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Probably one of the most highly anticipated
Dreamcast games of the year,
many were excited to say the least when this game was released.
But after
several release changes and non-official broadband release, not
to mention
the recent news from Sega themselves, would these gamers still
enjoy it?
Rest assured, based on the thousands of
people crowding the servers every
day, that Phantasy Star Online got the welcome that it deserved.
While the original Phantasy Star series
for the Sega Master system and
Genesis are now considered to be classics, it may be difficult
to find
anything that resembles the original in PSO. Even though several
items,
enemies and races appear in the game, the story itself is completely
different. Well, actually, there really isn't one. Let me explain.
The overall story is simple. Your home
planet is dying, and a ship, Pioneer
1, is sent out to search for another planet. Several years later
a message
is received that a new planet has been found, Ragol. So you,
and everyone
else on the planet leave on the Pioneer 2 (original,
huh?) for the planet Ragol. However, right before you get down
to the
planet, a huge explosion destroys the colony of Pioneer 1 and
everyone down there. Now it's up to you to find out what happened.
That's the story. And while it may seem
like a nice one, it goes nowhere.
You never exactly figure out what happened to the Pioneer 1.
Not that I'm
saying that this could be a bad thing for PSO, nor is it a bad
game. Quite
the opposite actually. Wonderful visuals and great
online play save this game from being mediocre at best.
Visually, this game is a masterpiece. Details
like water splashing when you
walk over it and the inside of caves is pure beauty. Character
animation is
good too, and while there aren't an infinite amount of differences
in the
classes, each has their own distinct look. Speaking of classes,
there are
three. Ranger, Hunter, and Force. Each of these is divided into
three
different races - Human, Neuman, and Android. That makes nine
different
characters in all.
Sound wise, there are a few kinks. Being
that this is a 128 bit game, one
would think that there would be a bit of voice acting. However,
because of
the fact that you have full customizability, this would make
it very
difficult. Hey, it worked for Final Fantasy... On the music side
of things,
while the background music is nice, it often gets repetitive
and you may opt
for different music. But if you like fully orchestrated music,
you'll
probably enjoy it for at least a while.
The controls in PSO are a mixed bag. While
moving your character can be a
breeze, targeting enemies can sometimes be difficult or even
life-threatening. Attacking is simple, either upclose with swords
and staffs
or long-range with guns. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses,
but
each is good in certain situations. The menu in PSO is very different
then
you might expect. Since this is an online game, you can't simply
pause the
game and go into a menu. Because of this, the people at Sonic
Team devised a
real time menu screen, where everything happens while you equip,
use items
or change options. Something that
really helps, is the customizable items, which you can use with
the push of
a button.
What could probably be called the best
part of the game, would have to be
the online mode. While offline you can engage in quests, play
all four
levels by yourself or just mess around, it really heats up when
you're
playing against three other human players from all over the
world. Thanks to innovative, and somewhat frustrating, security
you are
given special codes so that your copy of PSO only works on the
Dreamcast it
was originally played on.
After logging into the PSO network you
are given the choice of ships (or
servers) and then several blocks. From there you can either start
a game or
join one in progress. You can then either start specialized quests
or go
through the game level by level until you defeat the
game. And let's not forget the other reason one would go online,
CHAT! And
PSO doesn't disappoint. There are several different ways to communicate
with
others, including symbol chat, shortcuts, and mail. Along the
way, you
collect Guild Cards which helps you keep in contact with individual
characters.
While the game itself may not have as much
substance as you might hope, the
online portion helps keep this game afloat. Believe me, once
you start a
game, it'll be hard to stop. Take this from a guy who's already
clocked over
100 hours and 75 levels! This game could easily be called one
of the most
time consuming and addicting games of the year. It may not be
perfect, but
you'll find it hard to judge while you'll blasting away sharks
and other
monsters with friends or complete strangers.
Graphics: 
9 Brains
While the overall look is spotless, slowdown in certain areas
with large
amounts of enemies and lag online knock it down a bit.
Control:
7 Brains
Near perfect controls and easy to access and use menus are hampered
by hard
to target enemies.
Music/Sound: 6 Brains
You'll almost wonder if they just ran out of time for the sound,
but while
repetitive, the music will help set the mood.
Story:
3 Brains
What can I say? The story can be summed up in a short paragraph,
and while
you sort of learn what happened during the game, there really
is no ending.
Gameplay:
9 Brains
If you're buying this game just for offline, beware, this game
must - I
repeat, MUST - be played online for full enjoyment.
Fun: 10 Brains
Who am I kidding? This game is just so much fun! It almost seems
like Sega
implanted some sort of subliminal message...
Over All:
8.5 Brains
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