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PS2
Phantasy Star Universe-
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NCS
Game Synopsis
«©NCSX»
It's been a century since the last war was fought in
the Gurhal system where three planets now coexist in
harmony. As the offline game starts, the Centennial
Celebration is in progress which commemorates the
100 years of peace since the last war. Zooming into
view is Ethan Waber, a carefree 17-year old who
throttles through corridors and byways on an
electronic surfboard. He's on his way to meet up
with his younger sister Rumia to join in the
festivities. While racing through an intersection,
he's nearly mowed down by a vehicle and crashes into
the ground. The occupants of the vehicle emerge and
a Neuman named Mirei bends before him and heals his
wounded knee. The driver of the vehicle checks to
make sure everything's copacetic and urges Mirei to
return to the vehicle. They drive off and Ethan gets
up, looks at his watch, and rushes to meet Rumia.
In the next scene, an expansive indoor arena with a fountain in the
center opens up and Rumia greets Ethan. The two have
a short conversation and head on up to the fourth
floor where they eventually enter a room with a
large video screen. The Neuman girl from earlier
appears on the screen and performs a short ceremony.
In the middle of the show, Allied ships in the
background explode as meteors plunge through them...
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NCS
Game Notes & Spoilers
» In the title screen
of the game, ver. 1.0000 may be seen on the lower
left corner and orchestral music plays with the
occasional thunderous crescendo and string
instruments galore. Behind the Phantasy Star logo
are three silhouetted planets lined up behind each
other. The middle planet has a ring around it. Leave
it alone and an intro cinema plays where characters
from the game clown around and pose for the camera
while the English theme song plays. There's one
sequence where the lead hero Ethan who's dressed in
a green/white jacket does some sword fighting and
another where a gang of creatures lumber across a
desert-like expanse and apparently go to war against
another force.
» Press START and the following options appear
● Start New Game STORY MODE
● Start New Game NETWORK MODE
» After starting a new STORY MODE game, a voice-over
tells the story of the three planets and how war
devastated planets and destroyed paradise to create
a desert in the blink of an eye. After such
devastation, a peace treaty was signed by the three
planets to avoid future transgressions against each
other. Another cinema plays where a space station is
shown with legions of ships flying around it.
Fireworks are shot which explode all around the
ships - the Centennial Celebration is underway.
» The scene cuts to Ethan Waber who carries a board
under his right arm. He gets a call from his sister
Rumia on his communicator and he drops the board
which rockets and he zooms down a corridor while
performing swerves with steely eyed determination.
Everything is smooth until he loses it in front of a
vehicle. He drops and crashes and is greeted by the
occupants of the vehicle. A Neuman girl with blue
hair and violet eyes named Mirei approaches
him and heals his wounded leg with a wave of her
hand and a spark of light. Thanking her
energetically, he is interrupted by the male
occupant of the vehicle and they breeze off. He
looks at his clock and realizes he's late and runs
off.
» Another cinema plays where the blue haired girl
appears, disappears, and the PSU title screen is
shown again followed by the intro cinema from
earlier. Skip it by pressing START.
» Chapter 1 Of Light and Darkness
A young girl named Rumia (sister) greets the Ethan
who zooms in on his board. She grabs his hand and
drags him to a fountain area where people are
walking around in the background. Soon afterwards,
control is handed over to the player.
CONTROLS
L-Analog.........Movement
R-Analog.........Camera Control
L-Trigger........Center Camera
O-Button.........Interact with NPC
START............Option menu
To perform a side or slow-step move, press and hold
the L-trigger while moving the L-Analog stick.
» Run around and chat with people around the
fountain. Its possible to walk right through Rumia
and meld with her. Sort of. When you walk around,
she follows closely and stays on your heels.
» There are many NPCs that walk around but the
majority of them might as well be ghosts. They're
nearly transparent and can't be interacted with
since they don't contribute anything to the
storyline but they do offer the semblance of a
populated world. NPCs that can be interacted with
are rendered in full color.
» To exit the first floor, run around until you find
two entryways which curve into the distance. There
are escalator-like things which slope upwards on the
floor but they are blocked. Enter either of the two
entryways and you'll be able to go to the fourth
floor where you can check out the horizon of the
city and speak to a number of NPCs.
