Phantasy Star Portable, My New Addiction
When Phantasy Star Online was annouced for the Sega Dreamcast, I was working at a video game store and those of us who didn’t already have a Dreamcast at that time (myself included) bought one to play it. I had multiple VMU’s so that I could create one of each class. I played with the mags on my VMU’s when I was away from home and when I was at home, I played constantly with my coworkers. I had over 1000 hours logged in on one character. We all had keyboards, so we could chat. Crazy. This was the first time I had ever played an online game. I eventually graduated to Everquest so my PSO playing faded into nothingness. When it was released again on the GameCube, my old PSO friends (along with some news ones) and I went crazy hardcore again, although not quite to the extent as we did on the Dreamcast. After reaching level one hundred something, my memory card decided to corrupt itself and I stopped playing until Phantasy Star Universe was released on the XBox 360.
Oh my god, that game SUCKED. Leveling was tedious, weapons all looked the same and had terrible drop rates, and it just wasn’t fun. I tried to love it. I tried HARD to love it. I paid for my hunter’s license for 6 months or so before I finally stopped lying to myself that I was enjoying it. I never found a rare. I never had anything cool. I couldn’t afford new costumes. And there was no way in hell that I was going to complete story mode with that obnoxious (albeit extremely cute) main character. When Phantasy Star Portable was announced, I was excited, but as soon as I saw that it was seemingly Phantasy Star Universe in hand-held form, I said, “Forget it.”
Then I saw that commercial. Those guys looked like they were having so much fun. I just HAD to have it. I don’t usually fall for commercials. As soon as it was available at the import store, I bought it. I got home and created a character, which I could use for either Story Mode or Multi-Player Mode. Already, it had taken something from PSU that I hated and made it good: I could be the main character myself. At this point, I was still wary because it was basically an exact copy of Phantasy Star Universe (PSU). The story was slightly different, but the areas and maps were the same, along with the costumes and game engine. The only major difference was that your Partner Machine in your room was already full grown, they took out crafting, and when you’re in a station or town, you access places from a menu instead of physically walking around.
Character creation is nice. It didn’t seem very different from PSU, but to be honest, I don’t remember the character creation in PSU at all. One major difference, though, is that you can choose what kind of Partner Machine you want. In PSU, everyone started with a cute little round robot that reminded me a lot of Haro from the Gundam series. You could it and it would transform. In PSPortable, your Partner Machine is full grown already and you can choose the type. From the beginning of the game, your PM is available to join your party during free missions via his or her Partner Card. So once you choose the race, look, clothing, and PM of your character, you can choose your job. Only Hunter, Force, and Ranger are available at this point. Once you level these jobs to a certain point, other advanced jobs become available. Jobs determine what weapons and rank of weapons you can use, as well as how high certain skill or technique (spell) levels can go.
Playing the game is exactly like PSU. You put weapons on an action palette that you can switch during combat. These weapons are linked to abilities, skills, or spells, which level up as you use them. You can also put items on a palette for use during battle. Unless you’re using a magic-only type weapon, the square button is a regular attack and the triangle button is the special or skill.
Most melee weapons and skills (depending on level) can have up to a 3 hit or swing combo. If you time it right, you can achieve critical hits. Or if you don’t want to deal with it, you can just button mash. You won’t crit, but you’ll combo as long as you don’t get interrupted by an enemy. In other words, it focuses on ease of play. You are rewarded for having good timing (increased damage), but you aren’t punished for button mashing.
As you kill monsters, you obtain experience points, which contribute to your character’s level. As you complete missions (story or free), you earn mission points, which contribute to your job’s level. Job levels only go to level 10. Like PSU, you can change your job type. So far, I’ve gotten Hunter, Force, Ranger, and Acromaster (a hybrid type) to 10. I’m currently working on getting the other hybrid type job, called Protolancer, to 10. Then I’ll work on the master versions of Hunter, Force, and Ranger. Unlike in PSU, the 3 beginning jobs level extremely quickly. The advanced jobs take considerably more time, but they’re so much more powerful than the starter jobs, that I really don’t mind.
So like I mentioned, Story Mode seemed like just another version of PSU with a different story and some new characters. When I finished my first story mission, I checked my inventory and I had COOL STUFF! I had a Mark 3 and Master System mag, a Pretty Baton that spewed out hearts everywhere when I swung it, and an Amore Rose whip weapon that spewed out roses, while causing some kind of debuff on the mobs so that they would be spewing out hearts! When I tried different weapons, not only were the blades different colors, but they often had totally different models. I found meat on a stick! As I played more, I found more neat stuff. Not just boring sabers with different colors. Rappy daggers, a grenade launcher that looked like one of the monsters on the Parum plains, Samba Maracas, and a Lollipop, just to name a few. Granted, the really silly stuff wasn’t all that great stat-wise, but even the good and powerful weapons, look cool enough that you’re proud to carry them around.
