It's a real bummer because the graphics are pretty decent for a free MMO, but unfortunately the game is plagued by a lot of stuttering and lagging, even on a capable machine. I have personally not tried this on my Series X yet (where I presume it will run much more smoothly), and perhaps I need to try messing with the graphics settings some more, but honestly the lag is making this game unbearable to play.



I really want to get further but simple tasks are taking forever with the lockups every where. It seems to happen anytime you turn the camera (aka move the mouse sideways) or when you start moving. It also happens in cutscenes. I read that changing the settings for your frame limiter to unlimited helps, and it seemed to help a little bit with smoothness of course because my FPS went from being limited at 60 to hitting 120-130 fps. Unfortunately, it did not help with the game constantly locking up for a second or two at a time.

I really hope they can address this because the rest of the game seems pretty decent, and as a former Phantasy Star Online (during Dreamcast/OG Xbox days) player I really want to dive in!

Edit: Just wanted to come back and say that I can't even log into the game anymore. It constantly freezes during the loading screen after selecting a ship (server) and character. Yikes! I thought enough time had passed (a little over a year) but I guess not! Docking another point off my score for now.