Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II

"Bloody's PSO Review: The Greatness of RPG, mixed with the awesomeness of online"

Alright, of coarse as the title says, this is my review of PSO episode one and two. Now, there will be 4 parts to the review, 6 things being reviewed and 5 being factored into the final score of the game. As for this, I'm going to have 11 things being reviewed due to the fact this is quite a large game, and is 3D (most games I've reviewed are 2d DS games :p So bear with my insane ratings).

So here we go :)

Music/Sounds: 7/8 out of 10

Alright, onto the rating. The music wasn't the best, especially for a Game cube game. It was a soundtrack, from what I've seen, of about 2 songs per area, which made it very repetitive. Besides the repeating music, it wasn't to badly made. Some areas had quite enjoyable music, but others, such as the very first area on episode 1, were just terrible on the ears. The sound effects were very well made, and very well placed. When you swung a sword, you would hear it whoosh through the air, then, when it hit the target, another sound effect plays (multiple play with weapons that hit more than a single enemy, obviously).

Graphics (textures): 8 out of 10

This section is merely for this game. It'll be one of the only games rated with this. The textures for the 3D models were quite nice, actually. Things were very well detailed, and very little pixilation was ever noticeable. Characters had very nice skins that were used, with about 20 a piece. Everything looked skinned as it was supposed to, making the environment quite realistic in its own way.

Graphics (3D models): 10 out of 10

The models were pretty much perfect. All models looked quite exceptional in workmanship and didn't have rough, ugly lines. For the most part, a lot of the models looked quite real, and how they were supposed to (from looking at concept art of characters). The only problem I had is that a lot of the monsters were based off of each other in a very large way. Things like a Booma used the same skeleton as a Shark in the cave area, but then, bosses were entirely unique, and quite large. The bosses were a unique experience because most of them took up the screen.

Graphics (Animations): 10 out of 10

The animations were literally flawless. They moved very naturally, making it quite enjoyable to have a character swinging a massive scythe around, or using their daggers to do their bidding and doing some cool, crazy ninja stuff. Bosses had some of the best animations as they were so large. Monsters had superb animations, as well, even though they used the same bones for all of them, they all had their own animation set, setting them apart.

Graphics (Particles): 7 out of 10

The fire, lighting and ice were kind of boring on this game. They were terrible, but they are very plain and boring. The fire was kind of fun and cool, but some spells were just plain and boring. The third fire spell was very plain, literally just an orb with a slightly transparent red/orange texture on it. The particles definitely weren't well made, but being online, it was most likely to help prevent lag.

Game Play: 9 out of 10

This games game play was quite superb. Everything was well explained in the first quest. Buttons were simple to understand, and controls were. The only thing that brings down this grade is because the level mapping is slightly wacky. Sometimes when walking through a door, you'll accidentally get stuck on a corner, wasting 10 seconds trying to get off, then finally breaking free when enemies are right on you. Monsters weren't hard, unless you get into hard mode where they have roughly 4 times the stats of easy.

Quests: 8 out of 10

Now, I only have the offline quests, so I can't rate the others. I can say this, however: no one quest was the same. They all had different objectives, making it even more fun to do them. It took me roughly 10 hours to complete all quests, and when you finally get to hard mode, you get to do them all over again, but with greater rewards for certain quests. They were definitely one of the things that held this game together.

Story: 5 out of 10

The story wasn't very exceptional, how ever. It was kind of boring and slapped together, but then again, it is an MMO.

Multi-player: 7 out of 10

Alright, I never got to play actual online play, so this review doesn't mention it. Online play has been gone for a year now, so, without your own server, you can't do it. Offline multi-player is quite... well, boring. You can't do quests, so it leaves a giant blank spot in the story as many quests tie into the story in some way. So, all multi-player offline is just a massacre of monsters from a level 39 character trying to level a level 16 (like me and my friends do :p)

Replay ability: 5 out of 10

This game is great for a while, but its very repetitive. You'll get bored quite fast after you finish the final area and boss, but there is always episode 2 (which'll be covered in another review, much shorter than this, later on) in the game to play. They are essentially the same game, but I prefer to post them in two reviews as they have different aspects. (different monsters and bosses and such).

Final Scores:
Music:7/10
Sound:8/10
Graphics (textures):8/10
Graphics (3D models):10/10
Graphics (animations):10/10
Graphics (particles):7/10
Game Play:9/10
Quest:8/10
Story:5/10
Multi-Player:7/10

Final Total: 8.9/10 (rounded up to 9/10)

Overall, this is a great game and deserves to be owned by everyone that owns a Game cube.

Until next time fellow Gamefaq-ers! :)
Bloody

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/08

Game Release: Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II (US, 10/29/02)