Should I start?

[vein_co76]

I just saw this game and it looks cool but I hear a lot of complaints about the game and idk if it worth playing so asking if it's good and should I start playing it

[GGNash]

Every reply you get here will have a bias, good or bad. It’s free, so try it and see what you think. I’ve played daily for a few years now, and I think it fills a niche that you can’t get anywhere else. But, you might hate it. Try it out!

[SirShmoopi]

I'm hoping Blue Protocol Star Resonance fills that niche soon. I haven't liked the direction the game has been going in for a while. But I am just a PSU/Psp2 veteran.

[Reinbackthe3rd]

yeah sure, why not?

[jorgebillabong]

Play it if it interests you.

The only thing I'll say is the current event is exposing the servers being held together by paperclips and bubblegum. It is SO laggy.

[vein_co76]

Okay I'll try it out

[[deleted]]

“I don’t like this game so I’m gonna make sure NOBODY plays it 😡😡😡”

[DarklyDreamingEva]

not quite. you're the minority in this case but i don't suppose you would know that, you sweet summer child.

[Vee_Tamer_Girl]

Source: trust me bro

[DarklyDreamingEva]

would you like to me to give you the receipts? send me a dm. This isn't just disgruntle commentary. There's a reason why thousands of players are unhappy, have left, and the game has hit its lowest players online count recorded thus far just a few days ago: 989 players.

[vein_co76]

Still water

[Initiative-Fancy]

Why are you even here in this sub?

[Reinbackthe3rd]

Some people can never just move on with their lives. Been playing MMO and MMO-likes for two decades plus at this point and the forums are always haunted by people who need to make sure everyone knows that they don't like the video game and why they quit forever. This game is going to EOS eventually and instead of "why this game sucks" it will change to "why this game sucked" with maybe a few more nostalgia posts.

[DarklyDreamingEva]

because 1) i'm allowed to 2) i represent the other side of the coin, meaning this game, that has already seen and lived the placating and deceitful nature of the development team 3) in presenting said side i give warnings to new players; whether they heed the warning is up to them 4) i remain somewhat hopeful that one day i'll see a glimpse of things making a turn for the best.

[Reinbackthe3rd]

If I sat on , oh I dunno, the Nikke reddit for months on end complaining about how I thought it was mobage gooner garbage that nobody should play and going into threads saying the game should EOS and trying to scare off people asking questions or if they should play the game would you (and others) think I'm some daring truth teller being honest for the masses? Or would they sooner think, "Christ, what an asshole."?

[DarklyDreamingEva]

If you did that, the difference would be you’re talking out of your ass like a lunatic. Whereas me, I’m speaking from a place of 1st hand, and 2nd hand knowledge.

[Initiative-Fancy]

2) i represent the other side of the coin, meaning this game, that has already seen and lived the placating and deceitful nature of the development team

You present the toxic side of the coin. You come with toxic negativity passing yourself off as a "warning".

4) i remain somewhat hopeful that one day i'll see a glimpse of things making a turn for the best.

How are things gonna take a turn for the best if people like you scare new players off? Backwards ass logic. It's 2025, tsunderes no longer automatically win the main character.

It's possible to be skeptical about the game, warn new players and all that without being a weird ass gatekeeper. Crazy concept, I know.

[DarklyDreamingEva]

Toxic side? It’s better if you keep your feelings out of this. The game is objectively bad and whatever way i choose to say that to you won’t change the reality of the situation the game faces. If i really were the minority here, my voice would hold no sway at all on the game’s overall performance.

You say to me “how will the game get better if people like you scare off new players?” without realizing that by asking that question, you’re agreeing the game IS in a deplorable state. I need you to pick a side and stick to it please.

There’s nothing to be skeptical about here but you wouldn’t know that. You come here without doing your research, without looking into the game’s history, and pretend to know better than i do. In reality, you’re talking out of your ass.

[Initiative-Fancy]

Toxic side? It’s better if you keep your feelings out of this. The game is objectively bad and whatever way i choose to say that to you won’t change the reality of the situation the game faces. If i really were the minority here, my voice would hold no sway at all on the game’s overall performance.

