Introduction
Basic information
Developer Name: Sonic Team
Full Name: Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II
Release Date: October 29, 2002
Released on: Nintendo GameCube
Cross Play: No
Initial thoughts
I played this game a lot during my younger years, and this time around, I decided to bring my wife along for the ride. At first, she was unsure about it, but before long, she began to enjoy the rhythm of running dungeons, upgrading equipment, and facing off against increasingly difficult enemies. There’s something timeless about the loop of Phantasy Star Online, even if it shows its age. Playing together on a Steam Deck made the experience feel fresh again, even after all these years.
Story and setting
Plot overview
The story follows your team’s investigation into the mysterious events on the planet Ragol after a failed colonization mission. While it has interesting beats, multiplayer mode skips most cutscenes entirely, meaning I had to fill in the blanks for my wife. The writing isn’t award-winning, and the dialogue is very early 2000s sci-fi, but it gets the job done and supports the gameplay well enough.
World building and immersion
Ragol is divided into distinct areas. Each one with its own ambiance and enemies, which helps maintain interest. You never quite forget you’re in a game, but the environments and music do a solid job of immersing you in this decaying world.
Character development
There’s little development for your avatar or the supporting cast. However, building your character through gameplay progression provides a different type of satisfaction.
Emotional impact
The emotional stakes are limited, but the eerie atmosphere and environmental storytelling do create a sense of mystery and tension.
Rating for story and setting
I have visited multiple aspects of the story and after some thought and objective thinking, I rated the story and setting with an 6.
Gameplay and mechanics
Core gameplay mechanics
For its time, Phantasy Star Online was highly innovative. It delivered real-time, class-based combat with deep loot systems long before looter RPG was a common genre. Even now, the structure remains addictive, especially with a second player along for the journey.
Each mission takes place in an instanced dungeon, where you fight off waves of enemies, collect gear, and level up. Combat is simple, three-button combos with timing. But it becomes tactical with spellcasting, class roles, and equipment synergy.
Difficulty and balance
The challenge ramps up fairly quickly, especially in Ultimate mode. Some bosses are brutal, and the game expects a grind, which we mitigated with experience boosts.
Pacing of the game
The early game flows well, but things slow dramatically post-level 80. Even with XP boosts, we spent around 60 hours just to hit level 100. Without cheats, it would have taken significantly longer.
Innovation and uniqueness
Few console RPGs at the time offered what PSO did: cooperative real-time combat, tons of loot, and a persistent world with shared progress.
Controls and user interface
Functional but clunky by today’s standards. Targeting is finicky, and navigating inventory menus with a controller feels a bit slow.
Microtransactions
None at all. Every piece of gear is earned through gameplay.
Rating
After combing through many of the mechanics, the pacing and other factors of this game, I rated the gameplay and mechanics with a 7.5
Graphics and art style
Quality of graphics and art direction
Graphically, PSO was impressive in its time. The lighting effects and creature designs made a lasting impression, and the tech-sci-fi aesthetic gave the world a distinct identity. Today, it’s a bit rough, but still enjoyable.
The stylized environments and glowing, alien designs help the game stand out even now. There’s a clear visual evolution in Episode II, which adds more vibrant and diverse zones.
Technical performances
Performance remains a weak point, and the camera is a constant battle. We used a cheat to improve it, which helped. But didn’t eliminate the issue entirely.
Environment and design uniqueness
Each area is thematically distinct, from lush forests to derelict mines, with unique enemies and traps to keep things interesting.
Rating
It took me some time to give the graphics and art style an objective rating. There are many things to consider, but ultimately, I rated this section with a 6.5.
Sound and music
Music score and how it contributed to the game
The music of Phantasy Star Online remains one of its most atmospheric features. It’s subtle, ambient, and sometimes eerie. Just right for exploring alien ruins and corrupted machines.
Sound effects quality
Memorable and fitting. Tracks change based on combat status, which creates a dynamic feel during dungeon runs.
Voice Acting
None to speak of, but the silence fits the game’s lonely, mysterious tone.
Rating
After a lot of consideration, I rated the sound and music section with an 8.
Replayability
Game Length and content volume
There’s a lot to do here, especially if you enjoy grinding for loot and optimizing builds. However, some elements like Section IDs, randomized based on character name can severely limit your item drops unless manipulated. A full playthrough of both episodes, with some side content, can take 50–100 hours.
Extra Content
Episode II offers new challenges and fresh scenery, helping break up the repetition of Episode I.
Replay value
High for collectors or those who enjoy building multiple characters and experimenting with classes. But expect a grind!
Rating
After thoughtful consideration, I decided to rate the replayability and game length of Phantasy Star Online with a 7.
Suggestions and comparisons
Suggestions and feedback
Fix the camera, reduce the grind curve, and add story accessibility to multiplayer. Section IDs should be customizable to avoid gating content unfairly.
Comparisons
Similar in feel to early Monster Hunter games or Diablo II with its dungeon-crawling and loot emphasis. It laid groundwork for games like Destiny and Warframe in tone and structure.
