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VGR #3: Phantasy Star Zero
16 years ago
General
Alright... been a while since I did one of these... and to anyone interested (and reads this), here's another review, this time for the new DS title, Phantasy Star Zero
So, if you are aware, Phantasy Star Zero is another in the expanding Phantasy Star Online-style titles done by Sega. Turning their once awesome RPG series into the first ever console-made MMORPG was a brilliant move for Sega and made the series a huge cult hit. There have been re-makes for the XBox, PC and Gamecube and sequels... *cough*
Yeah, okay... most of the sequels to Phantasy Star Online (Phantasy Star Portable for the PSP and Phantasy Star Universe for the XBox) didn't live up to their predecessor. Does Phantasy Star Zero for the Nintendo DS?
To be honest, not quite... but it's the closest we've seen thus far at least =3
Graphicly speaking, wow. For the DS, this is impressive graphics. It's a bit lower-res and sometimes flatter than PSO, but considering that it's a portable console, this is still really good. The graphics feel a bit more childish in graphical style as well... kind of Kingdom Hearts-esque if you want to compare, but that still works well for this series.
One great thing that is back is the character customization options. Right off the bat, you choose your race, gender, class... then from the template choose hair/hat style, hair colour, armour colour, skin colour and even voice (which we can touch on later). Additionally, all the weapons in the game look different from each other (well most do), so whatever you equip, you see. I will say that unfortunately, the options were a bit better in PSO than PSZ (at least more variety in options), but it's pretty much similar to what it was before. I will add though that there are anime cut-scenes dotted throughout the game (as well as the game intro), but you'll mostly be seeing text-dialogue very similar in style to Disgaea (not saying the writing is the same as Disgaea's... nobody can be that funny =p)
Audio... well... this is the major drawback. The music is a bit tame and the sound effects are a bit... old... as in SNES-era quality. That's not really too bad, but I think if they cut back on the anime cut-scenes, we could have had better sound effects. They do their job well enough though I suppose (and the level-up sound effect is kinna cuter now).
Of course, as usual, gameplay is the big thing... and they did a great job of making PSO for the DS. There are a few improvements to the system, including an evasive roll, something PSO didn't have. In PSO, you had to basicly take the hit and hope your Evasion was high enough that you'd block. This time, Evasion means the hit may miss you, but you can outright roll to dodge it if you don't want to take the risk. You also go into a straight run in this game and don't slow down if enemies are near. This is good for movement (though it looks a bit wonky going into a run from a standing position). You can also strafe by holding the L trigger down, which can be handy for ranged classes.
For the good, there is always bad and in this case, it's really a matter of the DS's limitations. The Gamecube (since this is Nintendo and I played PSO on my 'cube anyways), you had the ability to go into your menu while moving, using the C-stick to swap through weapons and so-on. There was even a quick-menu that let you do quick commands and even do on-the-fly weapon changes. Not in PSZ, unfortunately... since there's no second d-pad (and they use the touch pad for other things). One other thing that can be an issue is the difficulty of bosses. If you're fighting a full-scale boss, you will likely die in 1p and your NPC allies will more than likely die before you (and often). The stages are somewhat easy, but the bosses can be hellish sometimes. I find, however, that once you've killed them, it's easier the next time around.
Now, for multiplayer. PSO and all it's other iterations can go online for multiplayer... can the DS? Yes it can. I have heard that the online works very well, much better than Phantasy Star Portable on the PSP in fact! I have not gone online yet, but I have played wireless co-op and that is impressively good on it's own. The system for multiplayer is very intuitive. Any player can play with any other player and never feel weak. EXP is shared, handicaps are blended into gameplay to make things appear normal and best of all, when you get money and items, everyone gets their own set on their own screen rather than everybody fighting for the drops.
Multiplayer is also where the touch screen is used the most. Players use the touch screen essentially like Picto-chat. Draw/write your message and everyone sees it... well... on wireless multiplayer anyways. Anyone playing online that wants to see what you're saying must be on your friends list... yep... that means you need your friend code (when will Nintendo learn? XD).
All in all, the game retains much of what made PSO great and fans should enjoy it. Everyone else will probably get a kick out of this one too. Phantasy Star Zero is kind of like "Phantasy Star Online light"... but since it's a portable game based on a non-portable console version, PSO light makes perfect sense.
