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[Last Updated: 11th May 2006] Phantasy Star Universe - Everything we know in all the universe! |
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- Phantasy Star Universe
- Players: TBA
- Genre: RPG
- Online Enabled: Yes
- Format: PlayStation2, Xbox360 & PC
- Release Date: TBA 2006 (Japan), Autumn 2006 (Europe), Autumn 2006 (America)
- Note the release date constantly changes - The dates given above are officially noted dates only and will only be changed when official changes are made!
 
Phantasy Star Universe is the exciting return to the world of Phantasy Star, that many have eagerly been awaiting further information on since it's first unvieling in the form of a small trailer shown during E3 in 2004. SEGA have not revealed a huge amount of information about this game until recently where they have shown the title off in 2 magazine features, and in a revamped website, which you can visit at http://phantasystaruniverse.com.  
Phantasy Star Universe is not the new Phantasy Star Online, it is instead a continuation of the SEGA Megadrive Phantasy Star games from many years ago, combined with elements of gameplay and online aspects thrown in from successes with the Phantasy Star Online games. The game is set in the Grail Star System, made up of 3 planets, each of which has its own cultures and life forms.  
Because of the planets differences, a great war took place, with the intentions to settle the differences (as people do in wars!). However, the battle ended with the formation of the Three Planet Commonwealth so all planets in the Grail Star System could collaberate with one another without the use of knives or very big guns! Universe starts right in the middle of the 100 year anniversary celebrations of the forming of the Commonwealth. However, during the celebrations, a great meteor shower kicks off in the sky, taking effects on all the fleets of Guardians Ships, in the sky flying around as an air show was supposed to take place for the celebrations.  
Many Ships crash down and huge fires blaze out on the grounds surrounding the Guardians Colony on the planet. However, this wasnt a natural occurance, it was infact the work of alien life forms otherwise known as 'Seed'. As the fires continue, the 'Seed's proceed attacks on the Guardians in the hope to take them all out. Ethan & The Guardians Colony |
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The main character is named 'Ethan Webber', a human aged 17, who we first encounter watching the celebrations of the Commonwealths Anniversary, from the Guardians Colony, with his younger sister Lumia. The Guardians Colony is the interstellar base for the peace-keeping force, known as the 'Guardians', who keep the Commonwealth in alignment and intact. After the Guardians Colony is destroyed by the 'seed's, his sister Lumia is lost amongst the debris, and he makes it his quest to find her.  The Guardians Colony is pretty much the central location in this game and is comprised of many cities, populated by lots and lots of inhabitants. Everyone has their own room in the colony, including Ethan (The player you control) which you wait in to recieve special new missions, should you need to. You can also use this room to house special items you've collected from either the main game or online trades with other people, which you can find more about below, just as an added extra incase you get bored! Moving out into the Colony Halls, you'll find many inhabitants that you can speak to that will serve as vital information sources, friends, quest party members, item sellers, and locations of rest!
  
  
  
