During a recent live concert for Gravity Rush 2 at the Tokyo Game Show 2016, the game’s producer Keiichiro Toyama (also known for the Silent Hill and Siren series) announced that Gravity Rush 2 (known as Gravity Daze 2 in Japan) will be getting a collaboration with Phantasy Star Online 2. Unfortunately no further details were announced, but I’m assuming we’ll be seeing costumes from Gravity Rush 2 appear in SEGA’s online multiplayer RPG.
SEGA recently released their stage event plans for Tokyo Game Show 2016, which begins today in Japan. Gematsu translated the event descriptions for the many stage events that will be held this week.
In their announcement, SEGA posted streaming options for each day throughout September 15-18, including Niconico, YouTube, and AbemaTV. Incidentally, it seems that some of the stage events (including those that feature SEGA Hard Girls, Phantasy Star Online 2, Persona 5, and Puyo Puyo Chronicle) don’t allow photography from non-media attendees. Sad news if any of our readers are attending!
But of course, being able to attend Tokyo Game Show 2016 sounds like great fun as well. For those who are planning on enjoying the news from a distance, we’ve included the streaming links on YouTube below for each of the four days.
Atlus has announced Persona 5 collaborations with three different games: SEGA’s Phantasy Star Online 2, Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma Online, and Square-Enix’s Lord of Vermilion Re:3. We added the translated details from the news post of the official Japanese Persona 5 website below.
A news post made on the Japanese Phantasy Star Online 2 website announced a cool milestone for the PC game: a new record for simultaneous user activity! Previously, the highest number stood at 123,758 connections, but on May 15 at 10:50 PM, SEGA recorded 131,265 user connections.
To commemorate this event, SEGA has planned a small bonus for users: log in during the upcoming maintenance period of June 15 – June 22, and users will receive rare item drop and experience boosts for use when the game is operational again. Additionally, log in anytime from June 16 to June 21and users will receive a free gift. It’s possible to receive one gift for each day of this period, for a maximum of six.
It’s nice to see this milestone achieved for PSO2. It’s worth noting that the PC userbase in the US and Europe is particularly active, too. We hope that SEGA continues to pursue bringing PSO2 to Western fans.
Phantasy Star Online 2 sure does love its crossovers. And why not? Especially if there is an upcoming event for Sakura Wars.
Some time ago, Sega announced a collaboration event with the Sakura Wars series for Phantasy Star Online 2. With the broadcast of the recent 42nd PSO2 Livestream, we have more footage and images to share.
The collaboration event features Scratch items inspired by Sakura Shinguuji and Ichiro Ohgami. There are also voice options for the characters, with the original seiyuu (Chisa Yokoyama and Akio Suyama, respectively) reprising their roles. There are also weapon skins for the respective character’s weapons, alongside Mag Devices (autonomous supportive units) themed after their Koubu.
Check out a small gallery of images below!
Bumped’s PSUBlog has archived footage of the 42nd Phantasy Star Online 2 Livestream broadcast. The segment of the broadcast featuring the Sakura Wars collaboration (following some other segments, include another Sonic the Hedgehog lobby and a new story event) can be viewed below.
This Sakura Wars collaboration update is scheduled for late June.
I know I sound like a broken record at this point, but this year has seen an abundance of Sakura Wars-related events – from concerts, to museums, and to game promotions with other franchises. The only possible way to make this 20th year anniversary sweeter than it already is…
…would be to announce another Sakura Wars game! Please oblige, Sega!
Credit to the above-linked PSUBlog entry for information and archiving the Livestream broadcast.
The PlayStation 4 version of Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode 4 was recently launched in Japan, and SEGA has released a new web commercial to promote the game’s various features. You can watch the commercial below, which gives an overview of the various elements of the game, such as the large-scale multi-player battles, the different settings. and the character customization system. Regarding the latter, one of the sillier parts of the commercial features a player who appears to be just a bit too excited about the breast slider feature in PSO2’s character creator.
SEGA have released a new trailer featuring a ton of updates for the game, which will be released simultaneously with the game’s release on PlayStation 4 in Japan on April 20. The game is getting a small graphical update on PlayStation 4, but the PC version will be getting a new Tier 6 graphics setting which offers the same upgrade (we talked about this update in an earlier article.)
In an earlier trailer we also got to see the cast of Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation being added to the game. You can watch both trailers below. Unfortunately, SEGA have stated that there are no plans to localize the PlayStation 4 version. The PC version of the game was announced for the West back in 2013, but was delayed. At this point, it’s not clear if it will ever materialize.
A new Japanese PSBlog entry announces a new type of PlayStation 4 model – one with bay cover designs based off of Phantasy Star Online 2, ahead of the upcoming arrival of the very active MMORPG to PS4. Some of you may be remember Yakuza franchise receiving similar special treament for Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami.
In an earlier article we talked about the new opening for Phantasy Star Online 2, with a link to a low quality version of the opening, taken from a niconico live stream. SEGA have now uploaded a much higher quality 720P version of the opening to their Youtube Channel. You can watch it below!
SEGA is currently holding a closed beta test for Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode 4 on the PlayStation 4 in Japan. Unfortunately there’s still no news regarding the release of the PC version in the West, which was announced almost four years ago but has yet to materialize. You can read SEGA’s latest official statement on the matter here.
Dualshockers posted an update on their website showing the new opening cinematic for Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode 4. The cinematic was taken from SEGA’s live niconico stream, and again features a setting on Earth, but this time we get to see the game’s heroes fight against a battleship that looks suspiciously like the Japanese battleship Yamato, the largest battleship ever built, which was sunk during WWII. In addition, fighter planes similar to the Japanese “Zero” (although carrying a different, fictional, roundel) appear in the battle.