Ok... Need description...

[Padium]

So, I'm picking this up tomorrow before work. I kinda don't know anything about PSZ. Anyone care to give me a synopsis of it? What game does it play most like? or does it have an entirely new feel? What is the tech system like? Is this closer to PSO or PSU? How does the story compare to most RPGs? or is the game like PSO where story really doesn't even matter?

I really need to find a good in depth review of this game...

[xSHiNOx]

uhh..game plays somewhat like final fantasy crystal chronicles; without the jumping and aiming your magic. the feel of the game isnt new kuz it plays like PSO. tech system? look at enemy and unleash hell on them. story is cliche. nothing too great.

the affection thing is cool though. i got sarisa. she wants to make newman babies with me =D

[Padium]

Better question:

In the long run, will it replace PSO for me?

[xSHiNOx]

well, temporarily unless you are one of them PSO addicts that keeps playing even after maxing out characters and mags and got the best equips...

[Padium]

well, temporarily unless you are one of them PSO addicts that keeps playing even after maxing out characters and mags and got the best equips...

If it werent for the fact that I switched from the GC version to that private server everyone plays for BB, I'd be one of those addicts. WoW had me for a couple years, then I realized I didn't play it nearly as much as PSO, and dropped it completely. I think I'll get my FOnewearl to max lvl sometime, and then use her as a melee force.

[Nidramag]

plays like PSO. the big thing is, and as the problem is with PSU, is something that oft goes overlooked but was crucial to the game's feel:
The story.
there was a massive story in PSO, but it didn't force itself. It got as deep as the player wanted. the story wasn't crucial, but if you wanted, you could read the capsules. You could do all the quests. You could tell Sue your name and affect several quests. It even had branching stories that didn't feel like it, but did at the same time. Nothing's really been able to emulate the same epic/not epic story, the player deciding how much story he or she wanted.

Oh, but it's fun. I'm amazed how much they crammed into that little gamepack.

[Benzu]

The game plays like PSO except for a few subtle changes.

-There's no "Gi" and "Ra" Techniques anymore. You only have one way of casting an element, but if you charge up the technique (by holding the button) a better form of it will be cast.

-There's Photon Arts in the game. Similar to PSU, except you can't customize your weapons' photon art, it's inherited. It replaces the weapon "special attack" command in PSO.

-You can dodge roll! This is so useful in sticky situations, but it's not overpowering or messy with the gameplay at all, because you take a short break after each dodge. Consider it your ticket out of a huge attack, or out of an ambush.

-Some weapon classes are gone, but some are added. The Shield and Gunblade (both practically useless in my opinion) are new, and the Slicer has had a total makeover. It's cool now, as you fling it out like a boomerang and command it to slice back and forth between your opponents.

-There's less weapons, but still equal opportunity for replay value. There's also multiple weapons of the highest rarity for each class meaning you can slightly prefer which ultimate weapon you use, that is if you get up to that point.

-The game's harder to find a good party for multiplayer, but the experience more than makes up for it. The campaign is totally doable in single-player mode and even has different story arcs depending on which race you play as.


Although the level cap is only 100, you'll still find good replay value in this. It so happens to be the best DS game ever released, as the graphics are pushed to the limit, although there have been some complaints about the sound effects and music. All in all, it's a must get for a PSO fan.

[HUnewearl_Meira]

For what it's worth, PSZ does come a great deal closer to matching PSO's depth, than does PSU. In PSZ, you're either running into an area to wipe out monsters with a an identifiable purpose, or with none at all. There's none of that fuzzy middle-ground that PSU pranced about with. The quests (offline, at least) do, in fact, have clients that you'll talk to. So despite having only one accessible city, PSZ has a much greater apparent population density than PSU.

The story can be skipped through (the dialog, anyway), but the associated missions must be completed to open all areas, and Hard mode. The next difficulty up requires completing the Hard version of an 8-hour side quest.

Overall, the story is a generic, "Never give up on yourself!"-themed bit, which can be completed in a day or two, if you hit it aggressively. It's nothing that's very deep (mostly just a chunk of narrative to meet the requirement for a story to build a world around), but it does have a few comedic scenes. Every race has their own variant of the story.

The action palette is based on PSO's. You have three buttons, and the right shoulder button is used as a shift key, which means that you can have up to 6 actions available to you, at any given time, rather than the four (at a time) afforded by PSU's palette. Techniques can be used without regard for what you have equipped, but switching weapons will not avail a new set of techniques. Photon Arts have returned, but they have swapped places with Photon Points-- PAs are permanently assigned to the weapon and the Photon Points are permanently assigned to you. In PSO, you could cast techs from the menu, or from a Quick-Select menu. In PSZ, you can only cast techs that are on your palette.

[GHNeko]

The game plays like PSO except for a few subtle changes.

-There's no "Gi" and "Ra" Techniques anymore. You only have one way of casting an element, but if you charge up the technique (by holding the button) a better form of it will be cast.[/U]

Correction. There are RA techs in the game. Charging up Foie/Barta/Zonde spawns RaFoie/RaBarta/RaZonde, even though they act more like their Gi counter parts.

So if anything, Gi and Ra are in this game. Ra name wise, Gi effect wise. :V