Return to Gurhal- Phantasy Star Portable 2 Preview

Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenNovember 4, 2009
43 793 2 minutes read

Phantasy Star fans have weathered a tumultuous relationship with their RPG franchise of choice over the past 22 years.  From the heartbreak of Phantasy Star III to the triumph of Phantasy Star Online, the series has definitely seen its ups and downs, but with the tepid reception of Phantasy Star Universe, and industry-wide apathy towards its expansion, Ambition of the Illuminus, it seemed that Phantasy Star was finally on the ropes.  Last year, Ambition of the Illuminus was retooled and released for the PlayStation Portable as Phantasy Star Portable.  Despite balance issues and a lack of online multiplayer, it garnered much greater reception than its console counterpart.  Now a sequel to the handheld port is just beyond the horizon, and it promises to close out the decade on a high note.

Phantasy Star Portable 2 takes place a few years after the story of the first game.  The SEED has been defeated and sealed, but now the Gurhal system is running out of vital resources.  The player joins a small team of adventurers called “Little Wing” on a small space colony called CLAD6 to investigate and, of course, beat up some monsters.  Just like the previous handheld installment, the player interacts with a feminine foil that moves the story forward through a series of cut scenes and choose-your-own-adventure-style conversations.  The cinematics are some of the best that the series has seen thus far, but as we learned with Phantasy Star Universe, a lot rests on the voice actors’ shoulders.

Critics of Phantasy Star Universe’s button mashing battles will be happy to know that the combat system in Phantasy Star Portable 2 has finally congealed into something more coherent.  Although the rhythmic fighting of Phantasy Star Online has not stepped in to replace it, the balance between mashing the “hit things” button and timing your swings to get a critical hit has been fine-tuned to reward novices and experts alike.  The enemies also seem more intelligent than they have been in the past.  PSO veterans will recognize a few familiar baddies from ten years ago, but now the Evil Sharks will block and dodge, rather than simply shuffling toward you like zombies.

The US release of PSP2 is still a ways off, but it is looking great so far.  It feels like Sega has finally discovered how to balance the with the combat, exploration and dating sim elements to make a coherent and possibly fun title.  Although I was not able to test the online multiplayer, its inclusion is very promising.  Still, exploring undersea dungeons with an AI buddy in story mode has been rewarding enough to get me excited for the full game in 2010. Interested parties should try their hand at the Japanese demo.

Photo of Robert Allen Robert AllenNovember 4, 2009
43 793 2 minutes read
Photo of Robert Allen

Robert Allen

Since being a toddler, Robert Allen has been immersed in video games, anime, and tokusatsu. Currently, his days are spent teaching at two southern California colleges. But his evenings and weekends are filled with STGs, RPGs, and action titles and well at writing for Tech-Gaming since 2007.

43 Comments

  2. Wait is she using a pizza box as a shield? Are enemies swords supposed to slide off from the grease?

  10. God that looks horrific. I hope that never makes it to the US. Hardee’s on the other hand…

  24. Phantasy Star Zero is coming out for DS next week! I previewed that one when it came out in Japan, but that was before I was with Tech-Gaming :\ It’s a lot more like PSO, but the running without an analog stick takes a lot more getting used to than you’d think.

  25. It does! It supports both adhoc and infrastructure play. I didn’t get to try infrastructure mode, but I’m really looking forward to it.

  27. I think the price of the first Phantasy Star Portable went up recently. It isn’t available on the Playstation Network yet, and UMDs are getting harder to come by. I think I paid $30 when it came out, and I saw it selling for $35 at Frys.

  29. There are a couple of weird marketing tie-ins: you can buy the pizza pan and box shield from a Pizza Hut van, and you can also decorate your room with giant cans of Fanta. The way I look at it, if little marketing moves like that help to pay for the game, then I’m all for it.

  30. The Phantasy Star games have a much faster pace than Monster Hunter. I’ve been playing a lot of Freedom Unite lately, and I didn’t realize how much time I was spending farming and gathering and running away until I went back to PSP and didn’t have to do any of that. If you like the combat and adventuring in MH, then pick up the Phantasy Star games. If you’re in it for the farming and collecting, you might want to try it before you buy it.

  35. I don’t think it ever has, or ever will, but it can add money to the game’s development. I would rather have a great game sponsored by McDonalds than an unfinished game that ran out of money half way through development.

  36. What about the Madden games that mention Snickers bars five times before a game? I think EA could have finished the game without help from Snickers. There just being greedy, thats all.

  43. I had a little fun with the first game, but hopefully they’ll improve on some of the things that made the first one seem boggled down.

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