Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst

"Phantasy Star Online returns yet again, and it's better than ever!"

Phantasy Star Online has had many games, and the Phantasy Star series continues on. The first Phantasy Star Online game was made for the Dreamcast, and it got pretty far for a first time online Phantasy Star game. The second one was also made for the Dreamcast, followed by two more for the Gamecube. Episode III, however, did not make it very far, for it was a card game. This game plays kind of like an MMORPG, but it isn't one. Onto the review.

Story: 8/10

The story basically has three sides to it: Episode I, Episode II, and Episode IV. The story of Episode I is: there is a planet called Ragol that you are on, where you fight monsters and everything. A dark creature, named Dark Falz (he was introduced in many other Phantasy Star games for the Genisis), has threatened the planet with his evil magic. There is a big town known as Pioneer 2, but it is actually a huge ship that has a town inside. The principal has discovered that a girl (or guy?) named Rico has been kidnapped. You must travel through four different levels: Forest, Caves, Mines and Ruins. You discover that Dark Falz has returned in the Ruins, and that he has Rico! You must stop Dark Falz, and you get to see a glimpse of Rico, but never actually RESCUE him/her. Episode II's story is: a place unknown to you has a Lab area, where you'll discover that the DNA has been released. This DNA is known as Olga Flow. You must go through two virtual reality missions before you defeat this DNA, however. Once you defeat it, you'll see its sword fall from the sky, and slam the ground. Episode IV's story: a huge meteorite has landed on Pioneer 2 (or Ragol?), and you must go on this said meteorite and see what's going on. Episode IV only has two levels, however. At the end of the episode, you discover a snake-like thing known as Saint Million. Once you defeat it, you save Ragol once again.

Gameplay: 10/10

This is the best part about the ENTIRE game. While the story may make this game sound stupid, you don't have to even FOLLOW by the story. The PC version, which is this game, is online only, and it does not follow the story as much as the other versions. There are three classes, and four characters in each class. The classes are: Hunter, Ranger, and Force. The Hunters focus on weapons and power more than anything. Rangers focus more on accuracy and guns, and are the worst at magic, while the Force's focus more on spells and support, and healing. Forces have the least amount of HP, attack power, defense and accuracy out of all the classes. However, their ability to use spells very good makes up for that. A Force is the ONLY class that can use above Level 15 techniques, known as Disks in this game. You can pick between three episodes, and there are four difficulties: Normal, Hard, Very Hard, and Ultimate. Ultimate Mode has changed around monsters, it is much harder, and gives you the most amount of experience points out of all the difficulties. You can also find the most rares in Ultimate Mode more than any difficulty above Hard. You cannot find ANY rare, aside from an AddSlot and Photon Drop in Normal Mode. There are several IDs that you get when you create your character, depending on what you named it. They are: Yellowboze, Greennill, Purplenum, Oran, Bluefull, Skyly, Whitill, Pinkal, Viridia and Redria. Each ID finds different things from different enemies on different difficulties. You get to even customize your character!

Each level (except on Episode IV) has its own unique boss for each episode except four. The bosses even sometimes drop a rare item, depending on the difficulty setting and the ID you have. You can create a total of four characters per an account. To advance to another level, in this game, you must complete the Principal's quests for Episode I. For Episode II, you must clear the Lab's quest. You have to clear ALL of them for each episode before you can advance into the next difficulty. However, Normal is the only difficulty where these said quests are required. There are even four different game modes you can play in, which are: Normal (regular play), Challenge (you start out at a certain level, with basic equipment, until you advance to the end with some partners), Battle (you can battle each other using either certain rules or no rules), and One Person (you can play alone; this is offline mode for this game). There are also several Ships, Blocks and Lobbies you can visit, where you can find other games created to join and other people. Depending on the holiday, Pioneer 2, along with the Lobbies, will be decorated with the stuff from that holiday. You can also find rare enemies found only on these holidays. There are also regular rare enemies that you'll find throughout certain levels. There is also a MAG that you can train up to Level 200; this said MAG powers you up depending on what stat you raise. You can even get rare MAGs by obtaining Mag Cells and using it on your MAG at a certain level. Your MAG evolves at different levels, and thus, it becomes something different and gives you a power known as Photon Blast. You can raise either Defense, Power, Mind, or Dexterity. Depending on what item you use, a certain stat will raise. When the bar has gone to full, your MAG powers up that stat by one point, and levels up.

