TOGP #59: "That One Game: Phantasy Star Online"

This week we’re diving into the first ever massively-multiplayer online game made specifically for consoles - That One Game: Phantasy Star Online! Originally released near the tail end of the year 2000 for the Sega Dreamcast, PSO took advantage of the Dreamcast’s online functionality to allow up to four players to team up and take on a variety of missions together. The game’s story tasks players with investigating the catastrophe that befell Pioneer 1, the previous expedition sent to the planet Ragol with hopes of colonization. Throughout the story the player would discover notes left behind by a character by the name of Red Ring Rico, a Pioneer 2 resident that seemingly vanished upon reaching Ragol’s surface. Through these notes something sinister is discovered regarding the true nature of the planet and Pioneer 1’s misfortune. Players were also able to create their own characters from one 12 different different classes, each with unique strengths and weaknesses. Upon release PSO was met with critical acclaim. It would later see ports to Xbox, Gamecube, as well as PC, and even today, years after its official servers went offline, there remains a strong fan community keeping the game alive via the Ephinea private servers.

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