That sounds like a blast! I have only played this one solo, unfortunately, but your mention of split-screen on the Gamecube certainly takes me back to a very special time in my life, staying up late drinking pop and eating pizza with my buds :)
PSO's y2k futurism aesthetic is what originally enticed me to try it out a couple of years ago and since than the series has had a special place in my heart. It's not too often that you see games with that kind of art style and vibe these days outside of niche indie circles.
the style was borne of the great optimism people had for the near future in the period, you don't see a lot of such any more because look how that one turned out
I only ever played this game offline on the GameCube with my brother, and still this is possibly the most impact a video game has made on my future taste in gaming. The feeling of seeing a red box drop has still yet to be matched!
I was the big brother in my case. I had a level 140ish RAcast that I had played for COUNTLESS hours and a few other characters. I was so close to beating the last boss on the second hardest difficulty and unlocking the last. My little brother overwrote my save file and I lost it all. I had played that character for YEARS solo lol barely ever played with friends or my brother.
Still my most beloved game. It's a huge shame you never got to experience the Online gameplay where it shone brightest and was absolutely designed for.
Offline mode for Phantasy Star Online is the sort of endgame all to be eventually discontinued MMOs should strive for. No, it'll never be the same as playing online as intended, but at least it doesn't make all that artistic effort just vanish one day.
@@archerpence It's always one of my go to talking points about MMOs, but I don't particularly have much reach as an internet rando, hahaha. The Stop Killing Games initiative might help, but of course, MMOs are somewhat at a higher scale than a game that is merely online only and doesn't have the same kind of scale and services rendered. Still...people who put MMOs out should either shoot for an offline mode or at least allow the community to keep the game running through fan servers.
being someone formerly involved with the PSO2 translation before the official western servers came out, and a PSO fan since the Dreamcast myself, I can shed some light on why it's not "PSO3". PSO2 was the single biggest massive success the franchise has had natively, the original PSO2 held strong for nearly a decade, massive merchandising, two anime, and so much more, when the time came it's age was really starting to hold things back ~2017, they began development of New Genesis as a successor, and settled on making PSO2 and NGS share not only a client, but let you carry over your character (aesthetically) to not lose the existing base of players. They actually did discuss that they had considered "PSO3", but opted to focus on "PSO2" as a brand, rather than "Phantasy Star", because for all intents and purposes, PSO2 had outgrown it's own series in popularity
That's actually really cool to know - thank you for sharing! I'm always interested in learning the process behind these things and how decisions like that get made
I really wish they would have used its popularity to bring ALL of Phantasy Star to the level it deserves, starting with the original games of course. If they took the formula of those and brought it into the modern world, I think it would do absolutely great. Maybe even something *actually* more APRG.
Honestly i think that was a bad move Ive seen so many people confused thinking new genesis is just an expension pack... It reminds me of how the wiiu name made people think it was just an acessory for the wii
@@valletas I think part of that is also the timing for western release. We had PSO2 for about ten years or something before NGS arrived in JP, whereas from what I can tell they really rushed PSO2 out the door to allow NGS release elsewhere? I could see that being very confusing.
I hope new genesis eventually takes off. It took a while for it to have worthwhile content but now it got very big. I tried going back on ps2 for the old times but i coudnt, it's so much more cluncky. It's like going to pso 1 after playing 2. Nowadays i love new genesis, but it's kinda sad to see how barren it is. Only the latest contents has some players for you to play with. If you try to level up a new character you have to make it work with the AI characters to help you clear the enemies.
It's a shame you never played the game online as having the community is what the game was really about. Not just having people to play with but learn from as you'd be surprised how much more complex the games mechanics can get. This game really opens up when you have that kind of access.
my favorite part of the community, was that i had an action replay and could dupe items, so whenever i signed on i just got bombarded with greetings from everyone in the lobby. which of course meant that i had unlimited access to the best items in the game, cause everyone wants to get that ultra rare drop duped.
Ahhh the nostalgia is strong on this one. It really shaped how I felt online RPGs should be structured. By the time I played WoW I was unimpressed, but apparently that's the template that worked for most people. The fact that the whole thing is playable offline means old heads can continue enjoying it for decades to come too!
@@pizza-pi Been looking at PSO videos and keep seeing recommendations for that place. Might check it out. I vaguely remember playing PSO Blue Burst and enjoying myself but didn't get a hunter's license so had to stop playing.
I love this game SO MUCH. Played a LOT on my Dreamcast. Then finally online when the PC port came, and in official SEGA servers! Then Blue Burst on alternative servers.. Oh my GOD this game is so good
On Phantasy Star Zero, I was quite literally addicted to it on the DS. It's genuinely fun. Highly recommended, it has flown under the radar for far too long.
The Dreamcast was ahead of its time. I never owned one but the launch lineup really got my attention. Having killer apps available for a new console release is like a lost art now.
This game will always be my favorite game of all time. Like you, I really only played offline until private servers came out. I spends hundreds and hundreds of hours playing offline with my friends on the GameCube. Such good memories! I still remember finding my first rare weapon….
Ohhh my first rare was a D.B. Saber in the VR temple map. Don't know why, but the game blew my mind with that. I think I just really liked the game and suddenly discovering that there was more content and cool, unique weapons...dunno, just felt so nice.
To anyone on this video. Look up the theme after you beat the final boss and it goes to the credits. Still the best songs you could hear finishing this game. Good memories.
The "can still see the light theme" is probably the only song that still makes me emotional, maybe because of the nostalgia. Online games hit different back then.
A simple remake of this on the Switch would be such a treat, even if it was offline only. I'd love to play this again, I just don't have the time (and money) to get it all set up on the GameCube again. Put easily 1500+ hours into this gem.
I think a Switch remake would be incredible, and since we have WiFi these days you could still get online when you're out and about. Make it happen, Sega!
I lived in Pioneer 2 since the first day the game was released here in Europe, to the day SEGA closed it's servers, when internet connections were dial ups, and the phone bills were criminal when you played A LOT, like me. Like me, yes, that i was 15 years old at the time, and had a lot of time, and i spent entire days playing it, most of the time with no sleep at all. It was my first window to that thing called "internet", talking to people from afar was mind blowind, and the game had a nice community, i remember some days just logging in just for chatting with my friends in the lobbys. Still have the cigarette burned Dreamcast Keyboard lol. Of course later on i played Universe and PSO Blue Burst (i play them ocassionally now) but it was never the same for me, Ragol was unique.
