PHANTASY STAR PORTABLE
a really fun game that could have been better. on the good side, there are a wealth of character creation and customization options in this game. you can spend a long time making cosmetic choices at the start of the game, then there's an incredibly huge number of weapons and skills that you can develop throughout the game itself. one unfortunate problem is that the camera distance is a little far to really see the cosmetic subtleties you might agonize over. camera in general is not as intuitive as you might want for all the action that's going on, particularly when you use the zoomed shooting mode to zero in on flying targets. visually, the world(s) are well-designed and distinct from each other. the one gripe i have about them is that you're not free to run around between missions on foot, but have to select options from menus over static maps. character interaction is also like watching a slideshow, although they do put in a number of non-plot-related conversations that let you get to know the characters a little better. don't get me wrong, this game is FUN, but you'll have to learn to ignore occasional camera frustrations and some uninspiring presentation to get into the story a little more.

Thumbs Up
Ive played Phantasy Star Universe as well as the Ambition of Illumines expansion for it for a while now. I heard SEGA was doing a PSP port but couldnt find enough information on it. When I found the demo, I just had to get it. The demo only represented 3 multiplayer maps, as well as a short intro to the story, but leaves you expecting more. I found an online community for the full version so we shall see how well it holds up with more content, more story, and more players. ~enjoy this game.

Biggest differences between Phantasy Star Online (older gen) and Phantasy Star Universe (360/pc/ps2) is the graphics, map randomizations, and battle strategies. Instead of being forced to time your hits, you can button mash, timing them almost doubles your dammage. The character detail, enemy detail, and enemy attacks vary a LOT more. Youll find out quickly that even being the best of the best, there are some creatures you just cant handle alone. I still laugh when my level 102 ForteTecher gets owned in a map with lvl 25's just because some creature was ignored around the time it through Megid (possible 1 hit ko, but slow and avoidable). The maps in PSU have been altered from random to linked. there are only a few variations to the actual map, and a few variations to monsters, so it may take you a few times to memorize all the maps and monsters. Unlike PSO, PSU's maps are more diverse. They feature more ups, downs, small caves, traps, and secret doors that you wouldn't think to look for. Finishing the quest gives you a C-A, and S ranks. The better you do, the better your score, the better your score, the better you gain.

A fanatastic little port of Phantasy Star Universe
P/S/P is essentially just a port of Phantasy Star Universe. Theres changes all over the place but the core remains the same.

The game plays is very similar to Monster Hunter series. In fact the Monster Hunter series was a series insipered by Phantasy Star Online.

The game has a little more depth than Monster hunter in that it has skill sets and tons of truly unique class's

The graphics are fairly good for a psp game and the frame rate doesnt seem to dip.

The way you travel is vastly different over the console version (pc, ps2 and, 360). There doesnt seem to be any towns or worlds to explorer. Everything is done via a menu system. You simply scroll around and pick where you wanna go.

So while they've taken away from the game you get a ton more too. New weapons, stages and enemies by the mass's.

This games main appeal on the psp is its 4 player co op mode. A flaw in this is the PSU is a 6 player game and the enemies are balanced for 6 players. They didnt actually go back to rebalance the enemies. So when you're starting off you might get slapped around a little bit. The new 4 player mode is great however because offline and online character data is one in the same. No more needing to have a online and offline character that are totally different characters.

If you're looking to a game thats vastly suprior to Monster Hunter or just a change of pase in the very very small morpg gerne then this is the game for you.

Dont let the low score of 4/5 let you down. The games not anywhere near perfect because it get repitious. But so does any other hack and slash like dyntasy warriors, monster hunter etx. This is probably the best of that gerne though.