PSO2 Tweaker Saved Me, And Likely You, By Skipping The Microsoft Store

A week after the PC release and I FINALLY have been able to get Phantasy Star Online 2 installed on my PC without it disappearing after a reboot, failing to open after the first initial opening, or getting any myriad of other errors that many of you have been getting, too. Ironically it had nothing to do with Microsoft or the PSO2 team issuing posts for fixes to some answers or an update to the Microsoft Store of any type...it's all due to a tremendous team of PSO2 fans that have been working on access to the game since the Japanese version launched using their PSO2 Tweaker program. The best news? Now you can use it to totally bypass the Microsoft Store.

PSO2 Tweaker has been around for a while. It provided many, including myself, with a faster launcher and other tools to optimize playing on the original Japanese servers. When the NA PC launch started having issues, the Tweaker team moved quickly and provided some assistance to NA users that were having difficulty by at least letting users download the updates from their faster launcher after users had downloaded the initial 11GB file from the Microsoft Store.

This initially worked for me, by the way, as I wanted to install the game on a drive that wasn't the drive I had Windows on and the Micrsoft Store HATED that apparently. I downloaded the 11GB file from the store onto my D drive then launched PSO2 Tweaker and followed their guide to update the game. For the first time, it worked, too. I was in! A PC restart later though and the Microsoft store decided my file was corrupt and wouldn't run. An uninstall and reinstall (using the same process above) allowed me in again, but this time a restart totally uninstalled PSO2.

Enter PSO2 Tweaker's latest update which now allows you to download ALL of the game directly from the Tweaker, including that pesky 11GB that you previously had to get from the Microsoft Store. The program is rather easy to use for those that may never have used it before and there is a handy guide on how to get it up and running.

From my personal experience, I recommend uninstalling any PSO2 left overs you may have from previous attempts to install the game and letting the Tweaker do its thing. Finally, I have the game running and after multiple restarts the game continues to work...imagine that.

Please make sure you follow the ENTIRE guide if you are going to do an full install from the Tweaker as you will need to enter Development Mode for Windows 10 apps, and there is a small file you need to run after the install to make sure the game boots and ensure that the store doesn't delete things later. Both of these steps are required and explained...provided you follow each page of the guide.

The team at PSO2 Tweaker is fan supported so if you get it to work like I did, maybe consider tossing them a few bucks via a donation to say thanks!