Let’s cut to the chase for those
gamers who spent countless hours with the Dreamcast version of Phantasy Star
Online like I did. Is Phantasy Star Zero (Zero) a worthy portable edition of the
classic online game? Almost. The same core gameplay remains intact with you
grinding it out for hours and hours. You’ll have your hunter trying to get to
that next level before you call it quits for the night. You’ll find yourself
picking over items looking for the next piece of rare loot. While Zero keeps
some elements untouched (in a good way) other pieces of the game fall a little
short of letting Zero completely shine.
For those that never played Phantasy
Star Online (PSO) the basic gameplay premise will probably remind you of a
massive multiplayer online game. In most MMO games the real goal usually boils
down to a couple of elements: item collection and leveling up. You spend hours
and hours playing away just to level up your character and finding rare items
you can sell or use in your inventory. Phantasy Star Zero follows the same
ideology where upgrading your character is always more important than actually
following the storyline.
Yet Zero seems to try really hard to
focus on the story in the single-player game. There are plenty of cut scenes and
text for you to sit through as you’re progressing in the game. Depending on the
character you select at the beginning of the game the storyline will adjust and
change as you progress. The game pops up Japanese animated style avatars for all
the characters, except your hunter, each time a key “event” in the game’s story
needs to unfold. The events will occur while you’re in the city before a quest
or during a quest as you are moving from area to area. There is a dialogue tree
that you can select from to get different reactions from the characters in the
game. Honestly, for me it was way too much story and dialogue for a Phantasy
Star online game. The earlier Dreamcast versions still had a story but it was
never as upfront as Zero.
The overall core gameplay remains
virtually intact, even shrunk down to the DS system. The game plays out as a
quasi-hack and slash game where you’re clearing out wave after wave of enemies
before you move on to the next area in your quest. You have a total of six
action buttons that you can assign various moves to using the A, B and Y
buttons. You have a default of three moves to assign but by holding down the
Right Trigger button you can access the additional three moves.
The attacks are broken up into a
normal or heavy attack but you can combo the attacks if time them just right.
For example, pressing the normal attack button, normal attack again and then the
heavy attack at just the right moments should unleash a combo. I say ‘should’
because you will probably have to try several times just the right timing to
pull off the combo. That was always one element that bothered new players in the
earlier PSO games, finding just the right pattern during combat to pull off the
combos repeatedly. The game also includes an evade move that comes in handy to
get out of close quarters but your character will pause briefly once you finish
the move. There is also a charge attack you can unleash by holding down the
attack button for a certain amount of time. But that will leave you vulnerable
for an attack so be prepared to charge again and again during real heavy
battles.
The rest of the action buttons
(called palettes in the game) can be customized to use almost any healing item
or spell you learn/find in the game. You can have one action palette assigned to
use a low healing item while another palette can be assigned to use your most
powerful healing items. Or if you wish you can have your palettes assigned to
cast spells and replenish your magic points in the game. Pressing the start
button brings up the menu screen which allows you to swap out your palette
assignments, change your equipment or use other items not assigned to your
palettes. Choosing your palettes wisely is a must because the game doesn’t have
a pause feature at all. Even in the single-player mode the game will keep on
going when you press the start button. I’ll never forget my paranoia when I
first tried to pause my first PSO game years ago.
The same quest layout from the
earlier PSO games is also included in Zero. The quest counter will list a number
of quests that are available for you to accept. The main quests must be
completed in order to keep the single-player experience moving along. However,
there will be side quests that will pop up from time to time that are optional.
The quests are usually very similar to each other as you’ll travel down to the
planet’s surface and have to clear out all the monsters in a certain area. As
you keep progressing on the particular quests you’ll eventually come to boss
encounters that are usually huge monsters that can be extremely difficult at
times to defeat. Remember the core gameplay is all about raising your characters
level and finding more items. So to translate that to someone that has never
played this type of game that means you’ll probably have to replay certain
quests over and over again before you can finish them.
