Phantasy Star Online

"An awsome game to start, but can get very slow..."

To say the least, PSO was a really good game. Pretty innovative (for around 30 hours), awesome visuals, huge array of items, but the saving grace of ONLINE. The unfortunate part of PSO was offline gaming becomes boring almost right after you beat it the first time. No real ''secrets'' to unlock, or special easter eggs to make the game any goofier (if that's a word). But for all you PSO addicts, I'll explain it step-by-step so you aren't yelling at me. :P

Graphics

One word: Pretty. Some would use ''gorgeous'' or ''beautiful'', but bottom line, this ain't Shenmue. To tell the truth, after you create you character and start the game, you can't even marvel at your perfection because the camera is almost always behind your character. Sure, you can see how good of graphics the back of your newly created HUnewerl's head is, but that's about it. They're good, but only for the other players online.

Gameplay

I started into this game, I really enjoyed it. I blasted (and died) through the first 20 hours nearly non-stop. But then, the inevitable happened: I beat it. One good thing, I will say, is the fact that you can play on different difficulty levels. But, when I beat it on the first difficulty, I said,''That's it?'' After the first time through, there isn't much else other than more chance to get rare items. After that, I didn't pick it up for about 3 weeks.

Online

This is what make PSO Game of the Year material. The ability to go out and kill those bosses that your just not high enough level for with some level 70 friend, well, to say the least, I loved it. And those addicts? They'll give you those rare items you've wanted for ever just to see you run in circles for 10 minutes. Probably the best part of the online play though is the new quests. Just ones where you kill stuff.
But, (you should have see that coming) there were some things that weren't so good. For one, TOO MANY CHEATERS. I've died countless time from some cheater with a stick up his/her butt. You know what would fix that? Having an option to duel or something. So people could fight it out fair and square for a rare items, or just to see who's stronger. That would truly make this game perfect.

Overall

Phantasy Star Online was a good game. (Geez, I sounded 80)
The game will hold you for awhile offline, and when that wears off, online will knock you on your butt.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/14/01, Updated 07/14/01