Was PSU better than PSO2?

[Rosel]

Just want opinions.

I know that PSO2 has more up to date controls & graphics, but what do you think is the overall better game, PSU or PSO2?

Me? I say PSU. It was flawed but it felt crafted, like it had life while PSO2 is more of a hollow shell.

[Nitro Vordex]

dis gon b gud

PSO2 is fine. It just has that same feeling of all MMO's. PSU felt janky as hell. And anime as hell.

[Tulio07]

I think PSO2 is a better game. I enjoy the mobility that your characters have and it is just a more fun experience. However I feel that leveling for someone like me who doesn't get to play more than a few hours a week anymore is a tad difficult (made a lot easier lately with being able to send my mini me robot to do fetch quests for me) in comparison to PSU where I had a monster of a character.

[NoiseHERO]

Other than combat, updated graphics, and character creation.(both games have 90% ugly outfits)

I say yesx1000

PSP2/PSP2i yesx1000000000000000000

Yet PSU is the one I miss.

[Shadowth117]

Other than combat, updated graphics, and character creation.(both games have 90% ugly outfits)

I say yesx1000

PSP2/PSP2i yesx1000000000000000000

Yet PSU is the one I miss.

These are my thoughts exactly^

[supersonix9]

not in the slightest, except for the atmosphere, which was way better in PSU

psp2 and infinity maybe

[NoiseHERO]

Everyone has their own tastes.(Some people still prefer PSO)

But I loved everything PSU had to offer that other games didn't. I just don't feel like making a giant list right now.

Maybe when/if people start arguing over which game is better.

[EvilMag]

These are my thoughts exactly^

this. I'd take PSU over PSO2 any day.

[ShinKai]

Personally, I feel like PSU was made to look nice, just not play nice.

PSO2 has a step in the right direction, but it's still wearing PSU's high heels. I still miss PSO1.

[Valkyrie Lovrina]

PSP2 & infinity > the rest. I like PSO2 but there are some things I heavily dislike about it. PSU(also AoTI) ain't none to fresh either.

[Retehi]

This was the only good thing to come out of PSU's existence.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oXSiDABXkQ

[Cyclon]

Some people still prefer PSOYou youngsters and your youngness.

I have nothing to say since I didn't like PSU. I shall simply watch.

[Rosel]

It wasn't even a close decision for me, by the way. Once you're done creating your character, the quality of PSO2 kinda plummets... one boring, uninspired lobby (both PSO and PSU had better lobbies), bad music, uninspired randomized stages, there is NO coherent lore at all. It just feels like a sleazy cheap shell of a game meant to dig into people's pockets. I know I'm being harsh here.

Maybe PSU didn't follow the right "formula" to sell big like PSO2 and it was heavily flawed but it felt like a real game, not a poorly constructed shell of a game with "PSO" written on it.

[Ceresa]

Step attack is PSO2's sole contribution to improving the series. Every other aspect of this game is either worse than what was done before, or at best equally shitty.

So yes, PSU was way better.

[supersonix9]

like I've discussed with friends before, pretty much every game in the PSO/PSU series has been solid.

compared to all other games, I would give PSO1, PSO2, PSU, PSP2 and PSP2i at least a 9/10, or even a 10/10.

even if you consider one significantly better than the other, they're all still pretty damn good if you look at them relatively speaking (or even just because they're good anyways)

any other opinion is wrong because it differs from mine

[pkemr4]

which ever one had the better drop rates for 10*'s and a the better grinding system.

[supersonix9]

which ever one had the better drop rates for 10*'s and a the better grinding system.

well neither had both

[Link1275]

well neither had both
PSP2/I did though and it was in the PSU series.

[Punisher106]

Ehh, both this and PSU had their own qualities. One thing I liked about PSU was the fact that you could carry TEN FUCKING SCAPE DOLLS AT A TIME, WHICH CAN BE BOUGHT IN NPC SHOPS FOR LITTLE TO NOTHING. None of this Arks Cash bullshit. The weapon variety was vast, and there was an endless combination of specialties. Include that level 3x-50 techs looked pretty damn gorgeous. Level 41+ Diga. TOSS THE GOD DAMN SUN. However, one major fallback of PSU was the monotony of leveling. It was White Bitch all day, every day. Include that, story-wise, you were just spat on, not given credit, and the only character actually expressed interest in you had their memory wiped of anything to do with you. Now, PSO2 has much more agile combat. Jumping mechanics, dodge rolling, blocking. However, drop rates are absolutely abyssmal, and it's basically RNG: The game. But still, this one is far more fast-paced than any otoher PS game I've played, and I like how the drops are different for each other, so there's no more OHMYGODAREDITEMGRABIT. That's just my opinion, to be honest.

[Kietsu]

One thing I liked about PSU was the fact that you could carry TEN FUCKING SCAPE DOLLS AT A TIME, WHICH CAN BE BOUGHT IN NPC SHOPS FOR LITTLE TO NOTHING. None of this Arks Cash bullshit.


This, and a few other inconveniences, was one of the costs of not having a subscription fee. But hey, at least Moon Ats are in the shop for cheap.

PSO2 definitely has more interesting gameplay in my mind. Hunter and anything similar was boring as hell in PSU - although it was actually pretty decent by the time PSP2i rolled around. Still, I like that melee weapons in PSO2 actually handle differently instead of just 'hit things and use PAs, your weapon just determines how many things you hit'.

I honestly kind of miss parts of PSU. The world design was neat, and the super overkill glowing on weapons looked really pretty. And I liked the clothing more.

[The Walrus]

PFFT-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

PSU was trash. Hell it still is even when I install AotI ro remind myself why I hate it and see how long I can play it for. Rarely lasts more than 20 minutes. PSP2 and 2i were the exceptions.

Even with all the problems it has PSO2 is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better.

[Kondibon]

I was going to make a joke about how Mabinogi is better than both of them, but then the servers crashed and everyone lost their premium service and my inventory is full of bags I can't open. So yeah, I got nothing. :3

[Arkanoid]

No no no no no, I feel like I'm living in an alternate dimension or something.


It wasn't even a close decision for me, by the way. Once you're done creating your character, the quality of PSO2 kinda plummets... one boring, uninspired lobby (both PSO and PSU had better lobbies), bad music, uninspired randomized stages, there is NO coherent lore at all. It just feels like a sleazy cheap shell of a game meant to dig into people's pockets. I know I'm being harsh here.

Maybe PSU didn't follow the right "formula" to sell big like PSO2 and it was heavily flawed but it felt like a real game, not a poorly constructed shell of a game with "PSO" written on it.

This sounds like a description of PSU upon release from a PSO fan.

The lobbies in PSU were much more spread apart than they needed to be, PSO2 condenses everything much more conveniently, and it isn't all that bland compared to PSO. PSU made it feel like a "universe", but bigger is not always better.

The music in PSU is pretty hit or miss, and completely ditched the transitions from PSO. PSO2 has transitions, it has the same composer, and it sure as hell doesn't sound bad. In fact, I would say there is not a single Sega game with bad music, including the shittiest quality of Sonic games.

Yup PSO2 has uninspired random stages, but PSU has uninspired static stages which completely lack the atmosphere and unique look of PSO stages. It's like a random terrain generator was run one time and that was it.

I'm not exactly caring about the lore, but I would take PSO's story delivery method over PSU or PSO2's anime characters shouting about things. Not to mention the story of PSO2 is probably not even half finished yet, and plenty of it seems coherent to me.

Obviously PSO2 wants to make money, but I play this game for prolonged periods of time without spending a dime after a small preliminary investment. PSU felt like it was doing everything it could to require people to keep playing and paying a sub fee. I mean in the original version of the game your weapon could BREAK COMPLETELY AND DISAPPEAR FROM FAILING A GRIND for god's sake.

Obviously a lot of things about PSU were improved over time, but it sure as hell didn't feel anything like a "real" game at first with it's mash happy combat without JAs(and there was still never any reason at any point in the game's life not to just blow all your photon points and use that stupid item that recovered all of them anyway), grinding still sucked, and there wasn't anything fun about having to obtain a bunch of rare materials to get a weapon. PSO2 will still have many changes coming, and it's already way better IMO.

[MetalDude]

Didn't really play much of PSU but enough to remember that grinding/synthesizing was seriously dumb, leveling technics was boring, and Ethan was a whiny little shit.

While it's slightly off-topic, I feel more apt to compare PSO and PSO2 in which PSO is a hell of a lot better designed game: drop rates are far better balanced as far as GC version is concerned, specials and unique weapon properties make for huge diversity, quests are far FAR better done, atmosphere in general is way better. What PSO2 possesses over PSO is fluidity in its combat, which is pretty nice at least (but has nothing on the level of importance that positioning was in PSO).

[Gama]

Just want opinions.

I know that PSO2 has more up to date controls & graphics, but what do you think is the overall better game, PSU or PSO2?

Me? I say PSU. It was flawed but it felt crafted, like it had life while PSO2 is more of a hollow shell.



No.

psu had more lobbies, that would give you the "oh i have lots of places to go feel"

but it was boring. very hard to meet up with people, od compared to pso2 i dont even know how i standed psu for so long.

[Kondibon]

I take back what I said.

I can't do This (http://youtu.be/0RQr8M4z-9I) PSU OR PSO2, therefore they're inferior to Mabinogi.

On a more serious note, I'm not really sure what the point of this thread is outside of Rosel being a gadfly (no offense). I'd try to make the "PSO2 is a new game" argument but it's been a year and a lot of the older complaints haven't been addressed in any meaningful way. Meanwhile Arenanet is is completely revamping content in GW2 to make it more appealing and interesting to do. >_>

[otaku998]

Inb4 FF14 comment

[Arkanoid]

While it's slightly off-topic, I feel more apt to compare PSO and PSO2 in which PSO is a hell of a lot better designed game: drop rates are far better balanced as far as GC version is concerned, specials and unique weapon properties make for huge diversity, quests are far FAR better done, atmosphere in general is way better. What PSO2 possesses over PSO is fluidity in its combat, which is pretty nice at least (but has nothing on the level of importance that positioning was in PSO).

I definitely agree, the flow of combat in PSO2 is sweet, melee combat feels so much more fun, but the enemies just don't swarm you like they did in PSO. I really enjoyed ranger in PSO because it felt like a sophisticated game of keep-away, especially with the unique weapon properties you mentioned like keeping the more annoying enemies stuck with a frozen shooter. Unfortunately the reality of that system is that the game had some unique weapons that really broke things, like mechguns that deal way too much damage by using your worthless meseta, or a spread gun with rifle speeds that can even potentially shoot instant death at everything around you. Nowadays they would probably balance stuff like that (maybe, lol) but it's mostly replaced by status effects and potentials and the skill tree.

I feel like the drop rates are depressing at times, but they honestly seem about right in terms of the market. You can get just about any weapon from doing TACOs for a week or two, maybe a month or so for the really rare stuff. The change to the element grind system made it so that you never really need more than 1 or 2 of those weapons to get it to 50 element. For as few times as I've actually gotten something I really wanted to drop, I have to say based on market prices that the drop rates seem to make sense for the amount of people playing and the amount of time they must dump into the game. I feel like if the game had literal GameCube drop rates that 99% of the items would be in the shop for 1k right now.

[Lumpen Thingy]

well idk how I put 11,000 hrs into PSU but when it comes to PSU vs PSO2, PSO2 beats the fucking shit out the assbag that was PSU in almost every way possible. Sometimes I miss some of the things PSU did have but just remember the shit end product that was that game were in PSO2 doesn't feel like a fucking chore to play.

[Sayara]

Both games are equally as mediocre as one another in their own respects.

[Kondibon]

were in PSO2 doesn't feel like a fucking chore to play.

It does to me, but I think that's because I'm pampered by GW2 and Mabinogi's non-existant leveling curves. I feel PSO2 is too linear but I'm still chalking that up to the game being new, as they've shown that they're willing to add new low level areas like coast. I'm not expecting this game to be perfect but I am expecting it to get better... eventually. Hopefully not too little and too late.

[MetalDude]

The biggest thing crippling the game is how boring AQs feel now. I know exit bursts were really mindless but good god at least you had something to look forward to outside of the sporadic spawns and utter lack of codes.

[Z-0]

The entire concept, setting up and execution of exit bursts were a lot less mindless than people think.

Normal bursts are far more mindless. I wouldn't mind them but they're so bad right now...

[jooozek]

current bursts = gu/hu standing still spamming infinite fire and the lockon button for 100% accurate shots lel

[MetalDude]

The entire concept, setting up and execution of exit bursts were a lot less mindless than people think.

Normal bursts are far more mindless. I wouldn't mind them but they're so bad right now...

When it comes to the original findings of actually setting it up (considering that not everyone was doing them before AQs were a thing), I agree. It's just once you're there, it seems simple enough to just coast from there.

[strikerhunter]

Nether for me since PSP2i is still out does every PS game so far (for me that is). But I'll say that PSO2 is better than PSU in nearly every aspects the two have in similarity.

PSO2 is meant to be an online game whereas PSU was a game with online services.

PSP2i > all PS (with the exceptions of 2 of the classics I hadn't played yet) <---edit.

[Lostbob117]

I liked Lving PAs, it gave a feel where I could go smash enemies for a reason in a random mission. Nowadays it's me doing TACOs, AQs, XQs, and some EQs. None of those compare to how fun GAM was on psu.

[Cyclon]

Nether for me since PSP2i is still out does every PS game so far (for me that is). But I'll say that PSO2 is better than PSU in nearly every aspects the two have in similarity.

PSO2 is meant to be an online game whereas PSU was a game with online services.

PSP2i > all PS.Including the classics?

[strikerhunter]

Including the classics?

Hmmmmmm.......................Hadn't played the all of the classics before. Don't remember which one had Alis, Mayu, and Odin. (edit it into post)

[Z-0]

First one.

