PSU Makes IGN's List of RPGs to Avoid

[DAMASCUS]

Well sure but how many people are on PSU for the XBox 360 right now and how many are playing any other RPG. Is there an online RPG for XBox that can compete? Not that I'm aware of...which ironically would be part of the problem. The problem with online Phantasy Star games has always been that it is so fun and addicting at first that you play an unreasonable amount to no end. With nothing else quite like it on the market you would get burnout and have no alternatives but something solitary or competitive.
So yes, it does get boring after many runs which requires a break from time to time but..
..No it should not be avoided( especially with the trial option) because you will get hundreds of hours of good times until you do(and then come back )

[kenti001]

IDK how PPL can't understand how PSU is truly revolutionary. There are so many ppl out there that are looking for a different MMO centered around action, and PSO/PSU practically created the genre. Sure it can be a grind, but SO IS EVERY OTHER GAME. and yes there arrant many ppl playing right now, but that's what partner cards are for. Yes there are limited lobbies and instance type stages, but the thing that many don't understand is that even if you were going out into some free world where tons of PPL were playing, its up to the individual to make the experience grand and be social and friendly. you can still have the same great experience on PSU that you would have on WOW or any other game, and you can even meet ppl while in a stage if they join your team. i can't understand why ppl don't realize this is the first and best Action MMO.......sorry for the rant

[xBULLYDOGG]

The last factor, certain areas can not be accessed untill further updates such as moatoob when the game was originally released i personally believe was a good idea. Giving people the good stuff on this game in portions could be seen as one way to keep things interesting and fun not just bloating everyone with everything. PSU is not a game to avoid otherwise the thousands who pay and play it online over the PS2, PC and Xbox 360 wouldn't be playing it surely. Untop of that there are people who still abide on the demo frequently who don't have access to moatoob and such and know of its state on the full game. If their reasons toward this game falls under such of there not being enough lobbies blah blah blah then, dare I say it, another expansion? The masses who would come back to playing the game would amaze and the "severe" lack of content is a bit of an overstatement. Nothing was "severe"ly lacking in this game, In my opinion.
I just read their reviews on the selected RPGs and half of them sounded more like a childs complaint and personal stabs at games.

[gratefulgriz]

I am pretty sure I will never go to Ign.com again.

[LFire]

*Cough* Final Fantasy XI *cough*. Yes, there is competition in the online RPG market on the 360. Especially considering that FFXI has servers that are linked to PC, PS2, AND XBox 360. In other words, while PSU has separate 360 servers from PC/PS2, FFXI has them all on the same server. Lots more exploration, lots more content. There are issues, of course (lots of Real Money Traders showing up, occasional glitch), but it IS valid competition to PSU's online RPG status on the 360.

[SC]

As a PSU/AOTI offline player, I believe that IGN have a very closed mind on the game. I have seen online players, as my friend used to play online. And the community was great, if you was a (and I use this term very lightly, as I hate it) 'noob', then players would tell you and show you where to go to do GBR missions, what the GBR points did and meant, and occassionaly give you an S rank Item that they no longer needed.
Yes, it can get a tad tedious, but that is what makes the game fun, it urges you to get that X Level, or get that particular S rank that everyone is after, so you can say, "yes, I have been playing for 6 hours straight, but I sought the prize, and I claimed it, Anyone want to see??". This is also another factor in the game, Showing that someone HAS gotten that new rank 13 S Rank, it gives hope to other players that they can also obtain, if they commit to it.
To conclude, IGN have a seriously closed mind, and have become apart of the 'norm' such as WoW and other big names. They haven't dared to expand from that, to try something new. Something, in my opinion, they SERIOUSLY need to do.

