Fries

Member
Oct 25, 2017
561
If this is F2P are the micro transactions all cosmetic or is it play to win?
Only the SEA version had advantages in their cosmetics but PSO2 only has an "arena" PvP mode that doesn't use your gear. The only way you'd win is in rankings and you still have to fix your gear and go through RNG if you want to whale like the Japanese.
 

Casper

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,187
I don't know how they handling it, but the first few chapter quests were scrubbed from the game and you can only watch cutscenes of Ep. 1-4. I never messed with story, so any additional information how this is handled would be appreciated
As an alternative there's an anime, PSO2: Episode Oracle, being simulcast right now via Funimation. It is a redo of Episodes 1-3, with a lot of padding and extra stuff in it. Anime's just finished with Episode 2 and has started 3 as of this week's episode.


Episodes 1-17 are also available via Hulu if that is an option. 17 is subscriber only on Funimation. Just thought that info might be worth it for anyone subbed to Hulu and not Funimation.
 

Fries

Member
Oct 25, 2017
561
Episodes 1-17 are also available via Hulu if that is an option. 17 is subscriber only on Funimation. Just thought that info might be worth it for anyone subbed to Hulu and not Funimation.
I think Hulu has 17 now, they can be a day or so late though in their simulcast.
edit: Misread, nevermind. ._.
 

batfax

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,533
If this is F2P are the micro transactions all cosmetic or is it play to win?

If it's like the JP version, the economy will basically entirely revolve around cosmetics. Fashion Star Online 2 is very real. Outside cosmetics, the only significant things I can think of for an individual player having over another is that you can buy (permanent, one-time purchase) upgrades to your inventory's capacity. Hopefully if the US version alters any of that, it won't be anything significant.
 

flashman92

Member
Feb 15, 2018
4,677
So if I wanted to focus mainly on Bows what would be the best class/build damage wise?
Bravers use bows. Invest in weak stance if you're good at aiming or average stance if you're not. Invest strictly into DEX for your MAG because bravers have a skill which turns DEX into S/R attack

You can use Hunter, Ranger, or Gunner as the subclass. I don't know what the current meta is though. Here's a skill simulator you can mess around with if you'd like

 

Laiza

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,183
Man, I put literally thousands of hours into the JP version. Still kind of surreal that this is actually happening.

My advice to new players:
  • Don't worry about race/class combo optimization. The differences between races are miniscule in this game, and largely mitigated by the massive stat gains on equipment later on.
  • Mags are extremely important for enabling your ability to equip higher-rarity items early on, and are a powerful incentive to make alts (on top of the character-specific 300 storage slots). My suggestion is to have one character for every main attack stat (S-ATK, R-ATK, and T-ATK). If you want to play one of the classes that converts DEX (or whatever it's called in the official localization) into ATK you'll want a pure DEX mag (which means you'll likely want either a fourth character slot or a fourth mag). Do your research by looking up the skill tree of the class you want to play beforehand so you aren't screwed early on.
  • Do not allow stats other than your main attack stat to be raised on your mag. You can lower the gauge on stats other than the stat you're trying to raise by feeding them different items. The nature of the game is such that going tanky is heavily discouraged, and other players will admonish you for it. Sorry, but them's the breaks.
  • Affixing is a massive pain in the ass and largely unnecessary unless you're trying to compete for time. You should be able to very easily get a solid 4-slot affix on everything once you get a handle on the system. The whole thing is too complex for me to go into here so just look up one of the many, many guides on the subject instead.
  • Don't ignore set bonuses. They're often equivalent to multiple powerful affixes on their own.
  • Try out everything. Every class, despite all of them being some form of DPS, plays very differently from each other. Not only that, but each weapon within a class will play very differently from the rest. On top of that, even the new "advanced" classes (Hero, Phantom, et. al.) that share weapons with older classes have entirely distinct play styles of their own, which you may or may not enjoy due to how much they deviate from the originals. While a lot of folks switched to them, there are still players like myself who prefer and stick with the older classes and still perform well enough (in large part due to significant buffs for the older classes after the backlash against Hero's OP-ness).
  • Try out challenge mode. It's fun! You'll probably fail. A lot. It plays so differently from the rest of the game (especially once everyone is freakishly overpowered) that it's really worth checking out at least once.
Most importantly, do not expect this game to play anything like PSO1. It is entirely its own thing. Much faster-paced, much heavier on the modern anime tropey-ness (especially in episode 4 and beyond), generally sillier and more ridiculous all-around. IMO the music is also generally a downgrade even if it has some high points (most notably the various Falz sub-boss and boss tracks). It's also gamier in general - you'll notice the seams around the world pretty early on, as opposed to PSO1's more earnest attempt to sell the impression of you exploring a planet and going deeper and deeper.

