Games


About
- What's a Dreamcast?
- Why Should I Buy One?
- Sega History

Games
- Best Games
- Cheats
- Dreamcast Database
- Reviews (A-M)
- Reviews (N-Z)

Site
- About PDC
- News Archives / Search
- POTD Archive

Features
- Sega E3 2002
- Dreamcast: The Afterlife
- Bring Back The Classics!

Hardware
- Controllers
- System
- VMU
- Other

Community
- Forums
- Mailbag
- Links

Hosted
- DC VMU Icons
- Jet Set Graffiti Site
- KOF Orochinagi
- PSO World
- RE Mega Site
- RE Survivor's Guide
- Shadow of a Hedgehog
- SOA World
- Tony Hawk P.S.

GameSpy
  
GameSpy.com
  Founders' Club
  GameSpy Comrade
  GameSpy Store
Services
  FilePlanet
  ForumPlanet
3DActionPlanet
RPGPlanet
SportPlanet
StrategyPlanet
MMORPG
  Vault Network
Classic/Console
  ClassicGaming
  Planet Dreamcast
  Planet Nintendo
  Planet PS2
  Planet Xbox
Community
  LANParty.com

   PlanetDreamcast | Games | Reviews | Phantasy Star Online Version 2
    Phantasy Star Online Version 2
The official fix for PSO addicts. - Review By Retrovertigo - Page 2/2


PSO breaks language and time-zone barriers.

  • More Good
    Like I've been saying, PSOv2, is very much like the first PSO, but thankfully, there are some aspects of this new sequel that sets it apart from the original game. PSOv2 is more online gaming oriented, and all of the new features are only available online. The new modes of gameplay are the Battle Mode and Challenge Mode. Battle Mode is the much-anticipated player vs. player (or team vs. team) competition. You can use traps, in addition to the conventional PSO warfare to wreck havoc on your opponents. Rules can be set and adjusted at the guide counter. Challenge Mode is a more difficult version of the original explorative gameplay of PSO. You cannot return to the city before you complete a stage and when the first team member's hit point reach zero, the game is terminated and everybody is transferred back to the guild hall. However, if you do complete the Challenge Mode, you will be rewarded with a prize. Make sure to have some empty slots in your inventory before completing the stage, or you will not be given the prize.

    Other good news is that players online have stated that the broadband adapter is compatible with PSOv2, so if you were lucky enough to get your hands on one of them you can supposedly use it. However, Sega does not officially support the BBA, so you won't any instructions or technical support for setting up the BBA with PSOv2.

  • The Bad
    The online mode is where the new features are prevalent. Unfortunately, unlike PSO, PSOv2 requires an existing Internet Service Provider (ISP) as well as a monthly fee. Currently, the fee is five dollars a month, but must be purchased in three-month bundles. Fifteen dollars isn't a lot for someone like me who has graduated from college and is in the "real world." However, it might be a problem for young gamers, who don't have a credit card of their own or have to rely on mom or dad to help out in that area.

    I'd be lying if I said that I had an easy time setting up an online game of PSOv2. I was one of those guys who originally signed up for SegaNet after NFL 2k1's release last year. Call me an impulse buyer. Call me thrifty, as I got a lot of waived fees from the ailing ISP as they attempted to hook in gamers with sweet deals, which eventually turned into disaster as the SegaNet ISP had to call it quits in August and was acquired by Earthlink, which I am now a subscriber to.

    Changing my dialup information from SegaNet to EarthLink was a little trickier than I was expecting. What I ultimately had to do was stick in one of my Official Dreamcast Magazine discs which had the Dreamcast web browser and changed my settings there. I then swapped discs back to PSOv2 and tried again. I'm not sure how I would have corrected this if I didn't have a Dreamcast web browser program, because I couldn't find that information in the manual.


    The PSO main interface. Full of goodness.

    Earthlink is Sega's recommended ISP, and the game runs fairly smooth without a lot of lag, but I do not know how compatible it is with other ISPs.

    I was a little disappointed that all of the new features were online only. It is not possible to play on the new levels or in the new modes without being online and have a minimum of at least 2 people.

    PSOv2 also has a "multiplayer" game called Go Go Ball, which can be found in lobbies 11-15 in all of the ship blocks, however it's a relatively simple game of walking your character into a huge "mouse-ball" (which is really a humongous mouse from the other online Sonic Team game, Chu Chu Rocket) and "kicking" it into the opponent's goal. It might be fun with a lot of people, but I didn't think it was all that enjoyable.

    If you bought the first PSO and only enjoyed the offline game, do not worry about "upgrading" to Version 2 as the purchase is not worth it unless you plan on playing online.

    Phantasy Star Online Version 2 is a great game, but is so much like the first game that the new features aren't worth the purchase unless you're a gung-ho online gamer. If the Dreamcast had a hard drive like the Xbox will, PSOv2 would have probably been a downloadable patch, instead of a stand alone game.

    I was really hoping that PSOv2 would feature some new options like a 4-player split screen much like what the Nintendo GameCube version of Phantasy Star Online is reported to have, but no such luck.

  • The Final Word

    I really loved Phantasy Star Online, but I don't feel that Phantasy Star Online Version 2 is worthy to be considered a "sequel," as it's more of an update to the original game. As I said earlier, if this game was released on a console with a hard drive, I definitely wouldn't have shelled out the $40 for the game, and would have been very disappointed if PSOv2 wasn't a downloadable update.

    When going to the store, with the intent to purchase PSOv2, keep in mind that the extra features and levels are only accessible online, and that a monthly fee is required to play. Five dollars a month really isn't a lot, but be aware that the first PSO was completely free (as long as you had a compatible ISP). If you think you will enjoy the new battle and challenge modes, and the ability to advance your character to level 200, then this game is for you. If you enjoyed the online gameplay of PSO but don't know if you'd enjoy the new modes, stick with the original PSO.

    Phantasy Star Online Version 2 is a good game, and it does offer new online gameplay, unfortunately you'll have to pay a monthly fee to access any of it.

    Developer: Sonic Team
    Publisher: Sega
    Genre: Action/Adventure

    Highs: New items and enemies = new challenges. New online gaming features: Battle Mode, Challenge Mode, and Go Go Ball.
    Lows: Monthly fee. New game features and levels only available online.
    Other: 1-4 Players (online), VMU Compatible, Standard Controller, VGA Box, Net Support.

    Final Score:

    (out of a possible 10)

    Previous Reviews

    Comments on this review? Mail Feedback or talk about with others in the Forums.


  • [Main Page] [About] [Games] [Site] [Hosting Info] [Features] [Community]
    IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
    TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
    AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels
    By continuing past this page, and by your continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
    Copyright 1996-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc.   About Us | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement Subscribe to RSS Feeds RSS Feeds
    IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.