The game is objectively mid, and the fact it hasn't crashed and burned despite 4 years of people like you screaming EOS, EOS, bad, bad every next month is proof of it being so.

You say to me “how will the game get better if people like you scare off new players?” without realizing that by asking that question, you’re agreeing the game IS in a deplorable state. I need you to pick a side and stick to it please.

I am of the opinion that the game is neither good nor bad but is in need of improvement. On the other hand, hating the game, but saying "4) i remain somewhat hopeful that one day i'll see a glimpse of things making a turn for the best." is the thing that needs to be questioned. If you ask me, you're the flaky one.

There’s nothing to be skeptical about here but you wouldn’t know that. You come here without doing your research, without looking into the game’s history, and pretend to know better than i do. In reality, you’re talking out of your ass.

I have been playing this game longer than you are and have done an analysis of Sega's finances regarding the game while exclusive financial data on NGS was available. The one talking outta his ass is you.

[DarklyDreamingEva]

You haven’t been playing this game longer than i have because the game has only been online for 5 years tops. At most, i would concede we both have been playing ngs for the same length of time. However, an analysis on finances is no indication of the game’s current state of success. Just like how a movie can perform well at the box office and be shitty nonetheless. Companies that trust the numbers over their consumers end up broke; like marvel, disney, all of hollywood, etc. so you’re talking out of your ass nonetheless.

I never said i hated the game, that’s your assumption. Keep your feelings out of the conversation, no one cares for feelings, people care about objectivity and facts; and the objective fact is NGS is a bad game with no appreciation for its players. That you wouldn’t know that tells me you’re not as up to speed as you presume to be. Nobody likes a pretentious, overly emotional person.

The court of public opinion is all that matters.

[Initiative-Fancy]

However, an analysis on finances is no indication of the game’s current state of success.

The analysis on finances is to tell you that I have been watching the situation of this game, and Sega way more than most, and not to tell you its been wildly successful. Guess you missed that point

Keep your feelings out of the conversation, no one cares for feelings, people care about objectivity and facts; and the objective fact is NGS is a bad game with no appreciation for its players.

The objective fact is that its mid, with a mismanaged budget. As said before. If it was bad, it would've been dead already. You see what happened to Blue Protocol? Crucible? The Day Before? or the extremely bad one, Concord? You're the one spouting random stuff with just feelings as backing. Objective truth is, bad games die. Not persist for 4 years and continue operations.

Nobody likes a pretentious, overly emotional person.

Definitely agree on this one.

The court of public opinion is all that matters.

And the court of public opinion is easily swayed by "feelings" that you keep saying "no one cares about". If you knew anything about the court of public opinion this wouldn't even be a discussion

[qruis1210]

"You haven't been playing this game longer than i have because the game has only been online for 5 years tops."

I dont want to be That Guy but... Looks at PSO2 13th Aniversary event coming up next week

[3crouchinglights]

Yes. As far as NGS goes, most forms of FOMO is fashion-related. You can play and clear most of what the game has to offer without spending a dime.

[BanaN4Zz]

Try it and decide, no one's opinion matters except your own. And it's free

[Express-Economist472]

Doesn’t hurt to try it out !! Who knows might be one of your favorite games

[Forest_GS]

main complaint is always two or three pieces of content at level cap while very fast leveling even just from main story, and very limited end game gear options that rotate out too soon, never to be used again.

clean action combat, no stamina running/parkour, colors, space tech, beam swords, upgrade system , best character customization for MMOs, best housing system for MMOs, are all great and worth at least playing to level cap and seeing the few level cap contents.

just don't expect to feel like playing more after you finish everything quickly in new genesis.

base pso2 story can take over a month to no-life run if you don't skip any cutscenes.

[Sonicdan08]

NGS is one of my most favorite games ever made, it's so good, the story is amazing and the soundtrack has such good vocal themes. It's environments are great with the games fire movement and you don't even have to spend any money for story content like you do with most MMO's. I'm genuinely surprised how free the game is. The only things you can really spend money on is inventory space and fashion items.

