Phantasy Star Thread

[HyperTurboFox]

We'll be talking about Phantasy Star. This mean the Phantasy Star as a series. I'm preferred to it's 8-bit & 16-bit games and the online era.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

Is it that time again?

(png didn't load right so take this fan art from Kitsugar and Mike Prinke that I found in images)

 

[AncientBehemoth]

Ok, what are you want to talk about? Plot? Characters? OST? Influence of this franchise on life whoever played it?
For me third game was the first RPG I've ever played. The impact was huge on me. I didn't even have the battery to make saves for some time. So every day I grinded as hard as I could. But only managing to go as far as getting Miuy and Wren. I managed to go through the first dungeon and into the second area, but that's where my parents would say I'm sitting for too long and they want to watch telle. I was so fascinated by the story and OST I've played it every day. And when I bought battery to save I've played through every possible offspring crying every time I had to delete a save since it only had two slots.

 

[Felipe]

I prefer the phantasy star 1-4 over the others too. (Although i finished 2 of the new ones on PC/PS2). For those who dont know the classic games have interesting patches for them.

PS 1

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/1069/

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/6429/

PS 2

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/72/

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2132/

PS 3

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/3549/

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/7159/

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2883/

PS 4

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4142/

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/7939/

I specially recommend the bugfix patches for PS 2, 3 and 4. They are really cool.

 

[Natsuyasumi]

Phantasy Star Online was like the holy grail to me when I was 11 or 12, when it came out. I didn’t own a Dreamcast, so I would play at my friends’ house on his, and he didn’t have an online account, so I never got to try that side of it out. That was the first game I ever played where you could customize your own character, and I must have spent most of my time doing that, lol.
Everything from the music, to the environments, the story and the quests, it all made a huge impact on me and I still play it today from time to time. It’s such a precursor to other modern games, but in my opinion it is better in a lot of ways. I so wish they would release it again for a modem console like the switch! I don’t need any new content, just the GameCube version, or Blue Burst.

As for the 8/16 but versions, I’ve played through 1,2, and 4, about an hour each. I couldn’t get into them at the time, but they are still on my list to complete in the future!

 

[bjork]

Phantasy Star II was the first game I played where I really "got" RPGs. Played it with a buddy over the course of a summer, one of us playing and the other navigating with the included hintbook. Discovering stuff like

Spoiler: an optional thing you could do

leveling up Nei enough that she stays alive for the Neifirst fight, even though she's still dead afterwards

was really cool too.

He got PSIII not long after that and I think it''s pretty good too, but I desperately wish for a patch that changes the battle music. I think it's the only case of a game's music giving me a headache. Aside from that, I like the generations idea, and plan to play through each branch just to say I did it.

I played Phantasy Star I when emulation became a thing, and currently I'd say that best way to play it is on the Switch with the auto-mapping feature, but I still probably like the original best. I'm not too precious about the translation differences and it's what I would've played in 1988 if I'd had a Master System, so.

Never played more than a brief bit of PSIV, been saving it until I finish a series playthrough that I'm slowly working on. But Phantasy Star Online, specifically Episode I & II Plus on the Gamecube, that's the sweet spot for me. I don't need the fourth episode that Blue Burst has, just give me that small handful of levels and the most relaxing gameplay around. I play it solo and it's my go-to when I just want to peel the rest of a day off and forget about it for awhile.

Other than that, I've played through the two Game Gear PS games and they're okay but nothing exceptional. Haven't played the text adventures yet either, though they're on the list. But I think Gamecube era is my cutoff. Tried PSO 2, even bought a Vita to play it on import, and it just never clicked. Phantasy Star Universe was an absolute slog of a game, and I've only dabbled in the handheld stuff. So maybe I'm missing something there, but no one's ever pulled me aside and said, "I know you like PS so you should check out this PSP game" or whatever.

 

[Bonkers225]

PSIV was great. Mega Drive's best JRPG, although that isn't saying much. However, even if I compared it to the SNES JRPG library, PSIV would still be in my top 10.

PSO changed my gaming life as a kid, and blew my mind as I was able to play with other people all around the world.

PSO Ver 2 was good, but didn't have the same effect on me as the first.

Enjoyed PSU2 on the PSP, never got to play online, regardless, it was still great.

Played Blue Burst on the PC, it was fun.

PSO2 was great, and I was extremely happy it finally came overseas to the West. Until...

PSO New Genesis, this have killed the series not only for me, but seems for alot of other fans as well. Sega will need to do a complete reboot if they're planning on 3, and not make it another lifeless, boring, cosplaying gatcha game.

 

[Kremiso]

mostly played for sure the original Phantasy Star Online on DC
damn i love that game, i remember the satisfaction in reach to beat the final boss playing alone and offline, that required A LOT of time

the dynamic soundtrack adds a lot of atmosphere in that AAA experience
---
then i think Phantasy Star III on Megadrive, my god that was huge due the generations thing; i also remember i needed to replay quite a bunch of hours cause a corrupted save on the cartridge;
i think the third chapter is not the best graphically, but the soundtrack is fabulous

 

[Xdqwerty Xdqwerty]

Phantasy Star Zero is the first one I played

 

[Antilocal123]

No.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I could spend hours nerding about PSO but I'll have to contain myself:

the dynamic soundtrack adds a lot of atmosphere in that AAA experience.

It's weird for me to call this game AAA even if it was probably the case.

I was kinda disapointed that Kingdom Heart lacked that smooth transition from "calm to battle" (the OST is great though) and that PSU completely ditched it for one single theme. PSO2's sympathy system tried to bring it back but sadly the whole "music block" system made it less "organic" when it went from one section to another as it randomised it.

I'm surprised that this transition didn't become a staple in modern ARPGs.

