Need your input on Phantasy Star Online

coltyhuxx

coltyhuxx

CAGiversary!
Hola CAG's

Going back to my Dreamcast days I've always wanted to pick up a copy of Phantasy Star Online. I was perusing a video game music site today and happened along some of the soundtrack and got really nostalgic as they incorporate some of the themes from the old Phantasy Star RPG's.

(here's the track that piqued my interest http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/2904/27043)

I am aware that this is a very different type of game with only loose ties to the original quadrilogy but I would like to solicit your opinions on this game. Chiefly, I'm interested in if you found the game *fun* or not.

I have all of the systems (DC, PC, Gamecube, XBOX) that this game has been released on. Which would be the best system to shoot for?

Also, how is the split-screen on it? Can you do the online component (not just the generic side missions), so to speak, off-line? My friend has a 63" tv and I was thinking that it might be cool to play side by side?

Any input would be appreciated.
 
I played this to death back in the DC days, moved on to Cube, then to Xbox.
Think Diablo in 3-D. It's a great deal of fun with friends.
You can use your on-line character for off-line split-screen. I've played split-screen on a projector and it worked great.
Which platform you choose depends on your affinity for voice chat. The Xbox version has it, but with a horrible 2 second delay. I still find that preferable to typing during a boss fight however.
 
I'm not sure if you cany play split screens online. The game was fun when it came out, when it was free to play online on DC, especially when you play with friends. The boss fights are pretty intense, so the first time playing through the game (which will take you a pretty long time since you have to level up) is a good experience. Once you beat the game, replay value is a bit low because you'll just be playing the game over again. Each world will probably take you a good 3 hours to beat if its your first time through.
 
I got the XBOX version for cheap, the only problem is you have to have XBOX live to play, whether online or off (you don't have to be connected to the internet, but you do have to have a live gamertag). I'd reccommend that version, because it is episode 1 and 2, and fun to play.
The game is good, but not great. It can get hard if you don't level as well.
 
I started with version one on the DC then V.2 and then moved on to Ep 1+2 on the GC and was completely addicted to it. I spent over 1,000 total hours on the GC version alone.
If my memory card hadn't been stolen (and then the game later on too.) I'd still be playing it to this day. I'd suggest the GC version, you still have to pay the hunter's license on Xbox (and you need an active Live account too.) The DC server's are dead and episode two isn't even on the DC, and the Ep. 1+2 was optimized for the GC.
The replayability thing is one of those RPG things where you'll play it a lot if you want the best stuff (I've done fifty forest runs in a night looking for an Agito.) And it sky rockets if you play online with cool people.
You can't go wrong with this one.
 
If you wanted to play it online, I'd get the Xbox version, since it's easier to go online than tracking down modems for the cube. To play it offline, I'd get the gamecube version (Phantasy Star Online I & II Plus). It has 4 player split screen, if I recall correctly, plus some additional content not found in earlier versions (including the Phantasy Star Onlin I & II regular for the cube, which is rarer as a collector's item).
 
If you want to play online there is no reason to pick it up for Xbox ( way to many hacks, not enough people ) or the GC ( still people, though not like it use to ). The DC still has people playing, though its all done on private servers. You should really just play PSO: BB ( Phantasy Star Online : Blue Burst ). New version , some new zones, weapons/items/ect.

http://www.psoblueburst.com/en/index.html
 
Oh man I used to be obsessed with PSO. I had PSO 1 and 2, PSO 1 and 2+, and PSO 3 all for gamecube. Then BB came out and that was awesome. I dont know about the other versions, but the GC can be played split screen. The reason I stopped playing was my save got corrupt...lvl.187...soo close to 200 gah now I want to play it again and prove to myself I can get to lvl.200
 
[quote name='LostRoad']If you want to play online there is no reason to pick it up for Xbox ( way to many hacks, not enough people ) or the GC ( still people, though not like it use to ). The DC still has people playing, though its all done on private servers. You should really just play PSO: BB ( Phantasy Star Online : Blue Burst ). New version , some new zones, weapons/items/ect.

http://www.psoblueburst.com/en/index.html[/QUOTE]


agreed.

That or just wait for Phantasy Star Universe.

I sunk some time into doing missions/levelling in PSO on the Xbox and did a trial of Blue Burst...fun, but I couldn't get into it because the attacks were so slow and repetitive.
 
