Official trailer for PHANTASY STAR ONLINE II (PC)

[Scullibundo]

That's my point. Telepipes are the greatest thing about PSO.

[Scullibundo]

Also..WAT?

FOcast

[Deef]

Yeah FOcast still doesn't sit right in my mind.

While not as epic as arriving in Forest for the first time, the music style is spot on. So many samples/instruments that are exactly right; really pleased about that.

Also loving the old sound effects where they've used them - the button especially instantly put me in Caves 2. And the mission complete jingle, nice. The menu-appear sound effects sound very cool, but I can imagine them being a bit much to hear for the 999999999th time.

Combat looks fun and the effects are good stuff I think. That weird long range whip attack thing doesn't excite me, not sure why. Perhaps because it doesn't look intuitive, or perhaps because I don't like hunters having long range. But I haven't tried it so eh, perhaps it will turn out to feel good. Air combos haha, and can't say I see a problem with jumping. The forward dash thing is a worry; unless that's some temporary powerup or something it really has to go imo. There's some quick dash-and-target-switch-ing going on, looks good. I'm a big advocate for "If it aint broke don't fix it", and PSO's combat was solid, but I'm looking forward to this being better.

The level looks good but not amazing. Just a decent level. It reminds me of PSO again because it's all big fat rocks with grass textures; the geometry stands out quite a bit, more than I'd like to see in 2011 really. This particular level looks too dry imo... not really very green, quite open and plain. It doesn't sit right with the snowy mountains in the background for me. Things aren't closed in much so it's not feeling enough like a lush forest, more like scrub. I imagine other areas will be different but so far the old DC Forest seems like a more attractive level to me. The most noteworthy improvement is simply the size, but being small never hurt Forest. Chopping down trees... um ok. Seems pretty random a thing to add. But yeah overall it looks decent enough, and other videos/screens have looked good.

One big question to ask about this is how much those levels accommodate exploration, because so far it could go either way. It's more likely I suppose that the terrain will unfold as it always has done, with the fighting areas pretty much laid down before you as you move along. However, with that jumping it suggests the possibility of being able to go into those unseen areas off to the sides, so the walls are not walls but instead hills to run around on as well. Well, it's a hope, and that would make the level much better imo.

Enemy designs looked really nice, especially the more colourful fellas. Hard to see if the AI is doing anything decent since the fighting is all pretty much dodging and hitting. I hated those things in Ruins. On that note it's interesting to see that this level contains native and dark enemies, dying clearly different deaths. I like the blood loss effect on that big guy heh.

I prefer a small HUD to maximise screen real estate, but man that is a tiny HUD. Menus and the UI in general look good; in character creation also (although the characters themselves were pretty ugly in those demos).

Not liking how they've used sprites for some of the pick-ups now, but not a huge deal.

I'm actually open to the idea of buying this game.

[Pointy Cat]

They had already gone down the robots being able to cast spells path in PSU. FOcast doesn't bother me.

Graphically you won't hear any arguments from me defending it - it's dated. It's a pity but it hardly bothers me enough to really care.

In regards to combat, obviously they're going for a more fast and free flowing combat system. It seems like a nice mix of PSO and PSU. I can't say I agree with the old if it ain't broke don't fix it thing when it comes to PSO's combat though. As much as I love PSO, and I have just this week been giving it a bash again on a private server, its combat is often slow and feels clunky at times. In our minds we might not remember those flaws, but they were there. The core of it may have been solid but if they simply transplanted its combat into a new game today I really think they'd be on the road to failure.

[Deef]

Yes I'm saying that I don't particularly agree with the expression in this case either. I preferred many parts of PSU's combat too, mainly to do with locking and strafing with guns. PSO's combat would indeed need to be modernised to fly in a game today. Still, there were parts of PSU's combat I didn't like also. If they land somewhere in the middle I think I'll be happy.

Despite the FOcast in PSU I still have that PSO mindset that says in order to use magic, you must first have a soul. Well, I hope there are still pure non-technique characters. Droids were the greatest (laziest) in PSO, I loved not having to bother with unreliable crappy techs. And free overnight s-ranks.

I wonder how they'll handle rare distribution. I'm sure that's going to change, again in the name of modernisation, and that's a bit of a shame. The bulls***ery that went on with finding and yoinking rares in PSO was a huge factor. Screaming at kika every week was pretty much what made it so much fun. If I had it my way that's one thing I would copy and paste from PSO even though it's quite unfair; the HU were always in the position to grab anything first. But I still liked it even with my RAcast, and even though I found nothing rarer than the Yasmins for about 165 levels, and I enjoyed the tension everytime a Sil Dragon or torr went down. In those few seconds we were all enemies, then nothing drops, then we're all friends again lol.

[Pointy Cat]

Items Drops

Drop items are decided on a character-by-character basis.
Each character can get different drops.
Item drops are based on real luck.
The system is similar to that of PSZ and PSP2i.

So basically what you see dropped is for you. Pick up everything you want without fear of being greedy. Not sure if I like this method but it is an improvement over how it used to be. PSO lacked any kind of fairness in this regard.

[Scullibundo]

Don't like it. Felt more realistic the old way.

[Pointy Cat]

Some more videos here, this time from the perspective of what seems to be a RAmarl.

http://www.pso2u.com/alpha-vids.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Need to sign up to view the videos though, can't embed them here.

[Deef]

Looks good, nice find.

Worth checking Sculli, sign in with
User: Rancher
Pass: zXun2yUP

It looks so correct, in a typical way heh, the RA doing sod-all damage. Definitely liking all the motion I see in those vids though, and there is some hopping up on top of the surrounding walls, so that's promising too.


