Phantasy Star Universe

"Online mode unplayable out of the box and worst of all: it's not a fun game"

Online Mode

As a long time Phantasy Star Online player, I had much higher hopes for this sequel. As it is, the game hardly works, and after months of testing and the release in Japan, Sega still can't seem to get it together. In its defense, the Japanese version is the only one I can play online in, since it does work. Regarding the US release, I can't even get into the server after hours of trying. Right now, the Online mode is completely unplayable. Eventually it might get better, but the Japanese version hasn't, and that's a bad sign.

I will discuss the gameplay briefly, as I have played PSU online with my Japanese copy. The game moves faster than Phantasy Star Online but is otherwise a clone, complete with all of the combat bugs:

-Enemies can hit you five feet past their arm length.
-You can shoot the sky and it counts as a hit on an enemy.
-Swing a sword a few inches to the side of the center of an enemy and you miss.
-Certain enemies can get hung up on corners, allowing you to cheaply dispatch them
-Said hang ups will lead to exploitation online
-Party roles still consist of everyone mashed together trying to get some action

How can the collision detection and weird aiming not be fixed after all these years? It can because Sega knows Phantasy Star Online fans will still buy it and think those bugs will make them nostalgic. There aren't any rare items at this time and several hunter weapons are worthless aside from their looks. Everything feels unbalanced, as if the game wasn't finished going through it's development cycle. I'm sorry if all of that sounds jumbled.

Offline Mode

Seeing as how this is the only mode that currently works, I'll review it. The Offline mode of PSU is, as another reviewer so eloquently noted, lackluster. It has a throwaway plot, uninteresting characters and annoyingly long cut-scenes that make you care even less about the story. This is not an exaggeration, Offline mode is terrible. If you were expecting it to be like Phantasy Star Online's offline mode, which is a mirror of the online mode, you will be sorely disappointed. The only bright spot (and the reason this review score gets some points) is the Extra Mode, which can be unlocked and does parallel the online mode. Unfortunately, much like the online mode, there isn't much to do. In the end, you'll be bored after a few hours with the game.

Graphics

The graphics in PSU are actually quite good. There isn't much slowdown and the models are nice to look at. It is with great displeasure then, that I inform you, these lovely character models are marred in the Online mode by being turned into basic looking, single color models. You have to walk right next to someone and stand there for a few seconds before you can really see what they look like. This is unacceptable for a game that's out at the end of the PS2's life cycle. It looks terrible. They didn't even bother to animate your character sitting down in a chair. Instead you just appear in one after selecting it. I feel cheated that so little effort was put into polishing this game.

Buy/Rent?

After my free month expires, I won't be playing the Japanese version any longer. Unfortunately, I can't return my US copy or I would. This game is not fun to play, and I wouldn't replay it at all. Phantasy Star Online had almost infinite replay value, and this game launches with hardly a rare item in sight. The level cap is low, and I doubt it'll raise much higher than level 100 in the future. Currently there just isn't enough to do. I didn't pay $50 to be promised more gameplay in the future, that's what the $9.99 monthly fee is for. Quite frankly, nothing in Phantasy Star Universe justifies purchase, let alone a monthly fee. Avoid at all costs.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 10/26/06