Komatsu
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Developer: SEGA Online R&D
Publisher: SEGA / Microsoft
Genre: Action RPG / MMORPG
Platform(s): Xbox One (Open Beta); PC (Spring 2020)
Releaste Date: March 17th, 2020 (Xbox Only)
Phantasy Star Online 2 is a free-to-play online action role-playing game in the Phantasy Star series developed and published by Sega. Created as a successor to Phantasy Star Online and Phantasy Star Universe, Phantasy Star Online 2 features gameplay elements and aesthetics reminiscent of previous Phantasy Star games while incorporating unique twists on the formula. The initial version was released for Windows in Japan in July 2012.
A PlayStation Vita version was released in February 2013, while a PlayStation 4 version was released in April 2016. A spin-off/companion game, Phantasy Star Online 2es, was released for Android and iOS in 2014. A Nintendo Switch cloud version, entitled Phantasy Star Online 2 Cloud was released in April 2018. At E3 2019, it was announced that the game would be releasing outside of Asia for the first time exclusively on the Xbox One and Microsoft Windows in early 2020. After a closed beta in early February, Microsoft announced that the Open Beta would be available to all Xbox players, starting on Tuesday, March 17.
[FROM THE WIKI - EDITED]
The game's story primarily focuses on the exploits of the space-faring organization known as Oracle, who uses Photons to traverse the universe and seek new planets for potential colonization while simultaneously suppressing the threat of the Darkers, alien beings created by evil entities known as Dark Falz that only exist to destroy the universe. Oracle is split between a Mothership, housing the fleet's central core, and a massive fleet of spaceships that contains all civilian entities and the fleet's prime military and exploration department known as ARKS (Artificial Relicit to Keep Species).
Initially, ARKS is sent to investigate activity on three planets: Naberius, a planet whose ecosystem was primarily forest before much of the planet became locked in eternal winter, Lillipa, a desert planet inhabited by rabbit-like natives known as "Lillipans", and Amduscia, a bifurcated planet with a volcanic core surrounded by a mass of floating islands inhabited by humanoid dragonfolk. Later story arcs feature the planet Wopal, an ocean planet, and Harkotan, a planet in the shape of a taijitu inhabited by two opposing races. In EPISODE 4, exploration expands to encompass a fictional counterpart of Earth located in an alternate dimension, and in EPISODE 5, an alternate dimension known as "Omega" located within a black hole becomes the focal point of the story.
[FROM THE WIKI]
Upon starting the game, the player can select one of several servers, known as "Ships," to play. Players create and customize their characters to be used in the game. The name, gender, race, character class, body and facial features are available for customization during the character creation process, and later, the player can acquire a number of accessories and aesthetic goods to further customize their characters. There are various races available to the players in the game, which include Human, Newman (bio-engineered humanoid elves), CAST (manmade androids), and Deuman (species that contains recessive Darker genes in them).
At the start of the game, players may select from one of nine starting classes, each with unique stat spreads and weapon specialties. Three more "Successor Classes" can also be unlocked when the player meets certain requirements. Classes can be changed at will in the game's lobby; levels and statistics earned with a specific Class are independent of progress made with other Classes on the same character. Classes can also be customized with Skill Points earned from leveling up, which can be spent on a Skill Tree to learn Skills unique to the Class; Skill abilities can range from passive effects such as boosting stats to toggle abilities that power up your character temporarily. After a certain level, players can also assign a Subclass, a secondary Class that augments the player's Main Class by granting access to most of its Skills, Photon Arts, and Techniques.
PC Battle Interface of Phantasy Star Online 2. In the Ruins stage, the player battles Dark Falz Hunar, one of the main antagonists of the series.
Gameplay in Phantasy Star Online 2 is action-oriented, and features a diverse selection of weapon types and playstyles for the player to choose from. In combat, players engage enemies in real-time with various attacks; attacks can be chained for additional damage. In addition to standard attacks, combos can be augmented with powerful attacks called Photon Arts that use a resource called Photon Points (PP). Certain Classes have the ability to use Techniques, attacks similar to magic, that also use PP. PP is consumed whenever the player uses these attacks; the player cannot attack with Photon Arts or Techniques if they do not have sufficient PP, but PP naturally restores on its own or can be recovered manually by attacking enemies with standard attacks.
In some areas of the game, Photons can be generated by defeating enemies to fill up the Photon level in the environment. In return, Photon-sensitive effects (PSE) can provide bonuses to the players in that area. When one of these effects reaches the maximum level of 8, an event known as PSE Burst can occur where many enemies will rapidly spawn for a limited time. This can be further extended by causing a different PSE Burst to form a Cross Burst.
Upon reaching a certain level, each player will be granted a Mag, a small droid that hovers around the owner. Mags can be fed a variety of items in order to strengthen and eventually evolve them. In addition to enhancing the player's stats, a mag will support the player with abilities such as healing or buffing under certain circumstances. Mags also enable the Photon Blast ability, in which the player and mag summon a Photon-based avatar for a brief time to attack enemies or support party members, depending on the type of mag. Photon Blasts can only be used after defeating a certain number of enemies and generating enough Photon energy to fill up its gauge.
[FROM THE WIKI - EDITED]
Humans: A common starting race, known for not being particularly proficient in anything, but very serviceable in all styles of gameplay. Truly a "jack-of-all-trades". The Phantasy Star Online Wiki says: Humans have good HP, and either good S-ATK and S-DEF or T-ATK and T-DEF, depending on gender, with no particularly low stats. They are geared towards the hunter and fighter class.
Newmans: First introduced in Phantasy Star 2, Newmans, ever since the first PSO, are known for being good at magic and ranged attacks. The Phantasy Star Online Wiki says: Newmans have good T-ATK, and either good R-DEF or T-DEF, depending on gender, but low HP and DEX. They are geared towards the force and techer classes.
CASTS: Phantasy Star Online's traditional "tank" robotic race, which bizarrely enough are also divided by gender. The Phantasy Star Online Wiki says: CAST have good HP, S-ATK, R-ATK, and DEX, and either good S-DEF or R-DEF, depending on gender, but low T-ATK and T-DEF. They are geared towards the ranger and gunner classes.
MMORPG.com said:
OT SOURCES: PSO2Blog, Wikipedia, Phantasy Star Online Wiki
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