When Sega allowed the public to try out demos of Phantasy Star Nova this past summer, they mentioned that they planned to take in feedback and possibly make changes based on what players reported to them. Gematsu reports that Sega made an announcement on their Phantasy Star Nova website detailing changes that they made in response to demo feedback. The changes are listed in the most recent post (dated 2014.10.21) under the psnova site’s Info section, but Gematsu has translated the changes for easier reading. I’ll provide some of the more general user experience changes here after the “Read More” button.
– Player movement speed has been increased by 40%, and movement speed has been recreated under two tiers: walking and dashing. Previously players could walk, run, or dash.
– Default camera rotation speed has been decreased. The feeling of the camera rotation sensitivity being too high is a hindrance occasionally noted in this IGN demo video.
– Various game interface responses have been sped up. Weapon palette selections can be cycled through faster, and menu navigation animations have also been sped up.
– Players had apparently frequently complained of input lag after issuing button commands, so tri-Ace set the delay between input and execution of command to one frame.
– Players had also apparently cited frame rate issues during Gigantes fights. To combat this, tri-Ace has implemented caps on visual effects (among other fixes) in hopes of producing a more stable framerate.
Gematsu’s breakdown is quite detailed, so be sure to check it out. They also note that on October 27th Sega plans to remove the Battle Demo currently on PSN and replace that demo with an enhanced demo featuring the new tweaks. during the middle of November. Since Phantasy Star Nova is due for release on November 27th in Japan, the timeframe of the second demo’s release is noticeably close to the game’s release. That being said, I personally consider it a gesture of goodwill to both release an updated demo and release that demo so close to the release date.