It's coming overseas!

Sega has officially announced that Phantasy Star 0 is coming to North America in Fall 2009 and Europe in Winter 2009. I assume that means next winter, but they didn't specify that. Here's a story summary from the North America press release:

Quote:

Phantasy Star Ø takes place on an alternate Earth 200 years after the “Great Blank,” a massive war that has reduced the once-prosperous civilization to almost nothing. The sole surviving Humans have worked hard to exist peacefully and have built thriving Cities. The Humans that adventure past the outskirts of these Cities, called Hunters, explore the vast wilderness and hunt dangerous monsters to keep Cities safe. Players will take up the role of Hunters and select from three types of races and different classes, as well as gender for a total of 14 customizable character types. Each character type will play very differently and give players access to a great range of items, armor and weapons. Featuring over 350 unique weapons, gamers will venture out on “Earth”, combat dangerous monsters to gain experience and meet new major characters. As players explore further, they will unravel the mystery of the “Great Blank” and discover a dangerous new force that must be stopped.

Maybe it's just me, but this sounds a lot like a possible story of Earth after Phantasy Star II's Earthmen left the planet. I'm not sure if revisiting Earth in the series is a good idea. Also, notice how they put Earth in quotes that one time? Maybe it's not really Earth at all.

Here are the press releases. I've included both because they're slightly different.
http://www.sega.com/news/?n=2853
http://www.sega.co.uk/news/?n=2849

One of the posters on Something Awful said that PSZero ties into the classic series- probably having to do with Earth, as you said, Thoul.

Well if it's coming to Europe it's coming to Australia then. Now I'm certain I'll have a chance to play it.

Thankfully it's coming this way. I've been anxious for a new Phantasy Star game.

Snorb wrote:

One of the posters on Something Awful said that PSZero ties into the classic series- probably having to do with Earth, as you said, Thoul.

Since we're finding out that Hunters exist on Earth now, I'm starting to wonder if the Earthmen might have introduced that concept to Algo as they did Mother Brain and so much of the technology. Hunters first appeared in Algo to go after the rampaging monsters on Motavia; perhaps some Earthmen started the tradition when they still intended to live in Algo rather than destroying it.

If the "great blank" is that war "created" by DF (which devastated Earth), then this game would be the zero-game in PS time-line.

But... how do newmans (and other muskcat-type creatures) exist on Earth?
Newmans were only artificially created after PSI... are they a seed from Aron's alternate time?

"The Great Blank" is just meant to describe the period of peace following the great war 200 years ago. I translated it as "The Heavenly Whiteness" in my translation of the prologue, because that's what the kanji literally says. It's a phrase meant to evoke feelings of peace and tranquility.

As for the presence of Numans, just chalk it up to creative liberties. It's a DS game based off of a popular franchise to make money. Don't expect them to respect continuity as we would.

P.S. VERY glad to hear this confirmed. I hope I can transfer over the rares that I've found in the Japanese version so far!

pitohui wrote:

"The Great Blank" is just meant to describe the period of peace following the great war 200 years ago.

My bad. I should have mentioned the war before that great blank.

Quote:

It's a DS game based off of a popular franchise to make money. Don't expect them to respect continuity as we would.

Maybe you are right, they said this was just an alternate universe. Maybe they mentioned the "alternate" word because they wanted to put those cat like creatures and other memorable stuff... let's wait to see.

Are there any references to the "London Communications Center (on Earth of the Sol system)" (or whatever-it-was in the original version)?

Awesome, I'll be keeping an eye peeled for this game in Fall 09. Customizable characters sound fun, but that makes me wonder if the characters are going to have any character in this game.

From what I've seen of the game, there are several NPCs that may get development through the course of the game. The main character looks to be the generic faceless type, though.