Phantasy Star Online 2 coming to US in 2013

Sega has confirmed that Phantasy Star Online 2 is coming to North America and Europe, and it's currently slated for early 2013. The free-to-play MMORPG was released in Japan recently, and western Phantasy Star fans have been wondering if it would ever see the light of day over here.

Sega only has a teaser site up so far, and has detailed a few key features on the Sega Blog. The developer touts a robust character creator, from three races: humans, Newman, or the robotic CAST. The CAST robots can rearrange their parts in the character creator as well. You can start as a Force class with "Photon Arts," a close-range Hunter, or a long-range Ranger. Dungeons will be randomized with custom-event challenges slipped into the midst of missions, and the MAG combat assistant makes a return from the first PSO.

The plot involves joining "Arks," special trips tasked with finding new planets. Of course, nothing is quite that simple, so you run into D-Arkers, a group opposed to those who head into deep space.

Sega's announcement didn't make mention of the recently revealed Vita or mobile versions, but it would make sense for Sega to bring those over as well.