Phantasy Star Universe

The Phantasy Star series was born on the console – way back in 2001 on the Dreamcast. With originals so strongly rooted in consoles, it comes as little surprise that when the game made its way to the PC, players need to find a gamepad in order to get the best controller experience from the title.

But that is getting ahead of the matter …

There are two ways to play this SEGA release – offline in the single-player story mode, or by plunking down $9.99 a month for the online capabilities – which essentially puts you into a server-based world with other players and you can team up, take on missions that ramp up for the party and gain experience by pushing back the Seed aliens.

The game has a futuristic bend – mixing in science fiction with some old-fashioned hack ‘n slash and magic (known as force). There are four races: humans, who have the best overall abilities, the newman, which specializes in the aforementioned force skills, beasts which are melee machines and the android Cast, which is the ranged/gun class.

At one time the four races were embroiled in conflict, but that time has passed and the Gurhal system has enjoyed a time of peace … well, that was until the station that was the central home to the four races was hit with a barrage of alien pods, which in turn yielded up alien creatures known as the SEED. The latter, intent on the destruction of the races are the antagonist of this tale.

The story mode begins with Ethan Waber, who has a chip on his shoulder, especially when it comes to authority figures like the Guardians, losing track of his sister when a cave in traps them on opposite sides of debris. Getting to her and seeing her safely away from danger is his first priority. Ok, so along the way he begins working with Guardians and becomes the hero of the tale.

The story itself is not overly original, so don’t think this game will tread any new ground. In fact, the game – on the whole – has a very familiar feel to it. The names of items have been changed, but this game is largely what has been experienced before. The story mode is a very directed path through the game and the dialogue (some cutscenes advance the story and bubble chat will move the tale along), while the online/network mode is, more or less, a mystery about what you are supposed to do. You can go to a hub, get a mission (which details appropriate level and party size), and then enter the mission. Yes, it is a dungeon crawl in which you are tasked to move through an area and clear out all the monsters that pop there. You kill monsters, level up, collect items and sell them for better equipment or armor. You can even customize your room and store items in it. Each of the missions have crystals that act as waypoints. Activate it and you can drop back to the zone at that point.  

The control scheme on the PC is both convoluted and restrictive. It is better to plug in a gamepad to be able to rotate the camera easily and attack. Even then, the camera and control keys (the attack, use buttons, and so on) conflict. This is an element that should be given more consideration when or if another title comes out.

The sound is decent and the graphics are fine, but rather limited. The effects are solid, the characters are well done, but the environments have few variations.

As a single-player game, Phantasy Star Universe is not that deep and seems a little forced in terms of plot points. The network game is a repetitive button masher that throws in some customization in the hopes that players will hang in and play. Unfortunately, the experience is just not there. The game is not an MMOG on the scale of Guild Wars and the single-player experience is lacking.

Gameplay: 6.0
Expect load times when the game first boots. Forget using the mouse and keyboard – it will drive you crazy. Go with a gamepad. Even then, you may find the gamepad default controls awkward. And by default, the game plays in a window. The controls are not that intuitive – between the control scheme and game concepts, expect a learning curve.

Graphics: 7.5
The art style is pleasant enough, but the camera is a nuisance. Still some thought went into the character animations and range of emotions available.

Sound: 7.0
Loud and average. It can easily be turned down.

Difficulty: Medium
The names of the items are different, and you may have to figure out what it is you are doing in the multiplayer element, but the game is really not all that difficult.

Concept: 6.5
The game has different names for various items, but generally speaking, this is nothing new at all.

Multiplayer: 7.0
Few players seem to be in the various universes and most seem too busy with their own missions. But as the mission difficulties ramp up, you will find yourself looking harder and harder for company.

Overall: 6.8
In many ways this feels like an unfinished game. There are shops with “coming soon” signs on them, and the gameplay seems rather simple – get a mission, go from point A to B and kill everything in the way. The single-player game is not that deep or compelling and the network portion is repetitive without a lot of variation in either missions or environments. As a single-player game, this title is a bit below average, and as a MMOG, it is merely average.