So, my profile has stated that I like Phantasy Star Online ever since I've created it, and yet I literally haven't ever posted about the game up to this point.
I'd like to rectify this.
Phantasy Star Online is one of, if not, my favorite game ever.
I discovered it originally at the start of 2023 when me and a friend both connected our Xboxes to Insignia for the first time. My friend was like, "Bob. We've gotta try that anime mmo that has like 12 people playing on it."
So, we play it, knowing nothing about the game and we both die nearly immediately.
We played for about 20 minutes and then put it down.
But something about the game just grabbed my attention in a way that no other game really has. Maybe it was the history behind the game's development or how exciting it was to experience something from before my time, but the game had me hooked. Killing the natural wildlife was addicting and watching funny numbers go up made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Eventually I start playing in public parties and I was shocked at how welcoming the community is. I even managed to connect a keyboard to my Xbox to make chatting faster. I started making cool symbol chats and people even started to recognize me a little when I'd join the lobby. Eventually, I grind my Pinkal RAmar (y i k e s) up to around Level 50 and spend about 100 hours in the Xbox version, but then the lack of player numbers eventually starts getting a little tiring. So I ended up putting the game down for a while.
Since then, I've been playing on Ephinea PSOBB since it's the easiest version of the game to run and has the largest player pool. (The only problem I have with PSO BB is how ugly the font is. I've tried every font under the sun and none of them really look all that nice to me.)
I've been off and on with the game, but it's still really fun to just sink a bunch of hours into, killin' wildlife, sittin' in the lobby, and shootin' the shit with the oldheads that are still playing since the original game's launch back in 2000.
There's still so much I wanna say about this game but this post is already long enough.
This game changed my life in a way I can't really put into words anyways.
I've still got a lot to learn, but it looks like this game's got me in for the long haul.
(I eventually want to get a line voltage inducer so I can try out the Dreamcast version online and lose my equipped weapon and all my money with other players! It's gonna be sick!)