In the absence of Wrath of the Lich King, I decided to reactivate my Phantasy Star Universe (PSU) account. I stopped playing initially because it wasnt PSO (Phantasy Star Online). PSO and PSU are an alternative to the average online game. It’s kind of surprising that they are not more popular. I think many people fail to realize PSU has absolutely nothing to do with traditional Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG). It’s not a true MMORPG and it should never be compared to World of Warcraft. I always called PSO an online hack and slash game.

The Phantasy Star Online games are for those who want to play an online game with others but do not want to get involved with the current structure. These things include the issues of playing solo, customize your character’s stats a particular way in order to be accepted by others, making sure your party always has the Tank/Healer/Nuker’ mold (oh please go away already! I have nightmares about people shouting “We need a ‘Tank for Heroic WTF!”). Don’t get me wrong, I love MMORPGs and definitely love World of Warcraft, but after playing a thousand games that follow the same structure, I tend to long for something that doesn’t exist; which is an MMORPG that doesn’t follow any of the current MMORPG rules. (more…)

I mentioned in one of my previous postings how I liked the soundtrack to The World Ends With You. I know this genre isn’t for everyone, but I love the sounds of Japanese Pop and Electronica music. The music is available for purchase on iTunes but I thought I’d give you a listen. This genre matches the Anime look and feel of the game. Hard to believe this much music was made for a DS game. This kind of thing is expected for the PSP. It’s a first for the Nintendo DS to have a soundtrack like this one. ‘Calling’ is probably my favorite. When your fighting battles and hearing this music, it really gets you energized. You’ll need that since you’ll be controlling two characters at the same time; one on each screen.

These songs includes works from Takeharu Ishimoto, Makiko Noda, Leah, SAWA, WAKAKO, Ayuko Tanaka, Hanaeryca, and JYONGRI. The actual soundtrack contains about 36 tracks.