Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2

"The best online game for the Dreamcast - hands down!"

The Dreamcast was a fantastic machine. Sadly, it was not supported as much as it should have been. The built in 56k modem was a wonder for console machines but it was quirky and limited to only certain ISP's (if the DC worked with AOL, we would all be playing DC's today!). For those who own a Dreamcast now, you probably know Phantasy Star Online is the most addicting game every created. Now with version 2, there are new monsters and items plus a battle mode and challenge mode which enhances the original, if only slightly.

The Phantasy Star series is an old SEGA franchise that combines sword and sorcery with technology. It's live action, yet somehow always gets classified as an RPG. The game starts as the spaceship Pioneer 2 enters the atmosphere of Ragol, the planet in which the human settlers of Pioneer 1 have attempted to preserve the human race. Mysteriously, Pioneer 1 was destroyed suddenly and it's your job to investigate on the surface of Ragol. You can create a custom character; right down to body types and hair styles! Then it's off to Ragol. There are a number of offline missions thay can keep you busy but they tend to get kinda repetitive. This games shines online!

All the bosses and monsters that are offline can be fought online. Communicating is acheived though the DC keyboard. You can chat in the lobby, or join a game and chat or play with 3 other players. You can trade items or quest for new items in the monster rooms. But beware, if you are slain online you will drop your current weapon and theiving other players can steal it! PSO also has a fantastic ''card'' system in which you can exchange cards with another player and either chat though an e-mail type system or later search for them online of you want to pal around with them again.

The graphics are simply beautiful. That may seem too strong of a description today because of the sheer power of the XBOX or GAMECUBE, but these graphics are almost the best the Dreamcast has to offer (except for Shenmue). Crisp, colorful and detailed, the games music also works well in finishing the experience.

The game is not without flaws. The offline play can be rather boring, so if you don't have your Dreamcast online, this game is not for you. Gameplay costs money too! About 15 bucks for three months. The biggest flaw is that each PSO disk comes with a serial number and access key that ''marries'' your custom character to your Dreamcast. Is is not possible to bring your game file to a friends to play PSO because your file will not boot up on another Dreamcast or get online. Also, if your DC has a heart attack, you WILL LOSE YOUR HARD TRAINED CHARACTER! The serial number can be reset directly from SEGA so the game will work on a brand new DC but your file will not boot up on another Dreamcast besides the one that created it. According to SEGA, this is not true yet I've been though this at least four times and I know this to have been true to me. Sadly, using a cheat device is the only way to recreate your character.

That brings me to the worst part of Phantasy Star online Ver 2. Online cheaters. There are all types of codes to do harmless tricks like walking though walls but there are now far more damaging, evil codes out there. Codes that corrupt your character, kill you character, kill you Dreamcast (possible rumor)! or just duplicating items which throw off the natural fun of discovering ''rare'' items. SEGA made a number of mistakes which fueled the craze to hack. First of all, a player should not drop their hard earned weapon. Period. That would stop people from duplicating items. Also, why make ''rares'' so RARE. In my year or so in playing PSO ver 1 and 2, there are certain rares I have never seen in the wild, only on other players who probably got them from a hacker!

Anyway, Phantasy Star Online ver 2 is the most addicting playing experience I have ever been faced with. Hours upon hours of my life have been put into this game and I can't wait to see the GAMECUBE or XBOX versions of this game. It's too bad the hackers ruined the online compatibility of the DC version with those newer versions. As for a grading score, here they are:

Gameplay: 10
Story: 5
Audio/video: 8
Replayability: 10
The game is not available to rent, but anyone who plays it has to but it so go out and buy it now!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/14/02, Updated 04/14/02