New Phantasy Star Zero Scans

Today’s Weekly Famitsu had a little two-page article about Phantasy Star Zero. Here are the scans:

Intro

Just one week away from the release of Phantasy Star Zero. The people at Famitsu got to play the sample ROM. They mention how the game really comes alive in multiplayer because of the pictures and messages you can send back and forth.

Difficulty

As you advance the story, you will be able to select Hard mode. In this mode, enemies’ strength and attacks become more fierce, and rarer items appear. Not only is there a Hard mode, but also a Super Hard mode.

You select the difficulty at the Quest Counter. You can also choose difficulty when playing with friends.

In harder difficulties, the monsters are much tougher, but they drop rare items!

These difficulty settings will allow you to continue your adventuring even after you finish the story.

Character Creation

You make your hero yourself. As a member of the Hunter’s Guild, you will help resolve problems that occur on the earth and moon. There are 14 character types in all. Incidentally, you can use the same character in all modes (story mode, wireless, wi-fi).

You choose different parts and colors for your character based on character type. When naming your character, it looks like you can use katakana, hiragana, roman characters, numbers and symbols.

Human

Humans are the sole surviving race from the Great War. As a whole, their abilities are balanced and they can manage any type of job well.

Cast (Androids)

After the Great War, these man-made life-forms were left sleeping all around the land. They can set traps and automatically recover Hit Points.

Newman

Raised on the moon, the Newmans were forgotten and left behind. They are good at Techniques, and their Photon Points (needed to perform Techniques) regenerate automatically.

Three modes of play

Phantasy Star Zero has three modes of play: Story Mode, Wireless Play Mode, and Wi-Fi Mode. Multiplayer is more difficult than Story Mode and some quests can only be accessed in multiplayer. There are also monsters that a single player couldn’t possibly hope to defeat, so gather your friends and kick their ass together.

Story Mode

In this mode, you band together with some NPCs and adventure. Depending on your character’s race, your story and NPC party members will be different. Many fascinating characters make an appearance.

Sarisa

Sarisa has a docile personality and doesn’t hide her feelings. The story starts when you meet her.

Kai

A big brother that the main character and Sarisa can rely on. He’s rough and doesn’t care about fine details.

In the textbox, Kai says something like: “You have amnesia, but the way you move… movements that your body knows well are not easily forgotten. They are a big deal.”

(The amnesia refers to the Newman story, where you crash land on earth and lose your memory.)

Anime movie scenes are done by GONZO.

Wireless Mode

You can play with up to four friends who are near you. The places you can go in your adventure are determined by the host. Players can only go to places that the host has unlocked in Story Mode.

Key Points
1. Friend codes are automatically exchanged in wireless play.
2. Visual Chat is enabled
3. Item Trading is allowed

Wi-Fi Mode

Using the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection you can connect with faraway friends and adventure with people all over the country (doesn’t mention the world, but who knows what’s really possible). Wi-fi Mode has three modes itself.

1. Wi-Fi Friend Mode.

   If you exchange Friend Codes ahead of time, you can play with friends you get along with. It’s basically the same as Wireless Mode, without the distance restrictions.

   

   Visual Chat. Make your own pictures or download someone else's.

   Key Points
   1. Friends of your friends can play, even if you don’t exchange Friend Codes with them
   2. Visual Chat enabled
   3. Item Trading allowed

2. Wi-Fi Free Mode

   Play with anyone in the country. Select a stage and a difficulty and the system will automatically match you up into a party. There is an Evaluation System in place too.

   Pre-made message chat is in Japanese and English, so you can communicate with people around the world (makes me think the note about playing “country-wide” is only half of the story).

   

   Pre-made messages are bilingual.

   Key Points
   1. You play in one area
   2. Chat with pre-made messages available. (see my previous post on PSZ)
   3. Item Trading prohibited

3. Wi-Fi Single Mode

   Play Single Mode will logged in. If a friend logs in, you can form a party, so this mode is good for hanging out and waiting for friends to come online.

   You can play the difficult multiplayer quests on your own in this mode. You will find it quite challenging.

   Key Points
   1. You can play Multiplayer-specific quests by yourself
   2. You can check Friend Info

Famitsu Game Reviewer’s impression

Here is what Reviewer Fukami had to say:

First I tried Story Mode. The voices and animation were a nice touch! I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t get into too much detail, but in addition to the main quest, you will have to manage subquests and along the way you will face some really hard fights.

Once you finish Story Mode, Hard mode and then later Super Hard mode open up, so really finishing the game feels like you just crossed the starting line. I went through Phantasy Star Portable’s Story Mode pretty smoothly, but this time the harder modes really made an impression on me.

When you make a party in Wireless Mode and Wi-Fi Mode there isn’t any lag at all! In Visual Chat, if you make shortcuts beforehand, you can communicate really quickly. When you go it alone, checking the Friend Ranking feature is pretty badass. When you make friends and play with them, the game keeps track of who does what and ranks you. Getting messages like “This guy collected more weapons than you…” and “You should practice some more before you play next time!” really motivates me because I hate to lose. And I think its cool how the rankings automatically update the next time you play together.

Also, just as advertised in the commercial, there will be Visual Chat art drawn by famous people and in-house designers. You can download beautiful illustrations and use them in Visual Chat! You can also use pictures that your friends draw. Since I suck at drawing, I was really happy to find this out! Man, I can’t wait to play this on Wi-Fi when the game is released to the public!

If you suck at drawing pictures, no problem!!

Conclusion

That’s it for this update. If you want to stay up-to-date on the latest Japanese game news, please subscribe to my RSS feed.

Phantasy Star Zero will be released in Japan on Christmas. It will cost 5040 yen.

Links:
Official site