division.
There's a good reason why some of the biggest devs in the Japanese game industry says "Japanese Game Industry blows. Hard". And Sega is a damn good representation of it.
Edgar F Greenwood
I agree. PSO2 does a lot of things to improve the mission based MMO. Too bad Sega sucks.
The point is, the only reason why anybody would play this and remotely enjoy it is because they care about Phantasy Star universe some how (the story has been butchered to an unrecognizable mess). The game is pretty bad where the genre is concerned.
It's quite sad, but I just listen to this to cheer me up:
http://youtu.be/24JW1lxW-2U
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Lets get this out of the way: Phantasy Star is not an MMO. Yes, it is online, yes its multiplayer, and yes, the world is massive, but it does not have the cohesive persistent world that has come to define MMOs. It is more akin to Diablo 3 than an MMO; there's a light story to move you through the game, but the main appeal is the gear treadmill and the challenge ramp.
If you come to the game expecting an MMO, you'll be disappointed. If you come for the hack'n'slash gear trek, there is plenty to enjoy.
If the localization is done well, there are some funny side characters, companions, and stories to enjoy; but if the localization is done poorly, you should expect annoying characters on the level of Tails and Amy to your Sonic. The localization is going to be that critical; the quirky and sometimes endearing subleties could easily turn into annoying bleh.
Others mentioned the story being butchered; that only applies if you cared about the Phantasy Star RPGs. If you came to know Phantasy Star through PSO ep.1&2 or the PSP games (or even through PSUniverse (you poor thing)) PSO2 is recognizable and the story can be rectified if you assume that you're interacting within a new planetary system (and thats not hard considering the intro sequence and the back story from PSO1).
Bottom line:
You'll enjoy PSO2 if you enjoyed POS1 (if only for a brief moment of nostalgia).
You might enjoy PSO2 if you love Diablo3 or RustyHearts.
You'll hate POS2 if you expect a great story or dislike instancing.