During Story Mode, for each chapter that you clear, you unlock free missions. All free missions can be repeated as many times as you want. They each have C, B, A, and S ranks. The different ranks have different level requirements. Your Partner Machine keeps track of your best time and best rank for clearing every free mission (solo and multiplayer) in the game. As you progress through Story Mode, you receive Partner Cards from various NPC’s in the game. This allows you to invite them into your party for the free missions. You can also invite them into your party (if you’re party leader) for the multi-player mode if you need to round out your party. I’m currently trying to S rank all the Story Mode Free Missions.
I beat the game at around level 67 or 68. There are 3 endings: good, normal, and bad. Which ending you get is based on how you treat Vivian, the primary supporting character of the game. Rewards for beating the game are basically the same for each ending, although not quite. After beating the game, you can also choose to copy your character and start a new game. According to the description, you keep certain things, but not all. I couldn’t understand all of it, so I didn’t do it. Not to mention, I’m still very busy playing with my original “Game Clear” save file because I want all the stuff…
In your room, your Partner Machine keeps track of all the enemies you’ve faced, every weapon you’ve ever found, and all the noteworthy things you’ve achieved. Yes, this game has achievements. Anyone who knows me know that I HATE achievements in XBL because they are totally worthless. The only thing they’re good for is bragging rights. I don’t need gamer points for bragging rights, thank you very much. An acquaintance of mine was telling me that in Monster Hunter, your achievements are just stamped in a book or something with no reward. In Phantasy Star Portable, you get something for every achievement. Sometimes it’s a skill book or a spell. Other times, it’s a special weapon. For playing multi-player with another actual person, you get a totally AWESOME new costume. In fact, you can ONLY get the healing spells from these achievements. You can get achievements for reaching certain levels, getting your jobs to 5 and to 10, killing so many monsters, clearing so many free missions, clearing each chapter… The list goes on.
Story Mode definitely has its drawbacks, though. Most notably is that NPC A.I. is terrible. The one Force NPC that you can invite almost never heals. Any other NPC that CAN heal, doesn’t unless it’s too late. And then they’ll just spam Resta (healing spell) over and over even after it’s not necessary anymore. NPC’s also get caught on the environment a lot, so if you turn a corner too quickly, they’ll get stuck and won’t warp up to you until you’re WAY WAY WAY ahead. NPC’s also suck if you want to play a Ranger or any other ranged job. They won’t attack anything unless you’re standing in the middle of the group of mobs. So if you’re shooting from far away, your NPC’s will just stand there with you until the mobs have reached melee range. Not to mention sometimes even if your party IS in melee range, they still just stand there like idiots. Very annoying. I have to wonder if they’re programmed like that on purpose so that it forces you to play multiplayer…
Multi-Player Mode is ad hoc only. A party can consist of up to 4 people, although you CAN play solo. You won’t S rank some of the missions, though, since you need other players for certain doors and such. As I mentioned earlier, if you need to, you can invite NPC’s into your party to round it out. There are a lot more missions here. Like PSO and PSU, the multi-player mode missions are more difficult, but they offer better experience, mission point, and loot rewards. So far I have only played with two other people at the same time. I am still waiting for yet another copy of the game for my husband so that we can have a full party. Multi-Player Mode is where this game really shines, in my opinion. You don’t have to worry about stupid NPC’s. Plus, since it’s ad hoc, you and your friends can go hang out at a coffee shop or something. (We chose Starbucks for our first adventure since you can actually use the power outlets there.) A complaint that I see a lot on forums is that you can’t trade weapons and armor with other players. You CAN drop costumes and certain items on the ground, though, for your buddies to pick up. I’m guessing that this is to keep people from duplicating items. To counter this problem, though, when you’re playing in Multi-Player Mode, when a weapon or piece of armor drops, EVERYONE IN THE PARTY gets it. So you can’t stash stuff for your friend, but you CAN run him through a dungeon that he may not be able to handle on his own so that he can get the drops there (as long as his level is high enough).
There are also downloadable missions. So far, Sega has only released the first set. I’m hoping that they will release more in the future.
So then there’s the burning question: Can I play it if I can’t read any Japanese? The two people I’m playing with can’t read at all. I’ve had to read or explain things for them, but not every little thing. Once you understand the mechanics and where to get your achievement rewards, you’re pretty much set. If you have internet access, there are resources online that are useful, too. So, yes, you can.
I can’t stop playing. My son can’t stop playing. I’m currently level 78 or something like that. He started a couple of days after I did and this afternoon he was already level 85. I’ve had school and work to keep me busy. He’s still on summer vacation, so he’s been seriously tweaking. The other guy I play with has been tweaking, too. In our opinion, it’s like Sega took everything that sucked about PSU and fixed it. So now the game is fun and a great way to socialize with your friends.
