My first impressions of Ep4 are quite positive
I just felt like making my own topic about this because I felt like starting a discussion coming from a different direction than the currently very dominant angle that "The new content looks terrible".
Firstly, the controversial Earth planet was a genuine surprise for me as well.
Predictably Japan is where we'll be spending out time here, but that's neither a good nor a bad thing.
This Japan however is a dystopia. The undead are roaming the streets, and weird people from space are running around with greatswords strapped to their backs.
The map itself seems like it's going to be pretty hectic with new environmental hazards like traffic accidents! Frankly, I love anything that breaks up monotony so having to keep an eye out for cars and dodging at the last minute - even being sent flying - is genuinely something I can see myself enjoying. Way better than that annoying as hell lightning. Designwise - it's pretty unexceptional. Despite being set in 2028 nothing looks too sci fi or even very out of place. But that's where the enemies come in.
The enemies themselves are pretty unique - and thematically make sense. They're phantom enemies, so dinosaurs, zombies, and possessed vehicles are all fair game. Their designs are actually kind of neat and a little disturbing. Gameplaywise they were all showing off interesting mechanics. They clash with the setting while being immediately recognizable to the player.
The boss especially looks amazing! I seriously can't wait to fight that!
I actually quite liked the look of the new chase emergency trial. The coin collecting is odd, and it looks a lot like sonic, but the emphasis on movement rather than on fighting enemies seems like a good way to add an element of spontaneity to quests and diversify gameplay. Again, in a less annoying way than stupid red lighting emergency trials.
As for the story associated with the area... It looks weird. The story does seem separate to the rest of PSO2's storyline though from what I can tell. I think that most likely it was introduced to entertain players who were brought in by the upcoming anime adaptation which has similar content. Especially as players will be given the option to start on eps 1-3 or 4 when they start the game. I imagine the ep4 option will be described to appeal to that audience. In the end it may or may not be entertaining, but I do not necessarily think we should expect more of this type of storytelling in the future.
It may well just be a response to the influx of new players they expect coming from the anime adaptation. But only time will tell.
The other controversial addition is the "Summoner" class.
Frankly, I think some people just don't "get" this game's aesthetic. You hear weird statements about how it goes against this game's "grimy" or "tough" feel. It never had any of those things -
What you consistently have is a disconcerting disconnect between cute graphics and a rather dark setting (when you think about it or play the story). PSO2, and the other phantasy star games I've played going right back the mega drive, have all had this to some extent. You should always expect cutesy things, and just because light hearted seeming content is added doesn't mean the storyline and all new content will suddenly be targeted towards gross otaku or children. To be fair, PSO2 has been taking this further than any of the other games to my knowledge.
It's nothing we haven't seen before aesthetics wise, and I don't think it will stand out too much. In terms of gameplay, it's deeper than I expected. I can see myself getting a lot of fun out of the class and may even have it subbed for a very long time if that turns out to be viable.
Another general reaction to a lot of this new content is "wat". People just expressing dislike because stuff is unexpected or strange. Fair enough.
I saw some rather displeased comments about the Hello Kitty collab. I have a female friend who finds that sort of thing cute. In a lot of ways this game isn't friendly towards female players, and is definitely more targeted towards a male audience. While there are male fans as well, I see collabs like these as targeted mainly towards the female section of their playerbase. So I think it's a good thing we're getting it, as it makes it clear that the game isn't supposed to be some boy's only club where every female character is just a man's waifu.
There are a lot of other great additions that don't seem to be being met with such cynicism, such as the new customization. But there's not a lot of need I feel to go over that, since it's pretty straightforwardly a nice addition.
All of this is opinion, but I felt like I had a lot to say. Thanks for reading. There's still hope (maybe)!
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Originally Posted by GHNeko
. Also if the music of the area is the one in the trailer it'll be even better 
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