How's the Story for PSO2?

[Sky's the Limit]

I don't want any super spoilers or specifics, but I am curious about the story. All I know is that the Arkz (Player Characters) are seeking new worlds to inhabit. Could someone list some neat story elements that appear in the game?

Again, no specifics, but I'm REALLY hoping to see some shady government funded experiments and some heartless black market trafficing going on.

The only thing I really liked in PSU, story wise, was the tension between the different races (And Hyuga <3).

Thanks in advance! ^-^

[HFlowen]

Aliens invade some planets or something. That's about all I got.

Also someone was telling me the matterboard makes you replay certain events in different timelines.

Fucking.... what?

[Sizustar]

http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=199319

[Jakosifer]

It lacks Ethan, so it already gets a minus. On the plus side, it lacks Yuto, so it gets a plus for that.

God, Yuto was horrid.

[Jkid]

From the PSO 2 Official Site.

A eternal adventure begins anew.

ORACLE, an interplanetary navigation fleet organized by three races: humans, newmans and casts. Expanding into the reaches of outer space, they have begun a new chapter in history for their civilization.

Now, it is New Light Year 283. At this point, ORACLE has crossed numerous galaxies in the universe.

A special reconnaissance team, ARKS (Artifical Relicts to Keep Species), was formed to land on uncharted worlds, carry out investigations, and initiate first-contact with other species. Afterwards, they move on to the next planet, continuing their exploration. This is the purpose of ARKS.

They search for new adventures, working with each other and willingly set out for uncharted planets for the sake of discovering the unknown.

And thus, they set out for infinite planets...

[Ezodagrom]

Aliens invade some planets or something. That's about all I got.

Also someone was telling me the matterboard makes you replay certain events in different timelines.

Fucking.... what?
First the player goes through a story chapter in a certain way, but as the player completes the golden orbs in the matterboards, the player gets to play that same chapter in a different way.
There seems to be some sorts of time travel, maybe? It's kinda confusing...

[HFlowen]

First the player goes through a story chapter in a certain way, but as the player completes the golden orbs in the matterboards, the player gets to play that same chapter in a different way.
There seems to be some sorts of time travel, maybe? It's kinda confusing...

It makes me feel like a Time Cop.

Which incidentally makes me want to re-watch Time Cop.

[Zorafim]

It lacks Ethan, so it already gets a minus. On the plus side, it lacks Yuto, so it gets a plus for that.

God, Yuto was horrid.

People actually liked Ethan? Well, I guess that's good that someone got some enjoyment out of the main character.

The story so far is... what story? Out of every translation I've seen so far, I've seen very little story progression. No start, middle, or end. All I can see are different character growths. And that kind of makes me sad.

[NoiseHERO]

Ethan was fucking awesome.

The second they made YOU the "main character" (and by main character I mean unimportant guy whose just THERE...) and took out the goof ball hero. Suddenly the annoying characters and shitty anime story telling became more clear and boring.

PSU stories minus Ethan as hero or Emillia as sidekick = unbearable D:

[Cyclon]

From my understanding, you complete a mission, but the results weren't satisfying for various possible reasons. Thus you go back in time to trigger key events(golden dots on the matter board)that will allow you to go and complete the mission again, properly this time.
I could have it all wrong though.

And from what I've read and played, I believe everything we're doing through the chapters will be of some importance sooner or later. As of now though, the plot is a mess.

[Sky's the Limit]

Ethan was $%&^*@# awesome.

The second they made YOU the "main character" (and by main character I mean unimportant guy whose just THERE...) and took out the goof ball hero. Suddenly the annoying characters and shitty anime story telling became more clear and boring.

PSU stories minus Ethan as hero or Emillia as sidekick = unbearable D:

I agree with some things, and disagree with others. I did like Ethan, he was cool. Don't get me wrong, he was no Hyuga, but he wasn't bad. As a whole, I wasn't really that fond of the PSU story though.

Now as for the "unimportant character who's just there," thing, I couldn't disagree more. The thing I LOVED about the original PSO was that there was an ENORMOUS story, but it was subtle, and not repeatedly stuffed down your throat. You, as a faceless hunter, helped the people of Pioneer 2 and caught little glimpses of the story, and with the Sue and Kireek story, found yourself caught in the middle of something WAY bigger than you were, that you would never be able to "fix."

I liked the game so much, because, for story's sake, you had to build your own, and you have to piece together "the big picture." There were so many loose ends, which added to it, because it left some aspects up to speculation, like what happened to Rupika, the force who was supposedly one of the extremely rare survivors of Pioneer 1. Fight and fight as you did, there was always this overlaying hoplessness, that no matter what you did, how much you helped, the problems would always be there, and you could only hope to help others.

You could really build your character, since there wasn't a ridgid story where you HAD to be the sole savior of the universe. You could be a shadey criminal, you could be a soldier, you could be a simple news reporter. (Hopefully not by a hacker though! T-T) (http://www.shinforce.com/elite/phantasystar/gallery_pso/gallery1/wp-PSO-11-0640.jpg)

I'm just really hoping the story of PSO2 isn't overwhelmingly centralized around your character, where every "Arkz" member isn't the super important center of all that is. The best games and animes usually have characters who are faceless nobodies who work hard for what they believe in. Final Fantasy 6 and 7 were like that. The original WoW was like that too.

