Phantasy Star Universe Critic Reviews

Action-based online RPG-ing, and nowhere near as intimidating as its PC-based cousins.

A decent hack 'n' slash action-RPG. Too bad the multiplayer game is too expensive for what it is.

A throwback to the good ol' days of "Diablo 2"-style dungeon exploring, PSU is a value-packed, worthwhile action-RPG that finds its biggest challenge not in its modern-day peers, but in escaping the shadow of its predecessor: "Phantasy Star Online (PSO)."

Personally, I was turned off rather quickly by the ancient game play and dated development decisions.

Universe is a strong and worthy sequel to the 2000 Dreamcast classic, but key absences – specifically the offline multiplayer – make a very good case for waiting.

Sure, I applaud Sega for attempting to transform the single-player experience into something meatier, but poor voice acting and clumsy storytelling lend the proceedings a cheesy B-movie vibe.

Phantasy Star Universe, in the end, is just more of the same thing: simple dungeon crawling. It's fun online; it's not fun offline. This is a hard one to rate, as it's pretty convoluted. It ultimately depends on what type of experience you're looking for when you load it up.

Sure, the online world can be a bit overwhelming at first, but once you've got to grips with communicating and finding your way around, you and your friends will be hooked.

Even clearly noticeable repetition and developer laziness can't fully erase what is in essence an almightily addictive and emergent base structure.

It’s not quite as open-ended as genre titans like World of Warcraft, but there’s a lot to like about PSU; it offers a vast, engaging and personal online and offline experience – plus there’s just something blissful about hitting robot Ewoks with a giant sword.

Online is clearly the main event here, but nevertheless the experience proves as involving and deceptively deep as ever. Minus a few fairly bizarre design issues, it would score more highly.

Phantasy Star Universe was designed to be a console game, even more so than Blue Burst was, and doesn't relent in that position even slightly.

Phantasy Star Universe almost immediately feels dated, and the monthly fee is way too steep to justify, but at its core, it's still an enjoyable experience.

It's a simplistic and shallow game that by all means should make it one of the worst RPGs ever made. It has a player-base that's virtually non-existent, and will only be decreasing with time. The single-player mode, though improving on the originals, is pretty shameful when compared to others. And yet, just like the original, it's a blast to play and will surely keep some people addicted for a long time.

A polished game that just isn’t that exciting. Series fans will appreciate what it has to offer, but those coming in for the first time may find the experience underwhelming.

But as it is, for the sequel to the forefather of online console RPG's--a game we happily sank hundreds of hours into on everything from Dreamcast to original Xbox--Phantasy Star Universe does only due dilligence without pushing the series past, say, 2003.

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.

It succeeds in tracing classic-but now dated-gameplay structure while offering an instantly accessible social online aspect that may well offer an avenue into MMO not usually accepted by those with more of a penchant for more immediate titles. However, it fails monumentally to accept the next-gen baton handed up hopefully by its Dreamcast predecessor.

There is little doubt in my mind that Sega could create a great MMO one day, but truth is, they need a make a fresh start and take the concept in a new direction, take it back to the drawing board.

Just about the only thing that is going for it is the online play, and even then $9.99 is a pretty steep price to pay for such an underwhelming experience. In the end, the game is a big disappointment due to its lackluster graphics, sound, and gameplay.