I know those crazy fans at NiGHTS into Dreams are going frantic trying to get NiGHTS into Sega Allstar Racing but at least he is a weapon in this game.
Karakuridōji Ultimo Collaboration
Hiroyuki Takei of Shaman King and Karakuridōji Ultimo, brings us the 5th Manga Collaboration piece for Phantasy Star Portable 2. The outfit is called Hanhel Tsuna-gin. I believe the name refers to a "half a helmet/hardhat" that "fills" or protects the body instead of the head. The name of the weapon is "TRUE HASH" in English characters, thank goodness.
Tropical Rainforest
Another brand new field, this time it looks like a cross between Habirao forbidden district, and the Forested Islands. It includes a new boss "Bug Degga". Actually this boss is featured as a normal enemy in Bruce's Dungeon in the demo. It attacks by rushing into you with electricity. In Bruce's Dungeon it can also stun you if you stand close to it while it is charging.
In the screenshot you can see a puppet form of NiGHTS as a Madoog or Shadoog weapon. While it floats it leaves a trail of sparkles just like the real one!
Demo Statistics
Sakai posted several statistics regarding the active players in Internet Multimode.
Level
LV 11-20: 85%
LV 1-10: 15%
Male to Female
42% Male
52% Female
Race
Human 35%
Cast 30%
Beast 19%
Newman 14%
(It's quite weird but in PSU JP Newman females are highly popular.)
Type
Hunter: 48%
Braver 22%
Ranger: 18%
Force: 10%
Size Chart
If you are into this sort of thing, Sakai has posted the centimeter sizes for all characters. You can see your height once you obtain the scale room item. Though it will measure it as "KV" which in reality is "cm". To convert centimeter to feet, type this in google search bar. "###cm to ft"
If you notice in the screenshot above, this story mode mission has a variable level difficulty between 1 through 20. The higher level you are, the harder the monsters. For this particular mission, the highest level cap is 20. If you are level 21, the monsters will stay at Level 20 difficulty.
This variable level system was implemented because in PSP1, players would achieve higher levels during multimode. As they switched to story missions, the game would turn out much easier than expected.
Free missions on the other hand have a fixed level difficulty. Free Missions levels are based on C/B/A/S rank so feel free to play missions much easier for you.
As you play through Story Mode you are set up with a bunch of choices during gameplay. These choices affect the ending which you'll get. (Speaking of which, Terada in his many rambling blog posts keeps mentioning a TLUE ending with Magashi? It's probably likely the L is supposed to be an R.) (Also Sakai mentioned Dark Falz is not the final boss of the game).
Will Vivienne Appear (Part 2)
Oh yes, Vivienne is no longer blurred out in the screenshots and will appear in a Side Story Mission and a Extra mission. These missions will pop up as you clear Story Mode. Famitsu Magazine mentioned how her appearance in the game might actually be fan service.
Even if you did not import your character from PSP1, you are still able to play that mission with her. (This should stop that debate over which ending is cannon…)
Item Trader
After exchanging partner cards with a friend, you can exchange items at the cafe, as long as they are not A/S rank and rare items. To combat drop trading, (you sneaky people) there is a limitation to what items you can drop on the ground. In multimode and internet multimode, only recovery items, buff items, and traps can be placed on the ground.
You can place down any item within a challenge mission. However you can not take any items with you during a challenge mission. Any item you pick up will disappear once the challenge mission is over. (I don't believe this applies to challenge mission rewards.)
Client Order
You can receive requests from Elias, Roletto (Loretto), and Pit in the Cafe. The content of each request is different based on the person who requested it. When you complete a request, meseta, room items, weapons, etc, can be obtained. You perform requests by following the instructions while playing a free mission.
Elias restricts your time and weapons you can hold to clear the mission
(She may ask you to clear a mission under 7 minutes.)
Roletto wants you to clear several missions.
(May ask you to complete two or more missions)
Pit wants you to defeat a specified target.
(Defeat a number of a specific enemy. For example defeat 50 Naval and Naval Rudda)
You can receive requests of up to 3 people at the same time, however you can only do one of the requests for each person respectively. (In other words you can take on Pit, Elias, and Roletto requests together, but you can not do 2 Elias requests at the same time.)
When you clear the free mission and succeeded with their requests you can receive the reward at the cafe. A new request is generated after completion of a previous request. You can check the current requests by checking the mission information section in the start menu.
Rappy Coffee Cup (Room item) Soda Brekka (Weapon) 2500 Meseta.
Snowy Mountain
Welcome to Elbars (Elbals) Snowy Field in Phantasy Star Portable 2
A new area is introduced called, "Elbars Snowy Mountain" It consists of an ice cave and an outside field covered in snow. This area was shown in promo video 3 with the snowball that ran over Emilia many times. Douga Dounga (Duga Dunga) and Gohma Dilla appear at the end in a boss fight.
Douga Dounga moves slowly and the laser is fired at random as it rotates. The Gohma Dilla make this fight especially hard. I think your Just Guarding skills should be top notch to prevent the missile knock backs.
Extras!
Rappy Child released new clocks for your website and wallpapers for your PSP.
Ah a new famitsu scan! As we wind down to the game's release, news slowly trickles out but at least we get to see a new field. Since I'm currently looking through it you can check out the scan right here.