Phantasy Star Online Unveiled

Sega's Phantasy Star Online was shown on a massive display of monitors at the Tokyo Game Show today. Our editors checked out the demonstrations and listened to a speech from Yuji Naka about the game. See what they thought of it.

Mark MacDonald's impressions:

Probably the single most buzz-generating title on the first day of the TGS and many attendees' pick for game of the show (including mine) was Sega's incredibly ambitious online multiplayer RPG for the Dreamcast, Phantasy Star Online.

An impressive nonplayable demo showed how the game will work: First, four characters met in a large, futuristic city and, after saying hello and introducing themselves, decided to team up and go after a boss monster. The demo was displayed on four monitors simultaneously, one from each player's perspective. As characters spoke, their dialogue appeared in comic-book-style text bubbles above their heads that followed them as they moved, so you could see who was saying what. One of the screens even displayed all dialogue spoken in English, while the other three screens simultaneously displayed Japanese characters, highlighting the fact that gamers from all over the world will be able to play PSO together. Communication in the game can be accomplished by typing messages on the keyboard directly or by using predetermined text that can be chosen out of a list of conversations. Other than text-based conversation, players can also use icons for communicating.

The demo then moved on to combat; the party encountered various monsters in real-time battles, with some of the players staying back and attacking with long-range weapons like rifles, while others got in close to fight with swords and other hand-to-hand weapons. As the battle raged on, characters shouted to each other when they found new enemies or needed help. The game looked fantastic - lush outdoor environments with multiple giant enemies onscreen at the same time. And even with everyone fighting simultaneously, the game was smooth and never appeared to slow down or lag.

There was also a good deal of teamwork on display in the game. At one point, a giant metal obstacle blocked the party's path, and after a lone person tried to move it and failed, another character helped out. Together, they were able to push it out of the way and continue on. Another sequence involved a door with two switches that two people had to trigger at the same time to open.

Later, the producer Yuji Naka and members of the Sonic Team demoed the game live onstage at Sega's booth. The four players, two onstage and two elsewhere phoning in their games, chatted and then went off and fought a giant dragon.

One interesting feature Mr. Naka mentioned in his presentation is that, when you die in PSO, the remaining party members must do something to get you back into the game. If they don't want the person back in or they are causing trouble they can just choose not to help the person out and let them back into the party. This way, selfish players who hoard all the items and treasure or just try to make trouble can be forced out of a group.

Phantasy Star Online will support one to four players and will use the Dreamcast arcade stick and keyboard. The game is due out sometime this year.

James Mielke's impressions:

Quite possibly the game of the show, Phantasy Star Online, developed by Sonic Team and the original PS team, is Sega's answer to Square and its online-compatible Final Fantasy X and FFXI. Purported to let gamers from all over the world play simultaneous, cooperative games with each other in the Phantasy Star world, PS Online looks absolutely gorgeous, on par with anything we've seen thus far from the online-specific Final Fantasy XI. The environments in PSO are jaw dropping to say the least, while the character models look to be equivalent to what Grandia II or Eternal Arcadia is offering. The game is only being shown on video right now, with no playable demos on hand, but from what Sega has shown us, PSO is gearing up to be something spectacular. If Sega gets its worldwide network established and the game's ambitions are realized, then Sega will have one of its strongest weapons in years. Don't expect this one in 2000. Unless this game is a lot further ahead in development than what they're showing, 2001 is a better bet.