Flood of nostalgia just from the first few seconds. It legitimately made me emotional. I probably had 400 hours in one of my charters. The thing about nostalgia is that it reminds you that life was simpler back then… Great video!
I'm same way I felt nostalgia as soon as I heard the music and saw the name of the video. I've only ever played offline with my brother shame I only ever got to lvl 135 I would've loved to play online. Wonder if the online community still exsists
I spent hundreds of hours on PSO(ffline). Bosses are spongy but if you come back a few hours later, you'll deal with them in no time. 2 of my favourite things about this game is its loot system paired with the fact that you can upgrade your weapons. I remember keeping a weapon for so long that it had +26 after its name (which was the max for this specific weapon). It's basically the opposite of modern looter games, you cared about some of your weapons in PSO, you had them for maybe 20 hours, they were gradually improving alongside you (so was your mag)
That's awesome - I didn't realise you could beef up your weapons so much! I'm still in the process of replaying this right now and just grinding the hunter missions like crazy
@@DreamcastEnjoyer You can but you need to keep all your monogrinders, digrinders and trigringers (I think that's how they're called) and pour everything into 1 weapon. The last time I played this game, it was around 2005 maybe, there was a website that tells you how far you can push your weapons. The site was very thorough, it's probably still around, would be a shame if it wasn't.
It's such a beautiful game. Thank you for letting me use some clips and for the awesome work you're doing revisiting all this stuff - It's super immersive :)
It hurts my heart hearing this game referred to as "classic games" in the same way it's weird hearing The Offspring referred to as classic rock. I can't believe it's been nearly a quarter of a century since this game came out.
The Gamecube version of PSO is more tuned with offline/single-player in mind so boss fights don't take a million years. The Caves boss on normal only has like 4k hp or some such. Much more manageable than 6k when you're only doing 9-12 damage for most of the fight. I played the GC version growing up strictly offline. On occasion my school friend would come over and we'd play coop but that's about it. PSO, Morrowind, Diablo 1 and 2, Deus Ex, Kingpin: Life of Crime, Blood 2, MGS 1 and 2, Resident Evil 1, 2, and 3, Ocarina of Time, etc., etc., these are all the games I am in love with, and games I still go back to at least a couple times a year. Granted, most of those aren't from the 2,000's but still.
You just named a bunch of my childhood faves right there - I have massive nostalgia for all of those games! Except Diablo, I never got round to checking those out and now I'm scared to try haha
There was a guy that made a server program for PC. You launch this very small program, and configure the server, such as holiday events etc, etc. Then a GameCube with broadband adapter can connect to your PC and phantasy star offline becomes online. Yes, multiple GameCube's can connect.
I also only played this game offline for the game cube. My all time favorite game...never have i seen sealed-j sword drop once, but i still love it all the same. Hucast for life.
PSO on Gamecube was the perfect gaming experience for me, in large part due to the couch co-op. I could play offline with my brothers and/or roommate, then take the same character online and meet some amazing people from all over. I still come back to it every few years. I hope to get my son into it so we can play together too.
PSO2 is still playable online with a raspberry pi and some simple software. I still play regular (only started pso 2 online in 2009 on DC with a BBA). Great fun
This video was so appropriately timed for me lol. I recently picked the game back up on my ol GameCube and play it whenever I'm capped on all my weekly stuff on FFXIV. There's just something about the relative simplicity of old-school PSO. It's not that flashy or complex, being a loot-based MMO, but it's just so damn fun that you can't forget about it. I recall the online days spent on my Dreamcast, and they were many and memorable. Maybe someday I'll see about doing a Blue Burst pserv. Until then, I'll continue being salty that all my level 20+ tech disks for my Fomarl aren't dropping😂
Once on Kongregate I saw a game called Phantasy Star Offline, or something similar to that, I thought it was interesting so I checked it out. The game loaded up to a small character in a top down rpg format, the entire area was devoid of anything except the Player, I started moving to the left before the game abruptly stopped and showed as screen mimicking a "You Have Been Banned" screen that you'd find in online games, and I couldnt do anything else. I wondered what exactly was going on, so I took to the comments. From what I could gather, it seems that this game's creator had gotten banned from Phantasy Star Online (for a reason he most likely found to be unfair) and decided to make this short game to (for lack of a better term) spite the PSON devs. The PSOFF game is still playable in kongregate if you want to check it out, though your playthrough will most likely be the exact same as mine was...
I guess I shouldn't be suprised by PSO using some of their 8 bit og series soundtracks, but I have to say: I didn't think that the VR Spaceship theme slaps this hard in 8 bit
When I was in high school back in 2003ish, my friend had this on gamecube and he brought it over one afternoon. We played all night long and I continued to play by myself till they left the next morning. I never slept. I was instantly in love. I BEGGED them to come back as often as possible so I could play. I eventually got the game myself so I could play without them needing to bring their copy over and I lived on it, offline, for probably the next 5 or 6 years. I and my friends were racing to see who could be the first to do things, unlock new difficulties, equip certain armor and weapons, find certain units, and see new mag species. I was the first to reach Ultimate difficulty on my Hunewearl! I was so excited and my friends and I were in awe of how much the game changed at that tier. I have so many fond memories of this game, PSO will be in my blood till the day I die probably. Awesome video, thanks for all the nostalgic memories.
One of my favourite childhood games. Always dreamed of playing it online but split screen was good enough. Haven't seen so much as a screenshot of this game in well over a decade. Great memories. Nothing in gaming will match the dopamine kick of finding one of those legendary red weapons with the yellow name.
seeing NGS on the screen is neat, but honestly a lot of us PSO2 enjoyers still love the base game, especially all the stuff that's happening with newer updates
I did play a little PSO2 and it looks more interesting than NG actually, I just haven't gotten too far into it yet. I know it brings back Alis from OG Phantasy Star so I'm pretty into that
I also experienced both Phantasy Star 1 and PSO for the first time pretty recently as well and so this video was a treat to watch. I love both of these games and the PS series has this nostalgic quality to it thats hard to place. I didnt grow up with either of these games but just seeing them on a screen makes me feel feelings as if I had.
