Tag Archives: Phantasy Star

Phantasy Star Online 2 Gets Tales of Zestiria Costumes in Japan

Draikin April 11, 2015 Leave a reply

Phantasy Star Online 2 has seen a lot of cross-overs with other gaming franchises, and Bandai Namco’s Tales of Zestiria has now joined that list. Players can now acquire costumes from some of the main characters of Tales of Zesiria, more specifically Sorey, Dezel, Lailah and Rose. Interestingly, a costume for the character Alisha doesn’t seem to be included, and perhaps for good reason. There was quite a bit of controversy surrounding her character and the release of Tales of Zestiria (more information on that can be found in this Siliconera article). Be warned that visiting the article will expose you to significant spoilers regarding the development of Tales of Zestiria’s plot.

Below you can find images of the costumes that are now available in Phantasy Star Online 2. Sadly, the release of the game is still officially “delayed” in North America and Europe, with no word on when or if it’ll ever be released. In a few months time, it’ll be 3 years since the game was confirmed for the West…

Upcoming Game Symphony Japan Performance to Exclusively Feature Sega Music

InTheSky March 29, 2015 Leave a reply

Game Symphony Japan recently announced that one of their upcoming performances will be exclusively focused on music from Sega games. It’s a series of symphonic performances that have been active for the past couple of years, tackling various franchises. Crunchyroll notes that while in the past music from Sakura Wars and Phantasy Star Online have been performed, this is the first event under Game Symphony Japan that will be devoted to Sega music. Kenichi Shimura will conduct, the Tokyo Chamber Orchestra will provide the instrumental music, and the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus will provide choral accompaniments.

The event will take place on October 10th of this year. Notably, the event page on the official Game Symphony website is attached with a subtitle claiming this is “SEGA Special Vol. 1.” The more Sega music that gets performed and the more franchises that receive treatment, the merrier!

Credit for the featured image goes to the above-linked Crunchyroll article.

Fan Group Working on English Server PSO2 Project

InTheSky January 19, 2015 Leave a reply

Talk Amongst Yourselves, a subsection of Kotaku featuring article contributions from Kotaku readers, reports that a fan group is working on a private English server for Phantasy Star Online 2. Titled “Polaris”, the project is produced by only a handful of fans whom have successfully created a private English server with create-a-character and English chat capabilities fully working so far.

Celebrating the New Year with Phantasy Star Online 2 in Japan

InTheSky January 2, 2015 Leave a reply

Happy New Year, Segalization readers!

Sega is ringing in the new year for the next two weeks in Phantasy Star Online 2. From January 1st to January 14th, the ARKS Lobby will receive Japanese New Year-themed decorative touches, according to this PSUBlog entry. The featured image shows off a red Shinto shrine gate featuring a pair of Rappies at the lobby’s center.

Also, a special Nyau called the Neujahr Nyau will appear during this two-week period. Players can either receive a kumade-looking Bullet Bow or a harisen-inspired Sword upon defeating it. The kumade (meaning hand of a bear, which inspires the tool’s shape) is meant to rake in good luck. The harisen is a paper fan: a popular and enduring Japanese cultural icon .

Here’s to another year of Sega games, and hopefully more localizations. Let’s ride the momentum of Yakuza 5’s localization and Valkyria Chronicles coming to the PC as we move forward! Be sure to tell us what you want out of Sega in 2015!

Credit goes to the above-linked PSUBlog entry for the images and information.

Phantasy Star Online 2 Stage Play Coming to Japan

InTheSky November 22, 2014 2 Replies

Sega is running a stage play for Phantasy Star Online 2, titled “Phantasy Star Online 2 -ON STAGE-“. It will run from December 4th to the 7th. The play is a project meant to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the first Phantasy Star Online game’s release. More anniversary projects besides the play are reportedly on the way and yet to be announced. The official website for -ON STAGE- can be seen here. Sega staffers involved with the Phantasy Star franchise will have supervisory roles in the play, including Satoshi Sakai (producer) and Yuya Kimura (director.)

