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Ambition is the Way to Go

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

After so many years of gaming I finally got around to a Phantasy Star title and it's great! Past reviews describing PSU as an incomplete game kept me away before, but it certainly has filled out nicely since then because it feels like a full gaming experience to me. Well worth the price in my opinion (including the optional $10 subscription for online play). And I highly recommend this new "expansion" Ambitions of the Illuminus which is actually stand alone. It has just about everything from the first. Also it seems the game has been tweaked so new players can level up quickly to about midlevel. This provides a little "catch up" I assume.

Graphics look splendid on my old machine. I have a crappy NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 and it runs smoothly (albeit in a 640x480 window; I gotta upgrade this dinosaur).

Sound is satisfactory. I find myself listening to the default music more often than pulling up my own music.

The community is quite decent. I've played MMOs that are just an ocean of kids and this is not one of those. Beyond the kiddy chatter at hot spots I found very helpful and considerate members.

Not much lag at all through my connection. I've heard this game isn't very demanding as far as bandwidth so long as your connection is better than dial-up.

I recommend doing some research before buying this game since it's set up a little different than most. For example, there's online and offline playing modes and PC/PS2 servers are separate from Xbox servers.

If you must buy Phantasy Star Universe, just get the expansion

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: November 22, 2007
Author: Amazon User

**As an initial statement, I must urge you to skip the original PSU and just buy this standalone expansion. Having PSU, the original, will only add access to terrible offline story mode (in which you have to play as a very cliched predetermined character.)**

This game's predecessor, Phantasy Star Online, had gained a good reputation for its fun online multiplayer. Phantasy Star Universe has not tampered much with the original formula. There are a few more complexities, which are supposed to add depth to the game, but they don't really change the gameplay significantly.
Generally speaking, the gameplay usually goes like this: 1. Gather a party 2. Go out and kill some monsters in a mission 3. Come back and buy better equipment, so you can kill more monsters. If this sounds boring to you then DO NOT BUY THIS GAME.
The game's class system isn't especially exciting, it's mainly a means to gain access to better equipment, instead of different abilities. Be warned that this is not the same kind of class system found in most other RPGs, where you would gain special benefits beyond just being able to equip higher level gear.
The customizability of your character is in some aspects good, but in others it is limited. You begin character creation with your race and gender (both of which will effect what stats are higher; race may give you access to a special ability at higher levels) and work up from there. The customization options are interesting: you will have your choice of many styles of hair, eyes, among other things. Afterward you will be able to select from a small variety of clothing (3 shirts, 3 pants, 3 shoes for each sex. CAST characters get a similar setup with body parts). Once your character has been made, more customizability options will become avaliable as gain money and go to the "makeover" salon or clothing store (it is there you will be able to select from a much wider variety of facial and clothing parts; some of these having been popular Phantasy Star Online features.)
There may also be an issue for some people that the online mode costs about $9.99 a month (US) to play. Considering that it is mostly just like playing offline mode, only with humans playing the characters instead of the computer, it may not be a good deal for everyone. They do have online only content, but it may take a while to earn access to it (which translates to paying $9.99 several times over before you are ready for new content). Multiplayer is also mislabeled as being massively multiplayer. The adventuring system is similar to Guild Wars (which is free to play online, I might add) in that you don't run into other players on the field without having them in your party. Missions become a secluded hunting ground for the party.

Welcome Addition

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If you have Phantasy Star Universe, then you absolutely need this expansion. The new missions, items, character options and story progression are a big shot in the arm for the game; smoother animation, richer story, and better character voices help lift the game to a higher plateau of playability. The game is highly maintained by Sega, and is constantly updated with fresh content (it's almost ridiculous how often they update the game with new goodies). Whether you're an avid MMORPG player, or someone who occasionally dabbles in the online gaming universe, you can't go wrong with Phantasy Star Universe (and this new expansion, of course).

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