I still can't believe this game ran on the dreamcast with a 28.8K modem using dialup (this was the time when kid gamers started to research into monthly internet plans to bug their parents with)
I spent all my hours on the GameCube version solo and splitscreen with a friend. Before modern gaming with so many gacha mechanics the high point was always seeing an enemy or boss drop a red item box. Rare item hunting was one of my favorite things to do.
Having a lvl 118 hucaseal with twin sabers and a god/battle (speeds up attack sleed by 30%) will always be one of my greatest accomplishments in gaming.
This was my first online experience (second if you take into account Planet Ring), and I still remember the first night I played this. It was absolutely amazing. I made so many friends playing this... I still play with them online until this day. It's hard to understand because the game is very old and you have 1000 MMO's now, but it was a magical experience. PSO was a masterpiece.
My biggest gripe with the supposed sequels, pso2 and NGS, are that the class roles are basically non-existent. Pso2 dungeon runs are actually a racing game in disguise with how fast they get cleared, and NGS is actually just Phantasy May Star. With the original, rangers are integral for long range threat management, forces for support and aoe/multitarget damage (bosses), and hunters are needed to keep the monsters off of the first two. It's still there in zero and to a slightly lesser extent in universe, but I don't see anything like it in 2/NGS, just people dpsing as fast as they possibly can
I want to say techter counts in base PSO2 but that's just for buffing everybody lol. I did think PSO2 tried to follow closely to pso1 in episodes 1-3 and you can see a lot of references to it. I think it wasn't til EP 4 where it got different directors doing it's own thing like leaning towards ngs and EP 5 tried to go scion classes. I guess the closest you can get is challenge mode if it even counts since you all got to communicate to survive and classes got roles with a limited abilities. Also much as I liked NGS for what it is. I agree with it. I do wish the game had more than just countering because it's a mess and better done open world
This was the first online game I ever played as a kid back when it was first released on the Dreamcast. It was quite an experience and I made a number of friends in the game. Unfortunately, people could "hack" your character and turn them into a completely different character using a cheating device I'm guessing, and that eventually happened to my character, though I still kept playing after it happened. I played through the Blue Burst version of the game on a private server with a couple of friends a few years ago. It's still a fun experience, and, like you, I love the aesthetics and the music of the game.
This is a great video, Videos like this is why i still enjoy being apart of the PS community. (Also thank you for introducing me to TheAnine3D channel as well, Really cool stuff!)
I remember buying PSO on Dreamcast after working to get the money. And I ripped out the serial sticker cus I didn't know I needed it. So my game was useless. But it came out on GameCube and that's when I finally played it...
@ 1:13 This is the site of a translation error, or perhaps an omission. We actually came to Ragol in search of clean energy, as this was where Photon was discovered-However it was found that Dark Falz created it, leading into the rest of the games.
@@DreamcastEnjoyer It's honestly a neat little play on the Fermi's paradox. The idea they're going for likely being that Dark Falz is the filter that advanced societies encounter.
Loved this series in GC back in the day. Would play offline with my friends and online with strangers. Was a great time. A few years ago played and beat PS IV and man does it rock…honestly can’t get into the other originals though
Dreamcast was so ahead of its time. I had no idea it even could connect to the internet until many years after it had already lost support. Such a cool console.
Man, please respect the aspect ratio, don't stretch a 4:3 frame. I haven't used a Dreamcast emulator in a while but I seem to remember an option to make it render more of the sides to have it in proper 16:9.
Yea I hear you. I had some discussion on this in my first few videos and ended up doing a poll, but widescreen won out by quite a ways. Sorry if it doesn't look right for you, just trying to go with the majority vote
So, I took your advice and figured out how to widescreen hack... Thank you for prompting me to look into this as it looks so much nicer with the hack! Sadly it's too late to fix this particular video, but I'm looking forward to better visuals in future :)
Apparently my dad logged a lot of hours on the Dreamcast version back in the day. I'm working on getting my Dreamcast online so I can try it out. I love the aesthetic of the game. I find it oddly nostalgic, even though it came out six years before I was born.
Great memories of this game! Luckily I had a PC but couldnt really afford many games. The PC version was actually easily pirated and there was an exploit to allow the trial version to get access to the entire game. There was also a duplication exploit and hundreds of people willing to hook you up. So like 12 year old me running around in groups in the highest level gear having no idea what was going on but looking like a badass android. Good times.
I played PSO a bunch alone and with friends as a kid, all offline. A couple years ago, I heard about private servers and finally got to play through the hardest difficulties with other people. It was an absolute blast, and it really showed me what I missed as a kid, only being able to play offline. PSO is a game that will always hold a special place for me.
I kinda think the beauty of the origihnal PSO is in its simplicity. If they made it today it'd be full of skill trees and a bunch of dicking around in the menus. I like that it took the turn-based combat of the originals, translated it to realtime, and made it feel smooth enough while running on dial-up. Playing it now has almost like a meditative vibe for me that PSU only partially captured and PSO2 just abandoned outright.
Exactly the kind of video I would have loved to have made about my time with the Gamecube port, there was just something about the time frame of just barely understanding what I was in for on my own with vague guides from PSOworld at the time. There was something kind of bittersweet and solemn about almost every encounter considering you had to really set aside time depending on the size of the zones and there were story beats like Dark Falz, Soul of Steel and the esoteric sidequest steps like Soul Eater.
I can't help but be fascinated by games, tech and sites from this era in a way that words can't really do justice to. I miss this time when no one really knew completely what they were doing, but everyone was just trying to make something they enjoyed and hoped other people would. Games weren't down to some perfect science like it feels like they are now, they weren't so desperate for your attention that they would make something as toxic and unenjoyable to lock you in like what happens now. They were slow as fuck, and you had to appreciate it for what it was. Nowadays, it feels like games have some requirement of moving unreasonably fast, and they're just not as rewarding. Don't get me wrong, games dont have to be... slow, and hard, to be good, but it feels like it's so rare to find a game that's just honest about what it wants to accomplish, and honest about its limits. I've gotten PSO installed on my Wii now, and i plan on playing it with my partner in the future, but we've also been enjoying Final Fantasy XI for quite some time now. It's a done to death point, i know, but somehow i can't help but point it out because it feels like the point is never truly done justice, there's so much personality missing from games and missing from the internet and from tech as a whole. It's always a joy to see things like this brought back by the community and be able to just spend some time experiencing the world as it really should be
Played PSOffline for ages as a kid. Fast forward many years later, I bought a broad band adapter and started playing on Schthack server with my GameCube. Only then I could finish my quest of making a double cannon ❤
Well, we got our answer as to why PSO2 NGS is not just PSO3 at this point ;) It's a continuation of the story! The story just got nuts in NGS with the last update. I played PSOffline a crazy amount with a few of my friends. Local co-op on GameCube. We'd stay up well into the next morning, take a small nap, grab some caffeine and breakfast and keep at it. Did that for like a week straight lol. Probably not the best thing for our health but it's a time I look back on fondly, when we all actually had the time and willpower to do that.
