Gen-X gamer here. I was a teenager when Phantasy Star 1 was released for the Sega Master System and the way I finally figured out how to navigate the dungeons was by painstakingly mapping it out on graph paper. I would take one step.. draw more of the map.. rinse and repeat. Eventually I had mapped out every dungeon in the game and where all the traps and doors were.
I am so happy to see someone talking about this series. Phantasy Star IV is not just my favorite game in the series, not just my favorite game on the Genesis, it is my favorite game full stop, with Shining Force 2 as a very close second. Pure nostalgia is the reason for both, but they are both great games! PSIV was my first JRPG, coming out when I was only 10 years old. 30 years later, it has NOT let go of me, and I still play it regularly, even going so far as to get to know some of the speedrunners and even play it with the randomizer that's out for that different, but still similar experience. And the music... THE MUSIC! Still among my favorite OSTs of the era, and there are some absolutely BANGER OSTs.
Fun fact: Phantasy Star 1 was one of the first games that were completely translated for Brazilian Portuguese, and for that it was the first JRPG for a lot of people around here!
The music of the original Phantasy Star 2 was bloody brilliant. I will also argue that Luke Jansen's masterful medley of the gorgeous score is the best adaptation/version of it.
Love old school games from the 8 and 16-bit eras. They were about exploration, sure some didn't have much story and left a lot up to the players imagination but they were fun. DQ was what got me into RPG's and I do like the PS games, still haven't gotten through Phantasy Star I yet. I remember playing a game most hate on the PS1 called Beyond the Beyond (hey it wasn't great but it was an RPG on the system which were few and far between) but my brother and I would leave notes for the other on how to get through certain dungeons or locations. I really enjoy these games and seeing someone playing them and experiencing what the rest of us already know makes me smile.
I was 11 and had no expectations for Phantasy Star 4. My favourite games prior to playing this one were Final Fantasy 2 US (FF4) and Wasteland, and I just rented it becsuse it was an RPG for our new Genesis even though I had no idea what Phantasy Star was. This game is an aesthetic marvel and a masterpiece of character development through mechanics and multi-generational storytelling. You've got teenagers finding their place in the world, young professionals balancing their academic and career goals with family and communal expectations, middle-aged mentors dealing with the fallout of a unsuccessful relationship, and elders applying their unique wisdom and perspective towards solving the universe's existential crises. It's also ridiculously fun to play and really good at respecting your time. I was going to go on a leftist ran comparing the villains to politicians I dislike, but I'm pretty sure nobody cares.
PSIV was mind blowing. It was a go-to rental and I could have sworn Zio was the endboss. Two, three years after release I finally got one [it and Super Street Fighter IV were ungody expensive even in ThenMoney] and I go back to it time and again to this day.
@@diegoarmando5489 it's cool seeing so many different takes on the same games, with old school limitations lending themselves especially well to that. these plentiful of takeaways are a huge reason why phantasy star has resonated with me so much as a whole, it truly is such a special series!
As a Phantasy Star fan I was exposed to it VERY early but too early for it to stick. I came back to it later as a grade schooler when my friend's older brother was playing Phantasy Star 3. I was mesmerized. Then he loaned it to me and then I went back and played 2, which unlocked a memory from 1989 when my dad had either rented or barrowed the game. It was just a fragment, the back of Nei and Rolf's heads in the grid battle area. So PS4, from my perspective shits all over FF1-6. It wasn't till FF7 that I was pulled away but I became a JRPG LUNATIC as a teenager. Then when PSO came out, I was excited enough that I bought a Dreamcast and played it like a fiend. I've been keeping up with... ALMOST every installment. I still can't bring myself to play Zero because I hate both the DS and 3DS those bitches give me carpel tunnel if I'm playing anything more involved than Pokemon. But I own it.
Watched through the whole 2 hours & I agree that your Phantasy Star II video is one of your best ones & glad that I gave it another shot. PSI & II aren't beginner friendly but I think that brings it some appeal. It's that old school charm, taking notes, looking at a map & while being invested in science fantasy stories. I'm looking forward to play III & especially IV. While I do wish some of their Saturn & Arcade titles get rereleases in compilations of sorts it is insane how a lot of Sega's Mega Drive library is easily accessible to buy not just part of a subscription service like Nintendo's or Sony's classics. Sega does what Nintendon't. Looking forward to more. I'm a real one
@@tanookiplayer ayyyy i appreciate you sticking the whole way through! guess the video must have been good hehehe... i hope you continue to enjoy the rest of your journey through phantasy star, this series is excellent
There is a Phantasy Star retranslation out there that sticks closer to the Japanese source material than the official translation, plus it adds some stuff like being able to reduce the amount of random encounters and increase the rewards from each.
This really took me back! I love and still own all of these! What a great video and I am glad you came to like such a good series! Hearing your opinions on each game was very interesting!
1:28:18 "The Director [of PSIII] was the man behind the character profiles in Phantasy Star II !" No, he was not. The Director of PSIII was actually the Assistant Director of PSII (Hiroto Saeki, credited as 'Psyche'). Perhaps you are confusing him with the Director of PSIV, Yoshibon, who was the man behind the character design in PSII (and behind the character profiles in PSIV as well).
