History YMMV / PhantasyStarUniverse

* EvenBetterSequel: ''Portable'' was by all accounts ''Universe'' condensed into the titular format for the PSP, with minor compromises but ultimately the entire game experience with its own new story on top, though that also means it carries a lot of the original game's faults and retreads much of its ideas and content, and without the massively multiplayer online element. ''Portable 2'' streamlined and refined a large number of elements into a familiar yet different experience, feeling more like a proper dungeon crawler designed with the handheld in mind rather than a port of an MMO, and topped it off with a more unique story. ''[[UpdatedRerelease Infinity]]'' took that and beefed it up even further, even if it [[NoExportForYou stayed in Japan]] until a fan translation released in 2020.

* TierInducedScrappy: Humans received some flak for [[MasterOfNone not being as specialized as the other races]]. For melee and gun-using classes, they were outclassed by Beasts and [=CASTs=] (especially since they lacked SUV Weapons/Nanoblasts). For [=TECHNIC=]-using classes, Newmans had stats suited better for them.

** Grinding up your weapons may be one of the nastiest cases in the game. Your starting weapons have little to no fail chances, but the better the gear that you'll generally find in shops, synthesis or enemy drops, the more risk there is that a Grinder upgrade failure might occur. If that happens, the weapon not only ''resets to level zero'', but outright '''loses a max level''', which can bring it all the way down to potentially never being upgradable with no way to restore it. It's entirely possible to have such bad enough luck, unless you synthesize as best the success-rate-boosted Grinders as you can, to cripple great and rare weapons into uselessness permanently and force you to go hunt another copy down to start all over again. Earlier versions of ''Universe'' upped the nightmare even further by making you '''lose the gear entirely''' on a failure. And for the extra cherry on top, that's just enhancement; actually crafting gear from scratch was in and of itself another massive headache of hurdles, RNG and convoluted solutions, and you either had to suffer it at launch or get connected with (and likely pay) someone to do it for you. ''Portable 2'' and the games that came after wisely scrapped this idea from main weapon progression.

** Grinding up your weapons may be one of the nastiest cases in the game. Your starting weapons have little to no fail chances, but the better the gear that you'll generally find in shops, synthesis or enemy drops, the more risk there is that a Grinder upgrade failure might occur. If that happens, the weapon not only ''resets to level zero'', but outright '''loses a max level''', which can bring it all the way down to potentially never being upgradable with no way to restore it. It's entirely possible to have such bad enough luck, unless you synthesize as best the success-rate-boosted Grinders as you can, to cripple great and rare weapons into uselessness permanently and force you to go hunt another copy down to start all over again. Earlier versions of ''Universe'' upped the nightmare even further by making you '''lose the gear entirely''' on a failure. And for the extra cherry on top, that's just enhancement; actually crafting gear from scratch was in and of itself another massive headache of hurdles, RNG and convoluted solutions. ''Portable 2'' and the games that came after wisely scrapped this idea from main weapon progression.

** The original ''Universe'' had a lot of design decisions that ''Ambition of the Illuminus'' ended up trying its best to unscrew. Two examples would be that enemy loot drops ''didn't exist'', and having to play single-player content (not the Story, but the Offline Solo play that is incredibly barebones) to unlock areas for playing them online. This actually hurt the game in the long run, as the first impressions greatly hindered the enjoyment for newcomers and veterans alike.
** Grinding up your weapons may be one of the nastiest cases in the game. Your starting weapons have little to no fail chances, but the better the gear that you'll generally find in shops, synthesis or enemy drops, the more risk there is that a Grinder upgrade failure might occur. If that happens, the weapon not only ''resets to level zero'', but outright '''loses a max level''', which can bring it all the way down to potentially never being upgradable with no way to restore it. It's entirely possible to have such bad enough luck, unless you synthesize as best the success-rate-boosted Grinders as you can, to cripple great and rare weapons into uselessness permanently and force you to go hunt another copy down to start all over again. ''Portable 2'' and the games that came after wisely scrapped this idea from main weapon progression.

* ScrappyMechanic: Grinding up your weapons may be one of the nastiest cases in the game. Your starting weapons have little to no fail chances, but the better the gear that you'll generally find in shops, synthesis or enemy drops, the more risk there is that a Grinder upgrade failure might occur. If that happens, the weapon not only ''resets to level zero'', but outright '''loses a max level''', which can bring it all the way down to potentially never being upgradable with no way to restore it. It's entirely possible to have such bad enough luck, unless you synthesize as best the success-rate-boosted Grinders as you can, to cripple great and rare weapons into uselessness permanently and force you to go hunt another copy down to start all over again. ''Portable 2'' and the games that came after wisely scrapped this idea from main weapon progression.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** A number of changes ''Portable 2'' made to the combat system ended up hanging on to ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2''. Primarily, photon points no longer being per-weapon and incredibly stingy about their resource usage to the point of needing refills with fees if you finished a quest below full. Instead, you get one central PP gauge that all weapons and [=TECHNICs=] draw from (as well as your UnnecessaryCombatRoll) which rapidly recharges on its own, so you're never left out to dry too long. Considering both ranged and tech classes had to micromanage their PP all the time before just to ''have the right to attack'', this completely changed the combat flow. Though to some folks, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks it set into motion irreversible changes towards faster action combat.]]
** Weapon grinding was also heavily streamlined going into ''Portable 2''. Everything bad or confusing about the system from previous games was stripped out and reduced to simply handing over Meseta for upgrades -- no strings attached, no RandomNumberGod, no materials, up to the maximum of 10 upgrade levels.