I never actually played this game online until about 2014, and on PC private servers. I love the story leading up to me loving this game though. I was at my high school best friend's house, circa 2004, 2005? It was one of the first times we hung out at his place, so he was like, "I have some multiplayer games, let's see" and lists some of them. I cannot remember anything but him pausing on Phantasy Star Online. I remember replying to that one with, "That sounds gay as fuck, I'm in, let's do it." and thus was born my love of this ridiculously weeby game franchise. We played it on Gamecube, splitscreen, quite a lot. I miss that.
When I had a Dreamcast, my parents wouldn't buy me a new copy of PSO, so I couldn't use a hunter's license or connect online. I had a character on there which I got to like Lv60 or something offline, then when the private servers came along, they let me import my character into the server, and I played online for the first time. I love this game, it's just PURE nostalgia!
This game seriously could have had its own anime too with all the original characters too. There was so much potential 😢 I used to create scenarios with my bro and friend all the time what the stories and episodes could be. So much potential
Epic game , remember I would try to stay up late to play on school nights, my mom would check if online by picking up the phone cause of 56k dial up kekew.
PSO is mostly just a chill game with nice atmosphere. great place to chat with randos. But the battle mechanics are its own thing and not necessarily as brain dead as they first appear.
Ok, seeing a Video like this in 2023 is AWESOME! I have PSO & Ver.2 for Dreamcast, but I was seeing some contradictory information on GameFAQs, and was REALLY Worried when I saw the Ver.2 Manual mention "Sereal Numbers" (which I don't Have, cause I did a Case Replacement!) But actually seeing Footage stating you CAN play Offline, puts me ar ease! Weather predictions are anticipating a pretty bad Ice Storm this year, and if I'm locked inside for a Week or Two, I see no better time to play Phantasy Star!!
5:56 did you know you can hit the start button/bring up the menu while going through a tunnel with traps and it wont slow you down, so you can safely pass through. Just a little tip ;)
I wish I had played PSO as a kid, I'm sure it'd still be one of my favorite games today. I never played it but still feel like it's one of my favorites somehow.
Alas, the FM sound was only officially made available to Japanese players as a console add-on or built-in to Japanese Master Systems; we Westerners only ever got to experience Phantasy Star 1 alongside all other Master System games in good ol' PSG
I played this one and Diablo 2 back in their heyday more hours than I'd care to admit. Those were the days. I was feeling so nostalgic that I started PSO2 NGS a couple days ago 😅
Wow this really takes me back. I had such a good time with PSO Online but the jump from single player to online multiplayer was initially a big turn off for me. I gave it shot though and loved it. Phantasy Star 4 though will always be dear to me since it was my very first RPG. One can only dream of a remake.
It sucks that many went back to this and just forgot about OG PSO2 it kind of upsets me a bit now these days... Looking back that's just tough now I guess but very unfortunate really.
Tha Gamecube version of PSO had split-screen, which allowed us to co-op thrugh the whole game at my friend's house. Good times.
That sounds like a blast! I have only played this one solo, unfortunately, but your mention of split-screen on the Gamecube certainly takes me back to a very special time in my life, staying up late drinking pop and eating pizza with my buds :)
Really? Wow, in gonna have to check that out.
@@torq21 Up to 4 players
@@Zhaobowen Dang! I had a lot of fun playing that game back in the day and would love to share it with my fam.
how i played it :)
PSO's y2k futurism aesthetic is what originally enticed me to try it out a couple of years ago and since than the series has had a special place in my heart. It's not too often that you see games with that kind of art style and vibe these days outside of niche indie circles.
y2kfutur is gigma
Y2K and Frutiger Aero, the design style that captures the optimism of people at the time (me included) at the future.
the style was borne of the great optimism people had for the near future in the period, you don't see a lot of such any more because look how that one turned out
The music is literally timeless
I only ever played this game offline on the GameCube with my brother, and still this is possibly the most impact a video game has made on my future taste in gaming.
The feeling of seeing a red box drop has still yet to be matched!
I was the big brother in my case. I had a level 140ish RAcast that I had played for COUNTLESS hours and a few other characters. I was so close to beating the last boss on the second hardest difficulty and unlocking the last. My little brother overwrote my save file and I lost it all. I had played that character for YEARS solo lol barely ever played with friends or my brother.
Feels good man
Sega's depiction of space and space colonies has always looked so pretty and unique!
Still my most beloved game. It's a huge shame you never got to experience the Online gameplay where it shone brightest and was absolutely designed for.
I'm considering jumping on to some of those dedicated fan community servers and giving it a shot :)
you can still play online today on the ultima servers.
@DreamcastEnjoyer you should do it. Ephinea is a great place to start with a very supportive community!
@@DreamcastEnjoyer We await you!
@@RockoStarrYou wait there is an online server? How do you play on the dreamcast? Do you need the broadband adapter?
Offline mode for Phantasy Star Online is the sort of endgame all to be eventually discontinued MMOs should strive for. No, it'll never be the same as playing online as intended, but at least it doesn't make all that artistic effort just vanish one day.
I'm here a year later. You need to shout that from the rooftops
@@archerpence It's always one of my go to talking points about MMOs, but I don't particularly have much reach as an internet rando, hahaha. The Stop Killing Games initiative might help, but of course, MMOs are somewhat at a higher scale than a game that is merely online only and doesn't have the same kind of scale and services rendered. Still...people who put MMOs out should either shoot for an offline mode or at least allow the community to keep the game running through fan servers.
I played this for thousands of hours online back in the day.
It's one of my all time favorites.