I think it's a shame most many people dismiss older graphics as outdated, I think they're still very relevant. Perhaps it's because I'm a developer I see it, but seeing the mindful and deliberate intent of every single pixel, and the genius behind it, always blows me away compared to newer graphics (e.g. the PS2 PS1 remake you showed) where that maximization is totally lacking. Luckily, I do see younger kids appreciating "videogame" aesthetics, and thus appreciating the visuals from the 80s. I think they're probably just too young to have been caught up in the "old = bad" bias trends. It reminds me of the 90s when a ton of people were caught up thinking books were a thing of the past since movies/tv was around.
ain't nothing like solid pixel art, and i believe these games are solid runners in that line-up! i may not be huge on the enemies in psiii but one thing i failed to mention in my reflection segment for that game was that its overworld sprites have grown on me a lot. pixel art is timeless, and these games are gonna look great forever
It's also because "the future" that 90s kids were looking forward to with starry eyes is here, and whilst the 90s kids were seeing flying cars, what we ended up with is (to quote a legend) "FUCKING PRONOUNS!" No wonder the modern youth are flocking to the old stuff - iconoclasm exists and must be resisted for a reason. It's "too hard" to have a female character in your game? The old stuff proves that's a lie.
Hey Zaffre, thanks for the video, it's really interesting to see how your view on the series evolve with times :) For my part I did grow up playing them and did enjoy them a lot, still one of my favorite series!
It’s worth noting that Phantasy Star IV big old cartridge cost more so it was a hundred dollar Genesis game in 1995. This was when most games were $50.
Looking forward to this video. Only played a little bit of the Phantasy Star IV which came with some SEGA collection for Nintendo switch. It's always been a series that appeals to me. I'd love to see a well done HD remaster one day.
Phantasy Star II was my 1st RPG and my 2nd videogame ever. I never looked back. Went through some all nighters and was so tired in school, but damn, I just couldn't stop playing this. I think I would have had much more trouble without the visophone. I also forgot to activate the weapons for Nei in the 1st battle, even thoigh I bought and equipped them. I remember quite well drawing my own maps. Fun times. ... After this video I think I'm gonna replay at least 4 soon.
And yet PSIII is the core basis for Phantasy Star Online. The world ship that escaped the destruction of planet in PSII…. And the background story plot for IiI. But in the end, PSOOnline is the destination of that world ship.
Dont know if this was ever brought up, but the Wrens in PSIII and PSIV are two different characters. One is Searen-386 (PSIII) and the other is Forren/Fourren (PSIV). Another thing is that PSIII is the last game chronologically, with its ending taking place about a decade or so after PSIV's ending. This makes PSIII and PSIV both direct sequels to PSII.
I would have thought 3 still ends a little before 4, what with DF in a chest at the end. You'd think that would be gone after the defeat of PD at the Edge.
I feel blessed to have started my JRPGs with Pokemon and Skies of Arcadia during my teen years back in the early 2000s. Yet I was able to discover SEGA's older JRPG legacy when the series was released on SEGA's Ultimate Genesis Collection on the XBox 360/PS3 gen.
Phantasy Star was the first RPG I ever played. My parents bought me a master system instead of a NES and I was actually fine with it. Phantasy Star 1-4 has a special place in my heart.
1:44:15 - If you want to play the game on a hand held that's easier to do these days than ever. There's lots of very good retro emulator handhelds available to buy these days. And you won't have to replace six AAA batteries every 2 hours with them.
I'm a real one. Oh, and I'm like a lot of folks that first played PS4, absolutely loved it, then went back to try and play the others. I had... little success. Might give them another try after watching this. Cheers.
Best JRPG series of the day hands down. Phantasy Star 4 is still one of the best JRPGs ever made. Random Encounters are great, they keep games more unpredictable and thus replayable. Good vid tho. *bonus secret*....SEGA actually publish the best JRPs (Phantasy Star series, Shining Force series, Yakuza series, Persona series, SMT series, Skies of Arcadia, Oasis series, Valkyria Chronicles series, Sakura wars etc.)
I really wish they had done a Sega Ages/Generation style remake for the third and fourth games. I would have enjoyed seeing what they could have done with Phantasy Star 3 mainly.
You seem to lack the personal experience of playing part 1 when released. Part 4 was q beautiful cherry on top of tne series, but it's far too easy and the graphics are not as good as what was available on rival platforms, where part one is deliciously difficult and tbe graphics would not be equaled until the 16 bit Era. Probably comparatively the best console rpg ever made.
Phantasy Star 1 & 4, for me they are the best of thier era (8 bit & 16 bit respectively). Phantasy Star 2 gave me a thick skin. High encounter rate? Nah this seems fine to me lol.
I’ve played just about every RPG like this in the 80’s and 90’s and I still take pride in the fact I’m one of very few who likes Generations of Doom best in this series.
