After nearly a decade as one of Asia’s most popular MMORPGs and a couple betas, Phantasy Star Online 2 has finally officially launched in North America on Xbox One. Yes, as part of Microsoft’s efforts to expand their Japanese offerings, they’ve stuck a deal for the Western release of PSO2 – the game will only be coming out on Xbox One and the Microsoft Store on PC. Yup, a good, old-fashioned Microsoft Store exclusive! Didn’t think they still did those.
Here’s a bit more detail about what the NA release of Phantasy Star Online 2 will include at launch:
The North American launch includes fully localized text and character voices in English, spanning three years of content. In addition to the immersive original PSO2 story, the NA version also features the most-up-to-date balancing and quality-of-life improvements from the Japanese service. Players will be able to choose from four races and nine classes while tackling various missions and collecting Achievements. They can also take a break from questing by playing one of the many Casino mini-games, chilling in the Alliance Quarters, or attending all-new live stage events. All progress from the betas will be carried over.
And here are some of the goodies and updates you can expect over the next few weeks:
- Every day between April 15 and April 23, ARKS Operatives will receive a special log-in bonus when they report for duty! The Half Scape Doll is able to sacrifice itself to revive players automatically if they become incapacitated on the battlefield – a real boost when fighting the Falspawn.
- ARKS who join an Alliance with at least four members before April 28th will receive a SG20 Ticket (x1). And members of Alliances that have earned at least 5,000 Alliance Points before April 28th will receive the collectable emote #269: Impromptu Tea Party!
- Two new Urgent Quests: “The Cunning Black Winged Vanguard” & “The False Champion: Luther the Fallen” begin this week.
- PSO2 Diva, Quna, returns for live concerts on Saturdays and Sundays!
- The Cherry Blossom season is coming to Phantasy Star Online 2 with a new look to the renowned Franca’s Café! Certain ARKS Ship lobbies will also change their appearances periodically.
- PSO2 is one of the first games to be included in Microsoft’s new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks program! All PSO2 players with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription will receive extra special goodies after their first log in, including an Xbox jacket and Xbox Controller accessory for their character to show off in-game. Additional Perks will be made available every month, such as bonus Half Scape Dolls and more.
- The ever-expanding catalog of outfits and accessories to collect and mix-and-match continues to grow with the introduction of the Heroic Wanderer AC Scratch Ticket.
Phantasy Star Online 2 is available now on Xbox One, and will hit PC via the Microsoft Store in late May. As of now, PSO2 has only officially been released in North America, with no European release date announced, but Sega has said the game won’t be region-locked so Europeans should be able to download and play the game without too much fuss.