Phantasy Star Online
From Sega Retro
Phantasy Star Online is an MMORPG made by Sega for the Dreamcast. This one has a lot of references to past Phantasy Star games. PSO was also released for Gamecube and Xbox (and was one of the only online games for Gamecube). A sequel, Episode 3, was made for Gamecube, but not for Xbox. Lots of times, on the online servers, there would be cameos with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Eggman. There is also a gun based on Eggman's walker from Sonic Adventure 2.
The game itself is a simple hack'n slash type Role Playing Game where you slay monsters, level up, buy new equipment etcetera. Episodes I and II differ from many previous games of this genre by offering a real-time, rather than turn-based approach to combat - and seamlessly integrating this with the exploration/plot development aspects of the game. Episode III reverted back to a turn-based combat system.
Game story
Unlike the rest of the Phantasy Star series, PSO's prologue starts on the planet of Coral (possibly a splinter colony from the Algol star system). Coral was becoming unsuitable for life, so a pair of colony ships, Pioneer 1 and Pioneer 2, were sent to the planet Ragol, thought to be uninhabited by intelligent life, to colonize it. Pioneer 1 reached Ragol safely, and contructed a colony there. But when Pioneer 2 arrived seven years later, a sudden explosion engulfed the Pioneer 1 colony as they attempted to communicate. The Player(s) take the role of Hunters, mercenaries/bounty hunters/troubleshooters sent down to the source to determine the cause of the explosion, and find any survivors.
Episode III takes place twenty-one years after Episodes I and II. Pioneer 2 is still orbiting Ragol, its people still not yet allowed to come down to their new home. A group of Hunters and other citizens have become dissatisfied with the actions of the Principal Government, which they have come to see as corrupt. They have fled down to the planet's surface, and formed the Arkz, an Eco-terrorist-like group that seeks to expose the government's corruption, and keep them from overdeveloping the planet for their own gain.
Blue Burst's new story, Episode IV, takes place not long after Episode II. A meteor crash landed into the deserts of Ragol and it's up to hunters to investigate. Rupika (who was seen breifly in the Gran Squall mission in Episode I) and a man named Leo Gahart seem to be connected to this incident. Episode IV is noted for also being significantly more difficult than Episode I and II, and also not as prone to hacking as the console ancestors of the game, due to everything being saved server side.
Version list
- Phantasy Star Online Network Trial Edition (Dreamcast) 2000 (Japan)
- Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast) 2000 (Japan) / 2001 (USA and Europe)
- Phantasy Star Online Ver.2 (Dreamcast) 2001 (Japan and USA) / 2002 (Europe)
- Phantasy Star Online (Windows) 2001 (Japan) / 2002 (rest of South-East Asia)
- Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Trial Edition (GameCube) 2002 (Japan)
- Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (GameCube) 2002 (Japan and USA) / 2003 (Europe)
- Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Version "1.1" (GameCube) 2002 (Japan)
- Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (Xbox) 2003 (worldwide)
- Phantasy Star Online Episode III C.A.R.D. Revolution Trial Edition (GameCube) 2003 (Japan)
- Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus (GameCube) 2003 (Japan) / 2004 (USA)
- Phantasy Star Online Episode III C.A.R.D. Revolution (GameCube) 2003 (Japan) / 2004 (USA and Europe)
- Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst (Windows) 2004 (Japan) / 2005 (USA and Europe)
- Phantasy Star Universe (Currently in development; PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and PC) 2006 (Japan and USA)