Pillan
Jan 23, 2010, 11:31 AM
Being an old PSU PC player myself, I decided to write out some of the pros and cons of each option after the PC and PS2 Phantasy Star Universe servers go down. I’m going through them in order of least change to most.
Please feel free to add any additional Phantasy Star-related options to the list as well as write your own comparisons of the different choices.
1) The Xbox 360 Servers:
If you have an Xbox 360, this is probably your easiest option. All you have to do is find a copy of the game and pay for the AotI download. Then you can just get a subscription with your current account at the billing site. Since this server has both more players and Japanese players, the odds of it going down anytime soon are fairly low. The main disadvantage here is that a lot of updates on PC/PS2 were slowed down because the 360 version wasn’t ready, so I’d expect a similar slow pace of updates until it eventually comes to a halt with the release of Sonic Team’s next big game.
2) The Japanese PC/PS2 Severs:
This is pretty much the same thing as before, except in Japanese. Since you’re familiar with the game, you should be able to get around just fine with no knowledge of the language and a guide on how to set up the account. There’s already a thread outlining it here (http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174212). So, if you can get past the language barrier and find a group you’re comfortable partying with, this is definitely your best option. You’ll have access to all the best and fastest updates plus you can use the Guardian Cash system to boost your level and get the most powerful weapons fast.
3) Phantasy Star Portable:
It’s a carbon copy of PSU on PSP. If you have a PSP, it’s another quick option to give you the flavor of the game. The main issue here is you need other local friends to play multiplayer or a PS3 to go online.
4) Phantasy Star Portable 2:
This is the one that I went for as soon as it was released due to dissatisfaction with the small community and slow updates on the US PC/PS2 servers. Overall, it fixes everything wrong with PSU. This includes rebalanced races, rebalanced classes, a blast gauge for humans and Newmans, a completely revolutionized Ranger system, you can choose your own weapons and abilities for any class, new guarding and dodging abilities, and, best of all, no more item synthesis. The main problems with it are that online mode lags (not intolerably though) and there’s no keyboard, so you’ll have to set up a chat to communicate effectively. Also, it’s all in Japanese, but you play PSU so you’re familiar enough with the game to get around.
5) Phantasy Star Zero:
This is another option that crosses the old-school feel of PSO with some new elements. The main issue here is that the game feels slow and chunky due to the lack of an analog stick and the quick select menu in every PSO since GC. It also suffers from the lack of a keyboard, but not as badly since there’s a stylus to make up for it. Personally, I’d rather play PSO for the old-school feel or PSP2 for the new-school feel.
6) Phantasy Star Online:
There are some servers that you can easily Google search to find out how to play any PSO from the original to Blue Burst. So, if you really miss the good ol’ days, here’s the perfect chance to get reacquainted with them. Overall, there’s nothing really bad I can say about PSO besides the fact that it’s an older and slower game. However, you already know that. I would recommend this option for everyone who’s extremely frustrated with PSU and gave it such horrible reviews in comparison to PSO, as it’s sure to make your reviews less harsh. I also recommend this video (http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-january-5-2010/even-better-than-the-real-thing) to anyone who still thinks PSO was leaps and bounds better than PSU.
Please feel free to add any additional Phantasy Star-related options to the list as well as write your own comparisons of the different choices.
1) The Xbox 360 Servers:
If you have an Xbox 360, this is probably your easiest option. All you have to do is find a copy of the game and pay for the AotI download. Then you can just get a subscription with your current account at the billing site. Since this server has both more players and Japanese players, the odds of it going down anytime soon are fairly low. The main disadvantage here is that a lot of updates on PC/PS2 were slowed down because the 360 version wasn’t ready, so I’d expect a similar slow pace of updates until it eventually comes to a halt with the release of Sonic Team’s next big game.
2) The Japanese PC/PS2 Severs:
This is pretty much the same thing as before, except in Japanese. Since you’re familiar with the game, you should be able to get around just fine with no knowledge of the language and a guide on how to set up the account. There’s already a thread outlining it here (http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174212). So, if you can get past the language barrier and find a group you’re comfortable partying with, this is definitely your best option. You’ll have access to all the best and fastest updates plus you can use the Guardian Cash system to boost your level and get the most powerful weapons fast.
3) Phantasy Star Portable:
It’s a carbon copy of PSU on PSP. If you have a PSP, it’s another quick option to give you the flavor of the game. The main issue here is you need other local friends to play multiplayer or a PS3 to go online.
4) Phantasy Star Portable 2:
This is the one that I went for as soon as it was released due to dissatisfaction with the small community and slow updates on the US PC/PS2 servers. Overall, it fixes everything wrong with PSU. This includes rebalanced races, rebalanced classes, a blast gauge for humans and Newmans, a completely revolutionized Ranger system, you can choose your own weapons and abilities for any class, new guarding and dodging abilities, and, best of all, no more item synthesis. The main problems with it are that online mode lags (not intolerably though) and there’s no keyboard, so you’ll have to set up a chat to communicate effectively. Also, it’s all in Japanese, but you play PSU so you’re familiar enough with the game to get around.
5) Phantasy Star Zero:
This is another option that crosses the old-school feel of PSO with some new elements. The main issue here is that the game feels slow and chunky due to the lack of an analog stick and the quick select menu in every PSO since GC. It also suffers from the lack of a keyboard, but not as badly since there’s a stylus to make up for it. Personally, I’d rather play PSO for the old-school feel or PSP2 for the new-school feel.
6) Phantasy Star Online:
There are some servers that you can easily Google search to find out how to play any PSO from the original to Blue Burst. So, if you really miss the good ol’ days, here’s the perfect chance to get reacquainted with them. Overall, there’s nothing really bad I can say about PSO besides the fact that it’s an older and slower game. However, you already know that. I would recommend this option for everyone who’s extremely frustrated with PSU and gave it such horrible reviews in comparison to PSO, as it’s sure to make your reviews less harsh. I also recommend this video (http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-january-5-2010/even-better-than-the-real-thing) to anyone who still thinks PSO was leaps and bounds better than PSU.