Game-A-Week Episode 22: Phantasy Star Online 2
[12:52 AM]
Oh yes. It finally happened. PSO2 actually came out in the west.
[12:52 AM]
I've talked about it before on Game-A-Week and it was originally going to be part of the Future Seven arc
[12:52 AM]
Here, click on that if you want a refresher.
[12:54 AM]
Anyway, I can't tell you how surreal it felt it actually play this game after its crazy, almost decade long history of assuming it would never happen.
[12:54 AM]
And you know what?
[12:55 AM]
It was absolutely worth the wait.
[12:56 AM]
Heck, I'll even tell it like it is straight up. This is the BEST game we've ever covered here on Game-A-Week
[12:57 AM]
I liked it so much that I actually forgot about Game-A-Week and ended up playing it for three weeks straight.
[12:58 AM]
It wasn't until AFTER I beat the final boss and rolled credits on the game that it hit me "Wait a minute, Game-A-Week is still a thing"
[12:59 AM]
Now, there is so much going on with this game that it can feel overwhelming to a new player. And as such, I'm currently overwhelmed trying to think about where to start with this review
[1:00 AM]
So I think the best place to start is at the very beginning. Character creation.
[1:01 AM]
PSO2 has a super in-depth character creator, you can fine tune every aspect of your character. Right down to the shape of their bosoms or how many pairs of sunglasses you want to wear
[1:06 AM]
At first glance, the character creator seems simple but take one visit to the game's subreddit and you can do some crazy things. I believe as of this writing, the top post on the subreddit is someone who somwhow turned their character into an easter island head. They even used the pompadour hairstyle for the nose. I have no idea how they did that but it was something else.
[1:07 AM]
There are four races to choose from and six classes. But there are 3 extra classes you can select once you're in the game (And 3 classes that haven't been added to the game yet but as coming in future patches)
[1:10 AM]
The four races are Humans, Newmans (Genetically altered Humans. Really, they're just elves with sci-fi lore), CASTs (Robots which can be completely artificial or a mechanically enhanced human) and Deuman (A race created by gene splicing humans and dragons together).
[1:11 AM]
The races DO have stat differences but they're so minor, it hardly makes a difference.
[1:12 AM]
But for the sake of doing it anyway, Humans have balanced stats, Newmans have higher tech (magic) but lower melee attack, CASTs have higher melee attack but lower tech and Dewmans have higher offensive stats across the board but lower defensive stats across the board.
[1:14 AM]
For classes there's Hunter (Melee Attacker), Ranger (Ranged attacker), Force (Tech attacker), Braver (Melee & Ranged hybrid), Bouncer (Melee & Tech hydrid) and Summoner (Self explanatory pet class)
[1:15 AM]
You can change your class at any time so feel free to experiment and don't feel like you have to commit to your starting class.
[1:16 AM]
In fact, they have three extra classes not available at character creation in order to encourage you to do this. If you want to play as one of these classes, you can switch to them at any time after the tutorial .
[1:17 AM]
They are Fighter(Melee attacker with higher attack but lower defense), Gunner (Ranged attacker with less range but higher damage) and Techter (Tech attacker that focuses on support instead of offense). They're basically alternative versions of the three main classes (Hunter, Ranger & Force)
[1:18 AM]
Me? I went Human Hunter
[1:18 AM]
At around level 20, you can unlock the ability to use a sub-class.
[1:20 AM]
What a subclass does is that 20% of that class' stats get added to your own AND you get access to that class' skill tree. Which pretty much means you get two skill trees at once with no downside.
[1:21 AM]
There's also a couple of extra perks depending on the class such as if you sub a class that can use magic, you gain access to magic even if your main class can't use magic.
[1:21 AM]
I chose Summoner as my subclass for this exact reason.
[1:22 AM]
And let me tell you, having healing spells is an absolute lifesaver. I could not imagine running some of the harder quests without it.
[1:23 AM]
Now, like I said before, this game has so much going on, it can feel overwhelming. So my way of appraching it is not to fuck with something until the game straight up tells you to do it via main missions.
[1:24 AM]
That way, you can take everything one step at a time instead of trying to take it in all at once.
[1:25 AM]
And for that reason, I think it would be best to only touch on the highlights of the game and not every little thing in this review.
[1:25 AM]
And one specific highlight is the MAG system
[1:25 AM]
At around level 10 or so, you'll gain access to a MAG. A small little robotic pet.
[1:26 AM]
Your mag levels up by feeding it items but you need to be careful what items you feed it because different items will raise different stats.
[1:26 AM]
And like a piece of equipment, your MAG's stats are added to your own.
[1:27 AM]
So if you want to roll a melee attacker, don't feed your MAG guns.
[1:28 AM]
Your MAG can also assist you in other ways by providing healing and various buffs once in a blue moon.
[1:30 AM]
But the coup de grace for MAGS is the Photon Blast. A powerful ability that will allow your MAG to transform into some kind of monster and deal a massive attack. Mine transforms into a lightning unicorn and its different for every MAG depending on what you feed it.
[1:31 AM]
It will evolve twice. Once at level 30 and then again at level 100. And again, it will be different depending on its stat spread. Mine ened up becoming Delphinus which looks like a spherical robot with two little rocket arms.
[1:33 AM]
Another notable highlight are concerts and urgent quests.
