Customer Reviews

Phantasy Star Portable

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a big fan of dungeon crawlers, games that have their roots in the very old "Rogue," and were brought into the mainstream most successfully by Blizzard with their Diablo series. Basically, in these games, you wander around in a maze, killing bad things, taking their stuff for your own, and finding the gateway to the next area. Along the way, you get stronger, and so do the enemies. Sometimes you go back to a town so you can sell things, buy things, repair things, and so on. It's a pretty simple model for entertainment, and if that sort of game is your thing, then this game will be a solid purchase for you. You don't really need to read the rest of this review, because it's mostly musing from a long-time Phantasy Star lover and former Phantasy Star Online, Episode I & II (PSO) fanatic.

This latest entry takes cues from earlier games in the franchise, which, like Final Fantasy, isn't really an episodic series so much as an ongoing collection of thematically similar stories. One big complaint that older gamers had with PSO, Sega's first shot at making the franchise into a dungeon crawler instead of churning out another classic Japanese-style RPG, was that it bore almost no similarity to the earlier games in the franchise. Some item names carried over, and the overarching theme of a recurrent great evil that must periodically be put down by violence was there, but that was about it. Sometimes, changing gears works out well; the shooter Panzer Dragoon led to the RPG Panzer Dragoon Saga (PDS), a critical smash hit for Sega. PDS did something that PSO did not do, however, and that was retain the look and feel of the brand as much as imaginably possible for a game that was in a completely different genre.

There was the disastrous Phantasy Star Universe (PSU), which abandoned PSO's "you are the hero" approach for what amounted to a game-long tutorial in which you were forced to assume the role of Ethan Waber, a prodigal teenage warrior "with an attitude," through a complete story mode before you could be trusted to make your own character. I didn't bother with PSU much, and what I saw didn't convince me that I was wrong in my brief assessment of it as a horrid mutation of old and new into something somehow less than either.

With Phantasy Star Portable, we have a blend of old and new that's actually well done. Gone is the "completely optional" approach to the story that PSO introduced, but some of the major class archetypes have been more or less preserved. Interplanetary travel is back at last, and the dungeons, for lack of a better word, are also a pleasing mix of old and new. While PSO had just a few relatively tiny maps that were also very simplistic, Phantasy Star Portable has a pretty impressive array of maps, both in terms of scenery and structure. There are large, open wilderness-themed areas, and there are some interior maps with masses of teleportation pads, a classic way of making a moderately tricky maze much more challenging.

Phantasy Star Portable also retains PSO's map randomization feature, but since the new game has so many more areas, this feature is not as limp as it used to be. While in PSO, you would run into any one of, say, three maps for the first of two forest areas, in Phantasy Star Portable, you get many more maps for many more areas. The result is a game that feels, and in many ways is, exponentially deeper in terms of content variety, and that usually means it feels like fresh fun for a much longer time than it otherwise would.

So, what's not to like? The voice acting is surprisingly strong for a video game, but let me be clear; it's still horrible. The dialogue is wooden, and the characters are so simple and predictable that the one plot twist I've run across so far is more surprising for its very existence than for anything it's done to the actual plot. Racial and gender stereotypes are so clumsily overwrought that they'd be comical if it was supposed to be funny. It's reminiscent of Star Wars in this way, with smart asian-sounding characters, reckless and downtrodden black- or hispanic-sounding characters, lecherous (and robotic!) old men and the shoulder-shrugging, "that's just life" young women they harass, and so on.

The NPCs also interact with your character as if you've made one that is both organic and male, which isn't the only kind of character you can make, by a long shot. In Phantasy Star jargon, a sentient robot is called a CAST. Why is it in all caps? Does it stand for something? Nobody knows. In any case, my CAST has been told things like, "you don't know what it's like to be a CAST." Huh?

Multiplayer is local ad hoc only, which is a real shame. For all of PSO's faults, you could enjoy the game at any hour of the day or night with players from around the world. Also, Phantasy Star Portable has some pretty serious slowdown when you're taking on a lot of enemies all at once. The camera flips out if you back it up against a wall, alternating rapidly from a near-overhead follow to a close, over-the-shoulder view and back again, over and over, in a very disorienting way.