VERY cozy retrospective. Thank you. edit: I also wanted to say that if you have realized that you might enjoy older Jrpgs then I would recommend Dragon Quest 3 and Dragon Quest 8.
I am also old enough to have played Phantasy Star from the start. I actually preferred them over Final Fantasy for awhile...ashame how sega has wasted the property
@@Gevouden spoilerssssss . . . . but yeah i was super shocked by that. probably the biggest twist in that whole game for me, followed behind rune being noah, that was awesome!
And before Alys there was ***'s death in Phantasy Star II. Though there is a way to resurrect that character in the remake if you import your Phantasy Star 1 remake save file and do a few things during your playthrough.
I really appreciate being spared the frustration of the Sega Ages version of Phantasy Star 2. I was very interested in the game but I definitely dont want to put up with that bs.
1:52:15 looks like where I grew up - will never forget the moment when Field Motavia kicks in with that cut scene back in 1995... I have a difficult time picking between PSIV, FFVI, and Crono Trigger as the best RPG's of all time. PSII gets a runner up only due to being more limited in content. In 5th grade I skipped hanging out with my childhood girlfriend in order to play through Dezo which is saying something - priorities. : ) Thanks for this trip down memory lane !
I played the original Phantasy Star games on the Sega Genesis. The first one, however, I played on a emulator. I had to buy a freakin guide book for the 2nd one, and it was still hard. The amount of grinding I had to do before I could even scratch the final 2 bosses was insane. I also liked PS3; I don't know why it was hated. I still own the cart for PS4. Edit: After watching your review for PS3, I now remember how bad the combat looked. I remember not liking it, not because it was simple, but because it simply looked bad. I still liked the story and the multiple endings though. I would agree that PS3 didn't need to happen. The story is like a split from the 2nd story, at a certain point. It becomes more clear as you progress. Though I do find it strange how they tried to tie to dark force, which originally hasn't even been fought yet (in the 2nd story); only in the first game. Or perhaps I am missing something, about Orakio sealing darkface inside a palace with a sword? When did that happen?
2:01:38 - That depends, did buy a cartridge of this and play it on a tiny CRT? Because I did. :D And that wasn't when it was new, it ended up being years later and I dragged my old model 1 genesis out of mothballs to play it when visiting grandparents. :D I was really obsessed with Phantasy Star at the time. >.>
To be fair, even as someone who had at that point loved FF3(6), playing Phantasy Star 2 as a rental gave me a very similar experience. It handed me my ass.
In the late 90's, EGM's 100th issue had their 100 best games of all time list. Phantasy Star I and II were on there (I was the only Master System game) but strangely not IV.
I was going to like and subscribe anyway due this being a great video, but the Tenma Tsukamoto footage from School Rumble would have gotten me to on its own
She's called Alis because you could only have four characters for the name due to the UI limitations That's why the names are: Alis, Myau, Odin, Noah I think something similar happens with Falz's name.
I never played PS (though I saw ads for Phantasy Star Online back in the day, and my friends like to roast PSO2), but learning how it was one of the most important JRPGs was really interesting.
The first RPG i played as a kid before pokemon came out, but i never played the 2nd and onwards. I only finished it in 2016, about 20 years after i got it, using savestates and walkthroughs I love the OST, odd it doesn't hit for you. i guess I have stockholm syndrome from hearing the same few tracks so often xD
Sad to say but the only Phantasy Star I've played all the way through was Universe :/ Recently bought the newer Sega collection on Series X so I could play all the RPG's on it. Unfortunately it doesn't have PS1. Great video, fun to watch while playing through my RPG's!
@@durdndemolition I remember back in the day unlocking PS1 on the PS3 version. Sucks it's not included here but the price tag ($5.99) was worth it for all the other RPG's included.
My friend and i played through the 2nd game when it came out a looooong time ago. We of course used the guide and breezed through the game. Then we got to the final boss and were horribly underlevel. Knowing what to buy, how to defeat every monster, which way to go in every dungeon, left us with no need to grind. We saved ourselves into a hole where we were at the last boss and couldn't leave. We were stuck. Eventually i had to use a game shark to increase my damage and armor. It was the only way to beat the game. Ive since tried repeatedly to play through it but i jis tlose interest. Which is a shame because i love the game. The look, the sound. Not the dungeons. Everything else. One day i will finish my playthrough and finally beat it for real.
I highly recommend you also check out the Shining series that Sega has produced at least up through Shining Force 3. Segas made newer games with that name but they are completely different then the originals and the Shining Force games are fantastic
For combos in ps4, you make the SLOWEST character trigger the combo first and everyone else will join, that way you cannot be interrupted in the combo.
How did you know that I love your voice and other voices (anime cringe UwU face) ROFLAMO Really love this video mate, Got into OG era PS games recently and they're very good tho PS2 took me a long while cus of many breaks I took from frustrating dungeon design and the dezo overworld design to. PS3 wasn't so hot either but as part of my challenge to beat the OG quadrillogy it gave me an excuse to listen to my own jams and talk to my buds on discord more. PS4 and PS1 ngl I love both just as much. I played alot of PSO as a kid way back but never the OG PS games till recently and i'm glad I finally complete them.
the 1st sega rpg i played was Miracale Warriors. the most memoravle thing about that game was the last boss, a topless succubus. yes it had pixalated tities and they were incridable. then came phantasy star and thier Zelda clone, Golden Axe Warrior.
