PAX Prime 2012: Hands-on with Phantasy Star Online 2

[NightfallG]

The game can be best of show and be GOTY every year and it won't mean anything until Sega tells INCA to go fuck themselves. They should just suck it up and server-side as much as possible, that is if they want the game to not be an absolute flop.

[jooozek]

I would rage hard if they made the combat server-side. It would be an unplayable mess for the majority i.e. people who don't live close to the servers. Just guard would be more like Clairvoyance guard lol

[C-Shan]

I also noticed that they did all the forest of PSO1. I think it's a good way to sell it, honestly. Not playing on nostalgia (which it still is) so much as showing people what can be done to the same ideas now.

And, let's be entirely honest. They tried a different game after PSO and it crashed and burned. I think going back to PSO might be a good idea if they want many people to even look at PS again.

You have a point there.

Maybe I'm looking for the wrong things in PSO2.
The combat looks good. Better than PSU's and PSU made PSO's better (albeit slightly).

The stuff that "make a PSO game" for me are the music and how the plot is presented.
From what I've heard, this game's got music down pat. Plot... looks like they're going the PSP2 routes. Which I never was a fan of.
I loved the "Read it if you want to" method of PSO (similarly found in Metroid Prime).

The areas, while Nostalgia is nice, I'd prefer if they're entirely new. We aren't on Ragol anymore. I don't like to think that "every planet evolved the same way on the surface except US", it just cheapens the universe.
Maybe as DLC areas, or an homage to put in later.
But they've put in a LOT of the stuff that made PSO different from PSU (ie. if you want Nade Launchers you better be RA, instead of just grind my way until I can equip S rank on my preferred class)
I have my HUcaseal back, and she looks reasonably close to her PSO counterpart. The game's free to play, and the devs REALLY focused on player feedback during the beta.
I'll be okay if they let loose a little.

I'd absolutely love to be surprised and find another entirely new boss mechanic ala Vol Opt in PSO2, instead of the usual De Rol Reskin.

[Ezodagrom]

Plot... looks like they're going the PSP2 routes. Which I never was a fan of.
I loved the "Read it if you want to" method of PSO (similarly found in Metroid Prime).

Plot, the only forced thing related to the plot is the tutorial chapter 0 mission.
Afterwards everything related to the story is completely optional. The player receives a matterboard, as he completes the matterboard goals (which include finding certain equipment from certain enemies, or finding specific event tablets in certain missions), the player unlocks new story chapters.
The event tablets are a bit like PSO "read it if you want to" method, event tablets appear in missions that have single party blocks, if you want you can click them for a short cutscene that may give background about the pso2 lore, or you can just ignore the event tablet completely.

The areas, while Nostalgia is nice, I'd prefer if they're entirely new. We aren't on Ragol anymore. I don't like to think that "every planet evolved the same way on the surface except US", it just cheapens the universe.
Maybe as DLC areas, or an homage to put in later.

While some areas are a little bit based on PSO areas, others are completely unique.

I'd absolutely love to be surprised and find another entirely new boss mechanic ala Vol Opt in PSO2, instead of the usual De Rol Reskin.

If you haven't been keeping up with the japanese PSO2 updates, here's the trailer for the underground tunnels update, at the end of the trailer it shows a boss that feels more unique than the other bosses in the game.