Phantasy Star Portable 2

by Sega Of America, Inc.

Product Features

• Players gain more tactical choices by executing new combat techniques and abilities in addition to the combined battle system from previous Phantasy Star Online and Universe franchises
• Enjoy an all-new storyline that takes place three years after the exciting Phantasy Star Universe saga
• Brings the franchise into the Phantasy Star Portable online space for the first time by allowing up to four player co-op or competitive online play via Infrastructure and ad-hoc modes
• Explore new Battle and Challenge missions made popular in the PSO series, share items amongst characters, and decorate the 3D My Room with tons of customization elements
• Nearly double the content with over 100 missions, over 170 enemies including all-new bosses, and more than 2,000 weapons and items

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B003PHLTIC
• Item Weight: 4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 14, 2010
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,907 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #38 in Video Games > Sony PSP > Role-Playing

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Phantasy Star Portable 2 is an Action RPG that continues the Phantasy Star adventure extended to the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in the original Phantasy Star Portable game. The game features 4-player wireless support in both competitive and cooperative modes, new socially interactive game aspects, double the amount of content seen in the previous game and an enhanced combat system.

Experience the conclusion of the series in Phantasy Star Portable 2.
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A Global Online Multiplayer Experience

The Phantasy Star series returns to the PlayStation Portable (PSP) system for an exciting new adventure, bringing all-new content and returning the series to its online roots. Picking up three years after the events of the exciting Phantasy Star Universe saga, Phantasy Star Portable 2 challenges players to take on the role of mercenary to save the struggling Gurhal galaxy. Phantasy Star Portable 2 offers a gigantic dose of original content from new combat moves, weapons and character customization options. New to the Phantasy Star Portable franchise, online play through Infrastructure mode and enhanced social interactivity adds to the adventure for fans and newcomers alike.

Key Game Features

• Compelling Multiplayer Experience - Brings the franchise into the online space for the first time by allowing up to four player cooperative or competitive online play via infrastructure mode as we as four player multi-player mode via ad-hoc.
• All New Storyline - Enjoy an all-new storyline that takes place three years after the exciting Phantasy Star Universe saga.
• Advanced Social Interactivity – Explore new missions such as the Battle and Challenge missions made popular in the PSO series, share items, manuals, and titles among player's characters, as well as decorate the 3D My Room with tons of customization elements.
• Expanded Content – The universe of Phantasy Star hugely expands from previous installments with double the amount of content with new characters, over 100 missions including Battle and Challenge missions, over 170 enemies including all-new bosses, and more than 2,000 weapons and items.
• Enhanced Combat System - Players gain more tactical choices by executing new combat techniques and abilities in addition to the combined battle system from previous Phantasy Star Online and Universe franchises.

Additional Screenshots

Advanced social aspects. View larger.

4-player support. View larger.

Enhanced combat system. View larger.

Double the amount of content. View larger.

Product Description

The Phantasy Star series returns to the PSP (PlayStation Portable) system for an exciting new adventure, bringing all-new content and returning the series to its online roots. Picking up three years after the exciting Phantasy Star Universe saga, Phantasy Star Portable 2 brings the series to its conclusion as players take on the role of mercenary to save the Gurhal system. Phantasy Star Portable 2 offers a gigantic dose of original content from new combat moves, weapons and character customization options. New to the Phantasy Star Portable franchise, online play through Infrastructure mode and enhanced social interactivity adds to the adventure for fans and newcomers alike.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Impressions of Phantasy Star Portable 2, September 20, 2010

By 

S. Posey (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Phantasy Star Portable 2 (Video Game)

I'm a pretty big fan of the handheld consoles, mainly because my wife is a teacher. How does that figure into this? Well, if you marry a teacher, be prepared to go to bed early. So I sit in bed and play my PSP and DS into the wee hours of the night (11pm is wee to me...I'm old). As a result of this, I constantly have my ear to the ground for the latest and greatest portable games. I mainly play RPG's on the portable consoles but I'll make exceptions every now and then. With Sega's newest game, Phantasy Star Portable 2, no exception was needed - this is a whopper of an RPG and it's on a handheld. Keep reading why I think this is one of the better portable RPG's to hit the little systems that could in a while.

