Looks like the ENGLISH PATCH IS OUT!
Warning:
This is still against the ToS. While it's very unlikely you'll get banned for using it, it's still possible.
Thanks to Killthee for the heads up.
WEEKLY MAINTENANCE:
Wednesdays at 11:00 ~ 17:00 JST
Tuesdays at 9:00 PM ~ 3:00 AM Eastern
Other Time Zones
Emergency Quest Twitter Bot
Again, thanks to Killthee for the information.
Phantasy Star Online 2 is an online action-rpg, with structure similar to games like Monster Hunter and Vindictus. You select quests and get character specific tasks called Client Orders while on the ship acting as the game hub and then group together with up to 3 other players to play the game. Combat wise, the game varies greatly between the three classes available. Going from hack and slash style combat for the Hunter to Lost Planet style third person shooter combat for the Ranger. The game itself is free to play, but not pay to win - there are no weapons for sale and all you can get for real money are exp/drop/money boosters, cosmetic items and various services.
Genre: Online RPG
Developer & Publisher: Sega
Pricing: PSO2 is free to play but has various paid premium services.
Release: 4th of July 2012 (Japan), Early 2013 (West)
Platforms: PC, Mac (with Bootcamp), Vita (Spring 2013 release), iOS (Simplified version, Winter 2012 release)
Official site: Link
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
- OS: Windows XP 32bit | Windows Vista or Windows 7 32bit or 64bit
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 or above
- RAM: Windows XP:1.5GB+ | Vista or Windows 7:2GB+
- HDD: 8GB or more
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 7800GT or similar or higher
- Direct X: Direct X 9.0c or higher
Registration and a much appreciated registration guide.
Link. If you plan on playing, download the client ASAP as updating can take quite a long time (few hours).
- Real time action combat utilizing a unique, customizable combo system;
- Parties up to 4 people/Player + 3 NPCs;
- You can invite your in-game friend's character to the party as an NPC even if they're not online.;
- Interrupt Events are randomly generated side-quests that can appear at anytime, and anywhere outside of boss areas. Interrupt events are presented in an easy-to-understand way using voiced text that appears over the screen consisting of: "ATTACK", "DEFEND", PROTECT", "COLLECT", and etc.;
- Quest performance grading;
- My Room, which can be decorated and expanded. This gives you an area to invite over friends and team mates with surprisingly robust customization (Cisce's My Room album);
- The ability to switch classes for free while in the Lobby;
- Class-specific skill trees;
- Hard mode available for quests;
- Story, which can be progressed through the "Matter Board" feature after meeting certain conditions;
- You can break specific parts on the enemy's body;
FULL PAID CONTENT LIST
All the paid content is bought using a currency called Arks Cash (AC). 1 AC = 1 yen.
PREMIUM PASS PRICING
- 30 Days = 1300 AC
- 60 Days = 2500AC
- 90 Days = 3600AC
CONTENTS
- My Room
- Selling items using My Shop (buying is free for everyone)
- Premium Storage (300 slots)
- Item Trading (both players need to have premium activated to trade item)
- FUN Points Boost
- Access to premium blocks
- No IP block of any kind was present during the previous tests;
- It is possible to buy AC using a non-Japanese credit card, details can be found in the "Guides" section of this post (Keep in mind, that entering false information might get you banned, so do it at your own risk);
- Open beta characters were transfered to the "retail" version of the game;
- Ship 02 is the "official" server for the non-Japanese players;
- The game is almost completely in Japanese but an unofficial English patch was released during the previous tests and a new version should be around this time too;
- There hasn't been any announcement of the game releasing in the US/Europe;
- If you took part in any of the previous tests you're all set and don't have to register anywhere;
CAMPAIGNS
- Registering for PSO2 before 11PM JST on 11st of July will net you a Rappy doll My House Item;
- Reaching level 10 before 11AM JST on 18th of July will net you 4 Grinders and 2 Synthetizers;
- Buying at least 2000 AC before 11AM JST on 18th of July will net you 2 +50% rare drop rate 30 minute buffs;
- Buying at least 1000 AC with WebMoney until 1st of August will give you a chance to win 10000 Web Money points. 100 winners will be selected;
There are three races in the game, each with their weakness and strenghts (Human's main weakness is being boring) but they all have access to the same classes.
Human
Usual, boring, well-balanced human race. They fit for all three classes available.
Newman
Physically weak elf-like race of photon (magic) users.
Cast
Robot-like man-made race with artificial bodies. They excel in Ability, HP and to a degree in Striking and Ranged Strength. (Thanks to SuperAngelo64 for the correction)
Brand new to PSO2 is the inclusion of FOcast which allows Cast's to finally play as Force characters, a first for the series.
