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You can play offline, but playing online is substantially more enjoyable.
You can play offline, but playing online is substantially more enjoyable.You can play offline, but playing online is substantially more enjoyable.

Unfortunately such graphical complacency is commonplace in PSU, somewhat stunting the effect of its stylish manga-esque aesthetic. There's less individuality to the character creation side than most similar titles, with few choices of hairstyles, facial features and wardrobe options, meaning that within the space of a few hours online you will likely meet your character's double - an example of lazy art direction which fans seem to simply grin and bear.

Likewise, despite the PSU hardcore seeming to accept it without protest, there's an unmistakable sense that monsters in different areas often don't differ anywhere near drastically enough to feel genuinely threatening. Instead, they tend to come down to one of a few select types, advancing with predictable and overly familiar attack patterns. Bosses are even worse, downright lazy rehashes of each other, and lack the variety and challenge of PSO's superb end-of-area battles.

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That's also a trait which could easily be levelled at the areas themselves - which, while doing their best to offer a living, breathing world, never truly get past feeling derivative of those in the Dreamcast original. There's certainly nothing here to match the pulsating, mysterious sinew of PSO's Ruins or Dark Falz Boss fight. There are also frame rate issues aplenty, making this a slightly underwhelming visual update of a once-iconic franchise.

Yet, despite the obvious failings, the underlying dungeon trawl and item collection aspects of the Phantasy Star games remain as unerringly appealing as ever. This is thanks in large to two additions which help bolster PSU's longevity factor to ridiculous degrees.


Instead of finding 'rares' as in PSO, you'll now have to make them...

Synthesis is the big one. Instead of finding 'rares' as in PSO, you'll now have to make them - using a hovering robot called a Partner Machinery, and various ingredients, all of which can be mixed in different amounts to produce different items. Thankfully, it's never as dauntingly freeform as it sounds, with the basis for each item, a Board you slot into your Partner Machinery, dictating the specific ingredients needed for Synthesis in all cases.

And that's where the shops come in. Every player on PSU has their own room which can be lined with expensive (and completely cosmetic) decorations, or, for a fairly hefty price, can be turned into their own eBay-style shop. Here your partner Machinery acts a shopkeeper, storage device and till combined, meaning you can leave your shop unattended and go about your business elsewhere, earning money as you do. The real addictive quality, however, lies in scouring other players' stores for rare items and Synthesis ingredients, and using the results to modify, customise and generally cool-up your character.

While not the classic PSO was, PSU is well worth a look.While not the classic PSO was, PSU is well worth a look.

And PSU, like PSO before it, hinges on that item-driven premise. The initial hook of the pacey combat is fuelled by the hunt for newer, rarer, more expensive items - or Meseta with which to buy them - and new items, in turn, help you out on the field of battle, ensuring the grind to fresh scenery, more dangerous enemies and the use of even more collectible gadgets continues.

Unfortunately, Sega has actually locked much of the disc's content from the beginning, meaning limited missions, no challenge modes and a level cap of 50, which all bottoms out pretty quickly, with the plan currently being to siphon it into the gameworld one weekly update at a time. It's a frankly ludicrous decision, but one, given my previous experience with the billing situation, I wasn't surprised by in the slightest.

And that's a shame, because, despite the obvious drawbacks, I've enjoyed my time on PSU immensely. Sadly, Sega's laughable online policy and faulty net code remains, but these are gripes PSO veterans like myself have lived with throughout the series' various iterations. Even clearly noticeable repetition and developer laziness can't fully erase what is in essence an almightily addictive and emergent base structure. In the end, Phantasy Star Universe suffers from a few wayward aspects, but remains more than the sum of its parts.

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