3ERDC PSO 2

God bless Sonic Team. Only nine months after the initial U.S. release of
PSO, the king of developers says, "You want more PSO? Here, try this."
And thousands of Dreamcast fans around the globe shout out in glee:
"Oh hell yeah we do!" And for anyone who was as addicted to the
original as I was (which is basically everyone who played it online), we
were treated to a second helping of the highly-acclaimed online-console
RPG with the release of an upgrade: Phantasy Star Online version 2.
Sure, it wasn't a sequel, but it was something. New battle modes, new
gameplay features, new rare items. Sounds like Sonic Team just made
the best...game...ever, even better.

But did they? You'll have to decide for yourself. There are many
additions to this upgrade that set it apart from its predecessor, but
there are also a lot of additions that should have been made and were
not, and one annoying addition that should have been left out. I am
referring, of course, to the addition of online charges: fifteen bucks for
three months. Sure, it's not that bad, but it definitely isn't as appealing
as free. Thus, many fans of the original chose not to upgrade and the
ver. 2 servers remained fairly empty as stingy fans clung to the original
PSO.

As for me, I couldn't resist the additions and chose to pay to play. So,
was it worth it? Yes and no. Yes, because the new modes that Sonic
Team tossed in made the game even better. No, because there weren't
as many people to play with and there should have been more additions
(something they took care of, in my opinion with the release of PSO
episode I & II for GameCube and X-Box).

Now, if you want the basics of PSO then read my review of the original
by clicking here. Otherwise, I will discuss a few of the additions to ver. 2
and adjust the category scores accordingly.

Gameplay

The most noticeable, and most useful, addition to the gameplay
department is the new "quick select" feature. In the heat of battle, with
no ability to pause (pausing is for pussies anyway), this new feature
comes in handy. By holding the Right trigger and pressing Y you will
bring up an onscreen item and equipment menu that you can easily
scroll through for needed weapon changes or support items (no more
running around in circles while you maneuver through the bulky start
menu as Hildebears are tossing fireballs at you----though I must say I
was pretty damn good at it). This is definitely a welcome addition.

The next big addition is Ultimate mode: faster and stronger enemies
that are harder to kill. Available to any brave hunter over level 80.
Ultimate indeed for it is tough as hell. But now that the level max out
has been bumped up to 200 it will be the only way to get there. Let's
just say you won't get there anytime soon though.

And next we have the ability to purchase new costumes for your
characters. Sure at 100,000 meseta they're even too pricey for 5th
Avenue or Rodeo Drive, but how cool is it to change the costume of a
character you've been staring at for 200 plus hours? Definitely worth
the money.

Sonic Team also took the time to toss in six different Battle Modes so
that ver. 2 players can duke it out online and see who the real king of
Ragol is. Each mode has different rules that favor different classes, and
the player vs. player combat is an excellent addition to a game that
formerly featured only co-op play.

Next we have the addition of Challenge Mode, an online mode where
you team up with other players and race through the levels defeating
enemies and solving puzzles in hopes of earning a very secret and
unique weapon. This is quite different from the normal online game as
you really do have to work together and share items since everyone
starts out at Level 1 and support items and decent weapons are quite
scarce. If one of your team members dies, you all lose, so you better
learn how to play nice.

And there is also the inclusion of Lobby Soccer. With a cameo-theme
from Sonic Team's other gem, Chu Chu Rocket, in Lobby Soccer any of
the characters in the online lobby can run into the soccer ball to "kick"
it into goals and score points. It sounded like a blast, but unfortunately
no one really played it, and I got sick of winning games 35-0.

Now, with all those great additions you would think the game is
flawless, but it's not. There are many things that should have been fixed
or included that are noticably absent. First of all, the Battle and
Challenge Modes are only available online, which is very disappointing
since the single-player game was the original's biggest flaw. With that,
Sonic Team's failure to include an off-line multiplayer mode is my
biggest gripe as the off-line game would have been improved tenfold.

Another annoyance is their failure to include a real trading system, as
characters are still forced to play the trust game and drop rare items in
open lobbies, praying that their trading partner is honest.

Also noticeably absent is any new character classes or new levels, both
of which could have gone a long way towards making fans of the
original buy the upgrade.

Finally, there is the issue of character balance. This was a big issue in
the original and I was quite disappointed to see that it wasn't fixed for
ver. 2. I have experience raising characters from each class and I still
feel that Forces have it much much harder than Rangers and Hunters----
especially in single-player missions, and even more so when you first
start out (trust me, those first 80 levels as a Force are quite
frustrating). Their defense is too weak, their attack is too weak, and
their technique capabilities are too weak to compensate for it (not to
mention how fast it goes considering you can carry only ten Trifluids).
Now, in the online Battle Mode there are actually a few modes where
Forces have an advantage, but most of the time they do not. And in the
actual game itself it is still a problem. Sonic Team tried to fix it by
extending Force techniques to level 30 while other classes were
capped out at level 15, but it wasn't enough.

Overall though, the many gameplay additions have led to a stronger
game than the original. It's just that it could have been even better.

94%

Graphics

Nothing has changed, but this isn't a bad thing as PSO ver. 2 still
features some of the best textures I've ever seen in a videogame.

100%

Sound

Again, nothing has changed, but you cannot improve on perfection.

100%

Replay Value

With the new online modes there was always something to do in ver. 2.
It still has the same magic as the original, and even with the low user
numbers online (when it was online that is) you could still play games
with ver. 1 users. The only thing keeping most people from never
leaving their Dreamcasts was the new online subscription fee, but even
that wasn't enough to end the addiction.

100%

Overall

PSO ver. 2, all things considered, is a better game than the original PSO.
The various gameplay additions go a long way to making one of the
most addictive games ever even more appealing. I will admit, though, I
wanted more. I know it was only an upgrade and not a sequel, but there
were some noticeable absences in the gameplay department that
needed to be addressed. And no one likes paying for something they
used to get for free. As it stands, though, PSO ver. 2 is an amazing
game. Many of the issues I addressed were fixed in PSO's transition to
the next-gen consoles (something that is good for the series, but
somehow even more frustrating for me since I didn't get it in this game).
For being released only months later, Sonic Team put a lot into this
upgrade. But it was just so close to being flawless that it stings!

96%