[PSU Phere]

SEGA has been earning my monthly fee recently compared to the around 4 months we had of NO UPDATES. I cant remember if it was before or after Neudaiz GBR, but thats not important. I still was forced to run ALOOOOT of White Beast. Because its just 'the best mission in the game.' Honestly, i think that, i PERSONALLY, have ran that mission so many times that the Alteraz, should be extinct. SEGA needs to sync up N.A. and Japan servers so they get the updates at the same itme. Whats up SEGA? Why is JAPAN so much MORE important than the rest of us? Granted the game came out their first, but shouldnt that mean we get a whole bunch of stuff on OUR release date? As of right now, im just gonna keep playing like i have, but whenever we DO get the 'supplemental update' im gonna decide if this game is worthy of my monthly fees. As for IGN's review, they cant even compare this game to WoW because for one thing, there is NO advertisement for this game. The only people who play this game, are people who have ALREADY played a Phantasy Star game. Or the ocasional person who says 'oh, a friend told me about it.' or 'just saw it at Block Buster for $6.' One last thought, 'The Draught' was possibly when they did this review of PSU maybe? XD

[Finalzone]

One thing I have to agree with IGN is definitely the lack of update, international version of PSU was about nine months behind Japanese thus Sonic Team own fault in that department. I also about agree about lobbies, though they have potential, need to be expanded beyond a simple fashion, weapons (there is studio dance in Clyez). Planets needs to have more cities to explore.
As for changing name, you have to deal with your own decision.

[ZeronechaosX]

I've been playing PSU since Operation Firebreak. I mean I truly believe that in some cases PSU is a failure. I remember when it used to take 30-50 Hrs to hit level 30. Now u can hit level 100 in less than 50 hrs? This game went from challenging to easy. Leveling is just ridiculously easy. (White Beast Anyone?) Also the pace at which sega decides to release content for the NA servers is ridiculously slow. We really aren't making any progress.
I mean originally we were 3 months behind the Jap. Servers but now we gotta be beyond 6 months behind. The mission variety is also a joke. It's nothing but corridors and rooms. What ever happened to exploration. Operation Firebreak had more variety than 90% of the events that succeeded it. What about introducing more Photon Arts? I mean seriously. It's gonna be 2 years coming up in December when we haven't seen any new PA's since AOTI.
Oh and my final complaint is focused on the Bosses. I mean come on. All the new missions i've seen involved fighting multiple bosses in a row or boss reskins. (Dark Falz, Mother Brain). Can we get some new bosses that are completely different and Original.
I'm sorry. But PSU is DEFINITELY NOT A WORTHY SUCCESSOR TO PSO. Oh and Another thing. PSU in comparison to RPG's whether it be Fallout, Lost Oddysey, Eternal Sonata, Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean 4, Mass Effect or Tales of Vesperia, it doesn't even come close to their quality. I mean even MMORPG's Like Champions, Maple Story, WOW, Everquest or Final Fantasy XI. They make PSU look like a joke. It's unreal how Sega treats NA PSU Players.
My final comment is gonna be on Phantasy Star Portable. Sega how could u!!!!!!!! That game feels so much more complete than PSU it's a shame. I mean come on. We pay 120 Bucks a year, give or take a few dollars and instead of trying to improve PSU, they make the Incredible Phantasy Star Portable. I just felt like I had been done wrong when they released it. It was fantastic. Not perfect but far better than what I had been paying for in PSU.

And Unless people start complaining and getting their complaints heard. Sega's not gonna change and people are gonna continue to laugh at PSU like it's a Joke. PSU has alot of potential but it's never gonna be reached unless some major changes occur.

[Imatron_]

PSU isnt exactly the kind of game that is intended to be rated by a game magazine, its made for a cult audiance who likes PSU and PSO as it is, and if the audiance likes it thats all that matters. A game magazine rateing PSU is like movie critics trying to rate the Aqua teen Hunger Force movie that was in theatres, sure you can make a point to critisize it but your opinions arent going to matter to the people who it was taylored for, and your just shouting hot air at something becasue it wasnt made for you to begin with.

[Keilyn]

Phantasy Star remains one of the most popular series with an underground following. This was mainly because it went against the grain. Each new game offered something different not attempted in mainstream roleplaying during its time. PSO and PSU were no exceptions.

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Phantasy Star Universe has a lot of offerings. From the Room offerings that beat out what you see in other roleplaying games, to the sheer amount of character clothes. Roleplaying isn't simply about mashing everything up and collecting experience....Famitsu magazine ran a column of people who fell in love in-game and married in real life several times.