» Towards the back area of the fourth floor is an
entrance where the Ethan and Rumia may run into and
eventually bump into a dude dancing by himself. He's
a scoundrel who runs onto a train and escapes. Ethan
jump on his board and chases after the train on the
tracks and catches up with the bopper. To catch up
to him, run past the two green doors (as signaled on
the overhead map) and run into the aqua colored
arrow. Once caught up to the guy, two motley thugs
in leather and wacky hair greet the hero.
» The short, orange-haired thugs swings at Ethan but
our hero avoids the blow and counterattacks with a
knock on Archie's head. Rumia shows up on the scene
and the blonde dog-haired thug grabs her. The bopper
grabs Ethan from behind and orange-haired guy
prepares a beat down but hero kicks both thugs in
the groin and does a flying kick on the blonde dude.
The orange haired guy pulls out an energy blade and
things look like they're about to get serious when a
Beast (Guardian member) with big ears shows up upon
the scene and scares the thugs away.
» After impromptu introductions with the Beast named
Leogini Santosa Berafort, Ethan and Rumia leave and
go to a room to view the Centennial Celebration. The
Neuman girl from earlier named Mirei Mikuna appears
on a large video screen wearing a crown of some sort
and big kimono. She leans back, looks to the heavens
and in the video screen behind her, an attack is
underway where space vessels are being destroyed by
raining beams of blue light that look sort of like
meteors. The crowd disperses and the scene shifts to
the Beast from earlier who scared the thugs away.
» Ethan and Rumia run into Leogini Santosa Berafort
again as an exodus commences behind them. Running
back to the train tracks, they see that the tunnel
has caved in and is blocked by massive boulders.
Another quake causes dust and rocks to spill from
above which separates Ethan from Rumia. Getting up,
hero sees a massive wall of boulders blocking him
from her. She's okay on the other side and can be
heard speaking but there's no way for them to
reunite. He barks out instructions and advice and
runs off to find a way to find his sister.
» Going back inside, the area is a mess with
crumbled structures and injured people. Running back
to the point of origin, he runs into Leogini again
and explains his predicament. Leo calls someone on
his communicator and reassures Ethan that all will
be okay. Another quake shakes and a purple object of
some sort crashes in front of them which hatches
into a creature. SEED.
» Leo brings out his blaster and is about to shoot
when the creature lashes out a tentacle which knocks
him down. Ethan grabs the gun and does a duck and
roll to avoid a tentacle attack and shoots three
blasts which connect squarely on the creature and
knocks it out. The wounded Leo on the floor gives
Ethan his sword and gun.
» After the scene, Ethan carries an energy blade
which is swung by pressing either the SQUARE or
TRIANGLE buttons. SQUARE is for a conventional
attack while TRIANGLE is for a powerful attack which
uses up photon power (a bar located below the new
attack button indicators which are located on the
lower right side of the screen). To shoot, press and
hold the R-trigger and press the SQUARE button.
Pressing the SQUARE button three times chains an
attack together while pressing the TRIANGLE button
twice chains two powerful strokes.
» To save your progress to memory card up to this
point, walk towards the exit and step into the blue
sphere that's floating in mid-air. Press the O
button and then select a save slot to store your
progress. Four saves may be stored on each memory
card.
» While running back out, communications from Leo
are received through hero's communicator. The
concourse area has five creature which look sort of
like penguin-munchkins if such a thing existed. Run
up to them and slash away to destroy them all. When
they're being attacked, they'll make squealing
noises as they hop around and counterattack with
negligible strikes. Each kill nets +4 EXP
» In the next few areas, two-bladed humanoid
creatures join the penguin-munchkins which nets +8
EXP per kill. After slaying about 6 more creatures,
hero reaches level 2 with 134 HP. All lost HP is
also recovered with the new level achievement.
Later, hero meets two of the thugs from earlier who
gesticulate as they stand around. In an unlikely
twist of events, they join hero's party and become
followers. When creatures are encountered, the two
brutes join in on the action with attacks and
skilled movements.
» Phantasy Star Universe features four races:
Humans, Beasts, Casts, and Neumans. The first two
are self explanatory but Casts are robots and
Neumans are sort of an elvish-like race with pointy
ears.
» Hero starts the game at Level 1 with 112 HP.
» In the Now Loading Screen, the PSU logo is shown
on the lower right screen while a spark of light
runs through it.
» Loading times are brisk and when running around
the expanse of the first area, there are no
noticeable lags when going through the entire
concourse and through the different floors. Video
screens dot the sides of the circular shaped area
and various scenes may be viewed on each one.
