Phantasy Star - Another RPG that's not Final Fantasy

[Joy-Sama]

Never thought I would ask, but does anyone play Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst?

Because I managed to play it for a while and the game looks gorgeous, and it's gameplay really shines through when you're in a team of two or even four.

But until that question's answered, let's have a Phantasy Star thread instead.

 

[Hui]

God I want a SP Phantasy Star game.

 

[Sable]

I liked the first 3 games.

 

[GethN7]

I've played the series, and here's my take:

PS1: Very advanced for it's time, somewhat hard and obtuse for newbies, but pretty fun once you figured out what you were doing.

PS1 (PS2 Remake): The PS2 remake has been fan translated to English if anyone is interested in hunting it down, smoothes out a ton of rough edges from the original and makes it far more playable, and tones down how tedious level and money grinding was too.

PS2: Fun, but HARD. Massive improvement over PS1 in terms of gameplay, but still, HARD. Totally worth playing though.

PS2: (PS2 Remake): Also been recently fan translated to English, again smoothes out a lot of rough edges from the original, makes grinding less tedious, but it's still very hard. The soundtrack is a massive improvement on the original version (the PS1 remake version is also quite nice).

"ONLY READ THE SPOILER IF YOU BEAT THE ORIGINAL"

Spoiler

You can also save Nei from permanently dying this time.

PS3; Never could get far into this one. It's canonically a weird side story anyway, and it's mechanics were just too odd for me to get into.

PS4: My favorite: Much easier than PS2, but still could get pretty challenging. Really could use a remake version, but it's still very, very good. If you want to import the Playstation 2 re-release version, go ahead, it has a native English translation so it's import friendly (identical to the original script for the Genesis version from what i could tell), and it includes an easy mode to make grinding for money and exp less tedious too, as well as fixes a lot of hideous bugs in the original that affected leveling.

 

[Hui]

2 is my favorite one. It could prob be because it was one of my first jrpgs I played. If they had only kept making SP games I have no doubt the series would have become as famous as FF.

 

[Sable]

I had the collection on GBA when I was young. They were kinda confusing, but it made me all the more happy when I managed to do things.

...though fuck that first dungeon in 2.

Edit: Just remembered I played 4 too. If I still have my file I should get back to it.

 

[Doc Cassidy]

I played Phantasy Star Online in 2005 for a bit. It was shit.

 

[Joy-Sama]

I played Phantasy Star Online in 2005 for a bit. It was shit.

Did you play the dreamcast version? I remember hating that port as well.

 

[Doc Cassidy]

Did you play the dreamcast version? I remember hating that port as well.

PC, I never had a dreamcast unfortunately.

 

[Joy-Sama]

PC, I never had a dreamcast unfortunately.

Huh, I always found the game very fitting for PC instead of Dreamcast. Trying to play with a controller is fine, but with a mouse and keyboard, it feels much better when it comes to control.

 

[Dysnomia]

I like the first four games. I have PSO for Gamecube and PSU for PS2. Those are alright. But I don't really play multiplayer stuff so I don't bother with online games really. My PC can't handle PSO2 so I've never tried it. Plus it's not officially in English anyway and I don't really enjoy playing with others. I played Maple Story for a few years. That's it. I got tired of the whining and begging for free items.

I highly prefer the old Phantasy Star games. It's my favorite series. I didn't really pay attention to Final Fantasy until 7 came out. I mainly played RPGs on Genesis and used SNES for platformers and stuff mostly.

Huh, I always found the game very fitting for PC instead of Dreamcast. Trying to play with a controller is fine, but with a mouse and keyboard, it feels much better when it comes to control.

Really? I didn't have trouble with the GC controller. But I tend to really hate keyboard and mouse. It feels very awkward. Probably because I grew up on consoles. My reaction speed is very poor with keyboard and mouse controls even in games where that's all you can use. I fail.

 

[Mimic]

Love Phantasy Star (especially 1 and 4) and put way too much time into Online on the Cube. Semper Fi, Reaverbot. I'll never forget you.

I've played Blue Burst, even paid for it when it was official and liked what I played, but I just can't get back into it these days. Probably because I played the shit out of it on the Cube. Tried 2 as well, but I just can't get into it. And we don't talk about Universe.

I'd love for an actual Phantasy Star 5 to happen... but only if it stayed true to the originals. And we all know that'll never happen.

 

[tehpope]

PSO was the shit back in the day. Played the PC version all the time. Played on the DC version too. Never got around to play episode II. Would love to play it again. Just too lazy to get proper AV connections for my GC or dl it for my PC.

Managed to get both the Broadband adapter and PSO Plus for the gamecube back in the day.

 

[Captain_Asshole]

Fuck yes I play it, on Ultima servers.

 

[DrJonesHat]

I got PS1 for the Sega Master System when I was 14 (I'm old, jokes to the right please) for my birthday. I loved it because it was very immersive. Also I liked the fact that after a certain point, you get your own spacecraft. I bought a Genesis and PS2 with money from my first job. I lost interest in consoles after that and joined the PC Master Race. However, nostalgia overcame me, and I downloaded ROMs of 1-4 and played them all to the end. I only had a dial-up connection back then, so multiplayer games were not really fun for me.

 

[Jequiti]

I don't, but I play Phantasy Star Online 2. Send me a PM if you want to meet on Ship 2.

 

[broilerrx]

I actually played through the games first on the GBA collection for the three games. For some reason, I never completed one, but I did manage to finish 2 and 3 before losing the cartridge. Later, on a PS2 genesis collection, I would finally be able to play 4. Fun games, and while I would hope for a sequel, 4 did kind of bring the main series to a conclusion, and I dunno if a sequel, no matter how faithful the mechanics are, or how well they succeed the previous games, would be a good thing story-wise.

I also played through the single player campaign of Universe, long after online went down, having finally found a used copy of it. And all I have to say is that the protagonist is a fuckhead. Never got the chance to play Online, though I'm tempted to try my hand at PSO2

 

[Wraith]

Phantasy Star 4 is my go-to game for how a narrative based 16-bit RPG could be during that era. It's my favorite RPG during the SNES / Genesis time period. I think FF6 is great, but I have never had the desire to go back through that game a second time. PS4, I admit my power level of having gone through it probably a couple dozen times just because.
PS4 has what I think the best soundtrack of the 16-bit era as well, and I do think FF6's BGM is damn good.

Played the other three, with 1 being the next best. PS2 is punishment material. I give it as a task to those people I am mad at. I don't hate it, it's just what it is. PS3 is so unfinished, but it does have a little charm.

Played PSO version 1 and 2 when it came out on Dreamcast and without going online. I wasn't happy with it. Never looked back after that.

EDIT: - I forgot I played that Phantasy Star Universe for Playstation 2. ... Not happy with that either.

 

[Ravio]

I never could get into the original 4 on the sms and genesis. Was more a fan of Shining Force and Ogre Battle at the time. I really didn't get into Phantasy Star until Phantasy Star Universe. Played and loved the hell out of it. Also put a ton of online hours into it's sequel Ambitions of the Illuminous. There was other entrys like Phantasy Star Portable 1 and 2. 1 Was just ass but 2 Played and felt more like it's console big brother. I've not yet had the chance to play PSO 2, due to Sega promising an English Vita port. And I just don't want to mess with installing patches just to play.