You’ll find that your character just
isn’t strong enough to take out the boss during the first trip on the quest. But
once you’ve started the quest over again you’ll level up a couple more times,
increasing your overall attack level, making it easier to take out the boss.
It’s called the grind. Grinding it out for hours at a time just to level up is
just part of the overall appeal to the game. It’s hard to honestly describe why
grinding is so much fun but Zero will have you grinding it out in order to take
out the next boss. The game tries to help you in the single-player mode by
giving you party members to play along with but you have limited control over
them. You can issue commands to them to stay by your side, all out attack, focus
on healing and other simple commands but I never felt really any big connection
to them while playing. Their help just felt insignificant during most of the
quests.
Online is where Zero will really
shine especially for veterans of the series. The game supports both DS Wireless
play (multiple cards are required) and Nintendo WiFi wireless play. The game
supports Friend codes, Free Play or Solo Play. Free Play allows you to play with
other gamers near your current level in online specific quests. Free Play lets
you go it alone online if you so desire, which plenty of you will probably
enjoy. The online difficulty is much higher than the offline single-player mode
which makes online more rewarding from an experience point perspective. Just
like the Free Play mode all the quests in Solo Play are online specific so you
will get plenty of different challenges than the single player mode.
Now one last item I should mention
is the chat feature built into the game. You can scribble away to draw messages
or write messages for the other online players. Granted that is a nice concept
the overall functionality of it might not be used that often. Remember there
isn’t a pause feature in the game so if you’re drawing a message for someone
you’ll probably be getting pummeled. I found that using the built-in quick chat
function was much easier. Simply select a statement and your character will pop
up a word balloon with the statement for everyone to read. But hey, I might be
missing the overall appeal of sitting around the city drawing and chatting away
with the chat feature, instead of actually grinding away looking for more levels
and loot.
Phantasy Star Zero is a welcomed
addition to the expansive DS library. The core gameplay is still a compelling
experience that shouldn’t be missed for veteran PSO players. Just be prepared to
sit through a bunch of text and avatars in the single player mode before you can
keep grinding away. For multiplayer Zero does a great job of keeping the almost
legendary PSO experience together. Granted you don’t get a true lobby system to
select who you’re playing with but the Free Play mode is still solid. If you’re
craving a grind heavy, hack and slash RPG action game then you should make sure
to give Phantasy Star Zero a try.
Gameplay: 8.5
The palette control system works great even on the DS and the grinding gameplay
still stands out even today. However, aiming can be a bit cumbersome since the
game lacks an analog stick for the controls.
Graphics: 6.5
Unfortunately the visuals are a blurry mess that really does the game a
disservice. The city, characters and quest maps just look out of focus with
hardly any detail to be found. The DS isn’t the most powerful platform for a 3D
engine and Zero is another example of the system’s lackluster performance.
Sound: 7.0
Nothing too impressive with the music but it was nice hearing some of the
vintage PSO sound effects still intact in Zero.
Multiplayer: 9.0
This might be as close as we’ll get to a true MMO for the DS. Up to four gamers
can play in a group at one time or you can go solo online just to boost your
stats. I never experienced any slowdown or dropped connections when I played
solo or in a group via WiFi.
Concept: 8.0
Squeezing PSO down to a DS really does work. Almost everything from the early
PSO games are included from the multiple character classes to the Mags. I just
wish the single-player mode wasn’t as story driven with all the cut scenes.
Difficulty: Medium
Jumping in and playing really isn’t a big deal for almost anyone. Yet getting
use to some of the finer details such as the combo’s and not having a pause
system might be a little much for newer players.
Overall: 7.8
Phantasy Star Zero is one of those games that some will fall completely in love
with while others just won’t get it. If you’ve played PSO years ago and were
disgusted with Phantasy Star Universe then I must say that Zero deserves your
attention. Play the single-player mode for five to six hours and then jump
online. The online portion is really where the game will shine since you’re
skipping all of the story mode elements. But you’ve got to be wearing some
rose-colored glasses because the visuals definitely don’t impress. For anyone
else that loves to level up and play online, Zero should be on a short list of
games to check out this year.
