Partner Characters and NPCs Improvements in Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity.

Partner Characters

In Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity, not only can you invite the story NPCs to your party, you can also bring your friend's character and your own character.

Sonic and his friends' characters Gamma, Tikal, and Amy.

Through Friend Search, you can obtain other random players' characters and your friends' characters. Your own character will be shared to others as well.

Furthermore, as Terada has stated, when one invites their own character to the party, that character's level stays the same. So you can have a much easier time if you take your own character that is stronger than the one you are currently playing.

(For example, If you are currently playing as a level 1 character, you can invite a level 199 character. But that invited character's level stays the same. Since I am Ricardo (Lv90), I can invite my other character Jay (Lv100) or even Champaigne (Lvl 200).

Of course there will be more partner characters to expect other than Nagisa… dot dot dot…

 

Shortcut Command Improvement

They complain about it here, Gamefaqs, and Psoworld, those darn NPCs keep breaking chains, what the heck is wrong with them? Sakai has a solution! Through a shortcut command called "Follow Shift," the NPCs will no longer break chains. They will mainly use normal attacks. This will be effective against larger sized enemies.

 

NPC Trap Endurance Enhanced

Normally I use the hippo Mysynth in missions and never had a problem with traps. However things were different when my friend gave me the waiter Mysynth. I brought that NPC to the Caverns of Moatoob, but he had one major flaw, any time there was a turret trap, he would run up to it without attacking and constantly receive damage. Then he eventually died, revived, and constantly ran right into the turret again. Then he used his SUV against the turret, but for some strange reason the turret never received any damage. The waiter died immediately after.

In regards to traps that can easily damage NPCs, Sakai says that he has increased the endurance for an NPC to withstand against a trap. So partner characters will no longer be "imbeciles" when actively engaging a trap.  So you shouldn't see them dieing as much as before. We'll see Sakai… We'll see…

[via pspo2iblog]

Can you find Kunoh?

 

Additional Comments

Increasing the NPC's resistance to traps doesn't seem to me to do much of anything. The problem is with the AI itself. I notice the behavior occurs with the Waiter PM and Magashi. Magashi runs up to turrets and goes all wonky, then whips out his little wand to spam Resta. This "bug" doesn't seem to occur to every NPC though. For example, in Story Mode with Yuto, Lumia, and Emilia in PSO forest, they actively attack and destroy turrets by themselves.

I don't have all the time to go through which MySynths are trap competent, but I know the AI can handle them already. You have to wonder why this programming wasn't applied to Magashi…

Gurren Lagann and Evangelion 2.0 Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity

Sega has announced another collaboration with another anime series, Gurren Lagann, including his signature sunglasses. 4Gamer was provided with some screens of the models it will use. This post will update again when Sakai blogs.

Naturally, the Evangelion outfits from Phantasy Star Portable 2 are included in Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity, but now you get to see 3 new outfits from the newest movie.

Evangelion 2.0

Schoolwear Shinji
A Tokyo-3 schoolboy uniform.
It's said that he possesses the strength to protect someone.

 

 

Schoolwear Rei
A Tokyo-3 schoolgirl uniform. She's somewhat warm.

 

Schoolwear Mari
A replica of a schoolgirl uniform with a puff sleeved blouse.
She likes to burst out in song and smell people.

 

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Gurren Lagann Set (Cast Parts)
A mecha who utilizes Spiral energy.
Believe in the you who believes in yourself!

 

Giga Drill (Claw)
With Spiral energy, it can open a hole in the universe.
Burst through the heavens with your drill.

 

Gurren Boomerang (Slicer)
The glimmering symbol on the chest of Gurren.

 

[via 4gamer]

Ya Its odd having to figure out these inside anime references… Thanks Bomber.

  • These items are going to be password items.
  • Evangelion DLC from PSP2 will be included in this game.
  • More DLC for Gurren Lagann is expected.

