It's kind of a shame the good guys win...

[Sinue_v2]

I don't think I have put up a spoiler warning, you kind of have to expect it anyhow. I just got to thinking... Sega is going to have to take the servers down one day. It will be the end of Gurhal system so far as the players are concerned. Wouldn't it have been a cool plot twist to have the SEED triumph and destroy all civilization in the Gurhal system just prior to the server shutdown. It would have been a tragic end to rival Phantasy Star II, and would have segwayed nicely into the next Phantasy Star game - should they decide to create a new one. Online or offline, it wouldn't matter. Gurhal would be toast (servers offline), and the Darkness is revived to wreak havok.

It couldn't be a total defeat, of course, the players could exact some small victory - stemming back the tide of destruction to the universe at the cost of Gurhal's civilization. The next game could take place far in the future, and if connected, would involve the heroes/players discovering a revived and spreading darkness - perhaps looming over the galactic horizon and headed their way - and must uncover the secrets of an ancient civilization (Gurhal) to understand and try to fight the darkness.

Too bad it's going to be a warm and fuzzy feel-good stroke fest. Like we don't already have enough of that.

[ShonagarACE]

I agree completely.

[gratefulgriz]

more PS titles pleeez! i love this game and the community! great idea Sinue_V2!

[LexTamaleen]

I am just fine with a happy ending i,m looking forward to sending the dark god back to his grave.

[Zyrusticae]

Let's face it, Sinue. You're just too forward-thinking for the games industry today.

I mean, how may games can you recall in recent memory that ended as a tragedy? I can't really think of any. Maybe FF6, but that's hardly a recent memory...

[pinkace]

I kinda wanna see them go out with a bang instead of a whimper. Like, they should hold the LAST event EVER and have each planet be infected and the only way to save the system is to fight to the last man!

Then one planet would be overrun... then another!... and trillions dead. And then we would make our last stand where it all started, on HQ, and then like the OP thought that would go down as well...

But the guardians decide they will not give the base up to the seed so they DESTROY IT along with ALL THREE PLANETS with very nuke they got!

yea... cool.

oooh oooh and Sega can release a short movie clip of all three planets and the base exploding! yea... cool.

[Waki Miko Syamemaru!]

I saw this coming from Episode 1. Everything is peachy in the end and the SEED is defeated and sealed up. Yare Yare, I sure did come in late in the game. Guess I'll have to shit can my doujin idea. Seeing as there will be no place for it. Unless SEGA decides to come up with another PSU-like game. Then its going back on the drawin board!!

[Mizari]

Let's not forget that episode 2 ended with plenty of tragedy and destruction: Guardians colony wrecked, Dallgun killed, whole cities on Parum wiped out, the Guardians disrespected and in shambles, Moatoob civilization crumbling, Dagora City decimated by the SEED-virus, etc. So it's not like this series hasn't had plenty of bummers to go along with the warm & fuzzy stuff.

Personally, I think that a series-ending apocalypse would be anticlimactic give the segue from ep. 2 to ep. 3. I'm also so, so ready for a plot line that does not involve the SEED. So, let's do let the good guys win and move on, they deserve a break.

[Legendria]

They should have killed off the Guardians for good, IMO. At least Laia and the current "staff". Blaze of heroic glory.

Use the next expansion to establish a new order set by yourself and remnants of the Guardians.

However, that would require some hard work and rewriting of some of the current free missions.

[landman]

I agree with mizari, just imagining infected Lou units slaughtering guardians and citizens is enough gore for me lol and I think it's more tragedic than the PSII ending.

[Genoa]

I think Xenosaga III ended with... a lack of "victory" which was pretty neat in my opinion.
I would agree it would be quite a twist on PSU. Too bad EVERYTHING now a days has to end with a happy ending :/

[Ruru]

i like sinues idea. have the next story be about trying to figure where gurhal system went wrong and learn from that to save the new system from an age old threat or something similar. tragic endings (if done correctly) make for great sequels.

[ShonagarACE]

send a ship full of the survivors out into space

Or THEN THE GAME IS A PREQUEL TO PSO.

[Picchi]

Wouldn't it also be cool if there were sentient, humanoid versions of seed made from the people who mutated from the SEED virus? I think it'd make for potentially interesting story variation and gameplay.

