It has become painfully obvious to me after playing a couple of hours of the long-awaited, much-anticipated Phantasy Star Universe, that the game is a big steamy turd.
I've been looking forward to this game for quite some time, but it seems like it has been one disappointment after another... I'm posting my impressions to see if anyone agrees with me. If you disagree with my reasons, please respond with articulate rebuttals or not all.
First Sega arbitrarily decides that we aren't allowed to play with players from other reigons. No chatting with Japanese friends for me, I guess... I suppose this isn't really a big deal for most people, so no one will care if I don't like it.
Next Sega decides not to allow the different platforms to play together. That's par for the course, I suppose, but I can't see the justification for it. They had an excuse with the various incarnations of PSO - the games were each developed in a vacuum. That is to say that when the DC PSO was created, the PC version was not part of that development process. Although the games were similar, they used different tables and addressing for the word select system, and had features that were not compatible between them. But all three versions of PSU were developed in tandem - there's really no excuse. Final Fantasy IX runs fine on all three of the same platforms as PSU and the players of FFXI are all able to play together regardless of platform. FFXI is even a more complex and robust game. There is no excuse for separating the platforms except possibly laziness. So now, in order to play with all of my friends, I had to purchase two separate copies of the game, and to pay two hunters fees. Maybe this was Sega's big plan to cash in at my expense? It sure feels like it.
And while I'm on the subject of gouging, why is it that Sega is using a separate licensing system for the XBOX 360? Contrary to various rumors that have been flying around, and I guess even posted by Sega themselves, the 360 version not only requires XBOX Live! Gold membership (~$50/yr) but also requires the same full price license fee ($9.99/mo)? (I'm not guessing at this, I've actually tried to use Silver and seen the fee on Live Marketplace). Maybe that's not a big deal for people who already pay for Gold membership for other reasons, but I don't have any other reason to get a Gold membership, and for me that's a complete ripoff. Again, I'm going to dredge up Final Fantasy XI for comparison. FFXI players can not only use the free XBOX Live! Silver membership, but any Content ID (Square-Enix's equivalent to a Guardian License) will work equally well on any of the three platforms. That means that I can pay one monthly fee to play on any of the three platforms. Sega, you're ripping me off either way. I mean, if I'm playing on Microsoft's servers, I shouldn't be paying Sega to play on them, and if I'm playing on Sega's servers, I shouldn't be paying Microsoft for it - simple as that.
My next gripe is the fact that this game isn't even finished yet. We're paying to beta-test Sega's software. Opinion you say? Look in the official Brady Games strategy guide at the number of items are listed as "in a future update". It is painfully obvious that Sega pushed this out the door before it was ready with the intention of fixing their obvious mistakes with patches later. The XBOX and PC have a facility for handling this (not that that makes it right) but how are they going to fix the PS2 version?
Speaking of fixes - slowdown? Sega has produced slowdown on the 360? Do you know how massively powerful the 360 is? How do you get slowdown (frequent) with three or four moving characters onscreen...on the XBOX 360? Have you seen Ninety-Nine Nights? Do you realize how massively obvious your sloppiness is Sega?
I just can't believe how completely I've been let down by this game. I can't imagine that the player community will embrace it like they did PSO. Not only does Sega have a lot more competition than it did back then, but PSO was a better game. I'm not just saying that it was a better game for its time, I'm saying it is a better game period. For one thing it was finished, for another the pricing scheme was fair for what was provided ( the game servers were little more than a proxy that hosted the lobbies and connected peers together when they created a room). Most of my friends from FFXI and PSO have already expressed similar dissatisfaction, so I know I'm not alone in this.
As if all that wasn't enough, I even had trouble signing up for this forum because of poorly thought-out design.
Due to a number of logistical reasons I can think of off the top of my head, I highly doubt Sega will do the right thing and recall this game and not release it until it's finished, but I can still ask for it. Who knows, if enough of the fans speak out, it might happen.
The bottom line is that if the game was any fun at all, I would be playing it right now instead of making this post. Sega doesn't even get a nice try on this one. Bad form.