Despite all its faults - and boy, does it have a laundry list of them - I still managed to put a few thousand hours into the game, so I can't really be too harsh on it. Just temper your expectations and try to appreciate it for what it is, and maybe join the rest of us in hoping that PSO3, should there ever be one, is more of a throwback than this one was.
 

QisTopTier

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,472
No pc beta right? Been wanting to play this since release but wanted to wait for an official release in the west... then it never came and honestly I didn't want to do the whole ip thing and support them being assholes about it. :P
 

Zellia

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,769
UK
No pc beta right? Been wanting to play this since release but wanted to wait for an official release in the west... then it never came and honestly I didn't want to do the whole ip thing and support them being assholes about it. :P
They've said there might be a PC beta later, but for now they're focusing on Xbone.
 

flashman92

Member
Feb 15, 2018
4,677
Also for new players, if you want to have fun and passable gear but don't want to grind, Leontina certificates are easily obtainable and can be exchanged for max grinded 13 star gear with 50 Light Attribute and all potentials unlocked, and Zeig has crafting missions which rewards you with good armor sets.
 

Laiza

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,183
Also for new players, if you want to have fun and passable gear but don't want to grind, Leontina certificates are easily obtainable and can be exchanged for max grinded 13 star gear with 50 Light Attribute and all potentials unlocked, and Zeig has crafting missions which rewards you with good armor sets.
Thing is, we don't know how much of the jumpstart stuff is carrying over into our version of the game.

It could very well be that they excise all of that in order to force players to go through the entire game's progression instead of skipping straight to late game stuff. We just don't know right now.
 
Nov 4, 2017
430
I've got a silly question. I'm playing master system Phantasy -Star 1 right now. How do the early PS games connect to PSO. And how does PSO1 connect to PSO2. I always felt like I missed out not playing PSO1.
 

jon bones

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,900
NYC
how deep is the housing? i just want to loot at smooth 60 fps for housing parts. is that viable?

are there mmo things like fishing, etc also?
 

flashman92

Member
Feb 15, 2018
4,677
I've got a silly question. I'm playing master system Phantasy -Star 1 right now. How do the early PS games connect to PSO. And how does PSO1 connect to PSO2. I always felt like I missed out not playing PSO1.
Unless you include the abomination Alis they put in PSO2, the two series don't connect. I think PSO had some connection to the original series, as did PSZero. The portable series, Universe, and PSO2/Nova/Idola all take place in different universes iirc.

are there mmo things like fishing, etc also?
There's fishing but not really. You just wait for a prompt, hit a button, and then you catch a fish. This is roughly where I dropped off the first time, so I don't know much about fishing/mining, but at least at a surface level it looked like a mobage system (use stamina, level up, spend money on gems to replenish stamina, etc). But you can just ignore all of this.

What do you mean by housing?

Thing is, we don't know how much of the jumpstart stuff is carrying over into our version of the game.

It could very well be that they excise all of that in order to force players to go through the entire game's progression instead of skipping straight to late game stuff. We just don't know right now.
I guess it would be a bad idea to shower people will million exp tickets like the JP version.
 
Feb 13, 2018
3,956
Japan
I've got a silly question. I'm playing master system Phantasy -Star 1 right now. How do the early PS games connect to PSO. And how does PSO1 connect to PSO2. I always felt like I missed out not playing PSO1.
The original PS games are vaguely connected to PSO's lore, and PS0 for Nintendo DS is a distant sequel to PSO. PSU and PSPortable are part of the same series, which was a reboot of the whole franchise. PSO2 is also a completely separate continuity but is heavily inspired by previous games.

Basically:
Classic Phantasy Star: science-fantasy adventures taking place over several millennia in a system of 3 planets

PSO: A dying earth-like society discovers a new planet to live on that turns out to be holding dark secrets

PSU: Anime sci-fi adventures taking place in a system of 3 planets inspired by the original series

PSO2: A highly advanced anime society fights anime cosmic evil on numerous planets and anime dimensions
 

Deleted member 7148

Oct 25, 2017
6,827
Got this loaded up on the Xbox One X now. Can't wait to play this! I've been waiting for this for a loonngg time.
 