[Mizari]

Too bad EVERYTHING now a days has to end with a happy ending :/
See, I think that having a non-happy ending is just easier to get away with in movies/books/etc. because all you do is just sit back and read/watch the story. With video games the situation is a little different in that the players are working towards a specific goal or goals. This effort can last anywhere from a few hours (shorter games like Shadow of the Colossus, God of War, Katamari Damacy lol) to possibly months or years, (PSU, WoW). With the, shall we say, commitment that players are putting into getting a certain outcome, there would be major disappointment for most people if everything just blew up in the end, I think.

What I really like are games that have more than one outcome. The Suikoden games are like this: there is a "bad" ending if you just blow through the game without doing any sidequests; a "neutral" ending where the kingdom might be saved but there are still some things left unresolved; and a "good" ending where everybody really does live happily ever after. Most games with alignment systems also have this sort of variable outcome situation, and I think it's neat how it's up to you to decide how the game will end. You don't have to have everything happy if you don't want.

[Picchi]

Hmm... multiple endings, and, if you're a veteran player, you could just save your character data and which ending you got to the next game (and if you're new, you just go with the standard beginning). Each story might "start" with some similarities to one other (gotta give the general public a gist of things that can be quickly understood) but with a vast amount of differences as you progress based on the decisions you made last game/if you just started.

The same should have also been with OPs and the NPC characters in this game. You could build a relationship, good or bad with them, that could have unlocked more missions/minigames, and is capeable of being transferred into the next game with your character. If its sometime in the future, then you're OP could have been placed in suspended animation or something to explain why they've been preserved. Perhaps a mutated version of the SEED virus that they didn't know how to cure yet?




i like sinues idea. have the next story be about trying to figure where gurhal system went wrong and learn from that to save the new system from an age old threat or something similar. tragic endings (if done correctly) make for great sequels.

It was my impression at first that SEGA would have tried something like that with Maximum Attack G. In an attempt to learn more about the SEED, your character could have gone back in time (virtually speaking but still) to investigte. Kind of like bringing back the old PSO server, but in addition adding more missions to do in there. A treat for new and old fans.

Oh well. =/

sinus' idea has the potential to go places if done right.

[PACHI]

SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN!

[landman]

Wouldn't it also be cool if there were sentient, humanoid versions of seed made from the people who mutated from the SEED virus? I think it'd make for potentially interesting story variation and gameplay.
You mean, like Helga and Houzer? :wacko: Sadly in the story of phantasy star, people corrupted by the bad guy only desire one thing: total annihilation of life., and helga and houzer are no different, if they win, then there will be nothing left since they will provably sacrifice themselves once they have done their job.

[Sinue_v2]

Guardians colony wrecked, Dallgun killed, whole cities on Parum wiped out, the Guardians disrespected and in shambles, Moatoob civilization crumbling, Dagora City decimated by the SEED-virus, etc. So it's not like this series hasn't had plenty of bummers to go along with the warm & fuzzy stuff.

Yeah but... most of that stuff doesn't matter. It happens to characters you don't really know and don't care about. The game really hasn't been impacted aside from a few graphics swaps it seems. Headmaster Nav surviving was a real letdown to me. I was kind of digging the angle of "the old station has fallen, and it's up to the next generation to rebuild and forge ahead. All in all, it's just a different spin on the status quo.


I think it's more tragedic than the PSII ending.

How so? Every major tragedy in PSU thus far seem to be lifted directly out of PSII - and there's still plenty of material to choose from. Ethan being labeled a traitor (parallel to Rolf being labeled a terrorist), Mirei's death (Nei's death/Teim's Death), Colony Dropping (Gaira dropping), etc. Even the SEED-Virus attack on Moatoob could arguable be said to be lifted from PSII - since character bios of Nei from supplementary sources at the time highlight the fact that she identifies herself as a Biomonster - so she's killing her own kind, and it hurts her to do so... but she cannot allow them to hurt innocent people or the ones she loves. She commits genocide against her own kind to save the very people who hate her. It's analogous to Laia having to kill her fellow infected Beasts to save the rest of Moatoob.

Ultimately, though, nothing really changed.

At least PSII's tragedies had lasting consequences in later games within that storyline.


See, I think that having a non-happy ending is just easier to get away with in movies/books/etc. because all you do is just sit back and read/watch the story.

Perhaps, but tragic endings in games (especially RPGs which have a lot of invested time) are more profound and striking to the viewer - provided the storyline is decent to begin with. I think this is because you're not just passively viewing the character, you're managing their stats, outfitting them, raising them... you form a sense of attachment.

Can you think of a single novel or silver-screen death in the last ten years which - even if far more well written and heartwrenching - had the same lasting impact as Aerith's death in FFVII?


