Phantasy Star Portable Coming To The US In March

[Gorvi]

I still haven't gotten around to getting the Japanese demo of Phantasy Star Portable working (not that I've tried more than once), but the game is supposed to be pretty good. Regardless, we'll all get the chance to see for ourselves soon enough, as 1UP (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3170662) has confirmed that the game will be coming out over here in March.

The timing of this is rather unfortunate, since the new Monster Hunter for PSP comes out early next year, complete with online play (through the PS3). They're somewhat similar games.

[Sandman]

I'd rather have Phantasy Star Zero.

[Gorvi]

I'd rather have Phantasy Star Zero.
I'd be willing to bet that we'll see that too.

[shodan2020]

I want a Phantasy Star collection. 1-4...NAAAOOOOOOWWWWW! :)

[Evil Avnovice]

Having played the japanese demo from PSPfanboy (I believe that's where I got it from), I'm looking forward to it. :)

[JayVe]

I'd rather have Phantasy Star Zero.

Damn. I came in here thinking that the US was getting PS0 in March. That's the one I'm on the lookout for cause all my friends who used to play PSO have DS' and not PSPs.

[Gorvi]

Damn. I came in here thinking that the US was getting PS0 in March. That's the one I'm on the lookout for cause all my friends who used to play PSO have DS' and not PSPs.
Well, then, I guess this is what you might call a system seller.

[JayVe]

Well, then, I guess this is what you might call a system seller.

Well, not for me... ESPECIALLY since I know I'll be getting PS0 here eventually. If my friends already had PSPs, this may be a different story.

[Tayaya]

The demo is on the PSN Japan store, but I can't get it to direct download to the PSP. I'll have to try it from the PS3 later. It's only 280MB but says I don't have enough free space on my stick to save it. Why 449MB is not enough free space to save a 280MB file is beyond my understanding.

The Prinny demo and the Gundam demos worked fine, but they were only 12 and 20MB respectively.

I am actually looking forward to this more than PS Zero, but PSZ does look like it'll be loads of fun also.

[Klunka]

Reviving this thread because I finally downloaded the US demo last night and really enjoyed it. Was an addicted Phantasy Star Online player. I think I was one of a handful of people on the original XBOX with a legitimate Sealed J-Sword. I played Phantasy Star Universe some, but felt they made it too much like Monster Hunter. I wasn't a big fan of gathering parts and building weapons.

This seems to be a simplified version of PSU. No mag raising, your partner bot is automatically to the level where it can head out on missions with you. From what little I played, I didn't pick up any monster parts so I think they just went back to weapon drops. Controls work fairly well from what I was expecting. It has what I always believed Monster Hunter was missing in a lock-on feature. I made a CAST so I didn't really get to try out Force class, but both Hunter and Ranger worked pretty well.

[Gorvi]

I tried the demo and wasn't impressed. Also, that has got to be some of the worst voice acting I've ever heard. I'll be passing on this one.

[Xydarc]

I downloaded the US demo and enjoyed it. The voice acting is terrible, but oh did it bring back the memories and feelings of playing Phantasy Star Online on the Dreamcast. I really, really enjoyed PSO. I get shivers when I think about the first time I fought the red dragon. I think this may have to be a pre-order for me.

[Mashidar]

The demo was not that bad, it caught the feeling of the PSU universe and I loved the opening. Then again I'm not to hard on the voice acting for the game and I enjoyed what story there was for the first PSU and the expansion. I look forward more to the story of this game and see what happens to some of the folks involved.

[Xydarc]

I want a Phantasy Star collection. 1-4...NAAAOOOOOOWWWWW! :)
Ask and ye shall receive. (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=4860)

[Klunka]

Not sure if anyone else got some multiplayer time with the demo, but a friend and I put a few hours into it this weekend. Had a lot of fun, definitely sold us on the game. Two things of note:

When you pick up a rare weapon or piece of armor, everyone in the party gets it. Not with items however, such as Upgrade Grinders.

There does not seem to be any way to trade items between players. Hopefully we're dumb or is this is just a demo thing.

[Xydarc]

Played the demo some more. This is making me want to hook up the Dreamcast and play some PSO.

[Wraith]

Anyone played the full game yet? I really should check out the demo.

1up's James Mielke gave it a good review (http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3173151&p=7) and an A- rating. He seemed to appreciate some of the changes that went into the game (AI partners in single player, streamlined town system, crafting excised in favor of drops). IGN gave it a 7.0/10 in their review (http://psp.ign.com/articles/959/959538p1.html). Some flaws (story, AI, camera), but still satisfying.

[Gorvi]

I've been hearing great things, but didn't personally care for the demo. Most of that was due to the dreadful intro you had to sit through, though.

