So, with the new screens/videos, where are the beasts?

[Jade DaBain]

I already figured out how wrong I was when my first enemy I ran into on Ultimate mode was a rappy that was at least twice my size and 1 hit killed me.

LOL! See? Dont be fooled by the power of the Rappy.

[Sinue_v2]

They have no real unique quality in terms of PSO. There was a nice balance between them all -- Humans were (for the most part) the best hunters, Casts were the best rangers, Newmans were the best Forces.

It's possible to just side-step all of that re-balancing and bullshit by simply keeping the existing classes and ability trees - releasing new races superimposed over the old structure. Perhaps swap out some small token abilities for ones that make sense but are still roughly analogous to it's trade off.

Beasts could be a reskin of HUmar/HUmarl, Motavians a reskin of HUcast/HUcaseal, Dezolians a reskin of FOnewmn/FOnewearl... etc. It would be nothing but pointless fan service, but they could be introduced at a later date without upsetting the balance of the game. They'd just be kind of... useless additions, from a gameplay perspective.

Beasts lose their Nanoblast... big deal. PSU's storyline established already that Nanoblasting abilities were being breed out over time anyhow. (Most Beasts in PSU were canonically unable to Nanoblast)

[ShadowDragon28]

oh yeah, I forgot about Motavians being inspired initially by Jawas. It it's just that their furry face and ears look like an Alpacha's, just kinda withg squished in, hardened snout.

Sinue i do know that the original Star Wars movies was a huge inspiration on the classic Phantasy Star games, PS I was even inspired by old films based on Greek myths such as the film "Jason and the Argonaughts" and other greek tales (heck Ps I had medusa, Perseus's Mirror Shield, Skelton warriors, Centaurs, and other giant sea monsters reminesent of monsters from greek lore)

[voxie]

Perhaps our beasts are somewhere here.

They blurred a lot at the far right there... could be beasts

[RemiusTA]

It's possible to just side-step all of that re-balancing and bullshit by simply keeping the existing classes and ability trees - releasing new races superimposed over the old structure. Perhaps swap out some small token abilities for ones that make sense but are still roughly analogous to it's trade off.

Beasts could be a reskin of HUmar/HUmarl, Motavians a reskin of HUcast/HUcaseal, Dezolians a reskin of FOnewmn/FOnewearl... etc. It would be nothing but pointless fan service, but they could be introduced at a later date without upsetting the balance of the game. They'd just be kind of... useless additions, from a gameplay perspective.

Beasts lose their Nanoblast... big deal. PSU's storyline established already that Nanoblasting abilities were being breed out over time anyhow. (Most Beasts in PSU were canonically unable to Nanoblast)

Meh i guess. Im just more for PSO's whole "classes are more than just a race/sex combo" thing, which is what its gotten to with Universe. The classes they added in Ep. I&II were unique from the others, but PSU just gave everybody like animations and slapped a few stat changes on them. Which is why i believe humans and newmans were...well...yeah, they sucked.

Newmans should have had "better animations" for weak but speedy weapons, as well as specific technic boosts. Humans should have had some "better animations" for hybrid weapons, seeing as they were the hybrid class. Casts should have had some kind of varied gun abilities, while Beasts should have had "better animations" for 2-handed heavy weapons. (Like the Sword and Axe.)


At least, thats what i think anyway. It would have made Race/Sex combos FAR more interesting if each race and sex were literally different from one another. They already had the template in PSO, i have no clue why they ignored it.

LOL! See? Dont be fooled by the power of the Rappy.

MAN screw rappies! I remember almost everytime i went up a difficulty level, the little bastards just got stronger and stronger. They probably had like a 90% critical rate by the time you got to Ultimate Mode....

[Sinue_v2]

oh yeah, I forgot about Motavians being inspired initially by Jawas. It it's just that their furry face and ears look like an Alpacha's, just kinda withg squished in, hardened snout.