The whole game isnt mission based though, as you'll also be there to explore the environments of the colony at certain times in the game. The main aspects of the gameplay have not yet been revealed by SEGA.  
Phantasy Star Universe is being developed as a true RPG, which focuses on the adventures of Ethan and on his growth as a Guardian. You'll be able to travel between planets in the Grahl Star System with the use of Star Ships, and make use of vehicles such as Air Bikes to travel around the planets surfaces quicker! As mentioned above, the game also entails aspects of the Phantasy Star Online series, while keeping to the Phantasy Star storyline. Such aspects include the battle system, which is very much action orientated, alike the systems used in Phantasy Star Online, Episodes I & II, fighting with swords, guns, and magic spells, including combination attacks. In the offline game, you will take control of your main character, while the other team members are AI controlled, although you can give them commands to cast magic spells or use certain items, for example to heal you while you're in the middle of an intense battle... or maybe because you're too lazy to!  
The online gameplay will see you fighting alongside many players alike in PSO, with the exception of the limit of the teams sizes, which has yet to be announced, but believed to be much bigger then the 4 allowed in PSO online games - In fact over 100 people are believed to be able to play in the same game at the sametime! 
They're like you and me, they act just as well, they're just as versatile, and they age! In Universe, Humans are the most common race in the Grahl Solar System, and are quickly outnumbering the other races amoung the planets populations. Humans are the basis of the solar system, and if something has happened, you can be sure the Humans will get it first! Most of the humans live on 'Parum', and as a character in this game, they're pretty much in the middle of it all. Playing as humans in Universe will get you 'average' attack, defense, accuracy, evasion, mental, and technique statistics & abilities. - Ethan Waber
- Male
- 17
- Guardian Affiliate
- Living in the Guardians Colony and around at the time of the first SEED strike during the 100th anniversary celebrations with his sister Lumia Waber, Ethan becomes a trainee of the 'Guardians' (A private planetary security organisation) working under Karen Erra.
- Hyuga Ryght
- Male
- 17
- Guardian Affiliate
- Similiar to Ethan, Hyuga entered 'Guardians Training School' in the same year. However, the two have become rivals since, competing at every opportunity for the chance to come first in the 'Fraballu Tournament'. Serious Minded at heart, he's a bit of a smart ass and never misses an opportunity to try for the girls!
Usually residing on Neudiaz, Newmans are a superior race over the humans, being created after humans themselves went about breeding 'super humans'. Because of this, many of their properties are better when compared to humans, including the likes of thinking power, memory, reaction timing, etc. However, what they make up in knowledge and power, they lose in physical performance. Attack power is much poorer, compared to mental and technique abilities which are much stronger. Newmans tend to have much better spiritual strength, turning ordinary attacks into effective hits you dont want to be on the recieving end of! Evasion and Accuracy are also slightly better then those of humans. Karen Erra Female 17 Guardian Affiliate Fighting with the Guardians for the last 3 years, Karen serves as Ethan's mentor. Karen is a stubborn character, after going through the experience of having her mother killed by native creatures while she was young. Despite being a Newman, she also doesn't use 'technics', in hope of training to be strong.
Mirei Mikuna Female 17 Guardian Affiliate Mirei is a divine maiden who symbolizes the communion of Gurhal. She offers great mental and spiritual sustenance for people in the Gurhal System, coming from her charisma and beauty! Mirei is also very compassionate and affectionate, even when she isnt in the position of the maiden.
In a beast's lifecycle, they start off by having their genes altered so they become part of an effective labour force and complete tasks such as mining where others can't such as in horrible environments on resource mining planets. They have a very strong spirit and can be the most powerful race in the game. Normally calm, if a beast doesn't like you, you'll know about it when they do their nut and throw you halfway across the planet! However as i say, normally, they're nice beings that get along well with other civilians. They have excellent hand-to-hand combat skills and have a special ability to turn into a 'Beast-Man'! They also have great attack power and evasion skills, while lacking somewhat in mental and technical skills. You'll find beasts normally around Moatoob. - Leogini Santosa Berafort
- Male
- 31
- Guardian Affiliate
- Leo (As he likes to be known) came together with Ethan when the SEED was first seen attacking, giving Ethan the chance to battle with him and become a part of the Guardians. Leo is a very family orientated character who cares more then you would think normal for a beast! He even has a wife and a 3 year old son living in the Guardians Colony.