[Klunka]

I've been through story mode, I've got 5 out of 8 classes to max level. Character to about 82. I personally am loving, but would definitely recommend staying away if you don't have some people to play with.

It's much quicker than previous Phantasy Star Online games. Skills/Bullets/Techs level VERY quickly. Drop rates have been jacked quite a bit as I've all ready found weapons and items it literally took a year to find in older versions.

Difficulty has been ramped way down. Techs like Megid no longer have chance to one hit KO, weapons stats have seen significant increases over Phantasy Star Universe.

It really is ideal for a portable game. It's something you can pick up, run through a few missions and put down. It's definitely not something you can invest a great deal of time in like Phantasy Star Online/Universe as you'll be left wanting more at the end game. With 4 human players in the late 70 to early 80 levels, we can clear the hardest missions in less than a half hour with no complications at all.

If you're unfamiliar with PSO/PSU, think of this as Monster Hunter Lite with a Sci Fi theme.

[Tayaya]

I've been on the fence on this one. Really want to like it more than I liked PSU (which is to say "not very much", and am huge fan of the original (though not as much as SOMEONE in this thread). The negative review from IGN turned me away a bit.... I'll have to try the demo out I suppose.

I want Zero also, but really I have more hope for this one, just because of the more powerful hardware, as I think Zero looks a bit horrendous, despite the game play delivering.

[KSmitty]

I've been through story mode, I've got 5 out of 8 classes to max level. Character to about 82. I personally am loving, but would definitely recommend staying away if you don't have some people to play with.

Is this local mulitplayer or wifi multiplayer? If its local I'll probably pass as I don't personally know enough people with PSPs. Is the DS version going to be like PSO? If so I have a crapload of them I could play with.

[Wraith]

From the 1up review:The lack of an dedicated online Infrastructure mode may irk some, but all that will be a moot point soon anyway, once Sony launches its PSP-to-PS3 functionality that allows any multiplayer game to be played using Infrastructure.I'm not familiar with the game. I assume this means you can't really play online now, but you can once this new feature launches (if you also have a PS3)?

[Gorvi]

From the 1up review:I'm not familiar with the game. I assume this means you can't really play online now, but you can once this new feature launches (if you also have a PS3)?
Yeah, this is Ad-Hoc only, but there's an app for the PS3 that's been out in Japan for a while that allows you to use the PS3 to play Ad-Hoc PSP games online, with full voice chat through the PS3.

They really need to put that out here, it's been way too long. There are a ton of games that support it, including Disgaea. You can actually download the Japanese app (it's called Ad-Hoc Party) and play the US PSP demo online with other people who have that demo.

[KSmitty]

Yeah, this is Ad-Hoc only, but there's an app for the PS3 that's been out in Japan for a while that allows you to use the PS3 to play Ad-Hoc PSP games online, with full voice chat through the PS3.

They really need to put that out here, it's been way too long. There are a ton of games that support it, including Disgaea. You can actually download the Japanese app (it's called Ad-Hoc Party) and play the US PSP demo online with other people who have that demo.
That sounds like a very useful app, they really should advertise some of these things more.

[Gorvi]

That sounds like a very useful app, they really should advertise some of these things more.
It's not out here yet, that's why people haven't heard about it. Why Sony is dragging their feet with it is beyond me, it's damn annoying, it's been out in Japan for almost 6 months now. There's no good reason why they haven't put it out yet that I can think if.

[Xydarc]

It's not out here yet, that's why people haven't heard about it. Why Sony is dragging their feet with it is beyond me, it's damn annoying, it's been out in Japan for almost 6 months now. There's no good reason why they haven't put it out yet that I can think if.
Sony, being a Japanese company, is probably thinking that they have to pander to the Japanese gaming audience first, other regions second.

/conspiracy theory

[Klunka]

There's always Xlink Kai. I'd be into setting up some COG games for Phantasy Star.

[Tayaya]

There's always Xlink Kai. I'd be into setting up some COG games for Phantasy Star.

I would be interested in this also. I picked up this game a week ago Sunday, and finally popped it in yesterday. I'm really impressed with it... it's really polished in the gameplay department and while I was a little upset initially at the menu-based hub world, I have to admit it's grown on me quite a bit because of how fast it lets you get right into the action.

I know a lot of people are holding out for Zero but having played both I have to admit that I like this one a lot better. Even if you plan on getting Zero, this is a great holdover.

My Hunter's only level 5 and I played a bit with being a Force, which is a lot harder and more expensive with the need to keep lots of photon charges on hand, but devastating at higher levels.

Good stuff all around.... I plan on grabbing X-link Kai later tonight... we should set up some multiplayer action soon!

[MalReynolds]

i played the Japanese version ... wasnt great ... actually i hated it