Sega’s upcoming Phantasy Star Online 2 will be a free-to-play game for Japanese Vita users. Apparently, Sega is taking no chances in order to popularize the game. However, no announcement has been made regarding the same for US or Europe.
The free version of the game is connected to the PSN and as such offline connection to the game cannot be established. Vita players can link to PC players only in certain areas.
Keep posted for further news on the matter.