• 1Up Reviews Phantasy Star Zero

    For the last couple of weeks, there has been a conspicuous lack of reviews for Phantasy Star Zero among the major North American video game sites. It appears this is starting to change as 1Up's Dustin Quillen has released his review for the game. Overall, he felt disappointed with the game and gave it a B- rating. He cited the game's "high-maintenance camera, imprecise controls, and lousy user interface" as flaws. Also, he felt the game's Phantasy Star Online-like gameplay mechanics gave it a dated feel. However, he still feels Phantasy Star Zero is a decent 3D Nintendo DS game.

    So do you agree with the review? You can share your reactions in this forum thread. Credit goes to Kishiin for bringing us this news.

    Comments 6 Comments
    1. Zarode's Avatar
      Zarode -
      I agree. These are my main gripes about this game. That, and a lack of post-game content.
    1. Boxblaster's Avatar
      Boxblaster -
      I found the review to be subpar. While he does touch on a few key problems of the game, he also bundles in his lack of technical expertise to also be a fault of the game itself. The user review on there from user "Gregory" seen below, also addresses this. I found that review to be much better,which other users of 1up seem to support as well, it seems. I also find it quite sad that the reviewer quoted boss fights as "overly long", considering one of PSU's major gripes was felling bosses in -30 seconds at times. I also feel more time should have been spent covering features of the game. The entire review was spent covering only the bare basics. While I understand he can't go too in-depth into gameplay for a review, it seems 50% of the review was discussing the concept of "loot". I was hoping for new features from PSO to be listed. PA's, changes in MAGs, etc. While the reviewer gave the game a decent (I suppose) score, I felt he did quite a poor job with the whole....writing a review thing.
    1. ngagerebel's Avatar
      ngagerebel -
      i don't agree with this review at all I don't think he sat and play well into it enough to actually get a feel for the game. Granted on the DS the number one issue will always be the camera controls but that is to be expected. I think he was way to harsh with his review and I can tell by his writing he is not a fan of the PS series at all or with Sega in general.
    1. Dhylec's Avatar
      Dhylec -
      Many on the forum follow this sentimental. The review is not a good measure for the game if you must play it partially to write up an in-depth analysis. Not being a PS series player, specially PSO, also put any stellar features down.
      This kind of review can hurt the game & community in the long run, thus we don't get much attention & the cycle of negligence begins anew.
    1. GutsGO's Avatar
      GutsGO -
      Thanks Boxblaster, that user review by "Gregory" was myself. When I read that horrible review by 1UP I felt the need to express my own opinions on the game in case a viewer to that page let the author influence them in any way.
      Now to be honest I am a huge fan of Phantasy Star and SEGA in general, so my opinion and views on some things will be tilted to being more forgiving than most people but when it comes down to it I am extremely critical and won't let the name persuade my judgement.
      My own opinion aside, (which some may call fanboyism, because the game is brilliant and as close to perfect as you can get to me) the review's main direction and comparative angle was bogus and very poorly thought out. Like you've said he should've gone into greater detail about the game and additions to game-play that the game offers not only to the series but to handheld gaming as a whole. Sure the game has it's faults and quirks that you have to get used, but Sakai and company set out a few goals for this game, and they hit the nail on the head exactly how they wanted to. Some of the interface and user actions decisions do seem odd and are limiting but if that's all I have to deal with to enjoy the rest of the features and content they created then it's a worthy trade-off.
      I was really excited for the series after playing the import version last year, and I couldn't wait for PS to enter the view of a broader audience when the domestic release finally hit so I was so disappointed when not only did the game get almost no coverage or reviews, but the ones it did get weren't giving the game the credit it deserved.
    1. Ancient's Avatar
      Ancient -
      I've been playing PSO since it was first released on Dreamcast way back in...when. Since then, despite my over obsessive love of the game, I've been wishing Sega would take a more active role in developing new and interesting things for the series. I've only recently become aware of PS Zero, as I've been away from PSU and this site for almost 2 years. Even from first glance, I became very excited. The art style alone is great and has a flare and visual punch that PSU, dispite its technical improvements over PSO, never really managed to convey. The review does bring up a few valid marks in that the game still uses some very dated mechanics, although I can forgive a lot of them since this is a portable effort. But overall, PS Zero is one of the freshest installments to the series in a long time. I really hope it does well enough to garner some Sega exec's attention as at least an artistic direction to take the series.
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