#PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2 GENRES UPDATE#
#PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2 GENRES OFFLINE#
#PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2 GENRES SERIES#

Music and sound hasn’t changed, other than the addition of two new tracks for battle mode, so there’s nothing to really cover here.

#PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2 GENRES OFFLINE#

The “ending” features more pictures like last time for offline mode, but these pictures do add a small piece of information to long-time Phantasy Star enthusiasts, though not enough to really satiate the desire for a good ending.

#PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2 GENRES SERIES#

Those who are unfamiliar with the Phantasy Star series plotline will still be left in the dark as before. The storyline remains exactly the same as the original game. Thankfully, the graphical changes to the levels for ultimate mode are nice, and it all evens out in the end.

The new engine barely reduces some slowdown, but there’s still a good bit of it, and with the pop up issues, it just isn’t worth it. Shooting traps with a rifle from a long distance results in mines that blink out rather than explode, since you’re too far to see the explosion in the updated graphics engine, leaving you somewhat… annoyed. Some technique effects such as Shifta/Deband have been adjusted to use less polygon power, which is actually for the better, since it looks cleaner, and it helps to reduce slowdown. It is nothing short of goofy, since you can see the environment from a good distance, and as you walk, pools of blood from slain monsters just seem to appear out of nowhere. Pop up is a major issue with some of the not-so-important graphics, such as blood, box explosions, and so forth. In the game’s new ultimate difficulty mode, the four dungeons each get a slight new look: the forest now taking place in a sunset, the caves having cement floors in some of the rooms, as well as some new fog effects in the watery areas, the mines being darker and more eerie, and finally, the ruins having pretty much just a palette swap. Graphically, for the most part, everything has remained the same in the old version 1 environments. For instance, a Grants level 20 disk will appear as a Grants level 1 disk to a version 1 gamer, and an Ancient Saber would appear as the standard green saber that most characters start out with in Phantasy Star Online. Items new to version 2 cannot be seen by version 1 players since the data is not on the version 1 GD, and said items appear as the default item in its class in version 1. Version 2 players can create games in either version 2 mode or version 1 mode, and in version 2 mode, only version 2 players can join, obviously. To clarify something, version 2 players CAN play with version 1 players.

The question going through many minds about this game is simple: what makes PSOV2 worth spending another $40 for the disc, and paying monthly to play it online? Hopefully all will be made clear, right here in this brief review.

#PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2 GENRES UPDATE#

Phantasy Star Online Version 2 is an update on the already eight-month-old release of Phantasy Star Online, with enhancements, bug fixes, and a pay-to-play system being incorporated worldwide, unlike the previous domestic release which was free in the United States. Note: This review is based on the Japanese version of the game.

Phantasy star online 2 genres