need guidance!

[mangojelly5]

what are the basics and general things of the game?(the feel of the game)
EXAMPLE:
upgrading weapons - destroy weapon to get material - enchant ....ETC
PET system?
lvling routine?(like grinding or doing quest?)

am downloading the patch now(pretty huge one =.=) and i dont want to be totally lost in the game^^

[Positive]

http://psupedia.info/Main_Page

Just click on whatever and start reading.

[Mystic_Nessly]

PSUPedia (as mentioned by previous poster) is a great resource to read up on. It can be a little overwhelming at first, especially if you don't know the terminology, so here is a little help.

EDIT: I overlooked the fact that you're going to play on the Japanese server.
To be completely honest, if you aren't familiar with Japanese, I strongly recommend you first play the story mode of any version of Phantasy Star Universe (PS2, Xbox 360 or PC) you can read before you jump onto the Japanese server. You're basically just thrown on there with no direction of where to go when you play online.

In a nutshell, here's PSU:

CHARACTER / CLASSES / PHOTON ARTS


Your character can be 1 of 4 races (Human, Newman, Beast, CAST). Each one has better stats in certain areas than others. You then select your class/type, which is what allows you to use certain groups of weapons. (EX: Ranger specializes in guns, and Force specializes in wands/rods). You can have any character race play any class, but some race/class combinations will be better than others. You can change your class any time you want.
You character levels up by killing enemies. You class/type levels up by completing missions. Both character and class level ups improve your character stats.
You learn abilities called photon arts (TECHNIC = magic spells, SKILLS = melee abilities, special gun bullets). Photon arts can be applied to weapons to add abilities (EX: You can equip an ice bullet on a rifle). With use, the photon arts gain experience and become more powerful.
By playing special missions called "guardians advanced missions" you can further customize your character like increase your max HP or add a burn effect to your weapon. This isn't something you'll likely do until you're much more familiar with the game though.
As with many online RPGs, the game never ends. You continue powering up your character and equipment fighting the same enemies and playing the same stages continuously but on higher difficulties.
The current character level cap is 180.



WEAPONS and UPGRADING


Many weapons/armors can be created (synthesized), by combining different ingredients (which are found by killing enemies/clearing missions), but most are pre-made and found from enemies/clearing missions.
Weapons can be upgraded (grinded) 10 times at best (less if your luck fails you). You must take your weapons and grinders to a special shop to upgrade weapons



Hope that helps!

[TheAstarion]

Also, some things in the JP version are pretty much irrelevant if you're on free course. Since you can't go to your room, there's no synthesis, no player shops, and pretty much no weapon upgrades. Grinders (the items used to upgrade weapons) are synthed over 99% of the time, very few premade grinders are available ingame.

Character level increases through EXP, for killing mobs. Standard fare. The base stats of any two characters of the same race and gender are always the same, scaled by level.

Type level increases through Mission Points, awarded at the end of each mission. Types level independantly of character level and apply % modifiers to your base stats. They also determine what weapons (and armour to a lesser extent) you can use; the weapon proficiencies do not change with type level.

Photon Arts level up, essentially, by tagging a valid target x number of times. Forces (spellcasters) work entirely on their photon art spells; gunners improve their elemental strengths over time with their bullet arts, and fighters get longer, stronger combos the more you level a move. The current max level for all Photon Arts is 50, but only specific specialist types get that far. A pure gunner isn't going to get a level 50 sword move, for instance. You learn PAs by buying or trading for a disc, using it as an item, and linking it to a weapon. You can link the same PA to multiple weapons and they share the EXP pool to levelling up the move.

As for the battle system; the game is pretty much entirely physical. If you're not there when an enemy tries to hit you, you won't (lag permitting) be hit. If you don't hit an enemy's hitbox, you don't hit the enemy. There's no auto targeting or autoattack, everything's manual and down to your own sense of timing. There's also no open world, everything is essentially instanced, accessed from mission counters. There's no reset times so as soon as you finish a mission, you can run the same one again. You can start a party before a mission, join others, or let them join up with you mid-mission.

[Senior El Roboto]

it would prob be easier if you played the english version first then came to jp. most importers did it that way. also all the controls and the game itself becomes second nature.

[Illuminate]

what are the basics and general things of the game?(the feel of the game)
EXAMPLE:
upgrading weapons - destroy weapon to get material - enchant ....ETC
PET system?
lvling routine?(like grinding or doing quest?)

am downloading the patch now(pretty huge one =.=) and i dont want to be totally lost in the game^^

Bahahaha, wahahaha, hoho.

None of that exists in PSU.
Grinding isn't in PSU, it is called slaving, hours and hours of slaving to SEGA's whims.