Customer Reviews

Versus Books Official Phantasy Star Online Perfect Guide

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

 

 

I got a copy of this today, and if you are a PSO fan you probably want to check this out. Like all vs books' guides, there are tons of pictures, charts, art, and maps, but also a load of text explaining every aspect of the game. While it is a little light on the info when it comes to rare weapons (in the name of preserving their mystique), it makes up for it in its tips on mag feeding (along with tons of pics of different mag evolutions), weapon lists, spell descriptions, and step-by-step instructions on how to get stuff like the legendary Soul Eater weapon.

On a side note, I am a huge Phantasy Star fan, and played since the very first on the Master System, so I was thrilled to see pics and mentions of all the previous games in the book. And you can tell the vs books guys are gamers - they even have tips on how to make your character look like characters from other games (Virtual On, Skies of Arcadia, etc.).

It has a big poster too. I couldn't have asked for more. Like I said, if you like PSO you must at least peek at this book.

Excluding the walkthroughs and strategies, this is what the Phantasy Star Online instruction booklet should've been. I was left with a lot of questions on how to play the game, raising Mags, and differences between weapons. This book answers them all. Kudos to the writer and editor for not revealing everything. Some things are better left to mystery and discovering for yourself. If you're playing PSO, one of the best online games of all time, do yourself a favor and get this book!

This guide's value lies in the multitude of maps and information regarding the quests that come in-game. This guide made the truly long and tedious ruins quests possible and a cinch (well unless you still get beat down by ruins creatures). The maps for regular game play also are great, and include variations of the areas and a break down of monsters and their stats. It also has some strategies that are helpful, but some are truly lame. Why go in and hack creatures when shoting from afar using a gun or techniques will do?

The information on mags goes up to the 3rd evolution, but do not contain info on the rare mags like Robochao, Soniti (the most sought after mag if it is hacked) or Chao. It does has the charts for feeding your baby lvl 5 mag (based on the 6 doff preference types) and changing it into the mag you desire, and the information is specific to your class as well as to the mag.

This guide also has a run down on Photon blasts in the same section. Also noteworthy is the info on the different character classes and thier relative stats, beating each boss that is class specific, a nice poster, and a breakdown of the weapons you'll most likely find in non-cheat device play on all 3 difficulty levels.

However, the bad news. Nothing is very in-depth to the lvl a serious player of this game wants and needs. Forget the teaser on the cover that says all hidden 10-12 star weapons and rare mags are revealed. That is bogus. They give you the name of like 8 rare weapons and 3 rare mags, but do not tell how to get them, where they can be found, or their special abilities, or anything really about the rarest things in the game.

I guess they want the element of surprise to remain intact, but this game is so old and almost completely hacked online that this info should have been standard. Do not buy this if you want to find and know what the most rare weapons are. Instead, go online and find a good website that is dedicated to this game, like PSO Quest V3 or PSO Top 100 sites network. The information is WAY BETTER from these online sources, and many have info on ways to cheat/protect yourself from cheaters.

In all, a good buy ..., but only if maps, character class and race data, mags, and boss & enemy data is what you are looking for.

In the past few months I have noticed a depressing trend in guide books: they stop just shy of giving you the best secrets about the game. It's nice to have mission guides and item lists but I can figure that stuff out for myself. I want to know about the stuff I can't figure out for myself like how do I raise a certain Mag or how do I get that really cool super-rare weapon. This is where this guide falls short. It lists all the common Mags but doesn't tell you how to get specific Mags. It leaves you hanging also on what the extremely rare and powerful weapons are and merely teases you with the pictures of 8 or so of them. What makes this guide stand out are all the references that it makes to the previous Phantasy Star games. It has been some time since I've played them so it was great to see how many things were carried over from these old games. Without this feature I would have rated this only a 3-star book.

While this book is a little hard to follow for someone who isn't familiar with PSO, it is a repository of excellent information, especially the maps and the Maglopedia. I personally think it gives just enough information to help gameplay, without giving away so many secrets that it's no longer fun.

I really needed the guide to explain the ultimate mode since I have the dreamcast version number 2. THis really helped in everything else, but it was kind of a bummer to stop there.

The best thing about this guide are the detailed maps and quest walk-thrus. Other than that, it's lacking in other areas. While the mag guide section is O.K., it doesn't tell you anything about evolving mags beyond the 2nd evolution. And it doesn't tell you hardly anything about the rare mags. There are glaring errors and misinformation throughout the guide, but this is understandable since the guide was rushed into publication. What is inexcusable is the total lack of pictures, descriptions, and ways to find the rarest of the rare weapons and armors in this game. But if you're looking for a good source for mag raising and PSO maps, then this guide is O.K., just not great.

I bought this game right when it came out. It was a blast and still is. Being a mostly online player, I quickly figured out that there were way better items than I was finding. So about a month later I bought this strategy guide thinking it would help me get a certain mag or special item I had been hearing about online. This book just tells about the trashy weapons I already have and does not tell how to get a mag you'd like to have. All it does is show some pics of some super rare weapons and say something along the lines of, "we'd like to keep some of the items a mystery." THEN WHAT THE... DID I BUY THIS STRATEGY GUIDE FOR? It also shows weapons like Eggblaster, that are banned by Sega (not usable online) and tells of a Sonic the Hedgehog mag THAT DOESN'T EVEN EXIST! I've been online for well over 900 hours and asked several hundred people about that mag. Nobody has one, seen one, or ever even heard of it! This book lies and tells you that there is one! This doesn't even deserve a star.