"Corridor Based" Is an excellent term for these types of games
being someone formerly involved with the PSO2 translation before the official western servers came out, and a PSO fan since the Dreamcast myself, I can shed some light on why it's not "PSO3". PSO2 was the single biggest massive success the franchise has had natively, the original PSO2 held strong for nearly a decade, massive merchandising, two anime, and so much more, when the time came it's age was really starting to hold things back ~2017, they began development of New Genesis as a successor, and settled on making PSO2 and NGS share not only a client, but let you carry over your character (aesthetically) to not lose the existing base of players. They actually did discuss that they had considered "PSO3", but opted to focus on "PSO2" as a brand, rather than "Phantasy Star", because for all intents and purposes, PSO2 had outgrown it's own series in popularity
That's actually really cool to know - thank you for sharing! I'm always interested in learning the process behind these things and how decisions like that get made
I really wish they would have used its popularity to bring ALL of Phantasy Star to the level it deserves, starting with the original games of course. If they took the formula of those and brought it into the modern world, I think it would do absolutely great. Maybe even something *actually* more APRG.
Honestly i think that was a bad move
Ive seen so many people confused thinking new genesis is just an expension pack... It reminds me of how the wiiu name made people think it was just an acessory for the wii
@@valletas I think part of that is also the timing for western release. We had PSO2 for about ten years or something before NGS arrived in JP, whereas from what I can tell they really rushed PSO2 out the door to allow NGS release elsewhere? I could see that being very confusing.
I hope new genesis eventually takes off. It took a while for it to have worthwhile content but now it got very big. I tried going back on ps2 for the old times but i coudnt, it's so much more cluncky. It's like going to pso 1 after playing 2. Nowadays i love new genesis, but it's kinda sad to see how barren it is. Only the latest contents has some players for you to play with. If you try to level up a new character you have to make it work with the AI characters to help you clear the enemies.
It's a shame you never played the game online as having the community is what the game was really about. Not just having people to play with but learn from as you'd be surprised how much more complex the games mechanics can get. This game really opens up when you have that kind of access.
yes there are some complex mechanics and a ton of knowledge in pso1&2.
my favorite part of the community, was that i had an action replay and could dupe items, so whenever i signed on i just got bombarded with greetings from everyone in the lobby. which of course meant that i had unlimited access to the best items in the game, cause everyone wants to get that ultra rare drop duped.
Ahhh the nostalgia is strong on this one. It really shaped how I felt online RPGs should be structured. By the time I played WoW I was unimpressed, but apparently that's the template that worked for most people.
The fact that the whole thing is playable offline means old heads can continue enjoying it for decades to come too!
I agree, I much prefer this to stuff like WoW. I'm not generally an online game fan as a rule, but this one is a banger!
i think the reason i didn't like wow was because i played a thousand hours of pso beforehand. lol
Try looking into Ephinea! Like minds there. It's not the biggest community ever, but I think that's part of the charm honestly.
@@pizza-pi Been looking at PSO videos and keep seeing recommendations for that place. Might check it out. I vaguely remember playing PSO Blue Burst and enjoying myself but didn't get a hunter's license so had to stop playing.
I love this game SO MUCH. Played a LOT on my Dreamcast. Then finally online when the PC port came, and in official SEGA servers! Then Blue Burst on alternative servers.. Oh my GOD this game is so good
On Phantasy Star Zero, I was quite literally addicted to it on the DS. It's genuinely fun. Highly recommended, it has flown under the radar for far too long.
Needs a remaster!
The Dreamcast was ahead of its time. I never owned one but the launch lineup really got my attention. Having killer apps available for a new console release is like a lost art now.
This game will always be my favorite game of all time. Like you, I really only played offline until private servers came out. I spends hundreds and hundreds of hours playing offline with my friends on the GameCube. Such good memories! I still remember finding my first rare weapon….
Ohhh my first rare was a D.B. Saber in the VR temple map.
Don't know why, but the game blew my mind with that. I think I just really liked the game and suddenly discovering that there was more content and cool, unique weapons...dunno, just felt so nice.
To anyone on this video. Look up the theme after you beat the final boss and it goes to the credits. Still the best songs you could hear finishing this game. Good memories.
The "can still see the light theme" is probably the only song that still makes me emotional, maybe because of the nostalgia. Online games hit different back then.
A simple remake of this on the Switch would be such a treat, even if it was offline only. I'd love to play this again, I just don't have the time (and money) to get it all set up on the GameCube again. Put easily 1500+ hours into this gem.
I think a Switch remake would be incredible, and since we have WiFi these days you could still get online when you're out and about. Make it happen, Sega!
I lived in Pioneer 2 since the first day the game was released here in Europe, to the day SEGA closed it's servers, when internet connections were dial ups, and the phone bills were criminal when you played A LOT, like me.
Like me, yes, that i was 15 years old at the time, and had a lot of time, and i spent entire days playing it, most of the time with no sleep at all.
It was my first window to that thing called "internet", talking to people from afar was mind blowind, and the game had a nice community, i remember some days just logging in just for chatting with my friends in the lobbys. Still have the cigarette burned Dreamcast Keyboard lol.
Of course later on i played Universe and PSO Blue Burst (i play them ocassionally now) but it was never the same for me, Ragol was unique.
Long live Ragol!
Flood of nostalgia just from the first few seconds. It legitimately made me emotional. I probably had 400 hours in one of my charters.
The thing about nostalgia is that it reminds you that life was simpler back then…
Great video!
Thank you - I'm really glad you liked the video! 😊
I'm same way I felt nostalgia as soon as I heard the music and saw the name of the video. I've only ever played offline with my brother shame I only ever got to lvl 135 I would've loved to play online. Wonder if the online community still exsists
I spent hundreds of hours on PSO(ffline). Bosses are spongy but if you come back a few hours later, you'll deal with them in no time.
2 of my favourite things about this game is its loot system paired with the fact that you can upgrade your weapons.
I remember keeping a weapon for so long that it had +26 after its name (which was the max for this specific weapon). It's basically the opposite of modern looter games, you cared about some of your weapons in PSO, you had them for maybe 20 hours, they were gradually improving alongside you (so was your mag)
That's awesome - I didn't realise you could beef up your weapons so much! I'm still in the process of replaying this right now and just grinding the hunter missions like crazy
@@DreamcastEnjoyer You can but you need to keep all your monogrinders, digrinders and trigringers (I think that's how they're called) and pour everything into 1 weapon.
The last time I played this game, it was around 2005 maybe, there was a website that tells you how far you can push your weapons.