I guess I'm just saying, I have trouble enjoying games like that, when the NPC is all like, "OMG IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU THE WHOLE UNIVERSE WOULD HAVE BLOWN UP AND EVERYONE WOULD HAVE DIED!! NO HERO IN THE ENTIRE EXISTANCE OF EVERYTHING WAS EVER AS GOOD AS YOU!" while knowing that everyone turns in that mission hears that, especially when I see "Lulpwnz" doing the same mission.

Maybe I'm just a minority when I prefer a, "Well.. at least we got the surrounding area cleared of monsters for now.. but we'll probably have to send more hunters in before the week's over." or.. now brace yourself.. a bigger, more powerful character outwits or defeats your character.

But really, on a scale from 1-10, (1 being nothing like the original PSO, and 10 being exactly the same) how would all of you rate the style of the story?

[Dycize]

The story in PSO2 makes your character pretty central, but considering the way the story pans out, it can actually make sense that everyone is doing it.
Why?

Time travel shenanigans.

Since it's pretty much confirmed that our character gets through every story mission at least once with various results, it wouldn't be a stretch to think that, in some other timeline, it was another player who did it.
Obviously, for the sake of immersion and roleplaying (for people who care about that, like me), most of the story stuff is best left out. I mean, the story missions ARE solo missions, afterall. How awkward would it be if suddenly, multiple players said "Do you know that girl I saved, Matoi?" and everyone else went "Well uh no, I did."
The best thing about that is that it could be a nice roleplaying hook, since, as I said above, time travel shenanigans!

It's funny how much that fact can be used as an excuse for everything. Mysterious man wants to kill you? You already effed' up his plans in another time line. Mysterious girl knows you and you don't? That's because you already knew her. Your Arks mentor feels like he saw you somewhere before? That's because he did!

And on the plus side, the player's character is build up as someone who WILL become important later, but not now. Which is true! Since you'll be leveling.

Anyway, the story so far is a lot of world building and character involvement. If anything, PSO2's story is enjoyable if only because of all the NPC events. The field events are like a more interactive version of the message nodes in PSO.

[Xaton]

wow like warriors orochi time line you go through the time line then to save so and so musashi for instance you complete this mission then replay the other as the time line was alterd and then save them. as a example. warrior orochi 3. or timequest or stoppers or what ever that one is your one guy that gets gated into time shooter game one notable scene is he needs to get into the door he gives him self a key and othe rguy says "dont forget to pass it on" or somthing
ah it was time splitters game

[ScottyMango]

It lacks Ethan, so it already gets a minus.

I really really really hope that's sarcasm. The only thing worse than Ethan is Afin.

[Ezodagrom]

I really really really hope that's sarcasm. The only thing worse than Ethan is Afin.
Dunno if it was the english voice acting or if it was just his character, but to me Ethan in Episode 1 felt alot more annoying than Affin.

[skuld01]

The story?

Steins;Gate.

[blace]

Dunno if it was the english voice acting or if it was just his character, but to me Ethan in Episode 1 felt alot more annoying than Affin.
I think that's due to him being a bit dark towards the Guardians because of what happened, and to him being surprised by everything as if experiencing things for the first time. He retains his goofy nature in the portable series, but seems a bit more knowing than what PSU portrayed him as.

[Freshellent]

Anyone that did story mode in PSU saw how Ethan murdered the SHIT out of the last dood.

It was hard for me to hate him as much as everyone else once I really looked it from a different angle, that guy was mad unlucky.

[Enforcer MKV]

Anyone that did story mode in PSU saw how Ethan murdered the SHIT out of the last dood.

It was hard for me to hate him as much as everyone else once I really looked it from a different angle, that guy was mad unlucky.

Heck, I never hated Ethan. I don't hate Afin, either. I liked Ethan, thought he was pretty cool. I'm indifferent about Afin, really.

I'm just like "Why so much hate?" and went back to enjoying the game. >_>

[HFlowen]

Come to think of it, I don't think I ever even played PSU's story mode. Think I might've done some of Aoti online story missions. I remember Laia at least.

[Sky's the Limit]

The story in PSO2 makes your character pretty central, but considering the way the story pans out, it can actually make sense that everyone is doing it.
Why?

Time travel shenanigans.

Since it's pretty much confirmed that our character gets through every story mission at least once with various results, it wouldn't be a stretch to think that, in some other timeline, it was another player who did it.
Obviously, for the sake of immersion and roleplaying (for people who care about that, like me), most of the story stuff is best left out. I mean, the story missions ARE solo missions, afterall. How awkward would it be if suddenly, multiple players said "Do you know that girl I saved, Matoi?" and everyone else went "Well uh no, I did."
The best thing about that is that it could be a nice roleplaying hook, since, as I said above, time travel shenanigans!