Renvolt Magashi is the leading commander officer of the 'Endrum Collective' - A group born within the 'A.M.F' with the sole purpose of protecting the 'Relics'. Renvolt is not a class of any kind but is instead of civilian personnel, who is very dangerous and likes to think that everyone who exists is made to exist, only to be killed by him! He loves his job, and he carries out his duties of the 'Endrum Collective' happyily knowing that another battle draws closer with every passing minute! Built by Humans, Casts are machines which have evolved and developed free wills. However, over time Casts living alongside all other races have now sent themselves aside for independance, and setup a system to control the human society. They are rational beings, each one big on control, and follow rules and regulations strictly setup in their race. With powerful defense and attack power, their stats quickly outweigh those of humans. However they can only use limited techs with weak technical and mental abilities, while concealing their great strength in terms of power and evasion. They also specialise in using guns. Casts alike Beasts however also have one extra ability that cannot be used by Newmans and Humans. 
The Rogue of all Rogues as others see him, Alfort is a very evil and angry man indeed, coming from a big past in space piracy. However saying this, he isn't all big on killing and violence, but isn't afraid to use those skills if necessary.  "Kill not uselessly, deprive not the poor and betray not others" is his personal principal and is in charge of the Pirate Ship 'Landeel' (Pictured right, below).
You will no doubt see and encounter Alfort a lot through the story of Phantasy Star Universe, but will he come through in the end? Well we'll have to wait and see when the game gets its release next year!  The 3 Vol Brothers are 3 rogues who love what they do, and don't ever want to stop making other lives miserable. The name 'Vol' is from pirate ancestory, going back through several generation of pirates within the family, working under Alfort.
The eldest brother is Hiru Vol who has the aim to make it big time in the world of rogue life, forming the '3 Vol Brothers' in the aim to become the best, most feared and known throughout the system. Hiru's former name was 'Hiraneiru Takura' and takes the role as the 'Big Brother' by being the brother the others look upto. Whenever they're in a tight spot, Hiru is the one with the brainpower and technical speciality the others admire! The second brother in the group comes from a great merchant's past from Parum which failed in business! No Vol conatins much pride in his work, keeping himself alive the "the glory of his past". No is the best part of the labour force in the team, excelling in long range combat and 'Shoot' weapon handling. However he fears his looks worrying that his face will someday look 'old'! (Whatever takes your fancy i suppose!). Last but not least comes Do Vol. A timid, pure minded little rascal who was previously bullied in life for his 'scary appearance'. Within the group, Do is the mechanic of the three, taking responsibility behind all machinery powered by the Vol Brothers. Do also appears best at high powered close combat despite his frankly large looking shell! Because all the info Sonic Team release is all in Japanese, it's hard for us to tell who is who, so we'll just list those other characters... here! 
There's of course a dark side of Universe, and boy is it looking ugly! With some of the enemies/bosses you'll be battling with in-game shown above, and more below, it's going to take some time to get through this game in one go! To the left is a dragon looking creature that has already been shown in many screenshots posted by Sonic Team previously, and just as an extra treat, we've got more screenshots below! The dragon isn't alone though, we've also got screenshots of the other two enemies shown above below too! Ouchy mama! Click to Enlarge them:   
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
The S.E.E.D. are the whole reason this game takes place. War has broken out and they're at the heart of the conspiracy... The S.E.E.D. seem to be a range of very immobile creatures once they've planted themselves into the ground, transforming into quite a race indeed! Below to the bottom right are weapons that Sonic Team themselves have picked out... maybe better against defeating the S.E.E.D. then other weapons?  
Ragol.co.uk Forumer Tycho has posted up a rough translation of exactly what Sonic Team of Japan have been mumbling on about on their official website alongside these image updates: "SEED Corrosion
The methods by which the SEED cause corrosion
When the seeds of SEED fall onto the ground, they rapidly augment root-like treestumps , and settle on the ground, covering it. Furthermore, they make flower-like things bloom, and then, like a virus, emit corrosion cells like pollen (although the SEED virus have no effect on human bodies). The SEED core that sticks onto the ground develops a special barrier called Blume (= flower).
Exterminating SEEDs Regular arms have no effect on Blume whatsoever. In order to be able to destroy them with just power, nothing but overwhelming firepower at the level of the allied armies' would be feasible. Accordingly, the Guardians developed specials tools called the 'Photon Eraser' and the 'Photon Reflector'. While even carrying these tools they cannot directly attack the Blume, by exposing the stems that play the role of the Blume's roots to these weapons, they have been able to make the Blume wither and launch a special attack on the real form of the SEED core. Again, using goggles to discover things like the stems and Photon Spots invisible to the naked eye is crucial.
The enigmatic life-form 'SEED' suddenly started flying into the Gurhal solar system. The SEED spread out on the outskirts of the site they had settled on, made flowers bloom from the tree stumps they had made sprout, and scattered corrosion-causing pollens. It is understandable that the calamity caused by SEED not only caused harm to the soil of the outskirts, but also caused a phenomenon turning the primitive life-forms ferocious." Planets of the Gurhal Solar System |
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A land of all things wonderful through the Universe as the monsterous city encases just about everything you could ever need before you left the place and went about the lands in search of a good ol' fashioned laser sword fight.  
  