I am just fine with a happy ending i,m looking forward to sending the dark god back to his grave.

It will only be temporary.

And this is another point... I'd like to see addressed in the games. Personally, I think they should let the Darkness die (even if just to skip out on a few games) for good. Instead, I'd like to see the players have to track down and kill the Holy Light/Great Light. In the western releases - the Great Light and Profound Darkness are portrayed as polar opposites of the same being. In the JP releases, the Great Light and Profound Darkness are not monotheistic entities - but they're an entire race of beings. The "Great Light" isn't necessarily "good" - they're just the victors of the war. The Profound Darkness wasn't necessarily bad - they became evil after millions of years of imprisonment and the resentment for everything they have been denied. Their conciousnesses become a single mind, but that's not true of the Great Light.

It would be neat to see "Profound Darkness Sympathizers" come forth from the remains of the Great Light's race and seek to restore them/break the seal. So you have to track down and kill these beings.

Kinda like Dogma, but not as funny and much more Japanese.

I think the idea of killing the Great Light was one of the leading storylines for PSV before it got shit-canned. It would be very easy to link this new storyline to PSU's storyline and their 12,000 year old civilization.

----------------------

In-so-far as tragedies, I like to know my efforts in the game had some effect on the ending and the storyline - but real life doesn't often offer happy endings. In a way, PSU's storyline can be considered a comedy, because in the end - not much really changes. To put it in TheoWarner's words: Time essentially stops. The hero gets the girl, they live happily ever after. And no-one ever grows old, and no-one ever dies.

Granted, PSU is rather far removed from reality as it is - but it would be nice if the characters and their development vaguely synced up with how things happen in reality. Victories tend to come with a cost. This is why I loved PSO v.1's ending. You saved the day, but you couldn't save Rico. She was dead, and there were still a lot of unsolved problems which prevented Pioneer 2 from landing. Everybody was left in limbo, and their future uncertain - though the immediate threat had passed. The final song, Can You Still See the Light, was just amazingly well fit to not just PSO's ending - but Phantasy Star in general.

Sorry, I'm drunk and rambling again. But I'm tired of typing now.

[Picchi]

You mean, like Helga and Houzer?

Not quite. Think more along the lines of a person who looks like a SEED creature due to the mutation process, for whatever reason not being able to complete itself.



Sadly in the story of phantasy star, people corrupted by the bad guy only desire one thing: total annihilation of life.

Technically any race can be manipulated; you don't even need to be a SEED to be taken advantage of. This race of people however, wouldn't be corrupted by the bad guy..at least, not yet. Due to the affects of the vaccine, some people transformed and stopped midway due to mutations that happened when the body's defense system kicked in to stop the SEED virus.

And/Or Other people's body's, who've already had a profound defense against the virus, are slowly being eaten away at. Parts of the virus which managed to survive the body's onslaught against the first wave of it have grown stronger, reproduced, and have started waging war on it again. The body's fighting it, which has allowed these people time, but its a losing battle. If nothing's done for them, they'll succumb and transform into SEED.

Some may work for the big bad, though. If they're that far gone enough, that's one way. When transforming into a SEED, I think there's also a mental/brain alteration process that follows, so people can have instinctive allegiance to their leader /or/ have complete amnesia or suffer from insanity if the process never quite completes itself. All three would be easy for the villian's empire to take advantage of if they're left vunerable, to put in their ranks. I'm thinking though that the amnesiac would be the character who the OP plays as if they choose this race.

[Mizari]

Yeah but... most of that stuff doesn't matter. It happens to characters you don't really know and don't care about. Sorry, but I don't buy that. Dallgun WAS Laia's father after all, and a large part of why she is the way she is (pushy, driven, emotionally distant) stems from her trying not to let people think that she got to where she was because of neoptism. Dallgun's death had a HUGE impact on her, and as a result, heavily influenced events in episode 3. As for the Guardians organization crumbling...of course we know and care about the Guardians, since the PCs in ALL of the chapters are a part of the organization. It's like saying we wouldn't care about the Jedi knights getting killed off en masse in Star Wars. How can we not, when most of the main characters are or are involved with Jedi knights?


In-so-far as tragedies, I like to know my efforts in the game had some effect on the ending and the storyline - but real life doesn't often offer happy endings. On the other hand, a big part of why people as a whole play video games is to escape from real life - they play the games, invest time and effort, because in this small microcosm they actually CAN make a difference and have things turn out right. Real life sucks so bad already, why do my games have to suck too? If I want a video game to be just like real life, I'll just skip it and live life instead.

