Phantasy Star Universe

"Like Phantasy Star Online, but bigger."

This is mostly a review for the online side of PSU, as that's what I've spent most of my time with. Since the story is fairly minimal online, I'll follow suit. Basically, you're a member of the Guardians, a sort of military for the planets Parum, Neudiaz, and Moatoob. An alien force nicknamed, "Seed" has attacked the solar system, and as a result the Guardians are at war.

Gameplay:
A vast improvement over PSO or Blue Burst. Combat is now fluid, fast, and highly responsive. PSU uses a manual camera, lock on targeting, and strafing. Enemies are much more aggressive than in previous Phantasy Star games, but as with previous installments, their main tactic is to surround and overwhelm you. The frame rate is usually over 30fps, though a full party with heavy combat can cause some slowdown.

The class system has undergone some changes since PSO. There are three basic classes: Hunter (melee), Ranger (guns, traps), and Force (tech). Your character can change classes at any time, but equipment is limited to class types. In the future, there will be expert classes, which allow players to create a dedicated class, or combine two or all classes.

Controls are mapped out efficiently and intuitively, with square functioning as the standard attack, triangle as your photon arts attack, X for pickup/use, and circle for your palette. If equipping mixed weapons, such as a left handed gun with a right handed weapon, R1 becomes the gun. Photon power replaces the old tech system, and applies to all techniques and ranged weapons. Though the downside is guns with limited ammunition, the upside is that all photon power (including tech) regenerates over time.

The layout of PSU suggests a great deal of future expansion. At present, two planets and the guardian's colony are available for travel. Each location uses a giant city as the hub for that area. Shops and missions are unique to every city.

Mission environments are already more varied than PSO or Blue Burst, and are much larger. Unfortunately, there's no way to visit mission areas outside the mission, as there was in Blue Burst. Content, at present, is limited to about 10 missions, but the amount of closed areas, along with the recent updates in Japan, suggest that Sega has a lot of plans for this game. Currently, mission objectives are lacking in diversity (kill everything-end mission), but each mission has its own environment, layout, and post-mission venue for socializing. So far, there are about eight unique mission environments, which is already twice the amount found in Phantasy Star Online.

Partner Machines are the new personal assistant in PSU. They will store items for you, boost your stats if fed well, and perform synthesis. Synthesis replaces the old method of buying new gear and farming for rare equipment. Basically, it works like this. You insert a synthesis board for your PM, use the required materials and Poof! New item available. Each item has its own probability of success and synthesis time.

Graphics:
Stunning. I value style over shinyness when it comes to graphics, and PSU delivers in a very big way. Everything, cities especially, has a surreal sci fi look, with a bit of cyberpunk. For anyone who's played any of the previous Phantasy Star games, if feels like you're coming home. Each city has it's own distinctive atmosphere, and it's easy to just look on in awe.
Even though missions are still essentially dungeon crawlers, their appearances are diverse and unique enough to lend a sense of immersion. Although ruins and caves haven't changed much since PSO, open field areas are large enough that they never feel claustrophobic. The overall appearance and motion of enemies is simply amazing, and boss fights are epic, as one would hope.

Character creation is limitless in some regards, like hair, face, and proportions. Clothing choices, at present, are few and mostly confined to palette swaps.

Graphically, my only major complaint is in the size of the HUD. The player bar and minimap are too big, and not close enough to the screen borders. There's also some degree of aliasing, but chances are the PS2's being pushed to the limit as is.

Sound:
Being a huge fan of the music in PSO and Blue Burst, I was very nervous when I heard PSU would have a new composer. After 40+ playing time, those fears are long gone. The music is beautiful, and perfectly retains the sound associated with Phantasy Star. Each area has its own music track, relevant to the mission and planet you're currently on. With the exception of the horrible J-pop theme song, all tracks are above average for video game music.
Sound effects are done well. Of course, sound effects are only really noticeable when they're bad, so it's anywhere from good to passable.

Conclusion:

Pros:
Fast paced combat
Excellent graphics
Great music score
Deep customization options
A class of its own.

Cons:
Not enough missions/repetitive gameplay
Mission areas only accessed through trials
Slowdown in heavy battles/boss fights
Where's the telepipe?

In closing, I think PSU's done a great job at fusing together the concepts of PSO, Blue Burst, and the original four, while compromising as little as possible. It's a great, original game that, sadly, will probably remain underrated.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/17/06