[1:36 AM]
Concerts feel incredibly surreal. Especially ones involving Hatsune Miku. You hang around the stage and listen to the music while they do a dance performance. Its really something you have to experience to understand. You get a buff at the end of every concert so they're always worth going to. Plus, you get to meme with everyone else there in the chat so its just a fun time all around. A lot of MMOs forget about the social aspect but PSO2 knows how to get everyone together for a good laugh. And that's just really nice.
[1:39 AM]
Now urgent quests are basically this game's version of raids. They happen at set times (the official website has a schedule) and are massive scale operations. Either defeating an enemy worthy of being the entire game's final boss or a metric ton of regular enemies. Either way, you can't do them alone but the game makes sure EVERYONE shows up by broadcasting emergency announcements throughout the game.
[1:39 AM]
Its actually really cool, it really does feel like the game goes into a state of emergency.
[1:41 AM]
The game is a HUB based action RPG. Meaning you hang out in a lobby with other players and accept quests from a bulletin board and then go out into missions. We've covered that song and dance here on Game-A-Week before. One thing that's different though is that there are two types of enemies. Local natives and Falspawn. Falspawn are the minions of the main antagonist Dark Falz which is basically a demonic entity.... in space. What this means is that the natives and the Falspawn will actually fight each other if they're in the same area. At first glance, it might seem to be not tat helpful but once you start getting to the higher level quests, any aggro that's taken off of you is good. And that's exactly what enemies fighting each other accomplishes. There are some mission that allow you to side with the local natives to defeat the Falspawn which is pretty cool. There's also something really cool about the concept of local wildlife noticing an unnatural demonic presence and actively fighting it. The game uses a three button system for attacking. Right click, left click and scroll wheel click. There's just one problem with the scroll wheel. The scrolling up and down with the scroll wheel is also how you switch weapons. So a lot of the times when I try to block, I end up accidentally swapping weapons and tanking the hit instead. Its very annoying but I guess I just need to get good.
[1:43 AM]
Also, you get a skill point for your skill tree at EVERY level, not just starting at level 10 like it does in WoW. So at max level which is currently 75, you can 75 skill points to allocate into your skill tree. 150 if you count your subclass.
[1:44 AM]
The game is owned By SEGA but it still feels weird that I can wear an Eggman mask, layered on top of a Tails mask, layered on top of a Sonic mask.
[1:44 AM]
Did I mention this game's character creation is wild?
[1:45 AM]
It also feels weird to log into the game and see a rotating statue of Knuckles in the lobby. But you know, in a good way.
[1:46 AM]
There was one post on the subreddit calling the game Phantasy Star Online 2 & Knuckles and it was so true, it actually hurt a little.
[1:46 AM]
But you know
[1:46 AM]
In a good way
[1:47 AM]
The game will also let you have an auxiliary at level 20. Which is basically a secondary character you can customize as much as your first one that you can automatically send on fetch quests. So you can grind while you sleep.
[1:48 AM]
I named mine Aigis and made it look almost exactly like Aigis from Persona 3
[1:48 AM]
Because why wouldn't I? She IS best girl, after all.
[1:50 AM]
The game's story is kind of a mess but it actually managed to make me tear up at the end so I can't say its bad.
[1:51 AM]
And without going into the nitty gritty, that's pretty much PSO2. The highlights, at least.
[1:52 AM]
There IS one last thing for me to touch on. This doesn't have anything to do with the actual game but its extremely important so if you're going to read ANYTHING in this review, I want it to be this part.
[1:53 AM]
The game was released onto Xbox One and PC. However, the PC release is exclusive to the Microsoft Store. At first, i didn't think it was a big deal but my god, the Microsoft Store is BUSTED.
[1:53 AM]
Downloading, installing and patching this game through the Microsoft Store took a full 24 hours. It was horrendous.
[1:54 AM]
And that wasn't even where it ended. A week later, the game straight up uninstalled itself completely but still left the space it took up on my computer.
[1:55 AM]
This was because the game was actually still installed on my computer but the dumbass Microsoft Store thought otherwise for some reason.
[1:55 AM]
So I had to manually remove every single file from my computer using 7zip in order to reclaim my hard drive space.
[1:55 AM]
It was a nightmare
[1:56 AM]
Thankfully, this game's community has an active technologically adept base that created its own fanmade launcher.
[1:57 AM]
It just straight up eliminates all the bullshit the Microsoft Store creates.
[1:57 AM]
If you're going to play this game, which I highly recommend you do, I HIGHLY recommend you install it through this fanmade launcher and avoid the Microsoft Store alotgether.
[1:58 AM]
Don't worry, its entirely safe.
[1:58 AM]
Here's a link to it.
[1:58 AM]
[1:59 AM]
I cannot stress this enough. I REALLY recommend you play this game this way so you don't have to deal with the bullshit I did.
[1:59 AM]
See how I look out for you guys? I went through that nightmare so you don't have to. Aren't I nice?
[2:01 AM]
I give PSO2 an 8.5/10. I feel its not quite a 9 but its definitely better than an 8 which is the highest score we've had here on Game-A-Week so far. This game is absolutely wonderful and I will be playing it until the end of time. I have officially marked this game as essential and it will NEVER be leaving my computer. Its THAT good.
[2:03 AM]
I was so pumped about this game that I streamed it on day 1. First time streaming anything too. 100% worth it. The game actually keeps track of how long you've played on every character. I've got 80 hours in the game total in just three weeks and I've probably posted on the subreddit more frequently than I've done for any other game. Once or twice a week, maybe. This is absolutely in my top 5 for MMOS
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