Much like for many gamers, E3 and it's big presentations from the console makers is traditionally an exciting time for me. They show off a whole slew of new and exciting games to drool over each year and it is even kinda fun to discuss who "won" the convention. However as the years have marched on we have seen a decline. Nintendo bowed out entirely, Konami no longer makes games at all, and most of us have been given reason to distrust anything to come out of either EA or Ubisoft. But this year, Microsoft would announce something I have been waiting literally 7 years to hear: Phantasy Star Online 2 is coming to the United States.
This is arguably the biggest news for me personally to come out of E3, as Phantasy Star is one of those series that I have collected every game that was on shelves for and shy of one Gamecube exclusive, I have absolutely loved every instance I have played. But at the same time, I never did get to finish the two online titles. Now that the direct sequel to one of them was finally coming out in the US, I had to change that. And despite the game being officially shut down over a decade ago, private servers would give me my chance. And now after over 90 hours of gameplay, I can say this game too is now finished. And I absolutely loved... well, most of it.
The Pioneer 2 has come out of hyperspace within the orbit of the planet Ragol. As the name would suggest, this is the second ship of a desperate plan to escape a dying world and bring your civilization to a new one. The first, the Pioneer 1, has already landed to establish the initial base while your ship would come later with all the civilians. However, this was not to be as shortly after opening communication with the Pioneer 1 base, an explosion rocked the surface of the planet, blowing the dome of the base apart. So what happened? That is your job as a member of the Hunters, basically the mercenary guild of the Pioneer 2. The Principal of the ship is calling on you to help find out what the hell is going on and what to do about it.
However, as this is a Massively Multieplay Online (MMO) game, the first thing you will need to do before you can take on this responsibility is to make your character. But for those of you that love customizing characters, I'm afraid this is going to be a little disappointing. You will, for example, choose your race, class, and species as one single choice, limiting you to 12 possible combinations listed before you. Once you've picked that, you will get to chose from a selection of heads, color schemes, and set the proportions. Then it's time to pick your name and get into the game. Quick, easy, but very limited compared to just about any other MMO game out there.
Once in the game you will first choose which server (refereed to as a ship) you wish to play on for the session and which lobby on that ship you will show up in. At this point you will be teleported into a single room with everyone else who made the same choices you did but have not yet entered an actual game. Here you can mingle with these players chatting and using emotes as you wish, and when you are ready to play, there is a "help desk" you can go to which will let you start your own game or look to see if there is an ongoing one you wish to (and can based on your level, missions finished, or having the password if one was set) join.
At this point, you are probably beginning to either wish or be thankful you had a controller readily available. This game was designed first for a console and the moment you get to move around in it's environments, even before you reach the actual game, this becomes appearant. Phatnasy Star Online was designed originally for the Dreamcast and as such to use an analog stick for movement, a bumper or trigger for center the camera, and 4 customizable face-buttons to control what you do, and I would recommend having a controller that meets these at a minimum to play the game with. I would also like to take this moment to also warn you that you are playing a really old game... as in this game came about before the common controller of choice on PC was to either plug in an Xbox or PlayStation one in. Most controllers of the day when this came out usually mimicked the PlayStation in form, but the buttons were not pre-matched, so you may want to customize your controls to fit this layout before going on. A good server (like the one I played on) will include a starter's guide which will shoul you how to reach these options.
But back to the game, you will find yourself in a different kind of lobby once it begins. There are two layouts which will be used depending on which episode you play, but they all have the same basic options:
- A location to play story missions: either the Principal's office or within the Lab (for episode 2)
- A location to play side missions: The Hunter's Guild and usually where you will start the game.
- A shop containing 3 merchants (weapons, armor, and items) as well as a tech guy who can identify unique items you bring back from your mission.
- A medic to heal you for cheap. This is also where you will appear when and if you die out in the world.
- A bank since like many action RPGs, you will not be allowed to carry everything on your back.
- A portal back to the lobby so that if you decide you don't want to play this session, you can get out without leaving the game.
- A portal to Ragol where the action is going to take place.
At this point, you (and your friends if you brought some along) will likely be looking for your first mission, and as noted above, you can either go to the head of the area to get a story mission, or stop by the guild and pick a side one. Side missions can be more difficult but are a great way to have some fun grinding for items and the reward of each. Most such missions are available to anyone to play right away but be ready to struggle if this was your first choice. The main story will begin the real adventure this game offers, but the game is only going to offer you the missions everyone in your team has unlocked, as they are sequential in design to tell the story of the episode you are on. Some of these missions (story and side) will let your friends join after they start, but not all of them, and this is often why people will open a game with a password they share with those they want to play. A full team of 4 friends taking on the monsters of Ragol is simply a lot of fun, whatever your reason for being there.
