why am i playing -- and somewhat enjoying -- the psu standalone expansion, the inanely-subtitled "ambition of the illuminus," especially when there are vastly better gaming options available right now? as tvc will attest, the back of the box shows such grossly unentertaining things like invoking yoga animations in the lobby, invoking sentai poses in the lobby, invoking wacky animu expressions in the lobby, and performing countless other stupid lobby things only an ot level vii japafag like kiryogi could appreciate.
admittedly, they went for nostalgia with this expansion -- now you create a wholly original character from the start, and the battle system is more of a three-press system like the old pso games than the mashtastic combos of psu. the classes are more defined, and there's a lot more weapons and loot, and the need for crafting is marginally reduced. oh, and it runs great on my laptop. zones and missions are more accessible without running all over creation.
the bad? EVERYTHING ABOUT THE STORY. LOLIS EVERYWHERE. stupid animu cliches abound, breeding like meta-rabbits. camera controls are still a shoulder button clusterfuck (on the pc -- they don't map to the right stick as a default. dunno about ps2/360). story missions still require using the dumb goggles, and navigating the interface/palette is a nightmare. WTF.
i almost have no excuse. seriously: sega. they let their fans design games for them these days, so its no wonder the game is all kinda fucked up on the interface front.
still, i feel compelled to play. pso music, references, and items abound. SHAME.