I liked the nod to the Forest theme in the Battle phase in PSO2

Post automatically merged: Mar 31, 2025

I'm legit sad that Phantasy Star hasn't kept the first person dungeons after the first game.

I've always felt like it was the best way to wander in them

Even

Spoiler

when you go back to Lassic's Castle in IV you see that the layout of the very last section is taken directly from Phantasy Star 1's but with a top down point of view

 

[MrBird]

The only Phantasy Star I've played is the first game, and I thought the first-person dungeon crawling looked neat.

 

[sun0wl]

I love Phantasy Star I, I, and IV. (Still haven't managed to play more than an hour of III... Someone , please sell it to me.) Alis/Alys is my best girl. The Sega Ages version of PS1 is a magnificent port. I play it a lot just to chill.

Anyone get very PS vibes from Xenoblade Chronicles X? I know a lot of people are playing it on the Switch for the first time, but I also recently played it for the first time on Wii U and was wondering why I liked it so much when I realized it reminded me of what a modern "numbered" Phantasy Star game might be like.

 

[SpikeSlania]

I always wanted to complete the original 4 Phantasy Stars and doing them in order since I heard the 4th game pays homage to the whole series that you wouldn't appreciate unless you played the other 3 first. I beat the first one with the Switch Ages remake, but the 2nd one I'm struggling to make progress with. I know the next time to start up PS 2 it will be from the beginning again since I lost access to my previous attempts saves. Not used to a game where with random mobs you encounter they just rofl stomp you to oblivion and then the next encounter they melt like butter. It's still on my to do list.

The Online series I got into on the gamecube but never got far. The problem with that the longer I played I would get the urge to play Dynasty Warriors instead. So don't think I ever got passed the 3rd area in Episode 1. I did try playing PSO2 and didn't like how generic they made everything and couldn't get into it. I do want to give the Dreamcast and PSP versions of PSO another go, but the modern title doesn't interest me at all.

 

[Felipe]

I love Phantasy Star I, I, and IV. (Still haven't managed to play more than an hour of III... Someone , please sell it to me.) Alis/Alys is my best girl.

I finished the 3rd one. It was a cool game to play, the most annoying one was the 2nd one in my opinion. The only thing i can say to sell the 3rd one would be to try one/more of these mods. I used the bugfix's one to keep the game as pure as possible:

https://www.romhacking.net/games/67/

 

[marxcore]

It all started for me when i found a random copy of phantasy star 4 at a pawn shop back when sega was a thing. I played the crap out of that but never got a chance to complete it. My copy was stolen by some assholes who broke into our family home and stole it along with my video games and systems and other valuable electronics. Many years later a friend had pso and we spent a solid year grinding that game out all the way even going each difficulty to unlock and finish legendary where the levels, enemies and bosses are alternate. I recently played through the complete pso 2 story once it was translated to english and released. Ive also recently played through the ps2 remakes of phatasy star 1 and phantasy star 2. I would love to see when make another stand alone game but it seems sega is off in the mmo direction now.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I could spend hours nerding about PSO but I'll have to contain myself:
View attachment 51579

It's funny how Sega tried to make some groundbreaking game (sadly it was a bit too ambitious for a console game from the 90's).

I'd love to play that prototype shown in this trailer:

And during the E3 of the year 2000:

Post automatically merged: Apr 11, 2025

You should also check the CD drama that is the sequel to IV:

Full translation here:

https://yumpoplala.com/phantasystar/translations/drama-cd/

 

[bigstinkie]

i still play the original phantasy star online today with a few of my friends. i have never touched phantasy star online 2 and am unsure of its quality. phantasy star online understood the painful touch of a diseased body and continues to thrive due to its streamlined no nonsense nature and world rich in artistic compulsions

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I have never touched phantasy star online 2 and am unsure of its quality.

To this day I regret that I didn't get into it when there were three episodes so that I would've experienced the original story.

When Episode 5 came out I heard they'd removed the content of 1-3 to make space...

On another hand I'd be tempted to do Nova as it's the latest game I can play offline so far.

 

[bigstinkie]

to be bigstinkie partially why i have not felt the urge to visit phantasy star online 2 is the strongly altered art direction and from what i understand, largescale changes to progression and combat mechanics compared to 1
i heard from one friend that pso2 as it exists today is very poor quality compared to what it used to be but i cannot speak through myself if that is the general consensus or not

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Let's be honest, PSO2 could've been called something else it wouldn't have changed anything, it's mechanically closer to Universe (minus the solo story) but Sega probably took the name Online as it's an online only game and they wanted to appeal to nostalgia from Dreamcast/GameCube players with the tenth anniversary of PSO (which was being celebrated with both Portable 2 Infinity and the upcoming Online 2).

 

[HTBandicoot]

Trying out the original Phantasy Star for the master system (emulated) again now that I have a better idea of how rpgs worked back then and the importance of saving all the time. I’m still figuring rpgs out because I haven’t played a lot of them. But I’ll slowly progress just to see how I like it.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Trying out the original Phantasy Star for the master system (emulated) again now that I have a better idea of how rpgs worked back then and the importance of saving all the time. I’m still figuring rpgs out because I haven’t played a lot of them. But I’ll slowly progress just to see how I like it.

I still find it nice that Phantasy Star let you save at any moment in the game and has several save slots in case you did an oopsie.

 

[bigstinkie]

my greatest dark evil sin that lurks behind in my shadow is that phantasy star on the master system is one of my favourite rpgs ever, and phantasy star online is one of my favourite games ever, but i have not played ~any~ of the mega drive phantasy star games

 

[HTBandicoot]

I still find it nice that Phantasy Star let you save at any moment in the game and has several save slots in case you did an oopsie.

I didn’t realize that and have just been using save states, but I guess either will be just as good.