The long awaited free-to-play MMORPG Phantasy Star Online 2 has finally debuted in western territories after eight of being a Japanese exclusive. Unfortunately for those who have waited it out for the PC release, they have been met with a less than stellar technical launch.
Phantasy Star Online 2 officially released on the Windows Store on May 27, 2020. Not long after launch, players flocked to Reddit, Twitter and other online boards to note the plethora of issue they were facing. While the most common bug revolves around installation problems, lists are being compiled with the other issues players are uncovering.
The official Phantasy Star Online 2 Twitter account acknowledges the problems alongside apologies for the inconvenience to players. Publisher SEGA would further elaborate on the issues in a comment provided to IGN, noting that they are aware of the ongoing problems. They directly address the core bug of players being unable to install the game determining that the issue is being caused by “a number of different factors.” They continued to explain that they are currently working with Microsoft to resolve the issue and will provide further instruction of how to avoid installation errors. SEGA has provided players a troubleshooting guide to assist in installations.
Beyond the core point of installation failures, the aforementioned Reddit compilation goes into greater details about the numerous technical problems including frame drops, freezing, greater expected file size, and launcher issues. While many have rightly complained about the ongoing issues, Phantasy Star Online 2 is not the only game to face a less-than-stellar launch.
Phantasy Star Online 2 originally launched on Windows in 2012 exclusively to Japanese audiences. A year later, it received a PlayStation Vita port followed by a PlayStation 4 version released in 2016. Its final Japan-exclusive port was for the Nintendo Switch dubbed Phantasy Star Online 2 Cloud which released in 2018. Between the seven year wait and already released platforms, the E3 2019 announcement at Microsoft’s press conference that the game would finally get an official English release was a surprise. Although for some, the fact that it was coming exclusively to Microsoft platforms was considered a big loss for Sony and a strong step for Microsoft getting better relations with Japanese publishers.
The PC release of Phantasy Star Online 2 is a definite buzzkill for what should be a celebration for a game that many thought would never leave Japan on any official level. While many players are awaiting for SEGA to fix the issues, no time frame has been provided by the publisher. Those looking to solve at least some of the issues should refer to the ongoing Reddit thread dedicated to resolving the bugs.
Phantasy Star Online 2 is available now on PC and Xbox One.
Source: Reddit, IGN
