Phantasy Star Zero impressions
Kendrick Kerwin Chua
Played about ten hours now with two different character classes. Wanted to
post some impression of Phantasy Star Zero while they're fresh in my head.
Phantasy Star Portable on the PSP was a fun game marred by two glaring
problems. Tying all play to predefined missions with concrete goals was
something that translated well from Phantasy Star Universe, but which
required players to sit and play for an hour at a time without being able
to save or pause. And while the solo game was very well presented, the ad
hoc local multiplayer wireless mode had trouble synchronizing more than
two systems. Still, at the time it was the closest thing to a portable
Phantasy Star Online that we had.
With Phantasy Star Zero for the DS on the market, all the previous dreams
have been realized. Lowering the polygon count for everything makes for a
slightly ugly game, but makes it very easy to coordinate all four players
(although I've only ever seen it with two.) And returning to the
teleporter/field model of PSO means that the ability to do an area run is
back, where the player defines the goal. You can grind, gather loot, or
just kill monsters with no particular end goal in mind.
A lot of other good PSO qualities are back as well. Mags are back to being
a true partner machine that's fed and levelled up, rather than a weapon
option that ties up an inventory slot. Forces can cast spells barehanded
again for the speed bonus, or use a wand or cane for the additional power.
Wands and canes also get their melee strike option back. Something carried
forward from PSU is the ability to strafe by holding down the left
trigger, so you can lob bullets or spells while backing up or dodging.
Speaking of which, all classes get a new palette command for active
evasion, so you can roll out of the way quickly. That's something we
haven't seen previously in any iteration of the new Phantasy Star games.
Sadly, we lose the beast character options in PS Zero as we go back to the
Human/CAST/Neuman trio of races. Also, we're apparently in a completely
new continuity now that's set on a post-apocalyptic Earth, and there's no
initial mention of Algol, Ragol, or Gurhal in any of the story dialogue so
far. I'm still married to the idea that Gurhal is built on the ruins of
Algol and that somehow PSU is the far future of the original Phantasy Star
world, so I'm sure at some point I'll be able to fanwank PS Zero into the
continuity too. :)
So the readership of RGVS and AGPS is down to like a single digit worth of
people. Anybody else play yet?
-KKC, arranging for dentistry.
--
--"Feel sensational thrills! Don't miss | kendrick |
out on the enjoyment of a lifetime!" | @ io.com | http://www.io.com/~kkc
Ted
> So the readership of RGVS and AGPS is down to like a single digit worth of
> people. Anybody else play yet?
Maybe no one in the group has the same system as anyone else in the group...
(Technically untrue, as I have a DS and PSP; I barely played any of the
PhStPortable tho, and will not likely get PS0 soon. I got Qubed for 360
yesterday tho, with Rez HD. And Sega Superstars Tennis and the Arcade
offline pack for $4.99, so it's not entirely Segaless out here...)
Kendrick Kerwin Chua
I picked up Rez for the 360, but only because it was on some ridiculous
discount. I'm still not comfortable with DLC, because there's no physical
media that outlasts broken hardware. And when you're talking about the
Xbox 360, you're counting days and not years until that happens. :)
Apart from the new Phantasy Star games, the last Sega release that really
grabbed me was the Genesis collections on the current consoles. I don't
mind that they're mining their library and profiting from nostalgia, but
it's also pretty clear that I'm not the market Sega is going after at the
moment, given that the bulk of their profits are coming from kids who love
to see Sonic perform in Olympic sporting events.
To your other point? I think it's a given that the self-proclaimed
hardcore gamers among us will eventually own every console, if they don't
already. It might be more of a challenge in this economy, and even I don't
have a Wii or a PS3 yet, which means I haven't had a chance to try
Valkyria Chronicles or any of the new HOTD games yet. But if you loved
PSO, I dare you not to get addicted to Zero at some point. I've played it
a little bit every day, and I can't put it down.
-KKC, who also has a new copy of Sonic Rivals to try out.