[panzer_unit]

Too bad it's going to be a warm and fuzzy feel-good stroke fest. Like we don't already have enough of that.

How would it be appropriate for anything set in a world of wall-to-wall kawaii space elf or catgirl loli's and sexed-up maidbots come to any conclusion besides a total sugar overdose?

Besides, it's a nice counterpoint to ST making PSU - according to popular opinion - in a deliberate attempt to rape everyone's second-fondest childhood gaming memories now that they've ever so thoroughly had their dirty dirty way with the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise.

[SammaeltheDark]

Besides, it's a nice counterpoint to ST making PSU - according to popular opinion - in a deliberate attempt to rape everyone's second-fondest childhood gaming memories now that they've ever so thoroughly had their dirty dirty way with the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise.
You got it backwards. Sega killed Sonic the Hedgehog... Furries raped the corpse

Though I was just joking something similar with the recent closing event of Tabula Rasa. I was saying "what's up with this feel good ending and junk after an event obviously crafted to let the players win? The game is shutting down.. I think that's a loss. There should just be a giant world-shattering explosion followed by the sudden shutdown of the servers"
Though I think a happy ending is more justified for a game that lives out its expected life than one that is shut down prematurely due to costs of keeping the servers up. With the amount of failing real MMORPGs these days, PSU is somehow actually winning with its limited population. Go good guys!

[Waki Miko Syamemaru!]

Here is how I would have loved to see it all end. When you capture Helga and Houzer there would be a small cinematic trial. As the two are about to be executed the screen goes blank and Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" plays as the credits roll. There you go. Awesome ending. But if you listen real closely you can hear all of the PSU fans scream out at once "WHAT THE F*CK!? What the hell just happened? Sunnava bitch!". I would cream my pants if that happened.

[Sinue_v2]

Sorry, but I don't buy that. Dallgun

Personally, Dallgun didn't seem to me to be so much a character as he was simply a plot device. He was background for Ethan (via his father) and Laia. When he died, his death was intended more to invoke sympathy for Laia - who up till that point (barring the Moatoob mopup) I don't feel was a likable or interesting character. So I didn't feel any sympathy or empathy for the character, and it didn't strike home as a particularly tragic event. She didn't really grow as a character and become really likable until Ep III.

Hell, Old Mr. Medoc's problems with his grand-daughter were more tragic than Dallgun's death IMO.

As for Rozenom City being leveled - we never went to Rozenom. Most players probably didn't know it existed until Ep II. The colony might as well have dropped somewhere in the Everquest game realms. We really didn't know any of the NPCs from that town, and the ones we do meet are pretty pedantic and unrealistic. Yeah - Sorry lady, I can't feel sympathy for you not having any milk for your baby when the city you used to call home is awash in flames and you have to perfectly functioning milkbags you're apparently too stupid to utilize. Call it natural selection. Hell, I almost felt the Illuminus did Gurhal a favor. If that's their scholar city and indicative of their best and brightest then you know what... they deserve it.


On the other hand, a big part of why people as a whole play video games is to escape from real life - they play the games, invest time and effort, because in this small microcosm they actually CAN make a difference and have things turn out right. Real life sucks so bad already, why do my games have to suck too? If I want a video game to be just like real life, I'll just skip it and live life instead.

First off... real life sucks? I'm not going to debate worldviews, but suffice to say I don't agree. Most of the time. Life's a mixed bag, and it's all in how you deal with it.

My real contention with this sections is that you're making a sweeping generalization. People play games for a lot of different reasons. However, just because it's all more or less a form of escapism - doesn't mean all consumers have the same taste in how they escape. As you can see from books and movies, comedy is important, but there are large markets for tragedies, romances, horror, mysteries, etc. Hell, I'm proof of this diversity - because I'm sitting here arguing for a more tragic ending to game's storyline to match the (what many will see) tragic closing of the servers and the loss of all that character data and time invested. It's going to be a real kick in the nuts to players who still enjoy the game, and I just think it would be appropriate to have that sentiment reflected in the game world. I never meant to argue that the hero's should necessarily fail... or that the player's effort shouldn't be rewarded. I simply think that there should be a sacrifice made at least on the same level as what is gained. Perhaps they must sacrifice their lives and the Gurhal system in a last ditch effort to stop the darkness... realizing there is something greater than their own lives at stake. Suffer utter destruction now, so that future generations might just have a chance to truly stop the cycle of death. It would bring a close to the game, send it out on a somber (though hopeful) note, and leave the door wide open for future games.


