Unlike most PGC staffers, I've never had the opportunity to play Phantasy Star Online before. If you'd like the impressions of a PSO newbie read on.
My previous knowledge of PSO led me to believe that it shared something in common with games like Diablo. This isn't far from the truth. Your character has three abilities mapped to the B, A and X buttons and R is used for shifting to another set of three abilities. The gameplay appears to be basic hack-and-slash, which isn't a bad thing in my book. I took on some easy enemies and got to a boss creature that was impressive. The game is definitely geared towards multiplayer as the world seemed a bit empty while I played alone. The graphics are average at best--the game doesn't appear to have been upgraded from the DC version, but at least this should keep the framerate intact for split screen play.
Gameplay seemed a bit slow, but that was probably related to the locations of the game chosen for the demo. Overall, I'd say that I'm definitely interested in PSO. It would be the perfect way to take the new modems for a spin this fall, and it could make an excellent split screen cooperative game as well.