Is Phantasy Star Zero a Good Game?

[atashi]

I think the only other NDS game which could even compare to the playability and addictiveness is Pokemon, but that's a whole different kettle of fish.

[Branse]

But, your asking entirely the wrong place. This is a board for fans of PSZ, the views we express on the game are anything but objective. Try looking at actual reviews to hear if you'll like or dislike certain aspects of the game.

I agree and disagree with ya there. I boycotted reviews a loong time ago. I didn't let irrationalities or poor temper drive that decision, but rather common facts. If I took the time to elaborate, it'd be a bore fest. Long story short: Many reviewers let their biased or opinionated nature overthrow what their readers are wanting to know about that game.

So moving on, I'd say coming on to a message board was the best idea you could have. However, this is where I agree with Niered. This is a PSZ board, so you'll probably only find highly enthusiastic fans of Phantasy Star who can't get enough of the game.

Like me. lol.

I will say this. I thought PSU was an upgrade and way better than PSO.. for the first few months that I played it. After those months, my desire to play the game diminished. PSU just didn't have the same addictive spark that PSO had.

I've owned PSZ for a few weeks, and I love it. I just wish there were a lobby system. If you can find some friends who come on at the least rarely, then you should be alright. Still, this game had potential to be a highly addictive online experience just like the past titles have been, but instead its main focus was the single player experience.

[Bad Dirt Marvel]

A review IS a subjective opinion.

[Hucast-Kireek]

After PSO:BB this is the best game.

[Reksanden]

This is kinda like when I asked about PSU from the viewpoints of PSU and PSO players. Besides, they may want player opinion, even if it's going to be a bunch of saying "yes" here and "Why ask?" there.

[Dragwind]

I think the game is fun, but it's online mode is severely lacking and has no cheat protection along with very little character customization. The re-playability feels very short, but that's just me. The story mode is okay, but also feels pretty cheesy. It didn't have that "adventure" feel that PSO had.

Overall though, the gameplay can be pretty fun and you'll get at least a good 40-100/200 hours of fun in the game, depending on how much you like it and how many characters you want to cap. Just don't expect much from multiplayer unless you have a bunch of people you know to play it with.

For a Phantasy Star game, I feel it's somewhat mediocre. For a DS game, it's very well done.

[Pavichokche]

I think that even so much as comparing PSZ to other PS games on the PC, PS2/3 or 360 is proof of its quality. You all seem to be forgetting that this is running on the DS !!! That thing is weaker than the old PC you had back in 2000 !!! Once you start comparing it to other DS games, it completely beats almost all of them, with its graphics AND content My answer is, NO, PSZ is not a good game, its an AMAZING game !

[-Pandora-]

Great maybe ill ask for it for Christmas! Thanks for all the posts to help me learn more about this game.

[Orrefe]

Well, I dunno if whoever is on the fence about the game, but I have written about it 3 times in my video game blog [it's not all that professional, so I wouldn't worry too much about my opinion XD]

The first one talks about me buying the game/my history with the Phantasy Star franchise

This one actually has me talking about not really liking Zero [You'll find I mention things like not knowing how the Gunblade works or questioning how Slicers do damage; I know how those things work now XD]

And this is me just kind of affirming that I do, in fact, really like it

[Para]

Imo for a DS game, its really fun and worth it.
It is like a PSO game but scaled down. The fact I said scaled down means that the game had to make cuts to what you might expect on a grander scale of PSO but minimalized on PSZ.

One example would be character customization. Others would be graphical effects like no more shifta/deband effects to show you are buffed but rather just a status icon. The map layout in PSZ is more "randomized" than in PSO so you don't always know where the warp to the next area is but after you play enough you may notice some similar trends.

Gameplay however still remains to the core like PSO with some changes that sure to set a precedent in the PSO/PSU series (such as dodging which re-appears in PSP2, new weapons like Shields which also appear in PSP2 and the evp change that you don't block weapons when you successfully evade an attack). All these changes have been met with positive reception so expect them to be core.

Music is like PSO so expect the same beautiful atmospheric songs to come back with the normal and battle themes for each stage.

In regards to multiplayer capability... online may seem a bit frustrating for some as the game uses a matchmaking system if you want to play with randoms while using friend codes to play with friends. When you play with the matchmaking system, you may only use word select to speak to others and you are limited to one run only before you need to matchmake another party again. You can't add people you meet through the matchmaking system thus it is encouraged that you make friends through gaming boards like PSOW to play with people.