this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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Phantasy Star Online. They've tried to release sequels over the years - Universe, PSO2 - and failed miserably at capturing what made Episodes 1 and 2 great. There's no way they would be able to just update the graphics without trying to "improve" something in the gameplay, or changing the loot system, or adding MTX, and would just fuck it up again.
PSO is so good that even now, 23 years after it launched on Dreamcast, there's still hundreds if not thousands of people like me that still play regularly. Whether that's offline on their GameCube or online in Blue Burst on PC on a server like Ephinea.
PSO is such a gem from the Dreamcast / Gamecube days... There's something about the whole experience that I can't really explain or recommend to someone who didn't grow up with it. For instance, tying your attacks to a certain rhythm would be a game design sin nowadays, unless it's core to the entire concept (shout out to Chroma, what a fun alpha that was!). But it oozes early-00's charm in every aspect. And that OST!
I still hop on to Ephinea at least once a month because there's still a lot of stuff I've yet to achieve. I'll find my Heaven Punisher yet ๐ค
I played some of the English fan patch of PSO2 back when all the US players were on the SEA server. I thought it was pretty good, but obviously vastly different from the original. Then a few months ago I got curious and looked up recent gameplay. There's basically nothing that can tie it to the first one, and even on its own, it's utterly hollow and soulless. Watched someone just float in the air for several minutes killing hundreds of weird enemies wave after wave. Where's the fun in that? At least back in 2012-ish, PSE bursts brought some exciting moments. This video was just constant "action" with no ramp-up. Pure mobile gaming type garbage.
I'm sure nobody is down here after my ranting, but if you are, and you like games with a charming aesthetic and a slow-burn progression, definitely give PSO Blue Burst a try. It's 100% free with 0 microtransactions, and it's wholly run by fans. I don't really interact with the rest of the community, but from the POV of a forum lurker, they're all good people.
I don't often get to gush (pun not intended) about one of my favorite games ever. Can you tell? ๐