Agreeing with Zaffre Phantasy star 1 generation one is a better remake than generation 2, yet i probably prefer playing it on switch. The feeling of open world is just so refreshing
@@ZaffreRevolution I started playing the MMO and was considering playing the classics since I was a Sega kid back in the 80's but I never had a chance to play any of the Phantasy Stars, I think that they aged better than early Final Fantasy's and Dragon Quest
Have you ever played any of the Phantasy Star Online games? We had Phantasy Sar Online 3 Card Revolution for game cube growing up. It was a game my brother got and is very much differentfrom other rpgs ive played. Its the only phantasy star game I've played, so idk how it measures up to the rest.
Trying to like a game is so retro. Not a dig...im a 90s kid myself. I just remember a bad game store decision was pretty permanent. So you played the hell out of the game, getting good to find the charm. Only to find that whole in your heart was anticipating more. Then you switch back to Sonic/Mario and that new game collects dust
“Why don’t games let you run from fights with guaranteed success?” Because then you can just run from every fight and never be at risk. You don’t have to prepare for traveling or plan anything Then you might as well get rid of combat, which would be a “smoother” experience, but not very fun or interesting
@@deebee5378 idk about all of that. running away means no exp gained, and you'd be screwed on mandatory fights. encounters are there to make you prepared, but if the choice presents itself i just want it to work as it says. running from every fight would mess you up in the long-run but it'd totally be on you so i really don't see why it can't always work
@@ZaffreRevolution Being able to freely run away not only removes attrition, but also screws you over if you get trapped in a boss fight. I lost a FF10 run that way.
3's best feature is its ambitious scope. Unfortunately, it fails on every other level. If you want a classic jrpg of similar scale but done right: Dragon Quest 5!
2:10:59 - I'm a real one, and I'd tell you that you need to put strokes around your text. That was hard to read. XD Also, we didn't nearly get enough from Overworks.
Id love to see a new reimagining of the whole series (maybe a #3 with out the generation thing) kind of like how they are doing for ff7. But i worry that they would make it into something its not like they did with ff7. (Dont like the ff7 remake btw)
I really like the story in 2… but damn, that game’s not fun. It definitely deserves a remake, or at least the Sega Ages treatment. If the battles were rebalanced and you have a guide with you, it could become a tolerable experience.
if you gonna play through the 3d titles in the series - please, do not overlook psz or any of psp titles. all of them are worth a play, and, i dare to say that, pspo1 is the definitive way to experience psu specifically, combat wise, with pspo2/2i being the evolution of it that eventually led into creation of pso2. psz on the other hand is like perfect bite-sized pso1 with qol that og game desperately needed but never got.
@@ZaffreRevolution Not really poor lol, I bought me the Genesis Phantasy Star 2, it came in the US version with the guide. You know why lol. Phantasy Star 3's main issue was they didn't have enough space on the cartridge, they where too ambitious. So they had to cut stuff, one of the things they cut was in combat you didn't see your characters at all on screen. Which turned me off hard.
@@falksi3182 no i beat it, the connection was lame tho. i think i said that because it's a spoiler and i wanted to keep it spoiler free, but it's connection is still rather loose. you could definitely skip it if you wanted
@@ZaffreRevolution Fair play. Personally, I still think that's a mind blowing bit of storytelling. Yes, the way the story is told is definitely anemic, but for the actions of heroes of 3 generations to result in their spaceship travelling back in time & space, to then ultimately provide the Earthlings with the tech to invade the Algo solar system in the first place, and thus start the events in motion which kick 2 off, to this day still amazes me. Even after all this time, few JRPGs have come close to replicating such a cross-game connection.
@@falksi3182 Not just the tech to INVADE, but probably to colonise all those star systems in the first place. The invasion was likely the result of a Dark Force doing Dark Force things.
Gen-X gamer here. I was a teenager when Phantasy Star 1 was released for the Sega Master System and the way I finally figured out how to navigate the dungeons was by painstakingly mapping it out on graph paper. I would take one step.. draw more of the map.. rinse and repeat. Eventually I had mapped out every dungeon in the game and where all the traps and doors were.
@@rodneyabrett one day imma forget these dungeon layouts and replay the game like that
Wikipedia back in the day lol
@@williamzeo2493 more GameFAQs
Haiii Uncle still gaming?
Now that takes me back that's how everybody did it back in the day
A new Phantasy Star game in 3D with 90s anime aesthetic would be amazing
As the head of a tiny studio, I like watching these videos while working on our studios next title.
