My speculation... there won't be a Next Gen "PSU". I think it's preformed too poorly to continue beyond the AoTI expansion for four releases this generation... what is there to merit the resources and money needed to put out a next gen installment? I guess you could count PSP 1 & 2 as releases... but you can't really fit that into any perceived trend (without which the # of releases per generation become pointless). Handhelds are a very different market with a different demographic. If anything, the success of PSP1 & PSP2 have merely shown that it was not a disinterest in Phantasy Star - or even PSU itself - that caused the console version's failing. It was the drip-feeding of content and bland uninspired tripe caused by lack of vision/poor direction and understaffed/underbudgeted production.
And besides... if you want to count handheld releases, then there's so many outliers present that the trend breaks anyhow. What of Phantasy Star Zero, Phantasy Star Gaiden, and Phantasy Star Adventure?
Storyline wise, there never really was a trend. PS classic represented four very separate storylines connected by a broad over-arching story which didn't make sense until PSIV. PSO Ep I - IV barely makes sense, and represents a single storyline - with the exception of perhaps Ep III depending. Blue Burst contained Ep I & II. PSU represents a more linear and structured storyline spread out over two releases/three episodes. As I understand it, PSPs are more or less side stories. I had assumed that there would be at least one more PSU commercial release giving it four episodes, and bringing the online Episode III story missions offline for prosperity once the servers go down. The game would essentially be unfinished in that event. But that's apparently not going to be the case, though you never know. Some future offline compilation that isn't intended to go online may be released. PSZero does represent a new chapter/side story in the PSO storyline.
At any rate, I will still hold out hope that Sega decides to drop this pop JP teeny-bopper anime tripe about friendship conquering all and return to a more complex and epic story filled with more realistic ranges of emotion. Replace the "Happy" endings with uncertain "Hopeful" endings. As I've said many times before, - The Phantasy Star series (in my mind) has no better theme song than PSO Ep I's ending song.
I can feel you are near
Within me, outer space
Here and there
Tell me please
How much we have to bleed
When we'll get the land of dream
After lonely bitter days
Now I can still see the light
You're saved
And I think of you tonight
Soon the dawn will come again
But What have I got?
What has it cost me?
Also, Dark Falz/Force/Profound Darkness were much better in PSO Ep I and PS Classic than what he was portrayed as in the later PSO episodes, PSZ, and PSU. Bring back the Lovecraftian influence. And for fuck's sake... don't try to explain it in "PS Tech" terms like photons and A-photons and SEED and shit. Part of the allure and fear came from the non-semiogical explanations. The violent clash of technological space-age scientifically advanced societies with the irrational and unknown magic and deities of myth they could not explain and were seemingly powerless to combat made for great atmosphere. Lovecraft didn't describe the slumbering elder gods in terms of fantasy pseudo-physics. He described them with the frightened whispers of a lunatic who's mind had been broken by a glimpse of what lay beyond the veil.
For those who aren't familiar with Lovecraft, see Eternal Darkness for the NGC. Rico's message pods (especially in the ruins) serve nicely as well.
PSII, IV, and PSO Ep I had very satisfying endings for me. PSII's involved the suggested death of your entire party, with their only legacy being as reviled terrorists that lead the system to the brink of total ruin. Yet you know, as the player, the truth of events surrounding their sacrifice - and why it was necessary to SAVE Algol. Rolf's final words "I wonder what the people will see in the final days?" Show that fatigue and torment... and hope. PSIV's ending was somewhat somber, with the hero's parting - never to see each other again. The carrying on with their lives in spite of adversity, and sacrifice. Through the course of the game, you have to shut down the out of control systems which are responsible for maintaining what little edge of survival humanity still clings to as the planet reverts back to total desert. But with the knowledge that it is the only way to secure any hope for continued survival. PSO Ep I, similarly, left a lot of loose ends with the citizens of Pioneer II still in orbit - unable to land due to the situation on the surface - and yet unable to return to Coral. Uncertain of their future, with their iconic hero Red Ring Rico even unable to survive the tempest she was at the heart of. As for PSIII... well... there's several endings. One of note being an ending that's unambiguously happy... so long as you don't know how Phantasy Star II ends, and what the implications of that happy ending are.
It's that position of a rock and a hard place, and only a fleeting chance to strive for as the way out - and the final analysis of the gambit left unspoken. That strikes me as a far more human and relate-able storyline than the shallowness "happily ever after" offers.
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Originally Posted by HandOfThornz
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