I thought I'd do a follow-up post to my previous post over here:
https://www.reddit.com/PSO2/comments/evz3c7/pso2_na_misconceptions_pc_release_content_etc/ That one isn't going anywhere and I appreciate some of the comments and discussions that went on, however:
- The post (and in some places, my responses) were rushed in some areas.
- I will admit that I didn't make my intentions clear with the previous post. While some responses I made were meant to give some insight into what may be going on with certain things, other areas (e.g the status of collabs) were speculation, albeit ones based on research that went on.
For this reason (and the fact that the PSO2 Twitter released some new information), I wanted to do a second post that addressed some of the things I failed to address last time as well as make things more clearer. The information provided in the post is a combination of conclusions I made together with discussions I had with various acquaintances and friends on the Phantasy Star Fleet Discord.
With that said here we go...
Confirmations
PSO2es The release of Phantasy Star Online 2 NA will not be accompanied with PSO2es at the moment. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222957649915858944?s=20)
Xbox Live Gold More of an issue to pick with Microsoft than SEGA, although Phantasy Star Online 2 is free to play as with many other free to play titles on Xbox One you will need an Xbox Live Gold subscription.
Windows 10 games that make use of Xbox Live do NOT need an Xbox Live Gold subscription.
No Character Transfers A response to a question regarding character transfers has revealed that there are no plans for JP players to be able to transfer their characters to the NA version. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222371507948548096?s=20)
Casino Confirmed Nothing much really, the Casino is confirmed for Beta for those who had doubts it would be in the game at all. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222707050741809152?s=20)
Group Chat & Voice Chat In addition to the Group Chat introduced in Episode 6 a Voice Chat functionality has been added in the game. The way they worded it seems to imply that it will be between party members with no details on whether you'll be able to Voice chat with Team Members. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1223048445474242560?s=20)
In addition, one thing to keep in mind is that the Group Chat was a feature added to the Episode 6 client of the game. (
http://www.bumped.org/psublog/countdown-to-pso2-starsepisode-6/). While it is possible SEGA might just have isolated the feature, keep in mind that features are tied to Client versions. If this is the case this might mean PSO2 NA will start off with Episode 6's Quality of Life updates and balances. Whether Episode 6's story, classes and content is gated temporarily on release will be seen.
English Dub & Dual Audio In a surprise announcement, it has been confirmed that PSO2 NA will have full English voice-overs. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222323522598526977) Apparently even Quna's songs have been dubbed to English. If this is a bother do not worry as the game will have Dual Audio options. This does however change the approach the game's text would have as dialogue boxes would essentially be transcribing the dub as opposed to just simply translating what is being said so playing the NA version in Japanese would make the text more of a "Dubtitle".
There is no information on VAs involved though hopefully, we can expect the same kind of quality we've seen with SEGA's other dubbed games like Judgement and Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise.
Closed Beta Content vs Final Game It has been confirmed that the features and content available to players during the Closed Beta will not be indicative of the final release. So if content is gated (its beginning to look like the Closed Beta will be limited to Episode 1), please don't jump to the conclusion that the full game would launch in that same state. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1221535315422109696?s=20) (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1223459098919723008?s=20)
No IP block for EU A very vanilla confirmation to bring up, especially since it was brought up today but I feel its important to emphasize since it was a worry many outside of North America had. Today's tweet however confirmed that an IP block will not be taking place:
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222967403895611392. Xbox One (and Windows 10) regions are not account bound so you can freely change your region to US or Canada to gain access to the Beta and eventually the final game from the MS Store.
Azure Cloud Many people came to conclusion that "Powered by Azure Cloud" meant the game would be streamed akin to the likes of PSO2 Cloud or a Google Stadia game. The announcement of the game's file-size and that there will be future updates expected should confirm that Phantasy Star Online 2 will be running natively on Xbox One (and hopefully PC). To give some clarification about what MS Azure's use is for, Cloud Servers are now used to host game servers. Notable examples include Minecraft and Sea of Thieves making use of Microsoft Azure and Fortnite using Azure's competitor; Amazon AWS. According to a Japanese exclusive interview, the reason SEGA decided to use Cloud Hosted servers is to be able to cover more geographical areas much easier (Anyone who's played Phantasy Star Universe might remember that game being hosted on a single data centre in the West Coast)
SEGA ID As a recent tweet from the social media accounts confirmed, Phantasy Star Online 2 NA will NOT be using a Western version of the SEGA ID. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222586390094827521?s=20) This essentially makes PSO2 NA similar to Phantasy Star Universe's Xbox 360 version which utilized Xbox Live as your account. GamerTags are also present on Windows 10 which is how your Xbox One characters would be usable on Windows 10 and vice versa.