Phantasy Star has been around since the early days of gaming. If I recall, I believe it began on the NES, but it may have been the Genesis. I know Japan got some Phantasy Star games the states didn't so it's not clear. Anyways, I have played a few of them and was never really into them much. They were fun dungeon crawlers but beyond that, the story and the gameplay never really rung true with me. So, I was a skeptic when hearing about the large amount of content that would make it into Phantasy Star Portable 2. Having never played the first, I wasn't sure if I would even like it. But, I took a chance and decided to try out the latest installment. All things considered, I'm pretty glad I did.

You begin the game by choosing a character and designing his/her head, clothes, body, eyes, etc. The whole package...you can customize until your hearts content. That's rare for a PSP game that is trying to minimize the amount of fluff they put in games to fit everything on a UMD. After choosing a name, clothing, and a starting class (basic melee, range, magic, and mix) you start the story. The story is standard sci fi fare with an alien race terrorizing the people of PSP2 land. It progresses the game but don't expect anything revolutionary.

So, while the story isn't that great, the gameplay is. It's typical hack and slash fare but the amount of drops and loot you find almost make it addictive. After the first mission you are given the option to perform tasks as you wish. You can go out and do the story mission or you can participate in open missions that give you items, money, and result in a fight with a big enemy at the end of the dungeon. I actually really like these missions, especially before bed when you are nodding off but still awake. It doesn't take much effort but it keeps you entertained. The story missions are the ones you want to avoid while tired.

So, as I was saying - the gameplay. You'll wield whatever weapon you chose based on your class choice (I chose the melee class - Hunter) and you'll venture into the dungeon. You swing your weapon with square and perform special abilities with triangle. It's standard button mashing, but it's fun for a PSP (Playstation Portble) game. You can bring along friends you meet in the game and they fight beside you. You can also invite people from real life who also own the game into your game via the internet to play, but I'll get into that later.

So, the game is fun and well worth the purchase with everything I mentioned so far. It's a fully functioning game just like any other RPG out there. But, there's more involved. You get your own room in the game where you can put furniture and hang pictures. It's pretty fun since I found myself specifically looking for some posters in the game to hang - including the Japanese idols and the Playboy ones available (not sure if there is nudity - probably not). The room you are given acts as a sort of extension of yourself in the game which is pretty neat for all the collectors out there who love searching for items in games. You'll find plenty here.

So, the game is great, the room thing is cool, but what else? There's another feature that sold the game for me and it's one I haven't fully invested time into yet. The whole game is playable online and you can go into rooms with other people and venture out into the world together. The rooms you go into is sort of an internet lobby where you meet up with others before launching the game. The multiplayer portion of the game is separate from the single player and has completely different missions and weapons you can only find online. The single player game character and the multiplayer game character are identical so if you level up online, you bring that level back with you to the single player game and vice versa. The game almost feels like a minor MMORPG in a way on the PSP. I've heard that term thrown around a few times in reviews I've read so far. It's not far from the truth.

So, is this game for you? That's the sort of thing I do with my blog. I tell you about a game I played, say if I liked it, and then say whether you should try it out or not. Let's see...you are going to need to put in a lot of time with this game to get the full effect. If you view PSP games as quick fixes or portable games you only want to spend a few minutes here and there on, this may not be for you. I've spent an hour in a mission already trying to take down a humongous dragon at 11:30pm while my wife is complaining to turn the light off. You're going to need to invest some time, but the time invested will be well spent and you will be able to see the spoils of your work.

Along with the time investment, you need to realize that this is a dungeon crawler. If you aren't familiar with the term, basically you go into a "dungeon" or area with doors and mazes that leads to an eventual end, and hack and slash for a while before doing a puzzle or killing an big enemy. When you finish that, you rinse and repeat. To people like myself who love dungeon crawlers, this is heaven, but to others, not so much. It's something you need to figure out on your own and then decide if it's for you.

