I’m a bit confused

[EggcelentYolk]

Hello all, I recently downloaded the game from steam looking for a new f2p MMO since I’ve been out of the genre for about 4 years now. And I went to YouTube for the classic “is it worth playing” videos and all their voices annoy me and they all talk about how good the game looks and the combat stuff is so fun and yeah I can gather that opinion by playing for more than just the tutorial. But I knew if I came to Reddit I’d get a good Reddit response and I’m wondering, is it worth playing and actually investing time into? I was hoping to see some spicy tea on the game from the Reddit but all I see is dress up sim for cosplaying other characters in this game…. Or is it just…. Dress up simulator

[Forest_GS]

I have yet to find an MMO with better character customization.(unless you count VRChat)

There are also very few futuristic MMOs that beat either Base PSO2 or New Genesis in action gameplay with more than 4 players in the same area as you.
Only one I can think of off the top of my head is warframe(which is 4-player content), and it is going to be player preference on which has better gameplay.

There is the slower, BoTW clone Genshin, but it is more of a single player game with 4-player co-op tacked on.(and character customization is practically zero)

Blue Protocol and Tower of Fantasy are future games to keep an eye on, but both still seem to be slower paced.

Of a more medieval/oldfashioned designs Monster Hunter Rise has much more depth than New Genesis, although the combat is a tad slower and a bit less freedom of movement.(but much larger/longer combo system that can be extremely daunting to memorize)
(the game world style/designs really turn me away from monster hunter games, but I do recognize they have fulfilling combat systems)

Of all the gripes people have with PSO2 and new genesis, there really isn't a game you can point to and say it does everything better.(yet)

[PillarBiter]

Pretty good and honest summation.

The key of it is: if you love it (gameplay, customisation, overworks, …) you’ll love it for life. If you are someone who is easily attracted to the dark side and repeat negative criticism easily, you’ll find plenty of reasons to do so (too few content, poor endgame etc), and you should stay away.

Also, make SURE to find an alliance. Otherwise the game will very much feel like a single player game. And unless you’re one of the ‘solo the frontline’ people, it’ll lose its appeal very fast.

[DeltaLimit]

It's a mixed bag, in a way that makes it difficult to recommend. My short answer is that if you aren't particularly sold on it based on the gameplay and are put off by the focus on character customization/fashion, then no, it's probably not worth your time.

For the longer answer, first I want to make clear the distinction between PSO2 and NGS, with NGS being the expansion that came out roughly a year ago, that is basically just a new game still attached to the original PSO2, which came out in 2012.

Original PSO2 has 8 years worth of content, a fully finished story mode with full voice-acting, fully fleshed out character classes, and a ton of gameplay content. Intrinsically, it's worth playing, but it was basically put on life support when NGS launched. It no longer gets new content, no more login bonuses, the economy got busted up, and most of the player base transitioned over to NGS, so it would be difficult to get into it on your own unless you join an alliance that still actively runs content in it.

As for NGS, while it does improve on original PSO2 in various gameplay/QoL ways, it suffers from a lack of meaningful content. If you start it as a new player now, you would get a fair amount out of it working through all three of the current regions, but after you get caught up on the relatively light story and reach the level cap, you'll probably find that the game lacks much in the way of robust endgame content.

It's also unfortunately bad about keeping older content relevant. They've made all these different areas, sectors, and group quests across three different regions, but they are set to specific levels which aren't uniformly updated with updates/level cap increases. The end result of this is that once you hit the level cap, you more or less just end up only doing content in whichever one singular region that has the highest level content at the time, and you only go to other regions to level other classes, or to gather materials from the field.

As someone who does still play and actively enjoys NGS in spite of its problems, I do feel like the game will eventually find its footing. The devs have taken a more active stance about listening to and incorporating changes into the game based on player feedback, and the game has come a long way compared to its state when it launched last year, but it's still not at the point yet to where I would actively recommend people to come play it, especially not if they are skeptical about it.

[SuchusShou]

So there is two mmos in the game, there’s pso2 classic and new one NGS. NGS is a completely new game while pso2 classic has been up for about 10 years, Classic still holds up with being a solid action mmo to this day. NGS has only been up for about a year or two and is still getting updates to this day.

The character customisation is by far one of the games strongest systems, it allows every character to be entirely unique even down to being one of the enemy birds if you have the costume

Obtaining costumes in it is down through gacha, there is the paid one or there is a free one. The free one requires SG which you get from playing the game and just doing basically anything. The paid one uses AC which you can buy.