All 3 classes are available for all the races. Switching between classes is possible while in the Arks Lobby and is free. Each of the jobs comes with it's own skill tree which can be advanced at the rate of 1 point per level. All class skills are learned through skill discs and can only be set to certain weapons (excluding the Force class).
Hunter
Close combat warriors who can equip swords, wired lances (blades on wires allowing to throw enemies around), partisans etc. This gives brand new playing styles for every single weapon type, making the game feel as fresh as possible.
Their "dodge move" is a side step. Allowing players to quickly dodge and avoid enemy attacks at will. This combined with Guard is one of your most important assets during boss battles.
Ranger
A ranged class which can enter an over the shoulder aiming mode for better accuracy and breaking specific parts of enemies' bodies.
Rangers have access to three main different types of ranged weapons including: Rifle, Launcher and Gunslash. Gunslash is a unique weapon available for all classes that combine together a ranged weapon with a sword that can be swapped at will.
Force
A powerful magic class using devastating techniques on enemies along with the ability to heal allies.
Forces have a wide range of magic abilities, covering all of the elements in the game along with specific moves tailored to certain styles of play (AOE attacks for example)
- MAGs: are raisable pets that follow you in battle and provide usefull assistance such as passive stat boosts, support fire, and healing. Mags will charge up 'Photons' during combat. When the Mags have reached their Photon capacity, Mags can invoke powerful, single-use abilities:
- You can level up your character to Level 40.
- Mag gets second evolution on level 100.
- Frozen Thundra Area
- Time attack mode
- Story chapters 2-4 added
- New costumes and hairstyles
- New weapons (not weapon types) and armors
The list of planned until Spring 2013 is as follows:
Mid-July
Field Update
- New "Mines" area, with new boss and stuff (details here)
- New drops
- New Client Orders
- New interrupt events
- New costumes, parts
- New hairstyles
- New accessories
- New voices
- New lobby actions
Mid-summer mid-scale update - "Soaring Crystal Dragons" (Working title)
Field update
- New field
- New enemies
- New boss
- New interrupt events
- New emergency quest
- New story quest
Implementation of an Event Lobby
Early autumn large-scale update
Class/Weapon update
- 3 new classes
- 5 new weapon categories
- New Photon Arts and Techniques
- Very Hard Mode
- Class level cap rise up to 50
- Introduction of rare enemies and bosses
- New interrupt events
- New emergency quest
- New story quest
Mid-autumn mid-scale update
Field update
- New field
- New enemies
- New boss
- New interrupt event
- New story quest
Fashion update
Implementation of an Event Lobby
Early winter Smartphone update
- Release of the PSO2 iOS version
Mid-winter large-scale update "Where darkness gathers" (working title)
Field update
- New boss
- New field
Fashion update
Implementation of an Event Lobby
Early Spring 2013 update
Release of the PSO2 PS Vita version
- Registration guide
- Client Orders
- AC purchasing guide (from anywhere)
- MAGs
- Closed Beta mini guide
- Controls
- Guides covering basically all aspects of the game
- Guide section of the PSOW forum, pretty awesome
- Skill calculator
- Translation of the window that appears after selecting a quest (thanks Jubern)
- Whispering to anyone through the visionphone
- What to do when invited to a Team, plus the team chat mode (by Blueblur2)
- Interface translations (thanks Skyfireblaze)
- Wiki containing loot tables etc. In Japanese only
NeoGAF team was created on Ship 2. If you want in, get in touch with (Character name - Player name)
Guide how to whisper to anyone and a guide what to do when invited to the team can be found in the Guide section above.
You talk to the team by pressing "O" or selecting the 3rd option in the chat window - ３．チーム.
GAF PLAYERS:
List format is GAF name - Character name - Player name. All are on Ship 2 unless stated otherwise.
VIDEOS
Release trailer
TGS 2011 trailer
Closed Beta Trailer
Game intro
Abilities overview
Live service features trailer
Giant Bomb Quick Look
Another Giant Bomb playthrough
SCREENSHOTS
AVATARS
FONT
Download link
Thanks to Cisce for helping me create this thread and to Ricardo (author of bumped.org) for allowing to copy some information from his blog, like the system specs, premium set contents and pricing among many more. Be sure to visit his blog, it's awesome. I'd also like to thank all the Gaffers that contributed by creating guides and Crofesima (she's not on GAF) who cut the chat bubbles for me.
Cisce: Special thanks to the Community IRC for moral support, suggestions, and proof-reading
