Phantasy Star Online 2 is the kind of game I'll happily sink tens of thousands of PSO2 Meseta hours if someone ever asks me whether they should start playing it I'll say no. It is an anime MMO with absurdly comprehensive character customization, demanding hack-n-slash battle, along with a grind. However, what I love about PSO2 are also buried underneath frustrations that make it hard to recommend. Throughout the Xbox Games Showcase last weekend, Sega surprised the community by declaring Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis--and, by the looks of this, New Genesis is a thrilling bid to fix some of these sins.

What New Genesis really is, however, is a little perplexing. It's fundamentally a standalone game--an entirely separate free-to-play MMO into PSO2--that's place a thousand years later on. It features a completely new graphics engine, updated combat and character customization systems, and environments which are far larger than PSO2's tight corridor-style levels. At the same time, Sega is stating that the two MMOs will really work in tandem: Characters from PSO2 can freely jump between the older model and New Genesis, with the majority of makeup carrying over while progression is going to be kept independent. PSO2 will continue getting its own updates but will also receive the graphical upgrades of New Genesis so both look more similar.

There's still a lot of questions about how this may work--and of course why Sega decided to divide its MMO into separate games in such a confusing manner--but I am prepared to be optimistic because the possibility here is clear. Regardless of being eight years old, PSO2 has a few clever thoughts I wish other MMOs would look closely at. The real draw has and will always be its demanding combat. At higher problems, one wrong move can get you killed, which puts a tense but exciting emphasis on aligning ideal combos and studying enemy movements so that you understand when to dodge. Its nine courses range from gun-wielding Rangers that change the game into a third-person shooter to Bouncers that fly on a set of rocket boots. Mastering the dozens of class skills and how they work together is fun, so that I do not care that the images are outdated and also the levels lack variety. PSO2 is about killing things.

Parties who manage to kill enough monsters in a given area quickly enough could trigger a unique event that causes more creatures to spawn rapidly and raise the probability of them falling rare loot. If the party can continue to kill these respawning monsters in a fast enough pace--it's not easy--the time limit on the event is extended. It encourages players to work together, with the benefit being an endless torrent of critters to kill and loot to scoop up. One time I had a party that dragged this out for an exhilarating 15 minutes. It had been like looter shot nirvana.The wait is over for Phantasy Star Online 2's Episode 5. There's a new story, updated attributes and even a new course to enjoy. Episode 5 seems to be a substantial departure from Episode 4, as there are tons of new things to experience and a new, high level limit of 90 to reach. Unlike regular classes, there are prerequisites to unlock Scions, and they tend to play otherwise. To play Hero, you must get any two level 75 classes before talking to Cofy to unlock it. It cannot be utilized as a Sub Course nor have one, so playing it means just using Hero. It will have quite an arsenal, though, having the ability to utilize Swords, Twin Machine Guns and Talis effectively. Since its a brand new class, there'll also be a new Hero character that will give you a hand and provide you new quests to practice with. A new ability has been added; however, it requires you to play through the story to unlock some of them. Dark Blast allows players to become one of four Dark Falz, for example Hyunal or Angel, armed with unique, powerful strikes and fans for a limited time. It is kind of like a Photon Blast, however much more impressive since you take on buy meseta pso2 a different form. These forms could be leveled up simply by using them, and points can be spent to boost each form's abilities.