Phantasy Star Online

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Phantasy Star Online
System(s): Dreamcast, PC, GameCube (PSO Ep I&II), Xbox (PSO Ep I&II)
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sonic Team
Genre: RPG

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Phantasy Star Online is an MMORPG made by Sega for the Dreamcast. This one has a lot of references to past Phantasy Star games. PSO was also released for Gamecube and Xbox (and was one of the only online games for Gamecube). The Gamecube release contained a downloadable Tiny Chao Garden minigame for use with the Gameboy Advance. A sequel, C.A.R.D. Revolution Episode 3, was made for Gamecube, but not for Xbox.

The game itself is your typical RPG, where you slay monsters on the field, find items, upgrade your equipment, and of course, level up. Episodes I and II differ from many previous games of this genre by offering a real-time, rather than turn-based approach to combat - and seamlessly integrating this with the exploration/plot development aspects of the game. Episode III reverted back to a turn-based combat system, opting to also turn from a typical RPG to a card game, similar to Yu-gi-oh or Magic: The Gathering. Episode IV and Phantasy Star Universe reverted to Episode I and II's gameplay style.

Game story

Unlike the rest of the Phantasy Star series, PSO's prologue starts on the planet of Coral (possibly a splinter colony from the Algol star system). Coral was becoming unsuitable for life, so a pair of colony ships, Pioneer 1 and Pioneer 2, were sent to the planet Ragol, thought to be uninhabited by intelligent life, to colonize it. Pioneer 1 reached Ragol safely, and contructed a colony there. But when Pioneer 2 arrived seven years later, a sudden explosion engulfed the Pioneer 1 colony as they attempted to communicate. The Player(s) take the role of Hunters, mercenaries/bounty hunters/troubleshooters sent down to the source to determine the cause of the explosion, and find any survivors.

Episode III takes place twenty-one years after Episodes I and II. Pioneer 2 is still orbiting Ragol, its people still not yet allowed to come down to their new home. A group of Hunters and other citizens have become dissatisfied with the actions of the Principal Government, which they have come to see as corrupt. They have fled down to the planet's surface, and formed the Arkz, an Eco-terrorist-like group that seeks to expose the government's corruption, and keep them from overdeveloping the planet for their own gain.

Blue Burst's story, Episode IV, takes place not long after Episode II. A meteor crash landed into the deserts of Ragol and it's up to hunters to investigate. Rupika (who was seen breifly in the Gran Squall mission in Episode I) and a man named Leo Gahart seem to be connected to this incident. Episode IV is noted for also being significantly more difficult than Episode I and II, and also not as prone to hacking as the console ancestors of the game, due to everything being saved server side.

Sonic Cameo

Lots of times, on the online servers, there would be cameos with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Eggman. The game also contains a few cameo items, such as Opa Opa from Fantasy Zone, Maracas from Samba de Amigo, even a gun created by Dr. Eggman, aptly called the Egg Blaster.

Version list

• Phantasy Star Online Network Trial Edition (Dreamcast) 2000 (Japan)
• Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast) 2000 (Japan) / 2001 (USA and Europe)
• Phantasy Star Online Ver.2 (Dreamcast) 2001 (Japan and USA) / 2002 (Europe)
• Phantasy Star Online Beta (Windows) 2001 (Japan)
• Phantasy Star Online (Windows) 2001 (Japan) 2001 / 2002 (rest of South-East Asia)
• Phantasy Star Online Demo (Windows) (Japan) 2001 / (UK) 2002
• Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Trial Edition (GameCube) 2002 (Japan)
• Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (GameCube) 2002 (Japan and USA) / 2003 (Europe)
• Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Version "1.1" (GameCube) 2002 (Japan)
• Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (Xbox) 2003 (worldwide)
• Phantasy Star Online Episode III C.A.R.D. Revolution Trial Edition (GameCube) 2003 (Japan)
• Phantasy Star Online Episode III C.A.R.D. Revolution (GameCube) 2003 (Japan) / 2004 (USA and Europe)
• Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus (GameCube) 2003 (Japan) / 2004 (USA)
• Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst Beta (Windows) 2003 (Japan) / 2004 (USA andEurope)
• Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst (Windows) 2004 (Japan) / 2005 (USA and Europe)
• Phantasy Star Online Episode IV Beta (Windows) 2004 (Japan)
• Phantasy Star Online Episode IV (Windows) 2005 (Japan)