The site was very thorough, it's probably still around, would be a shame if it wasn't.
Always happy to see this game continuing to get the recognition it deserves ✌
It's such a beautiful game. Thank you for letting me use some clips and for the awesome work you're doing revisiting all this stuff - It's super immersive :)
It hurts my heart hearing this game referred to as "classic games" in the same way it's weird hearing The Offspring referred to as classic rock. I can't believe it's been nearly a quarter of a century since this game came out.
I still play it to this day, and people are still playing!
Few games have given me this kind of atmosphere.
The Gamecube version of PSO is more tuned with offline/single-player in mind so boss fights don't take a million years. The Caves boss on normal only has like 4k hp or some such. Much more manageable than 6k when you're only doing 9-12 damage for most of the fight. I played the GC version growing up strictly offline. On occasion my school friend would come over and we'd play coop but that's about it. PSO, Morrowind, Diablo 1 and 2, Deus Ex, Kingpin: Life of Crime, Blood 2, MGS 1 and 2, Resident Evil 1, 2, and 3, Ocarina of Time, etc., etc., these are all the games I am in love with, and games I still go back to at least a couple times a year. Granted, most of those aren't from the 2,000's but still.
You just named a bunch of my childhood faves right there - I have massive nostalgia for all of those games! Except Diablo, I never got round to checking those out and now I'm scared to try haha
There was a guy that made a server program for PC. You launch this very small program, and configure the server, such as holiday events etc, etc. Then a GameCube with broadband adapter can connect to your PC and phantasy star offline becomes online. Yes, multiple GameCube's can connect.
1:45 I've been playing too long. When that Belra didn't turn and try to smash the camera I was shocked.
I also only played this game offline for the game cube. My all time favorite game...never have i seen sealed-j sword drop once, but i still love it all the same. Hucast for life.
The forest theme is still absolutely magically to this day
PSO on Gamecube was the perfect gaming experience for me, in large part due to the couch co-op. I could play offline with my brothers and/or roommate, then take the same character online and meet some amazing people from all over. I still come back to it every few years. I hope to get my son into it so we can play together too.
That's super wholesome and I respect it. Here's hoping your son will love it!
the boss-fight music is gold
PSO2 is still playable online with a raspberry pi and some simple software.
I still play regular (only started pso 2 online in 2009 on DC with a BBA). Great fun
This video was so appropriately timed for me lol. I recently picked the game back up on my ol GameCube and play it whenever I'm capped on all my weekly stuff on FFXIV. There's just something about the relative simplicity of old-school PSO. It's not that flashy or complex, being a loot-based MMO, but it's just so damn fun that you can't forget about it. I recall the online days spent on my Dreamcast, and they were many and memorable. Maybe someday I'll see about doing a Blue Burst pserv. Until then, I'll continue being salty that all my level 20+ tech disks for my Fomarl aren't dropping😂
Once on Kongregate I saw a game called Phantasy Star Offline, or something similar to that, I thought it was interesting so I checked it out.
The game loaded up to a small character in a top down rpg format, the entire area was devoid of anything except the Player, I started moving to the left before the game abruptly stopped and showed as screen mimicking a "You Have Been Banned" screen that you'd find in online games, and I couldnt do anything else.
I wondered what exactly was going on, so I took to the comments.
From what I could gather, it seems that this game's creator had gotten banned from Phantasy Star Online (for a reason he most likely found to be unfair) and decided to make this short game to (for lack of a better term) spite the PSON devs.
The PSOFF game is still playable in kongregate if you want to check it out, though your playthrough will most likely be the exact same as mine was...
PS4 is one of the best 16-bit JRPGs as well IMO.
I've played a little of that one and it looks pretty awesome, I just need to sit down and play through it properly one day
I guess I shouldn't be suprised by PSO using some of their 8 bit og series soundtracks, but I have to say: I didn't think that the VR Spaceship theme slaps this hard in 8 bit
When I was in high school back in 2003ish, my friend had this on gamecube and he brought it over one afternoon. We played all night long and I continued to play by myself till they left the next morning. I never slept. I was instantly in love.
I BEGGED them to come back as often as possible so I could play. I eventually got the game myself so I could play without them needing to bring their copy over and I lived on it, offline, for probably the next 5 or 6 years. I and my friends were racing to see who could be the first to do things, unlock new difficulties, equip certain armor and weapons, find certain units, and see new mag species.
I was the first to reach Ultimate difficulty on my Hunewearl! I was so excited and my friends and I were in awe of how much the game changed at that tier.
I have so many fond memories of this game, PSO will be in my blood till the day I die probably.
Awesome video, thanks for all the nostalgic memories.
I love Phantasy Star Zero, it's like PSO except it fits in my handbag and I can take it with me anywhere.
I'm playing it right now and I agree it's super awesome! And the portability is a nice bonus for sure
One of the best videos made about PSO, keep it up!
Thank you - that's very kind of you to say! 😁
I'd like to do a video all about the music of PSO at some point too
One of my favourite childhood games. Always dreamed of playing it online but split screen was good enough. Haven't seen so much as a screenshot of this game in well over a decade. Great memories. Nothing in gaming will match the dopamine kick of finding one of those legendary red weapons with the yellow name.
seeing NGS on the screen is neat, but honestly a lot of us PSO2 enjoyers still love the base game, especially all the stuff that's happening with newer updates
I did play a little PSO2 and it looks more interesting than NG actually, I just haven't gotten too far into it yet. I know it brings back Alis from OG Phantasy Star so I'm pretty into that
I also experienced both Phantasy Star 1 and PSO for the first time pretty recently as well and so this video was a treat to watch. I love both of these games and the PS series has this nostalgic quality to it thats hard to place. I didnt grow up with either of these games but just seeing them on a screen makes me feel feelings as if I had.
Played the offline GameCube version. Loved it and it’s still a favorite of mine.
I still can't believe this game ran on the dreamcast with a 28.8K modem using dialup (this was the time when kid gamers started to research into monthly internet plans to bug their parents with)
you can still play this game online to this day. it's a private server called PSO2: Blue Burst. it's still very active too
I spent all my hours on the GameCube version solo and splitscreen with a friend. Before modern gaming with so many gacha mechanics the high point was always seeing an enemy or boss drop a red item box. Rare item hunting was one of my favorite things to do.
