Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2

The game is a seemingly basic real-time roaming RPG which lets you create your own persona either as a Hunter (sword user), a Ranger (gunner) or a Force (mage) using a wide range of designs and styles in a rather Sims-like manner. Apart from that, it sounds fairly run-of-the-mill doesn't it? In one word yes; playing on your own is very tedious.

However, it's when you connect to Sega's online server when the game really kicks off. There is really nothing quite like meeting up with familiar faces in the online lobbies and tackling the game together, and then after beating a particularly gruelling boss, getting together to trade weapons and items.

Their have been a few up-turned noses at the sight of Episode 1, with the nasty amount of pop-up and graphical glitches. However, most of these are hangovers from the Dreamcast version. When you get to Episode 2 (which was created for the Gamecube version) the Shore and Jungle levels are quite breathtaking in both graphics and design.

I've given Phantasy Star Online five stars, but knock one star off if you can't get online with it, and then knock another one off if you don't have any dedicated friends to play offline with; it's not the same on your own.

Otherwise PSO is a game which no serious gamer should be without. Experience it.

The game itself has an amazing online feature and this is the one thing that separates this game from the rest on the GC. The Online feature is very fast especially on broadband and it doesn't reduce the speed of gameplay enough to make a player annoyed. It hardly makes a difference.

The graphics are pretty good with big levels and lush scenery and the characters are great. Each character has a very own unique ability so every person playing has his/her own chance to create something very different from everyone else. You can choose different characters and their colour, their weapon and their own MAGS. I have never come across an identical character whilst being online so this is a chance to be a unique person on the internet gameplay.

I think the game is brilliant and combined with version 2 it's become even better and I recommend everyone to get this.

The game is not just about online play, there is also a decent story mode. The story is not a particularly good one, but it's mainly added to give you a feel as to what you have to do in the online section, which is fantastic. You are given 12 different characters to choose from, three more than the Dreamcast version. These are sorted into three groups: Rangers, Hunters and Forces. They all have different abilites, so pick the one you feel most comfortable with.

When you're online, you have the ability to talk with many people all over the world, as you can choose to join Japanese, American, or of course European servers, so expect to chat with many different cultured people. Your job is basically to get to the end of the game, but while that sounds boring, you are allowed to team up with three of your mates and tackle the story together! This makes one fantastic game!

While I cannot put down exactly how addictive this game is in words, be prepared to see weeks of your life absorbed into this game.

There are a couple of negative points though, during the game there is slight popup, even more when you use a 56k, but this is unnoticeable, and a vast imporvement on other online games, as this game was designed to appeal to 56k users, bearing this connection in mind throughout. Also, Episode 1 hasn't got as great graphics as Episode 2, but they are still fairly decent.

Graphics aside, this title is definitely one for any Gamecube collection!