First revealed nearly three years ago, Phantasy Star Universe (PSU) has been a long time in the making. The long-awaited sequel to Phantasy Star Online, PSU looked to improve upon its predecessor with an expanded online component and a dedicated Story mode.

However, Story mode represents one of the biggest missteps within Phantasy Star Universe. With one mode focusing on story progression and the other solely on character customization, both end up lacking. Part of why Phantasy Star Online worked so well was because of its balance of story and character customization, the latter half of the equation missing from this game's main character, Ethan Waber. Though the ability to create and customize an offline character becomes available after the Story mode is completed, working through the tedious and cutscene-heavy Story mode to achieve it can be tiresome, especially when one can hop online and immediately create their own character.

Of course, hopping online also requires subscribing to a monthly fee of US$9.99 just for the privilege. While it's understandable that Sega would want to charge for the online component (characters are now stored on the server to prevent cheating and updates add new content each month), Phantasy Star Universe forgoes the gesture of a free trial month. With the game priced at $60, the expectation that players must immediately plunk down even more cash to play online seems rather greedy.

Once online, things get a bit better. The differing abilities of multiple character classes and races serve to break up the monotony that plagues Story mode, and the social element of questing with actual people recalls the addictive twinge of Phantasy Star Online. Yet, major problems exist here as well. Since the offline Story mode contains the entire plot, there's nothing here to tie the missions together. Players and their online counterparts enter an area, beat on the local wildlife, and then receive rewards without explanation.

The missions present another major issue, since there currently isn't a wide variety of them. Because of its emphasis on character development, players are left with little choice but to repeatedly replay the same mission until they've defeated enough foes to unlock the next one. Even more disappointing, the next mission is often the exact same thing, just with more difficult enemies.