I am so happy to see someone talking about this series. Phantasy Star IV is not just my favorite game in the series, not just my favorite game on the Genesis, it is my favorite game full stop, with Shining Force 2 as a very close second. Pure nostalgia is the reason for both, but they are both great games! PSIV was my first JRPG, coming out when I was only 10 years old. 30 years later, it has NOT let go of me, and I still play it regularly, even going so far as to get to know some of the speedrunners and even play it with the randomizer that's out for that different, but still similar experience. And the music... THE MUSIC! Still among my favorite OSTs of the era, and there are some absolutely BANGER OSTs.
Fun fact: Phantasy Star 1 was one of the first games that were completely translated for Brazilian Portuguese, and for that it was the first JRPG for a lot of people around here!
The music of the original Phantasy Star 2 was bloody brilliant. I will also argue that Luke Jansen's masterful medley of the gorgeous score is the best adaptation/version of it.
Luke’s reworked medley is a go-to for me. He knocked it out of the park.
Phantasy Star III was my first experience of the series. I played it back in 1992 or 93.
Dude, if THAT is half bio monster, I’m in full support
Love old school games from the 8 and 16-bit eras. They were about exploration, sure some didn't have much story and left a lot up to the players imagination but they were fun. DQ was what got me into RPG's and I do like the PS games, still haven't gotten through Phantasy Star I yet. I remember playing a game most hate on the PS1 called Beyond the Beyond (hey it wasn't great but it was an RPG on the system which were few and far between) but my brother and I would leave notes for the other on how to get through certain dungeons or locations. I really enjoy these games and seeing someone playing them and experiencing what the rest of us already know makes me smile.
Phantasy Star 3 was my favorite entry 🙃
I was 11 and had no expectations for Phantasy Star 4.
My favourite games prior to playing this one were Final Fantasy 2 US (FF4) and Wasteland, and I just rented it becsuse it was an RPG for our new Genesis even though I had no idea what Phantasy Star was.
This game is an aesthetic marvel and a masterpiece of character development through mechanics and multi-generational storytelling. You've got teenagers finding their place in the world, young professionals balancing their academic and career goals with family and communal expectations, middle-aged mentors dealing with the fallout of a unsuccessful relationship, and elders applying their unique wisdom and perspective towards solving the universe's existential crises.
It's also ridiculously fun to play and really good at respecting your time.
I was going to go on a leftist ran comparing the villains to politicians I dislike, but I'm pretty sure nobody cares.
I care about your rant, Godot.
PSIV was mind blowing. It was a go-to rental and I could have sworn Zio was the endboss. Two, three years after release I finally got one [it and Super Street Fighter IV were ungody expensive even in ThenMoney] and I go back to it time and again to this day.
@@evilredflame I'll give you a hint: the Profound Darkness is the IDU 😏
@@diegoarmando5489 it's cool seeing so many different takes on the same games, with old school limitations lending themselves especially well to that. these plentiful of takeaways are a huge reason why phantasy star has resonated with me so much as a whole, it truly is such a special series!
As a Phantasy Star fan I was exposed to it VERY early but too early for it to stick. I came back to it later as a grade schooler when my friend's older brother was playing Phantasy Star 3. I was mesmerized. Then he loaned it to me and then I went back and played 2, which unlocked a memory from 1989 when my dad had either rented or barrowed the game. It was just a fragment, the back of Nei and Rolf's heads in the grid battle area. So PS4, from my perspective shits all over FF1-6. It wasn't till FF7 that I was pulled away but I became a JRPG LUNATIC as a teenager. Then when PSO came out, I was excited enough that I bought a Dreamcast and played it like a fiend. I've been keeping up with... ALMOST every installment. I still can't bring myself to play Zero because I hate both the DS and 3DS those bitches give me carpel tunnel if I'm playing anything more involved than Pokemon. But I own it.
I love Phantasy Star 4, would love an HD remaster.
@@DragonKingX78 all 4 getting hd remakes is lowkey the dream
@@ZaffreRevolution maybe one day we will.
An hd remaster would be great, but id worry that it would lose that spark that made the game great. @ZaffreRevolution
@@ZaffreRevolution I'm worried Sega will find some way to screw it up. They'll probably rush it and treat the devs like crap lol
tho tbh. I think II needs a remake the most. I feel like it's aged the worst out of the 4 if I had to choose.
Watched through the whole 2 hours & I agree that your Phantasy Star II video is one of your best ones & glad that I gave it another shot. PSI & II aren't beginner friendly but I think that brings it some appeal. It's that old school charm, taking notes, looking at a map & while being invested in science fantasy stories. I'm looking forward to play III & especially IV. While I do wish some of their Saturn & Arcade titles get rereleases in compilations of sorts it is insane how a lot of Sega's Mega Drive library is easily accessible to buy not just part of a subscription service like Nintendo's or Sony's classics. Sega does what Nintendon't. Looking forward to more. I'm a real one
@@tanookiplayer ayyyy i appreciate you sticking the whole way through! guess the video must have been good hehehe... i hope you continue to enjoy the rest of your journey through phantasy star, this series is excellent
A well done retrospective on a beloved classic such as Phantasy Star!
There is a Phantasy Star retranslation out there that sticks closer to the Japanese source material than the official translation, plus it adds some stuff like being able to reduce the amount of random encounters and increase the rewards from each.
