Surprisingly unknown, and EXTREMELY fun, it's PSO III! The long awaited sequel finally arrived, but how does it fair?
Gameplay: 9
The game is really fun, and has some nice ways of seperating the good guys and the bad guys. The first thing you have to do is select your side, the good guys or the bad guys, then you create a character type, and perform some subtle changes to the model (although the color system is surprisingly in-depth). Afterward, you start off with your starter deck (influenced by which side you chose, and which race you chose) and start taking "missions" (which are essentially just fighting and enemy). Before I get into the battles, I'll mention that your character doesn't play, you have to chose which characters are assigned the mission. Also, the game doesn't really help you at the beginning, it's pretty much completely unexplained as to how to play. Now, for the actual battles. First you use a pair of "dice" to determine the number of points you'll have that are used for offensive and defensive actions. Next is the set phase, where you'll pick from the five cards in your hand, which are performance enhancers, equipable items, or summonable monsters. Once set, you can change your character's position move phase, which sets you up to attack your opponents during the action phase. Finally, there is the draw phase, where you can discard cards you don't want, which is then followed by the opponent's version of the turns. Sounds kinda confusing eh? I haven't even started. I'd tell you more, but unfortunately it's so complex, you'll pretty much have to find out for yourself, it's too much to explain.
The two sides play similar, but there's a key difference. While the good guys go around beefing themselves up as supermen and women, the bad guys make armies of monsters, so both sides are going to be much different.
Graphics: 10
The graphics in this game are extremely well done, seriously, perfect. From the water effects, to the menu graphics, it's just gorgeous, from a sandy beach to a mega-anime-cyber tower, full of ambience and color, it's magestic, and, at that time, it was almost CG quality, and it still is amazing, it'd push any console's limits. Plus, at the end of a mission, if you chose the right character for it, you'll see a "comic" style cutscene, and even if it's pretty much a pointless scene that's shown, it's got some great artwork.
Sound: 10
The opening music is a remix of the actual main theme, both of which are MAGICAL. It's so awesome, with latin in the background of the main theme, and spacial futuristic music. The opening is fast, while the main theme is slow, both of which are mighty, full of epic music that sometimes sounds better than orchestrated. It's truly a... sound(?)... to behold. After the main themes, you have some atmospheric masterpieces, such as the music that plays in the swamp (which is soft, gentle, soothing, and really mysterious) or the "Tower of Caelum", which is slow and soft at first, but gradually becomes fast, upbeat, and very epic. It's really cinematic, and really shows that Sonic Team doesn't play around. Heck, the in-game announcer sounds strangely... omnipotent, and commanding. He sounds pretty cool, although some say he sounds boring.
Story: 6
Nothing really. People got to "Ragol", and then got in a stuipid arguement (I'm sorry, but I forgot what it is, mainly due to how there just isn't anything there), and now there are the good guys and bad guys. There's the story, sorry. Now, if there is any plot exposition, I'm sorry to say that I can't help you, because I stopped after playing for a week, and played online mode instead.
Bells and Whistles: 8
The only bell/whistle is the online mode, but it's great. I can't really say much, but that's mainly due to the fact that it's just online mode. You go online and fight other people, including teams. Since the game is so fun, the online mode is great. The drawback is that it costs more than 7 bucks a month, which is kinda steep, but still, worth it. That's about all there is to say.
Overall: 9.1
If not for the lack of help starting, the >_> price, and the simple lack of actual replayability and length, the game would be so incredibly popular, it's surprising. If you like turn based games with action going on, pleasing ambience, and can't stand things like Final Fantasy (I'm sorry to say this, but I HATE Final Fantasy)'s active battles where you can't take time to decide your move, then this game is a MUST buy. NOW.