Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis

live service trash

Half of the game's fun is paywalled. You won't have as much fun as the people who paid for stuff in the game, and paying for stuff in this game doesn't feel good at all. Without premium status, most online features that's usually base-kit for MMORPGs are inaccessible. Combat is tedious & dull, even with gear considered "good" in the stage of the game you're in, you will somehow always be spending more time killing a boss than you expect to. So many crossovers that had potential to be great if it wasn't on this pushover game. PSO2 Classic is glorious, you can tell that they were capable of making a great MMORPG, they threw all that out the window with NGS. (Including Pyro's mask.) If you want to play Classic, it is downloadable in-game, but I think that there are better MMORPGs to play.

IGNORE THE GAME'S MOST RECENT REVIEWS AND A MAJORITY OF THE OLDER OVERALL REVIEWS - THEY ARE EITHER FROM ANTI-ANTI BROS OR BASELETS UPSET NGS ISN'T THEIR FAVORITE GAME THEY PLAYED FOR ALL OF 3 MONTHS YEARS BACK WHEN WE FIRST GOT GLOBAL SERVERS AFTER 10 YEARS. THERE IS ALSO AN EXTREMELY VOCAL MINORITY OF PLAYERS WHO WISH FOR THE GAME'S DOWNFALL AND REGULARLY CHECK BACK ON A MONTHLY BASIS EVERY TIME THERE IS A HEADLINE TO SEE IF THEY'VE ANNOUNCED END OF SERVICE FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS LOL ANYWAY THE GOOD: F2P GAME THAT DOESN'T REQUIRE HUNDREDS OF HOURS OF STORYLINE TO PLAY WITH YOUR FRIENDS? CHECK F2P GAME THAT HAS A WIDE VARIETY OF COMBAT CLASSES WITH UNIQUE PLAYSTYLES AND FAST ACTION-BASED COMBAT? CHECK F2P GAME THAT HAS AN INCREDIBLY DETAILED CHARACTER CREATOR WHERE A LOT OF PEOPLE QUITE LITERALLY PLAY TO ENJOY THE GAME'S FASHION AND DOING JUST THAT? CHECK F2P GAME THAT ALLOWS YOU TO PURCHASE 99% OF EVERY ITEM RELEASED, INCLUDING CASH SHOP ITEMS, WITH IN GAME CURRENCY? CHECK F2P GAME THAT IS INCREDIBLY EASY TO PICK UP, CATCH UP ON THE LATEST HAPPENINGS, THEN PUT BACK DOWN IF YOU HAVE OTHER STUFF TO PLAY? CHECK F2P GAME THAT OFFERS A DIFFERENT "ACTIVITY" TO DO ON AT MOST A BI-WEEKLY BASIS: CHECK F2P GAME THAT IS EXTREMELY CASUAL FOCUSED AND LETS YOU CATCH UP TO THE LATEST CONTENT EASILY? CHECK. QUITE LITERALLY YOU CAN "CATCH UP" IN A FEW HOURS IF YOU WANT, THE GAME MAKES IT SO EASY TO DO THAT F2P GAME THAT GIVES YOU SANDBOX HOUSING ANYONE CAN OBTAIN AND MESS WITH AND ALSO ALLOWS YOU TO VISIT PEOPLE IMMEDIATELY IN OTHER SERVERS (CREATIVE SPACE)? CHECK F2P GAME THAT HITS THOSE DOPAMINE RECEPTORS BEING ABLE TO GRIND ENDLESSLY WITHOUT RESTRICTIONS TO GET AS MUCH LOOT AS YOU WANT? CHECK F2P GAME THAT IS INCREDIBLY GENEROUS WITH EVENTS TO GIVE YOU COOL REWARDS AND ITEMS TO OBTAIN? CHECK F2P GAME THAT MAKES IT EASY TO PARTY UP AND DO CONTENT WITH OTHER PLAYERS? CHECK F2P GAME WITH A HIGH AMOUNT OF PLAYER-RUN CONTENT HOSTED BY PLAYERS THEMSELVES? CHECK F2P GAME THAT LETS YOU DO ALL YOUR DAILIES IN JUST A FEW MINUTES? CHECK - THIS IS AMAZING ACTUALLY LOL THE WHATEVER: INVENTORY AND STORAGE MANAGEMENT - CAN BE AN ISSUE FOR NEW PLAYERS SINCE THE GAME DROPS A CRAPTON OF LOOT - HOWEVER, MATERIAL STORAGE WHICH SOLVES 99% OF YOUR PROBLEMS IS EXTREMELY AFFORDABLE FOR F2P PLAYERS, SO IT'S ALMOST NEVER AN ISSUE IN GENERAL LACK OF HIGH DIFFICULTY CONTENT - THE GAME IS EXTREMELY RELAXED, BUT THOSE WANTING SOME CHALLENGE MAY FEEL THERE IS A LOT TO BE DESIRED. HOWEVER WHEN THERE IS HIGH DIFFICULTY CONTENT ADDED, IT'S USUALLY VERY FUN AND ENJOYABLE LIMITED TIME CAMPAIGN CLEARS - MOST QUESTS IN THE GAME BARRING 4-MAN QUESTS TAKE ANYWHERE FROM 6-8 MINUTES USUALLY. OCCASIONALLY, THEY WILL RUN LIMITED TIME CAMPAIGNS THAT REWARD YOU FOR CLEARING QUESTS 20-30X. WHILE THE QUESTS DON'T TAKE LONG TO COMPLETE, IT'S A LITTLE ANNOYING HAVING TO DO SO MANY. YOU ARE GIVEN 1-2 WEEKS AND YOU CAN KNOCK OUT 5+ QUESTS IN AN HOUR, SO IT'S REALLY NOT A BIG DEAL UNLESS YOU HATE PLAYING THE GAME THE