[Arkanoid]

Including the classics?

It's silly to compare the online games to the classic games but I think I can fit it into this topic pretty well.

PSU is to PSO as PSIII is to PSII - You would think from playing the previous game and reading the official synopsis that the game would be great, but instead just about everything absolutely sucks :D

[Zipzo]

I think PSO I&II for GC was better (in terms of during their run while they were current) than both.

If you were forcing me to compare PSO2 and PSU...I'd say PSO2 is worlds better. Saying PSU better is not only rose-goggled of you, but is to forget everything about PSU that was just as dumb, boring and stupid as PSO2.

[jcart953]

Regarding PSU:

Things I liked:

1) Axes , because well jabroga...(please let these weapons come back)
2) The beautiful lobbies
3 )nano blast

Things I hated:

1) People ran white beast all day ever day except during boost road events and new fields.
2)leveling bullets, oh dear god were they boring
3)buff parties
4) grinding
5) everything else

So to me Pso2 is way better.

[Terrence]

Pso2 > Psu for me. No doubt about that. And since almost nobody gives argument, I won't give any either. Personal taste > ALL.

[Emp]

Regarding PSU:

Things I liked:

1) Axes , because well jabroga...(please let these weapons come back)
2) The beautiful lobbies
3 )nano blast

Things I hated:

1) People ran white beast all day ever day except during boost road events and new fields.
2)leveling bullets, oh dear god were they boring
3)buff parties
4) grinding
5) everything else

So to me Pso2 is way better.

They should bring White beast back. That dragon was fun to kill. GIVE ME LAVIS WEPS

[Jim]

For my money, it's PSO1 hands down, but I'm gonna stick to the OP's question to keep the length of this post down.

If I were to examine things through a completely subjective lens...

I never played PSU online, so my only real experience with the game was 8 or 9 hours as Ethan Waber and about an hour in "Extra Mode". Still, I can tell you I didn't like the direction the game went stylistically. On top of that, the gameplay felt really floaty and unpolished.

However, (<- That's a big "however") PSU DID have sabers, which is one of the few things I ask from a PSO game.

It's not even a Star Wars thing, I dunno, sabers have just always been fun, reliable weapons for me. PSO2 has the polish, and the style feels right for the most part. Plus, I like free-to-play, personally, even though I do pay for premium. If PSO2 patches in sabers, it'll be a landslide victory in my twisted book.

Edit: This is still true though.

PSO2 really lacks atmosphere.

[TaigaUC]

I loved the story and atmosphere of the original PSO (ep 1 or whatever, I never played past that and I only played offline).
I don't recall much of PSO's gameplay now, but it's probably too dated now.

I only played PSU offline, up until around chapter 4 or 5. I hated that PSU forced you to play the NPCs to unlock stuff for your custom character.
I didn't think much of the SEED or the story in PSU.
I don't recall much of the gameplay, other than I didn't like the attack levelling system.
Cities were also kinda big with a lot of running space and nothing to do in them. Didn't like the fake NPCs wandering around.
It's true that the cities in PSO had much better atmosphere than PSO2, though.
Battle areas didn't feel great to me, though.

PSO2 really lacks atmosphere. I like the NPC characters, and while the story has some interesting elements, I think they are delivering it in a really terrible manner.
There's a lot of filler as well, so it really feels like they intend to drag things out as long as possible.
The environments in the internal beta of PSO2 look much better than what we ended up with. Much more atmospheric.
Gameplay-wise, PSO2 relies extremely heavily on randomness. Every system revolves around it.
It's like the gameplay design isn't focused on being fun, but being time-consuming. They're milking every ounce of content for as long as possible.
That is not good.

In general, I'm not pleased that SEGA seems afraid or stubborn to deviate from the basic PSO gameplay, even where massive improvements could be made.
I've heard that there PSP games have some interesting innovative systems such as customizable talent/skill trees and such.
It's a shame those didn't make it to PSO2.

I've seen JP people complaining that PSO2 is more like PSU2 than a sequel to PSO.
Seen many complain about the story, matterboard and atmosphere, too.

[NoiseHERO]

PSO2 is more like a sequel to </insert template for F2P online game designed for quick money from sheeple>.

PSU was a bad game.

PSO is a oldass game.

Everyone has preferences in either that have already been debated to death. (Which is why this thread still has no arguments and it's actually semi-interesting reading people's opinions, without it just being used to make someone else look like an idiot.... through opinion.)

[Cyron Tanryoku]

PSO2 is bad

But what I saw on PSU

Something worse than bad

[Jungo Torii]

I can't speak with any authority on the quality of other games in the series.

I can say that I believe PSO2 is a good game completely marred by its management.

[Krimson]

I played psua for a while it was all solo play when I played Hu case outfit was my fav outfit but it's not in pso2 [wonder if it was psu only] the gameplay in pso2 has stepped up so I'll say I like pso2 more and I play it online so less boring.

[Rosel]

To me, combat* gameplay is one of the worst aspects of PSO2. I don't understand how it gets any praise. You need to repeat one attack over and over, literally 99% of the abilities you unlock shouldn't/can't be used if you're a min-maxer type.

[NoiseHERO]

To me, gameplay is one of the worst aspects of PSO2. I don't understand how it gets any praise. You need to repeat one attack over and over, literally 99% of the abilities you unlock shouldn't/can't be used if you're a min-maxer type.

If you played older PS games.

You find this game to have the most action packed combat. Next to the portable series.

Though past games can take slightly more thought, this game's combat was a breath of fresh air for fans.

But if you play action games a lot, it's no big deal and even has things missing from standard action game combat. (On top of only 2 PA's for every weapon type being useful.) But people lower their standards for online games.

Or if you just play THIS game a lot, the combat will just get old. (being katana braver was so fun... but only for a week now I find it one of the most boring weapons till it gets more PA's.) <_<

[HIT0SHI]

I most definitely prefer PSO2 over PSU.
As for PSU:AoI however, I still like PSO2 more.

First of, I like how they made Rangers fun now in comperison to PSU/AoI. That whole spamming bullets with no moves (Photon Arts) made them INCREDIBLY boring and dull.
The combat in this game is by far the smoothest and fastest in comparison to other MMOs that I've played. Seriously standing in front of an enemy hitting the same button with the same generic swing/move is NOT fun. Especially considering PSU made you use ONLY ONE Photon Art at a time while PSO2 gives you the freedom to make combos or guns and techs to have multiple moves equipped.

I have talked about this before so I'll just quote myself of stuff that i like mostly of PSO2 vs PSU:AoI:

Favorite:
>Dashing (technically it was on PSP2i 1st i think)
>Jumping
>No more missing
>Can transfer items from your inventory to your storage
>Can set multiple PAs on a weapon
>Photon Chair jumping
>Armor grinding (I think is new)
>Weapons don't break on a failed grind like in PSU (0/10 -> 1/10 -> 2/10 -> 0/9 -> 1/9)
>Ability to double jump as a Gunner using TMG's PA Aerial Shooting


I do like the Range's classes on PSO2 more due to their moves and weapons now in comparison to PSU. At the time I was a Acrofighter, so I at least must give praise to PSU, that all the weapons that i liked as a single handed melee specialist class doesn't exist on PSO2.

R.I.P. my favorite weapons:
[SPOILER-BOX]
Acrofighter:

Saber + R-Mag combo:

Elec Distortion
http://psupedia.info/images/8/87/Elec_distortion.jpg

Opa-Opa
http://psupedia.info/images/9/98/Opaopa.jpg



Twin Mechguns:

Samba Maracas
http://psupedia.info/images/4/4b/Samba_maracas.jpg[/SPOILER-BOX]

[Jim]

I think a big problem PSO2 has is that the gameplay is very polished, but not really inspired. The animations are all smooth, and everything in this game feels responsive, but somewhere deep down it all feels very generic.

I get this vibe from pretty much every aspect of the game, but one place where it really stands out is the attack animations for the double saber (not the PAs, the normal attack). Doesn't it just feel kind of... boring? I've been playing PSO on everyone's favorite private server lately, and doubles are so much fun in that game. A little clunkier, sure, but it really feels like whoever animated it had fun doing it.

Does this make sense to anyone?

[Alucard V]

I can't really compare. In some ways the more things change the more they stay the same. Case in point instead of White Beast it's Dark Falz Elder, instead of Party missions it's Time Attack, and grinding weapons is still a pain.

In sense of game play tho I have to say PSO2 leans more to the "Action" side of Action RPG; which I like. But at the same time I feel Sega of Japan may have shoot themselves in the foot when it came to what made the Races unique in trams of Photon Blast and appearance I can't really see them doing a Beast race now seeing that animal ears, tails, and eyes are all accessories.

Tho on another note PSU didn't really start to balance out till it's 2nd handheld port.

[jcart953]

I get this vibe from pretty much every aspect of the game, but one place where it really stands out is the attack animations for the double saber (not the PAs, the normal attack). Doesn't it just feel kind of... boring? I've been playing PSO on everyone's favorite private server lately, and doubles are so much fun in that game. A little clunkier, sure, but it really feels like whoever animated it had fun doing it.

Does this make sense to anyone?
Yeah I can agree I use to love playing fighgunner in PSU especially using twin mechguns/ double sabers. However in this game its kind of meh to me.

On a side note I would like to add one more like to the psu category:

1) In psu PA's not only changed in damage once you went from like lvl 20 -21 but you also were shown a visual difference like enhanced radius of foie or something.

I hope that lvl 16 PA's do something like that.

[Enforcer MKV]

PSU. Definitely. God, that game had so much more personality and charm than PSO2.

And haters be damned, the designs for weapons, clothing, enemies, areas, and practically eeeeeeverything were better. At least I think so.

[MetalDude]

I think a big problem PSO2 has is that the gameplay is very polished, but not really inspired. The animations are all smooth, and everything in this game feels responsive, but somewhere deep down it all feels very generic.

I get this vibe from pretty much every aspect of the game, but one place where it really stands out is the attack animations for the double saber (not the PAs, the normal attack). Doesn't it just feel kind of... boring? I've been playing PSO on everyone's favorite private server lately, and doubles are so much fun in that game. A little clunkier, sure, but it really feels like whoever animated it had fun doing it.

Does this make sense to anyone?

So I'm not the only one that feels like Double Saber animations in this game feel like... wet noodles. I think it's because DS's felt so beefy in their own right in PSO and the attacks felt a lot faster in general (given a G or H/Battle but still). In this game, it feels like you're swinging around a large, heavy dumbbell. The JA timings are also incredibly awkward and that last twirl just feels really weak for some reason; maybe just not as quick and fierce?

[strikerhunter]

To me, combat* gameplay is one of the worst aspects of PSO2. I don't understand how it gets any praise. You need to repeat one attack over and over, literally 99% of the abilities you unlock shouldn't/can't be used if you're a min-maxer type.

Ugh, You just basically explained PSU's combat system with just spamming 3 simple buttons all the time. (By PSU, i meant Aoti and PSU not the PSP series) which is pretty near close to that of PSO2's combat system.

Probably main reason it gets praised because PSO2's combat was an improved or should I say more polished combat system than that of PSU's and the portables but it lacks a combat engaging environment in which PSP2/PSP2i had.



And haters be damned, the designs for weapons, clothing, enemies, areas, and practically eeeeeeverything were better. At least I think so.

This is one of the several aspects in which PSU was better than PSO2. Dammit Sega stop giving us fleshy outfits for caseals and stop giving super extremely fleshy ones and start giving us more quality and non-loli related costumes.

Weapons, meh. Most of PSO2's weapons are revived weapons from the series so I can't really say anything for comparisons.
Enemies, Boss-wise I say PSO2 has better boss designs but a more terrible mob design.
Areas, God duck most maps are ducken boring with nothing interesting bout them except for the horrific long z-zag troll maps. (There once was a thread bout PSO2 maps by Jim)

[Kion]

PSU had a lot going for it. With the rooms and the PM's, it really felt like you were part of a word. Having different areas you could explore added a lot to that. A lot of people hated it, but I liked the concept of synthesis. It was really nice to be able to have control over what kind of weapon you wanted to make, and be able to mass produce it to a degree. It was pretty awful at first, but Sega did eventually fix some of the major flaws.

The two bad things about it was the story execution. I didn't play the story much because it was flat out boring. I didn't like having to stick around for long drawn out cut scenes. I'm not a big fan of the "you're the hero, but can't talk" approach either. I would have preferred PSO's approach of you're nothing special and everything you do brings you a little closer to the action. Also, there were simply too many lobbies. They could cut down on a lot of them, had quick jumps, or had a quest counter on each of the planets to be able to join any party on that planet or something like that. It was way to fragmented.

Also I get the feeling that a lot of people's opinions for PSU maybe skewed by Sega's support. If NA had gotten the same support and updates as Japan, I get the feeling that people would have liked it a lot more.

As for PSO2, the gameplay is extremely well done and the story execution s a lot better. World-wise, it feels a lot more limited and even lazy compared to PSU and even pso. Pso had one lobby, but each area was unique and it felt like you were getting some where and being able to explore the next area and see what happens next. My biggest problem is that it's just a bunch of generic randomly generated terrain.

[Jim]

So I'm not the only one that feels like Double Saber animations in this game feel like... wet noodles. I think it's because DS's felt so beefy in their own right in PSO and the attacks felt a lot faster in general (given a G or H/Battle but still). In this game, it feels like you're swinging around a large, heavy dumbbell. The JA timings are also incredibly awkward and that last twirl just feels really weak for some reason; maybe just not as quick and fierce?

Yeah, they definitely feel weak. I don't think slow vs fast is the issue as much as the fact that the animations have zero personality (or, as you put it, ferocity). I have a little experience with animation, and the animations in PSO2 really feel boring in a "tweened" kind of way; that is, the movements are all perfectly smoothed out. Imperfections and unrealistic movement are a huge part of what gives animation life and makes it intriguing.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqsdbOptKKk

[NoiseHERO]

Weapons, meh. Most of PSO2's weapons are revived weapons from the series so I can't really say anything for comparisons.

