Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

Is anyone here playing this on any platform? I normally can't get into online shooters, but my boyfriend convinced me to get this on PC, and it's overcome my usual trepidation and issues with the genre. The characters actually do have different playstyles but with enough overlap that there are choices for filling in an overall role. I've managed to find one character I really like in each of the 4 basic classes (offense, defense, tank, support). Matchmaking seems to be generally good at balancing teams, so I assume there's a lot of background calculation going on to make that work as well as it does. The art style is appealing, and it differentiates itself well from the norm in its genre (gray, grown, dull, hyperrealistic). Playing doesn't unlock any new weapons or equipment, but the trade-off for that is it drastically lowers the barrier to entry if you didn't get into it right away (a good thing, IMO). Instead, playing unlocks cosmetics, as when you level up you get a randomized loot crate. You can also buy them, if you want (not too keen on that, admittedly), or buy the Origins edition which unlocks a lot of those cosmetics. But even if you're new to the game or even genre, you can still jump in and probably do alright due to a decent matchmaking system and a low barrier to entry. Plus it has offline training modes for trying each character, seeing what they can do, and playing against AI to get your footing and see each map.

It lacks a single player, but it's come a lot closer to what online-only multiplayer should be. They took a lot of care in balancing the game (though I do think there's still some balancing to be done), and put in variety through a lot of characters and taking the time to master your favorites. If anyone is playing on PC, my battle tag on battle.net is in the "Add me!" thread in Fringers' Parlor.

Not huge on shooters myself, but I love how Overwatch looks. It looks crazy cool.

It's is pretty cool, and as I said above, I'm also usually not into shooters and the art style is highly appealing to me. It managed to break through what usually keeps me away from the genre. Now that I'm getting more experienced and I've got the basics down, I'm trying to find my second set of heroes to start trying. Finding a defense hero who I really liked other than Hanzo took a while, but I think I'm ready to start trying out Pharah, Junkrat, Winston and Lucio more, while making sure to keep sometimes using Tracer, Hanzo, Zarya and Mercy.

Blizzard just released two trailers for a new hero: Ana Amari, who is Pharah's A.K.A. Fareeha Amari's mother. An origins trailer, and a gameplay trailer. If you bought the game you automatically get her, as Blizzard is making all future heroes/maps available to all players without paying extra.




The gameplay looks interesting, to see how a "support sniper" might work in practice. She already has a hero profile at Play Overwatch that details her kit.

Being honest, the game needs another healer/support character, as right now, Zenyatta is a bit too weak and needs something to help him out (Blizzard is apparently considering options for him), so Mercy and Lucio dominate for healing. Granted, Zenyatta is pretty powerful in the hands of someone who knows how to use him. Symmetra is surely interesting, but she does not have any healing and I can understand the arguments from people who say she shouldn't be considered a support hero. I understand them, but not sure I agree with them. Now word on actual release, but from what I understand, Ana, as well as some balance changes to Zenyatta, D.Va and Mercy will be going live for the public beta, for people who want to beta test changes.

Also, young Pharah is absolutely adorable.

Edit. I found a link to the patch notes for PTR (Public Test Region), which is basically an opt-in for players to try out changes before they go into the full release. The changes, oh the changes, especially the changes to D.Va and Zen, are too needed. Maybe they'll finally become more played.

https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/20 ... patchnotes

And I can't complain about the changes to Mercy, either. I will gladly exchange a slower charge for resurrection for being able to move more easily during/after its cast time so using it mid-firefight is less of a suicide move. Also, 50% damage boost on her right mouse button? That's a major change from 30%, and might make the Pharah-Mercy wombo combo a little bit too much.