Hands on preview with Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis

Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis introduces players to a new planet to explore and in many ways, feels like an entirely new game.

This is an evolution for the franchise. Lots of gameplay elements have been refined and yet there are similarities to the previous entry as well, which makes sense considering this still holds the Phantasy Star Online 2 name.

Many of the menus have a new appearance but their contents are mostly the same. UI upgrades are evident but the roots of classic PSO2 are still there. Things will feel familiar to returning players. It’s best to think of this as a massive expansion and upgrade to PSO2. 

Graphic improvements will be the first thing you notice when booting New Genesis up. Character models, textures, polygon counts, lighting & atmospheric effects have all been improved quite a bit. Water reflects the environment. Lights will cast gold rays and particles fill the screen during intense action. It’s a sight to behold. 

Core changes to the gameplay are extremely evident the moment you start playing. The environment you’re exploring is massively open in scope. You’re able to seamlessly explore an interesting variety of biomes. You’ll see wide open grassy fields, thunderous snowy mountains, swamp areas, ruins, forests, and more. Many of which were not accessible in the closed beta, but the feeling of openness was undeniable. That classic Todd Howard quote “See that mountain? You can climb it.” applies here.

Traversal has changed drastically. You’re able to dash around the world with ease, always running, jumping high in the air, using walls to gain extra height and hovering down over long distances. There are trials and challenges scattered throughout the large open map to help hone in and train you for these new abilities.

Combat has changed as well. I personally played as the Gunner class and you can now simply hold down the primary attack button to keep your attack going. This is a departure from the timing based attacks of the previous games.  It’s definitely different but the combat feels better than ever in my opinion. Also, when you defeat an enemy and they drop an item- it’s no longer required to run over to the item and press a button to pick it up, it will simply warp straight to you. I enjoy this change. Keeps you focused on the action.

This game shares many similarities behind the scenes with the original PSO2. It seems like most weapons, accessories, characters and other customizations are still here- but newer and more detailed items are available as well. For example there are more detailed body parts that you can select. There are new hair options that can be customized even further as well. You want long bags? No problem. You’re also able to filter your customizations to only show the newer enhanced items just in case you want to look your absolute best.

You’ll actually be able to switch from New Genesis back to classic PSO2 and vice versa as they are technically the same game. It’s as easy as choosing your character and selecting which game world you want to play in. Once logged in, you’ll be able to swap between the two games in a similar fashion to how Block switching worked in classic PSO2. That functionality wasn’t live during the closed beta but that’s my current understanding on how it’s handled in-game.

One of the more drastic changes is the whole concept behind Mags; your little floating robot helper. You’ve still got a little floating buddy, but the focus has now shifted to large environmental Mags that are scattered throughout the map which you and other players are encouraged to feed items to. These large environmental mags will give you boosts and extra abilities for a period of time while you explore the map. The more you feed them, the greater the boosts. There are quests associated to this as well. Doesn’t seem like you need to feed your own personal mag anymore and I’m not 100% certain of their purpose as the closed beta was limited in this regard. We’ll know more soon enough! Full game is expected to release in June.

All said, I’m incredibly excited for the full release of Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis. I am hopeful that it will bring in new players and I look forward to exploring the new world and spending countless hours hunting with other players.