Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus coming this fall

by Justin McElroy { Apr 27th 2007 at 8:40AM }

We've been hearing some details on it for a few months, now Sega has finally gotten around to announcing Phantasy Star Universe expansion Ambition of the Illuminus, and all we can say is wow ... that's really an impressive title. We're not all PSU fans here at Joystiq HQ, so the new missions, cities and enemies don't do a whole lot for most of us. But when we see a title like that, we sit up and take notice.

That's not to say it doesn't seem like there's a lot of new stuff here for fans. You've got some new classes, as well as new weapon types like the Madoog, Shadoog and Whip. The expansion also adds new Photon Arts, which still sound suspiciously like the title of a Journey album. Speaking of titles: ... Ambition of the Illuminus ... yep, still awesome. There are also new facial features, hair styles and body types for your character, which is a good thing; if you're going to be playing a game with a title like that, you need to be looking fine. Those playing on Xbox 360 download the new stuff this fall, those on PC and PS2 will have to buy a standalone disc. We don't know how much any of that will cost, but what wouldn't you pay to be able to say aloud that you're playing Ambition of the Illuminus? Can you really put a price on that?

Tags: aoti, dlc, phantasystar, psu, sega

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Slaziman @ Apr 27th 2007 9:47AM

No, you can't, that title is AWESOME

Jonathan Tran @ Apr 27th 2007 10:15AM

Didn't this game suck? Why should it be played when you can still play PSO for Dreamcast on pirate servers?

Auronius @ Apr 27th 2007 10:52AM

I wouldn't say that PSU sucks, it's just nowhere near as good as PSO. Hopefully the expansion makes the game feel less generic.

Kendrick @ Apr 27th 2007 10:52AM

It's not for everyone, but I enjoyed PSU enough to play through the whole offline game and subscribe to the online service. Episode 2 of the PSU game is presented as online quests, and unlike the Dreamcast version they're not downloadable content. I don't see Ambition of the Illuminus as anything too different from any other MMO expansion, but I also don't think there will be anything there to win over new players.

LongshotX @ Apr 27th 2007 10:55AM

PSU is garbage. PSO for Dreamcast was spectacular. For a next gen title PSU just didn't do it. Very weak.

FC @ Apr 27th 2007 11:40AM

People that have played the Ambition of Illuminus Open JP Beta have uploaded screenshots to the Image Uploader at http://psutopia.com/uploadr

Casino NPC
http://psutopia.com/uploadr/view/4

Boomas, remember these from PSO?
http://psutopia.com/uploadr/view/97

Elatis @ Apr 27th 2007 2:23PM

I 2nd the "PSU is garbage"
The script was stupid and it felt like playing PSO again....only not as fun and more limited in where you could go.
Let's get back to a real PS RPG Sega instead of this garbage.

Angelo @ Apr 27th 2007 4:46PM

I'll be looking forward to this. Phantasy Star Universe improved upon PSO in every *possible* way imaginable. All I could wish for is perhaps some offline, split-screen or LAN multiplayer, in addition the the brand-new single player story mode.

It carries the mantle of Phantasy Star well--both as a successor to the classic series and to the online series. I find that most detractors' views are much too skewed by those pesky rose-colored glasses of nostalgia to be taken seriously at all. Phantasy Star Online was a great title on Dreamcast, but it's time to move on.

i-own-you @ May 11th 2007 7:17PM

lol..noobs..PSO for DC,GC and PC (psopc) suck in pirated..lol.. you hold everything like its one handed... the graphics suck..the weapons and classes do too..in psu u can have a FO-CAST..how diverse is that? u got photon arts..skills for weapons if u dont know...tons more missions..6 player parties..new weapons and classes..changeable hair,clothes,shoes,arms,pants,etc..massive customization options..make your own stores in your own rooms..play with PS2 players on pc and (stupidly) alont with XBOX360 players on an XBOX360..i cant belive you all say it sucks.. there is even a new "earth" element..tons of new technics including more than 2 light ones..element system, not stupid "a.beast,native,dark,machine" types..over (so far on online more) about 20-30-35 technics,not 3 fire technics... more like 7!..dual weild abilities..nano blast(transform into huge beast)and SUV weapons (summon great large beam/missle/bullet guns of destruction)..make parties in lobies that are 1500 times larger than a pso one..new weapons such as SMGs,grenade launchers,shoulder mounted beam cannons,crossbows(high atk and high rank pistols)lv up their bullets (bullet elements are photon arts) to a high lv and you can do V shots, in other words spread,axes,claws&sabers&daggers(etc, i dont remember all of them)are dual wieldable and single..dual wield pistols..bows(force type or other technic type rifles)..fans(technic type and related weapons that shoot homing blades of energy)..knuckles(fists)..3 planets with gigantic lobbies..C,B,A,and S ranked weapons,units,and armors..face cut-ins,thought bubbles,shout bubbles,playing card symbols,dice symbols,random number generators(be typing in text)..online and offline play....that suit you? hehe..as i said..
NOOBS!

del @ Jun 24th 2007 6:40AM

well... after all u said i'm sure u haven't played pso for more than a day...
even if what u said is true there's just that key element that psu is missing i don't know what it is but pso had that... and plus in pso u could play a charachter in single mode offline level him up and also find rare items and have multiplayer mode offline and with that same charachter u could go online... u can't do that in psu...
so really... i just don't see what's so great about psu... all they focused on were the small details like facial features and such. lets be honest no one in the lobby is gonna go like: "Wow u have nice eyes" or, "cool hair" and stuff like that, so... what's the point.