Natiko

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,338
Bravers use bows. Invest in weak stance if you're good at aiming or average stance if you're not. Invest strictly into DEX for your MAG because bravers have a skill which turns DEX into S/R attack

You can use Hunter, Ranger, or Gunner as the subclass. I don't know what the current meta is though. Here's a skill simulator you can mess around with if you'd like

Noob question here. Why not just do S-ATK in the first place for the MAG instead of converting?
 

batfax

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,533
how deep is the housing? i just want to loot at smooth 60 fps for housing parts. is that viable?

are there mmo things like fishing, etc also?

The layouts are very simple, but if you want to just decorate your place with a wide variety of decorative items, I think you'll find a decent amount of variety. My home in the JP version isn't really the best example, since I haven't done a big shuffle of furniture or anything in a while (the main room is still using stuff I got during the open beta!) but hopefully it's a decent example.

pso20200204_185950_003.jpg

pso20200204_190117_005.jpg

pso20200204_190038_004.jpg

pso20200204_185921_001.jpg


There's fishing and crafting and whatnot as well, but I haven't messed around with it much.
 

Deleted member 56752

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
May 15, 2019
8,699
Is this an MMO? I think the other one was more just "online" and not an MMO but i'm not sure
 

Kent

Member
Jun 4, 2018
1,146
Is this an MMO? I think the other one was more just "online" and not an MMO but i'm not sure
No. It's a multiplayer-centric online action-RPG.

To be massively-multiplayer implies necessarily that core gameplay involves a relatively large number of players at once, which this doesn't, instead instantiating small groups of players together.
 

VariantX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,577
Columbia, SC
Is this an MMO? I think the other one was more just "online" and not an MMO but i'm not sure

Its the same format as the old games. The lobbies are the only truly fixed areas and everything else is instances. There are field areas that are semi-persistent where theres a chance you'll run into other parties killing stuff. I think its a maximum of 3 or 4 parties at once (cant remember because I havent played since some time after braver came out and they added the beach area). It never strayed to far from its original design which I think is good. You're meant to go in, clear the map and get the drops and get out and do it all over again. That is part of the essence of PSO. I'll also state that PSO2 felt way better online to play than PSU did on PC in terms of network performance. I never bought PSU because it somehow performed worse for me on a broadband connection than the original PSO did on the dreamcast.
 

Laiza

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,183
The original PS games are vaguely connected to PSO's lore, and PS0 for Nintendo DS is a distant sequel to PSO. PSU and PSPortable are part of the same series, which was a reboot of the whole franchise. PSO2 is also a completely separate continuity but is heavily inspired by previous games.

Basically:
Classic Phantasy Star: science-fantasy adventures taking place over several millennia in a system of 3 planets

PSO: A dying earth-like society discovers a new planet to live on that turns out to be holding dark secrets

PSU: Anime sci-fi adventures taking place in a system of 3 planets inspired by the original series

PSO2: A highly advanced anime society fights anime cosmic evil on numerous planets and anime dimensions
This is a highly accurate description. Especially the dimension-hopping bit...
 

flashman92

Member
Feb 15, 2018
4,677
What's anime about a highschool girl in Vegas being attacked by zombies, or something like that. I really do miss the old PSO's aesthetic, but maybe I'm just a prude, which is why all 3 of my characters are fairly conservatively dressed.
 

Azubah

Member
Dec 30, 2017
1,556
Silly question, but is any of the music from the first PSO in this? I needs me some Pioneer 2 beyond youtube.
 

Skel1ingt0n

Member
Oct 28, 2017
10,120
On one hand all the impressions and videos I've been reading the last ~7 years are disappointing as can be.

On the other hand just clicking around the menu on my Xbox One X just now overwhelmed me with enthusiasm.
 

Laiza

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,183
Silly question, but is any of the music from the first PSO in this? I needs me some Pioneer 2 beyond youtube.
A good chunk of PSO's music is in the game as jukebox tracks (which play in your room and the team room), though you have to acquire the music discs to play them.

Some are accessible in the FUN scratch (which effectively makes them free), while others are only accessible through item codes from the Phantasy Star Collection 2000-2007 or the SYMPATHY 2013 or 2015 concerts (which means, unless they toss these in the FUN scratch or some other avenue, we'll never have access to them).
 
