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First impressions from a PSO vet perspective
Yeebo
Member UncommonPosts: 1,361
I know a lot of the folks interested in this are, like me, former
PSO addicts. Based on 4 hours of online play this morning, I
thought I'd give some first impressions. Just for the record, I
leveled a character to 200 in the DC PSO, played both versions, sunk
hundreds of hours into the GC PSO (multiple chars into Ultimate), and
played a bit of PSO BB on the PC (the latter is by far the best
incarnation of PSO, highly recommended if you haven't totally burned
out on it like I have). Playing PSU on the PS2, I'd imagine that the
game runs and looks at least as good on the PC or 360.
Character creation: Lots of options, you can tweak the appearance
of your character in much more detail than in PSO. I don't find the art
direction quite as charming as PSO, and it puzzles me that there are no
options for tattoos or makeup (at least so far). On the balance,
much more varied than in PSO.
When you start:
You appear in your apartment (?!?), and some funny looking robot guy
asks you if you want to do the tutorial. If you run through it
you get a free tech disk worth about 1000 meseta, so recommended.
Tutorial was short, and did a good job laying out the basics.
After the tutorial you re-appear in your apartment and can head out
into the world to get some missions. At first there appears to be
only one mission you can do, and you will need to run it three or four
times before you qualify for any other missions. However, the
layout of the mission environment is randomized (to roughly the same
extent as PSO, maybe slightly more random) so it's not as annoying as
it sounds. Loot might scale with level, because I got much better
loot the third time I ran the mission than the first. Access to
missions in new environments appears to be level based.
Classes: Four races (human, newman, casts, beastmen) instead of
three, class choice is independent of race (so you can indeed make the
equivalent of a FOcaseal if you wish). There are three base
classes (hunter, ranger, force). Each race is assigned one of
them by default but you can switch between base classes any time you
like. These eventually branch into advanced classes some of which
roughly correspond to old classes from PSO (for example, one is a lot
like any of the old forces, one is a lot like a RAmarl, one is a lot
like a RAcast) but some are entirely new (e.g., trap/ support
specialist). Since class is independent of race (e.g., any race
can end up with an ability set close to what a RAmarl has in PSO) the
names have been completely changed. Every class has access to
different sets of skills (called "photon arts") that work somewhat like
techs. You buy a disk for an art, but there is only a "base" disk
for each art. After that you level it up by using it. Not
as odious as it might sound, arts level pretty rapidly. Most
weapons can have only ones art attached to them (or so it seems, not
sure about this), and an art must be attached to an equipped weapon to
be used (see below for more). Force weapons can have either two
or four arts (techs) attached (depending on weapon). Right now my
hunter is mastering sabers and swords, very fun.
Graphics,
World: The world that you wander around in is huge and very
pretty. Essentially four worlds, each world has a hub that has
several areas. Two areas are essentially a shopping mall, with
the following stores:
1. Weapon and skill disk shop
2. Armor and attachment shop
3. Consumable items shop
4. Ingredients for item synthesis shop (essentially a pseudo crafting system ala Monster Hunter)
5. Weapon modification shop
6. Beauty salon/ clothing store (change character appearance)
7. Furniture and decorations for your apartment
Apparently each of the four worlds has a different selection of items
(or at least weapons and armor). In addition to shopping areas
there are areas where you get missions, areas that are just there for
special events, "doc" areas where you arrive when you use the space
transport systems, and "meeting rooms" that I have yet to
explore. It's basically the old PSO lobby system on PCP and
steroids, and with the mission areas integrated with the lobby. I
dont know if there are any areas with mini games, I havent seen any
so far (although hide and seek is certainly feasible!)
Graphics: The graphics are very nice, even on my ailing PS2.
Among MORPGs more detailed than WoW, much less detailed than EQ
II. For graphics in general definitely a step up from PSO, but
not on par with a real powerhouse like DOOM 3, Half-life 2, or even the
very best the PS2 can offer. I don't like the art direction
so far as much as PSO, but I have only seen a tiny bit of the game (I'm
sure I'll find some areas I like more than the starting areas).
