Phantasy Star Online Version I and II (Gamecube) 11.12.02
You might as well kiss your life goodbye right now. Call your friends, your family, and your girlfriend, assuming anyone can bear to sleep with your nerdy ass, and tell them that you’re going away for a while. A long while. Anyone who had a Dreamcast already knows what I’m talking about, and Gamecube owners are ready to find out, as the most addictive console game since Kickle Cubicle has arrived, and it’s ready and willing to kill what’s left of your already sad social life.
PSO is an action RPG, complete with magic, items, and a wide assortment of weapons, and all the other standard RPG things. What makes it a bit trickier, and more strategic, is that because you’re limited to 6 commands at any given time, you’re forced to choose exactly what you need to be able to do on the fly, and what can be done from the in-game menu. Imagine Zelda having a bastard child with Final Fantasy, and there you go.
If you’ve played PSO before, you’ll notice a few subtle difference, a few of which were instituted in Version 2 for the Dreamcast, that make life a bit easier. You can now access a quick select item and weapon select menu that makes switching up weapons in the middle of a battle actually possible this time, and best of all, you don’t drop your money or weapons when you die. That alone should stop you from screaming at the TV and/or mutilating yourself when some f**khead steals your Dragon Slayer. They also threw in a trading screen, which allows you to actually see what you’re trading for before you go through with it, preventing you from getting a monomate in exchange for your AddSlot. Sega did something right.
Another thing they did right was Episode II, which for the most part is an entirely new game. The new levels are as well designed and fun to play as the originals, and perhaps even a little more so. The jungle level is a blast, and all of the new enemies are interesting and a lot of them are very tough. God, did I really say that Sega did something right? Yep, sure did.
Episode I had some of the prettiest graphics of it’s day, and they still hold up pretty well, and they even appear to have been cleaned up a little for the Cube. On the other hand, Episode II is absolutely amazing, and it’s where the game really shines.
Great levels like the Jungle and the Ruins, combined with well designed character classes and enemies make this a nice game to look at. The end boss of Episode I is still the coolest looking boss ever.
While the sounds of the Dreamcast version usually consisted of “GOD DAMN YOU! GIVE ME BACK MY MESETA!” the newer, lower stress version gives you the chance to really appreciate the soundtrack. Top to bottom, every track is appropriate and enjoyable, which is a miracle from the same team that created Sonic Adventure 2 and it’s hideous soundtrack. The sounds also fit well enough to blend in with everything else, and that’s really the best that they can do. The sound is as much of a bright spot as the rest of the game.
The fun here is endless. The single player can still be boring at times, and is mostly used to get a few levels and a few items without everyone else taking them, but multi-player is where it’s at anyway, due in no small part to the addition of a split-screen mode. Even offline, 2-4 player is as much fun as you can legally have. There’s a lot of quests to keep you busy when there’s no friends around, and endless hours of fun for when they are.
If you have a Gamecube and some friends you must buy this game now. There’s a shortage of modems and broadband adapters, but there’s plenty of fun to be had in the meantime. With all these weapons and missions on one disc, you’ll never want to put it down. One of the rare games that’s just superior in every aspect.