Sinue i do know that the original Star Wars movies was a huge inspiration on the classic Phantasy Star games, PS I was even inspired by old films based on Greek myths such as the film "Jason and the Argonaughts" and other greek tales (heck Ps I had medusa, Perseus's Mirror Shield, Skelton warriors, Centaurs, and other giant sea monsters reminesent of monsters from greek lore)

Yeah, but even as the series progressed, you still had a lot of western influence in later designs and plotlines. For example, PSIV brought Dark Force far more in line with H.P. Lovecraftian mythos by introducing the Cult of Zio and the Profound Darkness... PSIII, I believe, carries some light influence from Arthur C. Clark's works... and PSII's dynamic between the Earthings weakening and preying upon the Palmans by pampering them into helplessness smacks of H.G. Well's Eloi and Morlocks.

Perhaps this is what bothered me the most about PSU and it's direction... it is so unapologetically and unilaterally Japanese. It draws it's influence from Naruto and other crap children's anime, rather than drawing upon a rich tradition of blending Eastern and Western influences from some of the most well known and respected giants of Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

[Niloklives]

Yeah, but even as the series progressed, you still had a lot of western influence in later designs and plotlines. For example, PSIV brought Dark Force far more in line with H.P. Lovecraftian mythos by introducing the Cult of Zio and the Profound Darkness... PSIII, I believe, carries some light influence from Arthur C. Clark's works... and PSII's dynamic between the Earthings weakening and preying upon the Palmans by pampering them into helplessness smacks of H.G. Well's Eloi and Morlocks.

Perhaps this is what bothered me the most about PSU and it's direction... it is so unapologetically and unilaterally Japanese. It draws it's influence from Naruto and other crap children's anime, rather than drawing upon a rich tradition of blending Eastern and Western influences from some of the most well known and respected giants of Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

I just wanted to say this is an excellent point. as much as I enjoyed PSU's gameplay for its time, looking back on the classic PS games, the actual world and way of story telling was strongly influenced by western cultures and literature. I have no problem with anime in general terms, but that blend of east and west is what made PS what it was so many years back and certainly is one of it's greatest appeals.

[Sinue_v2]

I just wanted to say this is an excellent point. as much as I enjoyed PSU's gameplay for its time, looking back on the classic PS games, the actual world and way of story telling was strongly influenced by western cultures and literature. I have no problem with anime in general terms, but that blend of east and west is what made PS what it was so many years back and certainly is one of it's greatest appeals.

When done right, anyhow. Tri-Aces Star Ocean took Phantasy Star's lead and went the other direction - basing their mythos off of the Star Trek universe (though often quickly abandoning it as a back-drop to a traditional fantasy setting). They have a certain quirky charm to them, but they never quite reached the level of sophistication (at least aspired to) by Phantasy Star... or that Star Wars had over Star Trek.

(Though personally, I'm more of a Trek Fan. Star Trek always had more to say about social justice, political philosophy, and humanist utopianism based on the fulfillment of the ideals of the enlightenment... especially in The Next Generation. Star Wars was a retelling of the Monomyth, and rooted more in the epic heroes of ancient mythology. Phantasy Star succeeded in following the formula of it's inspiration, especially with PSIV... where Chaz actually exemplifies many of the stages of the Hero's Journey.. such as receiving supernatural aid in the form of Rune who uses magic, the eventual refusal of the call after losing Alys, the blessing of the goddess in his encounter with LeRoof and the remnants of the Great Light at Rykros, and the reluctance to return as shown in the party break up. Star Ocean took the art design and setting influence of Star Trek, but dropped most of the intellectualism, social commentary, and progressive idealism.)

Spoiler!

[Malachite]

They blurred a lot at the far right there... could be beasts

It could also be a blurry blob of color that could be equal to anything, ever. Seriously, using this picture for speculation is silly as hell lol.

[Adriano]

I still have my fingers crossed that sega fanboys will be a playable race.

Malnurished, Orange Teeth, Bad-Skin, Muscular Atrophy, all stats are the lowest and they have the lowest movement speed!
Oh and they lack the ability to retain meseta, because that big ol' whole in their pocket known as "Insert any sega related title here".


Sounds like fun.

jkjkjkjkjkjjkjkjkjkj