Funny thing about this.

I find the few weapons that actually are original to PSO2 to look better than all of the recycled ones.

Even most of the 1-3* weapons (4-6* is hit and miss)

[Cyclon]

One of the main problems of double sabers is that they were changed into short range weapons to fit the fighter class. Thing is, it looks kind of stupid really, and doesn't seem very... logical to us such a small weapon that way, at least as far as normal attacks go. Most PAs are much more fitting imo.

[Jim]

Funny thing about this.

I find the few weapons that actually are original to PSO2 to look better than all of the recycled ones.

Even most of the 1-3* weapons (4-6* is hit and miss)

So true. This is why all weapons should be convertible to camo. I would be so happy if I could put Vita Slash camo over a Machine Blade Mech Katar.

[Enforcer MKV]

So true. This is why all weapons should be convertible to camo. I would be so happy if I could put Vita Slash camo over a Machine Blade Mech Katar.

Amen.

[Jim]

One of the main problems of double sabers is that they were changed into short range weapons to fit the fighter class. Thing is, it looks kind of stupid really, and doesn't seem very... logical to us such a small weapon that way, at least as far as normal attacks go. Most PAs are much more fitting imo.

Oh, couldn't agree more. My point isn't "DSs suck", (I actually want a BKB), it's just that their regular animations are a model example of a bigger flaw with PSO2 in general.

[RadiantLegend]

As much as I hated PSU, I believe I had more fun playing it than PSO2 but the bullet leveling makes me take it all back. I HATED IT. Yeah I'll take PSO2.

[Alucard V]

One of the main problems of double sabers is that they were changed into short range weapons to fit the fighter class. Thing is, it looks kind of stupid really, and doesn't seem very... logical to us such a small weapon that way, at least as far as normal attacks go. Most PAs are much more fitting imo.

There it is one thing out the many things of PSU I couldn't understand; why wasn't Double Sabers a Acrofighter weapon? I mean it was a speedy weapon you'd only have to look at Spiral Dance to see that. So would a A-Rank Double Sabers limit for Acrofighter have really been that bad?

[Jim]

PSU had a lot going for it. With the rooms and the PM's, it really felt like you were part of a word. Having different areas you could explore added a lot to that. A lot of people hated it, but I liked the concept of synthesis. It was really nice to be able to have control over what kind of weapon you wanted to make, and be able to mass produce it to a degree. It was pretty awful at first, but Sega did eventually fix some of the major flaws.

The two bad things about it was the story execution. I didn't play the story much because it was flat out boring. I didn't like having to stick around for long drawn out cut scenes. I'm not a big fan of the "you're the hero, but can't talk" approach either. I would have preferred PSO's approach of you're nothing special and everything you do brings you a little closer to the action. Also, there were simply too many lobbies. They could cut down on a lot of them, had quick jumps, or had a quest counter on each of the planets to be able to join any party on that planet or something like that. It was way to fragmented.

Also I get the feeling that a lot of people's opinions for PSU maybe skewed by Sega's support. If NA had gotten the same support and updates as Japan, I get the feeling that people would have liked it a lot more.

As for PSO2, the gameplay is extremely well done and the story execution s a lot better. World-wise, it feels a lot more limited and even lazy compared to PSU and even pso. Pso had one lobby, but each area was unique and it felt like you were getting some where and being able to explore the next area and see what happens next. My biggest problem is that it's just a bunch of generic randomly generated terrain.

That's really interesting. My PSU experience happened entirely in the Offline-only, "1.0" Playstation 2 version of the game. Makes me wonder if I would have liked PSU in its later years, especially on PC.

Edit: And yes, the terrain in PSO2 is the worst.

[Laxedrane]

I am in the I have things I feel are more appealing in one or the other but find pso2 is the better overall experience crowd.

The combat is what sways me on this while PSU was fun to play it came mainly from the challenges and the interesting ways they approached doing said challenges. While pso2 feels in most of the game afraid to challenge it's players at all. There's a lot of spark in the earlier time attacks and extreme quests though. They just need to take it to the next level.

I can't comment on pso2 story I feel like psu had way better lore. The story needed work, episode 1 was cliche. 2 and 3 had a shit ton of potential and I think the bones of the story were very good. It was just very poorly executed mainly due to them running through the story way to fast. However just the straight up lore of psu, the history, the public figures, the shops and who develop what weapons were so much more fleshed out in psu. That could be of it's age but that's how I felt playing it.

While I don't necessarily miss synthesis I do miss the shops the most. I feel that was an under explored very interesting part of PSU.

[Dhylec]

Added a poll for a quick look.
If someone has time to tally up what is said before the poll, feel free to do it & let me know. I can update the poll to see which's "better".

[Rosel]

PSO2 isn't all bad though.

I for one am looking forward to the next big swimsuit/school uniform/maid outfit/physical education uniform update.

[Lostbob117]

Voting pso2 since it is overall better imo.

[Shadowth117]

There it is one thing out the many things of PSU I couldn't understand; why wasn't Double Sabers a Acrofighter weapon? I mean it was a speedy weapon you'd only have to look at Spiral Dance to see that. So would a A-Rank Double Sabers limit for Acrofighter have really been that bad?

It was more that their theme for acrofighter was smaller weapons. Things like dual wielded weapons or one handed weapons were alright, but things like swords or spears were out. It would have drawn some of the spotlight off of fighmaster as well since it would have been another class with 2x speed double sabers.

The only classes that shared weapons with 2x speed were acrotecher and masterforce with wands and tech mags. Of course, attack techs were limited 20 levels lower on acrotecher while support techs were maxable and with acrotecher's weapon selection, they played very differently. Given the nature of techs, those "shared weapons" aren't really the same deal.

[Jim]

Added a poll for a quick look.
If someone has time to tally up what is said before the poll, feel free to do it & let me know. I can update the poll to see which's "better".

EDITCEPTION: In light of the fact that PSO1 was given a disadvantage by not being mentioned in the OP, and is now winning the poll, it's probably better to actually leave all of this data out.

[S]On it. Will edit this post when done.

Edit: Here are the people who, at least seemingly to me, clearly favored one game over the other. I was working fast, so if I misinterpreted your words, feel free to comment and correct me. Also, I only listed "PSO1" or "Other" if they explicitly mentioned it.

Oh, and I'm at work, so I got paid to do this. :lol:



[S]Before Dhylec's post:

PSO2: 16
PSU: 6
PSO1: 2
Other: 2

OP
PSU

Nitro Vordex
PSO2

Tulio07
PSO2

Rock Eastwood
PSU

supersonix9
PSO2

EvilMag
PSU

ShinKai
PSO2

Valkyrie Lovrina
Other

PSP2 & infinity > the rest. I like PSO2 but there are some things I heavily dislike about it. PSU(also AoTI) ain't none to fresh either.

Retehi
PSO2

This was the only good thing to come out of PSU's existence.

PSU Texter - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oXSiDABXkQ)

Rosel
PSU

Ceresa
PSU

Kietsu
PSO2

Lord Derpington
PSO2

Arkanoid
PSO2

MetalDude
PSO1

Gama
PSO2

Lumpen Thingy
PSO2

strikehunter
Other

Zipzo
PSO1

jcart953
PSO2

Sebangu
PSO2

Cyron Tanryoku
PSO2

Krimson
PSO2

Hitoshi
PSO2

Enforcer MKV
PSU

RadiantLegend
PSO2
[/SPOILER-BOX][/SPOILER-BOX]

[KatsujinkenKik]

I have to go with PSO2 thanks to the sort of freeplay feeling most of these quests are structured around. The near 4000 hours I have logged with over 11000 quests complete is something can't deny.

There's nothing like just jumping into a quest to get a single thing, only to run into some bosses randomly to spice things up a bit, or find another group and sort of follow them a bit until you find the exit to the end of the quest. Sometimes just running around aimlessly and killing things strikes my fancy.

Then there is the great feeling of how these classes and weapons vary so much from each other in their way of handling. Yes there are awkward PAs and technics that end up pointless thanks to enemy movement and their function, but there are a lot of decent ones in between the best and the worst that you could choose to use as well. The point I want to get across is that one could stick to one weapon in this game if they wanted to without feeling inconvenienced, while at the same time efficiency is gained from using appropriate weapons, PAs, and technics. It feels like there is a lot more player choice in PSO2 compared to PSU or PSO.

PSU felt like a big maze of static quests where as soon as I completed one I didn't want to repeat it, but of course that was the only thing to do in that game since there were less than a handful of quests everyone was at. Soloing felt like it was out of the question for anything worthwhile for a long time. But I'll tell ya, I probably spent 1000 hours out of the total 1200 I've played just hanging out in the lobbies and chatting with folks. I loved the lobbies so much but thanks to the maze of useless quests, they were all empty.

PSO had the best atmosphere out of all the games. Progression through the areas and through leveling up felt good up to the point of unlocking ultimate. Then things got really fun/frustrating.

I'm not big on the loot finding aspect of these games so I just ignore it and work with whatever I get.

The two gripes I have with PSO2 is with the oversaturation of loli content and more importantly, the lack of real challenge once one learns how to play the game (though its one of those things I assume they will correct with future difficulty modes). With loli stuff I don't mean the clothes from scratch, or players' characters. I can ignore all that. I mean all these cutesy characters in the story and setting of this game, which I guess I would ignore if it didn't provide some sort of context for the world.

[.Jack]

I find it pretty much the same. It's every bit as good in terms of personal play style if that makes any sense.

[Zyrusticae]

Funny thing about this.

I find the few weapons that actually are original to PSO2 to look better than all of the recycled ones.

Even most of the 1-3* weapons (4-6* is hit and miss)
Amusingly, I find the 1-3* weapons to be the best-looking in the entire game more than half the time (not so much the 4-6*s, as mentioned, since they tend to get a little outrageous with those). They look so practical and they're obviously made specifically for the setting as well.

I really, really dislike the HUGE number of joke/absurd weapons in the game, especially shit like the cube weapons from Amduscia, which just shouldn't even be in the game in the first place. Who honestly wants to use stuff that ugly? Ugh! Terrible, just terrible.

Edit: More on-topic, I like bits and pieces from every game in the series. PSO's music, atmosphere, and storytelling (yes, even as basic as it was) were all top-notch, especially with in the way they actually created a sense that you were traveling from area to area as you went. PSU had some great style, especially in its weapon designs, which I still think are the best in the series so far (I really, really miss weapons having white light cores instead of colored cores). Meanwhile, PSO2's character creation, ridiculous variety of costumes and weapons, remarkably robust chat system (this is important for me!), and strong core gameplay (shush, it's still better than PSO and PSU in this regard) all help to keep me hooked to the game.

If only they could make a PSO that took all the good things from each game in the series and none of the bad... a man can dream, eh?

[Darki]

I loved PSU for some of its features, but I as well, think that PSO2 is overall more balanced even though I miss some of PSU's features. PSO2's combat system is much better to my eyes, and the only things I miss from it are dual-wielding and the amount of weapon types. The visual aspects and the character models are much better in PSO2, the maps much more beautiful, but PSU had more things to do in each planet, more missions to beat, and areas with more "personality" and "life" than PSO2's.

Balance-wise, PSO2 wins hands down. As a FO/HU hybrid who uses Coat Edge D and mixes techs with melee combos, I feel I don't suck as much as I sucked being a Wartecher doing the same in PSU, and not even being able to do the same really since you couldn't combine attacks. I can actually kill things reasonably fast and have lots of fun, while in PSU it was frustrating how my favorite classes were left behind. I just hope they don't go nuts adding many more classes and leaving others obsolete. So far, all classes seem more or less useful and unique in some way. In PSU you had ike 9 useless classes and 4 good ones. Why have 13 classes then? what a waste of HDD.

PSO, I never liked it. For me it was like an "actionless" action game. It's like PSO2 without all the cool things that made it from PSU. I suppose that works for some people, though.

[Noc Codez]

Well to met here both great games and here's why..

PSU pros:

Faster game play
Events such as GBR,lighting carnival etc etc
Leveling your PAs
Actually being able to buy 10*^ weaps/armor
Actual lobbies not one hub that pso2 has

PSO2 pros:
Graphics are gorgeous
Bosses are way harder that PSU
Rooms for "premium" users are fantastic
Character design is wayyyy better than PSU

That's all I can think of lol might Add more to this post later

[Inazuma]

PSU did many things better than PSO2 but overall, PSO2 is the better game.

[Noblewine]

I enjoyed playing PSU but I wish the story was better. I loved the setting but Sega could've tried a little harder instead of randomly killing off characters. The combat was more realistic and I enjoyed the pa leveling though I wish the missions weren't just to get from point A to point B. The bosses were fun but I dislike how they usually prolonged the fight by flying away, floating away, or creating barriers to negate damage (Aka Omnagoug/Dimmogulous, De Ro le, Dark fish, Dark Falkis, Dark Falz and Mother Brain.
Weapon synthesizing and drop rates were the worst part of this game and the GBR (Guardian Boost road) events didn't help, it just made people greedy.
The music in psu was okay but I only have a few favorite: Overture, Madness Machine Sparzx, and the theme that plays when you fight the vol brothers offline. (Enemy something)


PSO had the better story/setting. Combat was fun with the normal, hard, special attack was neat. It took me awhile to get use to it but after I learned how to use the distance to my advantage or layout of the map I enjoyed it more. Trekking is cooler than synthesizing. Mag feeding is cool and enjoyable compared to raising a PM. Most of the time I played PSO I spammed Story missions or Phantasmal World to hunt Trimate Sol or Moon atomizers for my mag. I never attempted to raise a rare mag since I didn't understand how it worked since I was new to pso.
The bosses were cool and put up more of a challenge. C and B mode. All we got in PSU was those fun games from the Lightning Carnival. I wish they would've added more stages but they didn't. =/

PSO2 looks like an improved version of psu and pso. I wonder if Sega has learned from their mistake and wanted to make a better game. So far the combat looks great but the music doesn't strike me as good so far. Boss fights looks awesome.