Not that you even need a reason if you do not want one. Going to the portal without getting a mission will let you pick which ever area you want to go wreck the monsters down below with abandon and free-form. No goal beyond what you set, and this even includes access to the boss fights (most of which are a massive spectacle all their own). So if you just want to get a feel for the grounds, or practice before a big mission, it's all here for you.
Now that combat you are marching into can be kinda clunky due to a "tempo attack" system this game uses. This is why I recommended a controller so strongly earlier. Your class (hunter, ranger, or force) will decide what weapons will be available to you, even if you can pick them all up. For example, I played a ranger. As such there was no such thing as a gun I couldn't wield once my stats were good enough. I could also use some blades, but not all. A hunter is likely going to have the reverse situation, where a force might have the ability to use the more basic of both, but their core weapons are meant to increase the power of the magic (or techniques as they are known in this game) they use. All of the weapon types in each class all have their own feel and common traits, but the biggest skill you will need to learn with them all is their rhythm. In all cases there is a tempo that once mastered will allow you to chain up to 3 attacks in rapid succession. Once your chain is over (even if it's only one) you will be forced to pause before you can move around again. Different weapons will have different speeds to hit that comboe and waiting times, as well as having different ranges, rate of attack, areas of attack, and even special abilities, and you will have to find the feel that best fits your style and/or the situation.
But weapons and attacks are a small variety of the weapons, tools, spells, and even traps you can have up your sleeve. And the game gives you two brilliant ways to have quick access to whatever ones you desire. When on a mission, you will see a set of hexagons numbered across the bottom of your screen and a diamond of them in the lower right corner. Opening your menu to "customize" will give you access to all the abilities you have available and when its highlighted, just hit the button you want to make do it. You will see it take it's place among the icons, allowing for them to be in numbered spots or the diamond's three lower spots (the top button flips to another set of three you can also program as such). So once you start getting some options, you can really customize how your character works.
And while the game looks very retro, it actually aged fairly well. You are getting about what you expect for a game made almost 20 years ago, but it still looks clean if simple. It boosts what it can do from the second episode on, but it will never fake you into thinking you are playing anything remotely up to date. Still if your hardware can handle it, you can crank up a few extras including draw distances not dreamed of when this game came out.
And this is definately a game that knows how to use it's music push the intensity of combat. Some of it will not stay with you when you leave the game, but that which does will stay with you LONG after you leave your seat and the energy exuded by most of it is absolutely contagious. Most of it sounds amazing at the moment, feeling like someone took the style of music from those old days and mixed it with what modern sound hardware could produce, creating something hectic and truly special to listen to. But as if the team wanted to push that home, those of you who played the original series on the Genesis will recognize iconic tunes from those days mixed in with the new. It really is a wonder experience overall.
Bugs: I only had three issues occur with this game while playing, and really only one of them was absolutely a bug. Im not quite sure what to make of a second one though... bug? Windows behaving weird with it? I honestly don't know.
- Framerates in episode 4: Admittedly, I did not play this game on the most powerful machine, and in fact it doesn't even have a separate graphic card. And also admittedly, I had the draw distance cranked up to the absolute maximum. However, despite the age of this game, there were two story missions in episode 4 where the game just absolutely chugged along. I personally believe the issue was with all the energy objects being rendered well beyond the far wall of the room I was in because it would only happen when looking in one specific direction. However, you should be warned this game is not the best optimized and it is possible this game may press your machine harder then you expected.
- Online.exe wants to run a second time: This issue occured exactly twice, but if the game failed to be the focus of Windows when starting, pressing space to open the menu can cause the game to try to start a second time even while running. The result was the game freezing and requiring me to use the ALT-CTRL-DEL menu to reset the machine.
- Game Crash: Yes, this game also crashed on me exactly once. It did not happen mid-game but rather while entering the lobby. It was annoying but nothing was lost to it.
But with that in mind, I have to reccomend this game overall. If you like loot-based ARPG games, this is a damn fun one. If you are a fan of the Phantasy Star franchise as it plays now, this is where that style all began and you would be doing yourself a disservice to not check it out. If you are into gaming history, you are looking at the first console game to focus on the online experience (and from the first console that officially supported online play at all). In any of thesecases, this is definately something you should probably give a shot for yourself. And you might be suprised how much you enjoy your time.
Score:
7/10
System Requirements: (Please note, these requirements are for the original release as I have been unable to find anything more updated)
- Pentium III (700 Mghz) or AMD Athalon equivalent
- 256 MB RAM
- Geforce 3 or ATi Radion 8500 or better (32 MB VRAM)
- Windows98 SE, ME, 2000, or XP
- 2 GB hard drive space
- (not required, but a modern controller is HIGHLY recommended)
- Ryzen 3 2200G running at 3.5 Ghz
- 16 GB RAM
- Windows 10
- PDP DX Wired Controller (Crimson)
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