A person could easily whittle away hours of free-time on this immersive game
Gameplay/Play-mechanics: Phantasy Star Online has completely different game-play from its’ predecessors, instead of the traditional turn-based setup PSO plays more like a standard 3D action RPG, complete with different combo attacks depending on what weapons are equipped. This also differentiates the game from the popular online role-playing games for the PC, since the combat and game-play in general for PSO is much more hands-on and direct, not unlike what you would find in the 3D Zelda adventures. The actual action is very straight-forward and high on repetition, and some players may be turned off by this truth, but the draw here is exploring the incredibly cool areas, discovering and trying out new items and weapons, which there a massive abundance of, and building your character and Mags. (Companion droids) The sheer amount of cool game-content is what causes players to immerse themselves into the PSO world and invest their free-time, whether online or playing solo off-line, which is what I preferred and therefore my review is based upon the off-line experience. The areas are all awesome locales to explore, and the levels are randomly generated to shake up the environments. In between all of the combat and character-building, there is some cool if modest background story, and related tasks to complete; not having a horde of NPC’s to bend your ear with their senseless babbling is not always the worst thing either.
Phantasy Star Online is quite large in size when factoring in both episodes of the game; each episode features four separate areas with multiple objectives as well as a very impressive boss to encounter. The objectives themselves are nothing too complicated, but they do assist in keeping the game-play varied enough. The creatures are entirely new and original for PSO and not carried over from previous games; the creatures in the game are one of PSO’s strongest characteristics, as they are all very well-designed and animated with personality. Some leveling will be necessary to take them on also, as they will pack a wallop until an acceptable level is reached, and equipping any new and high-level armor is always helpful too. As for your own character, the player is able to select from a variety of classic Phantasy Star character breeds and classes, the customization level is quite impressive. PSO is not a difficult game, just one where the player has to proceed with caution some of the time, a little leveling will allow the player to overcome most challenges. The game also has multiple difficulty settings where your leveled up character can be carried over, this is where the random map generation comes in handy, as the exploration remains at least somewhat unfamiliar and new. When playing through the game more than once, new items and upgrades will be further uncovered, PSO has a way of stringing the player along and beckoning him/her to play deeper and deeper, the game is apt at consuming gobs of free-time if you let it, the single most compelling factor is the extreme coolness of the franchise and game-content.
Visuals/Artwork: Some might say that these character models look a little dated, are there might be some truth to that, however I weigh my opinion of visual presentation heavily towards good hand-drawn artwork, and PSO is a gorgeous game. The scenery is beautiful to look at whether you are in the lush forest area, the sweet looking science and technology lab, or some of episode 2’s locales like the island area, segmented into three separate themes of jungle, mountain, and beach. Many of the views are simply breathtaking; the creatures are all very cool in design and are an important contribution to the visual experience. The bosses are massive and have all kinds of sweet looking attacks and animations. Characters and weapons are very distinctive looking and there are plenty of different special-effects to represent the various weaponry, it can be fun to equip new weapons just to see what it will look like.
Music/Sound: The music is very maturely composed and is the finest music in any Phantasy Star game by far, each area has two separate pieces based on the same arrangement, depending on whether the player is encountering creatures or is alone. The way that the music shifts back and forth seamlessly is very cool indeed. The styles range from symphonic to ambient new age, along with some heavier sounding pieces coming in from time to time, very well-written compositions, you can tell that the developers put some real effort into the music. The sound-bytes for all of the creatures really give them a lot of personality and makes the planet of Ragol the lively, memorable, and immersive place that it is. Phantasy Star Online is highly recommended for anyone who is fond of the franchise, if you can get past the repetition, the game-content presented here is very rewarding.