I'm planning on getting myself an Xbox 360, and I noticed that Phantasy Star Online was released on the Regular X-box. Will it play on the 360 ?
It's not in the compatibility list of XBox games, so it might not. And even if it did, I'm not sure if you'd be able to play it, as it requires an XBox Live account, which it may not be able to detect in XBox legacy mode.
Is there a difference between Phantasy Star Online and Phantasy Star Universe ? the on-line aspect, I mean.
The fundamental idea is the same; kill monsters in teams. But the implementation is very different.
In Phantasy Star Online, you have ships that are divided into blocks. Blocks have multiple lobbies, but they are all small rooms, where people can meet and create or join a game. Creating a game is like creating a small self-contained universe for you to play in.
In Phantasy Star Universe, you have universes. In these universes, you have many lobbies spread throughout. They are connected by areas where people take missions to enter the areas where the enemies roam. Taking a mission creates a team with its own pocket universe of its associated area.
Is the user-interface complicated or annoying ?
PSO's interface is fairly simple and to the point. PSU's is more complex and a little clumsy at times.
How do levels progress and skills develope ?
In both games, you increase levels by getting experience points from killing monsters.
As for skills, there are no true skills in PSO. But you do have Techniques, which are learned through Technique disks. Technique disks also serve to level up your Techniques, as they teach a specific Technique of a specific level.
In PSU you have Photon Arts, divided into three categories. Skills are special attacks to use with your bladed weapons. Bullets are used with ranged weaponry to add elemental damage and status effects to your attacks. TECHNICs are basically the Techniques of PSO, but they are assigned to wands and rods.
Levelling up Photon Arts is done by using them a lot. Each usage nets you some experience with it, and it levels up when it reaches 100% for that level.
Is there room for "individuality" without being "gimped", especially in the end-game ?
I haven't been playing for that long compared to others, but I would say there is. There are a lot of class types to choose from, and they're all viable to use.
What kind of player base is there ? Will I log in and be alone ?
The only way to play PSO online these days is through the private server. It supports the Dreamcast, GameCube and PC versions. Most people play with PSO: Blue Burst. There's a decent player base even today.
For Phantasy Star Universe it depends what platform you play it on.
The PS2 and PC versions use the same servers, so they can play together. But even together the community isn't that large. The fact that PSU's lobbies are scattered all over the place doesn't help.
The XBox 360 version has its own server, and there's a fair amount of players playing on it.
By the way, most fans of the games don't consider them to be MMORPGs, due to the lack of one persistent world. They consider it an online RPG.