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Kumhan, Sun King of the Ancients]], seeks to resurrect his empire by any means necessary. [[DemonicPossession Possessing]] Shizuru Shu, he [[ManipulativeBastard manipulates]] the governing system to commit to a project to subspace travel, which is a farce so that he can bring back his empire. In order to make it a reality, he invades territories that threaten his plan, gathers clues via brainwashing people, and uses the [=SEED=] to eliminate any opposing forces. Later, he finds out that another Ancient, one of his former wives named Mika, has the key to bring back the ancient civilization and is inhabiting the body of Emilia. So he captures her. He then plans to destroy the social construct and become king, abandoning his vessel Shu whether he frees himself or commits suicide. His end goal after being cornered is to summon an armada of [=SEED=] to his enemies, then try to kill the main heroes himself. Willing to destroy his successors, Kumhan only wants to bring back his world [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans to become king once again]].

* AuthorsSavingThrow: A number of changes ''Portable 2'' made to the combat system ended up hanging on to ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2''. Primarily, photon points no longer being per-weapon and incredibly stingy about their resource usage to the point of needing refills with fees if you finished a quest below full. Instead, you get one central PP gauge that all weapons and [=TECHNICs=] draw from (as well as your UnnecessaryCombatRoll) which rapidly recharges on its own, so you're never left out to dry too long. Considering both ranged and tech classes had to micromanage their PP all the time before just to ''have the right to attack'', this completely changed the combat flow. Though to some folks, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks it set into motion irreversible changes towards faster action combat.]]

* IdiotPlot: ''Episode 1,'' which resulted from having [[IdiotHero Ethan]] as the protagonist.

* ScrappyMechanic: Grinding up your weapons may be one of the nastiest cases in the game. Your starting weapons have little to no fail chances, but the better the gear that you'll generally find in shops, synthesis or enemy drops, the more risk there is that a Grinder upgrade failure might occur. If that happens, the weapon not only ''resets to level zero'', but outright '''loses a max level''', which can bring it all the way down to potentially never being upgradable with no way to restore it. It's entirely possible to have such bad enough luck, unless you synthesize as best the success-rate-boosted Grinders as you can, to cripple great and rare weapons into uselessness permanently and force you to go hunt another copy down to start all over again.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: A number of changes ''Portable 2'' made to the combat system ended up hanging on to ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2''. Primarily, photon points no longer being per-weapon and incredibly stingy about their resource usage to the point of needing refills with fees if you finished a quest below full. Instead, you get one central PP gauge that all weapons and [=TECHNICs=] draw from (as well as your UnnecessaryCombatRoll) which rapidly recharges on its own and can even be gained back by doing damage. Considering both ranged and tech classes had to micromanage their PP all the time before just to ''have the right to attack'', this completely changed the combat flow. Though to some folks, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks it set into motion irreversible changes towards faster action combat.]]

* ScrappyMechanic: Grinding up your weapons may be one of the nastiest cases in the game. Your starting weapons have little to no fail chances, but the better the gear that you'll generally find in shops, synthesis or enemy drops, the more risk there is that a Grinder upgrade failure might occur. If that happens, the weapon not only ''resets to level zero'', but outright '''loses a max level'''. It's entirely possible to have such bad enough luck, unless you synthesize as best the success-rate-boosted Grinders as you can, to cripple great and rare weapons into uselessness permanently and force you to go hunt another copy down to start all over again.

* EvenBetterSequel: ''Portable'' was by all accounts ''Universe'' condensed into the titular format for the PSP, with minor compromises but ultimately the entire game experience with its own new story on top, though that also means it carries a lot of the original game's faults and retreads much of its ideas and content. ''Portable 2'' streamlined and refined a large number of elements into a familiar yet different experience, feeling more like a proper dungeon crawler designed with the handheld in mind rather than a port of an MMO, and topped it off with a more unique story. ''[[UpdatedRerelease Infinity]]'' took that and beefed it up even further, even if it [[NoExportForYou stayed in Japan]] until a fan translation released in 2020.

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: [=CASTS=] and Beasts were more commonly used by serious players (For melee and gun-using classes) than Humans or Newmans due to their LimitBreak racial abilities. For [=TECHNIC=]-using classes, however, Newmans (particularly female Newmans) were the top pick.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: No one seems to mind that you can find random traveling cake shops, Pizza Huts and [= KFCs =] in dungeons ranging from VR simulations to military complexes. Or ''Portable 2's'' random BonusBoss subspace dragon at the end of some dungeons. Or when [[ProductPlacement Colonel Sanders]] [[GuestStarPartyMember joins as a party member]]. Gurhal is a strange place.