End of the story. Is this episode I?

[Angelo]

So with the information given in the 'Arks Party' update on the bumped blog, we see that the story of PSO2 is going to be wrapped up with the updates "Arks Counter attack" and "Dark Falz".

Common sense tells me that this is just the end of the first 'episode' and that we'll still get content after the end of this year.

I vaguely remember way back in 2010 they said something about having a lot of 'planets'. So far we've only traversed three and the logo has 6 planets on it.

What we have so far seems like a fleshed out version of the Forest > Caves > Mines > Ruins chain.

I'm hoping next we'll have a fleshed out version of the VR > Jungle > Tower > Seabed chain.

Any thoughts?

[PokeminMaster]

Haha, you feel that too? I cannot way to see what they add after the game finishes. At the very least, I would like new areas, but what I'd really want is an Episode II...
But yes, I do think it would be a great idea for them to include PSO Episode II's areas, have more planets, and flesh out the story.
I think it would be interesting to see what story they could include in a Part 2.
This may only be me, but I am also hoping for the return of other known bosses, at least in the form of VR, such as Olga Flow... Even if the fight is not identical, it would be cool if it was at the least a similar background to a boss XD

[gigawuts]

Free to play is an entirely different world. I have a feeling we'll be getting many, many chapters, steadily at that. There may be a delay between chapters 1 & 2 while they organize the story, but I don't expect a full stop until a Sega announces a replacement game, either another PS or an entirely new project.

I especially expect this because of how successful PSO2 has apparently been, surpassing expected player counts etc.

edit: And yes, I'd like a scenic gal da val successor with some PSU highlights sprinkled in, but I think after that we should skip episode 4 and move on to entirely new and original content. But then again, there aren't many kinds of areas that haven't been done between PSO and PSU.

[raiden55]

I played ep2 on PSOBB, so not a lot as Sega was silly on how they transposed it (not even quests which existed on pso dc...)
But I do remember I liked the worlds, so I would be interested :)

But first I hope we'll get a true Ruin ; after going on those we saw on naberius, we enter their spaceship (a bit like we had for desert/mines), and have the same kind of environment that on dreamcast

[Reiketsu]

All I want is VR Spaceship and that Seabed/Jungle/Mountains area from Episode II with exactly the same music, just remixed!! And not in a way you only recognize it for 5 seconds like how they did it with the music in the forest >_>"

[Finalzone]

But first I hope we'll get a true Ruin ; after going on those we saw on naberius, we enter their spaceship (a bit like we had for desert/mines), and have the same kind of environment that on dreamcast

Setting that expectation high is a way of disappointment. This is PSO2, not PSO.

[Resanoca]

Setting that expectation high is a way of disappointment. This is PSO2, not PSO.
Yeah, you're right. This is PSO2. SO AFTER INVADING THEIR SHIP, WE'LL HAVE SHIP BATTLES AGAINST OTHER PEOPLE.

[Ether]

Yeah, it definitely feels like they're aiming to have the game "finished" in time with the release of the Vita version. After that, I think updates are going to slow to a crawl, with only minimal stuff being put out every few weeks.

The way free to play games seem to work is that they save up a bunch of new content, then announce it as an expansion pack of sorts in order to rebuild excitement draw in new people. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see PSO 2: Episode 2 hitting in 10 months or so. That is, assuming the game has made enough money at this point to justify continued development.

[[Ayumi]]

So with the information given in the 'Arks Party' update on the bumped blog, we see that the story of PSO2 is going to be wrapped up with the updates "Arks Counter attack" and "Dark Falz".

Common sense tells me that this is just the end of the first 'episode' and that we'll still get content after the end of this year.

I vaguely remember way back in 2010 they said something about having a lot of 'planets'. So far we've only traversed three and the logo has 6 planets on it.

What we have so far seems like a fleshed out version of the Forest > Caves > Mines > Ruins chain.

I'm hoping next we'll have a fleshed out version of the VR > Jungle > Tower > Seabed chain.

Any thoughts?

I see 7 planets in the logo, which is even better.
More is good.

One thing that puzzled me for a while is they gave desert early, which was introduced in PSOBB.

[Sebastian & PSO]

I find it so ridiculous that we were forced to do arks quests before the main 'story mode' the whole having to unlock free roam area exploration still bothers me even if they have made it a whole lot easier.

