E3: Phantasy Star Universe Hands-On

The next chapter in Sega's acclaimed Phantasy Star series is upon us, and poised to deliver online and offline thrills like never before.

After the somewhat surprising and slightly disappointing change in direction Phantasy Star Online III - C.A.R.D. Battle took in comparison to its predecessors (and with word spreading that it would be the last in the Phantasy Star Online series) it was definitely great news to hear that the legendary series would still be continuing.

It must be said that E3 is NOT the ideal environment to really experience games like this, given the slow-paced nature of RPGs in general and the depth involved. But there's no harm in providing initial impressions of what the Phantasy Star Universe experience has been like so far.

After the kick-ass Phantasy Star Universe trailer which showcased some of the game's awesome futuristic worlds, a variety of character classes as well as other cool-looking features, I'll admit that despite not being an RPG fan I was looking forward to checking the game out some more, and seeing what it had to offer. Admittedly there was a part of me that really didn't expect Phantasy Star Universe to be playable at the show. I expected to walk into Sega's booth and find maybe some rolling video footage showing off some of the game's cool cutscenes and action sequences.

But, Phantasy Star Universe was playable in Sega's booth and seems to be shaping up quite nicely. The E3 demo was limited to just two playable levels that consisted of a free-roaming outdoorsy-type level that had our young hero Ethan running around grassy fields with a sword that's bigger than he is and his AI controlled party members in tow. As we ventured through the wide open fields we hacked, slashed, and plowed our way through a bunch of non-challenging enemy monsters and collected power ups and other items along the way.

As we explored practically every nook and cranny of the area our journey came to an abrupt end when we met up with a giant, fire-breathing dragon boss. Chopping this behemoth down was no easy task but thanks to the game's intuitive control scheme and diverse attack options we managed to wear the mighty beast down without incurring too much damage.

The second portion of the demo threw us into a seemingly otherworldly dungeon setting where we had to make our way through a bizarre series of corridors. Progression through this part of the game was quick and the boss fight there was almost as tough as the fire-breathing dragon boss we battled earlier mainly due to the numbers game in which we had to fend off multiple boss characters at the same time, which kept me and the rest of my party members pretty busy fighting off the enemies and trying to prevent anyone within our group from getting killed.

Fortunately, all of your actions are performed in real-time making for faster paced battles and general movements throughout the game. The demo allowed us to quickly switch between the different weapons in our weapons arsenal, and also had an option to switch over to a first-person view for more precise aiming with projectile weapons. Unfortunately your character is pretty much locked in place whenever using the first-person view mode to blast away at your foes, so while your aiming is more precise in the first-person view, you won't be able to move around and avoid enemy attacks.

While the game's online features remain one of the major selling points, PSU will also contain a full offline mode as well, allowing players to experience a single-player offline adventure that contains a different storyline and plays independently from the online mode.

The single-player mode is set within the Grarl solar system and players will embark on a quest as Ethan Waber - a 17-year old cadet hell bent on saving his sister from an invasion happening on their home world of Parum by evil life forces known as The SEED. Without any real battle experience under his belt Ethan bites off more than he can chew and makes his way down to the planet's surface in order to rescue his little sister. During Ethan's quest players will be able to explore all three of the planets within the Grarl solar system, and will be joined by up to three other AI-controlled characters that players won't have any real control over but will be able to assign different tasks to.

The online component of Phantasy Star Universe on the other hand will contain a wide variety of nifty gameplay features including an in-depth character creation mode that allows players to utilize a plethora customization options in order to create new characters as well as brand new character races. Also interaction with other online players is a given and when Phantasy Star Universe finally hits store shelves players will be able to hop online and engage in some squad-based adventure gaming as they'll be able to set off with their groups to explore the three planets within the Grarl solar system, travel around in player-controlled vehicles, team up with helpful partner-robots, as well as battle against more than 15 major boss challenges, and explore over 20 elaborate dungeons.

Visually Phantasy Star Universe is no doubt quite impressive with vast, detailed environments, containing lots of minute details that help bring the game world to life. The beautifully lush textures, solid lighting effects and overall sharp visual quality were looking quite good even when compared to the PC version which was also playable across from the PS2 setups. The character designs are also looking pretty good so far with some pretty impressive enemies to contend with from the basic monsters encountered out in the fields to the mighty dragon boss we battled against.

All in all, from what we were exposed to at E3, Phantasy Star Universe served as a nice little morsel and is quickly shaping up to becoming one of the most hotly anticipated titles of 2005. We'll keep you updated on the status of Phantasy Star Universe as more details become available.

Video coverage to follow inside our, erm, Ultimate Video Coverage.

Joseph Jackson
Executive Editor, Kikizo Games