 

[via pspo2iblog]

Ability Inconsistency

Abilities in Phantasy Star Portable 2 allowed one to add extra characteristics to their character. These abilities shown below were stated in Dengeki Magazine in March of 2010, but there's a huge problem. The information listed in the magazine and the one written in the game are inconsistent. Unless you really need to know by what percentage an ability changes its power, just use this list at your own discretion. The changes may or may not be reflected at Psupedia, their staff will know how to handle it.  The list below will show only inconsistencies and missing information at the time of this post on Monday, November 8th, 2010.

  • PP Skill Save
    • Reduces skill costs by 20%
    • (Already Corrected at Psupedia)
    • Apparently there was a mistake with the game's listing and the actual listing. 
  • PP Bullet Save
    • Reduces bullet costs by 10%
    • This works for linked bullets.
    • It doesn't seem to affect Charge Shot and Full Charge Shot.
  • HP Restorate
    • Restores 10% of Max HP always every 10 seconds.
    • Even if you receive damage at 3 seconds, you will restore hp at the end of the 10th second. 
  • Escape Advance
    • While dodge rolling, your invincibility time is increased by 0.3 seconds.
  • Partnership
    • Boosts the fighting capabilities of NPCs by 30%.
    • (PsuBlog Comment: So yes it applies to NPCs including Mysynth)
    • (PsuBlog Comment: English version almost makes it seem to imply the whole party, whether they are npc or not, will boost their attacks)
    • (PsuBlog Comment: Or in my case, English Version description implied that only the Mysynth benefited?)
  • Critical Power
    • Boosts Critical Damage by 5%
    • (Inconsistency detected…)
  • <Insert Weapon Category Here> Advance
    • Increases ATP by 5%
    • (It applies to each weapon using the advance suffix)
  • <Insert Technic Here> Advance
    • Increase damage output of that particular technic by 10%
    • (Applies to each technic using the advance suffix)
  • Follow Advance
    • Recovery Technic effectiveness is boosted 20%
    • (Inconsistency Detected)
  • Meseta Boost
    • 25% more meseta is acquired through drops.

[via Shougai]

 

 

Phantasy Star Online 2: Sega Seeking Game Developers

Sega of Japan has announced today that they are seeking experienced game developers to work on Phantasy Star Online 2. They are seeking a client programmer, a planner, and a server programmer.

But I'm not any of those things, how can I help with development of the game? Fear not, now you can send a message directly to the Sega staff telling them anything you expect from Phantasy Star Online 2.

At this new website you can send any opinion, issue, and request you want for the game, but keep in mind Sega will only read them and can not reply back. If you are going to type a message, the first box is where you place your name, and the second box is the comment. Now I can't guarantee they have a translator on staff to read your comments.

Curtz is waiting to hear your PSO2 requests!

[via pspo2iblog]

*Now obviously you need to know Japanese…

 

Client Programmer Xbox 360, PC, PS3

From Shougai, it appears the Client programmer needs to have experience with any of the following platforms; PC, PS3, or Xbox 360. Though there has not been an announcement for Phantasy Star Online 2 to utilize the other game consoles, it appears we may have a possible multi platform release.

 

Terada's Corner

Hm Terada's post felt like a Rapico post. Not that I'm complaining, makes it easier for me.

  • Terada talks about the Kizuna (Bonds Infinity Set) you get when pre-odering.
  • That set comes with product codes for Flowen and Rico's outfits, Dyla Bravas Mission Code, and Duman's signature weapons.
  • Talks about if  anyone can fill the requirements / recommendations  of the experienced game developer.
    • Game developer with at least 3 years experience.
    • PC/XBOX360/PS3, experience with developing on any of these systems.
    • Peer2Peer and Server Client communication models for network gaming
    • 3D Action, FPS Character control/management, and AI programming.
    • Network Game management.
    • Leader like quality.
  • Was Tylor's new design announced already?

 

Additional Comments

Here we go again, they need someone who's experienced with PC / PS3 / Xbox 360, but why? Wii isn't even on this experience list, isn't that interesting. Also does this mean we will have better First Person Shooter modes in Phantasy Star Online 2? Imagine RAcasts running in FPS mode and actually aiming and shooting. HALPSO.