There are three versions of PSO that this site covers, and all are pretty much the same thing. The first game is Phantasy Star Online, which is generally referred to as version 1, ver.1, or v1. It was the first PSO game, released only on the Sega Dreamcast. The second game is Phantasy Star Online ver.2. Version 2 is not a new game, but a refinement of what ver.1 had to offer. The last game is Phantasy Star Online for the PC. PC PSO is almost a direct port of PSO ver.2 onto the PC, however it has a few additions. This section details the changes made in ver.2 from ver.1, and from ver.2 to PC.
Changes from Version 1 to Version 2
Additions
Addition of the Ultimate difficulty setting. This level is for characters level 80 and up, and contains new monsters, and different looking areas.
Character level limit extended to 200. Characters can now level up past 100 to level 200 max.
New weapons, armour, shields, and Mags. Version 2 includes a slew of new items to obtain, some deadly and some just for fun.
Characters rebalanced. Since PSOv2 allows characters to grow twice as high in level as ver.1, the characters also had their stats rebalanced. Now different characters have stronger and weaker points as compared to each other, so there is a greater difference between each one.
New Technique levels. Hunters and Rangers are still limited to level 15 spells, but Forces get spells twice as strong; up to level 30 max.
New lobbies. Ver.2 includes lobbies 11-15, only accessible to ver.2 players. These lobbies contain the minigame "Go-Go Ball," which is a form of lobby soccer. It has no real point, but can be a more amusing way to pass the time instead of simply standing around in the main lobbies.
Symbol Chat advancements. Ver.2 includes a few new Symbol Chat perks, the "Whistle" sound effect is added to the available effects for chat, as well as the "Capture" feature, which allows you to copy symbols from other players, should they allow you to do so.
Guild Card and Mail improvements. Ver.2 includes the new "Choice Search" function, which allows players to do a search for other people on their current block by inputting data such as player type, player level, and various keywords. An additional "Simple Mail" option is included to allow players to search for the location of the sender of mail.
New modes: Battle and Challenge. Ver.2 includes new online only modes. Battle mode allows players to face off in one of two ways, either clearing the various areas as normal, but with friendly fire enabled, or by selecting to duel with various preset rules to see who is the best fighter. Challenge mode puts players in specially crafted versions of the various stages in the game, putting an emphasis on teamwork and puzzle solving to try to complete every stage as quickly as possible.
Combat Improvements. Ver.2 includes the very popular "Quick Access Menu." This menu can be accessed by pressing R+Y on the Dreamcast controller, and gives easy access to several menus. First is a quick selection of the weapons in the player's inventory, with the currently equipped weapon being at the end of the list. Pressing R toggles through the other menus of useable items such as Mates and Fluids, and the Technique menu. Techniques can be sorted in this menu using the X button.
Droids can use traps of their own. In ver.1 droids were able to see traps, but ver.2 takes it a step further and lets them set traps when playing in Ultimate mode. Droids get Damage Traps which deal fire damage, Freeze Traps which have a 100% rate of freezing all nearby enemies, and Confuse Traps, which cause confusion in all nearby enemies. At level 80 droids get 10 of each type of trap. At level 100 droids are given 15 of each kind, and at level 150 the number is boosted again to 20 traps of each kind.
Glitches Fixed
Ver.1 PB trick
Walk Through Walls trick on doors/fences
PB trick FSOD
Simple Mail/Guild Card FSOD
God/Battle unequip glitch
Glitches Added
Ver.2 PB trick
More...?
Ver.2 to PC
Additions
Languages Added. Because PSO PC was only released in Japan, Korea, and China, it not only includes the original five languages of PSO DC (English, Japanese, French, Spanish, and German), but also Korean, Chinese Simplified, and Chinese Traditional.
Word Select Improved. PSO PC includes a much more in-depth Word Select menu, with custom selections for Battle and Challenge modes, as well as new weapon and difficulty listings for ver.2 weaponry and Ultimate mode. It also finally includes a way to say "Please use WORD SELECT" with Word Select, which was one of the main things DC Word Select lacked in my opinion; you could not use it to ask people to use Word Select.
More Guild Card options. PSO PC adds even more options for Simple Mail and Guild Cards, namely the ability to block people from sending you mail.
Loading Eliminated. PSO PC gets rid of all the load times present in the DC version, almost all areas load instantly without the constant grinding that the DC always had.
Glitches Fixed
TP trick
Glitches Added
None that I can think of that are useful, however PSO PC has many graphical glitches that occur because of the rather hasty way it was ported from DC.
This section may be updated, as I think of more differences between the versions.