It's funny how much that fact can be used as an excuse for everything. Mysterious man wants to kill you? You already effed' up his plans in another time line. Mysterious girl knows you and you don't? That's because you already knew her. Your Arks mentor feels like he saw you somewhere before? That's because he did!

And on the plus side, the player's character is build up as someone who WILL become important later, but not now. Which is true! Since you'll be leveling.

Anyway, the story so far is a lot of world building and character involvement. If anything, PSO2's story is enjoyable if only because of all the NPC events. The field events are like a more interactive version of the message nodes in PSO.

Oh, well that kinda works. Another way to look at it is from a "simulation" perspective maybe. Like the introductory mission in The Secret World. Where this Illuminati doctor shoots you full of psycho-halucinigenic drugs and you "relive" the events of a person who was in Tokyo, as sort of a training exercise. That wouldn't be too far fetched to say it was something similar, or a training simulator, right?

Also, I'm kind of curious about the free play mode. Is there one? Where you just go through the areas and do your own thing? I remember in PSU, you had to always have a mission to go into the areas. I kinda missed the free play of PSO, where you just picked an area and battled through it, no mission required.

[RocSage]

There was a thread i posted a while back that gave what happened and how it effected the timeline more or less

Matoi is somehow important and related to Mask. They both are not in the ARKS database and had you not gotten to her she would be dead.

Mask is, as far as we know, looking for pieces to a weapon and is somehow controlling the Darkers.

Gettemhalt is somehow important as we have changed history by changing his actions 2 or 3 times now. He also knows Zeno

Zeno says you look familiar and is more or less acting as a mentor. You looking familiar is an obvious heads up in Time Travel things where you go back in time and run into a Younger version of someone you'll meet years later.

Ulc, a side character, might have something to do with the story at some point but right now it's just interesting to see whats going on in her life.

Tia and Patty are info brokers, but I don't know what all they say... they do however have the most scenes I believe

Zig is a weapon smith who created the first models of the weapons ARKS use today. He's also the only character we know the age of thus far.

The main focus of the missions seems to be...
Saving races and/or re-establishing or establishing communication with races.
Changing Gettemhalt's actions
Stopping Mask's missions and changing Matoi's destiny (that weapon you find I'm betting it is Matoi's)

[Shadowth117]

Also, I'm kind of curious about the free play mode. Is there one? Where you just go through the areas and do your own thing? I remember in PSU, you had to always have a mission to go into the areas. I kinda missed the free play of PSO, where you just picked an area and battled through it, no mission required.

There are free missions for each area that have a boss to fight at the very end if you so choose. However, you can literally sit around in the run for hours fighting enemies and even random boss spawns if you want. Guess it may not be the free mode you want, but eh.

I'm not gonna lie by the way. From the description the English website gives, I instantly think of Star Trek. It kind of seems like that's what's happening too although with more time travel.

[NoiseHERO]

Mask is, as far as we know, looking for pieces to a weapon and is somehow controlling the Darkers.

power ranger/daftpunk masked anime character looking for a super strong weapon while he controll evil minion monsters...?

Kingdom Hearts BBS plot ripoff!

[Sky's the Limit]

There are free missions for each area that have a boss to fight at the very end if you so choose. However, you can literally sit around in the run for hours fighting enemies and even random boss spawns if you want. Guess it may not be the free mode you want, but eh.

I'm not gonna lie by the way. From the description the English website gives, I instantly think of Star Trek. It kind of seems like that's what's happening too although with more time travel.

Can you do the free missions for all of the areas, or do you have to go through the story mode to gain access to new areas?

[Ezodagrom]

Can you do the free missions for all of the areas, or do you have to go through the story mode to gain access to new areas?
There's free fields for all the areas, and both free fields and new areas have to be unlocked through client orders from this NPC:

http://bumped.org/psublog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Koffee-High-Res-450x403.jpg

The client orders from this NPC to unlock new areas or free fields are usually about doing specific missions with S rank in the end in a certain time limit.

[Sky's the Limit]

There's free fields for all the areas, and both free fields and new areas have to be unlocked through client orders from this NPC:

http://bumped.org/psublog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Koffee-High-Res-450x403.jpg

The client orders from this NPC to unlock new areas or free fields are usually about doing specific missions with S rank in the end in a certain time limit.

Oh, so you can actually do all the free missions without doing the story missions? Nifty. I'll probably do the story missions on one character, and just level up others with free missions then. ^-^ Thanks.

[Garnet_Moon]

..........there's a story? Huh. I imagine those who can read the language are happy then I guess.

[SPOnion]

Matoi possibly is the queen of the darkers. The color of her eyes and the time she as well as the darkers appear on the planet is no coincidence.

[Ezodagrom]

..........there's a story? Huh. I imagine those who can read the language are happy then I guess.
The story in PSO2 is related to the matterboard (this thing in the picture):

http://bumped.org/psublog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/matta-boodu.jpg

As the player completes the golden orbs, story chapters are unlocked.