Phantasy Star Universe

"Let the PSO fanboys rejoice! PSU has arrived! ^_^"

Lets just get the fact that I am a huge Phantasy Star Online fan, I bought it for the Dreamcast way back when and I've been hooked ever since, having bought the Dreamcast version, as well as the Gamecube 2nd edition (mainly just for split-screen multiplayer and the new content from Episode 2). So of course, I am kinda biased, but even based upon that bias, I can see all the improvements that have been made, and some of the things that were taken out, or some things that SHOULD have been added.

Gameplay: 9/10
- A HUGE update from old PSO style of gameplay, no longer are you bound by the class you start off as. You can actually change classes (Hunter, a fighter type, Ranger, ranged weapons expert, and Force, a Magic/Technic User) whenever you feel like it, and there are no real costs or penalties to doing so, in fact, the game PROMOTES doing so based on the needs of a current mission. Also, instead of having to switch weapons through a menu screen you can now select 6 different weapon combinations that you want to switch through, and hold the B button and select between them. And thats another thing, I said "combinations". No longer do you have to use JUST a saber or JUST a handgun, you can use combinations of both. Sabers (and most one handed striking or technic weapons) go on the right side of the combination box, and ranged weapons go on the left. You can for instance have a Staff for casting spells, and a powerful handgun at the same time, and all you have to do to switch between the two, is click a button. This also brings up another issue, spells. Before, a spell caster would need TP (then technique points, now technic potency) to do so, and now that is replaced by PP (Photon Points). PP is not a statistic your character has, it is actually something different with each weapon, and each weapon also has it's set of special moves to make use of it's PP meter. This means that a staff can have 200 PP, and Foie (basic fire spell) might cost 6 PP per cast, and you can have a saber with 150 PP, and Gravity Attack (a special sword move, learned from a quest). Also removed from the old PSO style is needing upgrade discs to make skills stronger, they now upgrade as you use them, becoming more powerful and costing more PP each level, as well as getting the ability to combo the moves together (using a Sword technique would normally only be able to be done once, but after about level 12 or so, you can combo two of them together, or add it into your normal weapon combos as you see fit). You don't tend to find weapons and armor as much as you used to, because you now find ingredients to Synthesize your own equipment, which is great because you can add different elemental strengths to it and such, depending on the ingredients used. No longer do you spend the main storyline by yourself, you typically have a party with you, up to 4 members. The storyline forces you to play as Ethan, but once you get past Chapter 4 you unlock "Extra Mode" which allows you to create your own characters (with the new Beast race added to Human, Newman, and CAST). I don't want to spend much more of the review in Gameplay, but I can't stress how much of an improvement this is over PSO. However, I miss MAGs (though you do get a robot replacement). If they would have implemented some typical gaming stuff (jumping, for example), and the lack of split-screen multiplayer really disappointed me, otherwise I would have given Gameplay 10/10.

Graphics: 9/10
- Now, is this a big update from older PS series games? Yes. Is it next gen? Kinda. The graphics look great, as they are anime-styled, but I don't think that they take full advantage of 360's capabilites. But, saying that also means that there are practically NO slowdown issues whatsoever, no chugging, nothing! Which is why I gave it a higher score.

Sound:9/10
- Much of the sound effects have changed a bit from PSO, but that is a good thing. No longer do beam weapons sound like ripped off lightsaber effects. Music as always is great, but as this is a 360 game, you can also add your own custom soundtrack to the game, which is awesome. Sega even anticipated this, and made it so when the storyline cutscenes come through, your music cuts out so you can hear the voice acting (while games like Oblivion and Dead Rising didn't do so, it made it hard to hear the story, so you would find yourself shutting music off and turning it back on again, etc). I might have given sound a 10/10 if they made more effects for different weapon types, and if the music REALLY blew me away (like FF series stuff, etc).

Replayability: 8/10
- The story itself lasts a long time, roughly 20-30 hours, depending on whether or not you take the time to do side missions and customization, etc. On top of that, you have Extra Mode, which allows you to make custom characters and run them through all the side missions you have done in Story Mode. Awesome, tons of customization there. However, no split-screen multiplayer means people without X-Box Live (like myself) don't get to experience one of the main draws of the PSO/PSU Universe, playing with real people. Still, I think I'll be playing this over and over just to experience the game in different ways (like for instance, I plan on doing a pure Hunter, Ranger, and Force runthrough, as well as a mixed runthrough, to see the differences, as well as running through all of the combinations in Extra Mode).

Overall: 9/10
- I loved PSO, and I love PSU even more. I would love it most if it had split-screen multiplayer, but otherwise it is a great game for RPG fans, or even people who love action games with a decent storyline. At the very least people with 360s should rent this game, and if you like it it is definitely worth buying.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/02/06