I put so many hours on the game cube version with the transfer data system. Was wonderful with friends and family
Having a lvl 118 hucaseal with twin sabers and a god/battle (speeds up attack sleed by 30%) will always be one of my greatest accomplishments in gaming.
Respect! I never had the patience to get above level 50 or so haha
This was my first online experience (second if you take into account Planet Ring), and I still remember the first night I played this. It was absolutely amazing. I made so many friends playing this... I still play with them online until this day. It's hard to understand because the game is very old and you have 1000 MMO's now, but it was a magical experience. PSO was a masterpiece.
This is the exact video I was looking for. That 100% deserves a sub.
Thank you very much indeed 😊
My biggest gripe with the supposed sequels, pso2 and NGS, are that the class roles are basically non-existent.
Pso2 dungeon runs are actually a racing game in disguise with how fast they get cleared, and NGS is actually just Phantasy May Star.
With the original, rangers are integral for long range threat management, forces for support and aoe/multitarget damage (bosses), and hunters are needed to keep the monsters off of the first two.
It's still there in zero and to a slightly lesser extent in universe, but I don't see anything like it in 2/NGS, just people dpsing as fast as they possibly can
I think that's a fair assessment. I'm glad to hear that zero still has some charm though, as that's the one I'm planning to check out next
You just described some of my gripes with pso2/neo
I want to say techter counts in base PSO2 but that's just for buffing everybody lol. I did think PSO2 tried to follow closely to pso1 in episodes 1-3 and you can see a lot of references to it. I think it wasn't til EP 4 where it got different directors doing it's own thing like leaning towards ngs and EP 5 tried to go scion classes.
I guess the closest you can get is challenge mode if it even counts since you all got to communicate to survive and classes got roles with a limited abilities.
Also much as I liked NGS for what it is. I agree with it. I do wish the game had more than just countering because it's a mess and better done open world
I do like PSO2, and I do like that it's faster paced, but I wish the class balance existed a bit more and, now, honestly, that it wasn't over.
Hey, at least PSO2 isn't like destiny 2...
This was the first online game I ever played as a kid back when it was first released on the Dreamcast. It was quite an experience and I made a number of friends in the game. Unfortunately, people could "hack" your character and turn them into a completely different character using a cheating device I'm guessing, and that eventually happened to my character, though I still kept playing after it happened.
I played through the Blue Burst version of the game on a private server with a couple of friends a few years ago. It's still a fun experience, and, like you, I love the aesthetics and the music of the game.
This is a great video, Videos like this is why i still enjoy being apart of the PS community. (Also thank you for introducing me to TheAnine3D channel as well, Really cool stuff!)
Thank you so much - I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
And yea, Theanine3D is awesome - definitely worth a subscribe
The fact people still talk about this game says so much❤
This was definitely ahead of its time!
I remember buying PSO on Dreamcast after working to get the money. And I ripped out the serial sticker cus I didn't know I needed it. So my game was useless. But it came out on GameCube and that's when I finally played it...
@ 1:13
This is the site of a translation error, or perhaps an omission. We actually came to Ragol in search of clean energy, as this was where Photon was discovered-However it was found that Dark Falz created it, leading into the rest of the games.
Ah that's cool to know! To be honest, I thought I just missed something in the lore
@@DreamcastEnjoyer It's honestly a neat little play on the Fermi's paradox. The idea they're going for likely being that Dark Falz is the filter that advanced societies encounter.
Loved this series in GC back in the day. Would play offline with my friends and online with strangers. Was a great time. A few years ago played and beat PS IV and man does it rock…honestly can’t get into the other originals though
Dreamcast was so ahead of its time. I had no idea it even could connect to the internet until many years after it had already lost support. Such a cool console.
Man, please respect the aspect ratio, don't stretch a 4:3 frame. I haven't used a Dreamcast emulator in a while but I seem to remember an option to make it render more of the sides to have it in proper 16:9.
Yea I hear you. I had some discussion on this in my first few videos and ended up doing a poll, but widescreen won out by quite a ways. Sorry if it doesn't look right for you, just trying to go with the majority vote
@@DreamcastEnjoyer the majority are generally wrong 😅
@@HollowRick spoken truly like an ignorable minority
Big agree. Widescreen hack would be a lot nicer
So, I took your advice and figured out how to widescreen hack...
Thank you for prompting me to look into this as it looks so much nicer with the hack!
Sadly it's too late to fix this particular video, but I'm looking forward to better visuals in future :)
Good stuff. I remember to see the ads of this game in so many gaming magazines back then, really interesting see this callback. Keep up!
Thank you - glad you enjoyed the video 😊
The music always brings me back.
Another great video, as always! Love getting to hear about series that I never played myself but have always been interested in.
Thank you very much - I'm really glad you enjoyed it!
There is still a big community playing even using their dreamcast connected online to play the original version.
When my brothers, nephew , and niece have game nights. We play GameCube on the Wii.
We play local 4 player co-op on PSO.
Great times.
Apparently my dad logged a lot of hours on the Dreamcast version back in the day. I'm working on getting my Dreamcast online so I can try it out. I love the aesthetic of the game. I find it oddly nostalgic, even though it came out six years before I was born.
That's awesome- and it will be really nice if you can get your dad's file working too 😊
@@DreamcastEnjoyerI bet that's long gone.
Great memories of this game!
Luckily I had a PC but couldnt really afford many games.
The PC version was actually easily pirated and there was an exploit to allow the trial version to get access to the entire game. There was also a duplication exploit and hundreds of people willing to hook you up.
So like 12 year old me running around in groups in the highest level gear having no idea what was going on but looking like a badass android. Good times.
Hi, thanks for the video. I am glad to find this channel. Please keep up the good work. I am a sega fanboy and owned dreamcast back in the day.
Thanks for the kind words - I'm glad you're enjoying the channel 😊
I played PSO a bunch alone and with friends as a kid, all offline. A couple years ago, I heard about private servers and finally got to play through the hardest difficulties with other people. It was an absolute blast, and it really showed me what I missed as a kid, only being able to play offline. PSO is a game that will always hold a special place for me.
I kinda think the beauty of the origihnal PSO is in its simplicity. If they made it today it'd be full of skill trees and a bunch of dicking around in the menus. I like that it took the turn-based combat of the originals, translated it to realtime, and made it feel smooth enough while running on dial-up. Playing it now has almost like a meditative vibe for me that PSU only partially captured and PSO2 just abandoned outright.
