Btw if a person wants to understand why it was not localized earlier that's actually mostly Gearbox's fault again fuck you Randy: PSO2's original projected western localization and PSO2 Meseta maintenance budget was drafted from projected Colonial Marines earnings, which should happen to be a Slam Dunk awarded the value of the Aliens brand - Of course Gearbox found a way to fuck up that. This has been a bomb so awful that Sega of America had to enter Austerity Mode and put off pretty much all their Localization staff, not only permanently delay PSO2. Of which they would not recover until Sega had and purchased Atlus all that laid off staff is effectively replaced by Atlus USA.
Honestly it holds up as a fantastic MMO. The combat is more akin to Monster Hunter compared to WoW or GW. Due to this and the anime / game tieins it has been tremendous in Japan, and keeps up this much after release.That's why I have always enjoyed the original and played it on a free server until a few years ago. There's a surprising amount of mechanical ability involved. I really don't understand anything about PSO2, however, and it may be completely different for everybody I know.Played both, played original for hundreds of hours. It is certainly quicker in PSO2, but I do believe it seems like a direct upgrade to PSO (which seems like it should be obvious, I know.) It does very similar things with insistent maps, much weapons enemies ect. And combat has verticality for it. I personally enjoy it and would recommend giving it a go.
If it appears generic, it's only because so many other series have copied it by this point. There's elements of tons of additional string in the marketplace, and PSO/PSO2 did it. A good deal of western players don't realize it since they got the games, but maybe not PSO. It may appear shallow at first, but it goes surprisingly deep and wide as soon as you get into it. Which is exactly what you'd want any MMO to do instead of dump you directly into it.No other MMO does skill-based action battle better. Closest thing is Monster Hunter, which does not get systems MMOs thrive on. Should you like to dodge skillfully, watch enemy tells, learn boss battles, get gear, update it, and GRIND until your eyeballs bleed, then it's well worth a try. If you are a fan of Warframe, PSO2 does style as an endgame better, if you are not fond of this gear mill.
I will put it this way: I'm not a massive MMO gamer, but the idea has always appealed to me. After trying probably dozens of MMOs from the most mainstream to the most market, PSO2 is the only one that really stuck with me. And I love it enough that even after playing the JP server for 2+ years, I'm now taking a break because I look forward to cheap Phantasy Star Online 2 Meseta starting over about the NA server. It only feels really good to perform with. You can play it solo, you can perform it with a team, you can play it casual, so you can play it hardcore.