Soon, the dawn will rise again, but what have I got? What has it cost me?

Part of it, also, is an issue of immersion. The Brady Bunch might have been a fun show to watch on occasion, but it doesn't pull the audience in the way a Soap Opera does. That's kind of a thing for me... because when I truly go for escapism, I like to get lost in my games. Elder Scrolls, and lately Mass Effect have been great in this regard. They might be Sci-Fi and Fantasy, but the worlds they portray are far more realistic compared to what PSU does. To me, that immersion is important if I'm going to be spending a substantial amount of time on a game.

And yeah, I know, that's comparing two western titles to a Japanese title. Though I'm sure you know there's plenty of examples of both extremes on either side of the ocean. So it's not like the point is invalid based on region.

[ShonagarACE]

Personally, Dallgun didn't seem to me to be so much a character as he was simply a plot device. He was background for Ethan (via his father) and Laia. When he died, his death was intended more to invoke sympathy for Laia - who up till that point (barring the Moatoob mopup) I don't feel was a likable or interesting character. So I didn't feel any sympathy or empathy for the character, and it didn't strike home as a particularly tragic event.

This. I felt way more empathy for the CAST at Green Green Farm in episode 1. That's easily the most emotion I've felt for any character in this story, and I don't even remember her name.

[Sinue_v2]

That's easily the most emotion I've felt for any character in this story, and I don't even remember her name.

Norphe. :)

[ShonagarACE]

Norphe. :)

Thanks. ^^

[Overlord Zenon]

depends, how many expansions they can do for PSU, look at WoW i know it sucks but expansions for some reason keep it going...

[Waki Miko Syamemaru!]

The only person I felt any emotion for was that ittle girl who's old man was a guardian and she rarely got to see him. Also Norphe and her kid too. As for Dalgun dropping dead I was all like "Oh he's dead? Meh...*eats more cashews*". As for Laia, she came off as some sorta She-Man until the very end where I was starting to feel for her. What REALLY got me was the epilogue where all the beasts were being contained and killed off because they might be infected. That was a huge WTF-moment right there. As for Rezenom, couldn't care really. It would have been better if the GUARDIANS Colony dropped in the middle of the ocean...and on top of HAL. God I can't stand her!

[Mizari]

Personally, Dallgun didn't seem to me to be so much a character as he was simply a plot device. He was background for Ethan (via his father) and Laia. When he died, his death was intended more to invoke sympathy for Laia - who up till that point (barring the Moatoob mopup) I don't feel was a likable or interesting character. So I didn't feel any sympathy or empathy for the character, and it didn't strike home as a particularly tragic event. She didn't really grow as a character and become really likable until Ep III.
*shrugs* You may or may not feel sympathy for Dallgun, but it's clear that his death DID have an impact on the storyline of Episode 3. Basically the game was saying, "we all know you hate Laia - well, here's why she's such a jerk". Could this have been executed better? Probably, but it did set up her evolution in episode 3, which was obviously a big part of the story. Dallgun was also the personification of the confidence and dedication of the Guardians as a whole, and with his death we were left with the question of how they would ever recover.


As for Rozenom City being leveled - we never went to Rozenom. That's fine, although I think that the point of the Rozenom visit in ep 3 was to show how naive and unworldly Lumia was. Sure we didn't know anybody in Rozenom, but Lumia got a big wake-up call from going there, which in turn spurred HER maturation. I thought that the malfunctioning machines and CASTs were a much bigger deal on Parum, anyway. Especially all of the Lou units being wiped out :-( Plus, Curtz, whom we were just starting to like, went berserk too.

The Dagora City infection - well, take it or leave it - but that Beast kid who the team saves only to turn into a SEED form? That was harsh.


First off... real life sucks? I'm not going to debate worldviews, but suffice to say I don't agree. Most of the time. Life's a mixed bag, and it's all in how you deal with it.Hey, easy there :-) . I was mostly being flippant with saying that "life sucks", because as you (correctly) stated:
real life doesn't often offer happy endings.. Life's a lot of good and bad, but I always find it interesting when people complain about there not being enough bad endings in fiction, because real life isn't always happy. Well, I'd wager that one of the main functions of entertainment media is to provide people with something happy, even if it is unrealistically so.