Feb 13, 2018
3,956
Japan
Silly question, but is any of the music from the first PSO in this? I needs me some Pioneer 2 beyond youtube.
That particular song is only available as a jukebox CD for your room, but the main theme of PSO is back along with a number of remixes and callbacks during other songs. For example the PSO2 forest plays part of the PSO1 one during battle, the obligatory dragon fight is a remix of the original dragon theme, etc
 

night814

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 29, 2017
15,513
Pennsylvania
All installed, game booted up and I'm transported 4 years into the past when I first played. Can't wait, see you all on Friday. Gamertag is Jago00920.
 

Valcrist

Tic-Tac-Toe Champion
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,410
Just saw that this beta is only a little over one day. The fuuuuck.
 

Deleted member 11976

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,585
Yes initially but I think I saw somewhere that it seems to have been extended till Sunday but I can't find the source anymore...
I need this source to be true. I have to do a bunch of errands on Friday/Saturday and I won't be home at all to play. Having Sunday to earn the Dreamcast MAG would be really nice.
 
Oct 25, 2017
1,355
Man, I put literally thousands of hours into the JP version. Still kind of surreal that this is actually happening.

My advice to new players:
  • Don't worry about race/class combo optimization. The differences between races are miniscule in this game, and largely mitigated by the massive stat gains on equipment later on.
  • Mags are extremely important for enabling your ability to equip higher-rarity items early on, and are a powerful incentive to make alts (on top of the character-specific 300 storage slots). My suggestion is to have one character for every main attack stat (S-ATK, R-ATK, and T-ATK). If you want to play one of the classes that converts DEX (or whatever it's called in the official localization) into ATK you'll want a pure DEX mag (which means you'll likely want either a fourth character slot or a fourth mag). Do your research by looking up the skill tree of the class you want to play beforehand so you aren't screwed early on.
  • Do not allow stats other than your main attack stat to be raised on your mag. You can lower the gauge on stats other than the stat you're trying to raise by feeding them different items. The nature of the game is such that going tanky is heavily discouraged, and other players will admonish you for it. Sorry, but them's the breaks.
  • Affixing is a massive pain in the ass and largely unnecessary unless you're trying to compete for time. You should be able to very easily get a solid 4-slot affix on everything once you get a handle on the system. The whole thing is too complex for me to go into here so just look up one of the many, many guides on the subject instead.
  • Don't ignore set bonuses. They're often equivalent to multiple powerful affixes on their own.
  • Try out everything. Every class, despite all of them being some form of DPS, plays very differently from each other. Not only that, but each weapon within a class will play very differently from the rest. On top of that, even the new "advanced" classes (Hero, Phantom, et. al.) that share weapons with older classes have entirely distinct play styles of their own, which you may or may not enjoy due to how much they deviate from the originals. While a lot of folks switched to them, there are still players like myself who prefer and stick with the older classes and still perform well enough (in large part due to significant buffs for the older classes after the backlash against Hero's OP-ness).
  • Try out challenge mode. It's fun! You'll probably fail. A lot. It plays so differently from the rest of the game (especially once everyone is freakishly overpowered) that it's really worth checking out at least once.
Most importantly, do not expect this game to play anything like PSO1. It is entirely its own thing. Much faster-paced, much heavier on the modern anime tropey-ness (especially in episode 4 and beyond), generally sillier and more ridiculous all-around. IMO the music is also generally a downgrade even if it has some high points (most notably the various Falz sub-boss and boss tracks). It's also gamier in general - you'll notice the seams around the world pretty early on, as opposed to PSO1's more earnest attempt to sell the impression of you exploring a planet and going deeper and deeper.

Despite all its faults - and boy, does it have a laundry list of them - I still managed to put a few thousand hours into the game, so I can't really be too harsh on it. Just temper your expectations and try to appreciate it for what it is, and maybe join the rest of us in hoping that PSO3, should there ever be one, is more of a throwback than this one was.

Thanks for this. I was wondering if I should recreate my character from PSO, or go with something different. I knew you could change classes but though the Star differences would be as big as in PSO (Newman ranger wouldn't be great).

My question: Is challenge mode similar to the one in PSO? I had a ton of fun with that and would love to do something similar.
 

Lunoir

Member
Aug 31, 2019
85
Massachusetts
I am beyond excited for this. Literally bought an xbox just for PSO2. And I'll probably sell it once the PC version launches lol.

I'm probably gonna go Techer, as I like the support-y nature of them. And that spell they get that sucks all the enemies up.