Phantasy Star Universe

"Fairly mediocre but easy achievements may tempt you to try the game out."

Phantasy Star Universe is similar to Final Fantasy XI, an MMORPG available on a console as well as the PC. The online does require a monthly fee (£6.99 in the UK) which is cheaper than some of the big PC MMORPGs like World of Warcraft. However there is a free trial (you can't do level 30+ quests and your characters are deleted at the end of the month) to try if you're not sure. However its kinda pointless since you have to get the game to try it. However there is a single player (with easy achievements, you get them for beating certain bosses, just beat the game and thats 1000/1000) to tempt you to rent to try out the online and see if you're willing to pay.

The game is set in the Gurhal system. You play as Ethan Waber, who survives a Seed attack on the Guardian Colony (the Seed are some evil plant like race which attacks to system). After saving some people and his sister he decides to join the Guardians, a group which protect the people. After joining its the Guardians job to destroy the Seed, you will follow Ethan as he does this. Despite the fairly simple story there are quite a few good twists and turns and it was kind of interesting. Whilst the story isn't the best, it was better than I expected.

Game play is fairly standard and boring. Obviously the game is an RPG, you play just as Ethan, run around, gain some levels, do some quests etc, thats pretty much it. The game is set in 12 chapters, most of the time you start in the Guardian Colony, the HUB of the game, where you can access the Guardian HQ, travel to other planets (there are three, you have to unlock them though by advancing through the game), shop, and do free missions. Free missions are basically side quests, which you can complete for extra EXP and items. Apart from this the rest of the game is the same. You choose the story mission, arrive at your location, then the chore part comes in. You basically run a round bland and boring rooms (or areas) which look very similar to the previous area. You then kill the mass amount of enemies which appear (you do this by running up to them, tap X a bit to attack, maybe press Y for a special ability and B to use your items, combat is boring and repetitive). Sometimes you get keys to use on doors to advance, but its all the same. The game gives you trials to complete, by completing bosses and getting to certain areas as fast as you can. There are two vehicles but they're rubbish, you basically just move fast. About half way through the 20 hour single player I got bored, the only motive to finish the game was for the achievements. There is also an extra mode, unlocked at chapter 4. This is essentially the online mode, just in single player. You create a character, join a group and just kill some enemies, do some free missions and improve your character. Im guessing online is mostly like this, just with other people and voice chat etc.

The graphics are terrible, PS2 standard. Rubbish character models and textures, this game really looks out of place with other Xbox 360 games. The environments are bland, boring and repetitive, the animation is OK though. Music was actually alright, some nice themes but a few bad ones too, they suited the game well. The voice acting was fairly bad though, although its not unbearable.

Overall the game is OK. The single player was alright until about half way through, its all the same and you will probably get sick of it eventually. Its all a massive chore, although the achievements may tempt you to rent the game and try out the free trial of online. If the online was free though I would definitely play it online with my friend, I think the game would have been more better if the online was free. Overall I give it a 5 (can't quite decide an exact score, although I feel a 5 is suitable for the game).

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 01/24/08

Game Release: Phantasy Star Universe (EU, 11/24/06)