This doesn't rule out a Steam release or other platform releases just yet either. I can't vouch from Steam (*can anyone who plays Halo: Master Chief Collection tell me how you sign in to Xbox Live on the Steam version?) but in recent years Microsoft had been interested in rolling out Xbox Live to other platforms with Minecraft and Cupheads on Nintendo Switch making use of Xbox Live functionalities.
"All the Content" is still happening... to an extent Like it or not, to many of us "All the Content" was very vague... all the content up to that time? all the latest content? do Collabs count as content? This entry is as vague as their post but if there is one thing to confirm... is that they are at least working on it apparently:
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222956665621733376?s=20 Microsoft's Role I want to make clear that Microsoft is NOT the publisher. According to a Japan-exclusive interview, Microsoft approached SEGA with the intention to have PSO2 released in the West and have one of its platforms be Xbox One. They do however bring up that they will be co-operating with Microsoft due to them having more experience managing Online games and dealing with the Western communities, though as we've seen... SEGA does have the final say regarding some matters (Phil Spencer couldn't comment about an EU release or account transfers)
Windows 10 Version-Release No one knows EXACTLY when it is we'll be seeing the PC version released. However given some posts from the PSO2 Twitter (which I have put in one place here: ) we can probably narrow down a rough timeline of when we MIGHT expect it.
*The Windows 10 version releasing "later in 2020" was not meant to mean "later in 2020", but rather that it simply releases AFTER the Xbox One version. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1217980202858381312?s=20)
*The Windows 10 version is still scheduled for release during Spring. Now bear in mind that Spring lasts from March to May (or sometimes June?) so I'm not implying that both of them might launch simultaneously (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1213892177224318976?s=20)
*I'm stretching "confirmations" a bit here but... its to be expected given how vague the PSO2 Social Media can be. There appear to be implications that some kind of Beta (Open or Closed) will be taking place for Windows 10. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1216039123355455489?s=20) (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1220433244237303809?s=20)
I am aware that some scepticism may be present in trusting PSO2 NA's social media accounts, but given that most of what we know about the NA release (including the fact that its dubbed, has voice chat, Beta rewards) had been given out on Social Media and NOT put on the website... I think it's fair to say their information might be a bit more valid in comparison to the website for now (check in
Speculations for a theory on why) which leads to...
The Website's Information As we already know, the current website has had problems in terms of updates, no Beta rewards announced, None of the new information posted there. Thankfully, the Closed Beta date announcement revealed that a new website will be going up at the same time as the Closed Beta. While we don't know all the new information that would be present on the site, we have gotten some hints that we will at least get to know a bit about a potential Community/GM Team. (
https://twitter.com/play_pso2/status/1222245074911686656?s=20)
Terminology & Name Changes As we already know, there are some names that are spelled differently and terminology changes that have taken place. Some of the terminologies that were confirmed to be for NA were first revealed to us through the PSO2 Episode Oracle official subs so it's fair to say it counts as a reasonable source for what got changed. Although this section is called "Confirmations", I bent the rules here a bit by me trying to explain the potential reason these terms were changed so please bear with me...
Patch Name | Official Translation Name | Potential Reason |
Darkers | Falspawn | My only guess is, the localizers didn't like the name "Darker". SEGA JP's Official Spelling is "D-arkers" (You can see this spelling in the English track name in PSO2 Volume 1 Japanese Soundtrack). I seriously doubt it has anything to do with "Darkers being offensive" when the antagonist "Dark Falz" remains as is. These kind of changes are what is commonly known as "Woolseyism", look it up on Tv Tropes for reference... |
Darker Infection | F-Factor | Changed to match new name for Darkers. Also creates an allusion to PSO1 and its "D-Factor" infection. |
Dark Falz Double | Dark Falz Gemini | In addition to maybe the localizers feeling "Double" sounds like a weak name given the context, the Kanji used to spell Double's name actually means "Twins". Please check back with my original post for a more thorough explanation on this. So again, "Woolseyism" at work. |
Emergency Quest | Urgent Quest | "Emergency" and "Urgent" are the same word in Japanese. This is also the terminology planned to be used for the 2013 translation and which would be carried over to the SEA version. My guess is... it also helps to avoid confusion with "Emergency Codes" since even now that's what people think got changed. |
Naberius | Naverius | No idea why this change took place, especially since SEGA JP's official name spelling is "Naberius"... though strangely, although Nab Rappy don't have an official English spelling... the Katakana for their name reads "Navu" as opposed to "Nabu" while the planet is spelled "Naberiusu". |
Campship | Gateship | Localizers used SEGA JP's official terminology. You can see this name used in the English track name in PSO2 Volume 1 Japanese Soundtrack. |
