Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis is here, and it offers a vast world to explore with some beautiful vistas and enemies to take on. That means players will need to make sure their PCs are up to the task of running all those particle effects and a good field-of-view. This MMO is much more demanding than the previous game with its new graphical engine, something Sega made clear when it released New Genesis' recommended PC specs ahead of its closed beta last year.
PSO2: NGS is an action MMO with a completely open world, meaning there are no loading screens. Its story takes place 1,000 years after the events of PSO2. The gameplay is faster paced than its predecessor, and some of the more annoying aspects like augmentation and charging up certain attacks have been simplified or better streamlined. The game is still early on with more content updates constantly coming, so it's a great time to jump into this free-to-play MMO -- if you have hardware that can run it.
For low to medium quality settings, the recommended CPU or Processor is an intel i5-9400 or equivalent. This is a fairly average powered CPU for gaming and something you might find in a good laptop. It's newer, not too pricey and gets the job done. It can run games like Death Stranding and Assassin's Creed Odyssey, but might have trouble with newer ones like Godfall, Watch Dogs: Legion and other next-gen games. An AMD equivalent would be something similar to a Ryzen 5 2600X.
If you're looking to run New Genesis on high, you'll need a new Intel i9-10900, which was only released this year. There are similar CPUs, like the Ryzen 5 5600X or i7-10700K, but they aren't cheap either. These high-end CPUs can run any new games, even Cyberpunk 2077. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the minimum requirement is something like an i3-4150.
There's a bit more flexibility when it comes to graphics cards, but not much. At a minimum, you'll need a GeForce GT 430 or AMD Radeon HD5570. These are fairly old cards, so older gaming rigs will still run the game so long as their CPU doesn't slow them down, and they generally aren't great for modern games. For low settings that will still run the game well, a GTX 950, Radeon R9 285 or something similar is recommended. They still keep up with newer games if you don't mind lower settings, but the next-gen is definitely pushing them out.
To run New Genesis on medium, Sega recommends a GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580. These are mid-ranged gaming cards that still hold up even in the next-gen. They aren't overly expensive and may not be as difficult to find as cards like the 1660, RX 5600 or any of the brand-new lines. These cards are commonly found on good gaming laptops. They're recommended for games like Borderlands 3, Final Fantasy XV and Death Stranding.
For the highest settings, Sega recommends a GeForce 2070 Super or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT. These aren't cheap cards, and they can be hard to find since they are newer, high-end tech. Both are high-end and great for newer and upcoming games like DOOM Eternal or Control, particularly if you plan to take advantage of ray tracing. It's a high bar for max settings in an online game.
Like most games, New Genesis requires at least 8GB of RAM and 16GB for higher settings. New Genesis is significantly smaller than the current PSO2 at just 30GB, but it also includes PSO2's 70 GB space for a total of 100GB or more. Both games will be installed, as players can transfer characters between the two after going through New Genesis' tutorial. It also doesn't specify if an SSD is needed, and there are few loading screens in the game.
Those who don't have a computer capable of running New Genesis will also be able to play on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. It runs smoothly on both, though the newer consoles definitely make it better in terms of load times and graphics, particular when it comes to how far objects are rendered. Best of all, New Genesis has crossplay between console and PC, so no matter where you play, you'll be able to experience the game with friends on other platforms.
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