WTF is PSO2NGS!? - An Outsider's Guide to PSO2 New Genesis

love the based hope NGS catchup soon

i can summarize Phantasy star like this : Starwars + Final Fantasy .

You know, if I knew you were going to take a few screen shots during that Phantasy Night stream, I would have got myself more inframe for some of them. Seeing a Fox McCloud or Slippy Toad would absolutely make a point. (Plus get more Star Fox fans to try the game. Win-win.)

OUTSTANDING video Zeo! Also to ANYONE joining - Now through beginning of Oct 2024 if you play and hit level 20, you get a FREE voucher for 100,000,000 EXP! Enjoy your stay in NGS <3

It's PSO2, but worse.

yeah pso was my first mmo back in the day. it was one of the best games on the dreamcast back then. i still believe in pso series to become legendary again but as it is right now, ngs is alright to a point... could it be loads better? yeah it could be but the original gang/creator/devs of the series no longer there with sega or doing the game. it's a new team and such so it's just a matter of just making them steer to the right path at least but they can do it in their own way I guess longs they don't water it down or ruin it in some form of way.

NGS is a game where they took a successful franchise, dulled it down as much as possible, started reusing assets from the games closed beta to the present of a lot of the same enemies slightly altered, and they now rush you to the end of the game which doesn't take long with the lack of substance so that they can focus on the most important part of the game for them, selling the casuals gacha clothing and selling the min / maxers the best augments in the game with no chance of failing so that they can enjoy the more "challenging" content in the form of turning reused bosses purple and making them strong enough to KO you in 1 hit if the wind from their movements so much as wafts lightly against you.

I just saved you a bunch of time trying to cope with a failed sunk cost fallacy of a game like the rest of the community, yw

In contrast to people who would poison the well, I would describe NGS as a game built in an unusual framework that pairs it with its own predecessor, allowing full compatibility between PSO2 and NGS if you have both installed. (PSO2 is now listed as an add-on for NGS). It started at the height of the Open World Bubble, a period where, because of some highly successful open world titles, players were eager to play more open world games, and companies were diving into the market quickly. Free-to-play was also getting a lot of attention at that time, and a lot of games turned out like NGS, with people complaining of limited content.

Both of these bubbles subsequently popped, with many open world games becoming a 'overdone' and TONS of free-to-play (FTP) games collapsing as companies pulled out of them fast, (many attempting to fleece their dwindling player bases as they did). NGS had a slow development process and small team already, and was experimenting with the important elements of PSO and PSO2, as well as elements of online games. Opinions on exactly what was genuine 'content' and what wasn't were shifting fast, and nothing was cutting it.

However, perhaps by virtue of their own slow and steady development schedule, NGS didn't collapse and SEGA didn't feel the need to abandon the project. They started a huge opinion vacuum called the official PSO2 NGS Discord server, and just kept chipping away at ideas and problems, slowly building the game out into something that might still have a shot at finding its footing. It's more likely to be a modest success in the end, since SEGA needs to think about their long terms goals and the next game they want to focus on, but it's gotten to the point where people are actually starting to see the game as underestimated, and somewhat more accommodating to people with busy schedules. The action is more robust than people tend to think it is, and its creative qualities are absurdly expansive. While that much freedom may produce a lot of ridiculous stuff, it also allows for incredible creativity and personality.

At the moment, I think the game needs to get somewhere in its story, which was starting to actually raise eyebrows with its last chapter, and I think it needs to keep pushing on the basis of ideas like Leciel Exploration (genuinely the best expression of NGS gameplay I've seen so far) and Nameless City, (a new open-area sort of map) to create a new iteration of PSO 'map' areas that incorporates NGS's gameplay changes and story. It's what I'd like to see anyway. I'll keep an eye out for the next big thing SEGA does, whether it's finding that solid footing with NGS or their next online game. If NGS never fully grows into its own, than that is just how it turns out

Personally, I don't just do looks for the sake of looks. I tend to focus on 'functional' builds where I can unironically play as a certain character with accurate combat traits and fighting styles. A couple weeks back, I put together a build on my Techter character for Alphen, the Blazing Sword, using an EX augment build that actually does set you on fire as you attack. XD

I loved the original PSO but bounced off of PSU hard, and sorta missed the boat when PSO2 was finally released in the west. I have a few questions about it though. How does this compare to the original PSO2? Is one better/more active/updated more than the other, is it best to play both? How's the F2P experience, and is there any P2W stuff? Are the gachas only cosmetic?