Scott H
You've made me want a DS again, fortunately they cost money that I
don't have. I still need to play through PSU on 360 besides. I'll add
a DS and PSZ to my list of things to buy when hell freezes over and
everybody in the house is finally done with college.
--
Scott
Kendrick Kerwin Chua
Scott H <she...@gamepilgrimage.com> wrote:
>Kendrick Kerwin Chua wrote:
>> Played about ten hours now with two different character classes. Wanted to
>> post some impression of Phantasy Star Zero while they're fresh in my head.
> You've made me want a DS again, fortunately they cost money that I
>don't have. I still need to play through PSU on 360 besides. I'll add
>a DS and PSZ to my list of things to buy when hell freezes over and
>everybody in the house is finally done with college.
Heh. Can't you get an original DS (as opposed to a Lite unit) for around
$60 at this point? Dimmer screens and less reliable wireless connectivity,
but all the functionality is there in a sturdier housing. I suppose
pricing will skew upwards as the holidays draw closer.
I'm still holding out hope that the original PSO code will get ported to a
handheld machine at some future point. I always imagined they could nail
the server and quest functions to the side of a theoretical PSP version,
so that one handheld ends up being a host for three clients. That would
eliminate the need for centralized servers. But PSZero is the closest
we've had so far, and is excellent fun in its own right. I've played at
least an hour every day since the order came in.
-KKC, who went looking for copies of the 360 version of PSU and couldn't
find any.
Scott H
> Heh. Can't you get an original DS (as opposed to a Lite unit) for around
> $60 at this point? Dimmer screens and less reliable wireless connectivity,
> but all the functionality is there in a sturdier housing. I suppose
> pricing will skew upwards as the holidays draw closer.
I think I actually would prefer an original DS to accomodate my ~to+
sized hands. The issue is actually low income plus Christmas. Actually,
the problem is the unnecessary expenses that come along with Christmas
when one of the household's family lives three states away and want to
see their grandson.
> I'm still holding out hope that the original PSO code will get ported to a
> handheld machine at some future point. I always imagined they could nail
> the server and quest functions to the side of a theoretical PSP version,
> so that one handheld ends up being a host for three clients. That would
> eliminate the need for centralized servers. But PSZero is the closest
> we've had so far, and is excellent fun in its own right. I've played at
> least an hour every day since the order came in.
I would honestly be shocked if the original PSO code couldn't be
translated with minimum graphical detriment to the DS. How would you
compare PSZ graphically to PSO?
> -KKC, who went looking for copies of the 360 version of PSU and couldn't
> find any.
Yeah, I bet not many people bought one, I got mine from a collector
locally who snagged it from a pawn shop for $10 or so. Are there any
online sources you would be willing to consider? I find it a relatively
good first gen 360 adaptation of the PS2 version.
--
Scott
Kendrick Kerwin Chua
>> handheld machine at some future point. I always imagined they could nail
>> the server and quest functions to the side of a theoretical PSP version,
>> so that one handheld ends up being a host for three clients. That would
>> eliminate the need for centralized servers. But PSZero is the closest
>> we've had so far, and is excellent fun in its own right. I've played at
>> least an hour every day since the order came in.
>
> I would honestly be shocked if the original PSO code couldn't be
>translated with minimum graphical detriment to the DS. How would you
>compare PSZ graphically to PSO?
PSZero uses far fewer polygons than PSO, and it also separates each
dungeon area into separate rooms. Rather than loading the room and drawing
a hallway in the middle, you walk through a door and there's a brief pause
as the screen goes black before the next room is loaded. The humanoid
characters are reasonably high poly, but the monsters are 3DO/N64-level
graphics at best. It's not unpleasant, but it's definitely uglier than
PSO.
>> -KKC, who went looking for copies of the 360 version of PSU and couldn't
>> find any.
>
>Yeah, I bet not many people bought one, I got mine from a collector
>locally who snagged it from a pawn shop for $10 or so. Are there any
>online sources you would be willing to consider? I find it a relatively
>good first gen 360 adaptation of the PS2 version.