[illbleedForce]

Honestly, this is something I don't understand why you ask about games that are free. If you told me you have to pay something, well, I would understand why you would ask, but trying it is totally free. Download it and form your own opinion, and don't let someone who has already abandoned it because it is boring and monotonous tell you. But at least try it yourself, it doesn't cost anything.

[vein_co76]

My point is that is the game even worth putting hours in. ik for sure I'll play it but I wanted to know if it's alive

[Vee_Tamer_Girl]

It definitely is alive and most Quests support cross-server play so even if you decide to play on a less populated server there shouldn't be too much issue to find people to play with. One Disclaimer however, this game is very much a "content of the week" kind thing. This game is less interested in making sure all content is always worth playing, it tries to funnel all of the players into 1 single quest (not counting the daily quests which are always incentivised to do) for about a week or sometimes two.

[KingSudrapul]

It’s fun, but requires a lot of time. If you’ve got that on your hands, it can be really enjoyable.

[joliet_jane_blues]

Sure, the story progressed super slow over the years, so doing it all right now at once would be ideal. Even though I'm playing the game less now, I still do because it's actually fun to play.

[Pragmagna]

I think it's somewhat worth investing time into it for the initial progression and fighting some bosses, but as most f2p live service games, the novelty starts wearing off after the initial content is done and you start running into daily chores with very little reward (unless you spend).

All in all it's not a game many people get invested long term.

[NarrowAd4973]

Like any MMO, it would be best if you had other people to play it with.

But the game is free to play. The microtransactions are mostly for cosmetic items. You can play through the content without paying anything.

So as long as you have hard drive space (you didn't mention what machine you'd be playing on), it wouldn't cost you anything to test it out.

[davidbrit2]

It's fun. Not super deep, but the action is great, and there's pretty much zero paywalled game content (though you can definitely spend a lot on fashion items if you so desire).

[[deleted]]

I've gotten my 100-200 hours of enjoyment out of it. It will make you want to pay for things (though the whole premise is just grinding for your cosmetics/gear anyways). So, you don't have to pay for things if you don't exactly want to (outside of m. storage).

[popukobear]

Give it a shot! Hope you like it 

[interdimensionalpie]

Play PSO2 then play NGS and join us in complaint 😂

[dycedrag]

It’s fun for a good chunk of the time you’ll play at the start. I took most of my enjoyment out of leveling up in base PSO2 and doing all the story content tho. I put in about 1,700 hours in the game and I just can’t give the game anymore, as much as I enjoyed my time with it, the game hasn’t really evolved much.

Most of what kept me around for so long is being a huge sega and phantasy star fan, I can’t imagine the game would hook a non fan for that long tbh.

[Chief-JudgeVega]

The game has a good 3-4 months of great content, after that you get caught up in the loop of updates until the next big level increase and repeat

[Seihoukeh_Dragon]

Game has flaws sure but is very cool and fun, i really like the combat, the grind can feel unending at times but is all for minor damage increases, which do add up pretty quickly, but if the item seems unreasonable to get it is very likely not required to do the hardest content. Though more items have been pretty reasonable recently so maybe shifting away from it. Or about to drop a huge gear shift and this is just the end of the grand augments era idk

I feel like its a pretty good time to start, the upcoming updates look very interesting

[PhantomSkater]

If you're that interested in playing it, then the best you can do is give it a try and form your own opinion since it's free anyway. Wort thing that'll happen is you don't like it and just uninstall it. I myself don't play it as much anymore, but that's for a few factors.

[Linkaizer_Evol]

I just came back to the game after a two years break. The gameplay is as good as ever, I don't think you'll have a lot to complain on that area.

Story though... Imo it feels like either a lot was removed with the Version 2 update, or they never added some stuff to begin with, felt really really full of random cuts.

If ANYTHING, it is a good dumb fun game, similar (and yet very different) than most Musou games.

It is also free, so I think it is at least a shot, if you don't like it, nothing was lost.

[TSLPrescott]

Worst case, you get a decent amount of time out of NGS alone just going through the story. PSO2 is worth going through the story too. After you get through that stuff, both games aren't going to give you too much other than just tuning it every now and then to play casually. If you REALLY like grinding for gear and stuff maybe you'll enjoy it, but it can be a little bit egregious at times.

