Phantasy Star Universe

But graphics aren't everything, and PSU accomplishes enough, visually, to keep people interested for as long as they keep playing, and with so many offline and online things to learn and master, Phantasy Star Universe is that rare role-playing game that keeps on giving. While it may arrive a little too late for the last gen and look a little too old for the next gen, as PSO proved before it, a good game will keep them coming back. It's too early to say whether PSU will have the same level of staying power in an age inundated with online games, but its pedigree makes this one worth watching -- and playing.

Tyvärr är inte allt frid och fröjd. Phantasy Star Universe började nämligen som ett Playstation 2-spel, vilket från början var tänkt att släppas 2004. Visserligen utannonserades en PC-version samtidigt, men Playstation 2-diton var helt klart i fokus. Två år har gått sedan dess och i denna bransch är det en smått oändlig tid. Men vad Sega än ägnat den tiden åt, så inte är det i alla fall det grafiska, för rent tekniskt är spelet mest troligt alltför primitivt till både PC och Xbox 360 för att tilltala de stora massorna.

Overall, fans who spent hundreds of hours in any of the previous versions of Phantasy Star Online will probably enjoy Phantasy Star Universe, but gamers coming over from legitimate MMORPG's will almost assuredly be turned off by the arcade type feel and lack of variety in areas to explore. This is a good mixture of an MMO and an action adventure game, but lacks the overall epic feel that a dedicated game might. If you're in the market for a role playing game heavy on the action then Phantasy Star Universe is a great option for you seeing as how there aren't very many other options on the 360 right now anyway.

Ich mag Rollenspiele. Eigentlich nur die westlichen, aber auch ab und an mal ein japanisches. Und irgendwie hab ich so meine Probleme mit Phantasy Star Universe. Die Motivationskurve wollte einfach nicht steigen. Die anfangs leicht verwirrende Story, die monotonen Kämpfe und die die nervige Kampfmusik versprühten nicht gerade das Verlangen in mir, da groß weiter zu spielen. Aber selbst der Online-Modus ist – im Vergleich mit Online-Schwergewichten wie Dark Age of Camelot, Eve-Online oder World of Warcraft – eher langweilig.

Online spielt sich Phantasy Star Universe wie Diablo 2 im Battle.net - kostet allerdings monatliche Gebühren. Sofern die Entwickler hier mit Patches nicht massiv Inhalt nachreichen, ist das absolut indiskutabel. Anders sieht's in der Solo-Kampagne aus. Die wird mit ihren linearen Levels zwar schnell eintönig, unterhält aber mit einer netten Geschichte und einem moderaten Schwierigkeitsgrad. Für gelegentliche Action-Abstecher dann und wann genau das Richtige.

PSO fans will probably appreciate the game's new setting and its somewhat streamlined gameplay, but those changes definitely don't make Phantasy Star Universe a modern game.

Phantasy Star Universe isn’t bad, but there are much better RPGs available.

The single player campaign will take approximately 18 hours to run through. While most skip the offline section to jump right in to the multiplayer, players new to the game will have a better understanding of PSU if they finish the single player. Sadly, the boring nature of the Story mode won't attract many to stay for the engrossing Xbox Live multiplayer. As for players who loved PSO on the Xbox, you won't find much new material in PSU nor will the online portion last very long for already experienced players. I recommend renting this title to give the online portion a whirl before leaping at your own retail copy.

Phantasy Star Universe does give players an avenue to kill a bunch of monsters with their friends when it isn’t tripping over its own feet. The combat provides simplistic thrills, and it’s always gratifying to equip a sweet new weapon. On the other hand, those few redeeming qualities are readily available in many other games that are well-executed and enjoyable. I suggest you look into those instead.

Besides that, the story itself is deeply uninteresting – it stars a loud-mouthed twit of a hero and a supporting cast brought to “life” by terrible English voice acting. Between that and a pair of awful vocal theme songs, it’s no fun to play and even worse to listen to.

Phantasy Star Universe is still holding on to its roots and needs to be dug out and replanted. Online, or offline the Phantasy Star experience will end up feeling a little generic for today's standards of gaming. If you're a die-hard old school Phantasy Star fan you might enjoy the familiar paint on the walls, but others will quickly know something is missing. If you need that MMORPG feeling on your console this is your only option so far, so make the best out of it until the next developer tries its hand at cashing in on the online RPG phenomenon.

Phantasy Star Universe ist technisch wie spielerisch grundsolide, hat aber mit einem gewaltigen Problem zu kämpfen: Es ist auf Dauer langweiliger als ein Lindenstraße-Marathon im Fernsehen. Missionsbasierte Spielmechanik und Levels wiederholen sich einfach zu schnell.

Phantasy Star Universe to me felt more like an update of the original Dreamcast hack-n-slash than an original game. Granted, it's still a whole lot of fun, provided that you enjoy your share of insane amounts of level grinding. The more action-oriented battle system isn't what makes PSU an unconventional MMORPG, but more likely the tons of quirks and strange additions like item creation and decorating that make it feel more like a major update then an entirely new game. It's a solid game encumbered by a deficient Story Mode and some rather repetitive missions, but it's easily worth a try if you were a fan of the original or just of sci-fi adventure.

