From 1UP - http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3175625
Sega's Phantasy Star Portable was released last spring in America to pretty decent reviews -- James Mielke called it "far superior in terms of playability" to Monster Hunter, its main competition -- but not a heck of a lot of fanfare. Things were different in Japan, where Sega shipped out over 650,000 copies of the game to stores, making it one of the biggest sellers of 2008 over there. Now the publisher's announced work on a PSP sequel, one that -- as always -- promises everything but the (futuristic, neon, black-light) kitchen sink.
Set in the same world as Phantasy Star Universe and its progeny, Phantasy Star Portable 2 takes place three years after the original PSP game. Instead of being cast as member of the elite Guardians group, your character works for Little Wing, a civilian outfit running a space-colony resort called Clad 6. Producer Satoshi Sakai told Famitsu magazine that the story mode will feature twice as much voice and text content as the previous game: "People told us that the story mode in the previous game didn't have enough volume; the missions were never that complex, either. With this project, we're including a lot of new tricks and traps in the missions, which should make it a challenge even in single-player."
The additions don't end with the story, though. PSP2 has more new monsters, more new missions (three times as many as before, according to Sakai), and fully redone character designs for all of the game's default classes. Every class will have a few new moves in battle, including an "emergency dodge" that lets you go right back on the offensive, charged shots for gun-type weapons, and shields that damage enemies if you block attacks at just the right time. (These shields were also in the DS's Phantasy Star 0, but now you can pair them with another single-handed weapon.)
Most key, perhaps, is that PSP2 is slated to support Infrastructure Mode, meaning you'll be able to quest around with anyone you like over the Internet instead of being stuck with ad-hoc multiplayer. "Generally you'll go to the matching counter to get matched up in a four-person party and play from there," Sakai said. "If you want to play with friends, you can exchange partner cards or use the search function to find them. We're also working on multiplayer-only missions that are about a lot more than just slaying monsters."
PSP2 is due out December 3 in Japan for 5040 yen; no US release has been announced
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