Game:

Phantasy Star Online (2000)

Category:

Show

Duration: 10:51

2,731 views

0

Original Air Date: January 13th, 2010

Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution is perhaps the most overlooked (not necessarily the most underrated) title within the entire PSO "series". It's not hard to see why-- If you're a fan of the old-school PS series, then the online series might have seemed like a step backwards. When people heard that not only will Episode III have an online/offline mode, but that it's premise was based around cards as well, it really made people scratch their heads. You really have to wonder what Sega was thinking at the time.

The game is a very different experience from the rest of the online series in general, but I enjoyed the change of pace. They actually made a different game and not just another expansion when they made Episode III, and as someone who enjoyed Final Fantasy 8's card game just as much as the main game, picking up PSO:Ep3 was relatively easy.

Episode III isn't particularly complicated and can seem a bit drab and repetitve, but it's one of those games where you enjoy collecting every item and learning more about the few characters essential to the story. Speaking of story, this is where Episode III differs from the previous two games; It has a story of some kind (or to be nice, a "deeper" story) which has two sides, a light and dark side. Not only are the perspectives different, but the "Heroes" and "Arkz" have different playing styles and rules, which makes for an interesting time as you learn how to play them both. Heroes can arm themselves with item cards like weapons, while Arkz can summon monsters to fight for them.

Taking place several years after the original events on Pioneer 2, the ship is still adrift in outer space and the government is in search of a place they can colonize (namely, Ragol) and call home. The heroes help in this effort while the Arkz, who don't trust the intentions of the government, oppose the heroes. The basic plot is mostly the same, but the game has a slew of sub-plots and events that make the experience more enriched. You can discover these things on your own or with an FAQ.

The game has special anime-style cutscenes, missions, nicely detailed cards, and a fair deal of replayability even if you should never play the game online. The general graphics are decent, but largely disappointing to an extent as they have hardly been improved since the first episode. The anime stills, card details, and other more minor elements make the game feel a little more current (as far as when it was made anyway), but don't really stand out at this point, IMO. The music is just as good as previous installments and the sounds are mostly the same.

As can be expected, while the gameplay isn't very complex in and of itself, it would take too long to explain it in detail here, but fighting requires strategy and a little bit of luck. You can get a fair idea of how the game plays out in our game sample. Overall, I'd say this one is enjoyable. It might seem like a huge turnoff if you've grown accustomed to the original series or typical games within the "online" series, but it's decent if you give it a chance.

Note: Videos are taking abnormally long to process.