[Darki]

PSU pros:

Faster game play
Events such as GBR,lighting carnival etc etc
Leveling your PAs

Not sure about the faster gameplay there eh? They seem the same to me, and PSO2 is more dinamic. After playing for an hour to PSO2 and being able to go 3D combat with the jumping ability, I couldn't touch my copy of PSU, like, ever, lol. Also, ranged and tecc combat got orders of magnitude better.

I agree with the events, they should do something like this someday instead of silly campaigns. I hope they're just building content first, in PSU I remember events like those took a while to come.

And I'm not sure about the levelling your PAs either. It was a great pain in the ass to level some of them. If we had BOTH then yes, being able to level your PAs in the meantime while you don't find a better level disc would be handy.

[Skyly]

PSO2 is a big improvement in the PSO "universe" but I'll have to go with PSU as the winner. Finding my first psycho wand is something I'll never forget. Hunting weapons felt better, grinding sucks but it was what made the game what is it. I played on Xbox 360 and the party chat is what made that game even more better than what it already was.

Rare Mission.
Events.
Updates.
Drop Rates.
Community.
PA LV'ing.
Huge lobbies.
Quest Counters.
Grinding Boosts.

All those plus more made PSU feel like a good game. Too bad is was super flawed and Sega pretty much forgot about the West with updates and told us to shove it. Now everyone's smart enough to play PSO2 JP because of the mess PSU was.

[NoiseHERO]

I think if PSU was managed better, at best treated same as JP servers. It would've been widely considered at least a decent game by more people who played it long term.

And MAN do I MISS having REAL events. Why the hell did they take those out and give us themed EMQ's instead.

[Topic Cheese]

It all really comes out how people think about "better."

[ShinMaruku]

PSP2 and PSP2i shits on PSO2 mainly due to it was more feature complete and it was balanced much better.

[Lumpen Thingy]

PSP2 and PSP2i shits on PSO2 mainly due to it was more feature complete and it was balanced much better.

nope..

[Skye-Fox713]

I will say that some of the things in PSO2 mostly combat I feel is that it built on what PSU and the PSP series did well. So we couldn't have the PSO2 we have today without PSU.

Though I do miss Beasts and Shotguns.

[Zenobia]

PSO2 is bad

But what I saw on PSU

Something worse than bad

^All the fucks I give right here.

Man I love the old school PSO on and PSP series.

Call me a fucking Masochist, but only reason I still play PSO2 is because I love the series as a whole even with its shitty drop rates and get lucky factor, I still feel like somewhere down the line Sega MIGHT <big sarcastic might btw improve, but that's just me being delusional.

If they would quit the waifu simulator bull shit and added more rewarding I could give 2 fucks about what they do after. Ofc this is after they add Laia Repca and axes.

[Sp-24]

What are the chances of it improving, though? PSO2 started with a cash roulette and awful balance, like Launcher Ranger. Now, we have animoo collabs and stuff like S-Roll JA Bonus and Talis Tech Bonus.

[Crimson Exile]

Well to met here both great games and here's why..

PSU pros:

Faster game play
Events such as GBR,lighting carnival etc etc
Leveling your PAs
Actually being able to buy 10*^ weaps/armor
Actual lobbies not one hub that pso2 has

PSO2 pros:
Graphics are gorgeous
Bosses are way harder that PSU
Rooms for "premium" users are fantastic
Character design is wayyyy better than PSU

That's all I can think of lol might Add more to this post later

I FOUND GOD!

[Noc Codez]

Not sure about the faster gameplay there eh? They seem the same to me, and PSO2 is more dinamic. After playing for an hour to PSO2 and being able to go 3D combat with the jumping ability, I couldn't touch my copy of PSU, like, ever, lol. Also, ranged and tecc combat got orders of magnitude better.

I agree with the events, they should do something like this someday instead of silly campaigns. I hope they're just building content first, in PSU I remember events like those took a while to come.

And I'm not sure about the levelling your PAs either. It was a great pain in the ass to level some of them. If we had BOTH then yes, being able to level your PAs in the meantime while you don't find a better level disc would be handy.

The gameplay was light years faster than PSO2. PSO2 is more paced out unless you can triple dash or knuckle dash etc etc.. Anyone remember Tornado Dance on PSU? Pftt Fighmasters BFF lol Dus Majarra ( wish they brought that back) you moved and used PAs mush faster than you do on PSO2.



I FOUND GOD!


^^;

I'm Scared..

[Zenobia]

The gameplay was light years faster than PSO2. PSO2 is more paced out unless you can triple dash or knuckle dash etc etc.. Anyone remember Tornado Dance on PSU? Pftt Fighmasters BFF lol Dus Majarra ( wish they brought that back) you moved and used PAs mush faster than you do on PSO2.

Nah Codec son they forgot all about how Tornado dance had you moving so damn fast across the stages and you just use one skill from the axe and one shot everything.

Maybe because ppl played force they don't know about this lol.

I remember on PSU JP ppl would do that and have the other ppl just sit down cause they couldn't catch up LOL!

[Noc Codez]

Nah Codec son they forgot all about how Tornado dance had you moving so damn fast across the stages and you just use one skill from the axe and one shot everything.

Maybe because ppl played force they don't know about this lol.

I remember on PSU JP ppl would do that and have the other ppl just sit down cause they couldn't catch up LOL!

it's Codez.. why do people always call me Codex !! :etongue: LOL
Good times TD was so op even after they "tried" to nerf it and I also forgot 90% of players were Masterforce or Mastergunner ^^ I also miss axes and Jabroga.. but the uproar it caused in the JP servers was so bad.. Sega will never bring it back

[Zenobia]

it's Codez.. why do people always call me Codex !! :etongue: LOL
Good times TD was so op even after they "tried" to nerf it and I also forgot 90% of players were Masterforce or Mastergunner ^^ I also miss axes and Jabroga.. but the uproar it caused in the JP servers was so bad.. Sega will never bring it back

Welp I call you Codec cause Codez sounds like COLD ASS!

I could just call you that LMFAO!

[Akakomuma]

Phantasy Star Online still is the best and has a lot better balance in terms of each spell, weapons, story, level theming, things to do, and classes. Of course, it was designed so you could play it offline as well so it ended up being a more fulfilling experience since you could play by yourself.

As far as PSU and PSO2, I think at first it seems obvious that PSO2 is better, but when I think about it, there is a fine line between both of them.

PSO2 has an edge on the combat system, it's much more interactive and flexible, but PSU has better balance with Photon Arts. A lot of Photon Arts in PSO2 are just poorly, poorly, balanced so you end up never using certain ones. Not every Photon Art was balanced in PSU, but a lot of them were useful. I could say PSO2 does guns better, but they dropped the ball on the Assault Rifle. It's clunky, and it's burst shots make it weird to use. The other guns are done nicely enough, but still. I'd rather use a Rifle in PSU over one in PSO2.

Classes are a lot more balanced in PSO2, except for Techer which there isn't much point to use in PSO2 since the buffs don't last too long unfortunately. I'd say other than that, it has the edge in class balance overall since in PSU there were classes like Guntecher and Fightecher that were just bad. I think even though they were bad classes, I suppose it did feel nice having so many options though. You can try to recreate Fightecher in PSO2 with the multi-class weapons, however.

One thing that separates them apart is that PSU had multiple lobbies, which was pretty cool, but they were hardly used outside of certain missions or for completion. If they were utilized properly, that would give it a clear edge in that department over PSO2 for me, but looking back, they were just there to be there and weren't really interactive. They look nice, but overall mission balance wasn't all too grand. In PSO2, you can get exp all across the stages due to ECs. I admit, the ability to skip level portions kind of kills in some aspects that you're trying to beat a level, and most of time I'm like skipping to the end to get the rewards with no sense of completion. I find that the level layouts in PSU had a bit better design, not that the PSO2 level designs are bad as I enjoy them(although I don't care for the Volcano...), I find PSU levels to be a bit more complex and diverse. Random, but PSU does have more weapons you can use.

As far as bosses are concerned, PSO2 bosses are A LOT better designed compared to PSU bosses. They aren't insanely annoying like that one flying boss that throws rocks, and there is a lot less rehash.

One thing that can be pretty annoying is the pay2win aspects of PSO2. Having to have premium for 10 star passes, getting into servers, more quest access, room access, player shop access. Well, that part isn't really annoying since it's essentially a monthly fee, but I find it's hard to make money in this without spending arks cash on the tickets or using them to buy rare droprate boost +. Another thing that really sucks is that, unlike PSU, you have to pay an additional fee to use the makeovershop to change your hair color or body shape. In PSU, it was all free, and the other issue with this is that you only get to do it once in PSO2 per every 5$ unless you have premium, which means that ticket will only last 30 minutes or an hour (I forget).

The thing with PSU, though, is that most of the 'fun', was from the events. I played for a few years, but there were players that would only hop on when events would happen and for good reason, there wasn't much else to do besides missions in PSU. You could say the same thing about PSO2, though, but missions are a bit more entertaining and emergency codes and emergency quests help with that. I really think PSO2 could definitely use some other stuff to do besides just killing stuff. It gets kind of stale after a bit.

Anyhow. If I'm going to be straight up honest here, I consider PSU better during the Lightning Carnival as that event was insanely fun and actually required thinking and skill and really tested me. Outside of events, PSO2 is better.

[gigawuts]

no

5nos

[Z-0]

I really think "missions" hand-crafted by people are a lot more fun than PSO2's quests, which feel 100% lackluster. :/

[redroses]

What I miss from PSU is how maps and spawns were done.
I really miss the smaller maps from PSU and better spawns it had. In PSO2 it feels like your are running around 70% and only killing 30%, especially when you play solo and there are even less spawns. There are just many maps where you have to walk a lot before enemies finally spawn.

Also, up until now, PSU had much better events. The one event we had in PSO2 was ok, but it didn't really feel like an event, more like a normal mission with a lot of spawns. Especially because it could also end so fast without you gaining much and because of the random map generator.
Events in PSU often had extra maps created for them with different objectives (like the photon flowers, or big push, were you had to keep monsters out of a protected zone).

[Zorafim]

Is this really a conversation? Are we actually having this discussion? People are actually defending PSU?

PSP2 I can understand. If that was what PSU was all those years, the game would have been great. PSP2 made every right balance change to finally bring the series where it needs to be.

But, PSU itself? It was terrible! The combat was stiff and boring. The levels were predictable and repetitive. The music never fit the situation.
All my experience with the game is as follows: Fun to group of enemies, spam highest power PA (Don't bother dodging. It's faster to take the hit and heal.), then run to the next room. We've already done this map before, so we know where to go for the next group of enemies to get an S rank.

All this said... I'm starting to realize that PSO2 may not be so much better now. Don't get me wrong, it was much better at the start. And now that we have actual defensive moves, it's great that, when you get hit, it's your fault. But the most rewarding gameplay in this game is to run around a map blindly in a mob and kill enemies before they have a chance to perform a single animation.

I think I can summerize what's wrong with each game. PSU's was design, pure and simple. It didn't matter how well balanced everything was when you can't dodge enemies attacks, don't want to because of instant cheap heals, and each run of the level was exactly the same.
PSO2's is balance. Everyone is way too powerful right now. Enemies don't stand a chance, which is a shame, because they're so much better designed than PSU's. Going toe to toe with a group when they stand a chance is fun. But nope, kill them instantly for quick exp and drops and move on.

Well, now I'm depressed. I think overall, I'd much rather play PSO2 than PSU. It feels much more polished, and the art design is better. But PSO2 could benefit so much more if the current focus wasn't on aesthetic items (which don't even look good anymore).

[Sparzyle]

In my experience recently playing PSU:AoI offline after playing PSO2 after playing PSOBB, every game got it's own flaws as someone previously said so you can't really say "this one is better than...", also PSO2 isn't finished since there's still content to come.

But something that I've been reading a lot on this thread is that some people claim PSU having a faster combat but I think that must be because PSU had smaller corridors/rooms like PSO where enemies spawned closer which in PSO2 you have bigger rooms that have enemies spawning in any edge of the rooms so you have to run to every corner to reach them

[God of Awesome]

PSO>PSO2>Everything bar PSU> PSU. In terms of enjoyment and fun that I had.

[o0Kais0o]

PSU was flawed, but I'd still play it I think... that game had its hooks in deep lol. I definitely miss some of the environments that game had. PSP2/i was bloody brilliant, it was what I'd hoped PSU could have been. PSO2 has some good points and I spend far too much time on it, but again there are glaring flaws... So I went with PSU because thats what spawned PSP2/i.

[Zorafim]

I will say, I miss Neudaiz swamps.

[gigawuts]

just got pso ep3

already having more fun than Client Orders Online 2

[Arkanoid]

Is this really a conversation? Are we actually having this discussion? People are actually defending PSU?

Nope, this isn't happening. This isn't real. There isn't a poll at the top of the page with a sickeningly large amount of votes for PSU over literally every other game in the series. It's all in your head, and mine too.

[ThePendragon]

Everyone who said PSO is wrong.

[PokeminMaster]

Interestingly enough, the Poll (Currently at 90 Votes) is exactly where I expected it to be, with PSO2 at the top, followed by PSO and then PSU, with only a few votes for other since fewer people have played either PSP or PSP2.

Anywho, I personally enjoy PSO2 a lot more than I like either PSO or PSU, but the one complaint I actually have would be the Story, as I feel it's a bit too... Quick. I feel like it has too fast of a development as compared to PSU, and a lot of the plot points don't fit together. But doing Client Orders on a daily basis? Running around an MPA for a while killing enemies for drops? I actually find this fun, but only because I do this with people I consider Friends and can easily talk to.

