Initial review from a MMO vet without any previous PS experierence. (PC Prespective)

I admit I haven't been following Phantasy Star Universe very long.  Matter of fact only a couple weeks prior to it's launch.  I had heard of Phantasy Star and PSO but I had never played them.  So the following review is from someone that isn't building on previous titles.  I play on a PC (well technically a Apple iMac Intel Duo Core under Bootcamp).  I have been playing MMOs for a few years now with most of my experience within WoW.
 
A few weeks ago I say someone linking on here to some YouTube footage of the Japanese release of Phantasy Star Universe (PSU).  My first reaction was WOW that looks fun.  While nothing like Guildwars it does have more in common with that title than say WoW as it could be classified a MORPG (Multiplayer Online RPG) than a truely Massively Multiplayer Online Game.   The entire world outside a few lobby zones is fully instanced.   You will not be running into new friends while out in the wild.  (Actually this isn't fully true as the party system allows you to join random parties already in progress... more on that later).
 
One of the biggest draws towards this game is that it is available on not only the PC, but the PS2 and XBox 360 as well.   But while the PC and PS2 players share common universes (think servers/shards) the 360 players are on their own.  The game is not only a online gaming platform but has a fully realized offline single player mode as well.  It should be noted though that on the PC even the offline mode requires you have a connection to the internet due to the use of GameGuard to keep the hackers in line.
 
Graphically the game while pretty isn't stunning or anything new.   The biggest reason for this is that it is technically a console port, and as such there are many limits to the PC version such as being stuck at resolutions of 1024x768 or below.  There is no Anti-Aliasing support as well.  It is safe to say that this game isn't going to revolutionize the MMO/RPG based on looks alone.  That said it is still has very acceptable graphics.
 
One of the first things you will notice about the Online mode is the wonderful character creation tools.  Games for the east often get boos based on their lack of character generation and everyone looking very similar.   This isn't the case with PSU.  Not only do you have four races to choose from but you can control everything from your skin color, size, weight, voice, and so on.   The game certainly has one of the best character creation tools this side of PlayNc's CoH/CoV line. 
 
As with most MMO launches PSU had and still has it's number of problems.   For those that didn't plan ahead and purchase their Guardian license (subscription) many found the site overloaded on the day after PSU's release (Wednesday).  As well the authenication servers for the PC/PS2 version where down most of Wednesday.   In addition many PC players (myself included) have ran into various problems with GameGuard locking up upon loading PSU.  At this point it seems to be some type of failure on the SEGA side.   This so far seems to be fairly random and usually clears up after a few hours.
 
Once in game there is a nice tutorial to get you introduced to the game.  Crafting is done via your Partner Machinery.  Your PM is a little robot helper that will take materials from you and make new items from those materials based on various circuit boards you feed it.  At this point I haven't used my PM too much other than to feed it various items for storage purposes.

Game play as mentioned is done within instanced zones.  These zones are broken down into various rankings and blocks.  For example you may enter an instance with a C ranking and the mobs will be at say level 1, but if you select a B ranking on that same instance the mob levels may jump up to 20.   This allows Sonic Team to technically recycle the same maps while allowing the players to adjust to a level more close to their own.   As mentioned within each of these zones are various blocks.   Think of blocks as mission levels.  Typically you may have to clear all the mobs out of three or four blocks to sucessfully complete that instance. 
 
Game play is more akin to a button mashing arcade game than a twitch based MMO.   Afterall this is a console game at it's heart.  That being said I actually have found it much more fun mashing buttons than sitting back and autoattacking and hitting the random spell in other MMOs.  The game feels much more involved this way.  It should be noted that there isn't a real death penalty as such.  If you or one of your party dies during the instance the only thing that is affected is that your mission bonus/ranking is lowered. 
 
One of the coolest things about the game is that you can carry multiple weapon types around with you and interchange them at a moments notice.  For example my current character has a Spear, a few handguns, a saber, and a two-handed sword all of which are set up via palettes (think macros)  to allow me to switch back and forth amoung them.
 
I haven't played long enough to gain access to the various proton arts (think spells/talents) so I can not comment on these yet.
 
Over all the game is a blast aside from the inital launch issues which should be worked out over the next few weeks.   For those of you interested in playing you must first purchase the game which will run you between $50 for the PC/PS2 version to $60 for the XBox 360 version.  Then in order to play online you have to purchase a Guardian license via PlaySega.com.  The GL is just another name for a subscription plan.   There technically isn't a trial period on this game so don't think you will be able to try it before you buy it.   The two plans are a 30 day recurring plan that will run you just under $10 a month and the other is a 180 day plan that will put you back $50.  You get a few 15 days when you select the montly plan and a free 30 days when you select the 180 day plan.  Personally I went the 180 day route for the extra savings.
 
Sega's Sonic Team held back a portion of the content at release.  They plan on releasing new content as time progresses.  Currently the level cap is 50, but is soon expected to be 60.   The offline version has a level cap of 100, so it is safe to assume that this may be the evential cap, if not greater.
 
If you want something different from the other MMOs out there then seriously consider PSU.  Sure it has some kinks in it, but they will get worked out over time.   One other thing to note is that Sega current has Thursday nights scheduled for server maint. which has a few people upset.