Phantasy Star

erm your mum

ARE YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT ERMAC

http://maximoff.alreadyread.net/NinjaSyndrome/Ninjafiles/ermac.png

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/phantasystar1.jpg

Thinking of getting into these. Most reviewers I've read recommend IV as the best.

i find it hard to believe this is my first post in this thread http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2008/04/ps2hintbook040908.jpg

the fourth one does a lot of ~call-backs~ to the ~mythos~, i was so psyched about it all as a kid. i actually can't imagine playing it if it weren't, like, ~oh gosh the real truth about dark force~, etc. RUNE IS THE NTH GENERATION NOAH LUTZ

spoilers

like it just seems epistemologically implausible that the situation of playing iv without obsessing over it before release could ever transpire, or have transpired, for anyone

always had segas growing up so these were like my defining experience of the _classical JRPG_, have still never played any 8-bit dragon warrior or final fantasy for > 15 minutes. having a NES still seems awfully gauche on some level

that said i don't know if they're actually good

http://www.phantasystar.org/img/ps1/4.gif

the first one (which i replayed ~40% of on my phone a while back) does a surprisingly good job of apparently placing you in a world where you have some choices to make about where to go and what to do, and convincing you a plot to some degree depends on you. and in having a plot that's a plot.

http://www.phantasystar.org/img/ps2/2.png

the second one they obviously decided to add 'more content' in a way which kind of sucked -- 'now the central computer system is offline you need to go to all four dams and open them manually. p.s. the architect for the damns decided they ought to be mazes, i don't know why' -- then you get an absolutely atrocious get-the-magic-weapons quest

those two both require some degree of grinding, so require some ability to enjoy grinding. HOWEVER i don't know that they do grinding particularly *well* -- like i think the mathematical purity of it is easier to reach in those NES rpgs i write off

http://www.phantasystar.org/img/ps3/3.png

we won't talk about the third one

http://www.phantasystar.org/img/ps4/5.gif

the fourth one is very railroaded and cutscene-heavy (it's almost more of a 32-bit rpg than a 16-bit one) -- it hits the sweet spot of plot dripfeeding and combat that requires just enough of your brain for you to not fall asleep in a way that's almost clinical, i think. every single battle is exactly the same. the most interesting meaningful decision is 'how early should i fight the optional sand worm boss.'

http://killass.lardpirates.com/spoonyplaythrough/ps4/Part3/ps4-3-29.PNG

like it's exactly the picture of what PC gaming nerds hate about 'thee japanese rpg'. i have completed it more than once.

I'm working through IV now, it's so awesome! I love the music in the dungeons! From what I've seen online the magic stuff can get pretty involved, but I'm having fun just leveling up.

The anime portraits and cutscenes are really cool.

This right here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDP_4JjjrWM&feature=related

music in 2 is awesome

Ok I just lost the first battle at Zio's tower and Alys is hurt and it's playing music that I swear is the same chord progression as "Hotel California".

Ok my jaw just dropped at the first Land Rover battle. Cool 3d effects!

http://www.phantasy-star.net/art/screenshots/psiv/advanced.jpg

I grew up w SNES. SNES RPG's didn't have purple-haired cyborg cat babes.

OK I beat Phantasy Star IV. Wow, really the coolest RPG I think I've ever played. Amazing music & graphics, loads of fun, great storyline, everything you could ever want. I tried starting II but it just felt like such a big step back graphics/sound wise it kinda scared me off. PSIV is really just unlike any game ever.

Also, this was the first time I played an RPG with frameskipping and thus when it came time to level up, I kicked the game up to 8x and set a bunch of macros and was at Level 80 in no time.

so, how early did you fight the sandworm

i wonder why i never tried these games, i was always curious about them. i mean, i played this all the way through iirc:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_of_Vermilion

Uh I can't remember. Probably halfway through, right around the time you first leave Motavia. Mainly I wanted to help out Rune cos for some reason he was just the weakest link the entire game for me.

Later on I trained at Vahal Fort but once The Edge opens up, there's a battle in there that consistently nets 13000+ experience points for everyone in your party. It's at the end of the game, but it's pretty useful for making that final battle easy.

The original Phantasy Star for the Sega Master System is incredible. I can't imagine how mind-blowing it must've looked back in 1988 when all we had was the first Legend of Zelda game. Even Dragon Warrior was a year away.

Um.....ok so I'm watching the first episode of Dirty Pair and it takes place on a world where the environmental systems are all controlled by a computer called Brain. Sounds familiar...

Eh, nevermind, it's Brian. Still, close. Lol

bought the iphone version of ps2 thanks to this thread. touchscreen controls are a drag but i think once i sit down with some kind of getting started/intro guide it's gonna be pretty fun.