PSU was certainly fun, but I have to say that I feel like PSO was better, but only by a little bit. Overall, I liked the gameplay of PSU, but it was lacking so many things while not handling other things as well as it could, but that's only my opinion. It's interesting to see different opinions on this, though... XD

[Lumpen Thingy]

just got pso ep3

already having more fun than Client Orders Online 2

lol card battle games

[Rosel]

Is this really a conversation? Are we actually having this discussion? People are actually defending PSU?

PSP2 I can understand. If that was what PSU was all those years, the game would have been great. PSP2 made every right balance change to finally bring the series where it needs to be.

But, PSU itself? It was terrible! The combat was stiff and boring. The levels were predictable and repetitive. The music never fit the situation.
All my experience with the game is as follows: Fun to group of enemies, spam highest power PA (Don't bother dodging. It's faster to take the hit and heal.), then run to the next room. We've already done this map before, so we know where to go for the next group of enemies to get an S rank.

All this said... I'm starting to realize that PSO2 may not be so much better now. Don't get me wrong, it was much better at the start. And now that we have actual defensive moves, it's great that, when you get hit, it's your fault. But the most rewarding gameplay in this game is to run around a map blindly in a mob and kill enemies before they have a chance to perform a single animation.

I think I can summerize what's wrong with each game. PSU's was design, pure and simple. It didn't matter how well balanced everything was when you can't dodge enemies attacks, don't want to because of instant cheap heals, and each run of the level was exactly the same.
PSO2's is balance. Everyone is way too powerful right now. Enemies don't stand a chance, which is a shame, because they're so much better designed than PSU's. Going toe to toe with a group when they stand a chance is fun. But nope, kill them instantly for quick exp and drops and move on.

Well, now I'm depressed. I think overall, I'd much rather play PSO2 than PSU. It feels much more polished, and the art design is better. But PSO2 could benefit so much more if the current focus wasn't on aesthetic items (which don't even look good anymore).

Nobody called PSU a masterpiece, it's just a lot better than the junk heap that is PSO2.


Interestingly enough, the Poll (Currently at 90 Votes) is exactly where I expected it to be, with PSO2 at the top, followed by PSO and then PSU, with only a few votes for other since fewer people have played either PSP or PSP2.

Anywho, I personally enjoy PSO2 a lot more than I like either PSO or PSU, but the one complaint I actually have would be the Story, as I feel it's a bit too... Quick. I feel like it has too fast of a development as compared to PSU, and a lot of the plot points don't fit together. But doing Client Orders on a daily basis? Running around an MPA for a while killing enemies for drops? I actually find this fun, but only because I do this with people I consider Friends and can easily talk to.

PSU was certainly fun, but I have to say that I feel like PSO was better, but only by a little bit. Overall, I liked the gameplay of PSU, but it was lacking so many things while not handling other things as well as it could, but that's only my opinion. It's interesting to see different opinions on this, though... XD

Keep in mind this is the PSO2 forum so that will skew the votes and still more than half voted for PSO/PSU/Other.

[supersonix9]

people care about comparing games way too much instead of just playing or not playing them.

[Shadowth117]

people care about comparing games way too much

I don't see why that's a bad thing. Comparison is often how we can find out what was done better between two things and how to improve something else based on that.

Not to say much will be done with it here, but I think its good to identify what was liked about certain things as well as what wasn't liked.

[supersonix9]

Not to say much will be done with it here.

pretty much why I say what I say

[Rosel]

There's plenty of reason to compare two games in a series. Not sure why it's a bad thing at all, people are always comparing sequels with their previous installments.

There's plenty to be said about why PSO2 is objectively the worst online Phantasy Star title and people are giving their input.

There's a reason this isn't getting localized.

[Arkanoid]

You mean subjectively the worst one, because if we are going to be childish about it, PSU is objectively the worst one.

[Sp-24]

If asked right after open beta, I'd say that PSO2 beats both, due to its sheer potential. It plays miles better than either PSO or PSU, there isn't even a contest. Bosses can be actually fun to fight if, by some miracle, neither of you can one-shot the other. Regular enemies are varied for once, you don't fight a reskinned Booma in every single place you go to. I could tolerate both the dumb story and the absolutely awful drop rates, and maybe even their overreliance on RNG, nickel and diming and dripfeed, if they expanded on that.

But now that they completely gave up on improving the gameplay, instead adding a broken PA or tech, or an afterthought skill, every few months, creating an illusion that they are doing something while steadily milking the AC roulette (which is where all the budget seems to go), eh, who knows. I honestly can't say that PSO is a better game without pretending that it's 2000, since, as good as it is, that game didn't age well at all. And I've heard enough horror stories about PSU to not even consider calling it the better game. For all I know, they all might be equally crappy.


There's a reason this isn't getting localized.
Yes, there is. It's literally PSU2, and we all know how well PSU1 fared outside of Japan.

[Lumpen Thingy]

You mean subjectively the worst one, because if we are going to be childish about it, PSU is objectively the worst one.

I've had 11,000 hours on that pos and I can confirm this lol

[Zipzo]

Nope, this isn't happening. This isn't real. There isn't a poll at the top of the page with a sickeningly large amount of votes for PSU over literally every other game in the series. It's all in your head, and mine too.

I don't know what poll you're looking but I see PSU in last place, buddy.

[Shadowth117]

Yes, there is. It's literally PSU2, and we all know how well PSU1 fared outside of Japan.

Yeah, I mean look at all of the advertising and support they gave to the game.

...wait, I don't remember any of that.

[Arkanoid]

I don't know what poll you're looking but I see PSU in last place, buddy.

I can see it's in last place, but I can see a number much larger than 0 next to it.

[DeathDragon2332]

PSO2 is ok, getting bored after 30 or so levels. Some of the mechanics piss me off though.

[UMVC3_Wolverine]

I wont comment on the topic at hand but at something else that seem very interesting to me.

Most people that have posted here seem to heavily dislike both games, yet when the servers are down most of you here are busy making topics talking about "when are the servers coming back online? :(" staying up all night just to play your pso2...LOL

So what does this actually mean? Either 2 things.

You must be bored as **** in real life so even though this game is "bad" (as most of you said) you still put up with it because it's still much better than anything your pathetic everyday life provides you with. I mean why else would someone play a game they think it's bad? Why else would they invest so much time in it? Hell I even come across some of the regulars here on the game on a daily basis.


I for one don't play ANY games that i find boring or bad. I only play games that I like and enjoy (that's the main reason for gaming IMO).

[Zyrusticae]

[snipped for length, also he's right above me why I am quoting him?]
To put it plainly, some folks are obsessive, particularly when it comes to series with a lot of nostalgic value like this one. A lot of folks complain because they care way, way too much, even when their words serve no purpose other than perhaps as a cathartic release (unfortunately, this never happens).


You mean subjectively the worst one, because if we are going to be childish about it, PSU is objectively the worst one.
Seriously, I don't understand how anyone could possibly say that PSU is the best in the series. Maybe if you judged it exclusively by the JP side, but even then there's the issue of their drip-feed process using entirely on-disc locked content and being held back by the PS2 for the longest time (no surprise that the game got the biggest injection of content in years after they officially dropped PS2 support). And if you DO include the EN support you have to admit that they absolutely cocked it up in a big way, to the point where many of us jumped ship straight to JP PSO2 because we didn't want to take any chances with a hypothetical English version.

[gigawuts]

To put it plainly, some folks are obsessive, particularly when it comes to series with a lot of nostalgic value like this one. A lot of folks complain because they care way, way too much, even when their words serve no purpose other than perhaps as a cathartic release (unfortunately, this never happens).

I uh, I don't want to be that guy, but this post is a slight bit ironic.

That said.

Do not underestimate the power of the status quo. All my friends love PS games -> I will play the new PS game -> I hate the new PS game, but all my friends are on it and won't move to other games I like because we only share this one interest -> I will keep playing this game

In this case the status quo is maintaining close relations with friends. Making new friends is often an arduous task for a lot of people, and making good friends is an arduous task for everyone.

That's honestly how it goes for a lot of people, and not just in games either. Many aspects of life work that way, and if you think doing things in "real life" (since people still consider sitting behind a keyboard "fake") will change that then you've clearly not done anything in "real life" yourself.

[Rosel]

Seriously, I don't understand how anyone could possibly say that PSU is the best in the series.

For the record, I didn't say that. I just have the opinion that PSU is much, much better than PSO2, which really isn't high praise.

[Zyrusticae]

For the record, I didn't say that. I just have the opinion that PSU is much, much better than PSO2, which really isn't high praise.
Sure, but voting for PSU in the poll obviously means some people consider it the best in the series, which is straight insanity (or outright trolling, depending on the person).

And I personally cannot see PSO2 in that negative a light, especially considering PSU's INNUMERABLE flaws.

I uh, I don't want to be that guy, but this post is a slight bit ironic.
How so? It's not like I exclude myself from that statement.

[Naizuya Tatzubani]

PSU had better customizing options when it came to clothes. You could mix and match all kinds of looks which did always give it a fresh feel. Though some weapons in PSU I loved, even if I stuck with a Single Saber most times.

PSO2 on the other hand. Actiony as I don't know what. And I love it. Its dynamic and fast-paced. But sometimes, even fast-paced gameplay won't make it better. Granted, I will say it FEELS better, but if it had just a little more, I wanna say in-depth customizing features besides mixing PA combos (which is a lovely addition) and I personally would love to see a return in crafting. Granted, this is all coming from someone whose spent most of her PS life Offline, feel free to debate, leave a comment or yadda. I'll try to respond as best I can ^^

[~Aya~]

PSO3 best game of 2023

[jcart953]

I kind of said it before but all this old talk about psu keeps brining back memories of :


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlns5sNGRPE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlns5sNGRPE

[Rosel]

I wonder if they're going to add axes to PSO2.

[Puppet_Papaya]

I like them both, but....

PSU has the Pink Ranger.

PSO2 has...Kuna. Blergh.

Point goes to PSU.

[Zyrusticae]

If they did add axes, it would have to be for another dedicated melee class. Preferably one with a bigger emphasis on bigger, heavier weapons and absorbing damage than Hunters or Fighters.

Which actually gets me wondering - will we get any more new classes? They've kind of filled out most possible niches in the game, even going for the generalist with Braver. I can only foresee a tech/ranged class being introduced at some point (since we already kind of have melee/tech with techers in combination with hunter or fighter), and anything after that is going to have to be extremely specialized to not step on other classes' toes.

...Yeah, this is extremely off-topic, but I'm curious now...

[Sesheenku]

I can only compare this to PSU/PSP2 and even then for PSU only the offline.

PSU, I liked the story, it wasn't some masterpiece but it was acceptable and while Ethan can be somewhat grating he also has a lot of likeable qualities, many of the characters did. The maps were... pretty repetitive but really we need another Neudaiz, the music and the actual maps were really nice, I found that I would do most of my missions there when I had the choice.

The combat was okay, I hated not being able to block or even really dodge anything and there was basically no penalty to using PP as it could be restored instantly.

PSP2

What can I say that hasn't been said? It's what PSU should have been. Love every single thing about it, while the combat keeps the same base it adds blocking, which was much needed. I love the weapons, I love the variety of the locations and the clothing, the enemies. I don't think I've played a single action RPG better than PSP2, it sucked up ridiculous amounts of my time.

PSO2

The weapons, they're a step down from PSP2, a lot of them are just recolors of previous tier weapons... that's fine for like 1-3 * but beyond that I don't want to see any of that. The clothes? Also a step down.. there's a few good outfits and quite honestly the only outfit I'll wear right now is the Emilia Replica I bought in it's original color. I'm saving up to get the Karen Replica now because that is the character that inspired my first character. Other then that I like the first jp style robe thing that came out... Megahami Sekai or something like that.. and a handful of others.

The first maps, forest/volcano/desert are very lifeless, textured lazily, done with what seems to be very little care. Tundra is equally bad. Mines is okay, at least it's somewhat interesting and I like the song. Ruins was where things started to get more interesting aesthetically. So the newer maps are getting better, it's like they hired novice level designers and told them to make something that they didn't really have a vision for and that now finally they novices are getting a little more skillful.

The combat is of course the best part but it gets repetitive unless you have people to play with, so as long as you're in a team it's bearable and even fun. I like that they've made things more team oriented, I like that players are working together again, when I left for a break a while back nobody was really doing any party activities but they've made it so that's the way to play which is as it should be.

The PA's as people have said are terrible, less than handful are useful for the purpose of the weapon they're attached to.

We still need more weapon variety within the types as well as new types. I mean they've only added two new weapon types and Katana is great and all but the bullet bow? Meh it plays pretty similarly to other ranged weapons.

Enough of my rambling though.

PSP2

PSO2

PSU

PSO2 wins in combat but not necessarily style, which is very important for PS games and is really the factor that keeps you playing.

PSO2 keeps you playing ONLY because of it's rare hunting and the hope you'll be able to get your hands on some things you want, but when you have all that you want you realize how empty the game feels. Still when you have goals it's fun. It's not better than PSP2 though, they should just trash this and bring us a PC version of PSP2I.

Cash shop+one time 60 dollar fee wouldn't bug me either, naturally that means I expect a lot more to be included in that 60 dollar price tag, like the ability to buy 10* weapons <_<

[Sp-24]

If they did add axes, it would have to be for another dedicated melee class. Preferably one with a bigger emphasis on bigger, heavier weapons and absorbing damage than Hunters or Fighters.

Which actually gets me wondering - will we get any more new classes? They've kind of filled out most possible niches in the game, even going for the generalist with Braver. I can only foresee a tech/ranged class being introduced at some point (since we already kind of have melee/tech with techers in combination with hunter or fighter), and anything after that is going to have to be extremely specialized to not step on other classes' toes.