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The low population is evidence that the game works. My explanation is below:

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An MMORPG requires a large population for the server to actually work. Due to such large populations expanding the game becomes harder as well as maintaining balance. Today MMOs sport a mainstream story where you are the heroes killing the bad guys, however in persistent game worlds it amounts to more heroes existing per game than the total amount of players.

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What does it for me is the fact that the game centers on small groups instancing maps. Its neat since its always a group max size six against a world of monsters. It also allows for more uniqueness among characters and personality as well as people to get to know each other. Finally the game naturally has the one element that made it worth its while for me. The fact that any group I join through any counter automatically adds me to their party without hunting for a party for hours.

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The shop system in Phantasy Star Universe also prevents players from having to crowd lobbies bazzaring their items and wasting playing time and it prevents having to own multiple characters and accounts to accomplish something basic. The instancing prevents many parties from fighting each other spawn points for good drops. Can you imagine level 160 characters camping spawnzones to the best items like in every persistent MMO?

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PSU does it right where other games fail. The reason IGN rated Phantasy Star Universe low is simply because they could without any problems. I bet you that if IGN rated WoW as a low game ,that Blizzard and Vivendi Games will politicaly not trust them to rate their future games. This group is an example of people who look at a game...rate it once or twice and then never really look at it again..and if they do its because their website or operations are funded from doing so...

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PSU allows you to create a game and take part in traditional roleplaying elements of small parties, lots of bad guys and even with the events that Sega launches...also allows for a lot of out of game roleplaying experiences. Twenty-Years of Roleplaying and I still play Phantasy Star? Why? Because it always has been fresh, different and unique......A game few understand and works with a low population because it is way ahead of its time.

[BUM117]

here is a list of what they need to do...
create PVP.
make a new world.
make more clothes for male/ female chars.
enable character name change.
make it able to block spamming.
make it able to use your weps out of missions (just to have fun and see other peoples weps instead of wondering what they look like)
make it so your Partner machiene follows you outside of missions.
most of all... catch us up with the japan servers.

[legend_ash]

The general ideas behind psu where introverted and new to the mmo scene. As an mmo psu first i say succeded as a fun exciting realtime mmorpg, which there are few ( I mean turn taking arent we above that by now come on ffxi) but as time progressed i would say psu went downhill. Lvling became too easy, rare items found more often, PA's lvled faster, continuous rollbacks, and not to mention a severe lack of content updates (plus the fact whenever we got them they were small). Slowly less and less people played killing the community and the awesomeness of being lvl cap disappeared because truth be told now a days who isn't? We pay 10 bucks a month for a dying game not to mention they take our money and instead of reinvesting it in this game to make it better they go spend it on useless games that dont make the money they need. They lose more money then i lose coins at the casino. Talk about dumb. Psu as just an rpg was also released severely incomplete at least for the 360 as i know. I mean come on you couldnt even get half of the weapons that were on the disc and the PA's stopped at 20. To top it all off there where cg cutscenes and text ones. TEXT WTF. Are you kidding me i thought it was made darn clear after ffvii that cgs where obviously the new standard of gaming. That was aout a decade ago seriously SEGA stop being so low-budget and lazy. Pay us what we deserve and if you cant then you might as well shut yourselves down already because you're a dying company that doesn't get a hint. Truthfully i feel sad saying all this because ive tried wow and ffxi and didn't like it as well as this game but its not long before another company takes the ideas invested in psu and does them right and that day will be the end of psu for me...

[Ivan865]

Well i've been playing since the the protector (y) this last June and i have to say i had my doubts but as soon as i logged on i started meeting people who i have to say aren't excuse the language pricks like on big name games such as FFXI, and WoW. Here making pacts with people is a main attraction to me you will always have a someone there to run with you. The gameplay is what delivers the final blow to every other mmo because I cant tell you how many point and click mmos ive played were grinding is a tiring task but with the hack and slash style of PSU i don't mind it.Now the lack of content to me is the only bad thing which i still don't mind. In my opinion IGN.com editors and writers didn't even even bother to play the game they just took the opinions of big critics and just wrote their article on that. In all honesty PSU is the best true action mmo out there.