Well I was a PSO user. I played the game for two or so years. The first time I went on I was FSOD and lost my characters. The second time I collected almost every item and got FSOD yet again and lost my characters.

The third time I met people from Japan, Texas, Euro, and here and there. I did som many things on PSO. I even had a little XXX RolePlaying with this girl, Hang out and talk about life with a player, two, twenty, ten dozen. I even met players from various webpages and a snob SEGA musican and gave some advice to a metal fan.

I EVEN COLLECTED EVERYTHING THREW TRADE. However....

Thanks to ROSE1/2 a friggin Japanese who decided to call me a cheat and FSOD me when I least expect it. That was the end of my PSO world tour. I was at level 245 or so going on 255. IT was a long time ago but not too long ago.

After playing the game with one eye shut the eye that sawwed the sun burst like explosions was affected. Then I did something stupid and deleted my guild card.

Great game but too many cheaters and phobs. The US servers can be good but the main servers are filled with FSOD people. The Euro servers is mainly cheaters. Then theres the people that think by me using a rare item will lower drops.

I did it all in PSO you can do and could have even done more. Sigh that game was not worth it.

However whats really worth it is using PSO to emulate games on my GCN and copy games from there discs. With this version of PSO you can even run exe files from your computer. You could prboably run a small server on the GCN thanks to PSO.
 
[quote name='RegalSin2020']Well I was a PSO user. I played the game for two or so years. The first time I went on I was FSOD and lost my characters. The second time I collected almost every item and got FSOD yet again and lost my characters.

The third time I met people from Japan, Texas, Euro, and here and there. I did som many things on PSO. I even had a little XXX RolePlaying with this girl, Hang out and talk about life with a player, two, twenty, ten dozen. I even met players from various webpages and a snob SEGA musican and gave some advice to a metal fan.

I EVEN COLLECTED EVERYTHING THREW TRADE. However....

Thanks to ROSE1/2 a friggin Japanese who decided to call me a cheat and FSOD me when I least expect it. That was the end of my PSO world tour. I was at level 245 or so going on 255. IT was a long time ago but not too long ago.

After playing the game with one eye shut the eye that sawwed the sun burst like explosions was affected. Then I did something stupid and deleted my guild card.

Great game but too many cheaters and phobs. The US servers can be good but the main servers are filled with FSOD people. The Euro servers is mainly cheaters. Then theres the people that think by me using a rare item will lower drops.

I did it all in PSO you can do and could have even done more. Sigh that game was not worth it.

However whats really worth it is using PSO to emulate games on my GCN and copy games from there discs. With this version of PSO you can even run exe files from your computer. You could prboably run a small server on the GCN thanks to PSO.[/quote]

245 or 255 really...:roll:
 
You know how some games are addictive, but not actually fun (which, for me, would be most online RPGs)? Well, PSO is actually addictive andfun.

The thing about playing split-screen with a friend is that it's not the same kind of fun as playing online or even single-player. Why? Because when you play online or in single-player, there's a great sense of mystery and exploration; the music in this game especially helps to contribute in creating this beautiful, immersive virtual world. When you play split-screen with a friend, all that mystery disappears instantaneously: your avatars are merely for aesthetic purposes, and not actually extensions or reflections of yourselves; the quests just become something to do and not a means of actually exploring the world; the simple-yet-intriguing storyline doesn't take the backseat - it's ignored completely.

Don't get me wrong; it's fun to play regardless of whether you're online or off, but you're doing yourself a great disservice by not playing the way it was meant to be played. What I'd recommend you do is for you and yourself to each get copies of the game, and find a good party to play with. IIRC, the DC version is the only one free to play online, and it's also cross-platform compatible with the PC version (the original, not Blue Burst).

If you've ever played Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance or Champions of Norrath, that's very similar to the offline multiplayer experience of PSO.
 
The controlls on the Xbox version seem weird to me. They just don't seem as accurate compared to the DC/GC versions.

I'd say to get the GC version (either one you can find).
If you want a challenge get the DC ver. 2 It's harder.

Like many of the other posters here, I have all of them as well. It is addictive.
 
I adore the game. I've sunk a ton of time into it, tho nowhere near as much as some people. I never had any cheater issues, since I only played online with friends - but man, did we have fun. PSU is currenlty my most-wanted game, and if it's half as good as it looks I'll be in heaven. If I were you, I'd wait for it to come out since it's so close, because once it does the online community for PSO will drop even lower than it already has.
 
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