Here's the one thing that PSO2 has to nail to interest me, and (probably) you.

[Minidoomer]

I just want to be able to play with my friends in a mission that isn't White Beast...that dragon has been killed at least 5 or 6 thousand times by me...

Something I noticed when I use to play PSU, was how late at night with my group of buddies we would all get really bored, and start falling asleep. Something is really wrong when you run S2 difficulty and the game basically just runs by itself.

My friend busted out his gamecube and we tackled BB. WOW. That shit kept me engaged. Comparing PSU to PSO is like comparing a wet hamburger dropped on the ground to a freshly made Burger King Whopper with all the toppings and a side of fries to go. also with chicken fries. And coke.

I don't know how they're gonna do it, but all I know, is that for PSO2 I want that same level of engagement. I don't want to be falling asleep at the controller, I want to actually have to pay attention and strategize with my team in order to survive. I think PSP2 was a good stepping stone and a valuable learning experience for Sega. Hopefully they will take all that they've learned and implemented and use that on PSO2.

As far as the aesthetics go...I like wearing a bath robe while I kill things...It's a sick fantasy of mine.

[Dongra]

This is your argument? Then just play PSU, plain and simple. :| We don't want PSU, nobody does except you.

You don't like PSU, we get it. You can't really speak for all of us though. PSU actually did do some things right such as character customization and a better combat system. A lot of weapon types were absolutely worthless in PSO because of a poor animation, and the combo system back then was far more clunky than PSU's was. Naturally, PSU was going to have more in depth customization over PSO considering how old PSO was at the time, though I admit I am not a fan of the art style of PSU. Photon Arts can easily replace PSO's Extra Attack as long as they are handled the way they are in PSP2 since PSU's PA's were overpowered and spammed far too much. Meseta actually had a purpose in PSU, and it had a more stable economy, though it was still a bit of a mess thanks to cheaters, than PSO did. Overall, I prefer PSO to PSU, I actually still play PSO, but if they can combine the good elements of both games for PSO2 then we should see a great game in the future.

[MAXrobo]

I greatly enjoyed both PSO and PSU. though i never had the chance to play PSO online, iv played the offline a great deal and still do to this day. and the biggest draw to PSO over PSU was the darker art style. the art and acctualy the whole game of PSU was just really generic. there was no real purpuse for most of the stuff to be there, and it didnt feel like a coherent universe.

PSO on the other hand all flowed together very well. whether you where topside in forest or exploring underground mines it all felt like it flowed together. even after they added ep4 they still mantained the darker feel of ep1&2.

really my biggest hope is that they bring back the darker atmosphere. if they can do that or at least get close ill be happy.

[Kent]

You don't like PSU, we get it. You can't really speak for all of us though. PSU actually did do some things right such as character customization and a better combat system.

It's worth noting that while PSU did attempt to advance these aspects over PSO, any successes they may have had in those areas are met with just as many, and oftentimes more, things they've done critically-wrong in those same areas.

[Adriano]

Speaking for myself.
I don't think the mood nor setting of PSO can ever be recreated, sadly,
Reason being is, it was the first online game of any kind that I had played, not to mention I was relatively new to gaming at that time aswell.

The small things would really mean alot to me then, for instance, I loved the sound of recieving a Private Mail, and the feeling I'd get opening it just wondering who it was that messaged me.

Yet even now when I try to play PSO steadily, I'm not capable of doing that.
It just doesn't warrant the same reaction that it used to. Albeit maybe if I played the Offline console versions I'd get a big wiff of nostalgia.. until then, I'll just live with the reasoning that something is different.
I'm different.
Maybe we are asking for the wrong thing. To have a new game that gives the same emotion as PSO. Where is the growth in that?

Admittedly even I think PSU was a step in the wrong direction, but atleast they tried to give it a completely seperate atmosphere ..... in the beginning atleast.

I agree with Niered in that one Major draw in favor of PSO was that you could really feel alone, it was a very lonely and tragic yet romantic and optimistic setting sometimes, which i couldn't get enough of back then. Even with the feeling of being alone, I didn't really mind to play alone because the atmosphere really catered to that, in that you really were hailed as a vigilant hero by the pioneer-folk and you had Rico's entire chronicle laid out for you to read in the stages.

I think they've done enough PSO fanservice by now however, and it just sucks all of the creative energy from a game when the only thing that's being updated is shinier versions of old content...which don't even give the same feeling as they did once before.
Hopefully this time it's a stand-alone game that won't need nods in PSO's direction.


I hope they know what they're doing, I know I wouldn't.

