PSO, PSU story lines

[MasonMarxx]

right i'm sorry to do this, i understand there are a lot of well established PSO players around here but i've been looking around the net quite a bit for more information on PSO/U etc and just been wondering about the history of all the games. Does each game have a different story line or are they all fairly similar? i've noticed the gameplay is quite similar which is GREAT because it's the whole reason why i love to play on it in the first place. but thinking of going online and noticing one thing... the maps. are the maps bigger to suit more people within them? i mean, i've only been playing PSU offline for a short time now so do they enlarge the size for people to interact in cities without feeling clasutrophobic? and when out on "battle" are the maps still similar to the offline mode or do they give you a sense of freedom? i'm used to playing WoW/Guild Wars/Rappelz etc so when i say freedom i mean a map is huuuuuuge lol.

i just would like to know what i'm getting myself into before anything :)

oh and another thing, i know blue burst has closed but what was that about?

love the people here, havent seen any rude or immature messages here which is normally quite common around other areas :) maybe i'm just not looking hard enough :D

[Dark Emerald EXE]

im not a pure PSO online player(only played online for like 5 months) but i did play PSO offline since it came out on gamecube but the storylines compared to the PSU is different(atleast IMO)

i never blue burst
for me it was PSO ep I & II> PSO EpIII Card Revlution(interesting game btw) > PSU

[Kinako78]

love the people here, havent seen any rude or immature messages here which is normally quite common around other areas :) maybe i'm just not looking hard enough :D

I hate to say this, but just wait...though people are a lot less rude here then other forums I've been to, as well.

As for your question, in PSO, the levels are the same online, but you won't feel closed in, trust me.

As for PSU, most of the areas are HUGE. And with this room gives you and the enemies the ability to divide and conquer. The lobbies are also huge, giving you space to get away from the spammers, if need be. XD

Hope that helps. :)

[MasonMarxx]

hey thanks for the help :) might intice me that little bit more :)

[Cracka_J]

love the people here, havent seen any rude or immature messages here which is normally quite common around other areas :) maybe i'm just not looking hard enough :D

just search for posts by Cracka J, you'll find many.

j/k....or am I? ;o

[Grimhart]

I don't personally have the time to explain in full detail, so pardon my short reply. xD

PSO runs through a continuous story starting with Episode 1, then going through Episode 2, 3 (the card game one) and Blue Burst. Understandably, there's a small gap in the time line between each episode, but it's mostly to let things settle so the main plot of the next episode can build up.

PSU has a different story entirely, even though the setting seems similar enough. It starts with the PSU v1 Story Mode where you play as Ethan Waber (we can call this PSU Episode 1). Then it goes to Episode 2, where your created character is introduced as the protagonist. Episode 2 is available online with any version of PSU, or offline if you have AoTI. When Episode 2 is over you get into Episode 3, which is currently only available in online AoTI. Again, there's a tiny little time skip between each episode.

But note, it can be argued that there is some connection between the PSO and PSU storylines because of MAG and Rykros.

[Dragwind]

As far as the storyline goes for the various Phantasy Star titles, they each tend to have their own story with often related elements. Every so often you might find a thread with detailed discussions on the story and possible connections (you might want to do a forum search on pso/psu connections/related terms to dig up some of those threads).

As far as the maps go, it's a little hard to explain as this game stands out in a very different format compared to traditional MMORPGs. Some people might call it an ORPG (online action RPG), just a plain MMO, etc. but, that's not my point. My point is the system in which the game is set up, which I like to call the "lobby/dungeon" system.

You won't exactly find a large map that you can run on for a long time fighting random spawns. Which are generally referred to as "persistent" worlds. Since you're used to playing WoW/Guild Wards/Rappelz, you would probably consider this game to be exclusively "instances" or "dungeons". The lobbies are simply for meeting up and socializing with people, like those oh so interesting "lobby rats" :wacko:.

The maps are pretty much the same offline and online for the most part. On that claustrophobia, I wouldn't worry. Lobbies are more than large enough to hold many people in, but missions/dungeons can only have 6 player parties in them.

[ThePendragon]

It really depends on how back you want to go. The original Phantasy Star was released back in 1987. There's a lot of story and history there:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantasy_Star_(series)

[Sinue_v2]

Insofar as a storyline connection between PSO/PSU, I believe it was stated by the development team. Initially, I believe that PSO and PS was intended to be connected - but was later stripped down to it's own unique storyline. The basic framework of this connection still exists, however, which has lead to a lot of speculation on a connection between PSO and the classic series via one of the very few loose ends left after End of the Millenium - the Worldships which escaped Palma's destruction.

Sonic Team seems to recognize these fan theories and fan service references - as newer titles are developed you'll see various apparent links to previous games which are never expounded upon. So it may appear as though there is a connection, but really it's just a tease.

Personally, I wouldn't put too much stock in apparent PSO connections in PSU - especially since these apparent connections between the three (soon to be four) unique storylines have become so numerous and far reaching that it's pretty much impossible to weave them into a comprehensive and strong connection. At least, impossible for Sonic Team's level of narrative talent.


But note, it can be argued that there is some connection between the PSO and PSU storylines because of MAG and Rykros.

Rykros is a reference to the fourth planet in Algol which was discovered in End of the Millenium. It also shares slight physical and metaphysical properties of the planet - such as being barren (although apparently not crystaline, despite the fact that we've never seen any actual ground-level terrain outside the relics) and being obscured from view (it was discovered by gravitational disturbances in PSU - while it took the AeroPrism to reveal it in PSIV)

I simply don't see how one could make a solid connection to Ragol/Rykros unless you claim that Rykros IS Ragol - a stretch of logic so far that it makes the completely unfounded idea of Wren and Demi towing a worldship with a captive surviving Dark Force into deep space look canon.

I just don't see any way one could make that claim and seriously reconcile Rykros, Rykros, and Ragol as a single planet - because even if you try to take the PS Classic series out of the equation to tidy things up, Sonic Team apparently hasn't.