Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II

"Between sessions with my new games, I always seem to come back to this..."

Phantasy Star Oniline Episode I & II is the best online game ever in my opinion. There is so much to do and see that you can never really get bored. To make sure I'm playing PSO for the rest of my life, Sega has added the ability to communicate via the X-Box Live Head Set with anyone and everyone you play with. This is the reason why you purchased X-Box Live.

Graphics: 4
Take the Dreamcast game and smooth out the rough edges and you have the X-Box game. Everything is as vibrant and colorful as ever with lots of details in each environment. The character models looks as good as they have ever been and move with the same grace that you control them. The only problem is this game is a fixed up Dreamcast game no matter what way you look at it and really isn't good when compared to other X-Box games.

Sound: 8
The sound is still the same with a few things tweaked to sound better. Everything is just like it was in the other versions of the game and I would have it no other way.

Control: 10
This game is perfect for someone who is looking for an RPG to begin with. The X-Box controller is basically the same as the Dreamcast controller and if you are master at the Dreamcast game, the X-Box version will feel like home. All of your commands are easy to pull off and there should never be any real problems with the control.

Story: 5
This game wasn't designed for it's story, it was designed to be a massive multi-player RPG that almost everyone can play. The story is small and is about your character going to Ragol to find the Pioneer 1. The story, what little bit there is, is told through dialogue with other characters.

Life Span: 10
This game will own your life and keep you coming back until you are an unstoppable force to be reckoned with. There are so many things to do: form parties and storm enemy strong holds, collect the best weapons and armor, make fools of your friends via X-Box live, and show you are the greatest PSO player by shutting the level 200 ego maniacs up. I have already clocked over 60 hours into this game and I'm not about to quit anytime soon.

If you need a game that will give you hours of fun without driving you mad, you need to get this game. I have never wasted as much time on a game in my life like I have with this game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/18/03, Updated 06/18/03