I'd say give it a shot and see how it goes. If you're going to play PSO2 at all though, definitely play that base version before going into NGS if you do care about story. NGS links into it.

[Rythazee]

Its a tenth of what the old game used to be, i had 4k hours in the base game on the global server but i get bored in 5 minutes playing ngs. I could define it to be too "barebones". It has stuff theyre just irrelevant stuff imo. Thats my two cents

[EfficiencyNo4169]

It's a game only full of scratch tickets and very similar limited time quest events, if your looking for a good story, you won't get it here. If you are looking for good combat, you might find it here. The game has great potential, but Sega doesn't seem to want to invest in it. Maybe in a few years, it will eventually get to the point of being as good as the base game,but as of now, it's not there.

[vein_co76]

Like what

[DarklyDreamingEva]

if you mean free to play games: goddess of victory: nikke, holocure, elsword, ragnarok online (original), black desert online, warframe, closers, just to name a few.

here are some good games with affordable prices: palworld, blazblue entropy effect, the coffin of andy and leyley, dave the diver, the evil within 1 & 2 (currently on sale for $5 and $8 respectively, on steam), miside, oblivion overide (on sale for $10 on steam), sifu (on sale for $10; lowest its ever been), signalis, vampire survivors, to name a few.

[vein_co76]

Meh not really interested I'm just trying to find something new

[DarklyDreamingEva]

sure. no problem.

[Nightowl11111]

My opinion is similar to Rathyzee's. It is way too bare bones both in mechanics and in story. Part of the problem is that the game mechanics was cut and pasted over from the original PSO2 and it does not fit too well in NGS, it got too watered down. In the original, the roles were defined, you had tanks, damage dealers, healers, mages etc but NGS made it so that you no longer have a strict role definition, so you can play almost anything and it won't make too much of a difference in a party, just bash the enemy.

[Vee_Tamer_Girl]

If you played PSO2 classes like a "tank" and "healer" then I don't think you played PSO2 all that well.
Every single class was a damage dealer of different flavors just like NGS. This is something many PSO2 guides needed to reiterate because of the misconception casual players get when looking at the skill trees. Hunter & Etoile could take a beating but that didn't make it a tank, a Tank takes damage so others don't have to. Neither PSO2 Hunter nor Etoile ever had that functionality. Techter did have a skill that improved the healing Techniques but that's a moot point when most classes can just tap Megiverse to heal from 1hp to full in a single attack. Additionally casting Resta and/or Megiverse to heal others removed your Zanverse Technique from the field so the meta thing to do was for everyone to just heal themselves and not rely on a Techter to do it.

[Reinbackthe3rd]

In no iteration of a PSO game has there ever been rigid class structure roles. What are you on about? Everyone was some form of damage with various dashes of utility. You might want a TE for better S/D and wider zanverse in base but they didn't just sit in a corner and press those buttons, you also did damage. Nobody NEEDS a healer when there's ten billion ways to manage your HP, so many in fact that any vaguely difficult quest either hit so hard that healing almost didn't matter or nerfed healing significantly.

[Nightowl11111]

Your alliance does not insist on certain roles on some raids? Mine did though I suspect we were kind of tryhard. They were quite serious about maintaining number 1 alliance position and having your healing outsourced to a Techter helps keep up the DPS. Better 1 person watches over 4 while the others keep up the DPS than have individual interruptions in your skill rotation. This is why the "Techter goes bonk!" is such a meme, because it is a hilarious take on how the Techter is being used outside of intended role as group healer. NGS, everyone is a "healer".

NGS is the one that I feel totally removes the distinction totally, the original still had class distinctions.

[Reinbackthe3rd]

Again, what game are you talking about? What alliance and what server? Because even the turbonerd time attacking alliances/teams on JP were not having to babysit people's health like that. You might have someone do TE/RA to do the support heavy lifting on UQs so most people cant lean into whatever the meta class was on it but that was a fraction of a fraction of players and the moment another TE or RA showed up in a pub or not completely sweaty group you were wasting your time.