This really took me back! I love and still own all of these! What a great video and I am glad you came to like such a good series! Hearing your opinions on each game was very interesting!
I'm proud of you thank you for doing this Phantasy star series, keep up the great work!
1:28:18 "The Director [of PSIII] was the man behind the character profiles in Phantasy Star II !"
No, he was not. The Director of PSIII was actually the Assistant Director of PSII (Hiroto Saeki, credited as 'Psyche'). Perhaps you are confusing him with the Director of PSIV, Yoshibon, who was the man behind the character design in PSII (and behind the character profiles in PSIV as well).
48:09 cloning your party members instead of reviving them is so dark.
I think it's a shame most many people dismiss older graphics as outdated, I think they're still very relevant. Perhaps it's because I'm a developer I see it, but seeing the mindful and deliberate intent of every single pixel, and the genius behind it, always blows me away compared to newer graphics (e.g. the PS2 PS1 remake you showed) where that maximization is totally lacking.
Luckily, I do see younger kids appreciating "videogame" aesthetics, and thus appreciating the visuals from the 80s. I think they're probably just too young to have been caught up in the "old = bad" bias trends. It reminds me of the 90s when a ton of people were caught up thinking books were a thing of the past since movies/tv was around.
ain't nothing like solid pixel art, and i believe these games are solid runners in that line-up! i may not be huge on the enemies in psiii but one thing i failed to mention in my reflection segment for that game was that its overworld sprites have grown on me a lot. pixel art is timeless, and these games are gonna look great forever
I used to play text-based games on my TANDY pc…
Graphics don’t really matter to me, it’s more about style
It's also because "the future" that 90s kids were looking forward to with starry eyes is here, and whilst the 90s kids were seeing flying cars, what we ended up with is (to quote a legend) "FUCKING PRONOUNS!"
No wonder the modern youth are flocking to the old stuff - iconoclasm exists and must be resisted for a reason. It's "too hard" to have a female character in your game? The old stuff proves that's a lie.
Hey Zaffre, thanks for the video, it's really interesting to see how your view on the series evolve with times :)
For my part I did grow up playing them and did enjoy them a lot, still one of my favorite series!
It’s worth noting that Phantasy Star IV big old cartridge cost more so it was a hundred dollar Genesis game in 1995. This was when most games were $50.
Looking forward to this video. Only played a little bit of the Phantasy Star IV which came with some SEGA collection for Nintendo switch. It's always been a series that appeals to me. I'd love to see a well done HD remaster one day.
Before Aerith, there was Nei.
Phantasy Star II was my 1st RPG and my 2nd videogame ever. I never looked back. Went through some all nighters and was so tired in school, but damn, I just couldn't stop playing this.
I think I would have had much more trouble without the visophone.
I also forgot to activate the weapons for Nei in the 1st battle, even thoigh I bought and equipped them.
I remember quite well drawing my own maps. Fun times.
...
After this video I think I'm gonna replay at least 4 soon.
And yet PSIII is the core basis for Phantasy Star Online. The world ship that escaped the destruction of planet in PSII…. And the background story plot for IiI. But in the end, PSOOnline is the destination of that world ship.
Dont know if this was ever brought up, but the Wrens in PSIII and PSIV are two different characters. One is Searen-386 (PSIII) and the other is Forren/Fourren (PSIV). Another thing is that PSIII is the last game chronologically, with its ending taking place about a decade or so after PSIV's ending. This makes PSIII and PSIV both direct sequels to PSII.
I would have thought 3 still ends a little before 4, what with DF in a chest at the end. You'd think that would be gone after the defeat of PD at the Edge.
@@durdndemolition The Profound Darkness spawned the Dark Forces, but they're not dependent on her continued existence for survival.
I feel blessed to have started my JRPGs with Pokemon and Skies of Arcadia during my teen years back in the early 2000s.
Yet I was able to discover SEGA's older JRPG legacy when the series was released on SEGA's Ultimate Genesis Collection on the XBox 360/PS3 gen.
Phantasy Star was the first RPG I ever played. My parents bought me a master system instead of a NES and I was actually fine with it. Phantasy Star 1-4 has a special place in my heart.
1:44:15 - If you want to play the game on a hand held that's easier to do these days than ever. There's lots of very good retro emulator handhelds available to buy these days. And you won't have to replace six AAA batteries every 2 hours with them.
Almost everyone has an old phone floating around that will work beautifully as an emulator
Proud of you, I can't imagine how long this took to make. one day I'll pay all these games.
I'm a real one.
Oh, and I'm like a lot of folks that first played PS4, absolutely loved it, then went back to try and play the others. I had... little success. Might give them another try after watching this. Cheers.
Best JRPG series of the day hands down. Phantasy Star 4 is still one of the best JRPGs ever made. Random Encounters are great, they keep games more unpredictable and thus replayable. Good vid tho. *bonus secret*....SEGA actually publish the best JRPs (Phantasy Star series, Shining Force series, Yakuza series, Persona series, SMT series, Skies of Arcadia, Oasis series, Valkyria Chronicles series, Sakura wars etc.)
