 What's that? This isn't the visual chat post I was supposed to do?! My apologies, it's just that the December 2009 issue of Nintendo Power has a review of Phantasy Star 0, so I thought we'd take a look at it, and then follow up with my own needless rambles.
And there ya have it! Review summary courtesy of NeoGAF member grandjedi6. Read on if you'd like to see my own thoughts and recent happenings.
First off, I totally agree with co-op play being listed under the pro and con lists. Story mode seems to be a fair bit easier than the online modes, and is pretty short, so I wouldn't recommend the game to someone who doesn't plan to play with friends. There are quite a bit of extra side quests though which will lengthen the single player experience, but how far you can go after that depends on how much you like hunting for loot, building your characters, collecting titles, and so on, all while playing solo.
 There are NPCs that you can drag along, and you're even able to use commands to change their behavior, but they'll still get trashed in difficult mobs or boss fights, and I hate fighting alone so it's always stressful for me when they start dying. =_=; It makes me wish more of those side quests were available to play in co-op mode, as there's only a handful compared there to the huge list available to play in single player mode.  I didn't even plan on getting the Japanese version, I was just going to wait for the US one like most of my friends, but one of them became frustrated playing the game all by herself, and bought me a copy as a gift. I'm incredibly thankful to her for giving me the chance to experience the game early, as it's been great fun playing with her and exchanging loot. I'm still planning on getting the US version of course, because I want to understand story mode better, and make more characters. I'll swap between both copies depending on what I'm doing. xD Now as for the interface being a disaster... I dunno if I'd go that far, haha. I'm not really the best person to judge it though, since I've gotten used to how things work out of necessity. What's that, I can't spare a spot on my pallet for Moon Atomizers? I'll just learn how to use them quickly from the menu! My Protranser in PSU has to do the same thing... 8D;; But I agree that things could have been handled more elegantly. Like, it'd be great if the X button or select buttons cycled through weapons or different preset pallets. The X button does already have a function, if you hold it down with one of the L or R buttons the camera will rotate. I found this pretty useless though. Just pressing the L button to center the camera behind you is enough in the heat of battle. Glance at the mini-map on the bottom screen instead of rotating the camera while trying to find where those last few enemies are.  Now for my love/hate relationship with the Eternal Tower. I love the concept, the many materials and grinders to be found, and the great EXP. I hate the lack of quick-save that forces you to close the DS and leave it in sleep mode for days, and how it isn't really much of an endurance test since you can leave to restock after every boss fight. Even if you don't leave, restorative items will drop pretty often too. But I've still yet to see what it's like on Super Hard mode, so hopefully that will satisfy me more.  Can't comment on the story mode, will have to wait for the US version for that. I adore the graphics and new areas though. I really hate saying 'this looks good... for a DS game' but I think they did a bang-up job considering the system. There's just so many lovely little details, and the areas will change as you go further. I love that the music changes when enemies are present, like how it worked in PSO. Makes for some nice transitions, and keeps the music from getting too repetitive. I won't miss Makenai Kokoro's absence in the US release though. Yeah, I went there. Ohhhh snap! *stabbed* The ending song is probably gone too. Sorry, they're just so forgettable... ^^; Sega probably figured they weren't worth the extra cost to licence.  As for what I've been doing, I've just been helping my friend Yuki level up, and finishing up my last Hard Mode quests and running the Eternal Tower when I'm not playing with her. I've found some neat stuff lately too, like a Pretty Parasol. I love this thing so much, it even has level 2 Drain! Now if only I could find something with level 2 Heart... Still looking for an Alajeef as usual. I wonder what level I'll be when I finally find it. >_>; I hilariously got another Emerald Tablet instead, which I was about to keep, but then figured it'd make a nice gift for Yuki. I'll give it to her next time we play. :D  Also working on my alts. Had a Hollow Gimlet in storage which I realized would be perfect for my HUnewearl. I want to find more swords and shields for her. I think I'm gonna need to do another Eternal Tower run for more grinders though, lol. Well, that is all. See yas later! |
|
ALL ALONE!!!
~Ghoat Sorry bro, we're leaving you for a DS game. *stabbed* I usually only play it really early in the morning due to the time difference between me and Yuki. It is going to get complicated once the US version is out though. XD;
|
|
|
|
| Home |
|