
So what's the deal with both off these games and how is Sega almost getting back on track to making a proper sequel to PSO? Let's discuss, bitches... Phace-Off BEGIN!
Phantasy Star Portable does so many things that Universe dropped the ball on. PSP has more armor and weapons then Universe and has no synthing (item creation.) This means no more shit rares that COULD make you something cool provided you get the REST of the items needed for the recipe. Next up is XP is earned faster. Your character levels faster and so does your techs (spells and weapon skills.) When you create a character you also start out with a fully leveled, grown PM (Partner-Machine, an NPC whom helps you.) The character you make is your single player AND multiplayer character which is always nice. Best of all Masterclasses are now skilled fighters who really feel they are the masters of all things combat. (SEE PICTURE)

With all those improvements there is a few things that Universe has that portable doesn't. The multiplayer portion of Portable feels tacked on. There is no server-side saving which means that because of how extremely easy it would be to dupe items there is NO item trading, which also means NO COMMON BOX AND NO SHARING WITH OTHER CHARACTERS
ON THE SAME MEMORY CARD! To make up for this all players receive the same rare when one is picked up.
Universe looks great in 1080p and Portable has almost a Silent Hill grain-filter or something... It's pretty gross looking, but on the PSP it does the job.
Overall, if you like the series, get them both, but each is good for what it does and let me make that my final point. Universe: Excellent multiplayer experience (provided you have friends, I don't.) Portable: Awesome single player, should have been the real follow-up.
Sega, don't despair! Somehow, slap some REAL multiplayer on Portable and run with it... OR give us what we REALLY want: PSO II