Phantasy Star Zero: new scans, three online modes, story info and more

This week’s Weekly Famitsu has an article about Phantasy Star Zero for the Nintendo DS. In it they talk about three different Wi-Fi modes, story information for two of the races, special shops and a boss enemy.

Phantasy Star Zero is coming out on Christmas and I want it bad. Not gonna happen this year though as Christmas shopping is all done and money is in short supply. I’m grabbing it in January though. Should keep me busy until the release of Dragon Quest IX in March. Onto the scans:

Online Wi-Fi Play

First they talk a bit about online play via Wi-Fi. There are three modes.

1. First we have Free Mode, which is highlighted in this pic:
   

   Free mode let's you chat with premade bilingual messages.

   In Free Mode, you play with other people online and you can chat with them using premade messages. These messages are bilingual in Japanese and English, so you can play with people around the world without communication problems. Notice the text box says “Switch, please” in both English and Japanese.

2. Friend Mode is where you play with your buddies who you have designated as “friends”. Here is the relevant shot:
   

   In Friend Mode, use visual chat to send your own original pictures and text to your friends.

   This mode is a lot like Free Mode except that it enables you to use Visual Chat. In Visual Chat, you can make your own pictures and text and send them to your friends. This differs from Free Mode, which only allows you to use pre-made (i.e. Sega-made) messages. The reason for the distinction is probably to protect players from getting spammed with porn/ads from people they don’t know.

3. Finally we have Solo Mode. Yes, you can play online all by yourself. Here’s the shot:
   

   Play in Solo Mode to take on extra missions or to pass the time while you wait for your friends.

   You can play with up to 4 people via WiFi, but solo play is also available. Solo Mode has quests that are not available in the normal single player Story Mode, and monsters are tougher. Also, if one of your friends happens to connect while you are playing Solo Mode, a little icon will pop up (the green one with the letters PSO next to it) in the bottom screen to let you know. Solo Mode is a great way to pass the time while waiting for your friends to come online!

   Also, at any time you can check the Friend Status screen to see if your friends are offline, online, playing with another group, playing solo, etc. If they are online, you can jump in.

Story Intros

Phantasy Star Zero has three races: Newmans (from the moon), Humans, and Casts (cyborgs/robots). Depending on which race you choose for your character, you get a different story to play through. This article tells us the opening stories for Newman and Cast characters. Here are the shots:

Cast

You open your cyborg eyes to the form of a young girl. You are in the middle of a vast snowy field. You were in a frozen sleep and the young girl, Sarisa, woke you up. On your way to the city, a fateful encounter with the Hunters awaits you.

The text the girl says is: “I’m Sarisa. I’m from a faraway place. Hey, what’s your name?”

Newman

During the trip from your home (the moon) to the earth, something malfunctions during landing and you lose your memory. You decide to head to a nearby city when you encounter a young girl who seems to know all about you. Her name is Sarisa. With her, you join the Hunters and get your first quest.

Along the way, you encounter an enemy that looks like a giant octopus. You must cooperate with your new acquaintances Sarisa and Kai to defeat it.

First dialog pic is your character. He says: “I can’t believe it. To not only forget about myself, but to also forget such an important thing…”

The next dialog pic is Kai. He says: “Hey you. You can fight, can’t you? In that case, how about helping us out?”

Special Shops

As you advance through Story Mode, you can eventually go under the city and find secret shops. Here’s the relevant pic:

You can get powerful weapons and armor at these special shops.

1. Enemy Collector Shop. When you defeat enemies, you can pick up “raw materials” from them. Take those raw materials to this shop and you can get “Enemy Weapons” crafted for you, for a price. There are lots of badass weapons you can get here, so make sure to bring your raw materials here. Then show off your cool weapons to your friends.
2. Photon Collector Shop. If you search around out in the field, you can find items called Photon Drops. At this shop you can trade your Photon Drops for rare weapons and valuable items.

Humilius

This article also introduces a boss called Humilius.

Two war machines combine to become Humilius, a gigantic robot. He has high attack power and he’ll kick your ass. Take him on!!

Conclusion

That’s it for this article. I was a big fan of the Phantasy Star series when I was a kid, so I’ve been eying this one for awhile. Can’t wait to grab a copy.

Phantasy Star Zero will be released on December 25th, 2008 for the Nintendo DS. It will cost 5040 yen.

Links:
Official Site
Gamekyo (lots of videos and scans here).