There is a bit of popup on PCs (not on NPCs). When you
approach a PC a generic male or female mannequin will stand in for them
while the server tells your system which out of the jillions of
character customization options they have chosen, then suddenly all of
their textures will appear. A bit annoying, but overall much
better than the system I've seen in some other games (for example, SWG)
where your entire game becomes a slideshow whenever you first enter an
area crowded with NPCs. In solo missions the game runs very
smoothly with any number of enemies onscreen. I haven't yet been
in a missions with 6 players and spell effects flying all over the
place, I'll be interested to see how my frame rates hold up. I
have gotten steady frame rates everywhere so far, I'm sure it's even
better on a PC or the 360. Characters have tons of animations
available, for what it is worth.
Sound: music reminiscent of
PSO, but a bit faster in tempo (so far). About on par with
PSO in overall quality, much more variety it seems. Weapon sound
effects higher pitched than in PSO, but still "futuristic" sounding, no
problems there. You have amazing control over your characters
voice. You choose from about ten voices, and then adjust the
pitch. With any given voice you can get anything from lumberjack
to pixy/ five year old girl (why don't more games offer this?).
Controls/ Combat: Attack combos are much more forgiving than in
PSO, but also a little hard to adjust to if (like me) your have the
proper rhythms for every weapon in PSO hardwired into your nervous
system from hundreds of hours of play. Guns can be used in regular 3rd
person perspective, and are a bit easier to aim than the were in
PSO. They can also be used in first person perspective. If
you are a PSO vet you will get up to speed very quickly. I'll be
interested to see how quickly players utterly new to the series pick
things up. No heavy and light attacks, just one "attack"
button. This is more than made up for by the weapon arts.
Each weapons has a series of arts you can learn, only one can be
attached to a given weapon (save for force weapons) at a given time (if
I remember correctly I may have to update this after Ive played
more). Your combat abilities and equipment are far more
customizable than they were in PSO. I think this game is going to
have a ton of replayability. One quibble is that its a little harder
to use mates and other recovery items than it was in PSO.
Your apartment: Totally new feature. Havent messed with it
much. There is a mag like fellow that you can feed items
to. No timer, you can stand there and jam as many Monomates down
his throat as you like. You also pick up random objects in
missions that he can try to use to synthesize items for you. Apparently
if you feed him enough items he will also level up and fight with you
on missions. So far I've been selling all the random
ingredients I find to buy weapons and tech disks from the mall
stores. Just figuring out how the missions, classes, and
abilities work was enough for me (in my first 4 hours) without jumping
right into weapon synthesis. Found a few rare ingredients
(7 "stars" ....assume like star system in PSO) that I assume can
be synthesized in to fabulous weapons. You can apparently
decorate your apartment to your liking (with enough meseta), and invite
friends to hang out in it. Seems like there is a lot to do there, but
I'm planning to focus mainly on leveling and qualifying for new
missions for the time being.
Overall: The game very much
plays like PSO v2.0. Similar combat system, but with much greater
level of character customization and variety in environments. The
apartment system also seems like a fun addition. If you played
PSO into the ground and want something similar but different enough to
feel fresh, highly recommende.
PSO addicts. Based on 4 hours of online play this morning, I
thought I'd give some first impressions. Just for the record, I
leveled a character to 200 in the DC PSO, played both versions, sunk
hundreds of hours into the GC PSO (multiple chars into Ultimate), and
played a bit of PSO BB on the PC (the latter is by far the best
incarnation of PSO, highly recommended if you haven't totally burned
out on it like I have). Playing PSU on the PS2, I'd imagine that the
game runs and looks at least as good on the PC or 360.
Character creation: Lots of options, you can tweak the appearance
of your character in much more detail than in PSO. I don't find the art
direction quite as charming as PSO, and it puzzles me that there are no
options for tattoos or makeup (at least so far). On the balance,
much more varied than in PSO.
When you start:
You appear in your apartment (?!?), and some funny looking robot guy
asks you if you want to do the tutorial. If you run through it
you get a free tech disk worth about 1000 meseta, so recommended.
Tutorial was short, and did a good job laying out the basics.
