Thread 3809003

Thoughts on this series? How underrated is it?

>>3809003 (OP)
>he doesn't know

>>3809003 (OP)
Play IV

Phantasy Star II has the best setting. PSI and IV are probably the most palatable for people. You get more out of PSIV if you play the games before it.

IV is my favorite JRPG of all time. The setting, story, characters, music, gameplay... it's phenomenal and for its time it was leagues ahead.

They remade the first three games on PS2 and stopped. I'm really irritated and hope somewhere along the line they bring us Phantasy Star IV remastered or remade with added content, bonus dungeons, super bosses, NG+, everything.

I fucking love IV. II is also great. I never played I and I never finished III. III was made by different devs and they experimented with a lineage system so while it's neat it didn't sit well with everybody. It was okay.

II is notorious for being rife with crazy long dungeons that will tax your patience. The PS2 remake has a ton of quality of life added to it, even if the graphics are a little meh.

I love the series. I actually plan to go back to play I and finish III at some point.

I would say start with IV and then see if you want to do the remakes or the original.

IV is a good game but I just don't find it as compelling as I
I guess the issue is IV is a little too handholdy, telling you where to go and what to do next, whereas I is about exploring and finding things
(II & III are meh, for different reasons)

>>3809003 (OP)
I love Phantasy Star 4. Man am I still mad that the fan sequel that was being developed back on the old "Cвeтлaя Зoнa" is lost to time, i desperately wanted more of the games at one point..

>>3809003 (OP)
PS2 is one of my favorite games, and I just played through PS4 for the first time in... 30? years. I actually found it a little underwhelming. There's a lot more dithering used in the graphics than in the previous games and it makes for an uglier look IMO. It also goes by pretty quickly, and it feels like you often barely use the equipment you just bought before arriving at the next town and upgrading everything again. The dungeons also feel uninspired, and they're simpler and more straightforward than PS2's.
Overall for me it ranks alongside PS3, below PS2. I haven't played PS1 enough to compare.

>>3809293
Remake whole of the Argol story going back to the unification wars.

>>3809003 (OP)
Unless you're a boomer, you're not going to enjoy these games my guy

Which version do I play?

>>3809003 (OP)
I wanted to play the second one but they kill the cute girl companion so I lost interest.

>>3809640
There are other cute girls that join. And even cute save girls.

>>3809293
What fan sequel is this? That translates to Light Zone.

>>3809638
You can try the original first, start with Phantasy Star II, as that one has a great PS2 remake with quality of life. If you can tolerate the original then good for you, you have grit and gumption, something twas necessary back in the ancient time that is the 90s and you had to endure this sort of thing in RPGs.

If it's too hard or dated you will enjoy the PS2 remake as long as you can deal with the graphics.

I played the original and beat it when I was a kid. I replayed it, and the remake. I like the remake. It adds things that make the gameplay smoother and more entertaining, but there is that challenge to the original that you feel proud to have earned. Depends on what you want out of the gaming experience.

>>3809649
"Cвeтлaя зoнa. Aкaдeмия PПГ Mэйкep." ("The Light Zone. The RPG maker academy") is a russian website dedicated to, well, teaching RPG Maker and providing resources and plugins for game creation. It still exists today I think, but it's a far cry from what it was back in 2008-2010.

The fangame was called "Phantasy Star IV: After" (or something like that) and took place 5 years after the events of the original on Motavia. You played as a duo of 2 girl hunters investigating the reanimation of the Zema Factory, meet with the son of the Piata Academy director, are sent on a quest by Demi to investigate recent disturbances. Then the demo ends with you bumping into the little girl possesed either by Dark Force or Zio's spirit.

>>3809674
Holy crap that sounds really cool. I hope somebody can dig up the demo at least, I want to see it.

>>3809912
...
I found it, lol. It even got translated to English. All these years I though it was dead!

>https://anntenna.itch.io/ps20

>>3809942
Buy a banner

>>3809953
Why?

