Quick! Use A Monomate!

Does my title confuse you? If so, then you've obviously never played the game I'm reviewing today. (Or any of the game's predecessors.) If you know exactly what my title is referring to, then kudos to you for playing a great game.

Phantasy Star games have been around for ages, the first of which was released on the Sega Master System. The orignal Phantasy Star games were regular RPGs, but recently the Phantasy Star world has been extended into the MMORPG realm; first with Phantasy Star Online, which was released for the original X-Box and the Game Cube, although, most people just played the games in offline mode because there wasn't a whole lot to do in online mode. Next came Phantasy Star Universe which played much like Phantasy Star Online (PSO), but utilized the online aspect of the game more. Phantasy Star Universe (PSU) was released on the PC and the X-Box 360 and, while it wasn't/isn't as popular as other MMORPGs (such as World of Warcraft) it's still a great game.
But, the Phantasy Star game I'm going to be reviewing today is: Phantasy Star Portable which was released for the PSP. Phantasy Star Portable took what was best about PSU and made it better. The game plays much the same as PSU and even looks quite a bit the same. (Obviously the graphics aren't going to be as amazing, but on the PSP's smaller screen, they still look awesome.)

The story (which I'm not going to go into very much so I don't spoil anything) for Phantasy Star Portable is set after the second game of PSU. You start out as a new recruit in the Guardians. The Guardians are a group of warriors who protect the Universe. There are 4 races to choose from when you start: Humans, Newmans (similar to elves, Casts (robots) and Beasts. Each race has something special about them, as is normal for an RPG. Every player will start out the game as a Hunter (sword user), but you are able to change your race throughout the game whenever you choose to. The types of armor and weapons you can use aer determined by your class, as are your physical stats. The basic classes are Hunter, Ranger (gun user) and Force (magic user). As your class level increases, you can upgrade to higher versions of the base classes as well as a few classes that are more of a mix between two or three classes. No matter what class you choose, your weapon and armor selection are going to be different.
In case you can't tell by my previous posts, I'm kind of a World of Warcraft nut. But, I can't seem to pull myself away from Phantasy Star Portable (or PSU or PSO) when I start playing it. The gameplay is simple, and complex at the same time. Basically, you attack bad guys with whatever you have available be it a sword, an axe, a grenade launcher, a wand, or a Sega Genesis that floats behind you and shoots them. I think one of the things that draws me to Phantasy Star Portable (and PSO and PSU) is that it's one of the few Sci-fi RPGs that is as fun to play as the fantasy RPGs that are so popular.

The one downside I can think of with accordance to the games is that the world isn't nearly as large as the world in a game like World of Warcraft. Yes, Phantasy Star Portable, PSU and PSO have large worlds to play in, but they aren't an open world like WoW. Instead, you have tons of mini maps and levels to explore that are reached by flying to other planets. (No, it's not a free fly. The flying is more of a loading screen.) But, honestly, it's not really a huge problem for me.

With Phantasy Star Portable, there isn't any online play. Instead, there is the option for Ad-Hoc play with your friends, which is not as nice as playing with people all over the world, but is still a nice feature if, like me, you still just play with your friends when you're online. Unlike PSU, where your online character and your offline character were two different toons, Phantasy Star Portable allows you to play the same character in both multiplayer and single player mode, which is a nice step up. If you have the game already, but haven't ever tried multi-mode, I highly recommend it. There are certain items you can only get in online mode which make the game more entertaining.

All in all, Phantasy Star Portable probably ranks up as one of my favorite PSP games, which is really saying something. If you're into RPGs and want one that plays like an MMORPG without actually being one, then Phantasy Star Portable is a great game to try.

My score: 9 out of 10 (That's right, I'm doing it out of 10 now.)

It would honestly be a perfect 10 out of 10 if the game had a more open world, but, as I said, that's not really a huge problem, so I'm only taking one point away.

Update!

I've heard that because of the success of the first game, there is a sequel to Phantasy Star Portable coming to Japan on Dec. 3rd. No word on whether it will ever be released in the U.S.