Phantasy Star Portable is a conversion of the second chapter of the action-RPG Phantasy Star Unlimited (titled Ambition of the Illuminus) customized for the PSP by Alfa Systems. So far the game has only been announced by Sega for a Japanese release on July 31st, 2008.
Phantasy Star Portable features cooperative offline gameplay for up to four adventurers as well as a modified version of the Phantasy Star Unlimited: Ambition of the Illuminus story quest with new story material and a handful of new characters, such as: Vivienne, a cast who players will team up with in the story, and Helga Neumann, a villain who is responsible for terrorist attacks in the Gurhal System.
Another great Sega franchise heading to the PSP. Watch the first Phantasy Star Portable trailer:
1UP reports that the character you create and raise in story mode is the character you will use in multiplayer mode. Level, items, etc. will all be carried over, so it is easier to pick up and play with friends. Items also drop more frequently now, including weapons, armor, and ingredients for synthesis. The battle system itself has also evolved, in addition to the Illuminus-based battle system, if the attack buttons are pressed with a certain timing, damage will increase. The strength of weapons has been increased across the board to aid accessibility.
Existing players of Phantasy Star Unlimited on either the PS2 or PC will be able to import their character into the game. To avoid making the game too easy, though, not everything is imported — name, race, gender, appearance, voice type and pitch, level (up to 20 max), and currently equipped cloths and parts are all imported. Equipment, special items, meseta, fighting type, photon arts, and partner machinery are not, however. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to be possible to import characters from the Xbox 360 version of Phantasy Star Universe.