I've gone looking. GameQuestDirect had some copies at the final retail
price of $50, but they sold out. Amazon sellers start the pricing at
around $100, which is absurd unless there's some hacking potential in the
code that I don't know about. I'm sure I'll come across an affordable copy
soon, which I want really for the collection more than I do to actually
play it.
-KKC, who wonders if Monster Hunter Tri will inspire Sega to make a
Wii-centric Phantasy Star game.
Scott H
> In article <he6q00$tqd$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> Scott H <she...@gamepilgrimage.com> wrote:
>> Kendrick Kerwin Chua wrote:
>>
>>> I'm still holding out hope that the original PSO code will get ported to a
>>> handheld machine at some future point. I always imagined they could nail
>>> the server and quest functions to the side of a theoretical PSP version,
>>> so that one handheld ends up being a host for three clients. That would
>>> eliminate the need for centralized servers. But PSZero is the closest
>>> we've had so far, and is excellent fun in its own right. I've played at
>>> least an hour every day since the order came in.
>> I would honestly be shocked if the original PSO code couldn't be
>> translated with minimum graphical detriment to the DS. How would you
>> compare PSZ graphically to PSO?
>
> PSZero uses far fewer polygons than PSO, and it also separates each
> dungeon area into separate rooms. Rather than loading the room and drawing
> a hallway in the middle, you walk through a door and there's a brief pause
> as the screen goes black before the next room is loaded. The humanoid
> characters are reasonably high poly, but the monsters are 3DO/N64-level
> graphics at best. It's not unpleasant, but it's definitely uglier than
> PSO.
I would expect the stages to be smaller, but I think I should also
expect the character models to be indistinguishable on the small screen.
You mentioned 3DO, are the monsters pre-rendered?
>>> -KKC, who went looking for copies of the 360 version of PSU and couldn't
>>> find any.
>> Yeah, I bet not many people bought one, I got mine from a collector
>> locally who snagged it from a pawn shop for $10 or so. Are there any
>> online sources you would be willing to consider? I find it a relatively
>> good first gen 360 adaptation of the PS2 version.
>
> I've gone looking. GameQuestDirect had some copies at the final retail
> price of $50, but they sold out. Amazon sellers start the pricing at
> around $100, which is absurd unless there's some hacking potential in the
> code that I don't know about. I'm sure I'll come across an affordable copy
> soon, which I want really for the collection more than I do to actually
> play it.
Froogle has plenty for lower than $30 if you're looking. I don't know
what your criteria are though. For collection purposes only I wouldn't
pay more than I did.
http://www.google.com/products?q=phantasy+star+universe+xbox+360&aq=1&oq=phantasy+star+
> -KKC, who wonders if Monster Hunter Tri will inspire Sega to make a
> Wii-centric Phantasy Star game.
I've been waiting for Sega to land an A-Bomb of classic quality for
about eight years now. I'm thinking about recording the credit scrolls
of ever Sega game I ever liked, and trying to track down where the bulk
of their talent ran off to.
--
Scott
Scott H
>
> Froogle has plenty for lower than $30 if you're looking. I don't know
> what your criteria are though. For collection purposes only I wouldn't
> pay more than I did.
I just checked my records and it turns out I bought PSU with store
credit and did not mention for how much. I must have been thinking
about what I spent for the original release Oblivion I bought from said
collector.
--
Scott
Kendrick Kerwin Chua
Scott H <she...@gamepilgrimage.com> wrote:
>Kendrick Kerwin Chua wrote:
>> In article <he6q00$tqd$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
>> Scott H <she...@gamepilgrimage.com> wrote:
>>> Kendrick Kerwin Chua wrote:
>>>
>>>> I'm still holding out hope that the original PSO code will get ported to a
>>>> handheld machine at some future point. I always imagined they could nail
>
>>> translated with minimum graphical detriment to the DS. How would you
>>> compare PSZ graphically to PSO?
