Phantasy Star is back in portable form with Phantasy Star Portable for the PSP.  The latest game sports a four player co-op mode, allowing players to quest through various worlds with friends collecting loot.  We dig deep into this RPG and explore its co-op experience in our latest review. 

From the Sega USA blog page comes a joint post by the community team describing their impressions of Phantasy Star Portable for PSP. The game is coming to the United States March 3rd, and features 4-player ad hoc co-op.

Ruby Eclipse:
I think one of the best parts about Phantasy Star Portable is that they’ve changed the entire game to make it more like Phantasy Star Online. In our multiplayer session, it was a lot of fun teaming up and seeing some of the rebalances they’ve made to the game.

Kellie:
I could see myself getting really absorbed in this game on my own, but playing with a group of friends adds a whole new level of fun.

Edward@Sega:
I’m really looking forward to seeing kind of group-play on a larger scale. The classes for Portable (more on this in future posts) allow for so much more flexibility in terms of how you build your group, and the idea of having a readily adaptable group of players for running against the big bosses is really appealing… Can’t wait!

Our own impressions were quite positive as well. A free demo is available to anyone interested...and if you have a PSP and love co-op, you should be interested. To those of you that have played the demo: keep your save files -- you will be able to transfer your game saves to the full version once it releases next week!

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If you are looking to try out Phantasy Star Portable, a game that was recently bumped up in release date, then look no further than your PSN Store on either the PlayStation 3.  Sega has release a fully featured demo of the title, one that supports four player ad-hoc cooperative play.  As we mentioned before the game is set for a March 4th release date, a date moved up 3 weeks earlier than previously announced.

The demo itself seems pretty fully featured, it allows you to use a very in depth character creation tool.  You can adjust just about every feature of your character from the face, eyebrows, hair style and color, body type, etc.  Once completed you can either play through Story Mode or Ad-Hoc Multiplayer. 
 

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According to the official Sega America blog, Phantasy Star Portable for the PSP has had its release date moved up to March 3rd, 2009!  PSP on the PSP (huh?) was released in Japan last year and has been undergoing translation, localization and updates for a March 24th release date.  But I hear they hired the guy that translated Zero Wing so the game will be done a few weeks early!

Phantasy Star Portable features four player co-op play throughout the entire game via local Ad-Hoc play.

Sega was so excited about this news that they released a brand new trailer for the game that features some truly thumping beats.  Break out the glowsticks and enjoy!

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Co-Optimus has been on a bit of a Phantasy Star mood recently. What with more info about the new DS game, Phantasy Star Zero, we were itching for more Phantasy Star info. Fortunately, we discovered more info about another portable version of Phantasy Star. 1UP has word that Phantasy Star Portable will be headed stateside this coming March. The game is coming out for the PSP, and takes place after Phantasy Star Universe. It will have a single-player storyline, as well as a multiplayer component.

The gameplay should be similar to PSU, and it appears to have a similar graphical style, but what is most important to the Co-Optimus faithful is the four player co-op. 1UP also has an interview about the game, so you might want to hit that up as well. So, any PSP fans out there want some Phantasy Star action?

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