The extreme simplicity of the class system from PSO has been updated to a much more complex arrangement, which has gotten a mixed reception from me so far. PSO had three major classes, each with a few slightly varied subtypes. The direct sequel to PSO added a few subtypes, but still kept the same basic structure. In this way, PSO added replay value by giving you three very distinct paths to take through the same terrain, and a reasonable amount of subset variety to play with if you had a favorite major class. It was very easy to understand and use, though the visual variety within each class was lacking, and the 3D models, by and large, looked almost nothing like the really wonderful artwork put together for the game.

Phantasy Star Portable has kept some of the basic concepts of class arrangements from PSO, but has ditched the rigidity of the earlier game's class arrangement. However, instead of offering more freedom, the system is muddy and watered-down. The limitations imposed are so slight that the classes, and the means by which they are selected, suggest that there isn't a fresh experience to be had from the game by going back and playing from the beginning with a different class. Classes can be changed at will, provided the occasional prerequisite is met, but the job system doesn't feel flexible, brilliant, and clever like it did in Final Fantasy Tactics (FFT). The simplicity of leveling up while in a certain class vs. the more intricate distinction between Job Points and Experience Points of FFT leaves me feeling like I'm just filling up bars, not customizing my character.

The AI for your NPC party members is phenomenally poor. Healers don't heal when it matters (if they heal at all). Melee fighters don't rush in to engage your targets, they only attack things that are literally directly on top of them. Your teammates will occasionally shout battle directions that have no meaning at all, and end up just cluttering the already-tiny screen. When one of them says, "Jason, Pincer Attack!" and there's no corresponding action I can take that gives that meaning, it's just cheap veneer. Fortunately, enemy AI is just as brainless as NPC AI, so what you end up being surrounded by in combat situations is not too different from Electric Football.

Pathing is a problem, as your contemporaries periodically get foiled by a 90-degree turn, and disappear for some time before teleporting near your position and gleefully announcing that they've found you at last. Given the way the NPC party system works, the presence of your frequently disturbingly childlike female "partner machine" helper is a strange afterthought. Since the PM is at least as dense as the rest of the NPCs you can build a party with, the only purpose it serves is to welcome you to your room like an animatronic Lolita, complete with requisite short skirt.

On a lighter note, it's annoying that the abbreviation for this game is the same as the abbreviation for the system it's on. I suppose if they'd called it Phantasy Star Ad Hoc, it just wouldn't have rolled off the tongue right.

Don't get me wrong; this game does a lot more right than it does wrong. While you might think that this review looks like a pretty long indictment of this game, consider that what I've listed here is all I have to complain about in a game that is pretty vast and deep, and you may get my perspective. Saying that Phantasy Star Portable isn't a good game because it has some hang-ups is like saying Mt. Rainier isn't beautiful because it's rainy in Washington.

Dialogue between most NPCs and the freshly-minted child-like CAST, Vivienne, who accompanies you through portions of the story, reveals characteristics of this fictional universe much more cleverly than someone just spouting off the obvious periodically in order to keep newcomers informed, a la Wolverine constantly announcing that he has adamantium claws. The fact that the game manages to, in some ways, channel earlier entries in the series evokes positive feelings for the long-time Phantasy Star fan. The depth of variety in the game is pretty substantial, in nearly every area. There are several planets to visit, each with its own local color, and the variety this creates visually and musically is nice, even if the locals themselves are embarrassingly stereotypical. The character creator isn't exactly City of Heroes deep, but it's certainly an upgrade from PSO. The complete visual package is impressive in breadth and depth, and it's more than technically sound as far as textures and models go.

Like PSO, Phantasy Star Portable has a combat system that has more subtle depth than it seems at first glance. While you can mostly get away with just hitting various attack buttons as quickly as you can, you get more out of each swing or shot by timing your attacks very precisely. They become more damaging, and though I may just be imagining things, they also seem to be more accurate, and create critical hits more often. The variety of weapon categories alone is impressive, and the laundry list of entries within each category makes the overall total staggering. There are rifles, dual pistol sets, and grenade launchers, there are twin swords, double-sabers, and spears, and there is, of course, the underdog favorite, the slicer. Let's not forget the spells, because there are plenty of those, too.

All in all, this is a solid performer. It's a good sci-fi dungeon crawler, and those are hard to find. It gives you a lot to explore, a lot to explore with, and it does it all with futuristic window dressing that's usually eschewed in favor of Dungeons & Dragons or Lord of the Rings knock-off scenery. It's all-around better than PSO, and while it's tragically missing internet multiplayer, don't forget that you can stuff the whole thing into your pocket, and in a lot of ways, that's almost as good.