Personal experiences and anecdotes
My wife enjoyed much of the experience, but understandably got tired of repeating the same areas for marginal progress. That’s why we used quality-of-life codes to make things smoother, like EXP boosts, camera fixes, and Section ID changes. These additions didn’t make the game easy, but they made it playable for our limited time. Still, we shared some fantastic moments defeating tough bosses and getting rare drops after long hunts. It was the right kind of old-school challenge, just with a few modern tweaks.
Rating
Taking in all the personal experiences with Phantasy Star Online, I give it a personal rating of 8.
Last words
Pros
- Great local co-op experience
- Unique sci-fi world
- Addictive loot and combat loop
- Memorable music and ambiance
- Class variety with replayable content
- Episode II adds value
- Customization options for gear and characters
- Grinding is satisfying with enhancements
- Monsters in Ultimate mode are visually distinct
- Nostalgic and innovative game design
Cons
- Camera system is frustrating
- Section ID system restricts loot unfairly
- Heavy grind with slow progression
- Multiplayer skips all story content
- Basic NPC interaction
- Outdated UI and controls
- Visuals haven’t aged perfectly
- Repetitive dungeons
- Inflexible item drop system
- No quest tracking
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II is a flawed but fascinating co-op RPG that still offers a lot of value for those willing to dig into its systems. Or modify them slightly. With a great soundtrack, solid class design, and rewarding loot grind, it’s easy to see why it left such a legacy. The game remains fun and atmospheric, especially when enjoyed with someone else by your side.
FINAL RATING
7
Please let me know what you think of Phantasy Star Online in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
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Nostalgia all over! Sven and I played this game way back in our teenage years as a new couple.
Now re-playing this game brought back some happy memories!
We had a lot of fun playing this game!
This game was a huge reason why so many people got a dreamcast for!
I only played it on the Gamecube!
the nostalgia… Memories come flooding back of playing multiplayer on the GameCube with friends.
I had a special controller for this game when I was young!
I played PSO in the NDS. I’m not sure whether it’s just this particular adaption of PSO or not, but if I remember correctly, it does not only have good gameplay, but it also have good story. Would be nice to have another PSO with good story albeit not as an MMO game.
Most of the Phantasy Star games are different and have other gameplay!
This looks like an interesting game. I always wonder what PSO is about. Thanks for the review
I am glad you liked the review!
I totally agree with your take on the nostalgia, it’s hard not to get hooked by the gameplay and the world building even after all these years.
It is a lot of fun to play together!
Another Coop game … Awesome! I’ll suggest this one to my girlfriend =)
What a great idea, if you need help with some of those Quality of life mods, let me know in Discord!
Never heard of this game, looks like a good retro game
It is a very fun retro game!
A good choice of review, as this game has left its mark on so many players!
It indeed has!
I love this website for all the nostalgia it gives me. PSO is such a great old school game
It is indeed a very old-school game!
Even if it aged, it still offers loads of content. The best thing is, it’s a co-op game, so you can enjoy it with others.
I know that you felt progress is slow, but that’s how games used to work back in the days, where you had to really invest yourself to achieve something. I guess the modern life just made us too fidgety for any kind of patience, especially with games. XD
Yeah, I do not mind a bit of grinding, but it does not have to be mind-numbing. We simply do not have the time we had as a child!
Must admit I’ve never heard about this one before XD Looks keinda fun, but the fact, that multiplayer skips all story sort of breaks it for me… I don’t get why so many games don’t really support story-coop. I want the whole experience for coop, or I’ll just go single, I don’t think I’d play it for the coop without getting story…
You might try to get it to play single!
Never heard of it before. Does not sound that bad, but don’t like too grindy stuff. And it’s a shame coop has no story content. At least the host could have it and stream it to the slave. This should be no issue…
Lol, to the slave.
I may be biased but this is a 9 for me xD my friends love it too <33
I would have loved to give it a higher rating but there are sadly some flaws.
Good review. Looks like a nice game but i will know more about it after watching gameplay video. It is strange they made auto-skippable cutscenes instead optionable skip by pressing in multiplater modewith second player.
Things were different back in the day!
Good review. Looks like a nice game but i will know more about it after watching gameplay video. It is strange they made auto-skippable cutscenes instead optionable skip by pressing in multiplater modewith second player. Good that at least other things are customizable, with like you said “cheats”.
I can think to playing this game.
You should try it!
I didn’t know this game. Thanks for the discovery.
I hope you will like it!
It seems great for a retro co-op game! Sounds like it could use a remaster with some more modern enhancements! Multiplayer not including any of the story content is very, very strange! Still looks charming and unique for the time though!
A remaster would be very nice!
I like review. Of course, I’ve never heard of it before, but I think the game definitely has an audience.
It It sure has an audience!
The game looks really interesting and thank you for the review!
I am glad you like the review!
I like that you mention what QoL mods are required to fix some of the game’s inherent problems, especially the Section ID issue. I will keep that in mind when I get to try this game.
The section ID is indeed a bit of a problem.