[Drawers]

You don't like PSU, we get it. You can't really speak for all of us though. PSU actually did do some things right such as character customization and a better combat system. A lot of weapon types were absolutely worthless in PSO because of a poor animation, and the combo system back then was far more clunky than PSU's was. Naturally, PSU was going to have more in depth customization over PSO considering how old PSO was at the time, though I admit I am not a fan of the art style of PSU. Photon Arts can easily replace PSO's Extra Attack as long as they are handled the way they are in PSP2 since PSU's PA's were overpowered and spammed far too much. Meseta actually had a purpose in PSU, and it had a more stable economy, though it was still a bit of a mess thanks to cheaters, than PSO did. Overall, I prefer PSO to PSU, I actually still play PSO, but if they can combine the good elements of both games for PSO2 then we should see a great game in the future.

I'm not trying to prove anything by saying how much I dislike PSU, I'm just expressing how I feel about it. You have a good argument, and I do have some good memories of PSU but it never felt like I was getting anything done. I never got the stuff I wanted, the kicking feature gave too many dicks too much power (a majority vote kicking system is so much better for this type of game), and SoA was never consistent with their updates.

Yes the meseta flow was amazing and player shops were also well done but 50% of that is because of the community and the My Room feature could've had so much more simple common sense details, and PMs sucked. Mags were the ish, and they get replaced with some stupid RCSM bs...?

PSO is just so much more amazing and detailed in it's own simple but detailed way, without being super dull and complicated like PSU. PSU's battle system is bland and unexciting, while PSO was clunky, it was still fun and epic. I can't exactly explain how much more amazing PSO's battle system is in comparison to PSU's from my angle but that's how I feel. My bias is not based on me trying to start an argument, but because of PSO's genuine and raw creativity and the hardwork put into it.

[Dongra]

It's worth noting that while PSU did attempt to advance these aspects over PSO, any successes they may have had in those areas are met with just as many, and oftentimes more, things they've done critically-wrong in those same areas.

Mind elaborating?

My bias is not based on me trying to start an argument, but because of PSO's genuine and raw creativity and the hardwork put into it.

Well I guess I understand that. It seemed more like you were expressing your hate for PSU rather than your praise for PSO since you made the same reply in roughly five threads. I'm just saying that even though PSU lacked the same charm that PSO had, it still had several improvements that shouldn't be looked over when considering how PSO2 should be built. Of course this is all just hoping and wishing, and for all we know PSO2 could be an entirely different game from PSU and PSO.

[Kent]

Mind elaborating?

Well, let's look at combat.

Combat is less stiff, there's a wider variety of weapons (overall) and there are more weapons that are functionally-different from each other.

However, the game was designed so that the most effective way of dealing with combat is to burn as many Photon Points as you can by using Skills/Techniques as often as you can. All but one of the Skills available for (almost) any given melee weapon type is either wildly-inefficient in damage output, has some untility purpose (such as knocking enemies back) that serves to greatly detriment its usefulness, or it is just too unwieldy to actually use in combat effectively.

Techniques have been homogenized to the point of having very little tactical difference between simply matching the technique's element to the enemy - it requires no further positional considerations because just about everything is effectively the same between elements. That, and there's the whole "you equip techniques to weapons" trash, which is such a game-breakingly terrible implementation that it single-handedly made hybrid characters unplayable.

In this case, as with many others, the benefits granted by the new systems are greatly outweighed by how badly they managed to screw up the rest of it.

[RemiusTA]

None of the above. They're all nice things to have but what are you going to be doing in the end? Grinding for weapons. And the best thing to have when grinding for weapons is good company. In other words, community. And multi-region servers.

Fail. If you're one who just loves wasting their freaking life on an artless E-peen percent-chance based grindfest, then sure maybe.

[Waki Miko Syamemaru!]

I hope that in PSO2, I won't have to deal with teenaged heroes. I know in Japan it's all big and junk but goddamn, seriously? A 14-year old can weild a weapon better than a 26-year vet? Anyways, here is my 2-cents what should be in PSO2: Online with a Vengeance.


Music: Get some variety. Viva variety. Throw some jazz in there. I'm talking REAL jazz. Not techno, not synth, no fakey jazz. Bring in some saxaphones, some bass, and tear that mofo up. I wanna look out into the city background, lightly luminated by the setting sun, and listen to a soft jazz tune. Hell maybe while running through a sakura forest have a catchy japanese-esque melody play then suddenly flow into it's arranged version as I fight a trio of Goboomas. What I'm tryin to say is, even though PSO's music got bland after a while, it had the right feel. PSU made me wonder who face-rolled on the sound board.

Combat: PSP2/PSP2i I will admit improved upon combat. However I would like to see an option on traps that allowed you set it's detonation. Choosing between Timed, Manual, and Proximity. Also an option to "kick" said traps towards far away enemies would be nice.

Minigames: There needs to be them. Not side quests. Not just casino. But actual mini games. The soccer lobby was nice but hardly ever used. I say we have Phantasy Star themed arcade games or hell, take a clue from No More Heroes 2 and have little 8-bit style minigames.