Have I ever told you about my MMO days? Days of wanton excess they were, when life seemed to stop and end once I filled my quota of dailies in order to wrack up keys for chests to role for specific sets of armour that I didn't even really want all that much, I just thought they'd be cool. I even had a regular I used to log on with and even a little (incredibly amateurish) guild which would roll around completing world bosses with me. Easily the most sociable gaming days I've ever had have been within my active MMO sessions, and no other 'tactical' or 'communication based' game even compares. (I'd rather let everyone decide where I stand, and subsequently die, in 'Siege' rather than contribute my own worthless opinion) Thus it's with equal pangs of nostalgia and remorse that I witness the MMO world evolve and pass me by, in memorandum of the times I had and quiet acceptance that I'll never capture that again. And though my MMO of choice was the very Western; 'Elder Scrolls Online', I still have that slightly curious eye when I see an Eastern MMO barrelling its way towards next gen consoles; Phantasy Star Online 2.
Or should that be, 'Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis'? (Yes, there is apparently a difference. No, I don't get it.) Over in Japan, Phantasy Star Online is one of those franchises that you hear about just about everywhere, and that's probably because the SEGA publishers are every eager to market their huge MMO investment. Over in the occidental half of the gaming world however, we've been left largely out of the loop thanks to the distinct lack of any localisation effort over here. That seemed to be a big issue in the 2010's, with studios coming to the conclusion that it was more effort than it was worth to start porting things. I can't say what game it was that really turned the tide in this regard, but I do remember a big deal being made out of the success of the spectacular 'Monster Hunter World', so perhaps that had something to do with it. Either way, a lot of 'Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney' games finally got official ports, (though not all of them, still) Yakuza got some localisation and PC ports and, to celebrate the launch of the next gen, 'Phantasy Star Online 2' finally got announced over here.
So what exactly is Phantasy Star, and why should we care that it's finally out for us over the globe to get our hands on? Well, it's a Free-to-play MMORPG that performs the underappreciated task of combing two warring genres into one; that of Science Fiction and Fantasy. It's franchise launched all the way back in 1987 and it was a bustling RPG franchise for the SEGA of the day before it was bought to the online realms at the turn of the century. But you may naturally be wondering; "Okay, so which has the longer lineage, Phantasy Star or Final Fantasy?" One franchise clearly has a lot more games to it's name but which one began first, seeing as how they both count 1987 as their inception year? (What a year!) Well, as it turns it's Final Fantasy who launched their first game, get this, a whole two days before Phantasy Star in December. (To think, two huge RPG series spawned literally within the week from one another. FF on the Friday, Phantasy Star on the Sunday. Wild!)
Perhaps one of the best things about this series, something shared by just about every Japanese RPG out there but by practically no Western RPG, is the way that most of the games have no shared universe or even story from game to game; meaning new players can start anywhere they want to. The games share similar terminology and concepts, but the stories and worlds are fresh each and every time. (However, Phantasy Star does have a habit of leaning on it's previous games more than other similar RPGs, so that there's actually only currently 4 distinct Phantasy Star timelines as opposed to Final Fantasy's 15 for the mainline series alone. Or 13 if you still believe in the scrapped Fabula Nova Crystallis storyline like I sorta do.) The amount of freedom this opens up for creators when they enter the franchise is liberating, and it's no wonder why this franchise, Suikoden, Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest all borrow from the same playbook in this fashion.
As for the game itself and what that is about; I'll be honest I'm a little out-of-the-loop myself. Growing up without these games in my half of the world has sort of allowed me to wholly ignore them like a heathen and now that they're here I really don't want to just read a summary or watch a lore-video to catch myself up. (I want to play it.) But from what I can see displayed simply by the trailer alone; this game propels players to a distant solar system full of strife against fabulous monsters and curiously familiar races that one might expect from a fantasy world, (I see them pointy ears!) with the added benefit of intergalactic strife thrown in there, I'm told. Honestly, though, the space-age tech doesn't set this game that far apart from Japanese Fantasy RPGs. (Have you seen the stuff Rex and Shulk lug around for Xenoblade? They might as well be space-hopping heroes.)
On the topic of aesthetics, I'd say that this is a game that pretty looks exactly as one would expect from this sort of game, heavily anime, with a rather curiously plastic-y aesthetic to the characters. I'm not going to lie, I'm not a huge fan of the direction this game has gone for realising the humans in this world, in that they seem to have been made with the right materials to look like they belong in the environment around them, but not the detail to exactly look like 'humans' in that world. That being said, I understand that this is an MMO so some concessions have to be taken regarding the strain given to the engine, but even then; Phantasy Star Online 2's base game seemed to have better models for the characters.
There's only so much that can be said by someone like me, with little to no experience with this huge world, which is partially why I'm looking to get into the game before my next blog to understand it a bit better. (That, and I could really use a new MMO to be excited about again.) I'm always tickled by the prospect of weird Japanese fantasy worlds and will rarely miss the chance to jump into a new one when presented, call it my otaku side jutting out. Whether the game turns out to be a huge new thing for western players or stumbles under the weight of it's Microtransactions (Which I've heard some grumbling about already) I'm always happy to see new perspectives enter the market and am still waiting for a PC Suikoden port. (That's besides the point, but I'm adamant.) In the year or so between now and the launch of 'New Genesis', maybe it'll be worth throwing an hour or two away to a game that just might be different to any other Massive Multiplayer title you've played before. (I know I will.)
No comments:
Post a Comment