Yeah put me down for definitely preferring the old way of looting, even though I know the world would hate it. It wasn't about accumulating rares, it was about f***ing getting them. I enjoyed that aspect of the game, as the fighting happened.

The way Schthack's server does it, with the announcement of the scoop to all players in the game, was an interesting touch also.

[Pointy Cat]

http://www.multiupload.com/PEWKAR29YU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some more Ranger gameplay. Looking good I reckon.

[Scullibundo]

RAmar or bust!

[Deef]

Same video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQZN5XMn ... r_embedded#![/youtube]


Does look good. In fact, the RA characters seem very fun. I'd like to see if FO or HU gameplay can look as interesting. Of course, the HU will just have the DPS anyway.

[Deef]

Yeah time for some more PSO 2 love.

"Key moments include the game's opening movie at 8:45 and a new trailer at 23:20."

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKDH5I_c ... r_embedded#![/youtube]

Loving the use of the old music. Seriously Sonic 4 made things like "remix", "remake" etc dirty words, but so far it looks like PSO 2 is doing things the right way around, celebrating nostalgia instead of leaning on it, which I forget is actually normal for a sequel. It has all the right things right. It's great to hear the orchestral rearrangements of that old theme. The music sounds right, the classes look just like they should, mags are back. I love how a RAmar is so clearly a RAmar, and especially the FOnewm is still a complete pimp with a cane. The RAcast seem to be veering a bit much into the gundam path though, and the FOmarl looks a bit poncey.

Jesus so burned by Sonic 4 it's hard to trust any game attempting to do this now.

Anyway, there's a new alpha test going on and probably plenty more videos going around now.



"The second presentation's guest is game director Yuya Kimura. This one features much more game footage. It shows off player rooms, shops, weapon upgrading, and new character customization features. Naturally, many of the changes to the game's UI are also shown in this one."

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5CtTQtu ... r_embedded[/youtube]

[Scullibundo]

Yeah they got all that right.

To me there is still no excuse for the game looking 10 years old in graphical terms.

[cloud]

Really?? I think it looks great!

[Deef]

They released the character creation tool. No need to be in the beta or anything, just download it and mess around making characters. http://download.pso2.jp/PSO2_CC.zip" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The interface is in Japanese but this doesn't cause a huge problem. It affects you most during setup, and when you're not sure which tool in creation you just selected (which is often). A little guide to getting around the Japanese parts in setup is here: http://bumped.org/psublog/pso2-the-char ... ini-guide/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Quick details:

· A benchmarking tool is included. Marvel at the city's crappy backgrounds. 5000+ is what you guys should be looking for. 2000+ is meant to be fine to play.
· It has all 18 combinations of HU, RA, FO, human, newman, cast, male and female.
· It seems that your appearance and your class no longer have anything to do with each other. Make a RAnewm that looks like a FOnewm.
· Cast characters have far fewer options which I think is strange since they're made out of parts, but in return you have complete control over their 4 colours, which I enjoyed heh. Flamboyant RAcasts ftw.
· When you accidentally hit random after all your hard work, relax now, worry not. There's an undo button.
· You can save your work before saving the actual character. So not only can you switch between various versions as you go, you can also come back to a design or character you've already made, edit that design and use it to create a new character.

My impressions:

· At times it reminds me of the Eve character creation tool in that there are things you can edit that are just too much attention to detail. At least in this game it will be common to see facial expressions, so I suppose things like how full your character's lips are or how much the ears stick out are really worth it.
· Unlike Eve's character creation, PSO 2's interface is quite clear, fast and smooth. Nice.
· I got a bit confused by what looks like a lot of optional presets. With the face and body morphing windows, I'm not sure if the drop-downs are just applying a preset, or are changing the morphing tool to work with a different style. Oh well, check that guide and see what you make of it.
· Loving how the classes from PSO still look spot on. The FOmarl is maybe an exception; didn't check.
· Music still good.
· I think it is far easier to create an ugly character than a good looking one.
· However you can really produce a whole range of really distinct styles with one race/gender; that's impressive. Pick a male newman and spam the random button; the gay cowboy made me laugh.

pso20120409_141253_003.jpg

A little loud, I know. But I imagine in game the colour would pop nicely.

[Scullibundo]

The Kaloo I know would put that son down.

[Deef]

Hmm it appears that regardless of class OR race, clothing isn't affected except the droids obviously look like droids. Those who don't know PSO 1 won't have any recognition of the styles we're used to. They won't know when their RAmar looks like a FOnewm. It also means that it will be hard to tell on sight just wtf some new player is.

The accessories bring a lot of flavour though. Lots of different hats, and you can wear 3 at once. And you can do pretty much anything with the newman ears.


Edit - Oh, and there's a folder called "Symbolart". Woot.

[Ekin]

He looks like a gundam lol

[Deef]

The RAcast seem to be veering a bit much into the gundam path though

Yeah, they all do. =/ It's really blatant.

Not just the RAcast, all male droids since they all use the same parts now.


Edit - Here's what I mean about the outfits being independent of classes now:

pso20120409_181235_011.jpg

That's a RAmar.

[Talez]

Yeah they got all that right.

To me there is still no excuse for the game looking 10 years old in graphical terms.

a) The game still looks better than SWTOR.
b) The game can run smoothly on even the most shitty laptops. I bet Dan's laptop will be screaming along at 60fps.

[Deef]

lol no :S

At 1280x768 with some shaders off, no AA and v-sync disabled it was more like 35-40. And honestly, the benchmark it runs is rather fug.

[Talez]

FUCK YEAH! Closed beta invite arrived! Client has started downloading!

[Deef]

! WHORE!

[Deef]

Btw, expecting detailed reports. Tell us about how much HU hog all the exp and such, and what options or modes you see so far, and mags, and stuff. Tell us if the hovering really does look as stupid as it appears.