I've been a fan of the Phantasy Star series since Phantasy Star Online on the Dreamcast. Back then it was obviously meant for multiplayer, but still enjoyable in single player.

Phantasy Star Pocket is a continuation of the story from Phantasy Star Universe.

I like the fact that any character race can have any job and even switch job types by paying a relatively small amount of meseta (the in game curancy) but I miss some aspects of the old MAG system. CAST and Beast characters can get items that are similar to the old MAG Photon Burst, but Human and Newman character can't.

With PSO I never liked the idea of paying $8 a month to play a game that wasn't really an MMO, but I enjoyed playing online during the free trial. Phantasy Star Portable has free multiplayer, but it's AdHoc only, meaning you can't play with anyone over the Internet unless you get an Xlink Kai adapter.

I'm giving this 4 starts because Infrastructure mode should have been included. I would have given it 3 stars but the fact that Xlink Kai supports it gives me hope of actually finding someone to play with.

The last time I played a version of Phantasy Star Online, it was on the Sega Dreamcast, and it was gobs of fun. For better or worse, Phantasy Star Portable is very similar to PSO. The combat mechanics are more polished, the AI players are smarter, and the monsters are more various. However, when I popped the game into my PSP, I had a flashback to the hours I spent online with PSO.

The only gripe I have with Phantasy Star Portable is that the town has been broken down to a mere menu. Part of what I liked so much about PSO was the vibrant atmosphere of the town. Yeah, the game is all about the fighting, but it all revolves around the town. In order for this game to be as truly immersive as the original, the developers should have fleshed out the town.

I'll be honest, I only got this because I was getting a PSP and wanted to have more than one game to play, and I was already fond of Phantasy Star Universe. Nothing complicated there, right? Right.

At any rate, the game features a story separate from the others, featuring a prototype CAST, Vivienne. Throughout conversations, you are given choices in how you respond to her, which I believe garner different endings. I'm not entirely sure, since I haven't finished it yet myself.

One thing I didn't care for in this game, was the inability to actually roam the cities. It's all a point and click menu to go from place to place. Which... isn't bad, really, just personal preference. I will admit, it makes traveling from planet to planet and their various shops much quicker than it would have been otherwise.

On the plus side, it's just plain fun to play. Doesn't get more gratifying than bashing a few monsters' faces in, right? It is a bit on the easy side, however. Story missions in particular. You almost always have two party members, who are wonderful at stealing your kills. Vivienne is always in the party, so far at least, plus whomever they add in for that particular mission. This is where I prefer free missions. Where you can go it solo and sap all the exp for yourself. Also, the game actually requires you to do at least one free mission between story missions, it seems. Which isn't a bad thing, in my book. It keeps you from running straight through the story mode without skipping over that entire feature in the game, which isn't hard to overlook otherwise.

My biggest complaint, is a bit of a trivial one, I suppose. Most of the layouts for missions are identical to ones in the original. Which doesn't matter when you're fighting, but when you're exploring around and everything is the same... well, it kinda takes some of the fun away.

Overall, I say it's a good buy, as I said before, it is rather fun to play, all things considered. It's nothing groundbreaking, but definitely an enjoyable way to pass a bit of time now and again. For anyone new to the series though, I would start with Phantasy Star Universe instead, or you'll be clueless about some of the character and story references throughout the game, as well as game mechanics that aren't explained quite as thoroughly from the beginning.

Me and brother play this a lot. The second one is better but this game brought back all the old feelings for PSO on the Dreamcast.

this game is realy a good one in the category press x and y during hours to kill quite similar monsters and so on. the history is as dull as you can get but if u want to spend hours in a cheap game this is kind of a good option since your main objective is to achieve increase levels (15 hours and im in the level 52 or so). the dreamcast version is a kind of obvious reference with some of the same monsters and stages in a update and better designed scheme. i had fun and hope that u are going to have too!

Lately I've been on this crazy Phantasy Star kick! I missed out on these little gems growing up, and I never really wondered about them until recently. It's like this: I got the Sega collection for my birthday and started playing the originals and I was really impressed, especially with four. So hey what they heck I think. I'll give these new ones a try too.

I think they did a great job on this game, in that they have preserved a lot of the elements from the originals. It's a different sort of experience mind you, but it feels like a Phantasy Star game. This is important, because online RPG type formats have been tried with other huge RPG franchises, with some questionable results. Final Fantasy 11 for instance, just felt like some second rate free Korean MMO that had some extremely superficial elements thrown in to justify calling it a Final Fantasy game. That is that and this is this happy to say. It works. Everything they do they do well. The only problem is that in many cases they are too timid, and just don't carry their ideas out far enough.