Für Phantasy Star Universe sollten Sie ein Faible für Animes haben, denn hier erwarten Sie typisch japanische Charaktere mit Kulleraugen, Spitzohren und bunten Gelfrisuren. Das Action-Rollenspiel besteht aus zwei Komponenten: In der Solokampagne erleben Sie eine schnulzige Story und knüppeln dutzendweise Gegner nieder. Im kostenpflichtigen Online-Modus (10 Euro monatlich) tun Sie sich mit anderen Spielern zusammen, um auf Monsterjagd zu gehen. Das macht das stupide Kampfsystem mit seinem Tastengehämmer etwas unterhaltsamer. Doch die Steuerung ist aufgrund fehlender Mausunterstützung einfach nur nervig. Spielen Sie für das Geld lieber ein "richtiges" Online-Rollenspiel.

Not enough was done to the Phantasy Star Online formula for this newest title in the series to feel fresh. Simply adding new weapons and techniques, changing the environments and adding a few extras such as the bedroom isn't enough when the online RPG has become a fully blown phenomenon. Online RPGs have groomed us to expect to get a vibrant, ever changing world that is full of things to explore and quests to complete. Instead Phantasy Star Universe offers a few hub cities, cookie cutter environments and pointless missions. Even with the addictive qualities, the lack of variety in gameplay makes this one grow old quickly. All of the problems are exasperated on the PC when you look at the flood of other great online RPG¿s available on the platform. Simply put, the PC is an online RPG player's dream. The lesser cousins on the consoles fall short when they get brought over without any improvements.

Fans van Japanse series kunnen deze game kopen indien ze willen weten of ze doorzetters zijn of niet.

The mindless dungeon crawling gets old after a while. You will not have nearly as much fun with Phantasy Star Universe unless you hop on with some friends. Even then, it tends to get boring rather quickly. You are only allowed general attacks with no real variety which hurts player’s creativity greatly. Missing from Phantasy Star Universe is the addition of Mag’s to help boost your character. This is a big feature that has gone missing and had my friends and I rather upset at least. Besides the character development once you unlock it, the only real fun to be had is through the game’s online multiplayer. But the $10 price tag per month can just be too much for players to play such a mediocre title, especially if they are already paying service fee’s for Internet and Xbox Live to play their games.

Disappointing combat, and graphics aside, there is still a good game that's dying to get out from under the rusty shell that is Phantasy Star Universe. The has been beautifully presented, with some fantastically space-age music, and the characters, environments and humour all ooze Sega – its just a shame that they've oversimplified the mechanics so much, and ended up breaking a great game in the process. A decent story, accompanied by some brilliant scripting and a fantastic soundtrack prevent this game from being a complete washout, but in the end, we can only recommend it if you can put up with the monotonous combat.

I'm not saying the game is worthless, but it is a sore letdown, and could have been so much more. Substandard graphics and AI will no longer cut it in a world where MMOs are no longer a novelty. And considering you can play the Beta for free and get just as much as you can out of the game as if you pay, that aspect of the game really cannot be recommended. So then back to the single player, which tells a good story, but is so repetitive you might not bother seeing through the twenty hour quest. If you must play an MMO on your 360, this is probably a better option than Final Fantasy XI, but you might as well just keep playing the demo online. Thus, it is pretty hard to recommend Phantasy Star Universe to you all.

Bref, si le online constitue le "point fort" de Phantasy Star Universe, c'est loin d'être la panacée pour un ennui qui semble nous guetter à chaque connexion. De plus, il faut savoir qu'en parallèle de votre abonnement Internet, vous devrez acheter une licence de Guardian (pour un prix de 9.99 euros par mois), qui expirera si vous n'y jouez pas pendant trois mois. Non vraiment, chapeau Sega ! En somme, la meilleure solution dans le cas présent est d'éteindre notre modem, de ranger le jeu dans sa boîte et d'attendre patiemment les prochaines productions de Mistwalker.

Avec une histoire digne d'un roman de gare, un gameplay souffreteux et une absence totale de sensations, le titre de Sega loupe complètement le coche et récupère du coup le titre de "RPG du pauvre" sur PC. De plus, le multi. ne se pose même pas comme l'élément réparateur puisqu'il dénote clairement d'un manque de profondeur. A croire que la magie s'en est allée, aspirée par un trou noir au fin fond de la galaxie.

Phantasy Star Universe gör mig oerhört kluven. Å ena sidan är det ett gediget genomarbetat spel, med bra kontroller och en hyfsad story som blir bättre för varje spelad timme. Å andra sidan är PSU ett spel med stenåldersgrafik och långa, tråkiga dialoger. Det här känns mer som en förlegad expansion än en innovativ kreation för next-gen-åldern. Vem vill förresten betala dryga hundra kronor i månaden för något som var innovativt för sex år sedan?