Sound: 9/10

For an online game, the sound is actually pretty good. Each weapon/gun/technique sounds different than others. Like, if you use a basic Saber against a Booma, the weapon sounds like a lightsaber from Star Wars. When the saber hits the Booma, you'll hear a "Oof!" or something that the Booma moans when getting hit. Some techniques sound great, while others just sound like a "Whoosh!". Foie is a great example. This is actually one of the games I've played where the sound dosen't suck, unlike most other games I've played. Even bosses in this game make certain noises when you hit them; this applies to nearly (if not) all the enemies and bosses in the game. I really do like the sound to this game; it gives the game more of a good touch.

Graphics: 10/10

Unlike the other PSO games for the consoles, this game has terrific graphics. It's for the PC, so go figure. The graphics look almost real, and the levels and everywhere you go looks very neat. This is the only PSO game I've played where the graphics were this amazing looking. Seriously, the graphics are one of the greatest things about this version. They look like any other RPG or whatever game that you play on your PC, only probably about ten times better. They may not be as good as I'm describing, but they are great, I'll tell you that much. For a PC game, there isn't very much for me to say about the graphics.

Music: 9/10

This game has really catchy music in a lot of places. For example, in the Crater level on Episode IV, the music there is very catchy and very good and well made. Another example is Ruins 2 and up; they have great music. Dark Falz's final form also has some great music. I could go on and on, but it would take too long. Besides, there's no need for me to anyway. Of course, it is only natural for an RPG/MMORPG to have great music such as this game. Anyone who is a fan of RPG games knows this (or at least they should). Not too much to cover up in this section. The only reason this section dosen't get a ten is because some music in the game just bores me to death. Forest's music is an example; it sounds like a wonderland. It isn't very catchy in my personal opinion. They do have Disk Volumes that you can buy from the Gallon's Shop quest, that play songs depending on what one you have. Disk Volume Six plays a great song that I always LOVED hearing on the Gamecube version.

Replay Value: 10/10

Replay value? What replay value? Oh well, I gave it a section and a rating of ten anyway. Simply put: this game never ends, so there really IS no replay value. If you of course want to consider beating the last level beating the game totally, then yes, this game DOES have lots of replay value. You can get up to Level 200 on this game, though it is highly unlikely that you'll do so. However, you'll get up to at least Level 135 + before you quit, especially if this is your first time playing. You'll be kept busy for a WHILE by playing with friends on your Guild Card, by playing through all four unique difficulty settings, and by using all your Level 30 or so techniques. Not to mention all the rare items and MAGs you can obtain; this game ALWAYS has a space left for fun somewhere. The only downside I can find is: after two or three months of playing, you'll get insanely bored and quit for another four months at the least. Trust me, it happened to me EVERY PSO game so far, so it'll happen to you too, most likely. But when this game is fun, it's as addicting as heck, and you'll NEVER wanna stop playing.

Buy or Rent?

Well, considering this game is downloadable only, you CAN'T rent this game. Visit http://www.psobb.com/ if you wish to download the game. Be warned that it costs money. However, it is WELL worth it, especially if you've never played a PSO game. I strongly suggest paying for it; you will not regret doing so. It's only $9 a month, so it's not that big of a deal. Try this game as soon as you get the chance and as soon as you can.

Overall: 10/10

After reviewing this entire game, it gets a score of a ten. This game is just pure awesome, and you make friends quite easily, giving this game more fun than normally. You'll get bored eventually, but this game still remains one of the best ones there ever will be for the PC and/or any console. By ending this review, I say: I hope you enjoyed this long review of mine, and I hope it helped you decide whether or not to buy it and try it. If you don't like it, you can always cancel the subscription. Until next time, folks!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/12/05