» Much of the introductory dialogue for the
characters in STORY MODE is voiced by actors and
actresses.
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This document and photos are ©NCSX 2006. All rights reserved. No
reproduction in whole or in part of this document
may be made without express written consent of
National Console Support, Inc.
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From the Publisher
Since its humble
beginnings in 1988, Phantasy Star has revolutionized
the RPG genre by creating new standards through
innovative gameplay and online capability.
Phantasy Star Universe offers a compelling
story, both offline and online, that rebuilds the
foundation of role-playing games with stunning cut
scenes, sharply drawn personalities, and a cohesive
narrative. This game revitalizes the Phantasy
Star brand heritage while staying true to its
roots.
"The reinvigoration of this beloved
franchise on the Xbox 360 signifies another step for
SEGA towards next-gen leadership," said Scott A.
Steinberg, Vice President of Entertainment
Marketing, SEGA of America, Inc. "Phantasy Star
has a rich history, and now with Phantasy Star
Universe in support of the Xbox 360 and Xbox
Live, gamers can enjoy a fantasy role-playing
experience of unprecedented depth both online with
their friends, and offline in the robust
single-player game."
Developed by SEGA Studios,
Phantasy Star Universe offers long-time fans
the single-player experience they have been
clamoring for. The solo adventure features more than
40 hours of gameplay, an emotionally engaging story,
stunning cut scenes, and a strong cast of characters
with very distinctive personalities. The title's
hero is Ethan Waber, a 17-year old cadet who begins
his epic journey by first rescuing his sister at the
GUARDIANS, a colony under siege by mysterious life
forms known as THE SEED.
In Online Mode, players are given
the opportunity to create their own characters from
a range of races, as they explore all three planets
in the Gurhal system. Fans can travel with their
friends as a squad of six adventurers, enter urban
sprawls teeming with hundreds of other players, and
build their avatars into powerful warriors.
Phantasy Star Universe will
offer a rich and constantly evolving world that will
provide months of entertainment to fans of the
series and RPG enthusiasts. The game is slated to
ship in Fall 2006.
Key Product Features:
- Epic Story: Phantasy Star
Universe offers a suspenseful single player
adventure that fans have been clamoring for.
- Phantasy Star Brand Heritage:
Since 1988, the franchise has evolved, and
produced seven series to date - building itself as
one of the most well established RPG franchises.
- Real-time battles where players choose
their own strategies: Choose from over
200 weapon variations in over 20 weapon categories
for melee, technique, or ranged-type combat.
Players can also select numerous Photon Arts to
defeat enemies.
- World Class Score: Soundtrack
produced by premier orchestras and vocals from
Poland, Hollywood, and New York.
- Online Gameplay: Offering the
Best of Both Worlds
- Multiplayer: Create a squad of up to six
players to explore the universe and conquer
quests.
- Endless gameplay: In addition to over 40
hours of offline gameplay, gamers can spend
endless hours online customizing characters,
searching for rare items, leveling up, and
joining friends for exhilarating new quests.
- Variety in transportation:
Player-controlled vehicles offer a new type of
gameplay for the Phantasy Star franchise.
- Character Customization: Go beyond standard
customization for your character with precise
measurements, an endless color palette, and
outlandish outfits.
- Massive enemies: Over 70
unique enemy species, totaling over 220 enemy
variations.
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From
the publisher
The long awaited new title in the beloved Phantasy Star series is
on its way! Phantasy Star Universe delivers a rich,
ever evolving world and will provide hours of
entertainment to both online and offline RPG
enthusiasts. Single-player fans will embark on an
offline quest as Ethan Waber, a 17-year old cadet
intent on saving his sister from an invasion of
mysterious life forces called THE SEED. While online
players will create their own characters from a
range of races, and then set off to explore all
three planets in the Gurhal solar system. Fans will
travel with a squad of other adventurers, enter
urban sprawls teeming with hundreds of other
players, and build their avatars into powerful
warriors.
Features
* Three enormous planets to explore. A gigantic
overworld and more than 20 enormous dungeons are
featured.
* All-new enemies to fight. Along with a brand-new
roster of standard opponents, there are more than 15
major bosses to challenge.
* Player-controlled vehicles. Players no longer need
to travel everywhere by foot, adding a new dimension
to exploration.
* The best online Phantasy Star experience to date.
Features a game world that will evolve with new
content over the course of several years.
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