Phantasy Star Online 2 - Official Pre-Release Topic

[CrazyT]

Thanks for all these ezo. It seems the more I read, the more I see... the more jelly I get.

[CrazyT]

I think from what I read, I only have feedback about 2 things. (well assuming the alpha testers know what they are talking about)

Balancing: This is very general and applies not only to the characters, but the enemies as well. I remember the first booma slapping the shit out of me. The AI needs to attack when he gets the chance, and I saw very little of this. They do an awful lot of damage however, but I think this is where the balance should be applied. Make them do alitttle less damage in return of better AI. It would feel much natural that way. The characters themselves probably need some balancing too. I read that the magic's aren't balanced from each other? (let me hear ure thoughts ezo since u play with a force).

Press attack button on timing: So PSU's button mashing was allready a bit of a turnoff to me, but it was a different game with a different mechanic. Love or hate it, it was not meant to be PSO'ish in the first place.

I love the timing aspect of attacking in PSO. Yes after a while it would become an automation when mastering it, but still it didn't encourage button mashing and had a bit of a learning curve. Button mashing got u nowhere.  It felt good, that's for sure. To me this is a signature mechanic to PSO....

So I am reaaally dissapointed that you can hold on the attack button to keep attacking. I'm baffled that no one has mentioned this anywhere. Am I nitpicking?

[crackdude]

Am I nitpicking?

Yes.

Although I do have to agree, the button timing thing was nice. But it really just separated the noobs from the ultra-noobs. After playing for a couple of hours it's nothing but a nuisance.

So..yeah, fuck it. I'm cool with this. As long as they add a bit more spice and variety to the combat..

[ezodagrom]

Another day of the alpha is over, today don't have much info to share, since I spent most of my time in stuff I've done before or failing a quest I have no idea how to complete.

In the quest I haven't been able to complete, there's a creepy red orb, I tried attacking it or attacking its tentacles but wasn't able to complete the quest, maybe I have to kill the enemies there before it explodes?

Video of someone else doing this quest and failing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OilQpqPXaRA&t=06m05s

For those who're interested in checking PSO2 Alpha 2 videos, here's a topic from the PSO-World forums, there's alot of videos in the first post, which keeps being updated with new videos.
http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192904

I recorded one video in today's alpha, it's 50 minutes long and compressed it's around 3.25GB, probably it'll be fully uploaded between tomorrow night and friday morning (Europe timezone).

To end this post, here's a few more techniques pictures:
Anti - http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/8830/pso2040.jpg
Charged Anti - http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/3152/pso2041.jpg

And the last one, I'm doing a charged Razonde while jumping, which has more range than when it's done on the ground:
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/2131/pso2042.jpg
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/9353/pso2043.jpg

[ezodagrom]

Just finished uploading this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm84WPczuT0

Running through the forest area with a FOnewearl.

[ezodagrom]

Today and tomorrow are the last days of the alpha, I reached level 20 (highest level in the alpha) and completed all quests, so now I'm taking a break until my brother gets home.
I'm going to try to get 1 or 2 videos from the volcano area, but it's possible that I might end up not recording anything.

Anyway, the areas in PSO2 are divided in parts like the areas in PSO (for example Forest 1 and Forest 2), and each part/block has differences in the environment, so I took a picture from each of the blocks.

Forest area block 1 - http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/8076/pso2044.jpg
Forest area block 2 - http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/8443/pso2045.jpg
Volcano area block 1 - http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/2972/pso2046.jpg
Volcano area block 2 - http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/4467/pso2047.jpg

[Radrappy]

cool man, really appreciate your media/impressions.  Glad to hear the game is coming along nicely.  Couple observations

-it seems like with all the jumping and dodging, it's awfully difficult for enemies to land a hit.  Hopefully they'll also introduce more enemies that attack based on the new mechanics introduced (an enemy that hits the ground to make a shockwave that the player has to jump over or an enemy that has an invincible charge that you have to dive out of the way of would be most welcome)

-right now it seems like the level design favors big wide open areas.  This isn't a bad thing per se, but it would be nice if there were some narrow rooms/areas for contrast.  That was visually one of the most successful elements of the original PSO.  It was breathtaking in caves to finally reach this room http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg502/scaled.php?server=502&filename=caves.jpg&res=medium after you had spent the majority of the level in closed areas. 

-The differences between forest 1 and forest 2 are too subtle.  In PSO, f2 was stormy and over cast.  It was a complete change of atmosphere that heightened the tension.  Would be nice to get some of that in here.   

These aren't major complaints and the game does look solid.  But it's the little things that end up separating the good games from the great ones. 

[Sharky]

With everything I've seen on PSO2 I think the game looks awesome but there are two things that really bother me.

First is that so far the enviroments lack... Something. They are kind of dull. The forest is all a very boring shade of green, there are no real set peice locations or interesting things going on and the same can be said for the caves... From room to room it's all very monotonous. They really need to introduce some more colour, more exciting things into the enviroments.


The second is the passive enemy AI which has been in most PSO games... I want them to fight back agressively. There are moments when they just stand still and accept that they are being killed. Give me enemies that fight back and convince me that they really WANT to survive.

[Barry the Nomad]

It was breathtaking in caves to finally reach this room http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg502/scaled.php?server=502&filename=caves.jpg&res=medium after you had spent the majority of the level in closed areas. 

Oh my god I loved that room! So true, you got there and you were like "woh..". lol, looking back at the graphics now, its so not jawdropping. But then it seemed so damn cool.

[CrazyT]

Yeah tbh ragrappy is expressing the exact same concerns I have. The changes between parts of the levels varied greatly. Everyone probably loved entering cave 2 for the first time after struggling (I know I struggled alot in my first single player walkthrough) through alot of quests that ended in cave 1 itself.

Pso 2 thus far doesn't have that at all so im realllllly hoping they're taking notes of the first game like that. And yeah I agree about the narrow places as well, but I especially think that there should be environments that feel distinct with some architecture or for example a humongous tree or whatever, within the forest. Everything looks too samey for my taste.

[ezodagrom]

Managed to get a picture of lightning striking the ground:
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/2888/pso2048.jpg

Today I had a rather fun moment in PSO2 in the forest area. First the interrupt event "Code Protection" started, a ship dropped down and I had to protect that ship from enemies while it was being repaired. During the repairs lightning started striking the ground occasionally like in the picture.
After the repairs were done, the ship started to lift off, but then it dropped to the ground again and a new code Protection started. During the 2nd round of repairs, a PSE Burst started, which means that more enemies were appearing to either attack me or the ship.

Anyway, I managed to record a couple of videos from the Volcano area today, one that ends in the Dragon boss and another that ends in the Kyatadoran boss (a serpent like lizzard). Most likely going to upload one of the videos monday and the other either tuesday or wednesday.

[batfax]

I got to have a day playing PSO yesterday thanks to friends of friends letting me use their account. Unfortunately, I didn't really look at the technical aspects but I can say that there did seem to be a benefit to using proper timing. It just wasn't required. Anyway, here's a couple shots I got in the few hours I played:

Explosions: http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/1651/pso20120204011519059.jpg

Two parties meeting: http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/6308/pso20120204002825050.jpg

[ezodagrom]

Me and my brother going through the volcano area and ending in the Vol Dragon boss.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbHKFr6jb_I

I have another video ready to be uploaded, also from the Volcano area, but ending in the Kyatadoran boss, but my connection has been rather unstable in the last few days, so dunno when I'll upload it.

On another news, RAnewm concept art:


http://bumped.org/psublog/phantasy-star-online-2-newman-ranger-male-costume/

[ezodagrom]

My last video from the alpha 2 test, another video from the volcano area, but one that ends in the Kyatadoran boss:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2knukPxMhRE

Also, a bit of info that I got wrong. I thought that the free fields were the only multi-party areas, but according to other players, some blocks in the quests themselves are also multi-party areas.

[ezodagrom]

RAnewearl concept art:



Alpha 2 statistics report:
http://bumped.org/psublog/pso2-alpha-test-2-players-report-and-ranewearl/

And a new feature that appeared on Phantasy Star Portable 2, boosted enemies:

Today Sakai has completed postrecording work! But let’s talk about Boost Enemies, something coming in the next test.

A concept taken from Phantasy Star Zero and Phantasy Star Portable 2, Boost Enemies are stronger versions of regular enemies. So far, boost enemies looked identical to the regular version but had an aura effect, but this will change a bit in PSO2.

Now that the Darkers exist, they will greatly affect the enemy’s appearance.





Wow they have a red tinged body and look slightly grotesque. Boost enemies will be stronger and difficult to defeat compared to regular enemies. However, they have a weak point. There’s a core sprouting out of the body which you can see in the screenshots. Aim for this area. Killing these boost enemies also provides you with better drops.

http://bumped.org/psublog/phantasy-star-online-2-boosted-enemies-ramarl-and-fomar/