BAD: THE GAME'S CUSTOMIZATION IS TOO POWERFUL SOMETIMES - TOO POWERFUL THAT A LOT OF TERMINALLY ONLINE GOONERS MAKE ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS CREATIONS OF THEIR FETISHES WITH ACCESSORIES TO PUT THEMSELVES ON DISPLAY AND EITHER HAVE ARGUMENTS IN LOBBY CHAT ALL DAY OR STAND IN FRONT OF THE PERSONAL SHOP FOR ATTENTION. BLOCKING THESE PEOPLE WILL MAKE YOUR EXPERIENCE HERE BETTER IMMEDIATELY TOO MANY SYSTEMS - LAYERS OF JUGGLING SKILL CUSTOMIZATION, WEAPON CUSTOMIZATION, AUGMENTS, ARMORS, ETC ALL ADD UP INTO A CONFUSING AMALGAMATION OF INFORMATION FOR A NEW PLAYER TO ABSORB BEFORE THEY CAN FULLY UNDERSTAND HOW THE GAME WORKS. IT HAS BEEN AN INCREDIBLY OBTUSE GAME SINCE BASE AND THEY HAVE MADE IT MORE STREAMLINED SINCE THEN TO MAKE NGS MORE PLAYER FRIENDLY. ALTHOUGH IT DOES NOT TAKE LONG TO EXPLAIN THE INS AND OUTS OF THE GAME TO A NEW PLAYER SLOW STORY UPDATES - PLAYERS WANT TO BE CAPTIVATED BY THE CAST AND WANT ANSWERS THEY'VE HAD ABOUT THE MYSTERIES OF THE WORLD AND SPACE. BUT WITH SLOW STORY UPDATES, IT HAS FELT LIKE A SLOW TREADMILL. IT MAKES IT HARD TO CONNECT TO THE WORLD AND WONDER WHAT THE PURPOSE OF EVERYTHING IN IF THINGS HAPPEN SO SLOWLY. HOWEVER, PICKING UP IN AUGUST 2026, WE ARE NOW GUARANTEED LARGE STORY UPDATES EVERY 4 MONTHS WHICH IS GREAT OVER-RELIANCE ON LIMITED TIME CONTENT - FOR THE MOST PART, A LOT OF QUESTS ARE LIMITED TIME, HOWEVER THEY ARE SIMPLY EDITS OF EXISTING MAPS USED AS MOST OF THE GAME'S CONTENT THAT THEY REGULARLY ROTATE IN/OUT. THIS IS BY MEANS NOT FEAR OF MISSING OUT INDUCING AT ALL BECAUSE THEY ARE USUALLY BROUGHT BACK OR DON'T GIVE EXCLUSIVE REWARDS, BUT THERE IS SIMPLY A LACK OF SUBSTANTIAL "PERMANENT" QUESTS YOU CAN DO AT ANY POINT THAT IS A FRESH ACTIVITY TO DO BEYOND WHAT IS CURRENTLY RUNNING. THE GAME'S CONTENT HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO RUN THE "CURRENT THING" AND THE "CURRENT THING" WILL USUALLY LAST ABOUT 2 WEEKS BEFORE SWAPPING TO SOMETHING ELSE. IF YOU LIKE ACHIEVEMENTS, THERE IS A DECENT AMOUNT OF OLDER CONTENT BY NOW YOU CAN RUN, BUT AS FAR AS FRESH NEW EXPERIENCES YOU CAN QUEUE WITH YOUR FRIENDS THAT ISN'T GOING TO BE REPLACED IN 2 WEEKS, THERE ISN'T MUCH OF THAT UNFORTUNATELY. HOWEVER - THE ROADMAP (LATE 2026 TO EARLY 2027) SHOWS 2 NEW TYPES OF QUEST CATEGORIES ADDED TERMINALLY ONLINE PLAYERS - THIS GETS ITS OWN SECTION BECAUSE THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO DO NOT PLAY THE GAME WHO STAND IN LOBBIES EITHER POSTING HOT TAKES OR GETTING INTO ARGUMENTS WITH PEOPLE. OR BETTER YET, COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW BAD THE GAME IS. ALL IT TAKES IS FOR YOU TO CHECK THEIR GEAR, SEE THEY'VE OBTAINED THE LATEST HANDOUT WEAPONS AND ARMORS WITH NO ATTEMPT TO UPGRADE THEM FURTHER TO REALIZE THEY ARE THERE FOR ATTENTION AND EASY BAIT RESPONSES. LIKE THE GOONERS, JUST BLOCK THESE PEOPLE. YOUR EXPERIENCE WILL DRASTICALLY IMPROVE. SOMETIMES, THE LOWEST OF THE SLOW TEND TO MAKE ALTS AND COME BACK AFTER THEY'VE BEEN REPORTED/BLOCKED ENOUGH. SIMPLY BLOCK AND MOVE ON. ENGAGING WITH THESE PLAYERS WILL ONLY FRUSTRATE YOU OTHER STUFF: THE GAME IS FREE, TRY IT OUT. IT'S AN INCREDIBLY GENEROUS F2P TITLE THAT LETS YOU OBTAIN MOST THINGS IN THE GAME WITH YOUR IN-GAME CURRENCY. EVEN PAYING FOR PREMIUM IS SEEN AS A WASTE TO SOME CONSIDERING MOST OF THE BENEFITS FROM PREMIUM ITSELF YOU CAN OBTAIN NATURALLY AS A F2P PLAYER WITH STAR GEMS - A CURRENCY THAT IS ALSO INCREDIBLY EASY TO OBTAIN WITH ALL OF THE EVENTS AND REWARD CAMPAIGNS THEY DO. IT HAS A SMALL BUT DEDICATED COMMUNITY COMPARED TO OTHER GAMES, BUT ONE THAT QUICKLY WILL WELCOME YOU IN AND SHOW YOU THE ROPES. IF YOU'RE USED TO LIVE SERVICE TYPES OF GAMES AND HOPPING IN AT SHORT INTERVALS, THIS GAME IS PERFECT TO CHECK OUT THE LATEST HAPPENINGS WITHOUT FEELING COMPELLED TO PLAY FOR HUNDREDS OR EVEN DOZENS OF HOURS AT A TIME PLUS IT'S REALLY FUN AND HAS GREAT MUSIC

