August is slowly creeping up, and with it will come Phantasy Star Online 2 North America's next big update. Sega has already teased the game's first major update since launch on Twitter. If you've never played the Japanese version of PSO2, it might look a bit crazy, but only because it's a big departure from Episodes One through Three. There's a lot of new content on the way and some big changes. Here's what to look forward to with the upcoming release of Episode Four.
Story
Rather than continuing with Xiao or the Dark Falz plots, players will cross over to Earth in Phantasy Star Online 2. In the game, Earth exists and acts as a transport between the dimensions. Episode Four follows similar plot lines to popular anime series like Sword Art Online or Accel World where video game characters cross over to Earth, and humans with a certain affinity can enter PSO2. It's a strange, light-hearted change from the sci-fi, balance of the cosmos episodes that players have experienced so far.
In true anime fashion, the main characters consist mostly of high schoolers with this special affinity, and strange events begin to occur around them. On the PSO2 side, you'll meet some new characters and see old ones return, although most don't have a major role. Much of the plot takes place on Earth and involves discovering the agenda of a high-tech organization, which eventually culminates in a lore connection to PSO2's world. It's mostly a one-off Episode, but the connection to Earth stays forever open in the world of PSO2.
New Locations
Since players will be traveling to Earth, there are new Earth-related locales and enemies. One has already been released in the form of the Urgent Quest, Virtual Planet Battle Training. This area, modeled after Las Vegas, will be one of the new main locations where Episode Four's Quests will take place. The other new main location is the streets of Toyko, though it's not clear whether Sega plans to change this for the North American audience. There are also other locations for the story and new Urgent Quests, such as the Moon.
Since they don't exist in this universe, enemies on Earth aren't Dark Falz. Instead, you'll see enemies called Phantoms, which come in many different forms from Clowns to Steamrollers. They are mainly weak to the wind element, including bosses, but there are exceptions. The bosses are either powerful humans or Kaiju versions of Earth objects like a three-headed subway train, so expect to see some craziness.
Quests
In PSO2, a new story means new Quests. Many will be the usual types (ARKS, Marathon, Exploration, etc.) taking place in the new areas, but expect new Urgent Quests and quest types to come with Episode Four or after it initially drops. Some of these may even come with completely new bosses.
Like everything we've seen so far, each will have their own strategies, and some will be raid-style taking place in new arenas. We've already seen Challenge Quests, which are a fun way for teams or alliances to test their mettle for great rewards. More new types are on the way, and some have different challenges and benefits, like rewarding players who score high with better loot.
Items & Crafting
Of course, Episode Four will also come with new items, such as equipment, augments and cosmetics. Also likely being added is crafting, which many fans have been asking about. Crafting was introduced in Episode Four in Japan so it's likely we'll finally see it in the North American version in August. However, PSO2's crafting system doesn't work the way crafting does in other games. Here, you don't necessarily make items or equipment, and enhancements can make weapons worse. The big thing that comes with crafting is the ability to customize Techniques, new achievements and titles.
Most of the new cosmetics take after Earth and the story's new characters, so they may not be for you if you prefer to maintain a high sci-fi appearance. One notable new item is Bonus Keys. These are gained from Featured Quests and occasionally as Rare Drops. They unlock a Bonus Quest, which is essentially an arena with Phantoms spawning at your level. However, there's a catch: while they're easy to destroy, they can also deal massive damage, killing some classes in just one or two hits. There's also a time limit on how long you have to complete the quest, and failing means you've wasted a key. Bonus Quests drop tons of rare loot and certain currencies in bulk on top of granting tons of experience, making them worth your time.