Production Credits

Producer: Yuji Naka
Director: Takao Miyoshi
Art Director: Satoshi Sakki
Program Director: Akio Setsumasa

Game Design Section

Battle/Enemy: Yojiro Ogawa, Kenichi Fujiwara
Fleld: Shintaro Hata
Assistant Fleld: Masaya Amano
Item/Technque: Kenichi Fujiwara
NetWork/Word Select: Kenjiro Morimoto
Sequence/Sound/Manual: Daisuke Mori
City/Quest/Script Writer: Akinori Nishiyama
Quest Scrpit: Atsushi Kanno, Hidenobu Hasebe
Assistants Quest Scrpit: Tomoyuki Hayashi, Michio Abe, Kenji Odaka, Akiyoshi Fushmi, Yonosuke Miki

Program Section

Chartacter: Masanobu Yamamoto
Eneny: Kouichi Toya, Yasuhiro Takahashi, Akio Setsumasa, Masakazu Miura
Sound: Kouichi Toya
Chartacter Creation: Yasuhiro Takahashi
Battle/Data Saving: Akihiko Shnya
Technioue/Camera: Shinya Matsunami
Field/City/Quest: Masto Nakazawa
Word Select: Masakazu Miura
Menu Window: Ryuichi Ishiguro
Sequence: Nobuo Nakagawa
Item: Makoto Suzuki
Network: Akio Setsumasa, Kazuhiro Tonogi, Junichi Takeda

Graphic Design Section

Chartacter/Item: Wataru Watanabe, Yuki Takahshi
Assistant: Akiyoshi Fushimi, Yonosuke Miki
Chartacter Motion: Tomonori Dobashi
NPC(City Chartacter): Ai Ikeda
Field: Kosei Kitamura, Sakae Tabata, Michio Abe, Hideaki Moriya, Akira Mikame, Kaori Hitsuda, Kenji Odaka
Enemy: Satoshi Sakai, Masatoshi Yasumura
Technique/Sequence: Takanori Fukazawa
Symbol Chat: Haruka Haqinoya
Chartacter Illustration: Akikazu Mizuno
Motion Capture: Kazuhisa Nishimura(Ldw/Sakuratei), Kazuhiko Mino(Ldw/Sakuratei), Akihito Okimura(Ldw/Sakuratei), Shigeru Ohata(Ldw/Sakuratei)
Action Cordinator: Mitsuo Abe(AAC) Motion Actors: Akira Gohashi(ACC), Jun Yamashita(ACC), Kazuhiko Shinyako(Katsugekiza), Tony Hosokawa(Katsugekiza)

Sound Section

Sound Director: Fumitaka Shibata
Sound Creator: Hideaki Kobayashi, Fumie Kumatani
Sound Designer: Tomonori Sawada

Tokyo Recording Unit

Orchestra Recording Producer: Kotaro Kamada(Band Power)
Orchestra Arranger: Daisuke Okamoto, Toshiaki Hda
Conductor: Yaufumi Tokito
Main Orchestra Play: Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra
Orchestra Chief Manager: Hiroyuki Tominaga
Musician Co-Ordinator: Ayako Sato(Witchcraft)
Recording Engineer: Hirokazu Akashi, Yoshitada Miya, Hirofumi Sako
Assistant Engineer: Sawako Sogabe, Kazunori Yoshida(Sound City), Saroshi Nakazawa(Sound City)
Recorded At: Wave Master Recording Studio(June-Oct.2000), Sound City Studio(Sep.2000)

London Recording Unit

Vocal: Loren
Recording Co-Ordinator: Shiro Sahisu(Ro-Jam)
Recording Director: Kan Hashimoto(Jail House)
Recording Engineer: Phlip Bagenal
Recorded At: Eastcote Studios London UK(Oct.2000)
Sound Co-Ordinator: Yukifumi Makino
Sound Created By: Wave Master Inc.

