Re-Released and Still Good

Phantasy Star Online is a title worth picking up, whether you play it single player, multiplayer, or online multiplayer. If you do buy this game, however, you will be playing it multiplayer one way or another.

First off, this is a re-release. Some things are almost exactly the same, such as the character creation process and such. So does the difficulty, where even veteran players will want to start on the first episode at low difficulty to avoid becoming a snack to a monster. The learning curve is still a little steep, brand new players will find themselves admiring one of the redone parts of the game quite often... the Pioneer, which serves as a base operations, and respawn point should one die.

Graphics in PSO are somewhat redone to take advantage of Game Cube’s power, however, veterans of the series will recognize Episode I, as it's pretty much the same exact thing it was on Dreamcast with little to no variation. On the other hand, more effort appears to have gone into Episode II, with large organic layouts, rich in effects and awesome sights. Too bad they're hidden behind the first two levels of Episode II, which are basically just rectangles fit together to make rooms. Makes you wonder if some corners were cut to get this game out faster.

Having said many things are the same in PSO, it is also important to note what is now different. First off, there are two new classes. One is a female ninja android who, while she can not use 'techs' (or magic), is immune to poison and just looks darn cool. The other new one looks like a mid-20's man with no fashion sense, however, he also proves to be the most difficult character to start with (having no real physical attack power). In later levels, however, the character does evolve to become the ultimate 'tech' user. Besides these new classes, character play pretty much the same, with hunters being masters of melee combat (swords, knives), rangers the masters of hitting from a distance (guns), and forces the masters of using 'tech' skills (magic and staves).

Also new is a split view for multiplayer action without having to connect to the internet. This view works rather well, only becoming difficult during a few boss fights. However, its major drawback comes if a character dies while in this view. The dead character can then remain dead and wait for a potential resurrection, or they can quite possibly mess the entire team up and choose to return to the Pioneer, which forces the entire team to follow. It would appear rather than attempt to load two worlds at once, Sega chose to force everyone to return to a world should one player go there. From a technical stand point, this makes sense. It doesn't make it any less annoying, as death frequently happens in boss fights, where returning is often difficult.

Online play makes its first appearance on the Game Cube with this game. Getting online requires purchasing a separate modem or broadband adapter. Also, online play requires a $8.95 USD fee. Arguably, this makes sense; however, I did not feel the game was good enough to warrant this fee. That is, until I signed online. If this game were designed to stand alone as an online game, I’m sure it would still have sold decently, as it is more addictive than most online games. The only real downside I found to online play was I had no keyboard (as Sega did not release the keyboard controllers previewed in the GameSpot preview of this game), making communication limited to emote icons. The ability, however, to bind common messages to controller buttons alleviated this somewhat.

Music and sounds blend nearly perfectly in this game, with music providing more of an ambience than anything else. The only point where I found fault with the music was where during a few side quests when I could have sworn I was playing Sonic!? Maybe this was intended to provide a more fun atmosphere during these events; however, I felt it out of place at the time.

This game could have been so much better for a Game Cube release, however, as it stands; the game is still a great play. Graphics are nice and polished, despite some repetition in the second episode (up until the 3rd level that is) and the music is nicely blended into the background most of the time. Multiplayer support for local players is a nice alternative and good use of the superior power of the Game Cube, and online play is still as addictive as ever. My final verdict is that PSO is a good buy if you’re into action-RPG games and don’t mind getting hooked in for a while.