>>
>> PSZero uses far fewer polygons than PSO, and it also separates each
>> dungeon area into separate rooms. Rather than loading the room and drawing
>> a hallway in the middle, you walk through a door and there's a brief pause
>> as the screen goes black before the next room is loaded. The humanoid
>> characters are reasonably high poly, but the monsters are 3DO/N64-level
>> graphics at best. It's not unpleasant, but it's definitely uglier than
>> PSO.
>
> I would expect the stages to be smaller, but I think I should also
> expect the character models to be indistinguishable on the small screen.
> You mentioned 3DO, are the monsters pre-rendered?
No, they're polygonal too, but they're shockingly simple. The desert field
has these snake and vulture creatures that look like they're no more than
twenty or thirty polys total, each. However, their motion is pretty
convincing, and it looks like they recycled some of the pathfinding and
character tracking from PSU to accomplish that.
>> -KKC, who wonders if Monster Hunter Tri will inspire Sega to make a
>> Wii-centric Phantasy Star game.
>
>I've been waiting for Sega to land an A-Bomb of classic quality for
>about eight years now. I'm thinking about recording the credit scrolls
>of ever Sega game I ever liked, and trying to track down where the bulk
>of their talent ran off to.
Did you play Yakuza? That series is probably the closest they've come in a
long time, but it appears the game has no appeal outside of Japan. There
is a small fanbase in the States that's demanding the PS3 games get
released, but it's looking increasingly unlikely.
As for their talent? It looks like Sega's real effort is being focused
on their arcade cabinets again. Sega Racing Classic is what they're
calling the next Daytona because NASCAR licensing prevents them from
reusing the name of the city. It's only an HD remix of the original game,
but the footage I've seen is heart-stoppingly good. It's not exactly a
novel or creative effort to do that though.
-KKC, who doesn't know why he's up at 6:00 on a Saturday.
Scott H
> In article <he7mle$22c$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> Scott H <she...@gamepilgrimage.com> wrote:
>> I would expect the stages to be smaller, but I think I should also
>> expect the character models to be indistinguishable on the small screen.
>> You mentioned 3DO, are the monsters pre-rendered?
>
> No, they're polygonal too, but they're shockingly simple. The desert field
> has these snake and vulture creatures that look like they're no more than
> twenty or thirty polys total, each. However, their motion is pretty
> convincing, and it looks like they recycled some of the pathfinding and
> character tracking from PSU to accomplish that.
I'm basically indifferent to whether an object is fully polygonal,
sprite based, or a combination as long as it comes across as something
distinct and memorable. Sadly very few 3D models I've seen in the last
fifteen years fall under that description. Everybody remembers the
ghosts in Mario 3, or the slime in Dragon Warrior, or that spiked
caterpillar in Sonic 1. Try to remember what the standard enemies in
any 3D game are though, after not playing it for a few years. I'd bet I
could count them on two hands without recycling.
>>> -KKC, who wonders if Monster Hunter Tri will inspire Sega to make a
>>> Wii-centric Phantasy Star game.
>> I've been waiting for Sega to land an A-Bomb of classic quality for
>> about eight years now. I'm thinking about recording the credit scrolls
>> of ever Sega game I ever liked, and trying to track down where the bulk
>> of their talent ran off to.
>
> Did you play Yakuza? That series is probably the closest they've come in a
> long time, but it appears the game has no appeal outside of Japan. There
> is a small fanbase in the States that's demanding the PS3 games get
> released, but it's looking increasingly unlikely.
I demoed it in a store, found the gameplay interesting enough and then
got sidetracked by Spikeout: Battlestreet. The plethora of F-Bombs also
deterred me from picking this one up.
> As for their talent? It looks like Sega's real effort is being focused
> on their arcade cabinets again. Sega Racing Classic is what they're
> calling the next Daytona because NASCAR licensing prevents them from
> reusing the name of the city. It's only an HD remix of the original game,
> but the footage I've seen is heart-stoppingly good. It's not exactly a
> novel or creative effort to do that though.
I meant the actual talent employed by Sega during their console days.
I'd like to know all of their names and who they are working for today,
right down to the graphics designers and game testers.
