After over 60 hours playing, both online and off, it feels like I’ve just scratched the surface of what Phantasy Star Universe has to offer. From the full fledged offline 30 hour action RPG epic to the endless online leveling grind, this truly is the sequel that fans of Phantasy Star Online have been waiting for. So how about we take a quick tour of the Gurhal System and see what makes this Sonic Team sequel tick.

Online
When heading online for the first time you'll first be treated to a decently robust character creation system. During this character creation process you'll choose your race, gender, and customize your character's look. You can be either male or female and you can choose between the races Beast, Human, Cast or Newman. Besides small statistical differences, some of these races have special abilities like the Beast which can shape shift into animal form and the cast which can pull out some humungous weapons from time to time. Thankfully that's all that is set in stone and unlike a lot of online RPGs you can change your class anytime you wish for a small bit of Meseta, which is PSU's in-game currency.


Beasts and a Cast showing off their special abilities.

Character Creation - Video

Once your character is created and you arrive at the Guardian Colony you'll initially be a Hunter. Hunter is by far the easiest class to begin with due to a variety of reasons such as no need for PP, Phantasy Star Universe's version of mana/ammo. Hunters are also mainly melee based and melee attacks are quite easy to execute due to PSU's melee lock-on system. Though Hunters are a lot of fun, you may want to try out the other two classes, Ranger and Force, once you've done a couple of missions as a Hunter. Though it's advisable to build up a bit of Meseta before you do this as not only does changing class cost a bit but the weapons and abilities of the other classes cost a small fortune at times.


Wandering around the Guardian Colony.
Rangers are known for their proficiency in ranged attacks so they can equip a wide variety of guns. From machine guns, to sniper rifles, to shotguns, they can use them all. Aiming with guns is a bit odd at first but can quickly be mastered. When you lock-on with a gun you dont actually lock-on you just enter a strafe mode. Also you can enter first person mode with a gun which allows you to aim with a large crosshair. This allows you to easily attack things flying high above and gives you a large advantage over the other classes in such situations.