Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis is an expanded shared universe sequel of Phantasy Star Online 2 with compatible elements.
Plot[]
The player's character crash lands on Planet Halpha inside a pod with no memories of their past. They are greeted by a local of the nearby Aelio Town, Aina, who retrieves them from the pod, referring to them as a Meteorn, mysterious warriors from outer space than periodically land on Halpha usually with no memories of their past lives. Aina introduces the player to her friend Manon, a fellow Meteorn who appears to have some fuzzy recollection of her past life.
On their way back to Aelio Town the trio are attacked by a strange creature known as a DOLLS. Whilst they manage to overpower the alien creature through teamwork, more DOLLS arrive but they are fortunately wiped out instantly by the arrival of Aina's father, one of the most powerful warriors in all of Aelio and the guardian of West Aelio, Garoa, who makes short work of the creatures and introduces himself to the player, inviting him to live in Aelio Town with them.
Garoa reveals that they've been at war with DOLLS for 500 years, but haven't managed to learn much about their opponents. All they know is they're extremely dangerous and that the Meteorn who randomly arrive are their allies, often helping to defend the planet against this threat using their Photon Arts. Taking a liking to the player, Garoa invites them to join him as a member of ARKS, the brave warriors who defend Halpha from DOLLS and tells them to think about it and take their time coming back with an answer, suggesting they explore the town first before making their decision.
After the player has finished exploring Aelio Town, the sun has began to set and the whole town hit the beach to enjoy a barbecue and some rest and relaxation. Garoa reveals he and Manon are full fledged members of ARKS but his daughter Aina is still a trainee. Suddenly the sky darkens and Dark Falz, the evil amalgamation phases in, assaulting the beach with an army of DOLLS. The player, Aina, Manon, Garoa and the rest of the village take up arms as they face down the army, but the DOLLS ultimately get the upper hand, defeating and killing many of the villagers. Sensing the danger Garoa tells the player and Manon to get his daughter to safety in the mountains whilst he faces off with Dark Falz.
As the trio scramble up the mountainside they witness Garoa struggling against Dark Falz, when the monster charges a huge blast and hits Garoa point blank. The blast manages to knock all three out from the sheer shockwave, as Manon dives to protect Aina. When the player regains conciousness they discover Aelio Town has been destroyed with no trace of survivors and whilst they, Aina and Manon made it to safety, Garoa is no where to be found. Aina bravely suggests they continue to Central City in order to regroup with the rest of the ARKS members and make a counter attack.
Arriving in Central City they meet Crawford, the amicable leader of ARKS who tries to accomodate them as best he can, giving them access to trainers, access to improved weaponry, whatever tech they have available and what little intel they have. From here on, the player, Aina and Manon are members of ARKS for real and must fight back against the DOLLS to avenge Garoa.
Gameplay[]
Players have access to an indepth character creator allowing them to create their perfect avatar.
Races[]
Amongst visual customization, players can also choose from the following races:
- Humans: The default jack of all stats class with fairly balanced stats across the board.
- Newmans: Elven earred humanoids. Physically frail but have a great aptitude for techniques.
- CASTS: An android and cyborg race that specialise in durable defences, but have poorer aptitude with techniques.
- Deumans: Horned humans with odd eyes and higher attack stats overall but with low HP and defences.
The above attributes are however only for playing in classic PSO2, as New Genesis balances everyone to essentially being the same skill wise, making it a purely aesthetic option.
Classes[]
As well as these four races, players can choose from several classes that will decide their fighting styles. The player will be asked to select a class(although this is not permenant and can be changed later) when creating a character:
- Hunter: Close ranged tanks. Typically they have more HP and defensive options available than other classes allowing them to get up close and personal and survive powerful assaults from DOLLS. Use Swords, Wired Lances and Partisans.
- Fighter: Glass cannon types that get up close and personal and deal a huge amount of damage as fast as physically possible. However, they will need to be good at dodging enemy attacks as their defences are very low. Uses Knuckles(giant fists), Twin Daggers and Double Sabers.
- Rangers: All around types that prefer to take enemies down from a safe distance. Rather than being tanky like the Hunter they have a resistance to conditional effects and can support their team through buffs. Uses Assault Rifles and Launchers(a long range cannon essentially).
- Gunners: Close range gun specialists. Surprisingly they act more like Fighters than Rangers, and must rely on good reflexes to avoid taking too much damage whilst shooting their opponents in the face. Use Assault Rifles and Twin Machine Guns.
- Force: A ranged spellcaster class, Force will tend to stay a safe distance and fire powerful magic spells from afar. They can take advantage of elemental weaknesses to dispatch of foes with ease. Use Rods and Talis, a particularly advanced form of spellcasting that can alter how your techniques work after each use.
- Techter: A support mage that focuses on buffing their teammates, keeping their HP and PP maxed out and generally improving any team they're on with selfless support. Use Talis and Wands, although Wands here act much more like a magically embued mace as a weapon.
- Braver: A good damage dealing class like Fighter and Gunner but is effective at both close and long range depending on the weapon they are currently wielding, although players can swap between to be effective at both. Uses Katanas (close range) and Bows (long range).
- Bouncer: An aerial specialist, the Bouncer is a close range nimble class that has many skills focused on downing aerial combatants. Uses Soaring Blades, a type of aerial hoverboard blade and Jet Boots allowing them to perform kicking strikes to the enemy in the air.
Later players will get the option to have a sub class alongside their main class allowing them access to that classes specific abilities and techniques. Not all classes are suitable subclasses however; some, such as Braver and Bouncer have a lot of abilities tied to their unique weapons making their special skills useless for those with it as a secondary class.
Trivia[]
- Players can carry their characters over between New Genesis and Phantasy Star Online 2.
- The classes unique stats only are in effect when playing classic Phantasy Star Online 2. New Genesis removes these differences making it purely an aesthetic choice.
- Furthermore certain aesthetics can be altered despite race. For example Deumans do not need to have horns or different coloured eyes as these features can be removed.
- Mix and match aesthetics are also allowed in New Genesis, meaning CAST parts can be used with humanoid characters and vice versa.
Gallery[]
Artwork[]
Promotional (Ver. 2)[]
Screenshots[]
| Gallery |
|---|
 Opening cutscene  Character Creation (Human)  Character Creation - Newman  Character creation - CAST  Character creation - Deuman  Chaarcter creation - Human alternative  Character creation - Newman alternative  Character creation - CAST alternative  Character creation - Deuman alternative  Garoa  Manon and Aina  A custom character fights off against Dark Falz in Aelio Town  Crawford  Anniversary Rappys  Shadow statue |