Phantasy Star 4 will always have a special place in my heart
I really wish they had done a Sega Ages/Generation style remake for the third and fourth games. I would have enjoyed seeing what they could have done with Phantasy Star 3 mainly.
personally i'm holding out hope for some ground-up, high-budget 3D remakes! would love to see how this series could be handled through a modern lens
Phantasy star 4.
That is all
You seem to lack the personal experience of playing part 1 when released. Part 4 was q beautiful cherry on top of tne series, but it's far too easy and the graphics are not as good as what was available on rival platforms, where part one is deliciously difficult and tbe graphics would not be equaled until the 16 bit Era. Probably comparatively the best console rpg ever made.
@@gilnelson3217 i actually have 1. I even beat the nightmare during the dream like sequence
Phantasy Star 1 & 4, for me they are the best of thier era (8 bit & 16 bit respectively). Phantasy Star 2 gave me a thick skin. High encounter rate? Nah this seems fine to me lol.
I’ve played just about every RPG like this in the 80’s and 90’s and I still take pride in the fact I’m one of very few who likes Generations of Doom best in this series.
Phantasy Star 4 was my intro into the series and wow-
What a game!
I had my mom order the game from a magazine advertisement-
$80!!!!
Worth it
I'm so effing sick of final fantasy... long live Phantasy Star!
VERY cozy retrospective. Thank you.
edit: I also wanted to say that if you have realized that you might enjoy older Jrpgs then I would recommend Dragon Quest 3 and Dragon Quest 8.
I am also old enough to have played Phantasy Star from the start. I actually preferred them over Final Fantasy for awhile...ashame how sega has wasted the property
Alys' death in Phantasy Star 4 broke my heart long before Aerith came along.
@@Gevouden spoilerssssss
.
.
.
.
but yeah i was super shocked by that. probably the biggest twist in that whole game for me, followed behind rune being noah, that was awesome!
And before Alys there was ***'s death in Phantasy Star II. Though there is a way to resurrect that character in the remake if you import your Phantasy Star 1 remake save file and do a few things during your playthrough.
I sure wasn’t expecting it!
Poor Chaz
There's also the end of Quest for Glory 4 beating them both to the punch, followed up on in 5 with its own Virmire moment long before Mass Effect.
I'm not a fan of fantasy sci-fi mix, but this game is one of my absolute favorites. I agree is a very seamless merge of the two.
I approve of this video. Good work!
I approve of your awesome comment and your awesome avatar fella
@@DezorianGuy if a dezorian says this video's good, that MUST mean it's true!
I really appreciate being spared the frustration of the Sega Ages version of Phantasy Star 2. I was very interested in the game but I definitely dont want to put up with that bs.
1:52:15 looks like where I grew up - will never forget the moment when Field Motavia kicks in with that cut scene back in 1995... I have a difficult time picking between PSIV, FFVI, and Crono Trigger as the best RPG's of all time.
PSII gets a runner up only due to being more limited in content. In 5th grade I skipped hanging out with my childhood girlfriend in order to play through Dezo which is saying something - priorities. : )
Thanks for this trip down memory lane !
also the cut scenes in PSIV are essentially a manga - I wish more games used the same technique !
I played the original Phantasy Star games on the Sega Genesis. The first one, however, I played on a emulator. I had to buy a freakin guide book for the 2nd one, and it was still hard. The amount of grinding I had to do before I could even scratch the final 2 bosses was insane. I also liked PS3; I don't know why it was hated. I still own the cart for PS4.
Edit: After watching your review for PS3, I now remember how bad the combat looked. I remember not liking it, not because it was simple, but because it simply looked bad. I still liked the story and the multiple endings though. I would agree that PS3 didn't need to happen. The story is like a split from the 2nd story, at a certain point. It becomes more clear as you progress. Though I do find it strange how they tried to tie to dark force, which originally hasn't even been fought yet (in the 2nd story); only in the first game. Or perhaps I am missing something, about Orakio sealing darkface inside a palace with a sword? When did that happen?
2:01:38 - That depends, did buy a cartridge of this and play it on a tiny CRT? Because I did. :D And that wasn't when it was new, it ended up being years later and I dragged my old model 1 genesis out of mothballs to play it when visiting grandparents. :D
I was really obsessed with Phantasy Star at the time. >.>
I'm a real one! I really do need to play this series. I have it, just need to play it.
To be fair, even as someone who had at that point loved FF3(6), playing Phantasy Star 2 as a rental gave me a very similar experience. It handed me my ass.
@@jessefinnegan1719 phantasy star ii, off the rip, is a very humbling experience LOL
In the late 90's, EGM's 100th issue had their 100 best games of all time list. Phantasy Star I and II were on there (I was the only Master System game) but strangely not IV.
I was going to like and subscribe anyway due this being a great video, but the Tenma Tsukamoto footage from School Rumble would have gotten me to on its own
@@ProfessorBinks based tbh
She's called Alis because you could only have four characters for the name due to the UI limitations
That's why the names are:
Alis,
Myau,
Odin,
Noah
I think something similar happens with Falz's name.