Sega Corporation

Executive Management: Hideki Sato, Tetsu Kayama
System R&D Dept: Kenichi Iwanaga, Jiro Terakawa, Masahito Nishimatsu, Yuki Yamanka, Takuji Konuma, Masahiro Sato, Akihiro Etori
Product Management Dept.: Masanao Maeda, Seijiro Sannabe, Yasushi Yamashita
Management Team Manager: Yoshihiro Sakuta
Management Team Designer: Youichi Takahashi
Management Team Editor: Chieko Nakamura
International Business/Product Delvelopment: Hirouyuki Miyazaki, Shinobu Shino, Hitoshi Okuno
Consumer Product Dept. Manager: Akira Nishikawa
Consumer Product Dept.: Hideki Yohkichiya, Yoshimitsu Wakai
Sales Promotion: Takayoshi Ohuchi, Nako Ohoka, KaZUHIRO Asami
Licensing Dept. Director: Masahiro Nakagawa, Toshiki Izawa

Isao Corporation

Network Contents Division General Manager: Hiroshi Nakanishi
Game Business Dept. Manager: Keiichiro Suzuki
Game Business Dept. Producer: Akihiro Itoh, Takeshi Hotta, Rikiya Katagai
Communication Server Development: Akito Osame
Technical Support General Manager: Kunihiko Hayashi

Sega of America Dreamcast Inc.

President & COO: Peter Morre
Executive Vice President: Shinobu Toyoda
Localization Producer: Jason Kuo
Localization Manager: Osamu Shibamuya
VP Of Localization: Jin Shimazaki
Soad Test Lead Tester: Gabrielle Brown
Soad Test Assistant Leads: Tom Fong, Shaheed Khan
Soad Marketing Product Manager: Rich Briggs
Soad Marketing Associate Product Manager: Noah Musler
Soad Marketing Director Of Product Marketing: John Golden
Soad Marketing Creatives Services: Bob Schonfisch, Angela Santos
Soad Marketing Public Relations: Gwen Marker

Sega.Com

CTO: Muwaffa Lahham
Network Producer: Ryan Hurth
Marketing Project Manager: Bee Yinn Low
Lead Marketing Analyst: Jason Nolen

Sega Europe, Ltd.

Chief Operating Officer: Kazutoshi Miyake
Director Of Product Delvelopment: Naohiko hoshino
Assistant Director Of Product Delvelopment: Kats Sato
Localization Producer: Kuniyo Matsumoto
Test Manager: Jason Cumberbatch
Lead Tester: Nick Bennett
Language Co-Ordinator: Caroline Ruiz
European Product Marketing Manager: Jim Pride
European Product Marketing Executive: Mark Fisher
Public Relations Executive: Stuart Turner
Manual/Packaging/Serior Designer: Ross Mcleish
Network Manager: Ryusuke Ito
Network Engineer: Stephen Tan
Network QC: Teruo Yabumoto
Special Thanks: Takashi Iizuka, Eitaro Toyoda, Kazuyuki Hoshino, Hiroshi Nishiyama, Jun Senoue, Keith Palmer, Nobuhiko Honda, Takahiro Kudo, Michikazu Tamamura, Tadashi Takezaki, Toshimasa Kubo, Tsuyoshi Sawada, Ayako Hino, Ikuo Ishizaka, Takayuki Ohta, Mutsuhiro Wakayama, Yasuko Mariyama, Cord Smith
Cooperation With: MPEG Sofdec, ADX Created By: Sonic Team
Presented By: Sega

Box Art

Dreamcast (First Version)

• PSODCBox us.jpg

  US cover

• PSODCBox eu.jpg

  EU cover

• PSODCBox jp.jpg

  JP cover (orginal)

• PSODCBoxLE jp.jpg

  JP cover (limited edition)

External links

• Official Phantasy Star Online homepage
• Official PSO fan site 'Minhiro'
• Sonic Team homepage
• SEGA of Japan homepage
• Official Episode III Website
• Official Phantasy Star Universe Website
• Unofficial PSO and PSU fan community, PSO-World