>>3809953
>https://anntenna.itch.io/ps20
Shut up faggot, I was asking about it and clearly showed interest so it's helpful that he went to find it and linked to it.

>>3809955
He thinks you're selling/shilling your own work. Even if you're pimping it that's fine because it's a fan project and I was interested. Thanks.

>>3809942

Would that dude be willing to share the assets? I didn't realize it was done with RPGM too, I overlooked you saying that. I would absolutely follow his lead and use it if I had those assets. Making a fan game would be a good start for me, especially for my favorite game of all time. thanks so much for posting this. Any idea if the assets are available? I didn't know you could get RPG Maker to look exactly like PSIV. :)

>>3809955
>>3810022
There's some bitches on 4chan that'll do that anytime you share any unknown fan game or indie game. Wouldn't take it seriously (or anything on this site seriously).

>>3810026
>Any idea if the assets are available?

Hm. Antenna used to be one of the curators of "Cвeтлaя Зoнa" and shared many assets back in the day, but "Lokator" guys are not as eager to share their stuff.

>I didn't know you could get RPG Maker to look exactly like PSIV. :)
There are sprite rip websites for the original game. Like this one:
>https://www.spriters-resource.com/sega_genesis_32x/ps4/
... where you can get all the necessary sprites. You'll have to align them into grids and tilesets yourself though for editing.

>>3809645
>save girls.
Just want to save the purple haired one with the nice ass

>>3810035
>https://www.spriters-resource.com/sega_genesis_32x/ps4/

That's fantastic. Mind dumping any other good links you have that are in the same vein, regarding RPG Maker and Phantasy Star? :]

>>3809640
>>3809645
>>3810051

Play the PS2 remake then! If you do NG+ then follow a specific route (look up a guide or you'll likely miss out on what to do) you can actually save Nei from the fight!!

I love things like this and it's something I would do for Alys if I remastered Phantasy Star IV, along with allowing you to take any party member you wanted to face the final boss.

>>3810120
>something I would do for Alys if I remastered Phantasy Star IV
Good way to ruin the gravitas of the narrative.

>>3810120
Even further do something like have in-game rewards or unlocks for beating the final boss with a certain combination of characters or restrictions, which then unlocks further extra dungeons or a superboss. Seriously, I would dial it to fucking 11 and go all in on a remake/remaster if I had support and fans. They could make money off my autism if they hired me to do a Phantasy Star IV remake project officially.

>>3810122
It would be something like near end game when Chaz becomes a full chad completing some dungeon or fighting a boss to get something that allows for her to be brought back for use in the final battle and added content. Something along those lines.

>>3810124
No. Sacrifices are retroactively ruined this way because any subsequent playthrough you'll have full awareness that it's not really a loss. That's the problem with FFIV. Sometimes characters should die in a story.

>>3810125
I disagree when it means you can use a character like I would have implemented. Also some people like/want to save characters, though I do agree with you the "Game of Thrones" method of killing off main characters is also good because it builds tension and is ominous. In the case of Alys though it would be how they allowed you to revive Nei if you did NG+ and followed a set of steps. You get the original impact for the canon story but fans can then replay, save the girl, and get some extra party combinations through the new character.

>>3810129
Hey, you can write your fanfiction however you want, but you won't elevate anything that way, just reduce it to self-indulgence. Guess that's a problem with fanfiction in general and why so much of it is really bad.

>>3810133
I haven't read fanfiction so I wouldn't know.

>>3810143
It's what you are talking about making.

>>3809003 (OP)
yeah it was pretty cool

>>3809003 (OP)
3 slop games in a row and then IV is pretty damn good. II has good music, but that's where all of the positives end. It's a really lousy series.

>>3810122
Sorry but if you can only give "gravitas" to the narrative by killing the cute girl you are a certified kusoge.

>>3810171
For me it's Alys

>>3810185
It'd be the same if she was a man, she's a mentor figure, incel.

>>3810169
...Yes, sure, and?

>>3810222
So do do have familiarity with fanfiction, you're talking about making it. Reading it yourself is unnecessary. Following yet?

