E3 Hands-onPhantasy Star Online Version 2

We had a chance to play Phantasy Star Online Version 2 at Sega's booth, and we were able to check out a lot of the changes that have been made since its announcement. While the game looked very much like the current Dreamcast version, some of the subtle changes were very welcome surprises.

The game was running in single-player mode, allowing us to play a level-200 Humar, showing off the kind of power that can be attained with the 100-level extension of the experience cap. The Humar had massive amounts of HP and TP, and his stats were above and beyond anything attainable with the previous level limit. He carried examples of the new types of equipment that PSO players can look forward to using, like a special broad-bladed saber named Elysium, which has an intense extra attack named "fire bomb." Even more impressive was his armor--a set of wave plates that, while not modeled on the character, did emit rings of pale blue energy that it absorbed from attacks. Many players were displeased that even the greatest armors in the original version had no effect on character appearance--armor with visible effects such as these will more than likely become prized status symbols among the more hard-core enthusiasts.

The level playable in the demonstration appeared to be a slightly modified version of the Forest1 stage, which featured a deep orange dusk sky in lieu of the standard daytime blue. While the environment was essentially identical, the creatures inhabiting this area of Ragol were all original models that seem to have inherited the AI routines and many of the animations of the familiar Forest1 creatures. The barble looks like a huge biped turtle made of stone--it's nearly the height of a hildebear. The tollaw is a praying mantis-type creature, slimmer and slightly more wicked looking than its insect predecessor. Tollaws were noticeably faster than most other monsters and quite tenacious. Replacing the barbarous wolves were leaping beasts that looked like they were half-bull and half-wolf creatures carved from stone and ash. Some of these enemies bore resistances to certain kinds of magic and could absorb even the most powerful rafoie without flinching. Teamwork and mixing magic types will be necessary strategies when these challenging foes are encountered.

After clearing a few areas of this forest, a teleporter transported our intrepid Humar to the lair of the Silver Dragon--the new boss character that has been added to PSO Version 2. This dragon behaves very much like the red dragon before it, except that it's much quicker as it stomps about, and its breath weapon can cause an unfortunate freezing of your characters. While dodging his icy breath, we were able to examine his lair, which was an arena encircled by rough-textured walls of solid ice and illuminated by a starry night and the prominent northern lights.

We were unable to sample the new lobby games and other changes that were announced, as the demonstration was only in single-player mode. According to Sega representatives, the new modes have been implemented and are ready for the full version's impending retail debut. We will be sure to report on further progress on Phantasy Star Online Version 2 as it approaches its Japanese release date and more information becomes available.