This game is basically an online dungeon crawler that boasts cooperative play. If you are in to this kind of thing, you can hardly find better for the PSP. If you happen to have a friend with the game then all the better. Its charm lies mostly in the cooperative aspect. Its still charming enough to get you after a few drinks even so! Don't leave your PSP unattended readers.

GRAPHICS AND SOUND:

The graphics in the game are pretty darn good. The environments of the game vary from outdoor grassland, to icy caves, to Sci Fi monster factories, replete with plenty of phosphorescent future junk everywhere! It does sometimes feel like you are traversing one big empty identical room after another sometimes, especially on inside level but also a few outdoors as well. The dungeons would have greatly benefited from a less linear lay out, and maybe some more random stuff around to make them look like a real compound or such, (where does everyone sit?) but honestly this isn't an exploration based game. Like in Diablo, rooms are little more than mini combat arenas and too much clutter could cause problems.

The monster designs are phantastic! (Ok I'll stop now.) Seriously though, they are very good especially the bosses. Even the reused monster models have enough slight aesthetic differences that you don't feel like you are fighting your way through a rainbow of goblin clones as in many RPGs.

Its worth mentioning that this game has some of the best character customization, appearance wise, of any console or hand held game I have played. You can choose your hair, face, etc. etc., but you can also choose height and build, voice, and ears just to name a few. This doesn't even get into the veritable plethora of clothing and accessories you can wear. Playing dress up with your character is a good source of fun for awhile, and as you progress through the story mode you gain access to even more options. You might even be able to con your girlfriend into playing this with you given the sheer amount of shoes and hairstyles available.
Joking aside, you had better because otherwise she's going to break up with you when you start playing this nonstop! Can we say addictive?

The sound is good but not spectacular. Its just a backdrop for the action, and I don't think anything really distinct comes to mind. That's alright really, because this isn't the kind of plot driven game that would benefit from a tear jerking classical piece anywhere. Its pretty much spazzy electro-monster-whack music the whole way through, but what else would you expect. Plus given the futuristic setting, its appropriate.

Voice acting? Don't ask... Ok fine but I warned you. It's bad but not unbearable. Its anime stuff you know. Lolitas, sleazy old men, bad boy anti heroes, and tough silent guys. We're talking Naruto caliber stuff for the most part. I like anime though, so it doesn't bother me much. I's used to it in other words.

PLOT & CHARACTERS:

Well this is only really applicable in the Story Mode of the game. Now here's the deal... This is not really an RPG in the traditional sense. The Story Mode is more of a trumped up tutorial meant to get you familiar with the game. It serves that purpose quite well, and you can even get some decent game life out of it, if you do all the side missions as well.

The plot revolves around your character who is a recent addition to the Guardians, a sort of paramilitary organization that hangs out on a satellite and does interplanetary odd jobs. They're sort of scary when you think about it. They have their own secret intelligence division as well as a research, and martial aspect. Wow. Good thing they are governed by a lecherous old... robot?

That leads me to the next section. In this game your character is the typical mute, but that's OK because the trade off is you don't have to be a Japanese pop star in yellow shorts. Just make up your own dialogue in your head, its better this way trust me gamers...

You can choose to be Human, Newman (elves) Beasts which are like humany lion type guys, or a CAST which is code for robot. One minor gripe I have is that they constantly talk about how the CASTs are these cold logical beings, and yet most of the ones you meet in the game have personalities that range from Benny Hill to Rainbow Brite. In many cases characters don't say things that you would expect they should, as in the dialogue sounds like it was written by the same witty localization guy, and sometimes not even from different points of view. Again, its not a game breaker.

So you're in the Guardians, and you get partnered up with some sort of well endowed playboy bunny bot named Vivienne. She fits the bunny/cat girl niche that we expect to be filled in any proper J RPG. After awhile her saccharine personality and odd fits of impossible naivety may be off putting, but she does at least act like an android for the most part, and your frustration mounts as you try to avoid sneaking peaks at her mega thruster units... Go on pretend its just me!

As the story unfolds you find yourself chasing after an evil cabaret dancer, as she repeatedly shows up just ahead of you depositing evil robots, SEED form aliens, and traps in your path like some sort of sadistic sultry Easter bunny.

