"So beautiful if I hadn't spent the last 30 hours playing I'd be crying..."

Man I've been waiting patiently for the Phantasy Star series to continue. And my patience has paid off! I don't lie in my reviews and lemme tell you, I eat, sleep, think, read, play, breathe, chew, poop, and worship nothing but this game since the moment I put it in my Dreamcast. This game is a godsend!

Storyline:
The Inhabitants of some random planet in the universe have decided to abandon their home in search of a new home world. Their bumbling adventures through space drop them off on their new home world. You're a hunter on the second ship to go to said planet. As you reach the planet an explosion occurs and (of course) it's your job to find out what happened. As you progress through the various forests, caves, and the like you will discover little holographic pods left by a character named Red Wing Rico that give you the rest of the storyline. It's kinda the group of people save the entire culture from a giant problem, RPG fanfare. But what RPG worth it's Final Fantasy isn't? While slightly uninspired, it suffices as a good enough start to get ya to kill some animals!
-Overall- 80%

Gameplay:
Short version it's an action game, Long version it's a highly blended form, drawing roots from various action games and other RPGs that shines in a multiplayer setting. This game is meant to be played with partners, if you don't have an ISP, get one. Phantasy Star Online is a great game by yourself, depending on the character you create you will have various abilities. Rangers have mastery over guns. Hunters are skilled with up close and personal weapons like swords, and Forces are Magic users. Of course there are variations on each class also. Basically you run around, shooting, slicing, or magicing? your enemies. You are given a quick menu bar that allows up to 6 attacks, or shortcuts to item usage, that are linked to the buttons, X, A, and B. Y will open an onscreen keyboard. Kill stuff and level up! NOW!
-Overall_ 95%

Graphics:
My goodness... The words best on the Dreamcast don't even begin to describe the work that Sonic Team put into this sucker! Everything looks incredible, the bosses are fearsome, the heroes are... heroic, and the villains are... villainous. When it comes down to it I could just watch the intro screen for hours... It's BEAUTIFUL... and I don't think I'm stressing that enough. FF's FMVs are nice and all but when the whole game is sweet, man you can take your playstation and shove it down your garbage disposal.
-Overall- 100%

Music:
I love the music in this game. When you've got it blasting late at night, and the battle music begins to strike up, and you don't see the enemies anywhere, that's tension baby. Even the soft lulling just walkin around music is beautiful. The sound effects in the game work flawlessly, and it's just a treat for your ears.
-Overall- 100%

Replay Value:
I could play this game forever. If I had more than one phone line I'd never get offline... Different people each quest make the game wonderful. This game is so addicting that it should be sold on street corners by men in gold jewelry. I cannot stop playing it. When I'm bored I fight animals, when I'm mad I'm pumpin caps into a Booma. And with the 9 different types of characters and a myriad of variations on those themes, you could set aside every game forever.
-Overall- 100%

Overall
When I finish writing this review I'm gonna put this game back in my Lil Dreamcast, and kills some monsters... This is the game I have been waiting for for a long time, and it delivers in spades... This game is so worth buying and the price of the ISP. I love Phantasy Star Online, I'm saying that just in case I didn't make it evident already. Buy it now, if you don't have a Dreamcast, man are you missing out.
Phantasy Star Online--95%

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/08/01, Updated 02/08/01