Just picked PSO, i'm extremely stoked!
Exactly the kind of video I would have loved to have made about my time with the Gamecube port, there was just something about the time frame of just barely understanding what I was in for on my own with vague guides from PSOworld at the time. There was something kind of bittersweet and solemn about almost every encounter considering you had to really set aside time depending on the size of the zones and there were story beats like Dark Falz, Soul of Steel and the esoteric sidequest steps like Soul Eater.
Game never went away thankfully to very dedicated people.
Ephinea is my favorite private server. I always keep it installed with how small it is.
I can't help but be fascinated by games, tech and sites from this era in a way that words can't really do justice to. I miss this time when no one really knew completely what they were doing, but everyone was just trying to make something they enjoyed and hoped other people would. Games weren't down to some perfect science like it feels like they are now, they weren't so desperate for your attention that they would make something as toxic and unenjoyable to lock you in like what happens now. They were slow as fuck, and you had to appreciate it for what it was. Nowadays, it feels like games have some requirement of moving unreasonably fast, and they're just not as rewarding. Don't get me wrong, games dont have to be... slow, and hard, to be good, but it feels like it's so rare to find a game that's just honest about what it wants to accomplish, and honest about its limits.
I've gotten PSO installed on my Wii now, and i plan on playing it with my partner in the future, but we've also been enjoying Final Fantasy XI for quite some time now.
It's a done to death point, i know, but somehow i can't help but point it out because it feels like the point is never truly done justice, there's so much personality missing from games and missing from the internet and from tech as a whole. It's always a joy to see things like this brought back by the community and be able to just spend some time experiencing the world as it really should be
I literally just started playing Ephineas server. Great timing.
Played PSOffline for ages as a kid. Fast forward many years later, I bought a broad band adapter and started playing on Schthack server with my GameCube. Only then I could finish my quest of making a double cannon ❤
Well, we got our answer as to why PSO2 NGS is not just PSO3 at this point ;) It's a continuation of the story! The story just got nuts in NGS with the last update.
I played PSOffline a crazy amount with a few of my friends. Local co-op on GameCube. We'd stay up well into the next morning, take a small nap, grab some caffeine and breakfast and keep at it. Did that for like a week straight lol. Probably not the best thing for our health but it's a time I look back on fondly, when we all actually had the time and willpower to do that.
really cant wait for you to talk about Phantasy Star Universe
and hopefuly Ambition of Illiminos.
Thank you! I'll definitely get to PSU and maybe Ambition too if you recommend I should check it out :)
I still have my VMU with my original FOneweral sitting on a shelf above my desk, I played this game forever and still have withdrawals from it.
I never actually played this game online until about 2014, and on PC private servers. I love the story leading up to me loving this game though.
I was at my high school best friend's house, circa 2004, 2005? It was one of the first times we hung out at his place, so he was like, "I have some multiplayer games, let's see" and lists some of them. I cannot remember anything but him pausing on Phantasy Star Online. I remember replying to that one with, "That sounds gay as fuck, I'm in, let's do it." and thus was born my love of this ridiculously weeby game franchise.
We played it on Gamecube, splitscreen, quite a lot. I miss that.
Very cool 😎👍 always been intrigued by PSO
When I had a Dreamcast, my parents wouldn't buy me a new copy of PSO, so I couldn't use a hunter's license or connect online. I had a character on there which I got to like Lv60 or something offline, then when the private servers came along, they let me import my character into the server, and I played online for the first time. I love this game, it's just PURE nostalgia!
This game seriously could have had its own anime too with all the original characters too. There was so much potential 😢
I used to create scenarios with my bro and friend all the time what the stories and episodes could be. So much potential
I would legit love a Phantasy Star anime 😄
It is honestly overdue!!@@DreamcastEnjoyer
Epic game , remember I would try to stay up late to play on school nights, my mom would check if online by picking up the phone cause of 56k dial up kekew.
PSO is mostly just a chill game with nice atmosphere. great place to chat with randos.
But the battle mechanics are its own thing and not necessarily as brain dead as they first appear.
Pso is still played to this day in the PSOBB version.
I haven't had my dreamcast for many years now, but I still play my gamecube version sometimes. Still love this game.
many a night on gc 4 players , and now many on ultima server and still loving it to chill on and solo
This and Phantasy Star Universe were my childhood.
Ok, seeing a Video like this in 2023 is AWESOME!
I have PSO & Ver.2 for Dreamcast, but I was seeing some contradictory information on GameFAQs, and was REALLY Worried when I saw the Ver.2 Manual mention "Sereal Numbers" (which I don't Have, cause I did a Case Replacement!) But actually seeing Footage stating you CAN play Offline, puts me ar ease!
Weather predictions are anticipating a pretty bad Ice Storm this year, and if I'm locked inside for a Week or Two, I see no better time to play Phantasy Star!!
5:56 did you know you can hit the start button/bring up the menu while going through a tunnel with traps and it wont slow you down, so you can safely pass through. Just a little tip ;)
I'm so glad this popped up in my recommendations! I subbed!
Thank you 😊
I wish I had played PSO as a kid, I'm sure it'd still be one of my favorite games today. I never played it but still feel like it's one of my favorites somehow.
Alas, the FM sound was only officially made available to Japanese players as a console add-on or built-in to Japanese Master Systems; we Westerners only ever got to experience Phantasy Star 1 alongside all other Master System games in good ol' PSG
True that - such a shame though as I really love the FM versions of the tunes
I played this one and Diablo 2 back in their heyday more hours than I'd care to admit. Those were the days.
I was feeling so nostalgic that I started PSO2 NGS a couple days ago 😅
Wow this really takes me back. I had such a good time with PSO Online but the jump from single player to online multiplayer was initially a big turn off for me. I gave it shot though and loved it. Phantasy Star 4 though will always be dear to me since it was my very first RPG. One can only dream of a remake.
It sucks that many went back to this and just forgot about OG PSO2 it kind of upsets me a bit now these days... Looking back that's just tough now I guess but very unfortunate really.
phantasy star online episode 1 and 2 has the spot in my life as my favorite video game of all time forever.
I started with Phantasy Star Portable when I was little and goddamn I loved it.
the most powerful and handy weapon it's that semi-uzi or something that shoots series 3x3
other weapons I just found to be quite useless ;c