Reviews for Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Xbox

Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Xbox

Strengths: Unique XBOX Gameplay

Weakness: Expensive (Monthly Fee + XBOX Live Fee = Too Much) Slow Gameplay

This is an MMORPG for the XBOX, the only one of its kind of this console. It is very similar to the .hack series if you have ever played that with the only exception that it has online capabilites. This game features both single player and online games. I have yet to try the Online play because I don't feel like paying the Hunter's Fee (Monthly Fee for the game). Single play gameplay is kind of slow. Gameplay is a little confusing at first, but after a while it gets easier. If you have the XBOX, and need an RPG go ahead and pick it up since it is so cheap now, if you have other consoles, you have tons of better options.

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Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Xbox

Strengths: good game

Weakness: dont got it yet

i have a casin who has it on gamecube it is relly fun game if you like fighting in battle then this is the game you should get and then tell us how it is our email me

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Phantasy Star Online

Strengths: Its Phantasy Star!

Weakness: Have to have online play in order to play at all

Basically the same as the Dreamcast Versions but its on Xbox and you have to pay for any type of playing time on here...very dissappointing because of that...I probably would not recommend this game unless you can get it very cheap and you already have xbox live setup.

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RPG reissue

Strengths: Solid combat system, on-line voice communication

Weakness: Basically a port of the Dreamcast version. An additonal fee to play on-line.

This is one of the best on line role playing games and was very unique to the Dreamcast. It is great to see this title on the Xbox, but is very disappointing that is has not been improved that much, the graphics are about the same as Dreamcast The games best new feature is voice communication on line, the worst is having to pay a fee just to play the game on line.
If this game had on line game play for free it would be a much more popular game.

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Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II

Strengths: Lots of quests, good RPG elements, good battle engine

Weakness: Have to pay a monthly fee to play online, have to have an Xbox Live account to even play offline

Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II is a MMORPG for the Xbox. This is a futuristic RPG that allows you to choose and customized three different character types and take them into battle with other characters. This game is meant to be played online, but there is an offline mode that allows you to play with up to four players split-screen on one Xbox. I never wanted to pay the extra fee to play online, so I just played two-player splitscreen.

The game has you going on quests to vanquish enemies and find items. The combat is in real-time so it is somewhat of an action/adventure game. I enjoyed the combat and the enemies, but I eventually got bored with the game because a lot of the quests seemed to be very similar. It's probably a lot better when played online though.

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Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Xbox

Strengths: Voice Chat and Broadband only. No more lag issues of dialup and slow typing. Voice ban people you dont want to hear. no serial number or access keys. Faster loading

Weakness: Monthly Fee on top of xbox live fee. Must have xbox live to play offline. Characters tied to gamertags.

excellent co-op game play over xbox live or offline multiplayer with friends. This upgrade from the orinigal dreamcast versions contains massive new levels, items, character classes, and music. This game can be bought used unlike the other versions as it is tied to your gamertag and not a serial number. Great gameplay will keep you playing for hours with pleanty of replay value. Worth picking up if you are a fan of the series, or just want a good multiplayer expierence.

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Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Xbox

Strengths: Only version of PSO with voice chat, Multiplayer is alot of fun, especially challenge mode, Progressive scan support, Dolby Digital support

Weakness: Must subscribe to Xbox Live, even to play offline, monthly fee to play online

Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II has everything that was on both of the Dreamcast versions of the game & also has 2 new levels plus a ton of extras, hence the Episode II part. PSO Episode I & II is a 3D action adventure/RPG type game as you level up & equip stuff like an RPG but you have complete control over your character when it comes to fighting just like any action game. You can play with up to four other characters online or split screen on one system. You get to pick from three different character classes which then have sub classes that vary abit as to what kind of stats that character will start with & max out at. FO is strong in magic, HU is good for melee fighting, and RA specialize in ranged weapons. I would strongly recommend to anyone that likes action adventure games to give Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II a try the only problem is that you can't even play offline without a Xbox Live subscription but other than that it's an engrossing game that you can spend an insane amount of time playing if you enjoy it (over 100 hours) and for gamers that played the dreamcast version & haven't had enough of the PSO experience Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II has enough new stuff to do to get your money's worth out of it even if you played it before on the Dreamcast.

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Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Xbox

Strengths: Great action in the phantasy universe.

Weakness: I got to pay to play online.

This is the same version as the gamecube version but it offers talk over typing over online. The game has been released before, all the way to the dreamcast. The graphics have been updated a bit, the sound is still the same, and gameplay is the same except for the talking over xbox live. Xbox received a fun game, even though the game is old its still enjoyable to play and its a great title to play online over the other online games.