>>3810238
I know what fanfiction IS I said I wouldn't know regarding your opinion that so much of it is really bad. Following yet?

>>3810337
But you do recognize that your desires to reform the narrative and save a character you like are self-indulgent, even without reading any fanfiction yourself, right? Getting it?

>>3810204
Then kill a man.
They usually dont because everyone loves cute girls.

>>3810428
They do kill men off, it's just that when they do you don't remember it. Who waxed poetic over Tellah?

>>3810339
Not self-indulgent if the point is to do something I know fans in large volumes want and appreciate.

>>3810339
Also, the point I was replying to for you, which is the whole thing you missed, was that of fan-fiction not being very good most of the time. The point you're still not seeing or getting. I know you're trolling either way, but it's cool, keep replying. Bumping a good thread is best for everybody.

>>3809070
Omg I wanted them to do a 4 remake sooo bad but at the same time I could see why they didn't since IV is basically perfect already.

>>3809003 (OP)
>No Phantasy Star V

>>3809003 (OP)
4 is great. 1, 2 and 3 are frustrating in their own ways that make me wonder if I'd enjoy them as much had I not played them for years as a kid. I love Phantasy Star, sucks that the community for it, all the fangames and discussions, pretty much died a decade ago.

>>3812865
1 is honestly fine and still holds up as long as you don't mind old rpgs.

>>3812865
I played them as a kid and didn't enjoy them. IV was the first one I liked.

>>3809003 (OP)
1 and 2 are ok in the context when they were released. 3 is fucking terrible

>>3812942
I still plan to go back and beat III. I owned II, III and IV but never finished III. With emulation speeding up combat to grind and push through easier will be acceptable.

>>3813505
I did think while playing that if you moved at 3x speed and had a map so you werent spending hours exploring corners of maps with nothing in them then the experience might be tolerable. The games not even long you just spend half the time walking.

>>3812942
The multiple generations with player chosen wives gimmick of III was really cool, too bad it was in a bad game and so no one ever copied it.

I know we don't talk about 3, but it's cut content page is probably the longest I've seen for any video game. Did something happen during development?

>>3813721
It came out just a year after 2 and conveniently before the Super Famicom launch, I think its safe to say it was rushed.

>>3809070
The lineage system in 3 was amazing. Too bad literally everything else in the game was neglected. PS3 bragged about having 7 planets and two moons you could visit, but all of them were full of empty space. Proto-Bethesda.

The other 3 games are bangers, PS2 is unnecessarily complex but it's so comfy and sovlful it's still worth it.

>>3809645
Why does Nei have a bulge?

>>3813744
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mons_pubis

>>3809003 (OP)
ps III music has stayed with me ever since I first played it as a kid. also the ps II shop music.

>>3809070
>setting, story, characters, music, gameplay... it's phenomenal
Story, characters, music sure. But the gameplay?

>>3809003 (OP)
I started playing through this series recently. I haven't gotten to IV yet, but the first three games straight up aren't good. First game is a really bare-bones, mediocre dungeon crawler with good sprite-work (at the cost of there only being one enemy type per battle). It's not bad, but there's not much to talk about or remember. II has an interesting plot, but the dungeons are pure agony, and combat isn't balanced at all and tends to swing between braindead easy and bullshit. III is straight up shit. The generation stuff is cool on paper, but the plot is so underwritten that there's nothing really memorable about anything, combat is pure monotony of attacking physically until you win, and everything in the game from combat to dungeons to traveling the world map are painfully slow and dull.

I can't speak for IV yet, maybe it'll finally be good, but the series as a whole is overrated for what I can only assume is because it was the only big JRPG series on Sega consoles.

>>3809290
>IV is too handholdy
THANK you. I've quit 4 multiple times because of this. Honestly, 1 and 2 are the only good ones.
>inb4 "but muh comic book!"
read a manga faggot. I want to play a video GAME.