The head of the guardians is Master Roshi from Drangon ball... I mean he literally is... He's a robot but don't expect that to stop him from chasing tail, or tail bone, or coolant exhaust valve...

Overall, even the story mode is hokey good fun. Just think of it as though you are playing through a very episodic anime series, and it won't bug you.

GAME PLAY:

This game has some great addictive game play, and while they mess up on a few things, its lots of fun, and hey that's what matters right? Besides, they get much more right than they do wrong. You basically pick up a mission, form your group, and then fight your way through a level's worth of slimy aliens or mad robots, finally going toe to toe with a large boss. If you have ever played a Monster Hunter game then this set up will not be new or confusing one bit. In many ways its very similar. There are lots of things I could say about it but I think I will just try to keep it short and have a good and bad column.

The Bad
1. When you aren't on a mission you are just navigating menus. for instance you can't walk around anywhere on the planets you go to. It doesn't really feel like you are on other planets, when you just choose them from a menu.

2. The game is just a bit too easy. The monsters AI ranges from dumb to catatonic in most instances, and you will be cranking out so much damage that most things will just die before they even get a crack at you. Combine this with the fact that you have so many healing items that you almost couldn't die if you tried. This could be tweaked a bit.

3. Certain Battle Types, (Job classes) seem to be way better than others, and some are just not much fun. Being a melee character makes you almost invincible. Being a gunner is good, but not much fun, as all you can really do is strafe and shoot, and being a Force (The magic users of the game) is just not really viable from what I can tell as you do less damage, and take more than the others. Even the support role they fill can be accomplished by popping some space roids and going nuts with your weapons.

The Good

1. The game has random drops. Random drops folks, random drops. You know you love random drops!

2. There are randomized dungeon layouts. Its not like you are going to ever marvel at it, but lets be honest, you do the same thing over and over in a game like this. A little touch like that goes a long way to keep it from getting tedious.

3. Customization! Yep they got the goods here. You can change your looks, you can change you acts, you can change your very space soul! If you wanted to, you could recreate the characters from your favorite Phantasy star game even. They have put a lot of thought into making you feel cool doing what you do! Style is king here. Its unlikely that you will ever run into anyone that looks like you in multi player. WOW neato.

4. Flexibility. The developers show a surprising amount of foresight with this title. They realized that giving you all these options, might mean that you pick some that you can't live with. No problem. You can change just about anything you want about your character... for a nominal fee of course! There's no such thing as a free astronaut ice cream. This way you can explore various avenues, and yet everyone still has a niche they fill.

5. and more... (you can trust me earthlings ;) )

In closing, this game is lots of fun, and its well made. Here's the kicker. The second one is out now, and from what I have played of it, its just flat out better! It fixes almost all the issues I point out here, and wow is it fun. So why play this one when you can just jump right in with that one?

Oh I'm sorry that was my question... well there are a few little extras you get for importing your saved game from the first one. You also get to import your character, though you may want to tweak him a bit anyway because of all the new clothes and hair styles available. ( I won't judge you for it...) Here's one reason to get it for you though. The first one is like twelve dollars on Amazon. Its more of a why not type of thing. Also there are some familiar faces in the story mode of PSP2. Oo, oo and you can then see and appreciate the progression of the series a little more this way.

I liked some heck out of this game. It kept me off the streets for awhile, and gave me an outlet for my rampant murderous xenophobia! Now if only I could find some buddies that have the games too...

Hey all, this was a great game,over all its a good way to pass time on a flight or roadtrip my only little problem was just da assisting from the cpu lol,took it a bit to catch on and make my helpers help.other then that I have no complaints and am looking foward to beating it soon and making my way to the second game ;).

The main story is drab. The 40 minute per shot of reading useless back story is nauseating. But if you hook it up in the online mode (just enable the Wifi on the PSP and start your own map, no need to connect to anything) you will find a wonderful, addictive game that strongly reminds me of the classic Phantasy Star Online (DreamCast/GameCube).

It's a classic hack-and-slash with a space theme. The graphics are good, the controls are tight. If not for the useless offline story mode, this game might be close to perfect.

Well, the title says it all.
The best. No kidding.
If you liked prievious Phantasy Stars you'll go crazy for this portable version.
I know I did. Yep.

Good graphics, Nice music, Awesome story.
An installation of the PSU series it has new weapons, the classic battle style that I've come to love, new and old stuff... It's just the BEST!

I'll never get tired of it...