I've dabbled about in all the games, but never really played them seriously.
The entire series is sitting in my pile of shame waiting to be finished one day.
Alteast I know I'll play PSO for about a zillion hours when it is released on GC.
Let's talk about this wonderful RPG series. Like Final Fantasy, it deserves its own thread.
The first time I rented the original Phantasy Star, I had no idea how to play it. Since it was the first Japanese RPG released in English, it was something completely new.(not to mention the most expensive game on the market)
The game oozed brilliance. The graphics were far more advanced than any console game ever and the 3d dungeons were incredible. The characters were unique and I liked all of them.
As for why this revolutionary game didn't take off in Japan is beyond me. I suppose it's because of the huge head start the Famicom had over the Mark III and also the Dragon Quest phenomenon. Phantasy Star also had the unfortunate position of being released within a month of Final Fantasy 1.
As for the rest of the series, I love them all but none of them was as revolutionary as the first game.
The Dro
I've dabbled about in all the games, but never really played them seriously.
The entire series is sitting in my pile of shame waiting to be finished one day.
Alteast I know I'll play PSO for about a zillion hours when it is released on GC.
A warning to any Phantasy Star newbies - Phantasy Star 2 is harder than the rest of the series combined.
As for PSO, I love it. It's my favorite DC game. Before I played it I was afraid it wouldn't feel like Phantasy Star. But it does. It's just as much a Phantasy Star game to me as 1-4 are.
Great game though the translation was a little rough around the edges. The most amazing thing is that the monsters were animated and some new rpg's don't even have that feature.
While were on the topic of Phantasy Star I have a few questions I'm playing PS2 on the Smash Pack and I'm wondering how much I have to level up. Rolf is at level 12 and I'm still getting my assed kicked by those Blasters that take half you life away. How long does this game take to get through?
Korian
I don't remember exactly what level you should build up to at what points but PS2 does require leveling up your characters a lot. The game isn't extremely long. It really depends on if you get stuck. For me, it took me a while simply because the mazes confused me. Playing PS4 right after PS2 makes PS4 seem so easy because you don't have to build up as many levels and the mazes are infinitely simpler.
How many games were in the series? I recently saw a list and it had Phantasy Star Gaiden on it. A import?
Anyone have the Phantasy Star collection for Saturn.
Didn't PS come out on the Mega Drive also?
Korian
Import Game Gear saw two releases, I believe - Phantasy Star Gaiden and Phantasy Star Adventure. Both don't look very good and they don't play like Phantasy Star from the looks of it. There are translated versions in the emulation world.
Phantasy Star 1 did see a limited rerelease on Mega Drive, a direct port of the 8-bit game.
ahhh phantasy star...thats where the memories are. i just sold my original/mint first game to someone on this board (ragnarok i believe?). ive had it since day one but i dont have enough time to enjoy my games anymore and have actually sold about 50% of my gaming museum the past two weeks. at least now somebody will play iti never got phantasy star 2 (the PS games were really hard to find around here for some reason) but bought 3 and 4 (since i was old enough to have a job and the parents didnt have to know i was shelling out $80+ for a game). three was okay...just kind of ho-hum but 4 blew me away. i'd already played rpg's with cinemas thanks to the turbo and sega/cd but seeing what SEGA did on this cart blew me away. is it just me or am i the only one that loves that distinct "look" the last run of Genny games had (ps4, the last shinobi, sor3). they just looked far better than the past 4 years of games and there was just something else...i dunno. i finally played ps 2 on the collection for the Saturn and lemme say Neo is right. it is far and away THE HARDEST PS...hell i'd say it's one of the hardest rpg's. if you're not careful youll get wiped out so many times at the start.
i sure hope sega's planning a traditional one sooni would love to see a 2-d rpg on one of these new systems. gawd the line scrolls would be incredible
R.I.P. 1936
I've noticed that too. The very earliest Genesis games seem darker than the later ones, which are bright and colorful. It's the difference between Revenge of Shinobi and Shinobi 3 or between Streets of Rage and Streets of Rage 3.Originally posted by TheSCHLONG!
is it just me or am i the only one that loves that distinct "look" the last run of Genny games had (ps4, the last shinobi, sor3). they just looked far better than the past 4 years of games and there was just something else...i dunno.
Throat punch: the musical
My introduction to Phantasy Star was kinda sour. My experience with RPGs at the time was Final Fantasy 2 on SNES, having just bought a Genesis I looked for a comparable game. So one Friday I rented Phantasy Star 2, and after spenting a hour with it I was disgusted by the simple graphics, sound, and poor translation. I figured I'd return the game the next day.
That night my town got hit by 12 inches of snow with nothing to do I sat down and looked at the xeroxed manual that came with the game. I was impressed by the thoroughness of the writing, the way magic (techniques) was described in scientific terms, and the picture that was being painted of the PS world. So I went back to playing the game and passed the Biolabs by the time I took it back to the store.
I sent away for a used copy from a company that advertised in EGM back in those days and was amazed when it arrived with a map and a huge hintbook too! I touted that hintbook around everywhere, those dungeons were beasts, I would just sit and ponder what combo of elevators I'd have to take to reach a goal. I played PS 2 so much that I found a enemy not covered in the hintbook (nothing major but still cool). And from that point I came to love this series. And PSO reminds me very much of the beautiful illustration style on the Japanese covers. Anyone interested in Phantasy Star, consider trakcing down the Versus guide to PSO, it has a section devoted to the series and some tidbits scattered throughout the guide. *-neo
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