  
  
  
 
Encompassing a huge futuristic (Modern to them!) shopping district (As seen in the images below), make your way away from the city when you've been prepped and around the planets surface in search of more clues as to just what the hell is going on!  
  
  
  
  
 
Surely every engineers temple is Moatoob with it's manmade factory-esque buildings built into mined out mountains of rock encasing the home to Moatoob's small shopping district should you be more of a tourist then a planets workman! When you're done with that, get your ass in gear and go and start making your way through the deserted rocky landscape that is Moatoob's surface.  
  
  
  
  
Weaponary & Action System |
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The weaponry in Universe is all organised into 3 categories: The Hit System The Shoot System The Hou System
  
  
  
The new part to this is that you can use two different weapons at the sametime (Dependant on character type and weapons)! This exciting new feature comes with the options to give you ease of play so you dont have to keep switching through menu's to do exactly what you want to do. However saying this, it will only work in certain combinations. For starters, you have to use two different weapons from two different categories outlined above. Also, one of these has to be from the 'Shoot System'. This is because of the way the characters hold the weapons. The only type of weapon you can hold in your left hand is a 'Shoot System' weapon. The weapon in the right hand has to be either a weapon from the 'Hit System' or 'Hou System'. Got that? Lets try some examples: You Can't Equip... Left Hand: Saber Right Hand: Handgun
You Can Equip... Left Hand: Handgun Right Hand: Saber
You Can't Equip... Left Hand: Cane Right Hand: Rifle
You Can Equip... Left Hand: Handgun Right Hand: Saber
If you don't have a gun on you, your left hand simply isnt used when you're in fighting mode.     
Above are the icons that represent the weapon combo's you can have (As in weapon per hand, as discussed below). From left to right, the combo's you can have are: Shoot & Fist, Shoot & Hit, Hit (Big Sword), Hou, or just Fist!  
As the screens above show, while playing through PSU at anytime you can change your weapon combo strategy by pressing the 'R1' (Right Shoulder Button on your PlayStation2 joypad) to bring up a small menu in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. You then use the analog stick/D-Pad to adjust your weapon combo, dependant on the weapons you currently own and have accessable to you. A quick an painless move so you can always change your weapons whenever you need to. Say for example your fighting an air enemy and you've got a sword equiped... when then, who ya gonna call? (No, put the phone down, this isn't ghostbuster time, it's just time to press R1!).  Pictured to the right is what the menu and Hunters statistic pages look like (In Japanese of course!) as you can see it has listed which weapons are currently equiped and their relative stats while the other menu's let you assign shortcuts and let you choose weapons through the menu pages.
If you wish to use techniques, you really need to have a 'HOU' weapon on you, otherwise it's pretty pointless! All techniques are defined by the 'HOU' weapon you have equipped. Pulling off a combo with two weapons is different yet again. For this you have a 'CounterAttack' action system. When you want to pull off a combination attack, whether it's with technique ability or just weapons, you use this system to pull do it right! However, because this is all done through a menu, Sonic Team realise you dont always want to have to fanny around with a menu to pull off a nice combo, so you can save your favourite attacks into a shortcut of joypad button combinations. To then pull off a combo, you start the 'LinkCombo' attack by holding down one of the shoulder buttons (At a guess!) and then start to press a sequence of buttons to pull of your combo correctly. I think this maybe a good time for another example: Combo 1 LinkCombo + Cross, Triangle, Square LinkCombo + Triangle, Circle, Cross
You can also link up your combo's for super combo's! However, pay attention to how this works... You can link up your shortcuts for a triple attack by pressing the same action combo shortcut 3 times in a row: - Triple Action Combo (Hard Attack)
- LinkCombo + Shortcut Combo, Shortcut Combo, Shortcut Combo
You can also do what i can only call a double, triple attack to pull of a 'Sudden Death' combo. Sounds good eh? But you can only pull this off by putting two different combo's together: - Enemy 'Sudden Death' Combo
- Link Combo + Shortcut Combo 1, Shortcut Combo 2
Thats enough of confusing combo's i think, but as you can see, it's going to be action packed for sure. I dam well like the fact of there being a 'Sudden Death' Combo! It's not just what they do, but it seems it's also, how they do it, as Phantasy Star Universe also comes with a FPS mode! By clicking the R3 Trigger on your PlayStation2 joypad, any type of gun (Or maybe arrow as shown off in the 4th screenshot above!) can be fired in First-Person Shooter Mode, bringing up a crosshair on the screen for those precision shots. These are shown off as below:  
 Sticking to the Weaponary theme here in this PSU update, continuing from Phantasy Star Online comes the Grinder system. You'll be able to grind pratically any weapon you collect it seems to give your weapons a more customised feel.
It's unclear whether these grinders stay coming in the form of Monogrinders, Digrinders, and Trigrinders however. Raise the statistics of your favourite sword, gun, or cane, by grinding up your weapons with any grinders you find, in 3 easy steps as Sonic Team show you below: 
 