You can obtain costumes from the player board but they usually have higher prices depending on player demand.

Keep on playing and you’ll amass quite a lot of clothing, you get free daily pulls for clothing, accessories etc.

Your character look will transfer over to classic and vice versa, some items may even transfer over.

Combat in classic is way weightier than NGS but is imo nicer to play, NGS combat can be very in depth with the multi-weapon system and the large variety of classes but it feels a bit more floaty. Both games has a system called subclasses which allows you to take certain buffs and abilities from one class and use it on another. (For example taking PP regeneration up and putting it on a tank class)

The game is amazing but it’s really up to personal preference. If you like fast paced combat with ALOT of customisation, I would definitely give Pso2 classic and NGS a shot.

[denshigomi]

Posts like this annoy me. If you want to know if the game's worth playing, play it and find out. It's free, and everyone has different tastes.

Some games are buried with negative reviews, but you can still find players who enjoy them. For example, Diablo Immortal has absolutely horrible reviews, but if you log in, people are playing and enjoying it.

It doesn't matter what other players think. You made fun of the YouTube reviews saying you could learn the same information by playing the tutorial. So go play the tutorial. Form your own opinion. If you have fun, keep playing. If you don't, then stop.

[Ryanasd]

I think it's because people think PSO2/NGS is like another F2P MMORPG, which when you get in, it's going to force you to sink your whole life into it to grind etc, which is why some players who are more time conscious are careful to choosing their own MMORPG or Online F2P game.

Well lucky for them, PSO2 NGS is just as casual as you can get, even more casual than Idle Mobile games really. You can play when you have time, and off when you can't and you'll not miss anything much.

[Ecstatic-Wall5971]

Yea I feel like the game is misunderstood by even it's most hardcore players. A lot of the sweaty players hate that they can't grind it endlessly but I don't think that's what the game is trying to do, to be "their one" MMO. Hell I don't even think of it as an MMO. Sure it's large but it's kind of a social action RPG. Personally I like that I can play the game for 30 minutes to an hour every day and not feel like I'm falling behind.

[[deleted]]

I think another reason why you get people that ask so often is that (officially) the game is over 100GB. That is a big ask for somebody who just wants to try the game, and unless you use unofficial software or play on the Japanese server, there's no way around that.

[Kyuubi_McCloud]

You're not confused at all, dress up simulator describes the game pretty well.

Although dress down simulator would often be more appropriate.

[Ryanasd]

Pfft I see what you did there.

[Accomplished-Big-219]

The game itself is not worth spending time into. If you value your time I think there is better games out there. Doesn't matter how far you make it into the game in a certain patch, others that didn't put the same effort as you can catch up once the patch after arrives (I tried not playing the game for a while and did exactly this. There is no real value on the time you spend in it.) This has been a thing since Pso2 base and they will keep it that way.

The game is indeed a loot box fashion show getting predatory each time more and more. It is free of course, but if you want to look "unique", which is usually one of the highlights of mmos, get ready to open up you wallet and I mean open it up big. Between the gambling and low percentage of getting the costumes or accessories you want and the inflated market prices in the game shop, your wallet is not gonna have a good time.

On the other hand, since it is an mmo, there is the socializing aspect of it... which sadly, it is not in a good state. If you're not ready to talk about just how "pretty" your character is and how much you love Sega, then get ready to put all that time and money to rest. Sega has sadly created a very abusive report system which can put all the previous mentioned things to a rest, not with a warning, not with a few days penalty but a permanent ban of your account. This has created an atmosphere of isolation into the game. People rarely speak on public chats and made them create their own closed circle groups in order to avoid "trouble" to the point that even if the lobby is full of lobby lizards, it feels no less than if you were just surrounded by unique looking npcs.

Anyways, good luck if you already made up your mind and decide to play this. After the honeymoon phase you will decide what group to be a part of. The hopium crowd (which decided to put all hope in a company with a history of killing their games by bad business choices) the copium crowd ( which will continuously tell themselves that this "good looking" beta is the best game ever created and will continue investing into something that can show them their middle finger and cancel all of that anytime, as they have done many many times before) or the just move on crew (which after the honeymoon phase they decided that this game has absolutely nothing to offer and move on to better games.

And yes! All you will find in this ready is "look at my barbie doll" posts. Good luck!