In a gaming climate rapidly moving in the opposite direction, the full circle movement the Phantasy Star series has now made is certainly interestingly timed. You see, after a whole half-decade of avatar-based online epics comes a title billed as almost two games in one, coming complete with not only the nominal massively multiplayer adventure, but also a one-player story mode trailing a character – shock horror – that you didn’t create!

The story is pure Japanese cliché: firebrand hero Ethan Waber struggles to overcome his inner demons as he joins the same private police force – the GUARDIANS – that brought about his late father’s demise. Desperate to save his in-your-face sister Lumia, he battles against the SEED, a mysterious alien life form that has landed upon the Gurhal solar system, causing indigenous animals to mutate into dangerously aggressive monsters. Through bite-sized narrative pockets, our hero must learn to live with his brash, ladies’ man partner Hyuga Ryght (a name which we swear is knowing), and a GUARDIANS instructor his own age (and therefore tantalisingly unavailable), Karen Erra. All whilst saving the universe, obviously.

After the game’s rather late-in-theday 360 announcement, it’ll come as no surprise to hear that several features betray its distinctly last-gen origin. Most obviously, there’s a distinct shortage of polygons floating around the screen, even though its bright anime stylings means there’s only a great problem in close-up shots and when you’re paying too much attention to the washed-out low budget Western influenced backgrounds. In short, the whole thing looks like (a top end) PlayStation 2 game upscaled into high definition – not ideal, but eminently workable. What’s a little more troubling are several transparent and sometimes pointless design features that again are a little anachronistic. Throughout each of the (for better or worse) linear levels, slight inclines that wouldn’t trouble a clown on a six-inch bike block the path of your eventually allpowerful warrior. Regardless of a large part of the attraction being epic, realtime battles, it seems old-fashioned too, as the game builds a false pretence of areas being inaccessible. Every ‘locked’ door will either open immediately upon the defeat of all enemies in the room concerned, or a key will appear out of thin air right in front of said door when you’ve seen everyone off. Still, better old-fashioned than dated.

Some changes have been made to the familiar formula though (that is, apart from the increased focus on the narrative). A synthesis shop has sprung up among the throng of retail outlets, offering players the ability to combine objects either bought or found inside destructible scenery objects or enemies. Once inserted into your willing automaton alongside the relevant synthesis board (effectively a recipe), you can create your own weaponry, health bonuses and so on, eliminating the need to actually hand over cold, hard cash to upgrade your potency. Help with this, though, is relatively sparse and jargon-filled – a shame when the rest of the game is so accessible. Also fresh from the production line is the ability to change your class mid-adventure. Rather than having to stick to an initial choice between the physically excellent Hunters, magically proficient Forces or the somewhere in-between Rangers, the three can be slipped on or off to taste at a GUARDIANS base. Better yet, if you’re tired of levelling up a particular class, choosing another one will effectively stick your first in cold storage. You’ll have to start completing trial missions all over again with the view to build yourself up, but the change represents another tactical variable that must be considered before battle, and that’s never a bad thing.

Of course, another tactical consideration comes through the application of Photon Arts. These are essentially your special moves, bought from the in-game weapons store, each associated with one of twenty generic weapon types (including spears, swords, guns and so on). Though there are sadly no combinations available that link between different types of weaponry, just incrementally improving your arsenal remains eminently charming. And, keeping with the ‘accessible’ theme, even though one route to recharge said attacks comes through money parting hands, for most reasonable players the automatic recharging system will suffice.

Ultimately, although sections of the game are designed in a somewhat backwards-looking way, it’s more quaint than it is flawed. Besides, most of the more critical faults would be and are solved by playing online. Each time your party members stand around doing nothing to help you out, fail to pick up a health bonus you drop for them as an act of second nature, or swap guild cards with you so they’re able to ‘contact’ you when they need your input, you’re reminded of the fact that you’re playing an online RPG minus the one overridingly important feature: other players.

Dave Shaw