Phantasy Star Portable (PSP)

[aruljothi]

Release Date: 03/24/2009
ESRB Rating: Rating Pending
Genre: RPG
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega

The Phantasy Star universe has seen its fair share of ups and downs. Not quite the Phantasy Star Online reboot that fans were expecting, the first PSU received much criticism for its locked-off subscriber-based content and for forcing you to play through the game's story mode as the less than compelling Ethan Waber. Its expansion, Ambition of the Illuminus, improved matters by returning the player's customized character to the focus of the experience, but by that time the damage was done; most people had either moved on or returned to their online game of choice. What chance, then, does a streamlined version of the PSU experience stand in handheld form at keeping people nailed to their PSPs? Well, based on the dozens of hours of dungeon crawling I have done with both a group of A.I. partners and cooperatively with other real players, I'd say Phantasy Star Portable has a very, very good chance.

I'm a loot whore at heart; that magical type of creature who will spend countless real-life hours of its existence on this planet grinding away in endless, virtual dungeons and battlefields -- all with the simple intention of getting some enemy to drop some slightly better crap than what I already possess, whether it be a weapon, a piece of armor, or a rare accessory. Diablo II sucked away thousands of hours of my life, followed by Sega's Phantasy Star Online series, which was then replaced by Final Fantasy XI, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, and others. And while I thought that Phantasy Star Universe was a solid game with a lot more ambition than its predecessor PSO, it ultimately didn't hold my attention for too long before I went back to other online games. I was less bothered by the locked content than by the fact that I generally found PSU had altogether too much running around, too much crafting when simple item drops would suffice, and a realistic look to the characters instead of PSO's blockier, stockier look. Ironically, when I first played my import copy of the Japanese Phantasy Star Portable, I was slightly dismayed to find that all of the PSU's hub world navigation was now recreated as a 2D overhead map.

I thought, initially, that as competent as this port may be (developed by Alfa System, the developer better known for the Shikigami No Shiro 2D shooters, and for Namco's Tales of Destiny and Tales of Innocence games), that Sega had really taken a budget development route and handed the world a shoddy port full of shortcuts. My first impression was wrong. Considering how much you actually need to run around in the Phantasy Star Universe/Phantasy Star Portable world, replacing 3D NPCs and pre-battle environments with 2D overhead maps and static talking heads actually speeds up the process of preparing for quests quite nicely, from surprisingly fast load times (for a non-cartridge-based game) to ease of navigation. The bulk of the action carries over very well from the console/PC versions, with intuitive controls that make good use of the PlayStation Portable's button layout. Your left thumb might grow a little tired from hours of moving your character through the game world using the PSP's resistant thumb stick, but for the most part, the control scheme is optimally designed. Other big adjustments have been made to the game system for the sake of expediency and shorter gameplay sessions, which work in favor of the Phantasy Star Portable experience. Gone is the complex item crafting that bogged down PSU, replaced by the far more preferable complete random item drop system from Phantasy Star Online, which brings back the thrill of racing for red-colored item drops, especially in multiplayer sessions.

Of course, some sacrifices had to be made and things that would have been nice to see converted to the handheld version are missing; primarily your personal, customizable apartment in space. Your "partner machinery" (PSU's version of PSO's Mags) is another casualty, with its item-feeding evolution system completely removed in favor of simple upgrades that alter your PM's A.I. tendencies (primary healing, attack, or a combination of both). These are small concessions, though, as Portable offers an impressive number of tiered quests, difficulty levels, and enemy types. Although the action is repetitive, it rarely feels stale, thanks to a constantly revolving selection of enemy types (it's not just monsters any more -- now quick, limber, and agile humanoid enemies attack you too), and a worthwhile new item drop waiting just around the corner. The deeper you plow into Portable, the more diverse areas you access which keep things interesting. For every new area you unlock, new items, clothes, armor, and weapons make themselves available, allowing you to continually update the look of your character, which is, of course, the most fun in multiplayer sessions, which are a snap to set up.

The lack of an dedicated online Infrastructure mode may irk some, but all that will be a moot point soon anyway, once Sony launches its PSP-to-PS3 functionality that allows any multiplayer game to be played using Infrastructure. Another less than optimized feature of Portable is the A.I. partner system, which makes single-player sessions fun because you can have up to three helpful CPU-controlled players accompany you into battle (healers, melee, ranged attackers). Having these allies with you is a massive improvement over the old PSO single-player experience, in which you would play solo, but their pathfinding leaves a lot to be desired. They get hung up on gates (forcing you to maneuver carefully through some twisty areas) and other odd corners, which often causes them to chastise you. The reprimands your allies fire off don't exactly hurt your feelings (ex: "Milkman, where have you been?") but the giant word balloons that issue from their mouths do tend to block your immediate field of vision until they go away. Moving those off to the side would have been a smarter move by Sega.

Capcom's Monster Hunter remains the handheld, multiplayer king in some parts of the world, but while Phantasy Star Portable's characters aren't as detailed, and the environments aren't as gorgeous (PSP suffers from a fair amount of draw-in and pop-up) as in Capcom's runaway success story, Portable is far superior in terms of playability. Not only is it much easier to pick up and play, but Portable has the legs to survive extended replay sessions while like-minded adventurers gather together to take down increasingly difficult monsters in the hopes of getting just one more red item. The truly neat trick that Portable performs is that it is not only an excellent distillation of the Phantasy Star Online/Universe experience, but it makes me want to go back and give Ambition of the Illuminus another shot, even if it's just to reinvestigate that game's offline mode. Any port that makes me consider giving the source material another spin is worth the price of admission any day.