The promised alpha test for Phantasy Star Online 2 will indeed take place this summer; as announced at a press conference in Japan overnight, the alpha will kick off for Japanese gamers in August.
The new trailer above shows off many of the game’s new features that were discussed at the conference, including the ability to jump and use jump attacks. It seems like a minor thing, but as previously noted, it’ll be a welcome feature for PSO veterans. Also new is the 12-person multiplayer limit for each area, meaning much larger sessions are possible than in the past. Players will be divided up into four-person groups so as to keep things similar to the classic PSO style.
PSO2 can be played more like a third-person shooter where it’s possible to manually aim at, say, an enemy’s head in order to do extra damage. Levels (which are still randomly generated) will accordingly be designed in a way that allows players to go for the high ground to give themselves a bonus when attacking enemies. That’s useful for the ranged Ranger class in particular, though Hunters — the close range combat class — will enjoy the newfound ability to create their own combo attacks.
