Phantasy Star Universe

"Since when did games suffer from emulated lag?"

GRAPHICS - 10/10
Much better than PSOv2, This really does try to show some potential.

INTERFACE - 10/10
The old PSO system had far too much cluttering the screen, and a lot of it was unneeded. Now, what is on the screen is done using simple iconography, and can be worked out in seconds.

LOAD TIMES - -10/10
OK, Now I admit that this is a online-recommended game, and that my PS2 is one of the blocky original PS2s, but what is with the console physically being unable to handle loading properly?
First save point, the save corrupted due to the load system not loading properly. Every so often, a new screen takes a minute or two to load of hung screen. Online, this is acceptable. Offline, It's inexcusable.

REPLAY VALUE - STORY MODE - 0/10
If you're just playing as Ethan, this game WILL stink. He's not the best protagonist, and he's fixed in his aptitudes and weapons set. For a game following the four episodes of PSO to have this mode here is annoying, but still, when you've beat it, you've beat it.

REPLAY VALUE - EXTRA MODE - 5/10
Yes, There is a offline mode. This does the best at giving you the missing online features, but still, you don't get the download quests and you don't get essential updates...
Basically, once you've done what's on the disc, you're done.

REPLAY VALUE - ONLINE MODE - 8/10
Well, obviously, this is the meat and potatoes of PSU. Everything's upgraded, everything's been improved, but, please, SEGA, next time you do a big update to PSO, at least try to make it more than a second-fiddle part to a Phantasy Star remake...

OVERVIEW -
Great game, great idea, terrible coding in the load system. Whoever coded that had better have been fired, because I'm definitely not happy. I enjoy the Phantasy Star games... but I can't play this for very long without dealing with annoying lag issues... and I don't even have a modem.
Next game, SEGA, make it like PSO was... but make sure you can still offer the flexibility that PSU has...

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/10/07