It has been a long 7 years since the release of Phantasy Star Online 2 in Japan and fans have been eagerly waiting for a western release. Many fans of the original Phantasy Star Online released on Dreamcast and then later the Gamecube, are celebrating the long awaited news.
Not long after the release, Sega went silent for what seemed like an eternity about the western release of Phantasy Star Online 2. This silence finally came to a close at the Xbox conference accompanied by a flashy trailer pumping fans up for the return to the Phantasy Star world.
The trailer on the teaser website apparently shows off a lot of what to expect in Phantasy Star Online 2 in a slick CG fashion. Whether it be all the featured characters, the fast pace combat or the enormous boss encounters. In the press release, Sega states that “there will be no limitations on game experiences such as class level cap or direct purchase of high-tier weapons because we want to provide all players with a fair and exciting experience.” Word has spread that there will be some sort of microtransactions that will be in the game that will assist players with quest if they are willing to pay the coin.
Can all this good news for fans come without a catch? Unfortunately, there will be a large amount of disappointed fans given the restricted nature of the games release. For starters, Phantasy Star Online 2 will not release in Europe. Players in that area may have to jump through some hoops still to get a hold of the game like many NA players did with the Japan version. Another piece of unfortunate news is that there is no word of the game coming to PS4. Given that the game has surpassed over 1 million downloads on the PS4 alone, it’s a shame and a mystery why they don’t have a plan for a western PS4 release.
There is still no word yet on an exact release date but hopefully fans won’t have to wait too long in 2020 to sink their teeth into a great piece of nostalgia yet again.