Finally, this game is very Japanese. The characters, story, stereotypes of some people, etc. all have that Japan flair to them. It's not a bad thing if you like JRPG's, but some people just don't. Keep that in mind when deciding whether or not to pick this up.

Phantasy Star Portable 2 is $39.99 and it's available at most stores and on the PSN. I enjoy the game and it's going to be in my PSP for a while to come, right alongside Birth by Sleep and Valkyria Chronicles 2. If this game is in yours, let me know or if something else will be residing there, sound off in the comments below.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a worthy successor to the PSO series..., September 14, 2010

By 

Jason T. Keopka (Dayton, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Phantasy Star Portable 2 (Video Game)

I have been a huge fan of the Phantasy Star Online series, starting with the original Dreamcast PSO. Since the original there have been supplemental upgrades to PSO (Version 2, Ep 1 and 2, Ep 3, Blue Burst). These upgrades were very good, but nothing that could truely refresh the series.

Sega then created Phantasy Star Universe and I, like many people, had high hopes. The game was plagued by a lack of content at launch, a terrible weapon crafting system, and before too long cheaters. This was a monumental disappointment. A few years later Sega released Phantasy Star Portable for PSP. It was a very good game. Phantasy Star Portable one fixed the terrible and redundant crafting system found in PSU. It also boasted new areas, and the return of some familiar enemies. One major flaw however was the exclusion of online play.

With the release of Phantasy Star Portable 2, Sega has finlly released a worthy successor to PSO. This game features a decent storyline, but most importantly keeps the PSO core gameplay intact and manages to add to it. PSP2 includes a few new moves for characters, such as the evasive dodge, and the ability to manually use shields to protect from damage. The biggest improvement is the inclusion of online play. Having spent a lot of time playing the trial online I will say that it is rather good, although lag and disconnections to occur at times. One improvement that could be made would be the chat interface. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the Sony PSP typing is a bit of a chore. Don'texpect to have too many in depth conversations online, but its definetly enough to communicate greetings, commands, and simple conversations. The weapon drop system is similar to the one in PSO and PSP1, which is not a bad thing by any means. Visually, the game is top notch for the PSP. I cant think of another game on PSP that has the level of detail of PSP2. There are plenty of new areas, and familiar enemies as well. PSP2 also includes battle mode, which introduces some unique concepts.

Overall, I rate PSP2 a solid 9.25 / 10.

Pros: The game has improved gameplay elements, new weapons, new areas, online play... pretty much anything a PSO fan could ever wish for.

Cons: Improvements could be seen with the chat system, and lack of traditional PSO style lobbies was a little disappointing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Phantasy Star Online..... sort of., November 23, 2011

By 

phantasy star fan 3 "raiser 00" (fayetteville, ar usa) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Phantasy Star Portable 2 (Video Game)

I'm totally redoing this review. After alot more time playing this game, there are some things I need to say. First, this is not really like Phantasy Star Online. However, It does play alot like a combination of PSO and Phantasy Star Universe/Portable. I actually LIKE this version over the first PSP. This game lets you again choose your class type, and like in PSP1, you can switch if you don't like what you started with. Also, you can choose pretty much any weapon type you want as long as you have enough points. The way this game works over the first is it has only four class types as opposed to the firsts eight. This actually works in the games favor, as it means you're not having to switch unless you want to. The battles are much harder than the first game, being much more like Phantasy Star 0, which is a GOOD thing. I always felt the enemies in the first game were WAY to easy for most of the game, only getting harder as the game drew to a close. This game also FINALLY has what fans of the first game wanted: online mode. Now you can finally play the game with people across the country! I think this has got to be the best version so far. I really like the fact that it lets you hold circle to let you switch weapons AND armor!!! I can't recommend this game more.