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Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Xbox

Strengths: Fun for a while

Weakness: Monthly fee on top of XBOX live.

This game was fun for quite a while. Then people figured out how to cheat and flooded the game with all sorts of items that weren't supposed to exist. They charge a monthly fee for this game as well. Be careful about that before you purchase. XBOX live also must work or it is pointless to own.

Hope this helps.

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Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Xbox

Strengths: Horribly addictive and fun, be it single player, three or four player offline, or Xbox Live.

Weakness: Terrible offline two-player mode, $9/month for online is too much.

Sega has always been at the forefront of online gaming, putting many of their eggs in that particular basket for the Dreamcast. Unfortunately, the online revolution came a bit later than they anticipated, and Sega announced the abandoning of the Dreamcast around the time that Phantasy Star Online was released. Now, however, they've rereleased it on the Xbox, with full Live support and a new episode, featuring new areas and a new addition to the story. It's not without its problems, but it can be as addictive as anything else you'll play.

PSO is, at its heart, a dungeon hack. You won't be playing this for the story or for the characters; you'll be playing because you love to smite aliens, and you love to level yourself up so you can smite some more. Each of the game's two episodes has one ship, which serves the purpose of a standard RPG town. Here you heal, buy and sell items and weapons, identify stuff you've found, and receive quests for money. When you're done with that, you can head down to the planet to kick some tail.

Combat is basically like a 3D Diablo. Enemies are all over the place, and you've got a weapon, some spells, and some healing items. Go to work. It's an action RPG all the way, so you'll be running around them as well as trading blows. When you've found the way to the next area, you take it, until you reach a boss. Bosses are much tougher than the areas before them, and usually a lot of fun because of it. When you beat a boss, you feel great about you, and the experience gained reflects that.

Phantasy Star Online also has a bit of a virtual pet element, but this one actually ties into the game. Every character has a Mag, which is a little robot floating behind you that eats healing items. When you feed it, which you can do once every few real-time minutes, you can raise its stats, which in turn directly raise its owner's stats. For instance, giving your Mag 50 Strength raises your Strength by 50 points. This can be quite a boon, and if you give your raised Mag to a new character, it can make starting off much easier.

There are several character types for you to choose, specializing in short range combat (Hunters), projectile combat (Rangers), and of course magic (Forces). As is customary for online RPGs, there is a fair amount of customization available to make your character unique. You'll also be assigned a Section ID based on your name, determining what rare items you receive from enemies. This is so that you'll have to trade with others either online or offline to get most of the cool stuff.

Multiplayer is just as you'd expect: more enemies, but you've got friends to back you up. Playing offline is lots of fun with three or four people, but with two, Sonic Team really screwed up the splitscreen. Too much is cut off from the top and bottom due to excessive zoom-in, making it so you can't even see the ground on which you're standing. Very unfortunate. Multiplayer also adds some new elements, like switches that need to have multiple people standing on them to activate, and area-effect healing spells. Coordinating these is much easier with voice chat, either in person or over Live, than it was on the Dreamcast and Gamecube with a keyboard (or, even worse, a software keyboard).

In addition to the normal cooperative game, there are also Challenge and Battle modes. Challenge gives you level one characters, and challenges you to go through a set number of areas without getting a game over. It can be sort of fun, but since you don't get to keep your experience, you'll feel much better about just going through the main game. Battle mode lets you have it out with your buddies in an arena-like setting, which is also not as much fun as the main game, but hardcore player-versus-player fans may enjoy it, since the main game is entirely cooperative.

The Xbox Live support can be both the best and worst thing about the game. It's lots of fun, but it's also $9 per month. That's not good. It's cheaper than MMORPGs like World of Warcraft and Everquest, but this is a much simpler game, and I can't believe that it's enough of a strain on the servers to justify even a small portion of this cost, even when the occasional updates are factored in. $5 per month, maybe. The game itself is rather cheap, though, so if you can't find two or three friends to play with you offline, the two month free trial could be all you need. Also, this is one of the very few games that requires a Live account to play, and the only one that requires it even though it has a fully functional offline mode. That's just a boneheaded move on Microsoft's part, and will only hurt sales. Still, if you're interested in playing the game at all, you can borrow a friend's Live account via a memory card, or set yourself up with a free Live trial to get the game started.

Although a few issues keep the game from being perfect, PSO is plenty of fun in both its single player and multiplayer modes. If you enjoy lots of action RPG combat and get a thrill every time your character gains a level, this game is right up your alley. If you need either pure action or a deep, story-driven RPG experience, look elsewhere.

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Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II

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