a game with infinitely squandered potential, RIP classic PSO2

You cannot download and play PSO2 on its own anymore, SEGA has done this to inflate number of consumers currently downloading and "playing" PSO2NG which has been a failure on all fronts. This review will be changed once PSO2 is once again available as a standalone download so as to properly portray the player counts of this disgrace.

It is a Barbie girl and Ken dress-up game with combat mechanichics.

I have well over a thousand hours in PSO2 and NGS combined, most of it off of Steam. Before that I played Phantasy Star Universe and PSO Episodes 1 & 2 on both the Gamecube and the Blue Burst version (on PC). Looking at the course that the Phantasy Star series has charted, I feel safe in saying that it's a pale shadow of what it used to be, and I can't recommend picking up PSO2 NGS. The base PSO2 is worth playing, though. The original game was a four-player split screen couch-coop dungeon delver with what for the time (2001-2005) was a good character creation system with classes and races which had distinct roles and perks. And the loot drop system, which changed based on your avatar name and your class, encouraged cooperative play, trading, and kept things fresh. There was even a story to be teased out if you knew what quests to take and where to look. Most of this went out the window with PSO2, which heralded the beginning of a monetization focus that focused purely on churning out character cosmetics and collaborations with famous game and anime series. Not for nothing was PSO2 jokingly called "Phasion Star Online 2". Even so, PSO2 still had a passable story,a good multiplayer system, and some amazing raid bosses. Sadly, NGE tossed out the story and dungeons in favour of an open-world system and an even greater focus on monetization with mobile-game-style login bonuses and rewards. The story is forgettable and uninspiring while the open world feels hollow after the first ten hours or so; most of the remaining players simply login for rewards and a character customization which exceeds that of Black Desert Online in terms of complexity. If you want to spend upwards of 30 hours customizing your character and forgetting what sunlight looks like while you do, play NGE. If you want a decent dungeon-delving experience, play PSO2. Otherwise Warframe probably comes closer to the original experience unless you want to download a private server of PSO:BB.