^{Yuya Kimura, Courtesy of Sega} 

The-O Network: For people who are not familiar with your work, can you describe what it is you do and how you got involved with Sega and Phantasy Star?

Yuya Kimura: My name is Yuya Kimura. This year marks my 21st year here at SEGA. I've been involved with the Phantasy Star series ever since joining the company, so that means I've been involved with Phantasy Star for 21 years. I think this is pretty unique, even among my peers at SEGA.

My first task after joining the company was to create quests to be distributed for Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2, which were already in service. Afterward, I became involved with Phantasy Star Universe (PSU) from the start of development as the quest director. I created the plan for PSO2 and have served as its director from the start-up to the start of service. I was involved with the development and management of PSO2 for about 9 years as the series director, and I've been serving as the series producer for PSO2 New Genesis.

T-ONO: What has been the most fun part about working on Phantasy Star New Genesis?

YK: When our distribution content and implemented services reach our players, and their reactions to it meet our expectations, and when their engagement exceeds our imagination, that's the most fun part for me.

T-ONO: Recently, there has been a misconception that the massively multiplayer online role-playing games, or MMO for short, are no longer popular. What is your opinion on the current state of MMO games and how do you think that affects the future of PSO2 going forward?

YK: Lately, the number of online games and games with online support is increasing, as are the number of players. So relatively speaking, it feels like the number of MMO games and players is decreasing. At the same time, as there are now various types of online games being created, the concept of the MMO genre is becoming somewhat blurred. From the start, we've produced PSO2 as an online action RPG, and we've never really called it an MMO. Some people even refer to PSO2 as an "MO", and we don't really plan to confirm or deny that. We’ve always thought of PSO2 simply as an online game, considering how we can have many players play, and enjoy playing for a long time. We haven’t been concerned over thinking about how PSO2 should be if it were an MO or MMO, and we don’t plan to."

T-ONO: What are some of the difficulties you face when developing an ongoing multiplayer role-playing game?

YK: Adding even just a little functionality or making improvements to an online game often requires two to four times the development costs and time compared to other titles. We also need a lot of people in order to confirm the implementation, do test plays, and make balance adjustments.

T-ONO: Can you tell us a little bit more about the new cell shade graphics option?

YK: Cel shading is a new, optional feature that allows players to freely give the game characters an anime-like feel. Applying it will make your character, other player's characters, and of course, the NPC's who appear in the story, look animated. You can think of it as one of the optional graphics rendering settings that are often found in PC games. You can adjust details such as the emphasis of the outlines and the shadow density, to enjoy the game to your liking.

T-ONO: Do you have any games in particular that may have inspired you? Are there any games that you have learned anything from?

YK: I'll refrain from naming any specific titles, but as we created PSO2 with the concept of being the greatest action online RPG, and since our goal is to make online co-op play with the same feel as an offline action game, we have taken references from popular offline action games.

T-ONO: A while back there was a collaboration between PSO2 and Hololive. Can you share any news about any upcoming collaborations?

YK: A collaboration event with Sonic the Hedgehog will be held from June 21st, with Sonic-themed Limited-Time Quests and decorations in Central City. We will also have a collaboration with Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 from June 28, featuring related avatar items. And although this hasn't officially been announced yet, we will be having a collaboration with popular anime titles in August and September. The August collaboration is one that many of our players have been asking for, and the September collaboration is one with a relatively recent anime. We hope you're looking forward to them.

T-ONO: Are there any plans to bring PSO2 to other platforms such as PS5 or Nintendo Switch?

YK: We currently don't have any plans to develop for new platforms. We'd like to focus on developing for the platforms that the game is currently available on.

T-ONO: Can you give us a closing statement to our readers who may be interested in playing PSO2?

YK: Even though it's already been two years since NGS was released, compared to other online games, NGS has been designed to make it easy to catch up to players at the forefront.
On June 7th we'll be launching NGS ver.2, which marks a new beginning. Improvements have been made to the opening content, making it easier for new players to enjoy the gameplay and environment.

Also, the centerpiece of NGS ver.2 is the Creative Space, which can be played after clearing the tutorial and the prologue, which should take less than an hour. I believe that ver.2 is a great opportunity for players to give the game a try.