User Rating: 9.8 | Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II XBOX
A surprisingly addictive title. Combined with Xbox Live support you'd be hard pressed to find a better casual gaming experience. The gameplay is simple yet addictive. You have combonations of moves with each weapon. Depending on your timing you will do one two or three consecutive moves. Honing your skills in this area is imperative to success later on in the game. Going that extra mile to level up your character and get better weapons really adds depth to the gameplay that you can't find in alot of RPG's. It is almost like Diablo in a sense where you are going from place to place slaying monsters, getting their weapons, and leveling up your character. Though it's more rewarding in PSO. You will be comparing your character to other characters online. It gives you a sense of pride to see you carrying a better weapon than the other player. Being at a higher level also brings this same feeling, making you hard work seem much more worth it than in games like Diablo... where you can feel kind of generic and unwanted in many of the quests. The only problem in the gameplay is the horrendus camera and targeting system. This becomes much more frustrating when surrounded by many enemies or in a boss battle. If you find yourself surrounded you will quickly find that the targeting reticule moves from one enemy to another. This can get quite frustrating when you are weakening an enemy and then the reticule changes and you start fighting another enemy while the weak one is still killing you. Also during boss battles this can happen. When fighting one of the earlier bosses (I won't spoil it) he will put you in a position where you can't even see the ground. I can not describe hor frustrating this gets when you are trying to dodge his attacks. However, for the most part, the camera is co-operative. One feature I've neglected to mention is Xbox Live play. Unless you've been living under a rock you've heard about Phantasy Star Online. When you enter a lobby you can interact with many of the more social Xbox Live gamers or you can head straight to the info desk to join or create a game (called teams). Xbox Live play offers up much more of an opportunity to have fun (this holds true for evey Xbox Live game). There is just something about picking it up and talking to other people while you play that is much more satisfying than ploughing through dungeon after dungeon by yourself. An RPG fan with an Xbox Live account would do himself well to check this one out. The graphics, for what they are, are great. The visuals have been cleaned up since the previous versions of the game. There is less aliasing, higher resolution textures, and other advantages over it's DC counter-part. All the areas are created with attention to realism. The only problem with the visuals are that they just aren't up to par with what the Xbox is capable of. But that doesn't make them bad. The sound is great. Fantastic music. Great sound effects. Dolby Digital 5.1 surrount sound ready. You can't ask for more from a game like this. With all the ambient sounds in the game. These features heighten the experience of Phantasy Star Online. You cannot ask for a better value for your money (unless you are a Morrowind junkie). It's 2 games in one AND online. It's the first MMORPG on the Xbox and a long, addictive, satisfying one at that. This game can keep you busy for a long, long time. We Xbox gamers are always waiting with baited breath for the next big Xbox Live title. This Xbox Live title will keep you busy long after they are released. While the monthly fee may limit the value of the game to 2 months for some. The monthly fee seems like a steal once you get into the game. Required Xbox Live access was a big no-no on Sega's part and it will make the game inaccessible to many gamers. However, seen as how I have Xbox Live it doesn't bother me. Fact is that each MMORPG should be treated for what it is. A fantastic, addictive, experience that many gamers enjoy much more than games from other genres. If you are one of those people than I am wasting my breath because you already bought the game. Whether you have played one of these games or not, Phantasy Star Online is worth a rental just for the experience. I recommend that anybody with an Xbox Live account should check this game out.
