Phantasy Star Zero! Our Next Adventure?

[Niami]

Awhile back, on a long and stormy night, The Games Girls set out to find the perfect cooperative-style game. After hours of searching and sifting we came up with Phantasy Star Zero.

"Featured in the game is "Visual Chat", a take on PictoChat where players communicate by drawing on the DS touchscreen. According to the February issue of Nintendo Power (Vol.238, page 38), "Up to 20 messages may be saved to shortcuts so they're accessible at any time via a quick tap of the touch screen". However, communication among unfamiliar users is limited to keyboard chat and premade images. The game contains three online modes: Free Mode, in which the player is randomly paired up with a party; Friend Mode, where the player can invite friends into a private room (and vice versa); and Single Mode, where the player can play online by onesself to level up (similar to Phantasy Star Online's offline mode). Also, there is a full offline story mode as mentioned above."

The exact nature of the mulitplayer option is hard to determine. More to come as it unfolds.

What do you think, is anyone interested?

[Minako Farshore]

I have been watching the progress of this game for a while now, and am dreffly excited! It seems the perfect game for Aristasian co-operative play, as it gives one the ability to make blondes and brunettes wearing much more fitting clothing than a lot of games, as well as the ability to form groups with just friends and go adventuring in a full mode rather than the half-modes that so many games allow for. I was watching a few kinnies of the Japanese version and one Boss Fight is against a huge dragon, I could only think of Sai Rayanna!

[Sushuri Madonna]

Having looked at this quite a lot I think the online play is the best possible. Up to four maids can play the game together, accompanying each other on a quest. It is genuinely multiplayer the whole way through the game (instead of only being able to play bits together as with some games) and it is not "massively multiplayer" - in other words there are no Outlanders involved - just our party in a game-world.

We can chat as we play just as in the Clubhouse, drawing pictures as well as writing notes to each other.

Here is what it looks like - the kinnie is a bit fuzzy, but as you can see, the 3D is truly amazing for a handheld game:

I think we should all ask for this for Nativity so we can play it together!

Oh - and interestingly, I heard that while the big console versions of PhS are more realistic, they have gone for an anime style on Déesse - another plus in my book!

[Sushuri Madonna]

There is now more information on this game and it really seems exactly the game for us. You will see lots of information plus customer reviews here.

There is a good trailer kinnie there too - but here is another good one: