How currency in Phantasy Star Online 2 will work


Everyday new information on Phantasy Star Online 2 hits the net and the more I hear about it the more excited I get.  Let’s be honest, most of my early 2000’s  were spent  playing Phantasy Star Online on the SEGA Dreamcast and a decade later it seems I will be doing the same with the sequel. How exciting is that?

When we learned that Phantasy Star Online 2 went free-to-play, most people were wondering how SEGA was going to handle payments for content. Lots of people thought this could hurt the series. Well, now SEGA lets us know about the currency in Phantasy Star Online 2 and how it works. They have announced that there will be three types of currency. That’s right, three.

Phantasy Star Online 2 PC character creator demo out now, download here

[Above character created by forum member CrazyTails, shout out!]

Sadly the demo is in Japanese, but the guys at bumped have made a mini-guide walking you through it. There is also a bench mark, but what do the scores mean?

  •  Less than 2000: Please adjust your game settings because the processing load is quite heavy.
  •  2000 through 5000: The game runs fine at the setting, if you have room, you can adjust some settings.
  •  5001+: The game works wonderfully at this setting.

So where can you download it? Right here [466mb].

If you want to share your characters you can do it on our forum topic or you can post them here in the comments.

Phantasy Star Online 2 create demo coming April 5th, have new screens while you wait

Are you excided to hear that Phantasy Star Online 2 is going totally free to play? Do you want to try the game now and see how your PC will run it? Well, SEGA is setting up a ‘create demo’ for us Phantasy Star Online fiends that cannot wait much longer. There will be a demo released on April 5th, via the game’s official website, so mark your calendars. This demo will allow you to create a character, which you will be able to play as later when the game goes open beta. It also comes with a benchmark functionality to see if your PC is up to snuff.

If that wasn’t all, there have a been a ton of screenshots released… including the first smart phone screens! There are also some with new weapons and a new boss from the PC closed beta. Exciting.

Phantasy Star Online 2 Will Be Free To Play and on Smartphones

Sega of Japan revealed today that Phantasy Star Online 2 will not only arrive on PC, Vita and smartphone (iOS/Android) devices, but will be based on the free-to-play model of MMO’s. The PC and Vita versions will be similar and offer cross platform gameplay while the smartphone versions will be a simpler, more “personal” version of the game.The PC version will release in Japan this summer with the smartphone versions this winter and the Vita version in spring 2013.

No word yet if the game will see HD console release in the future.

First Phantasy Star Online 2 Vita screens make it online

SEGA just got done announcing Phantasy Star Online 2 for the Vita a few days ago, but now they are ready to start releasing screens. Well, at least 3 of them. The game might look a bit rough to you, but Sakai has confirmed that it’s only 10% complete and promises that when it’s done the Vita version should rival the PC version’s highest setting. I don’t know if this is good news or bad.

Sakai said he had a PSO2 surprise coming in March. Guess what? Surprise, this is it. The Vita version of the game. The Playstation Vita version of the game will start service sometime in 2013. SEGA has recently finished the PC version’s alpha 2 test, which was played by over 50,000 people. The game is getting closer to the large closed beta phase, I can’t believe it’s still this early in development.

Phantasy Star Online 2 alpha version hints at English localization

You know SEGA, if you just leave hints in the code, we SEGA nerds are going to end up finding it. Remember all the stuff found out from the Sonic Generations demo? You know your fans are going to be checking every single line of code for hints of exclusive information. Well, here is some that might make you smile.

Here’s some localization info:

Between Alpha 1 to Alpha 2 they added the Title screen in different language directories, here is a list:
language/ch/ui_title_logo.ice
language/de/ui_title_logo.ice
language/en/ui_title_logo.ice
language/es/ui_title_logo.ice
language/fr/ui_title_logo.ice
language/it/ui_title_logo.ice
language/jp/ui_title_logo.ice
language/ko/ui_title_logo.ice
language/tw/ui_title_logo.ice

Take a wild guess on what those stand for.

Phantasy Star Online 2 gets announced for Vita

Phantasy Star franchise mastermind Sakai has announced today that Phantasy Star Online 2 is coming to Playstation Vita, in 2013. Yeah, sucks that we have to wait that long. Look at it this way, in the US we will probably wait a lot longer, since the game isn’t even announced here yet.

So the video above might not impress you graphically, but keep in mind the game is only 10% complete. That means that the 3D models, shading and other effects are set to the lowest setting. The good thing? The Vita version will play on the same servers, use the same data as the PC version. So you can buy both and pick the game up on the Vita while you ride a bus. Technology, you gotta love it.

Phantasy Star Online 2 Alpha Impressions and Photos!

SEGAbits forum member ezodagrom has been lucky enough to participate in the Phantasy Star Online 2 alpha, and he was kind enough to share some excellent photos and impressions in our forums. Regarding gameplay, he had this to share:

When it comes to gameplay, I only played as a Force, and when compared to PSO and PSU, Forces are much more fun to use now in PSO2, mostly thanks to the ability to charge techniques, being able to combo techs in the middle of normal attacks, the dodge teleporting skill, and being able to switch between the normal camera and TPS style camera.

When using the Gunblade weapon, instead of using the dodge teleporting skill it uses the Hunter step dodge, but now the Hunter step dodge is much more balanced than in the first alpha. There’s a delay between dodges, plus after the dodge the player is forced to “walk” for a few seconds before he goes back to running. Not only the step dodge can’t be spammed like before, running now covers more distance than trying to spam the step dodge.

In addition to his thoughts on gameplay, ezodagrom also talks about controls, music, graphics, framerate and has a number of images to share. Check out his impressions and images in our lovely forums!

Phantasy Star Online 2 – Opening CG and Trailer

Last night Sega held two Phantasy Star Online 2 “Fan Briefings” where members of the development team including ‘Dragon’ Sakai took to the stage in Akihabara Japan to revealed new details about PSO2. Fans who could not attend the even, like you and I could watch it on USTREAM.

The above video is the opening CGI movie of PSO2, hit the jump to watch a trailer for the game which includes lots of gameplay recorded from the USTREAM video so quality isnt the best.

Note the remixed version of the original PSO theme music ‘A Whole New World’ playing during both videos.

SEGA shares part of their TGS 2011 line-up


Its nothing new that companies share a gaming event’s line-up early. It happens every year, the only issue is that they have games they are saving to announce closer to the event. This time around is no different, stuff like Black Panther 2 , Yakuza 5 or Valkyria Chronicles 3 Extended don’t appear in the list.

Confirmed to be there:

  • Binary Domain (PS3/360)
  • Rhythm Thief & The Emperor’s Treasure (3DS)
  • Hatsune Miku Project Diva Extend (PSP)
  • Phantasy Star Online 2 (PC)
  • 7th Dragon 2020 (PSP)
  • Anarchy Reigns (PS3/360)
  • Sonic Generations (PS3/3DS)
Even weirder, stuff like Shinobi 3DS, CRUSH 3D and Guardian Heroes seems to be missing. What is up with that? 
[Source: AndriaSang]

All the Phantasy Star Online 2 information from the conference


We have showed you the trailer that SEGA showed off. That trailer has all the new features shown, so once you read about the features here, head over and re-watch it.

  • You can have a team of 12, though you will be split into 4 smaller teams to keep the feel of PSO.
  • The PSO2 alpha testing kicks off in Japan in August.
  • PSO2 now allows you to jump and jump attack (already known).
  • PSO2 allows a TPS like system for Rangers. Lets say, you can aim at an enemies head for extra damage.
  • Levels (still random generated) will have parts that people can get on higher ground for more damage. Especially for Rangers.
  • You don’t level up like before. Instead you level up your class and have new abilities unlocked.
  • PC game will support both controllers and keyboard/mouse.

The game is planned for PC later this year in Japan. SEGA says more information will come in the Tokyo Game Show. Check out the official website for the game here.

[Source: AndriaSang]

Phantasy Star Online 2 Concept Movie

A new PSO2 trailer! It shows a lot of stuff! You can see how crazy the character creation is, see the new fancy lobbies, you can see the awesome new battle system, and a whole lot of other stuff I didn’t mention, such as 12 person parties! Enjoy!

Swingin’ Report Show #7: Rise from the Grave

The podcast is back! After being away for far too long, we have decided to give podcasting another go, this should end up a bit better than when MC Hammer tried to make a comeback.

[audio:http://www.segabits.com/wp-content/uploads/Full_podcast_7_Segabits.mp3]
[RSS] – [Download]

On the show this week:

  • Me (George)
  • Sharky
  • Aki-at
  • Nuckles87

What we talked about:

  • What we have been up to
  • Yakuza talk: Celebrating Yakuza week!
  • Sonic Generations: What we think of the latest footage.
  • Phantasy Star Online 2: Looks so good!
  • Binary Domain: From hate to love.

If any readers want to ask questions or send their comments, you can always send them here or post them in the comments.