Phantasy Star Universe

sweet

Reviewed by waste420 on September 18, 2007  |  report this review

Phantasy Star Universe is a dungeon crawling action RPG that takes place in a futuristic world where humans live alongside three other humanoid races. While the humans are have all around talents, the elf-like newman specialize in wield force techniques, android casts excel in gunplay, and beasts are the best at utilizing close combat weaponry. Combat is in real-time with the ability to do a standard attack with each weapon and then link several special attacks in the form of photon arts or force spells allowing for from two to four ways to attack the enemies with each weapon. Still, combat is largely done with a single button. Weapons, force techniques, character classes, special moves, and even your little friend the partner machine can all be upgraded and improved through sometimes confusing processes. Beyond that, character appearance, clothing and your little living space can all be customized. All of this together gives players plenty of frills. The main focus of Phantasy Star Universe is the network mode, in which you can explore the different areas populated by other players and join up with them to fight your way through missions. Additionally, there is a complete offline game complete with a story and an extra mode that mirrors the online game.
The story mode requires you to play as a human named Ethan Waber and takes you through his journey to join the Guardians, an elite group of hired guns tasked with maintaining the peace, and ultimately discover and destroy the source of the mysterious SEED outbreaks which have unleashed dangerous creatures across the network of human colonized planets. The story itself is fairly decent and is told through a series of cutscenes that come in three different forms, narrated in-engine sequences, in-engine sections with text bubbles, and full blown CGI. Unfortunately, the story mode falls flat when taken as a standalone game mostly due it being built using all of the tools from the multiplayer game. Technical decisions that were made with the network mode in mind end up hampering the experience in the story mode. For an in-depth look at the story mode, be sure to read our impressions for the full scoop.

The story mode isn't up to snuff when compared to other offline RPGs, but the legions of fans that adore the new-look Phantasy Star series will be quick to tell you that the online game is where it's at. Like some other online RPGs, Phantasy Star Universe requires players to pony up $9.99 USD a month for access to the network game, so anyone thinking about taking the plunge should know that this title can cause quite a big hit on the wallet. The network mode allows players to create an online persona from one of the four races and customize their appearance and equipment to fit their individual style. When you do sign online, you'll be left almost in the dark as to what you're supposed to be doing. Although you can access little tutorials in your room, actually figuring out where to go and how to g

Ch.12--Life chioces--Boss

Hint by 2ofus on April 02, 2008  |  report this hint

Go forward until you tight to him, start attack. You might probably get pushing
away by the blue smock, but nevermind, you won't get much of damage from this
stupid move. When the boss cover himself, means the time you can't damage him,
run abit further from him, a giant hand would smack on the ground and then push
everyone away. It's easy to be dodged actually, if the hand down at left, you
just need to stay at the right side, if the hand down at right, just stay at
the left side to evade it. And before the hand starting pushing, you can hit
it serveral times. Continue attack when the sector is clear. Always stay aside
of his facing direction while attacking, the boss will shoot out the laser with
large damage, but it's only hit on the straigth direction, so if you attack him
from the side, you don't need to worry about this move, just beware the giant
hand. If you've been pushed away by the blue smock again, needless to say, you
should run close to the boss and continue attack.