phantasy star offline
Categories: l33t
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After trying 8 different stores and eBay, I decided to give up (for now) my quest to buy a broadband adapter (bba) for my Gamecube just so I can play Phantasy Star Online (PSO)– well– online. I think it’s patently ridiculous how both Sony and Nintendo make it so difficult to find such a sought-after device and thus artificially inflating its apparent value.
“But there’s plenty of modems in stock.”
I don’t care about a modem. I have broadband and intend to use every kbps out of it. And I definitely don’t want to buy a modem just to get a bba next year. It’s even more ridiculous when you look at the fact that PSO is the only online game for the Gamecube and that the Japanese version had a bba included with the game at a higher price. Why couldn’t they have done it here? It’s no different than the old $60 guncon2 + Time Crisis 2 package that Fry’s and a few other stores carried last year.
PSO is definitely an online game. Going through the game in single-player gets repetitive after a while, but playing with a few friends in my living room is a blast even with the split-screen. Playing locally does overcome the problem of a lack of a GCN keyboard (again, this was bundled with the Japanese version of the game…). We can at least shout at each other “Hey! That’s my trifluid!” “Wait up! I need to feed my mag.”
The second best part about multiplayer is how the classes mix with each other. The best part though is running through the game with low level characters trying to clear bosses or tough baddies. Watching my friend run around in circles with three delsabers chasing him while the rest of us were sniping at the entourage is just priceless. Not to mention the smach talking: “You let that Rag hit you! Oh, man, I feel sorry for your HUcast.”
Curiously, the game does encourage you to play it through on single player. Waypoints can only be found in single player, and quests can only be done in single player. Both would be wonderful (and time-saving) additions to multiplayer.
Episode 2, the new stages for the GCN, is kind of a mixed-bag. The first two VR training areas are horribly tedious to get through, and the monster are annoying without providing much experience or l3wt. The next area, the surface of Ragol, is divided into 3 separate areas, and it’s splendid scenary. Unfortunately, there’s only 4 new basic monster types here, and the l3wt is very sparse when compared to episode 1. The use of varied elevations also hinder the camera at times– can’t tell you how many times my hunter got surrounded because my view got blocked by a palm tree.
