I lied, and tested out Ambition of Illuminus. Why? I couldn’t find any decent reviews for it. The reviews I found said it’s gotten better and others have said it’s the same old game. It’s gotten mixed reactions, and I couldn’t decide. So away I went.
Ambition of Illuminus has a few changes to it versus the previous game. Weapons can be upgraded, without risk of breaking them. It comes at a cost however. Each weapon has ten chances for upgrading, each failure brings it down one. The maximum upgrade is also brought down by one. This is a definite advantage and the market for weapons stabilized. The market itself has also stabilized. Most rare weapons, are no longer rare, they are cheap and can be bought if you play the game long enough. Rare weapons for AoI are also fairly cheap, but more expensive then their first generation counterparts.
The fighting system remains largely the same. There has been one added bonus, critical hits and normal hits make a comeback from Phantasy Star Online. Normal hits remain the same, critical hits are pulled off just as a monster hits you, and smashing the attack button quickly (length does count). Instead of a recoil from your shield, your character will quickly counter attack with a critical. Monsters may look new, but they are improved imitations of their first generation counterparts. You’ll recognize the movements of monsters if you played the first game.
The first game featured online and offline modes. Episode 2 online, became the offline mode for AoI. Episode 3 will supposedly follow the same trend. Offline mode in the original game featured Ethan Weber, now he has become the villian and you make your own character to play. The original game featured offline mode to build your own character, but it was crippled. AoI supposedly changes it, but I never looked into it. In order to get it, several conditions must be met offline (certain chapters completed), and I believe certain conditions must be met online. Otherwise offline mode supposedly (read: SUPPOSEDLY) offers the full experience from the original game’s online mode, in offline.
The forest from Phantasy Star Online makes a comeback, but it is a very rare map on the Maotoob runs. I never found it when making several attempts with several friends. Speaking of friends, I had many people from my friends list, suddenly contacting me. However, they were only contacting me because I had made a sudden comeback. I played most of the day with only one person whom I knew quite well from my romp in the first game.
Sega is still using drip updates. All of the content is already present on the disk, and is slowly unlocked through online downloads. The level cap was only raised by 30 in the year I was gone, in the three months Ambition of Illuminus was out, it only raised by 20. Some harder versions of previous missions have been released. But they are otherwise the same. Many players have newer weapons, but they don’t much as far as looks (they’re rather bland), just like in the first game. Others may disagree and say they are good. I refer back to the wonderful designs in PSO. There’s no excuse for copying most of the mechanics from the previous game, and half-arsing a character’s arsenal. But this is a personal belief.
There are different variety’s of weapons now. There are several manufacturers of them, some have more Photon Charge to them, others sport more power. Ultimately only certain types are actually good. No new Ultimate PAs have been released, if I remember right. PAs have been upped by a few levels, but otherwise they aren’t much different.
This game features new classes, but many people have learned to hate them for being the class that everyone picks. Just about everyone has gone through the level grind several times, to max the levels on each type, several mixed Photon Arts, over several characters. The grind is definitely apparent at later levels, I had several players complain about it. People are still playing the same missions. The community has gotten better, as most of the asshats and losers have left. Many of the hardcore players have left, some have stayed, but quite a few players are new recruits. Only about 10,000 players joined in the year I was gone, versus the some odd 25,000 in the first few months. The economy is stable, and many of the old missions are present on the disc.
Partner Machinery now has more options. They can be transformed into mags from PSO. The mags can help assist the character, but I remember them taking up a valuable slot for something. Rooms now have more options. More clothing has also been released. New voices and hair are also available. New weapon types have also been released.
But otherwise, it is the same game. PSU felt like a beta, AoI completes the game. I joined on the second day, and started to get jaded pretty quick. I hung on longer than most and I quit. I gave it another go, but I got bored within a day. The extra stuff was nice, but it should have been there from the get go. If you are new to the game, there may be some promise with it, keeping you busy for a month or two. However, the community is on the decline. On sign up, many of the Universes were occupied to some degree, with the first four to five and last few universes, full. Now the second universe sometimes has two stars (max is five) and three and a half at its busiest. Most other universes are empty.
PSU is definitely a different style of online RPG though. It uses a controller. It is pay to play though. The PC version plays on the same server as the PS2 version, but the PS2 version is inferior due to the PS2’s hardware. Both are English and International servers, where as Japan is by itself. X-Box 360 has all of them linked, but they are not available to PS2 or PC gamers.
I personally have enough reason not to try episode 3.
Yozuki’s Drive - 5