Dewman | Deuman | Localizers used SEGA JP's official terminology. You can see this in the Opening video (after character creation) for EPISODE 2 |
Gettemhart | Gettemhult | Localizers used SEGA JP's official terminology. You can see this spelling in EPISODE 1's end credits. |
Melphonsina | Melfonseana | Localizers used SEGA JP's official terminology. You can see this spelling in EPISODE 1's end credits. |
Lisa | Risa | Localizers used SEGA JP's official terminology. You can see this spelling in EPISODE 1's end credits. |
Tea | Tia | The twin's names were meant to be a pun on "Patientia". Official SEGA JP spelling is "Tiea" as seen in EPISODE 1's end credits. |
Patty | Pati | The twin's names were meant to be a pun on "Patientia". Official SEGA JP spelling is "Patty" as seen in EPISODE 1's end credits. |
Zig | Jig | Localizers used SEGA JP's official terminology. You can see this spelling in EPISODE 1's end credits. |
Ulc | Ulku | No idea why this happened. |
Photon Rings | Photon Halos | Attempted Woolseyism |
Coat Edge | Coated Edge | Attempted Woolseyism |
If by any chance I missed anything, please let me know and i'll try to keep this list updated SEA Translation Before I start this section I would like to define what counts as "SEA terminology". You see, portions of PSO2 SEA's scripts were based on that of the translation intended for the original 2013 release and are in fact SEGA of America's terms. Some of these terms include:
- Lillipans Lagomites
- Oodan Woodan
- Fangulf Phongalph
- Darkers D-arkers
- Matter Board Paradigm Matrix
- Mechs Automata
- My Room My Quarters
With that said, "SEA terminology" by my definition, of course, refers to changes that AsiaSoft (at SEGA of Japan's request) did which usually goes against established Phantasy Star terminologies like:
- Monomates Health Drink
- Force Wizard
- Braver Samurai (counts since Braver was in Phantasy Star Portable 2 where it was localized in the West as "Vanguard"... though this one can be allowed to slide since Braver in PSO2 are completely different from PS Portable 2's Braver class)
- Techniques Photon Magic
- Photon Arts Photon Moves
Terms like these were thought to make a return to PSO2 NA (and changes like Falspawn get compared to them... despite the fact that Darkers haven't appeared in a past Phantasy Star game). The class list today, however, made use of the proper class name "Force" and throughout various posts referred to Monomates by their proper name. So rest assured... despite all the name changes, the AsiaSoft terminology that goes against past PS games is not being used.
Speculation
Why no concrete date is given I'll keep this one short and simple, given what happened the last time the game was 'delayed', could you imagine if a REAL (and not just "actually cancelled but we say its delayed") delay happens how the community would react... yea...
Why information is different across Social Media and the Official Website As many of you have known, there has been some conflicting information regarding PSO2 NA. First, the website says the Windows 10 version isn't expected until later in 2020, then the social media confirms "Later" does not mean "Late 2020", then another confirmation that states the Windows 10 version is still planned to release in Spring.
Simply put, the website hasn't been updated much, in fact, the most recent update only added the Closed beta date without including any of the new information revealed in the Twitter such as the Beta rewards (site stills says "rewards will be announced soon"), said Open Beta that was recently brought up, specific information (if you were new to the game, you wouldn't know about each Race and Class from the website... but the Social Media feed).
Hopefully, when the full website releases on February 7th we will get more concrete information on these details that the current "Teaser Site" has. (*Fun fact... did you know the PSO2.com domain is actually owned by SEGA Europe?)
Why the Closed Beta is exclusive to Xbox One I will not disregard the complaints there have been about the Closed Beta being an Xbox One exclusive. However I at least wanted to give an idea on why Xbox One gets a Closed Beta. Simply put... its a new port and no matter how alike Windows 10 and Xbox One are there are still some things that would need to be tested on it, particularly in how it handles with Xbox One exclusive features.
Ideas on when the PC version comes out So if you read the details above concerning the Windows 10 version's release, you'll know that SEGA can be quite vague with their information but have given us some details to narrow down a potential time frame for when we can expect the Windows 10 version. Furthermore, the game's website brings up "Windows 10 version coming soon" in a section talking about the Closed Beta and also responded to various people's comments with things like "Closed Beta test is for Xbox One. Windows 10 version coming soon". The vagueness comes in the sense that we don't know whether "Windows 10 version" refers to the full game or one of the Betas (Open or Closed), however assuming it is and combining it with the points previously brought up, one of the following scenarios might take place:
- Only the Closed Beta is exclusive since, as was stated in the previous point, its purpose is to test the Xbox One port. Open Beta in comparison is more or less a test of server-load so it would make sense to have Xbox One and Windows 10 active at the same time. If we count the Xbox Closed Beta as the game releasing FIRST on Xbox One, this still fits the whole "Windows 10 version releases after the Xbox One version but not late 2020", especially if the Open Beta is planned to take place during Spring.
