Format: Xbox 360
Maker: Sony
Review: Jason Round

I’ve never been one for the whole Dungeons and Dragons, RPG, alternate-life thing, instead relegating it to the realm of Cosplay freaks and those socially inept, but I decided to don my pocket calculator this time and head straight into the thick of it with Phantasy Star Universe.

Okay, admittedly I had played the original Phantasy Star way back when it was first released on Dreamcast (yeah, remember that one?) in 2001. Funnily enough, it seemed that nothing much has changed, but that same great essence of team gameplay remains.
Phantasy Star is a free-roaming RPG set in the future where humans share the universe with three humanoid races, ie. the elves, androids and beasts – a little like Hot4s HQ. As Ethan Wabar, a hired gun, you head off into the unknown to destroy SEED outbreaks.

While those of you with a dirty mind are busy cackling your heads off, let’s look deeper at the Phantasy online world…
This is by far the most engrossing part of the game, but to play online you’ll need to fork out $9.99 US a month, which is a touch on the steep side. However, once in you can customise your player, their ‘room’ (complete with Jeeves-style partner machine) and then head off into the big, wide world.

At first, knowing just what the hell you’re supposed to do is the biggest hurdle, with a good hour of our first outing spent trying to ask other people exactly what it’s you’re meant to be doing.
However, once everything is sorted, you can hook up with a posse and go out rounding up creatures and generally just belting them to bits. It’s this social aspect of the game that is its biggest strength, and no, not everyone out there is some computer geek hiding in a closet.

There are three planets, though one is locked for ‘future expansion’ and it did seem like quite an expansive world, though we still don’t know whether the original asking price can really be justified, especially considering the graphics and sound haven’t really moved on that much from the original Phantasy Star almost five years ago.
If, however, you were a fan of the futuristic folly back then, maybe it’s time to give this a shot. It’s certainly something different.

3/5