I am also hoping for a beach/jungle and mountain area. With a seabed type facility, episode II managed to literally scare the hell out of me with its atmosphere and enemies. I haven't felt that once with PSO2 except for the tunnels which give me a creepy eerie sort of feeling. I'm hoping they design more open vast area's again rather then small cramped ones with tons of enemy spawns and traps everywhere. Sometimes entering a giant area and having one ultimate enemy orb in can be pretty epic compared to huge swarms of smaller ones that just ends up being a chaotic mess.

[Feggge]

The music of Gal de Val is now softly playing in my head ^_^ (wow that came out creepy :P)

[supersonix9]

I want my Episode 2 levels.

[Zekester]

I will be extremely happy if they decide to add Ragol as a playable area/planet.

Gotta see my Boomas again.

[Mysterious-G]

PSU-styled episode II, anyone? :wacko:

[raiden55]

I will be extremely happy if they decide to add Ragol as a playable area/planet.

Gotta see my Boomas again.

80% of the animations of pso2 forest/cave are updated version of pso1... you should have realized.
the wolves are moving exactly the same way for example.
and new enemies like mammoths use the same animation to move. They did the same thing on episode4.
the 4-5 stars yellow rod is pretty close to the booma's rod btw.

[[Ayumi]]

80% of the animations of pso2 forest/cave are updated version of pso1... you should have realized.
the wolves are moving exactly the same way for example.
and new enemies like mammoths use the same animation to move. They did the same thing on episode4.
the 4-5 stars yellow rod is pretty close to the booma's rod btw.

We still have no boomas though.
Technically Oodans are Goboomas and Za Oodans are Gigoboomas.

[PrinceBrightstar]

This was actually announced a while ago. They said the story would be stopping some time before the Vita version came out.

[Ezodagrom]

This was actually announced a while ago. They said the story would be stopping some time before the Vita version came out.
Yeah, that was said back in July:

The story is going to stop for a bit just before Vita version releases. That’s not to say that it’s the end of the story…
http://bumped.org/psublog/phantasy-star-online-2-japan-two-weeks-later-status-report-and-maintenance/

[Griffin]

Sonic Zone maps. Go go.

[Renvalt]

You know what I wish they'd do before the end of the release (but realize they won't)? Make City an actual progression map instead of a really rare map.

Most times, you never get to fight Ragne in its natural habitat, and the only times newbies will ever get to obtain the code to fight it regularly happens to be inheriting the code from another. Right now City is the rarest EQ to visit the rotation - the most common being Volcano and Vardha.

In fact, in terms of rarity, going from Very Common to Rare-As-Hell, I'd say the EQ chances are thus: Volcano Extermination>Vardha Boss Trial>Banther Hunt>City Cleanup>Ragne Purge.

Ragne's fight is the rarest in terms of the rotation, with the 500 point City Mission being a close second. Banthers are very easy to come on, but Vardha comes up like, what, almost every other EQ, if not every EQ?

I'd be happy if they did that alongside the Darker's Den release. They have the data in there, they can simply forge new missions, figure out a level req, slap 'em in the rotation and call it a day.

[Chik'Tikka]

what's Ragne's natural habitat??? i doubt it's the City+^_^+ at anyrate, i'm sure we'll get a Darker based map/area soon enough+^_^+ I'd be far more excited to explore Lillipa's towers or that crystal tree on naberius+^_^+

[Coatl]

Well technically speaking the natural habitat of all darkers would be their home planet. But I think the closest we'll see to "darker home base" is the ruins.

[eharima]

Pretty sure there is a ragne city quest on matterboard 7
Being on board 2 still, I can't confirm :wacko:

[Angelo]

what's Ragne's natural habitat??? i doubt it's the City+^_^+ at anyrate, i'm sure we'll get a Darker based map/area soon enough+^_^+ I'd be far more excited to explore Lillipa's towers or that crystal tree on naberius+^_^+

I think they confirmed a 'Darker's Lair' at TGS if I remember correctly.

[Alucard V]

The Thing which Destroys History.
Pretty strong title and a hint to the nature of the beast, given as to what it had a hand in with Phantasy Star 0. But is as a whole still a mystery. The "Darker's Lair" may only be a front line base, the Darker's beginnings a bi-product of what we thought was a victory.

It had plagued mankind since before the beginning.
The question remains unanswered.
Are we hunting it of is stocking us?

[Ezodagrom]

Pretty sure there is a ragne city quest on matterboard 7
Being on board 2 still, I can't confirm :wacko:
There is a Ragne fight in board 7, but unfortunately it's not in the arena.
Hopefully chapter 7 part 2 (which should be released with board 8) will have a Ragne fight in the arena...