After the tutorial you re-appear in your apartment and can head out
into the world to get some missions. At first there appears to be
only one mission you can do, and you will need to run it three or four
times before you qualify for any other missions. However, the
layout of the mission environment is randomized (to roughly the same
extent as PSO, maybe slightly more random) so it's not as annoying as
it sounds. Loot might scale with level, because I got much better
loot the third time I ran the mission than the first. Access to
missions in new environments appears to be level based.
Classes: Four races (human, newman, casts, beastmen) instead of
three, class choice is independent of race (so you can indeed make the
equivalent of a FOcaseal if you wish). There are three base
classes (hunter, ranger, force). Each race is assigned one of
them by default but you can switch between base classes any time you
like. These eventually branch into advanced classes some of which
roughly correspond to old classes from PSO (for example, one is a lot
like any of the old forces, one is a lot like a RAmarl, one is a lot
like a RAcast) but some are entirely new (e.g., trap/ support
specialist). Since class is independent of race (e.g., any race
can end up with an ability set close to what a RAmarl has in PSO) the
names have been completely changed. Every class has access to
different sets of skills (called "photon arts") that work somewhat like
techs. You buy a disk for an art, but there is only a "base" disk
for each art. After that you level it up by using it. Not
as odious as it might sound, arts level pretty rapidly. Most
weapons can have only ones art attached to them (or so it seems, not
sure about this), and an art must be attached to an equipped weapon to
be used (see below for more). Force weapons can have either two
or four arts (techs) attached (depending on weapon). Right now my
hunter is mastering sabers and swords, very fun.
Graphics,
World: The world that you wander around in is huge and very
pretty. Essentially four worlds, each world has a hub that has
several areas. Two areas are essentially a shopping mall, with
the following stores:
1. Weapon and skill disk shop
2. Armor and attachment shop
3. Consumable items shop
4. Ingredients for item synthesis shop (essentially a pseudo crafting system ala Monster Hunter)
5. Weapon modification shop
6. Beauty salon/ clothing store (change character appearance)
7. Furniture and decorations for your apartment
Apparently each of the four worlds has a different selection of items
(or at least weapons and armor). In addition to shopping areas
there are areas where you get missions, areas that are just there for
special events, "doc" areas where you arrive when you use the space
transport systems, and "meeting rooms" that I have yet to
explore. It's basically the old PSO lobby system on PCP and
steroids, and with the mission areas integrated with the lobby. I
dont know if there are any areas with mini games, I havent seen any
so far (although hide and seek is certainly feasible!)
Graphics: The graphics are very nice, even on my ailing PS2.
Among MORPGs more detailed than WoW, much less detailed than EQ
II. For graphics in general definitely a step up from PSO, but
not on par with a real powerhouse like DOOM 3, Half-life 2, or even the
very best the PS2 can offer. I don't like the art direction
so far as much as PSO, but I have only seen a tiny bit of the game (I'm
sure I'll find some areas I like more than the starting areas).
There is a bit of popup on PCs (not on NPCs). When you
approach a PC a generic male or female mannequin will stand in for them
while the server tells your system which out of the jillions of
character customization options they have chosen, then suddenly all of
their textures will appear. A bit annoying, but overall much
better than the system I've seen in some other games (for example, SWG)
where your entire game becomes a slideshow whenever you first enter an
area crowded with NPCs. In solo missions the game runs very
smoothly with any number of enemies onscreen. I haven't yet been
in a missions with 6 players and spell effects flying all over the
place, I'll be interested to see how my frame rates hold up. I
have gotten steady frame rates everywhere so far, I'm sure it's even
better on a PC or the 360. Characters have tons of animations
available, for what it is worth.
Sound: music reminiscent of
PSO, but a bit faster in tempo (so far). About on par with
PSO in overall quality, much more variety it seems. Weapon sound
effects higher pitched than in PSO, but still "futuristic" sounding, no
problems there. You have amazing control over your characters
voice. You choose from about ten voices, and then adjust the
pitch. With any given voice you can get anything from lumberjack
to pixy/ five year old girl (why don't more games offer this?).