- Following the Xbox One Closed Beta, Windows 10 might get an exclusive Closed beta followed by the full release. I can't give a timeline for when this could happen; at best we might get a Windows 10 Closed Beta not too long after Xbox One's, at worst... Windows 10 will be on Closed Beta while the Xbox One version's launched.
Windows 10 Version Will be UWP I am aware that not many of us would be happy for this. However, from a development point of view it makes sense why the PSO2 Team might choose to do this. Currently in the Japanese version patch files have to be compiled for each specific platform... so now add needing to compile and put out patches for the multiple platforms and also prepare the patches for the NA version. Assuming the Windows 10 version of PSO2 NA is distributed on the MS Store, a UWP port of PSO2 makes the game nearly the same under the hood so only a single set of Patch files that work on Xbox One and Windows 10 would need to be created.
This in turn helps to explain why the game would be exclusive to Windows 10.
General Info
Who does the port Game publishing, especially when it comes to MMOs, is not as straightforward as SEGA JP giving Microsoft or SEGA of America the source code to the game. All features and content for past version of PSO2 (SEA and Taiwan) were in fact developed by the Japanese team. While SEGA West (and/or their outsource responsible for portions of the game) might do things like translating the text and recording the voices, things like porting to Xbox One, programming Dual Audio support, Implementing Voice Chat and (once the game releases) developing potential NA exclusive content all fall on the development team in Japan who also need to work on PSO2 JP updates.
Circumstances Regarding other Platforms Yes so... as much as I'd like PSO2 to be available on all platforms as Phil Spencer said, there are various circumstances that might affect their release in the West.
- The PlayStation 4 version might be affected by Sony's censorship and cross-platform policies. While I am sure that the cross-platform policies may be easily solved by having PS4-specific blocks the censorship policies are another issue. Basically, as it stands Microsoft doesn't have as strict a censorship policy as Sony does (being more worried about outright religious references and what players do and say on their Xbox Live service). As a result, unless SEGA decides to self-censor, if the PC and Xbox One version have content that might be deemed unsuitable for PS4 then either SEGA would have to censor the game ONLY on PS4 or censor the game on all platforms to maintain consistency.
- The Nintendo Switch... we live in a world now where Nintendo of all companies allows uncensored visual novels on their consoles and Sony censors em... so content-wise, PSO2 is MORE than fine. The problem lies in that the Nintendo Switch version isn't a native port but a Cloud Stream. Many people suggest throwing money at the problem will allow this version to be released, keep in mind that other Japan-exclusive Cloud-based titles on Switch from the likes of Capcom (Resident Evil VII Cloud) and Ubisoft (Assasin's Creed Odyssey: Cloud Version) aren't released in the West either... a proper NA release on the Nintendo Switch would need a proper port. While the Switch could probably handle PSO2 without problem, there is the issue of PSO2 having very limited storage capacity. (PSO2 NA is 70 GB). While its true the PS Vita version is smaller, it does have various graphical compromises.
Server Host People bring up that Microsoft is "hosting the servers", I figured I would explain what this entails. The way MS Azure works... Microsoft has about as much involvement managing the server as Amazon does managing Fortnite (sorry for bringing it up!) servers. Microsoft Azure is a Cloud Platform that any company that subscribes to can use for various purposes, including hosting servers. Microsoft's responsibilities fall on making sure that service stays active, is well maintained and doesn't have problems. As such, SEGA's responsibilities involve less managing the physical servers and more managing the server software and what goes on in the actual game.
I'd like to bring up also that using Microsoft Azure should have no bearing on the game releasing on other platforms. Microsoft Azure is NOT the same as Xbox Live in the sense that it's more 'general purpose' and is something that even Sony uses.
No release date and Radio Silence since E3 I cannot explain the EXACT reason why SEGA does this sort of thing, but I will say that its not something specific to PSO2. There has been radio silence and lack of information for SEGA's localized 2020 titles, namely Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix and Project Sakura Wars. Much like PSO2, those games have only a vague 'release period' (Project Sakura Wars is also planned for "Spring 2020", Miku Megamix has a vague release period of just "2020").
This post may be updated over time so please check back from time to time, especially whenever a new update is available. Proper criticism on certain points I bring up will also be taken into account and changed accordingly (if you feel an entry doesn't belong to the right category, etc) EDIT: New confirmations I forgot to add when I first wrote this.
EDIT 2: Added info on the dub (nothing new for many of us) and specified about the Xbox Live Gold subscription not being needed for PC. Also.. thanks to whoever gave me Silver and Helpful Award!
^ I'll be sure to keep us updated on things.
EDIT 3: I got Pati and Tia's name wrong. As a result, it doesn't line up with SEGA JP's official terminology. In addition, another terminology discovered, F-Factor.
EDIT 4: Rephrased some sections, added some extra details on certain localization entries and added an extra line on the origin of some of the statements said.
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