 
As the screenshots above show, weapons seemingly have different levels, of which you can buy new items to use in conjunction with the weapons you like to power them up even more! With every weapon you select, in the box just underneath appears what type the weapon is, and with which other types of weapons you can combine it with, to either use at the same time, or otherwise. As always, those vital statistics are shown in the box to the bottom right. It appears that with Universe, Sonic Team have traced back to the routes of the SEGA MegaDrive series more then you would have believed. Various characters in the game will have various amounts of 'Photon Points' which are used when casting wizzardry spells, last seen from Phantasy Star IV. You can also combine your spells (Dependant on PP) to give off a much bigger attack! However, if you have no PP, you can't cast. One example of possible technique combinations can be seen below: - Low amount of PP: Ice & Blizzard Combo
- Average amount of PP: Ice, Blizzard & Paralysis Combo
- High amount of PP: Ice, Blizzard, Paralysis & Shock Combo
- Maximum amount of PP: Combo using all techniques (One hell of an attack!)
The amount of Photon Points you have depend on your character and weaponry. If you upgrade your weapon, your max. possible amount of PP will increase (Similar to using a Monogrinder on a weapon in PSO). Some of the techniques currently announced include (Alike above): Ice, Blizzard, Paralysis, Shock, and Power Attacks. Aparently the techique combo system is similiar to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Should you have played it!). Photon Points aren't all that'll be returning in Phantasy Star Universe stat-wise, as we also see the re-appearance of Gravity Stats, which currently stand at Gra, GiGra & NaGra.* Amazing shots of the techniques can be seen below: 
 
 
 
 
 
The first set of special attacks allow your characters to use special weapons all otherwise known as an 'S.U.V. Weapon'. Looks silly doesn't it? Poor little Lou carrying those huge guns, well her power doesn't go to her head, more to her arms so she can carry such artillery. Is it worth it? Ooooh yes!  
 
 
 
As the image above (left) shows, it seems like you build up power for this special before you are able to use it in it's entirity (Like a Photon Blast, where you have to build up PB before you can let it go). 
The 2nd 'Special Attack' is the NanoBlast which allows you to become super strong and take down pratically anything in your path! Again alike a Photon Blast from PSO, you first build up your 'Nano Points' to the point where you've got 100% and then let this special attack go. This attack however unleashes special power to your character, particularly used with the 'Beast' character line-up, allowing them to turn into a 'Beastman'.  
 
