Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis!

I have a philosophy of MMOs that breaks down like this: If it's an MMO, it's not gonna be a good "game" and if it's a "game" it's not gonna be a good MMO. That probably sounds really offensive to everyone who likes games and/or MMOs so let me explain!

Like it or not, MMO gameplay is usually not very good, at least not compared to non-mmo games. I don't think this is a bad thing, it's just a necessary part of the genre. Network use means everyone needs to be able to do actions all at once and when everyone is interacting with the same thing at the same time...! Like, I don't really know, I'm not a computer genius, but I feel it's fair that it takes a while to load and stuff, you know? So when it's a tab target thing with like 40 buttons you can press and combat is a little floaty, well, whatever that's how it has to be and that's fine!

On the other end of the spectrum, I don't really expect small co-op or versus games (small meaning scope of players, not size of game) to go too hard on silly little things like emotes or friends lists. You probably don't need a tiered alliance with housing permissions when the game involves loading up and doing a singular level with a friend, it's just a bit overboard to throw that all in. Again, totally fine and reasonable to cut back on those! And in return, I expect good gameplay (this is not always the case but I mean it's a more reasonable expectation here, I feel).

I really enjoy both of these things. I love the action packed tight controls of, say, Nioh 2 or Monster Hunter World and bringing a friend or two into the mix is fun because we can experience all that together.

I also very much love being in a densely populated MMO hub and seeing strangers doing whatever it is people do together. They whip around and craft or plan a dungeon run or, depending on the game, even play music. That's great! It's slower, but it acts as a calmer digital third place.

MOST of the time, these two styles don't overlap. It's just a lot for servers to manage or for a more bite-sized game to take on and that's understandable. However, as time marches on there are advancements (unfortunately sometimes but not this time) that allow for more crossover between these things. Games that can adequately offer a social vibe AND an engaging fight mode. Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis is one such game (and a mouthful, expect NGS from now on yeesh).

I guess I eluded to this with a lot of preamble but NGS does a great job at being an action game that is ALSO a social game. It's not the best at either, but it has enough of both that it can fulfill those hierarchical MMO/game needs. Let's investigate!

Friends Forever!

First, NGS as a social experience! One of the often overlooked aspects of social gaming is customization. You are entering a world as a version of yourself and trust me when I say how much it can kill an experience if you can't present yourself how you want to. this doesn't mean a perfect 1:1 of YOU, rather it's important that this avatar feels unique to you and not some cookie-cutter character cast into a bin with a million lookalikes.

On that end, NGS gets the job done and then some. The character creator is seriously intense with so much customization. it's hard to express properly.

For example, there was a trend in Japanese NGS last year where they were creating real live transformers that looked like robots when standing but when running they turned into cars. What. Why. How. Amazing.

(I couldn't find any examples but I'll put some here if I do later!)

On top of that, there's the intense detail. This isn't important I just think it's neat. Like look at these Mascot Mask style eyes are you for real???

But there's more to a game than just looks! So what else do we have? Here's a list:

Oh yeah, and personal and shared building areas where you can do stuff like, oh, I don't know, recreate Station Square from Sonic Adventure just because you're obsessively mad.

It's not all perfect, though. Some of the content could be a little better for groups and parties. As is, a lot of it is geared towards getting people into and out of events with as little pain as possible which, in my opinion, is the leading cause of people never talking to each other in parties. But it's still pretty great if you can bring friends or find friends there. And this is a nice way to transition to...

Combat and Junk like Combat!

What's a game without conflict? There isn't one.

Conflict is drama and drama is what keeps people coming back for more!

NGS doesn't have that sorta nuanced more intangible, could be different from another perspective contemplative style conflict. It has smashing up alien freaks to death with an assortment of space swords, space guns, and space magic (and also space knuckle dusters and space bow and arrows and space like a deck of cards you throw like Gambit from X-Men I guess and...).

In other words, it's action combat. But it's not the action combat you may come to expect if your biggest technical leap was from World of Warcraft to Final Fantasy XIV. This isn't a tab target affair, you gotta be on your toes.

Much like many modern action combat games (Elden Ring, Nioh 2 (I played these a bit so I'm familiar enough to mention them, that's why)), NGS has you doing attacks while also dodging and parrying whatever enemies have to throw back at you. The skill level is a lot lower, but it's not so low that it's a cake walk. NGS can be a challenge and it tends to treat players like they are not brain-dead. This is a good thing!

However, it is still an MMO, meaning there is a lot in terms of abilities and skills that you can learn and power up. You can even customize these skills in conjunction with your gear to boost stats in a way that complements your play style, how nice!

While the list of skills may not be as long as some other MMOs, it's sizeable enough to provide different options. So it does maybe lack SOME of the intense complexity of a tab target, but this is in service to being more open to fast-paced action combat. It's a trade-off, so temper expectations!

And of course, because of the action nature of the game, there's a lot of great movement as well! Things feel weighty, you can bump into NPCs. The controls are pretty tight and you can move REALLY quick without feeling a loss of control. Verticality is also available to you. So you just end up feeling really cool and powerful, which is enjoyable in a game!

Should YOU Play NGS?

Maybe! Did the above sound cool? then yeah, give it a try! It's actually entirely free. It DOES have a cash shop and that cash shop IS based on gacha mechanics so buyer beware, but it's absolutely not necessary to make a purchase which makes it easy to suggest to anyone.

That said, there are caveats! The community is a big one. It can be a bit gross and weird sometimes and also like half of them vehemently hate NGS but then never stop playing it. I tend to be sorta insular. I'm not totally ignorant to anyone who wants to talk, but I also don't really seek anyone out or expect anything ever so I just tend to let those types do their thing and not let them bother me.

The game is in a weird place right now where it feels a bit like it's treading water. The major overarching story hit a bit of a. Conclusion, I guess, and the direction ahead is a bit meandering. It's still fun and the story is pretty decent so it's still worthwhile. Just it does have a bit of an ending for now. Maybe not forever, but for now yes.

That's mostly it, though. It's a fun experience and generally I say go for it! Make a wacky character, fight some Dark Falz, listen to the low-key best soundtrack for a game somehow (I even tried to write on of the songs in midi and it's here if you want it), it's a good time! And I didn't even mention how pretty it all is!

Oh yeah, and if you like it enough, you can jump into the more dated but still really great Phantasy Star Online 2 with your same character and just do that entire thing! Neato!

If you join and like it let me know! Maybe we can do a thing some time!