Little Wing Soars- Phantasy Star Portable 2 Review

Sometimes, it’s hard to let go. Phantasy Star Universe was one of the only games that I let myself get really excited for.  I preordered the game and paid in full as soon as my local GameStop had the game listed, then I waited, quite impatiently, to rekindle the flame that once burned for Phantasy Star Online.  Elsewhere in the world, countless publications tried to warn me of my impending disappointment, but I was too far gone at that point – I needed to learn this lesson on my own.  Most people remember PSU as a colossal misstep for the Phantasy Star franchise, and I am inclined to agree with them.  The single player campaign saddled players with one of the most obnoxious title characters of any medium, ever. The combat system had been reduced to sub-Dynasty Warrior levels of button mashing, and I was expected to pay real Earth dollars for the opportunity to participate in the high school drama that was called “multiplayer.”  It was hardly an heir to the Phantasy Star Online throne, an unfortunate first step for the Universe series, but over the past 4 years SEGA has managed to refine it and have created the game that they should have made in the first place.

Phantasy Star Portable 2 has been billed as the final chapter in the Phantasy Star Universe saga.  I will admit that the story and characters in PSP2 are marginally better than in previous games, but it is still a far cry from a gripping narrative.  The girth of the plot is simply a vessel to shuffle you from one boss to the next while introducing familiar Phantasy Star characters and tipping a hat to famous SEGA franchises, like Space Channel 5. Your nameless avatar joins a private security firm, called “Little Wing,” wherein he/she is saddled with the responsibility of caring for the boss’ ward, young girl named Emilia.  The bulk of the story is told through one-sided conversations with Emilia, in which she reveals that she is actually a vessel for an ancient being who wishes to keep other ancient beings from awakening and taking over the minds and bodies of all mankind.  The story itself is average, to be fair, but the campaign breaks the cardinal law of single-player games with dialog or cut-scene-heavy stories: never force me to watch boring monologues. The single greatest feature of the first Phantasy Star Portable, that is the “skip this scene” button, is egregiously absent from this title, thus forcing me to sit through hours of pubescent space drama.

Before you bemoan a possible return of Ethan Waber and company, know this: the story campaign is completely optional. If you so desire, you can look for an online party as soon as your character has a face.  We’ve been begging for a deep online-multiplayer experience on the PSP since it debuted 5 years ago, and Phantasy Star certainly delivers.  Creating and joining a party is quick and easy. 

Communicating is unfortunately text based, so get used to the idea of people staring at one another in hub-spaces, but the game offers a very intuitive macro system that allows you to enter pre-set dialog for every circumstance from dying or leveling up to casting spells and picking up items.  There is also a quick-access menu for phrases that you think you’ll use a lot.  I was able to communicate with my party quickly and easily without having to open the digital keyboard.  There are a ton of missions, including missions from prior Phantasy Star Universe and Phantasy Star Online titles, as well as a boatload of rare items and MacGuffins to keep you following the carrot for the foreseeable future.

If you strip Phantasy Star Portable 2 down to its bare bones, you’ll find a deceptively solid, robust and addictive game.  The addition of dodging and blocking has made battles much more tactical – creating a natural back-and-forth, rather than simply forcing the player to exchange blows.  Camera control and party commands have both been streamlined as well, delivering a much more ironed-out experience overall.  The maps are much more detailed, but still fairly straight-forward.  There are new puzzles and traps to disarm, but for the most part, dungeons follow the strict “enter a room, kill the baddies, collect a key” formula that PSO fans have come to expect.  Stat management has become much more personalized – rather than simply picking a job type and sticking to the weapons assigned to you, the player can choose to specialize in specific weapons while retaining certain class bonuses, such as augmented stats or HP boosts.

If you haven’t picked up a Phantasy Star game since PSO, then you might want to take a look at this one.  It’s quite good.  It only took 4 years of stumbling, but Phantasy Star Portable 2 marks the first game in the Universe franchise that I don’t have to cringe when I say “I like this game.”  The story is nothing to write home about, but the incremental improvements to the core gameplay really have made a difference.  There really isn’t an alternative as far as online multiplayer dungeon crawlers go for the PSP, but even so, PSP2 is a tough act to follow.  It has successfully pried Monster Hunter Freedom Unite from my UMD Drive, and that is no simple task.