 Making its Phantasy Star debut, comes the vehicle riding system!
While roaming the lands of the Universe, you can travel between planets on ship, or you can travel across land quicker then running by using different vehicles, and, as has also been announced for Universe, particular and peculiar looking animals too! 
The new riding system as it's titled see's this particular creature (And maybe more) available throughout various points in the game which you can use just to hop on top of and ride around on at your pleasure! Should make the time go a bit quicker instead of running all over the planet! Sonic Team of Japan have finally given away a little more info regarding the online play of Phantasy Star Universe in the form of the Character Creation mode - A mode thats been totally revamped from what we all know in Phantasy Star Online. Here you can change anything you want from hair shades to eye colours and nose length! Whether you want a big muscled Human or a big breasted Newman is upto you and you alone, as it's all possible in this game! However you can only use this character in the online mode, where as in the offline story mode you will have to use the story characters provided! Below are some great new shots of how the online Character Creation mode works, as Sonic Team of Japan shows with a Human and a Newman.  
 
 
 
 
 
We've also got a few more snapshots from the Character Creation mode, which Sonic Team of Japan demonstrate how custom your online characters can be if you choose a more robotic lifestyle!  
 
 
 
 
After you've made your character though, you can also change your characters costume at certain times in the game: 
 Yes, that's right, in Phantasy Star Universe you can change your characters costumes, and there's a much bigger wardrobe available to you then there is with our much loved Phantasy Star Online. As the image aside shows, you simply take yourself around to an appropriate store in the Shopping Centre held within the lobby, and buy yourself new clothes whenever you want to change your look! Maybe shorts in the Summertime instead of fleeces and santa red in Christmas-time? Well whatever look you want, go get it at your local shopping centre, and store your old clothes in your rooms wardrobe should you want to change back later! More on that in a moment. Luckily enough, Sonic Team have shown us just how different costumes might look when you've changed... exciting stuff no?
Next up for online play, Sonic Team reveal how the lobby system works. As you can tell from these snapshots, the chat bubble system is still kept from Phantasy Star Online, but with a much more colourful approach. Again alike PSO, the lobbies let you roam around freely within the main building of the planets. Aparently the amount of people you'll be able to play with online at any one time will be at least 100, with all the lobbies... or cities as they're now known and styled in Universe divided into several floors, which you can travel between using escalators and lifts! The 1st floor is a meeting place (Maybe alike a park), 2nd floor being more transportation orientated (With players even able to travel between planets in the lobbies/cities), 3rd floor having many shops, and the 4th floor holding the Guardians Headquarters (So the interview reads).  
 
 
The next big change you'll soon notice when you go to play Phantasy Star Universe online is the PSU equivilent i suppose of Symbol Chats... exciting named 'Cut-In Chat'! This feature lets you get your mugshot on the screen across the lobby/game for all to see as you make a announcement or just have something to maybe show off!    
Here's a few screenshots of online 'Party' play, which is when you're actually playing the game, fighting through the area's, slaying the monsters, etc etc! The maximum amount of people allowed to play together at any one time is 6. Not a hugely impressive number after we were told to expect LOADS of people to be able to play together at the sametime compared to Phantasy Star Online, when infact, it's only 2 more... Sure, maybe the lobbies will see loads more people on the screens at anytime, but it's not the biggest improvement. Something to look forward to with Next-Gen Phantasy Star i hope!  
 
Finally, Sonic Team have shown off your personal room area's! Look at how big these places are! Basically your room acts as your personal area where you can not only access certain menus, but you can also use to sleep, perform certain actions, and as if that wasn;t enough, you can decorate your room with wallpapers, carpets, and items which you can trade with other people and find on your journey across the landscapes of Universe in a more Animal Crossing-esque style!  
 
 
A video from Tokyo's Game Show shows off the online mode in more detail as to how precise your characters can actually be customised too, what the rooms look like in motion, and what you can do in the many huge lobbies! There are some snapshots below, or to see the footage in all its glory, head over to this link from GameTrailers.com TV.   
  
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Ragol.co.uk is first with all the news, so why should we hold back on the illustration eh? Here's some official Sonic Team snaps from the game to have a good browse at: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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