...Yeah, this is extremely off-topic, but I'm curious now...
Bet we'll get a new class that'll branch from Braver in a few months, but I highly doubt that there will be more than one. No idea what would it be about, either. Either more gimmicks like Tech ZRA and bonuses for melee weapons at long range (don't ask), or new weapons (slicer and whip, for example) with a ton of skills that benefit them and them alone.

What can I say, I love off-topic.

[Totori]

PSU was much better~

[lostinseganet]

You just had to be there when it was its time. :)

[Jim]

PSO3 best game of 2023

"We know that the established PSO fanbase might be a little skeptical that the game will only require a trackpad and one button to get the full experience. We understand players don't want to make compromises when it comes to gameplay, which is why I am here to assure you, the graphics are going to be out of this world."

-Skeletor, CEO of Sega 2017-2289

[Freshellent]

I enjoy both games. To a large degree, I enjoyed PSU more. But it's because of the people and the novelty of playing a new PS game at the time.

I like PSO2, it's a good game and still carries some flaws the series will never seem to leave behind. For every improvement, they overlook something else. Which is fine, because I'm a fucking robot and fuck everything else.

I still play PSO, I don't get a chance to play PSU/2i these days so PSO2 is the next best thing. To say any of them is better than anything else is difficult- but I still this PSO has some moments that just can't be topped.

Seeing Olga Flow for the first time, blew my fucking mind. I stared at my TV for almost an hour after my first kill, my friends were all speechless at the time. We couldn't believe what we had experienced.

For PSU, I was part of a crew of crazies (one of many, prior to the more notorious one later) that was caps locking so hard I thought our monitors/tvs were gonna explode when we first did SEED Awakening... Not to mention one of us was wearing Light armor, come to find out. I'm still laughing about it.

Thinking back, it's easy to dismiss it as nostalgia. But I still have yet to come across a moment on PSO2 where I'm certain it's the game for me, like the other two are. It's not bad, not by any means. I enjoyed making the beta video. Love all the people who helped me make it, I still strongly defend this community. Even if I can't stand a great deal of you sometimes. I'm serious, I love- but also really hate some of you.

So, maybe it's my fault for not playing as much. I work a lot, and play other stuff when I get the chance.

When I think of it, the games aren't different enough from one another to warrant a better or worse. Since it's mostly about player experience with the games. When they are introduced, who they play with. It's something unique to online games.

I like Phantasy Star.

I, love Phantasy Star.

The Universe, Online, Infinity, or none of the above part matters. I love this series and the people with it.

[Dhylec]

The Universe, Online, Infinity, or none of the above part matters. I love this series and the people with it.
That's pretty much it for anyone still sticking around since PSO.

[Rosel]

I love Phantasy Star. Problem is that PSO2 feels more like a sleazier version of Gaia Online masquerading as a Phantasy Star title. :-?

[ZcRaider]

I am debating whether i want to vote. Mainly because, they all have there good points, and there bad points. Maybe ill have a decision after im done typing this.

Im vibing with PSO2 now. However, in my opinion...its really missing, in core, all of what the previous Phantasy Star games used to capitalize on:

--------> CLASSIC FANTASY <-----------

The game feels like a mix of a bunch of newage Sci-Fi movies. Which is ok, to an extent. It just feels...a little bit too..."techno" in theme. PSO2 seems to have lost some of the "mystical" and "outer-worldly" themes, that the other games shined with. I mean, compare PSOBB Episode 2(jungle, beach, etc), with PSO2's beach. PSO2's beach, feels like your on a summer vacation enjoying a casual lemonade. PSOBB's Episode 2, feels like your lost on another world, and you need to find a way to survive, while trying to find some super rare treasure that continues to elude you. And when you do find it, its guarded by super powerful fiends with an attitude, that continue to challenge your valor without hesitation.... BIG DIFFERENCE. And in PSOBB, the enviornment was spaned over many missions with different sceneries to boot. PSO2 currently....just one environment...per mission. Sometimes they change it up a little...but not much. In PSOBB, it feels like your exploring worlds. PSO2, just feels like your assigned to a really linear mission with limited exploring. In addtion, there is a random announcer that seems to televise (in english) random emergencys.....but dont really feel like real emergencys. The only way you even know your on another planet and traveling, is by looking out the window of the "hub" ship, or watching the cut scenes. Just seems like there is a disconnect there in my opinion.

And then there is the music and story elements. PSU had much better music and story. PSO was even closer in that respect. When i used to play PSO and PSU, i could feel the influence of the previous Phantasy Stars from the sega genesis.
I just dont get that vibe with PSO2. And honesly, i miss it. I mean really, compare say...Forest from PSO, with Forest in PSO2. Its like somebody completely different made it.... Compare to say... PSU's Forest (forget the planet). So many different colors and vegetation. Had a nice oriental theme and music, coupled with the threat of some pretty crazy monsters. It was like i was fighting inside of a japanese painting portraying a mistic outworldy forest. It was just....awesome.

Im so tired of the lifeless, fanfare, super high treble techno music. I get headaches sometimes, from my eardrums being bashed inside out all the time LOL. Its gotten so bad with each new level, that i just mute the game music and play my own quality Trance and DnB. I have yet to expose my ears to the music for the recent desert mining mission LOL. Shoot, i might even decide to "acquire" the orginal PSO soundtrack and give it a try.


Bottom line, PSO2 needs just a little bit more "old-school" and level creativity. In addtion, add better melodic and fantasy based music. Keep the techno. Its cool too. Just ease off it some. Throw a little bit of...i dunno "Flash Gordon" in there. Or...a bit of Final Fantasy 6. Maybe a little bit of "Krull" or even freakin "Star Wars".

Aside from these things, PSO2... pretty much shines in EVERY other area. Gameplay is PERFECT. Weapons are great. PA system is GREAT. Could use some extra more useful additions for each weapons purpose. Classes seem more balanced now that the sub-class was introduced. As well as some balanced changes made to melee classes to keep up with "weak bullet".

My only other beef is Sega's apparent segregation and borderline racist treatment of us "foriegners". But thats another topic and ive ranted enough bout it. Wont change a bloody thing.

Well thats my 2 cents. This has been talked about extensively. And believe it or not, im omitting a lot of extra stuff that was already highlighted thoroughly by our peers. To which i concur.

Gooday gentlemen!

PS: As regards to "Which is better?" I Choose "other" I feel that PSU and PSO, had things that PSO2 was missing. I was very close to clicking PSO2 as better. Very. Kinda breaking even for me. I shall see as time goes on. This game gets very regular content updates. Something us Gaijin dont know to well, regarding our treatment PSO2's predecessors....up to current day.

[Sp-24]

I love Phantasy Star. Problem is that PSO2 feels more like a sleazier version of Gaia Online masquerading as a Phantasy Star title. :-?
You just described PSU.

[gigawuts]

You just described PSU.

Ha ha ha seriously, that's what I called PSU back when it was running. Seeing PSO2 described as that and saying PSU was better is just..

I...

I can't even handle this

[Zipzo]

I can see it's in last place, but I can see a number much larger than 0 next to it.

Well yeah I'm sure there's a crowd of people camping outside of the nearest record store waiting to pick up Miley Cyrus's new "Bangerz" too.

[NoiseHERO]

Ah so this discussion has finally entered the opinion superiority complex phase, huh.

[Imjake]

I like them both. The only reason PSU has a slight edge for me is because PSU was out for so long and had so many updates. I suppose events like mag and 1up made it a LITTLE better too. But I love both PSO2 and PSU.

[landman]

It's funny how these threads repeat every "generation" of PSO. PSU made a lot of things better. PSO2 is doing a lot of things better, and it still has a long way to go.

[Cyclon]

Ah so this discussion has finally entered the opinion superiority complex phase, huh.You probably mean that it entered the discussion phase at all. We have 14 pages of people barely answering one another behind us. I don't call that a discussion.

[Lumpen Thingy]

It's funny how these threads repeat every "generation" of PSO. PSU made a lot of things better. PSO2 is doing a lot of things better, and it still has a long way to go.

f that lets compare a 1 year old game to a 6 year old game and a 10 year old game both which got updates to improve them as well.

[Sp-24]

f that lets compare a 1 year old game to a 6 year old game and a 10 year old game both which got updates to improve them as well.
Nah, you are not allowed to even mention games that didn't come out within days of each other and aren't completely identical in the same sentence, left alone actually compare them to each other.

[Rosel]

f that lets compare a 1 year old game to a 6 year old game and a 10 year old game both which got updates to improve them as well.

PSU was better after one year.

PSO2 literally has nothing to do after one year and yet we're apparently playing PSO2 Episode I & II.

Back to client order spam to build up meseta to save up for rare weapons even though the best rares in the game are untradeable. Oh well, I'll buy a swimsuit for my loli or something.

[Lumpen Thingy]

PSU was better after one year.

PSO2 literally has nothing to do after one year and yet we're apparently playing PSO2 Episode I & II.

Back to client order spam to build up meseta to save up for rare weapons even though the best rares in the game are untradeable. Oh well, I'll buy a swimsuit for my loli or something.
sub classing, aqs, xqs, cheaper to grind cheaper and affix, has a daily income due to TAs giving out good money,wayyyyyyyy more character creation options,all of it done within a year and theres plenty of other things I haven't mentioned in there. Now what did PSU do besides add 2 classes that were meh,added just attacks which should have been there from the start for melee,a grinding system that went from your weapon going bye bye to it just breaking over and over with no way to fix it,and some new hairs? oh wait? That's all PSU did in the first year?
If you really want to go into real detail on which one has changed more within its first year I can continue but saying PSU was better than PSO2 in its first year is fanboy retardation at its finest.

[Rosel]

I didn't say PSU necessarily added more in one year. I said PSU was better after one year (so I'm not comparing PSP2i to PSO2 or anything), which it was, by far.

If you think anything about PSO2 is better than PSU other than the character creation, I would challenge it. Even better character customization can be challenged because costumes are one piece.

It looks like there's more class customization on the surface but it's all artificial. There's one build you should use, one skill you spam over and over. You have zero options.

Not sure why you would bring up TACOs being the only source of income as some kind of pro.

[Zyrusticae]

PSU was better after one year.

PSO2 literally has nothing to do after one year and yet we're apparently playing PSO2 Episode I & II.

Back to client order spam to build up meseta to save up for rare weapons even though the best rares in the game are untradeable. Oh well, I'll buy a swimsuit for my loli or something.
Yeah, I'm gonna call bullshit on this one.

We went from three areas to a full haul, got TAs, AQs, XQs, a bunch of emergency quests, a bunch of emergency codes, a FUCKLOAD of cosmetic options, a FUCKLOAD of weapons, subclassing, four new classes, a bunch of new PAs, a pile of story content, and a huge number of quality-of-life changes that I can't even list because there's so many.

These may not be the things you WANTED, but it's absolute horse shit to say there's "literally nothing to do after one year". That is a statement that has absolutely no basis in quantifiable fact.

What did PSU have in comparison? A bunch of on-disc content that was unlocked. Yep. That's it. Btw, AotI didn't even release in the first year (it released a month after the first year), but even if you count that the number of changes is incredibly minor next to how much PSO2 has changed over its lifetime. Most of the really good stuff didn't even come until years later, when PSP2 was released and PS2 support was officially dropped.

Frankly, the only really bad thing about PSO2 right now, besides the balance, is simply the lack of any real long-term challenge (that isn't tied to the RNG, that is). Fix these two things and PSO2 is easily the strongest in the series, without question.

[MetalDude]

I think it comes down to how AQs are a total fuckin' joke right now and how XQ weapons are close to or already invalidated thanks to element (and the fact that new weapons are coming out with SH). There's nothing worthwhile to do that isn't necessarily leveling your character. And if you're already at the cap? Then you really got nothing to do. Hunting rares? HAHAHA.

[Lumpen Thingy]

I didn't say PSU necessarily added more in one year. I said PSU was better after one year (so I'm not comparing PSP2i to PSO2 or anything), which it was, by far.

If you think anything about PSO2 is better than PSU other than the character creation, I would challenge it. Even better character customization can be challenged because costumes are one piece.

ok class balance,weapon pricing,weapon scything,grinding weapons,being able to change most outfits to whatever color you want,being able to use any accessory you want instead of it being limited to just a certain hair,added new areas that all actually have things worth hunting,all the bosses not being a total joke like they were in PSU. All I've been seeing so far from you is that PSU was better because it was better even though it doesn't even sound like you were there in its first year of release.

[Zyrusticae]

I think it comes down to how AQs are a total fuckin' joke right now and how XQ weapons are close to or already invalidated thanks to element (and the fact that new weapons are coming out with SH). There's nothing worthwhile to do that isn't necessarily leveling your character. And if you're already at the cap? Then you really got nothing to do. Hunting rares? HAHAHA.
But that's only if you're obsessed with having THE VERY BEST FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER THE FUTURE AND NEW CONTENT BE DAMNED.

It's not a very good position to take. You will never be satisfied with what you have if that's how you see things.

[MetalDude]

50 element pyroxenes (or better if you have premium) and call it a day. It would take you at most two to three weeks just to acquire that and maybe another or two to fund grinding and affixing.

But disregarding that, AQs are terribly boring now, XQs have never at any point been good, and MPAs have always been rather uninteresting. We have absolutely no interesting quest content out right now and it's this game's most crippling flaw right now. Challenge would help to some degree but if we're not getting real quests with real objects and difficult spawns within a few weeks of Super Hard, I guarantee you we'll be playing until cap and then going back to usual lobby whoring schedules shortly after.