Personal rating: 8.5/10 - Definitely worthwhile. Consider getting it!
So, if you are aware, Phantasy Star Zero is another in the expanding Phantasy Star Online-style titles done by Sega. Turning their once awesome RPG series into the first ever console-made MMORPG was a brilliant move for Sega and made the series a huge cult hit. There have been re-makes for the XBox, PC and Gamecube and sequels... *cough*
Yeah, okay... most of the sequels to Phantasy Star Online (Phantasy Star Portable for the PSP and Phantasy Star Universe for the XBox) didn't live up to their predecessor. Does Phantasy Star Zero for the Nintendo DS?
To be honest, not quite... but it's the closest we've seen thus far at least =3
Graphicly speaking, wow. For the DS, this is impressive graphics. It's a bit lower-res and sometimes flatter than PSO, but considering that it's a portable console, this is still really good. The graphics feel a bit more childish in graphical style as well... kind of Kingdom Hearts-esque if you want to compare, but that still works well for this series.
One great thing that is back is the character customization options. Right off the bat, you choose your race, gender, class... then from the template choose hair/hat style, hair colour, armour colour, skin colour and even voice (which we can touch on later). Additionally, all the weapons in the game look different from each other (well most do), so whatever you equip, you see. I will say that unfortunately, the options were a bit better in PSO than PSZ (at least more variety in options), but it's pretty much similar to what it was before. I will add though that there are anime cut-scenes dotted throughout the game (as well as the game intro), but you'll mostly be seeing text-dialogue very similar in style to Disgaea (not saying the writing is the same as Disgaea's... nobody can be that funny =p)
Audio... well... this is the major drawback. The music is a bit tame and the sound effects are a bit... old... as in SNES-era quality. That's not really too bad, but I think if they cut back on the anime cut-scenes, we could have had better sound effects. They do their job well enough though I suppose (and the level-up sound effect is kinna cuter now).
Of course, as usual, gameplay is the big thing... and they did a great job of making PSO for the DS. There are a few improvements to the system, including an evasive roll, something PSO didn't have. In PSO, you had to basicly take the hit and hope your Evasion was high enough that you'd block. This time, Evasion means the hit may miss you, but you can outright roll to dodge it if you don't want to take the risk. You also go into a straight run in this game and don't slow down if enemies are near. This is good for movement (though it looks a bit wonky going into a run from a standing position). You can also strafe by holding the L trigger down, which can be handy for ranged classes.
For the good, there is always bad and in this case, it's really a matter of the DS's limitations. The Gamecube (since this is Nintendo and I played PSO on my 'cube anyways), you had the ability to go into your menu while moving, using the C-stick to swap through weapons and so-on. There was even a quick-menu that let you do quick commands and even do on-the-fly weapon changes. Not in PSZ, unfortunately... since there's no second d-pad (and they use the touch pad for other things). One other thing that can be an issue is the difficulty of bosses. If you're fighting a full-scale boss, you will likely die in 1p and your NPC allies will more than likely die before you (and often). The stages are somewhat easy, but the bosses can be hellish sometimes. I find, however, that once you've killed them, it's easier the next time around.
Now, for multiplayer. PSO and all it's other iterations can go online for multiplayer... can the DS? Yes it can. I have heard that the online works very well, much better than Phantasy Star Portable on the PSP in fact! I have not gone online yet, but I have played wireless co-op and that is impressively good on it's own. The system for multiplayer is very intuitive. Any player can play with any other player and never feel weak. EXP is shared, handicaps are blended into gameplay to make things appear normal and best of all, when you get money and items, everyone gets their own set on their own screen rather than everybody fighting for the drops.
Multiplayer is also where the touch screen is used the most. Players use the touch screen essentially like Picto-chat. Draw/write your message and everyone sees it... well... on wireless multiplayer anyways. Anyone playing online that wants to see what you're saying must be on your friends list... yep... that means you need your friend code (when will Nintendo learn? XD).
All in all, the game retains much of what made PSO great and fans should enjoy it. Everyone else will probably get a kick out of this one too. Phantasy Star Zero is kind of like "Phantasy Star Online light"... but since it's a portable game based on a non-portable console version, PSO light makes perfect sense.
Personal rating: 8.5/10 - Definitely worthwhile. Consider getting it!
