There have been many great Sega titles that have been developed for over the past two decades. The Phantasy Star series is arguably one of the best that Sega as produced along with the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Both the Phantasy Star and Sonic series in some ways revolutionized their respective genres with innovative graphics and gameplay as time progressed. Both the Phantasy and Sonic series also made great transitions from 2D to 3D gaming from the early 90’s towards the end of the decade. When Phantasy Star Online was originally released for Sega Dreamcast in 2000 the changes made from its 2D predecessors were very surprising to many people who were fans of the series. The diversion from the traditional turn based RPG into the Massive Multiplayer Online RPG was astounding.
Even though the genre was slightly different from its 2D predecessors it was a unique change that spiced up the Phantasy series which was appealing to many when PS Online 1 was released in 2000. Since the release of Phantasy Star Online the creators wanted to develop a sequel that improved the quality of the game itself while keeping some of the same elements that this game had. Over a decade later, Sega had released Phantasy Star Online 2 in Japan during the year 2012. While Sega had retained the MMORPG aspect of the original Phantasy Star Online title PS Online 2 was also a third person shooter game rather than hack and slash. Similar to the original Phantasy Star Online 2 includes awesome 3D worlds & landscapes that players can navigate through as they progress in the game.
One of the key features of this game that stands out is the customization feature since it determines the main attributes that a particular character possesses. An example, would be race customization in which the player as the option of choosing one out of three. The first race includes Humans who are well rounded and learning new skills and executing them as means for survival. The second race includes Newmans who are good at handling photon energy. The third race includes CAST’s a group of androids that posses brute strength and high levels of durability. Despite, how cool this game is Phantasy Star Online 2 was only released in Japan. So if fans of the Phantasy series wanted to play PS Online 2 they would need to have it imported from Japan.
Speaking of Japan, as many of us know earlier this year in January 2016 Phantasy Star Online 2 came out with its own anime series. Options among viewers may vary but many people believe that Phantasy Star having its own anime series was years in the making. As of right now there have only been twelve episodes released in Japanese. The anime is currently licensed by Sentai Filmworks and looks promising in terms of continuation regarding a possible season two. Overall, the Phantasy Series has come a very long since its debut in 1987. Looking at where the Phantasy series is over twenty years later after its debut would be considered astounding and makes gamers around the world realize why it was one of the best that Sega had to offer.
Gaming Hearts Collection 