The play involves a young high school student who logs into Phantasy Star Online 2 on an otherwise normal day, but quickly finds his online adventures going awry. Tickets for the play come with a PSO2 download code for a costume themed after the fictional high school in the play (apparently also including a special sword unique to the costume) and a one-time use item called the Color Change Pass, the purpose of which hasn’t been thoroughly specified yet.

Continue reading the article to check out a promotional video, showcasing the cast members and the special attendance bonuses!

Phantasy Star Nova: Special Gameplay Features

InTheSky November 18, 2014 Leave a reply

The new Phantasy Star Nova demo hit PSN in Japan on November 13th. The demo is a retooled experience, featuring all of the changes tri-Ace and Sega made based off of the previous demo’s feedback. Ahead of the impending November 27th release date in Japan, I’d like to take look at some more features in Phantasy Star Nova outlined in this PSUBlog post, which had been authored before the new demo was out and takes a comprehensive look at various new media. Their writeup also confirms sidequests, called Promise Orders in this game. Fulfilling the Promise Orders from NPC’s allows you to get special bonuses like items and EXP.

To start, the new demo will feature a level cap up to 30 and introduces character creation, a feature unavailable in the older demo. Read on for more information, including videos!

Sega’s New Nine-Minute Phantasy Star Nova Promotional Trailer

InTheSky November 13, 2014 Leave a reply

Gematsu reports that Sega recently produced a new promotional movie for Phantasy Star Nova, ahead of its impending November 27 release. It’s meant to be a look at the major selling points of Phantasy Star Nova much like the TGS 2014 trailer; however this new trailer is even more comprehensive and detailed. While it treads over some familiar ground, with such elements as the story prologue and character creation, we do get some peeks at elements of the game that were previously not highlighted, including a look at the quest map, skill board, and home base development and customization. It appears that this video might have been made before the Valkyria Chronicles III DLC collaboration was officially announced, as this particular collaboration was not listed in the collaboration section of the video

Be sure to check it out after hitting the “Continue Reading” button. Also, check out the Gematsu article linked at the start of this writeup for a new screenshot gallery to browse through!

Valkyria Chronicles 3 Collaboration in Phantasy Star Nova

Kuronoa November 11, 2014 Leave a reply

Valkyria Chronicles cameos seem to be everywhere lately, with playable roles in Project X Zone and Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax. Sega has announced that Valkyria Chronicles III DLC content will also be in Phantasy Star Nova on December 24th, as reported by Gematsu. The costume is based on Riela Marcellis’s Valkyria form and can be used when creating a character.

Release dates for the previously announced tri-ACE content have also been confirmed. Leading the pack is the Resonance of Fate collaboration on December 4th, then Star Ocean IV on the 11th and Valkyrie Profile on 18th.

Phantasy Star Nova Revised Demo Officially Announced by Sega Japan

InTheSky October 31, 2014 Leave a reply

Last week, media outlets and fansites covered Sega’s announcement of planned changes to the Phantasy Star Nova gameplay experience based on weeks of feedback from their first gameplay demo. Sega Japan’s Twitter account officially announced the new, retooled demo’s release on PSN for November 13th, and noted the new demo on the Phantasy Star Nova Japanese website. The older demo has already been taken down.

Gematsu summarizes this new demo by saying it will allow players to experience the opening segments of the game, cinematics and gameplay combined. The PSUBlog notes that character creation will be an option in this demo (unlike the previous version,) and that players will be able to transfer certain content into the full game by maintaining a save file for the demo. The demo will take up 1.9 gigabytes of space, and may not necessarily reflect the final Phantasy Star Nova gameplay experience.

Phantasy Star Nova hits Japanese stores on November 27th. Credit for the featured image goes to Sega Japan’s Twitter posting announcing the new demo, linked above.

Phantasy Star Nova TGS Demo Feedback Changes

InTheSky October 23, 2014 2 Replies

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.