Played Lately: Phantasy Star Universe

• Just now I had to stop myself from typing "Phantasy Star Online" for the title of this post. If you've played both of these games, I'm sure you'd understand why. Phantasy Star Universe is essentially PSO II but with a prettier name, a prettier look, a prettier single player mode, and the exact same gameplay that they launched with way back in the heyday of the Dreamcast.


• Fun Fact: Phantasy Star Online was the game that influenced me to purchase a Dreamcast!


• I've actually owned PSU since it came out on the Xbox 360, but it was never a game that stuck with me. The single player game is fun, if a little shallow. My difficulty with the game is in the online mode. I just can't bring myself to pay $10 a month to play an online game with no depth by myself. A $10 subscription that you can't cancel without calling someone to do so. How in the world does Microsoft not have online account maintenance options? Sad.


• I see I've ranted there. Sorry. It really is a fun game in a sort of mindless way. There are many entertaining and colorful ways to cut through your enemies and earn new items and experience points. And it is all very pretty. Sometimes, that's all you really need from a game.