> -KKC, who doesn't know why he's up at 6:00 on a Saturday.
4:54AM my time, nutso.
--
Scott
BelPowerslave
> got sidetracked by Spikeout: Battlestreet. The plethora of F-Bombs also
> deterred me from picking this one up.
I actually *like* having that in a game. ;) The Yakuza and God of War
games are the reason I am really trying to keep up with that PS2
emulator's status. Will be great when it's up and running at an
acceptable level...I can run out and buy some used copies of the games
and play them without having to put up with the shitty PS2 hardware.
Wouldn't mind Ghost Rider(they canceled the Xbox version) or the GTA
"Stories" games either...
Bel
--
Whip Ass Gaming: http://www.whipassgaming.com/
"With no possible contact to the outside world you begin your adventure,
ready to accomplish your mission, praying to return alive."
- Powerslave
Scott H
>> I demoed it in a store, found the gameplay interesting enough and then
>> got sidetracked by Spikeout: Battlestreet. The plethora of F-Bombs
>> also deterred me from picking this one up.
>
> I actually *like* having that in a game. ;) The Yakuza and God of War
> games are the reason I am really trying to keep up with that PS2
> emulator's status. Will be great when it's up and running at an
> acceptable level...I can run out and buy some used copies of the games
> and play them without having to put up with the shitty PS2 hardware.
> Wouldn't mind Ghost Rider(they canceled the Xbox version) or the GTA
> "Stories" games either...
>
> Bel
Well, don't get me wrong. It is not that I find the words "fuck" or
"fucker" offensive, I just find the terms horribly misused. I mean,
"fuck" hardly means "fornication under carnal knowledge" anymore. It
seems to be used as an expletive to express premature emotions. If I
still had access to the Oxford English Dictionary, I'm sure I could find
out what the words mean today. I'm sure the OED could distinguish
between a situation that just demands one to exclaim "fuck" from a
person who is a "fucker", as the protagonist in Yakusa clearly is. I
also require further clarification between these two terms and the act
of fucking, which I distinguish from the act of "love making", or the
act of "sex" without personal preference.
So, simply put, I just find myself confused when a videogame antagonist
calls the protagonist a "fucker". Furthermore, when said term is
applied repeatedly in a fighting game I just feel deficient
grammatically and tend to put the game down.
--
Scott
Kendrick Kerwin Chua
Scott H <she...@gamepilgrimage.com> wrote:
>BelPowerslave wrote:
>>> I demoed it in a store, found the gameplay interesting enough and then
>>> got sidetracked by Spikeout: Battlestreet. The plethora of F-Bombs
>>> also deterred me from picking this one up.
>>
>> I actually *like* having that in a game. ;) The Yakuza and God of War
>> games are the reason I am really trying to keep up with that PS2
>
>"fucker" offensive, I just find the terms horribly misused. I mean,
>"fuck" hardly means "fornication under carnal knowledge" anymore. It
>seems to be used as an expletive to express premature emotions. If I
>still had access to the Oxford English Dictionary, I'm sure I could find
>out what the words mean today. I'm sure the OED could distinguish
>between a situation that just demands one to exclaim "fuck" from a
>person who is a "fucker", as the protagonist in Yakusa clearly is. I
>also require further clarification between these two terms and the act
>of fucking, which I distinguish from the act of "love making", or the
>act of "sex" without personal preference.
No room for evolving colloquialisms there? Obviously the profanity in
question has a specific original meaning, but in a modern construction
it's generally accepted as a non-specific diminutive or perjorative term.
It's like misusing 'Old School' to refer to any type of music whose time
has passed, rather than the specific disco-break-based rap of 1977-1982.
I cheerfully allow for the fact that you're just having a good time with
purposefully dense pedantry and that you don't actually feel strongly
about the subject in question. :)
-KKC, who needs to get back to Yakuza at some point when he's tired of the
GTA IV world.
Scott H
I suppose in a post-modern world one could say any potentially offensive
term as readily as "yes" or "no" and everything remains the same.