My real contention with this sections is that you're making a sweeping generalization. People play games for a lot of different reasons. However, just because it's all more or less a form of escapism - doesn't mean all consumers have the same taste in how they escape. As you can see from books and movies, comedy is important, but there are large markets for tragedies, romances, horror, mysteries, etc. Well, like I metioned earlier, I think that a tragic ending is far more palatable in a book or a movie, because you are more or less an observer to a story, and you haven't invested anything more than your time. Video games are a different situation, especially RPG-style games because you become immersed in and involved with the stories. You're working towards a goal. For *many* (not all, but a good proportion, I think) gamers, they want there to be a good ending, a payoff for their effort. Even some games that have an "evil" alignment option still offer a "payoff" that may be tragic on some level but not necessarily for the "evil" character (IIRC in Jade Empire you can take possession of an evil spirit, which isn't good for the world in general but benefits your character). BTW, I'm not totally against tragic stories as a whole, but I think that comparing those in print or film to those in a game is a bit like apples and oranges.


I simply think that there should be a sacrifice made at least on the same level as what is gained. Perhaps they must sacrifice their lives and the Gurhal system in a last ditch effort to stop the darkness... realizing there is something greater than their own lives at stake. Suffer utter destruction now, so that future generations might just have a chance to truly stop the cycle of death. It would bring a close to the game, send it out on a somber (though hopeful) note, and leave the door wide open for future games. I just don't see a total apocalypse ending working, since if you destroy the entire Gurhal system, there won't be any future generations to fight for - not without a deus ex machina situation like a survivor ship (which could theoretically wander space for many thousands of millenia without ever encountering another planet) or some sort of magical resurrection. Besides, I mostly want this particular storyline to be OVER - future PS titles shouldn't have to be saddled with the continuing threat of the SEED or some future derivative of it. It's time to beat the bad guys, get society back on track, and move on.

[Waki Miko Syamemaru!]

Oh yea! I remember that beast kid! I was al like "Well at least we saved someone! Go me!" then he turned into a SEED form and I was like "Awwwww....awwwww...really game? Did you have to pull a dick move?". In hind-sight the final parts of AotI were my favs. Everything went to hell and all you could do was not get shanked by some crazy robot or SEED.

[zandra117]

After the final confinement system is activated, sealing up the final SEED in a dimensional prison, a Profound Darkness will grow from the SEED within. Then as the servers are nearing shutdown there will be a breaking of the seal event. The dimensional seal will be broken and the Profound Darkness will rise and engulf the Gurhal System as the servers are switched off. But then a Great Light will split from the Profound Darkness and push it back into the seal. When the darkness clears it is revealed that the Gurhal System has been transformed. The Great Light calls this new world "Algol".

[Finalzone]

Quick suggestion, get hired by Sonic Team so you can fulfill you ideas. Add also multiple ending too.

Each planet needs more exploration instead of being limited to main place like store. What about doing side quest like clients, better use of vision phone?

[Akaimizu]

I don't have a problem with the good guys winning. Might as well have a happy ending. There's a lot of lukewarm if not unhappy endings. However, for an online RPG, I'll give you one major example of one with a bad ending where the humans are beat back to the brink of extinction under the rule of the enemy.

The end of Tabula Rasa.

[OldCoot]

I don't think I have put up a spoiler warning, you kind of have to expect it anyhow. I just got to thinking... Sega is going to have to take the servers down one day. It will be the end of Gurhal system so far as the players are concerned. Wouldn't it have been a cool plot twist to have the SEED triumph and destroy all civilization in the Gurhal system just prior to the server shutdown. It would have been a tragic end to rival Phantasy Star II, and would have segwayed nicely into the next Phantasy Star game - should they decide to create a new one. Online or offline, it wouldn't matter. Gurhal would be toast (servers offline), and the Darkness is revived to wreak havok.

It couldn't be a total defeat, of course, the players could exact some small victory - stemming back the tide of destruction to the universe at the cost of Gurhal's civilization. The next game could take place far in the future, and if connected, would involve the heroes/players discovering a revived and spreading darkness - perhaps looming over the galactic horizon and headed their way - and must uncover the secrets of an ancient civilization (Gurhal) to understand and try to fight the darkness.

Too bad it's going to be a warm and fuzzy feel-good stroke fest. Like we don't already have enough of that.

I can't do anything about the servers, but there is no way my AT will go down. Just stand in the middle of friends spamming Jabroga and I spam Gi-resta. There will one spot that the SEED can't take. :)