As a Milestone Celebration game, IDOLA has its fair share of references.
Phantasy Star Series / Other
- The logo and font are aesthetically similar to that of Phantasy Star Online.
- In a Call-Back to the Section ID mechanic from Phantasy Star Online, the birthday inputted by the player will determine Uly's Element.
- There is a dragon miniboss simply called "Wyvern" that shares many of its visual characteristics with the Dragon from Phantasy Star Online and Reyburn from Phantasy Star Zero.
- Meldor, a Shooter-class Machina with a centaur design and weapons for arms, bears a strong resemblance to enemies from past Phantasy Star games, specifically the Horseman/Centaur enemies from Phantasy Star I and Phantasy Star IV and the Dark Bringer from Phantasy Star Online.
- In his base form, Rogia wields the Yasminkov 3000R
, a classic weapon dating back to Online. - A few Yuru Idola comics focus on Giselle's history with an energy bar called "PelorieMate", a Bland-Name Product version of the CalorieMate energy bar that appeared in the Japanese version of Phantasy Star I.
- Unlike normal non-Zodiac Idola, who are represented by the Dark Falz insignia, Titan Eren is represented by a unique Survey Corps emblem.
Phantasy Star Online 2
- The summoning animation for pulling on the gacha incorporates a themed variation of PSO2's loading screen.
- During the prologue, a mural depicts Dark Falz with a Darker core. The same mural also has a flying boat with the ARKS logo pictured on it.
- The targeting icon for targeting enemies resembles a stylized version of the Lock-On cursor from PSO2 and borrows the relevant sound effect.
- All of Quna's Elemental Blasts are based on her songs. Neutral Quna's Elemental Blast is called "Our Fighting", and shows her performing in front of an audience on the ARKS Ship stage. Law Quna's Elemental Blast is called "Cosmic twinkle star" and involves teaming up with an A.I.S. to fire a Wave-Motion Gun like in the concert. Chaos Quna's Elemental Blast is called "Eternal Encore", and although it's not based on the song specifically, it features a reference to Hadred and the final chapter of EPISODE 1. All three Elemental Blasts also play a snippet from the appropriate song, and Quna's basic attack also plays a brief riff from the song corresponding to her alignment.
- There is a ruin of an ancient structure that is said to be an "ark from space" which highly resembles a Campship.
- Non-Zodiac Idola are represented by a stylized Dark Falz symbol from PSO2. Idola Cores also bear a strong resemblance to Darker Cores.
- Some characters get stylized variations of Photon Arts from PSO2 as Elemental Blasts.
- Save for legacy weapons from previous titles, almost every single Weapon Symbol in the game is based on a PSO2 weapon.
- After Fate Divergence, Gene's Fossil Tricks transforms into a new weapon; the weapons shown in both versions of Gene use the same colors as the Genesis Weapon "Roto Raut" that Gene is a Weaponoid of.
- Sagittarius' Elemental Blast borrows visual effects from the Revolucio 13★ weapons; the unsheathe animation is played over Sagittarius as he begins the attack, and the Revolucio blade design can be seen as Sagittarius' options transform into giant fists.
- Rogia's End Attract and True End Attract Elemental Blasts incorporate the Standing Sign and Weak Bullet visual effects.
- Luther's Fate Divergences are based on his appearances at two different points in the story: Law is based on his EPISODE 5 appearance after he merges with the player, while his Chaos appearance is based on his EPISODE 2 Photoner outfit.
- Luther's Skills make several references to his Dark Blast attacks. His Law FD also incorporates the "Type-0" naming scheme for PA Customize, while his Chaos FD has a skill called Dalz End, referencing the Dalz weapon series that drop from Dark Falz Loser.
- Matoi has several:
- Her base kit uses Dark Techniques like she did in EPISODE 3. Her Fate Divergences are also based on two of the game's Successor Classes: Hero for Law, and Phantom for Chaos.
- Her second Law Skill is an Area of Effect attack that generates a massive Laser Blade to hammer the enemy party, mimicking the visual design of Hero's Hero Time Finish ability for Swords.
- Matoi [Pure Determination] has her cosplaying the other two Successor Classes, Etoile and Luster, for her Fate Divergences. Her base form is also seen wearing her casual outfit from Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode Oracle.
- When Dark Falz Theater's core is revealed for the first time in the Final Boss battle, the ominous battle theme makes way for an instrumental version of "Endeavor", the game's main theme, signifying that the tables have turned in your favor, just like how most raid bosses in PSO2 will have an iconic song cover the final stretch of the battle.
- Dark Falz Theater's Elemental Blast is heavily evocative of the Profound Darkness's giant laser array that it creates in an attempt to destroy Planet Naberius in Episode 3, though thankfully it's nowhere near as apocalyptic given how often you'll get hit by it.
- Io's Elemental Blast, Cerulean Ballista, is an Area of Effect attack that gains a damage boost when there's only one enemy, emulating the original Complex PA's ability to alter between Area of Effect and single-target variations based on the player's input.
- One of Canceed's mooks is a small robot called a "Hound Gilnas", named after the Gilnas enemy that appears in the Underground Tunnels in PSO2. Just like Gilnas from Lillipa, Hound Gilnas have their heads break off into separate enemies upon death, requiring the party to kill them twice.
- Flammy [Fighting Administrator] obtains her original operator uniform from Phantasy Star Online 2es when she Fate Diverges to Neutral A, even including a Launcher with a matching design.