>>3813754
that's not a mons pubis, Anon, that's a fucking scrotum.
>t. has seen girls naked up close

>>3818182
So...is it true the clitoris is the analogy to the penis? Thus, girls DO have dicks?

>>3809003 (OP)
Im surprised this thread is still up

>>3820615
Why would you be? /vrpg/ is a SLOW board

>>3818182
>>3813744
Numan, Newhalf, same difference

>>3818182
That is not a scrotum, tranny chaser.
>t. has eaten puffy pussy

>>3818163
I played them all when they came out and that's how I felt too, until I got to IV. IV really is a special game. I wouldn't count it among my favorites anymore, but it still holds up, and stands out in an otherwise pretty mediocre series. The art, characters, story and music are all leagues above the previous three games.

>>3818163
Neat, someone else has been playing through the series.

I actually liked 1 a good amount, being able to explore three separate overworlds with tons of freedom was fun. Some things were cryptic and I admittedly followed a guide for a little while, but once I decided to stop doing that and just see what I'd find by exploring I ended up having way more fun. There are a lot of small but charming things about the presentation too, like going into first person mode for menus, and the old school wizardry style dungeons. I played the sms version but probably should have played the M2 rerelease. My only issue with 1 is that battles are never all that interesting, since there isn't much customization and your characters roles are predetermined. Which is admittedly a big issue, but in the end I still had a good time with the game.

2 fucking sucked. Genuinely surprised to see a lot of people in this thread praising it. Extremely slow and repetitive even by old jrpg standards. Maybe the remake is better but I did not enjoy my time with the original.

I'm only partway through 3 and I will most likely end up not finishing it. Everything that's cool is cool in theory but doesn't really matter in execution. I'm sorta autistic about doing things in order and this is the only obstacle before I can play IV, which I'll hopefully enjoy since it's widely regarded as the best. Hate leaving games unfinished but I might have to, just not having a good time with 3. Currently in the second generation so still kind of early on, but already over this game.

>the series as a whole is overrated for what I can only assume is because it was the only big JRPG series on Sega consoles
Could be true.

>>3820709
3 has no relation to 1, 2 or 4. It's a safe skip, worst in the fucking series.

>>3820709
Play IV. III wasn't a good experiment, no need to finish it.

>>3809055
This. But personally I loved III too. Never found that generational concept in other games.

>>3817836
>the ps II shop music
As soon you named it, it started playing in my head..

>>3809003 (OP)
You can basically only play PS4 and be fine. 1 and 2 have nice stories but aren't actually fun to play and 3 is a side game with next to no relevance to story of the other games.

>>3809003 (OP)
PS2 was grindy AF and the dungeons really long.

>>3818163
PS4 is where they figured out a gameplay system that worked (the series was always fine in every other department) only for the series to die forever to be stuck in action RPG purgatory, a fate that also befell Shining Force.

>>3827357
At least PSO was great in its own way. My first character was HUmar named Chaz.

>>3809055
I really, really like PS1. I absolutely love PS4. I have tried several times at both PS2 and PS3 and long dungeon boring samey slogs kill my enthusiasm long before finishing. Can you say something encouraging or inspiring to try them again?

>>3812851
Online games took over, no handhels in market to release a new PS, also mmorpg took over too.

>>3820618
>healer is possibly the most OP character in JRPG history

>>3827646
I wouldn't want a new one now anyway, it would necessarily use a modern anime art style which would ruin it. No creators today know how to make anything cool.

>>3827843
He really is because he can instantly restore all magic points used as well as health. As long as he doesn't go down you can't lose.

>>3827353
The PS2 remake makes this better. You get a ton of QoL inclusions. Plus if you do things right you can do NG+ and (SPOILERS AHEAD, I dunno how to blur it out)


k
k
Save Nei. You have to play on NG+, so that means going through a whole circuit first, and then you need to do a few very specific things.

>>3827845
I agree to a point. I would still like to see what anime Phantasy Star would look like if they did it that way. There's also a chance it wouldn't go as you say and we'd get nice art.