[gigawuts]

sub classing, aqs, xqs, cheaper to grind cheaper and affix, has a daily income due to TAs giving out good money,wayyyyyyyy more character creation options,all of it done within a year and theres plenty of other things I haven't mentioned in there. Now what did PSU do besides add 2 classes that were meh,added just attacks which should have been there from the start for melee,a grinding system that went from your weapon going bye bye to it just breaking over and over with no way to fix it,and some new hairs? oh wait? That's all PSU did in the first year?
If you really want to go into real detail on which one has changed more within its first year I can continue but saying PSU was better than PSO2 in its first year is fanboy retardation at its finest.

Half of this should have been launch content and you know it. The other half, yeah, that counts for new content.

Better grinding, reasonable element synthesizing, TAs existing, subclassing, and one or two other things I can't think of off the top of my head should have been launch content.

New areas, story stuff (hahahahaha), AQs, XQs, falz, new codes, etc. all count as real, tangible new content...kind of. A lot of it didn't really seem tangible, like the new areas. It seemed more like new models for the same stuff, especially areas like FC which simply reused the better part of its enemies. It felt more like a reskin, about as shallow as the light themed reskin of that one dark map in PSU that made me laugh and uninstall the first time I saw it.

[Zyrusticae]

We're going on a tangent here.

Point was that PSU really had nothing going for it in its first year. The game consisted pretty much entirely of running the same optimal area(s) over and over and over again, a situation that mirrors PSO2's in its entirety, except with the added bonus that the core gameplay was even more dull. They didn't even add Just Attacks until AotI was released, something I find entirely baffling in retrospect.

And just to put things in perspective - a lot of people put thousands of hours into PSO2. That is an obscene, ridiculous, absolutely insane amount of playtime. There's a reason players like this are called 'content locusts', and frankly, many will never be satisfied.

But no doubt the game can improve dramatically, if they just make the right changes. It still bemuses me that they haven't done so, considering they undoubtedly get tons of feedback on this from the surveys...

[gigawuts]

I think what's going on with PSO2 is they saw the flaw in PSU - optimal areas - and saw the better system in PSO1 - a more even distribution of ubers across different maps (usually via different IDs) to promote playing each area evenly, depending on your ID and class - and tried to go with PSO1's system by spreading powerful weapons across maps more evenly.

In PSO1 the gear spread was with good units, uber weapons, utility weapons/units, armors, etc. Sometimes your ID would find something good that you didn't even want, but could trade for something you wanted. That was important for people with only 1 or 2 characters.

That's why we see shit like Caves having the best sword in the game on day 1 of Hard mode, all the way until set bonuses were added something like 4-5 months later...and even then the Aristin & set bonus barely beats it with 5 or so satk. They're doing a piss poor job of this and they know it.

Removing utility from weapons and relegating it to skilltrees and affixes was a terrible move. Some things should be relegated to skilltrees and affixes, definitely, and some things should be for weapons themselves. More than just 12% bonus damage to Surprise Dunk after +10ing the weapon 4 times, for fuck's sake.

So long as weapons get nothing but x% damage here, x% pp recovery there, the game will continue to stagnate and suffer the same way PSU did, just with different graphics.

[Rexob]

I like PSO2 more than PSU, but at the same time I have not played PSO2 since day 1 like I did PSU. I had a very difficult time with PSU though in its first year, the content seemed to trickle out incredibly slow; again I haven't played PSO2 since day 1, so I cannot comment to that. I also like the combat more, everything feels more fluid, and the world is not "flat". I realize both games made improvements within their first year, but every MMO experiences that. I have yet to play a MMO where it felt "complete" in the first month...some take a full 6 months to feel "complete" and another 3-6months to feel somewhat polished - such is the nature of MMOs, so I do not fault either game there.

Personally, I like how PSO2 is more similar to PSO the original from the Dreamcast where the general setting is one singular point. I was not a fan of traveling around, I realize it makes sense, but I am not a fan of needless travel for instanced content myself - this is a personal preference though, I know some really enjoy the "exploration" aspect.

Overall, I find PSO2 more enjoyable for myself. However, I do want the content to increase in difficulty and looking forward to SH, I realize it's more accessible, but it's boring...

[Enforcer MKV]

Ah so this discussion has finally entered the opinion superiority complex phase, huh.

Hooo, boy. Was wondering when this was gonna happen. I'm a liiiiittle late, buuuuuut~

*Acquires Key item: Popcorn*

[Rexob]

Hooo, boy. Was wondering when this was gonna happen. I'm a liiiiittle late, buuuuuut~

*Acquires Key item: Popcorn*

Lol...the entire thread is opinion based, "better" is highly subjective typically based on personal preference. I like Chocolate more than Vanilla, even if it's Vanilla 2.0 to Chocolate 1.0 lol.

[Zenobia]

Heh idk wth is going on really seems to be tame no one being all "Hey you're wrong and I am right and nothing you can say will change that!" kinda thing so it seem alright to me.

[Enforcer MKV]

Lol...the entire thread is opinion based, "better" is highly subjective typically based on personal preference. I like Chocolate more than Vanilla, even if it's Vanilla 2.0 to Chocolate 1.0 lol.


Heh idk wth is going on really seems to be tame no one being all "Hey you're wrong and I am right and nothing you can say will change that!" kinda thing so it seem alright to me.

Well, sure. But we didn't start off this thread with accusation of fanboys and the like - it's going in that direction now, though.

Besides, it's more fun to watch then have people try to change my unpopular opinion that PSU was a game with better longevity and well...fun. Not trying to be confrontational, but trying to seriously change someone's opinion over what game was better when we all have different tastes seems a bit...stupid. *shrugs*

Popcorn, anyone?

[strikerhunter]

Hooo, boy. Was wondering when this was gonna happen. I'm a liiiiittle late, buuuuuut~

*Acquires Key item: Popcorn*

Days ahead of ya En. *chews on popcorn*



Popcorn, anyone?

No thanks already have one right here.

Seriously though, I don't understand on why people are trying to change other's opinion and point-of-view on things. If they like then they like, you can't do anything to change their opinion unless you are that stupid to think you are always right and that they are wrong. It's all opinions people, geesh.

[Rosel]

Well, I don't really mind if I get called a "fanboy retard" for thinking PSU is better, and I don't think people who lash out like that should ruin the thread.

Some people aren't mentally strong enough to see something they like be disliked by someone else.


I like PSO2 more than PSU, but at the same time I have not played PSO2 since day 1 like I did PSU. I had a very difficult time with PSU though in its first year, the content seemed to trickle out incredibly slow; again I haven't played PSO2 since day 1, so I cannot comment to that. I also like the combat more, everything feels more fluid, and the world is not "flat". I realize both games made improvements within their first year, but every MMO experiences that. I have yet to play a MMO where it felt "complete" in the first month...some take a full 6 months to feel "complete" and another 3-6months to feel somewhat polished - such is the nature of MMOs, so I do not fault either game there.

Personally, I like how PSO2 is more similar to PSO the original from the Dreamcast where the general setting is one singular point. I was not a fan of traveling around, I realize it makes sense, but I am not a fan of needless travel for instanced content myself - this is a personal preference though, I know some really enjoy the "exploration" aspect.

Overall, I find PSO2 more enjoyable for myself. However, I do want the content to increase in difficulty and looking forward to SH, I realize it's more accessible, but it's boring...

I did like the travel. It made the setting feel more fleshed out. Even PSO had Pioneer 2 set apart from the lobby. It also had multiple lobbies unlike PSO2.

[ReaperTheAbsol]

[spoiler-box]http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2008/05/tmpphpjb3pc2-rose-tinted-glasses.jpg[/spoiler-box]

[dark maaz]

My baby PSU<33333

[Zenobia]

Well, sure. But we didn't start off this thread with accusation of fanboys and the like - it's going in that direction now, though.

Besides, it's more fun to watch then have people try to change my unpopular opinion that PSU was a game with better longevity and well...fun. Not trying to be confrontational, but trying to seriously change someone's opinion over what game was better when we all have different tastes seems a bit...stupid. *shrugs*

Popcorn, anyone?

lol at the fanboy comment touche.

Here's I see it you like what you want to like and anyone else who tries to say you're wrong for liking w/e it is then they forfeit their stupidity and let swim in it.

So fur real if any of us like PSU over the next hey more power to ya, anyone else who thinks they have a right to disagree and call that person wrong then you're a jackass now if anyone feels played by that comment I could give 2 fucks right now about it

I am being as straight about this as I can.

[Neith]

Comparing a 10+ year old game to a modern one doesn't really work, and it depends what parts of the game you're comparing.

PSO was a great game but over a decade later it feels very clunky and archaic. PSO2 feels more fluid but is loaded with cash shops, ridiculous grind and a weak story. I honestly don't think it's really possible to compare them directly.

Likewise PSU is hard to judge; yes it was a terrible game when it launched under Miyoshi, but after switching producer it did improve (and from what I understand, JP PSU towards the end was perfectly decent?) Whether that could undo the damage Miyoshi did to the franchise I'm not sure.

[Enforcer MKV]

lol at the fanboy comment touche.

Here's I see it you like what you want to like and anyone else who tries to say you're wrong for liking w/e it is then they forfeit their stupidity and let swim in it.

So fur real if any of us like PSU over the next hey more power to ya, anyone else who thinks they have a right to disagree and call that person wrong then you're a jackass now if anyone feels played by that comment I could give 2 fucks right now about it

I am being as straight about this as I can.

haha, and this is why I like you. :lol:

[DoubleZero]

I liked PSU aesthetically; The Gurhal planets had their own climates and going from hub to hub felt more like you were actually exploring the planet. The only problem I really have with PSO2 is that it's so high-tech and sterile; The previous games up until now were a great balance when combining organic and technological settings. While the environments are nice, everything is unnaturally wide open and neatly arranged on elevated paths or in canyons. It seems like the 'Phantasy' part of the PS series is missing in this latest iteration, not to mention the wholly impractical fashion that passes for 'combat wear'. The lack of innovations lifted from PSP2's stellar 'license' system make PSO2 seem like a step backward in everything but combat.

Game-mechanics-wise, PSO2 is a lot more fun to play when you're able to run and jump around enemy attacks, but with a little tweak to PSO's Stat Calcs (ATP = Melee damage, ATA = Ranged damage, MST = Tech damage), that system can be made more simple and effective given that the majority of damage incurred in PSO2 seems like it's one type of damage anyway. Weapon Selection and Usage was best with PSP2's license system, where you learn skills based on your class. For PSO2, that means learning Anti-Ranged skills like a combat dash and reflecting shots back with HU, Status/Knockdown traps for RA and status boost/utility skills for FO (among other things), using points gained at level up, with skills unlocking at set levels. The license also allows players to choose any weapon they want to use without restriction, updated to PSO2 by using a MAG to provide a noticeable boost to the stats it levels, allowing players to make a hybrid classes like PSU's Wartecher/Guntecher/Fighgunner, or specializing in one stat damage like the Forte-classes.

I'm one of those jokers who wanted to explore the planets in a more open-world style, by either mowing down enemies on the way to far-off settlements from a major city, or to skip fighting and travel across distances on a hoverbike or NPC-driven transport. I know that's not everyone's bag, but it just seems to bring a sense of exploration to the worlds we visit.

I feel that PSO2 is better than PSU, but not quite as good as PSP2/i was. That's just my opinion though.

[Tcrusader51]

Things I like about PSO2

- Action combat system
- Main and Sub Class system
- More darker story theme
- Teams
- Abilities and attributes
- CO and EQs.

Things I hate about PSO2

- Lack of reason to utilize more than one type of weapon during fights
- Useless mission ranking system other than to complete COs.
- Super fast photon regeneration which kind of goes with lack of reason to use more than 1 weapon (atleast when compared to PSU system).
- Lack of things to do outside combat.
- Lack of all class weapons (or maybe the fact that all weapons aren't access to all class just with a tweak of reasonable stat requirement).
- Bringing back disc for PA/Tech leveling as oppose to a new system.
- Useless traps.

Things I like about PSU

- Several lobbies (planets) to hang out in.
- Mini games
- Reason to switch weapons whether it be for change of type, change elemental, or just running out of photon.
- Photon blast/nano blast
- Synthesis (though I do admit it it had flaws)
- Mission ranking actually serving good use.
- Separation of character and class leveling.
- Abilities to have one handed weapons on one hand and several options to place a different weapon on another.

Things I hated about PSU

- PA spamming to level
- Too much more synthesis drops than actually weapons themselves
- Having missions (unbalanced ones at that as far as rewarding) which caused majority of people to stay in one lobby.
- Coming from PSO, scape dolls was way too easy to obtain and stack up.
- No team/guild/clan etc

[Zyrusticae]

Well, I don't really mind if I get called a "fanboy retard" for thinking PSU is better, and I don't think people who lash out like that should ruin the thread.

Some people aren't mentally strong enough to see something they like be disliked by someone else.

It should come as no surprise to any of you that there's a strong emotional reaction to any suggestion that PSU was anything more than a pile of shit, considering the game was universally panned and had truly awful post-launch support.

[Rosel]

I only said that it's better than PSO2.

[gigawuts]

People pool years of their lives into this shit as a full time job hobby (no, job was more accurate) and you're surprised they seem irrationally upset when you disagree with them?

These are some of the most hopeless, antisocial, depressed individuals you'll find. For many the game has been their lifeline to an excuse to stay indoors that they tell themselves is valid.

Most of the rational, healthy fans all put down their phantasy stars and got lives a long time ago, and the ones that are still around and happen to know PSOW exists certainly won't bother replying to this thread with anything more than "meh, I liked x/y/both" specifically because the crazies are arguing again like has been happening for the last decade and a half.

You could've made a thread titled "Blue or Green: Which do you like better?" These people would argue about that shit too.

[Enforcer MKV]

People pool years of their lives into this shit as a full time job hobby (no, job was more accurate) and you're surprised they seem irrationally upset when you disagree with them?

These are some of the most hopeless, antisocial, depressed individuals you'll find. For many the game has been their lifeline to an excuse to stay indoors that they tell themselves is valid.