Controls/ Combat: Attack combos are much more forgiving than in
PSO, but also a little hard to adjust to if (like me) your have the
proper rhythms for every weapon in PSO hardwired into your nervous
system from hundreds of hours of play. Guns can be used in regular 3rd
person perspective, and are a bit easier to aim than the were in
PSO. They can also be used in first person perspective. If
you are a PSO vet you will get up to speed very quickly. I'll be
interested to see how quickly players utterly new to the series pick
things up. No heavy and light attacks, just one "attack"
button. This is more than made up for by the weapon arts.
Each weapons has a series of arts you can learn, only one can be
attached to a given weapon (save for force weapons) at a given time (if
I remember correctly I may have to update this after Ive played
more). Your combat abilities and equipment are far more
customizable than they were in PSO. I think this game is going to
have a ton of replayability. One quibble is that its a little harder
to use mates and other recovery items than it was in PSO.
Your apartment: Totally new feature. Havent messed with it
much. There is a mag like fellow that you can feed items
to. No timer, you can stand there and jam as many Monomates down
his throat as you like. You also pick up random objects in
missions that he can try to use to synthesize items for you. Apparently
if you feed him enough items he will also level up and fight with you
on missions. So far I've been selling all the random
ingredients I find to buy weapons and tech disks from the mall
stores. Just figuring out how the missions, classes, and
abilities work was enough for me (in my first 4 hours) without jumping
right into weapon synthesis. Found a few rare ingredients
(7 "stars" ....assume like star system in PSO) that I assume can
be synthesized in to fabulous weapons. You can apparently
decorate your apartment to your liking (with enough meseta), and invite
friends to hang out in it. Seems like there is a lot to do there, but
I'm planning to focus mainly on leveling and qualifying for new
missions for the time being.
Overall: The game very much
plays like PSO v2.0. Similar combat system, but with much greater
level of character customization and variety in environments. The
apartment system also seems like a fun addition. If you played
PSO into the ground and want something similar but different enough to
feel fresh, highly recommende.
I don't want to write this, and you don't want to read it. But now it's too late for both of us.
Comments
You can hold up to 20 of each item.
I played the first chapter of the offline mode (when the sign up
servers were down last night) and had a pretty neutral impression of
it. Would certainly not be worth the purchase price on it's own,
but as a free bonus to the online game it's OK. I have no idea if
completing it gives you bonus content for the online mode, but it will
give you usefull experience for the game at least.
There are multiple servers (seven or so if i remember right), but PC
and PS2 users are on the same servers. 360 users get their own
set of servers.
Cheers
I don't want to write this, and you don't want to read it. But now it's too late for both of us.
And I have a question. Is the game just as Equipment based as PSO was? Equipment could make and break you in PSO. What I mean is, Does most of your characters strength comes from his equipment, instead of its level and stats?
I played PSO on DC and GC for a couple hundred hours too.
There are some things that are great but some things I dont like.
The Lock On system is a god send to a die hard Ranger like me. But at times a little too good. I can kite large groups with Dual Handguns easily. The action in general just feels more fast paced too, very nice. The Photon Arts are very cool and is the best addition to the combat. Being to do a combo and end it with a Photon Art that knocks the enemy into the air then immediately switching to a gun and shooting the enmy while it's in the air is awesome.
But what I don't like is that online you are in same towns as offline. I would have preferred a much smaller town like PSO so when I want to go buy some stuff real quick I have to go through the big town area.
The online mission system is TERRIBLE. The first mission is nothing but level 1 enemies and the second is nothing but level 5 enemies. After that is level 10 enemies. This is made even worse by that experience gains were drastically cut to make sure people didn't get to the level cap(level 50) in 3 days. But it means you have to run missions over and over and over again to get anywhere. Also, I haven't found a way to go to certain mission parts yet. At level 6 I wanted to run the level 5 mission but each time I had to go through the level 1 mission first to get to the level 5 mission.
Enemies don't drop weapons and armor hardly ever. Pretty much most of what you find in a mission are parts to craft your own weapons and armor which is cool at level 30 but not below level 10.
Cheers.