PSO2 JP: Beyond the Ruins

ファルス・ヒューナル Falz Hunar

Well after that uh.. "subclass system" we now move onwards to THE NEXT STAGE of Phantasy Star Online 2. 

Last night, Sakai and Kimura had a talk show where they answered questions from Japanese media outlets. We were introduced to a new trailer featuring the new field with the Halloween lobby and costumes and even Gettemhart's outfit. But what's this?

 

ファルス・ヒューナル Falz Hunar

Is this a reference to Humar? If you checked the PSO2 roadmap, you may have noted that this other area is the last thing we should be getting before the end of the year. We'll probably learn more about it in the future. It appears the Naura Cake Sisters will wear Halloween outfits and sell Pumpkin Pie.

 

The Ruins Area

Famitsu and 4Gamer did yet another recap of information from both presentations. The article mentions a few tidbits about this ruins area in the mountains of Naberius. This area is described as the "Darker's Den" and has both insect and marine type Darkers.

They also introduced a new Darker called サイクロネーダ Cycloneda (Cyclonerda). Though it moves slowly, it uses a morning star for long range attacks.

ゼッシュレイダ Zeshreida

At the end they fought against the boss Zeshreida, who has high stats all around, described to be one of the "strongest class Darkers."

When Sakai was asked about how much space PS Vita version takes up, he said it was roughly half the size of the PC version. They are also currently investigating how 3G will pan out, we'll probably have more details about it later down the road.

Just to recap, the subclass system lets you play two class combinations.  You will have access to the subclass' photon arts, technics, and skills and it will apply 20% of its stats to your main class. However, you are restricted to using weapon types of your main class. The only way around this is to find weapons that can be used by all classes like the  "Mic Stand" rod Michaela gives out until September 26th. When asked about recommended class combinations, Kimura answered with "Fighter/Gunner" and Sakai recommended "Hunter/Fighter."

We also learned the name for the Smartphone version of the game is actually "Phantasy Star Online 2 Essential" but was shortened to "es" for the title.

 

It also appears the PlayStation Vita version will also have costumes from Phantasy Star Portable 2.

 

PSO2 JP: Ruins and Subclass System

The second presentation for Tokyo Game Show 2013 kicked off tonight showing off Phantasy Star Online 2 es, the smartphone version of PSO2. Afterwards we were finally treated to some footage of the new field and new boss. This is a recap of information gathered by 4Gamer and Shougai.

 

The next field coming to PSO2 is called "遺跡" or ruins for short, it features an area on Naberius overgrown by plants. The boss for this area is ゼッシュレイダ Zeshreida which looks like a Gamera. Darkers inhabiting this area are of the fish/stone variety. This field will come later down the line.

 

They next showed the trailer for "Call of Mortality" which will release in October. This is the update that features the subclass system.

The subclass system allows you to use two classes at the same time. You could be something like a Hunter/Force, Ranger/Hunter, Fighter/Gunner, etc. You can use the subclass' photon arts, technics, and skills but there's a catch. You can only use your main class' weapon categories.

So how can a Hunter apply weak bullet when only Assault Rifles can perform that skill? The loophole in the subclass system is dependent on weapons that can be equipped by all classes. For example, if you are a Hunter/Ranger, you can apply weak bullet by using the Bouquet Rifle, then you may switch to a hunter weapon type to attack that area.

 

Very Hard difficulty also unlocks in October, on this difficulty setting, you can encounter rare bosses like King Vardha or Rog Belt. Expect to see weapons higher than 10 stars, new PAs, and new Technics. There's also a new interrupt event called "The Storm's Present," also known as  "Emergency Code: Present" it features the dapper "Mr. Umbra" which is short for Mr. Umbrella.

 

 

Phantasy Star Online 2 Vita Version Preview and Concert Announcement

Last night's presentation of the Tokyo Game Show covered the Vita version of the game. Famitsu covered a brief recap of the event and now 4Gamer also posted an update, some previous information was updated.

The Vita version is expected to release in the Spring of 2013. It is roughly the same as the PC version, where the interface, graphics, and controls have been adapted to work intuitively with the device. Since the updates are carried out around the same time as the PC version, Vita users won't have to worry about being left behind.

 

Since the last time we've seen the game, there has been a considerable increase in quality. Now it has roughly similar graphics to the PC version, like a cross between the "simple" and "standard" shader graphical settings. In the future they may perform even more upgrades and optimizations to the game's graphics and performance.

 

Due to Vita's touch screen interface, they made an emphasis on how intuitive it is to play compared to the PC version. The touch screen lets you quickly navigate to your shortcut menu, or use items with a simple tap. The lower right corner of the screen has your attack and photon art icons and also contains a button to access your chat.

 

The main attraction for the PlayStation Vita version is cross platform play with the PC version. This was performed live during the presentation with no lag.

Each ship will have two types of blocks, PC exclusive blocks and PC+Vita blocks. PC players can switch to the PC+Vita blocks to play together with other Vita users. They are also examining if they are going to have a beta test of sorts, but they plan to have a PSVita announcement sometime near the end of this year or early next year.

 

The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra presents the Phantasy Star Series 25th Anniversary Concert: Sympathy 2013 (Sympathy is the name of PSo2's music system.)

Concert Date

  • March 30th, 2013

Location

  • Hibiya Public Hall

Conductor

  • Masamichi Amano

But what's most important is the survey, after answering your gender, age, and occupation, you can choose from a list of your favorite songs throughout the entire Phantasy Star series. This is your chance to request what songs you'd like to hear at the concert.

 

The "Sexy" Hunewearl and Cute Fonewearl