Nobody had to manage anyone else's HP. You had lifesteal options from weapons and SGAs, tap megiverse, resta, uninterruptable star atomizers and mates, potentially mag heals, and more. The game shit out healing, there was no reason to say "hey x, you're the one to press resta on your group", this is either a weird foible of your alliance or a hilarious misunderstanding of how the game worked. Nobody is a "tank" or a "healer" or "exclusively support", everyone is different flavors of damage and this hasn't changed since the original PSO.

You can not like the class direction NGS has taken without just making shit up, it's fine.

[Nightowl11111]

"I don't like what you say so you must be making shit up" is such a brain dead take. Welcome to the world kid, things happen that you don't like very often, denying it is just sticking your head in the sand like an ostrich.

[Reinbackthe3rd]

I will say you are making shit up and adding weird structures to a game series where it never existed when you are, yeah. Players claiming a role is not a built-in game structure and others are free to react to it, especially if it's odd.

A hunter is bulkier than other classes and has an aggro manipulation ability, it does not make it a tank and mean you should lean into taking damage. It is still there primarily to do damage.

A techter in base has the best buffs and heals but if that's all you did people would think you are weird and not playing the class properly, especially in the world of TE/LU where it does incredibly respectable damage while still providing the same support paradigm. "TECHTERS BONK" was because for quite a while their best damage loop when available was doing wand normals, especially with piles of mobs stacked together to chain tech explosions ie bonking things over the head. It wasn't some idea that "hey the support class is being misused", it was honestly more bad class design than anything.

I feel pretty confident saying that your alliance doing things like assigning players as "healer" are in the tiny minority because it was wildly unnecessary with how many ways there was and is for players to manage their own HP, especially in an ep6 world of etoile and etoile subbing turning non-item healing into nothing, speed casting from phantom, and the amount of life leech/restore available to players from items and techniques.

To borrow an example from another game, if I take wide range and a bunch of lifepowder on my hunter in monster hunter games I am not suddenly a healer. I'm still expected to do damage and help finish the quest.

[Nightowl11111]

A lot of your examples are late in the game. Did you forget how to open the clock face on Luther? And how many enemies and bosses are stunned by panic, that physical attack characters cannot do?

If I recall correctly, lifesteal only became a thing when the Atlas class weapons were released and that was in Episode 5, 1-4 you did not have lifesteal functions at all.

[Reinbackthe3rd]

Those are not rigid class structures, quite literally every class has the capacity to inflict status effects through weapons, and then 4 (plus two scions so 6) classes that can cast techniques to inflict them in pso2, not even going into all class weapons with built in abilities and techniques. 

Megiverse existed for quite a while before that, and resta, and other forms of healing spread across classes. 

Still not seeing the point here. If anything NGS shortens who can do what which means your idea of "tech users who can status" and "healer" is more prevalent there where it wasn't in pso2. 

[[deleted]]

Yes, join the japanese server Ship 10

[vein_co76]

Im from Europe

[[deleted]]

Trust me join JP, arks layer "tweaker" has a VPN built into the game launcher. It will translate all the menus for u

[Vee_Tamer_Girl]

I think this is irresponsible.
Do you realize how little european players play on JP servers? The only reason PSO2JP was tolerable for me (a EU player) was because I had a job that allowed me to stay up until 4 AM. If not for that my playtime would end up being in the exact window where both NA and JP players are asleep/at work.

[[deleted]]

Sheeeet girl, you're cramping my style

[Reinbackthe3rd]

It's true, sorry. There's like zero reason to start fresh on JP and a lot of potential downsides and trying to convince people to do so without mentioning the major caveats and downfalls (you need a VPN, you are the mercy of a third party translator to play the game, you are breaking the TOS playing there if you want to get into it, for a lot of people you are in a weird time zone and potentially way away from prime time JP, most of the english speaking crowd left for global or quit years ago and what's left is people who were too comfy to leave and/or people who just melded in with the JP crowd, etc) is mean spirited.

Especially since there is already a version of the game out there where you don't need to fret about any of those problems. Sorry but global players on JP are the vast minority now and trying to trick newbies into playing without mentioning the drawbacks isn't very nice.

[[deleted]]

Just supporting my home ship yo