> -KKC, who needs to get back to Yakuza at some point when he's tired of the
> GTA IV world.
Well, if you haven't fucking finished with Yakuza, why the fuck did you
buy GTAIV?
Kendrick Kerwin Chua
Scott H <she...@gamepilgrimage.com> wrote:
>Kendrick Kerwin Chua wrote:
>
>> -KKC, who needs to get back to Yakuza at some point when he's tired of the
>> GTA IV world.
>
>Well, if you haven't fucking finished with Yakuza, why the fuck did you
>buy GTAIV?
It was the discount copy on the Target endcap, and the limited edition one
to boot. With the steel lockbox and the soundtrack and the duffel bag. And
it rang up for only $20, which makes it easily the best gaming bargain of
2008 for me.
I had a big problem with the GTA series based on what I read, and not from
actually playing it. GTA IV had a fully realized parody world, and was set
in a place that was believably like New York City. Once I figured out that
it was essentially Oblivion in modern times, it all clicked. For the sake
of bringing it back around on topic, I always imagined that a future
iteration of Shenmue would benefit greatly from the GTA play mechanism.
-KKC, who is also busy levelling up in PS Zero, because the third boss is
really fucking hard. :)
Scott H
> In article <heepfg$r4r$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> Scott H <she...@gamepilgrimage.com> wrote:
>> Kendrick Kerwin Chua wrote:
>>
>>> -KKC, who needs to get back to Yakuza at some point when he's tired of the
>>> GTA IV world.
>> Well, if you haven't fucking finished with Yakuza, why the fuck did you
>> buy GTAIV?
>
> It was the discount copy on the Target endcap, and the limited edition one
> to boot. With the steel lockbox and the soundtrack and the duffel bag. And
> it rang up for only $20, which makes it easily the best gaming bargain of
> 2008 for me.
>
> I had a big problem with the GTA series based on what I read, and not from
> actually playing it. GTA IV had a fully realized parody world, and was set
> in a place that was believably like New York City. Once I figured out that
> it was essentially Oblivion in modern times, it all clicked. For the sake
> of bringing it back around on topic, I always imagined that a future
> iteration of Shenmue would benefit greatly from the GTA play mechanism.
Well, discounts usually get me to buy games, so I can't blame you for
that. I also tend to get around to figuring out what all the hoopla is
about the newest iteration of a franchise.
> -KKC, who is also busy levelling up in PS Zero, because the third boss is
> really fucking hard. :)
I'm not sure how to take that. Should I imagine the third boss as
described, you know, down there, or are you speaking of his or her
fighting ability?
--
Scott
Kendrick Kerwin Chua
The bosses are presented in a different order depending on the character
race you pick, because each one gets a slightly different story mode. For
humans, the third boss is a giant octopus thing that fights you in a
circular arena not unlike the original Dark Falz battle from PSO. Yes, the
in-game dialogue makes all the appropriate tentacle double-entendre jokes.
So in this case, feel free to interpret my previous statement as you see
fit.
-KKC, getting some Christmas shopping out of the way ahead of schedule.
Scott H
> In article <heeqoq$68q$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> Scott H <she...@gamepilgrimage.com> wrote:
>> Kendrick Kerwin Chua wrote:
>>
>>> -KKC, who is also busy levelling up in PS Zero, because the third boss is
>>> really fucking hard. :)
>> I'm not sure how to take that. Should I imagine the third boss as
>> described, you know, down there, or are you speaking of his or her
>> fighting ability?
>
> The bosses are presented in a different order depending on the character
> race you pick, because each one gets a slightly different story mode. For
> humans, the third boss is a giant octopus thing that fights you in a
> circular arena not unlike the original Dark Falz battle from PSO. Yes, the
> in-game dialogue makes all the appropriate tentacle double-entendre jokes.
> So in this case, feel free to interpret my previous statement as you see
> fit.
>
Ah tentacle monsters, the dark passenger of the Japanese government's
social policies.
> -KKC, getting some Christmas shopping out of the way ahead of schedule.
Lucky you.
--
Scott