Yesterday, Sega announced Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis, with drastically overhauled graphics and gameplay, leading to some confusion as to whether this is a new game or not. However, Sega has released a follow-up video that is much more clear about the connection between PSO2 and PSO2: New Genesis, and what is carried over.
Essentially, PSO2: New Genesis acts as something of a clean break from PSO2, set 1,000 years after the events in the original game. Sega is calling it the “rebirth” of the game, and the game features a wide-open playing field alongside its graphics and gameplay upgrades. Character growth will be reset, such as EXP, skills, Photon Arts, and Techniques. Game economy currency like Meseta, FUN, and more will not carry over either, although paid currency like Arcs Cash will be shared across both titles. That said, weapons, units, and Mags will carry over and be usable, albeit with temporarily different appearances and abilities. Most importantly, your character is carried through both games, and you can play both with the same account and character (though you can change your character looks as well). Emotes and other data will be carried over from the original game.
Meanwhile, Sega was quick to assure fans that this doesn’t mean that PSO2 is getting abandoned and shut down, thanks to New Genesis. The original title is getting a graphical upgrade to match the new game, and both titles will share the same free-to-play gameplay model with paid microtransactions. So for those players still getting through in-game content (especially for the North American version), it’s safe to continue playing with your current character.
Check out the full follow-up trailer below:
PSO2: New Genesis will launch for the Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC in 2021 outside Japan. In Japan, it will appear on the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch via Cloud, and PC in both normal and Cloud versions.