Most of the rational, healthy fans all put down their phantasy stars and got lives a long time ago, and the ones that are still around and happen to know PSOW exists certainly won't bother replying to this thread with anything more than "meh, I liked x/y/both" specifically because the crazies are arguing again like has been happening for the last decade and a half.

You could've made a thread titled "Blue or Green: Which do you like better?" These people would argue about that shit too.

Eh, I'd say they put down the forum, but not necessarily the game. Can't really blame them, with the vitriol that's constantly being spewed on here.

[Zenobia]

I only said that it's better than PSO2.

That's your opinon and I do not see why you get mad at what ppl say or do in this game to begin with.

Honestly this thread was a dead give away for arguments to burn.

If you don't like pso2 then don't play it simply uninstall the game don't even make needless threads on it just call it a wrap.

Let ppl like what they like it really is that easy.

[Zyrusticae]

Eh, I'd say they put down the forum, but not necessarily the game. Can't really blame them, with the vitriol that's constantly being spewed on here.
Sounds about right.

There's still plenty of folks in-game who have never even touched a fan forum in their lives, they just go to bumped and reddit or wherever for their information.

That being said, 4chan is actually worse at times, believe it or not, as the PSO2 general over there is pretty much full-time bitching, trolling, and general shitposting.

Which gets to me, really. I mean, I can't help but come to the conclusion that the PSO fan base, for whatever reason, is just not very nice.

[Enforcer MKV]

Sounds about right.

There's still plenty of folks in-game who have never even touched a fan forum in their lives, they just go to bumped and reddit or wherever for their information.

That being said, 4chan is actually worse at times, believe it or not, as the PSO2 general over there is pretty much full-time bitching, trolling, and general shitposting.

Which gets to me, really. I mean, I can't help but come to the conclusion that the PSO fan base, for whatever reason, is just not very nice.

Good decision on their part.

[gigawuts]

Which gets to me, really. I mean, I can't help but come to the conclusion that the PSO fan base, for whatever reason, is just not very nice.

I thought you said you played Eve.

[SolRiver]

Still waiting for ultimate mode and challenge mode for pso2 before making judgement. If by around this time next year, neither of those two show up, I will vote for PSO.

[Shadowth117]

Which gets to me, really. I mean, I can't help but come to the conclusion that the PSO fan base, for whatever reason, is just not very nice.

You should see Source engine communities...

[Zipzo]

Yeah, I'm gonna call bullshit on this one.

We went from three areas to a full haul, got TAs, AQs, XQs, a bunch of emergency quests, a bunch of emergency codes, a FUCKLOAD of cosmetic options, a FUCKLOAD of weapons, subclassing, four new classes, a bunch of new PAs, a pile of story content, and a huge number of quality-of-life changes that I can't even list because there's so many.

These may not be the things you WANTED, but it's absolute horse shit to say there's "literally nothing to do after one year". That is a statement that has absolutely no basis in quantifiable fact.

What did PSU have in comparison? A bunch of on-disc content that was unlocked. Yep. That's it. Btw, AotI didn't even release in the first year (it released a month after the first year), but even if you count that the number of changes is incredibly minor next to how much PSO2 has changed over its lifetime. Most of the really good stuff didn't even come until years later, when PSP2 was released and PS2 support was officially dropped.

Frankly, the only really bad thing about PSO2 right now, besides the balance, is simply the lack of any real long-term challenge (that isn't tied to the RNG, that is). Fix these two things and PSO2 is easily the strongest in the series, without question.

Mostly agree here...PSO needs an effort-driven long term goal that feels "right". I don't really count ExQuests and their according 11* rewards, as max elemented 10*s tend to fair better anyway...and maxing element isn't difficult anymore.

[gigawuts]

The problem is any long term goal will fall through. We have long term goals. They're fully affixed, latented, element grinded top tier weapons of the month. And then that goal post is moved back when enough players reach it.

This is free to play.

There will never be a successful* free to play game with finite content, which is a prerequisite for long term goals. The only long term goal that's stuck right now is getting a psycho wand, and even that isn't as comparatively good as it used to be.

*see: continuously & increasingly revenue generating for an extended period of time

The closest thing we can hope for will be Phantasy Star Nova, or dropping PS altogether.

[Zipzo]

The problem is any long term goal will fall through. We have long term goals. They're fully affixed, latented, element grinded top tier weapons of the month. And then that goal post is moved back when enough players reach it.

Zy specifically stated...


(that isn't tied to the RNG, that is)

Which encompasses all the of the "goals" you spoke of.

[Enforcer MKV]

The problem is any long term goal will fall through. We have long term goals. They're fully affixed, latented, element grinded top tier weapons of the month. And then that goal post is moved back when enough players reach it.

This is free to play.

There will never be a successful* free to play game with finite content, which is a prerequisite for long term goals. The only long term goal that's stuck right now is getting a psycho wand, and even that isn't as comparatively good as it used to be.

*see: continuously & increasingly revenue generating for an extended period of time

The closest thing we can hope for will be Phantasy Star Nova, or dropping PS altogether.

I think you could say that for any online game/MMO. It's just something that comes with the genre and styling of the game. I mean, even a game like Monster Hunter has optional, downloadable quests to increase the longevity of the game.

I have plenty of ideas as to what makes PSO2 'worse' to me, but yeah, opinions.

[Shadowth117]

The only long term goal that's stuck right now is getting a psycho wand, and even that isn't as comparatively good as it used to be.


...actually even that's kinda beat out in a lot of situations. Its PP ability is really cool and all, but given the difference in damage you can have with the current 11* rod I think its safe to say where things are headed with Super Hard:

Psycho (I'm assuming his trees are optimal here):
http://youtu.be/EKb5vbEGcBc?t=48s

Koi Houou:
http://i.imgur.com/nhf7J7I.jpg

That % boost does a lot. I don't actually have a silica rose to test, but I would wager it would manage 4.8-4.9k per Zan hit on that weak spot itself.

As far as other weapons, you have stuff like launcher legacy that already pretty much beats the actual XQ launcher so its not like this isn't something you could see on all weapons with things like JA boost and no weather boost. And I can only imagine stuff will get a lot better when super hard is actually out.

Like you implied, its probably going to be outclassed the day Super Hard comes out honestly.

[Zyrusticae]

I thought you said you played Eve.
Oh, you see, the surprising thing is that, despite the stories coming out of EVE, a huge chunk of the player base is very well-behaved and respectable. You just never hear about them because, well, it doesn't make a very good story, now does it?

The number of pirates, scammers, spys, and ne'er-do-wells is actually eclipsed by the number of honest manufacturers, miners, merchants, mission runners, explorers, and so forth. Even though EVE itself emphasizes the lawlessness of space tremendously, an extremely large fraction of the player base never leaves high-security space. And even the ones living in Nullsec tend to be less aggressive than you'd expect.

Which says something, really. Even when you are given the tools to take enormous risks and possibly succeed, it shouldn't be surprising to anyone that most people avoid taking risks entirely. Yes, even when that's (supposedly) the whole point of the game to begin with.

[Enforcer MKV]

Oh, you see, the surprising thing is that, despite the stories coming out of EVE, a huge chunk of the player base is very well-behaved and respectable. You just never hear about them because, well, it doesn't make a very good story, now does it?

The number of pirates, scammers, spys, and ne'er-do-wells is actually eclipsed by the number of honest manufacturers, miners, merchants, mission runners, explorers, and so forth. Even though EVE itself emphasizes the lawlessness of space tremendously, an extremely large fraction of the player base never leaves high-security space. And even the ones living in Nullsec tend to be less aggressive than you'd expect.

Which says something, really. Even when you are given the tools to take enormous risks and possibly succeed, it shouldn't be surprising to anyone that most people avoid taking risks entirely. Yes, even when that's (supposedly) the whole point of the game to begin with.

...Mining? OwO

[Zipzo]

...Mining? OwO

Bro...I strongly recommend you quit while you're ahead...

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3088/2335016192_6003c39c4c_z.jpg?zz=1

[stl4jsp]

I hated psu considering for xbox 360 I had to pay the sub for xbox live and for psu was just dumb....

[Zenobia]

Bro...I strongly recommend you quit while you're ahead...

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3088/2335016192_6003c39c4c_z.jpg?zz=1

Best post ever imo.

[Enforcer MKV]

Bro...I strongly recommend you quit while you're ahead...

[SPOILER-BOX]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3088/2335016192_6003c39c4c_z.jpg?zz=1[/SPOILER-BOX]

Pff, I know. Not the kind of mining I'm interested in, anyway. :lol:

[Aeris]

I hated psu considering for xbox 360 I had to pay the sub for xbox live and for psu was just dumb....

You didn't need live gold to play psu online on 360, only the sub for PSU only needed to be payed to get online.

[Zipzo]

I hated psu considering for xbox 360 I had to pay the sub for xbox live and for psu was just dumb....

LMAO...you didn't need XBLG for PSU online...fail.

[Raymee]

Xbox 360 psu is 10000x worse than jp psu.

So all those complaining about White Beast.. dont really have a say about the whole game since Ohtori Encampment S3 is equivalent to like 5 white beast missions. Grinding to 180 was really easy.

Lol.


Anyways, whips were amazing.. too overpowered.. 100% hit and the fact that it makes a wartecher and acrotecher overpowered (with golden skeletos). We need whips in pso2!!

Other than that, uhhh PSO2 for its interactivity I guess. PSO1 has a much better soundtrack than all of the games mentioned IMO. All the soundtracks in PSO2 sound bland and are very similar to each other. There isn't any memorable soundtrack like forest, ruins, mines, seabed, dark falz, vol opt, trick track, VH etc

[Agitated_AT]

PSO2 is sadly not a very good game

I really disliked PSU, but I can say without a doubt now that I had more fun playing that game.

PSO1 is where it was at though. Sadly there's only so much time you can have fun with certain content so i cant enjoy pso1 longer than a couple of days or weeks. But in PSO2 any new content feels exacly the same as the last. The free random generated field format is terrible, and the enemy AI is bad as well. The classes arent balanced, not only against each other but neither against the enemies. It's easy to become Overpowered in the game making it boring. If you decide (like me) to not be OP, playing with others still ruins the experience cuz most of them will be, ruining the experience you try to create by not going all out. It's just not my thing at so many levels

[Lumpen Thingy]

I hated psu considering for xbox 360 I had to pay the sub for xbox live and for psu was just dumb....

I hated PSU but for many different reasons that actually make a degree of sense although I can say sometimes the game just wasn't worth the monthly $10 fee lol

[gigawuts]

I think you could say that for any online game/MMO. It's just something that comes with the genre and styling of the game. I mean, even a game like Monster Hunter has optional, downloadable quests to increase the longevity of the game.

I have plenty of ideas as to what makes PSO2 'worse' to me, but yeah, opinions.

But that's just it - Monster Hunter adds quests, which are really just different fights, with an item or two that usually aren't endgame level. They have a nice bit of utility (maybe good slots, or easy to craft but little to no upgrade options), but that's all. You can take them or leave them. They don't raise the bar every 30-60 days on what gear is the best you can get, and they don't make it easier to get previously best gear besides maybe parts for pre-existing items.

And PSO2 does all of that. New gear every month or two that dwarfs previous gear without giving any reason to use old gear besides price. That's called "planned obsolescence," and MH doesn't have it. MH also has an actual variety of "best" weapons. Different elements, sharpness, gem slots, and actual weapons for different situations (inb4 "kelbi bow is the best" or some other generic minmaxed build that gets boring after 30 minutes). What's good on launch day stays good two years later.

Instead what they did with MH3 was release the same game with additions and rebalances to it. That is, on paper, the same thing...but not in application. Forcing the board to be wiped clean every couple years and then changing the rules isn't the same thing as simply adding new lines to the weapon database every couple months. By the by, doing a re-release with rebalances and a bunch of brand new content...does that sound familiar to anyone? I feel like a previous PS title that's frequently lauded did something like that...

As for Eve, there is no comparison to be made with PSO2. It's as different as Counter Strike is to Borderlands, and Zyru paints quite a prettier picture than the reality of it.

[Enforcer MKV]

But that's just it - Monster Hunter adds quests, which are really just different fights, with an item or two that usually aren't endgame level. They have a nice bit of utility (maybe good slots, or easy to craft but little to no upgrade options), but that's all. You can take them or leave them. They don't raise the bar every 30-60 days on what gear is the best you can get, and they don't make it easier to get previously best gear besides maybe parts for pre-existing items.

And PSO2 does all of that. New gear every month or two that dwarfs previous gear without giving any reason to use old gear besides price. That's called "planned obsolescence," and MH doesn't have it. MH also has an actual variety of "best" weapons. Different elements, sharpness, gem slots, and actual weapons for different situations (inb4 "kelbi bow is the best" or some other generic minmaxed build that gets boring after 30 minutes). What's good on launch day stays good two years later.

Instead what they did with MH3 was release the same game with additions and rebalances to it. That is, on paper, the same thing...but not in application. Forcing the board to be wiped clean every couple years and then changing the rules isn't the same thing as simply adding new lines to the weapon database every couple months. By the by, doing a re-release with rebalances and a bunch of brand new content...does that sound familiar to anyone? I feel like a previous PS title that's frequently lauded did something like that...

As for Eve, there is no comparison to be made with PSO2. It's as different as Counter Strike is to Borderlands, and Zyru paints quite a prettier picture than the reality of it.

Ah, good, we're in agreement then.

[HIT0SHI]

You didn't need live gold to play psu online on 360, only the sub for PSU only needed to be payed to get online.

This, i can guarantee that there was no need for XBOX LIVE in order to play PSU.

[Shadowth117]

This, i can guarantee that there was no need for XBOX LIVE in order to play PSU.

To add to this, if I recall correctly you could also access party chat, normally only a XBL Gold feature, while playing PSU as a Silver member.