The official JRPG of Brazil ❤
I never played PS (though I saw ads for Phantasy Star Online back in the day, and my friends like to roast PSO2), but learning how it was one of the most important JRPGs was really interesting.
The first RPG i played as a kid before pokemon came out, but i never played the 2nd and onwards. I only finished it in 2016, about 20 years after i got it, using savestates and walkthroughs
I love the OST, odd it doesn't hit for you. i guess I have stockholm syndrome from hearing the same few tracks so often xD
Sad to say but the only Phantasy Star I've played all the way through was Universe :/
Recently bought the newer Sega collection on Series X so I could play all the RPG's on it. Unfortunately it doesn't have PS1.
Great video, fun to watch while playing through my RPG's!
You have to get the earlier 360-era Genesis collection to play Phantasty Star 1. Or just get the Switch Sega Ages one.
@@durdndemolition I remember back in the day unlocking PS1 on the PS3 version. Sucks it's not included here but the price tag ($5.99) was worth it for all the other RPG's included.
My friend and i played through the 2nd game when it came out a looooong time ago. We of course used the guide and breezed through the game. Then we got to the final boss and were horribly underlevel. Knowing what to buy, how to defeat every monster, which way to go in every dungeon, left us with no need to grind.
We saved ourselves into a hole where we were at the last boss and couldn't leave. We were stuck.
Eventually i had to use a game shark to increase my damage and armor. It was the only way to beat the game.
Ive since tried repeatedly to play through it but i jis tlose interest. Which is a shame because i love the game. The look, the sound. Not the dungeons. Everything else.
One day i will finish my playthrough and finally beat it for real.
very proud
I highly recommend you also check out the Shining series that Sega has produced at least up through Shining Force 3. Segas made newer games with that name but they are completely different then the originals and the Shining Force games are fantastic
Another series that had a similar great final game was 7th Dragon, which Rieko Kodama was also involved with as a producer.
i've been playing a bit of that on my 3ds, and it's really good so far!
The first 2 Phantasy Star's were both far ahead of their time.
I still name elf characters in sandbox or MMO games “Nei” from PhSII
Phantasy star online on the Dreamcast was peak!
...Ugh. Ppl whine way too god damn much about 'UgH! rAnDoM eNcOuNtErS!'.
....Damn babies.
The same people who gatekeep you and tell you not to gatekeep.
The Dungions were better on the Master System and the FM OST was amazing. It is also not missunderstood, it is one of if not the best 8-bit RPG.
For combos in ps4, you make the SLOWEST character trigger the combo first and everyone else will join, that way you cannot be interrupted in the combo.
@@naturesrevolt yeah i got similar advice in the original video's comments and i got nothing yall are just right haha. another point towards psiv
I'll probably go back to phantsy star 1. Lol maybe one day after I stop working
2,06 sounds to me that someone is talking about the air castle. 😊
The GameBoy Advance has a Phantasy Star Collection cartridge with PS 1, 2, and 3 on it.
4 is still in my top 10.
@@BPTNY for good reason!
im sad Phantasy star never be so cool as Phantasy star back then
How did you know that I love your voice and other voices (anime cringe UwU face) ROFLAMO
Really love this video mate, Got into OG era PS games recently and they're very good tho PS2 took me a long while cus of many breaks I took from frustrating dungeon design and the dezo overworld design to. PS3 wasn't so hot either but as part of my challenge to beat the OG quadrillogy it gave me an excuse to listen to my own jams and talk to my buds on discord more.
PS4 and PS1 ngl I love both just as much.
I played alot of PSO as a kid way back but never the OG PS games till recently and i'm glad I finally complete them.
it's been reverse for me, then! playing through pso right now on fan servers and have been LOVING it!
the 1st sega rpg i played was Miracale Warriors. the most memoravle thing about that game was the last boss, a topless succubus. yes it had pixalated tities and they were incridable. then came phantasy star and thier Zelda clone, Golden Axe Warrior.
Agreeing with Zaffre
Phantasy star 1 generation one is a better remake than generation 2, yet i probably prefer playing it on switch.
The feeling of open world is just so refreshing
it's og phantasy star for me any day, but a gen 1 replay every now and then can make for a nice change of pace!
I love the video
thank you for watching! :)
Ow I’m gonna see if you did vids for Shining Force 1&2 (Maybe Shining In The Darkness too)
1:08:36 - When you run out of francise music so much you gotta insert Stardust Speedway Good Future US from Sonic CD. :D
When I saw the video: WOW 2h!!!!!
When I finished the video: 2h wasn't enough!
@@williamzeo2493 guess i popped off! glad you liked the video :)
@@ZaffreRevolution I started playing the MMO and was considering playing the classics since I was a Sega kid back in the 80's but I never had a chance to play any of the Phantasy Stars, I think that they aged better than early Final Fantasy's and Dragon Quest
I still have all 4 of my copies.
Have you ever played any of the Phantasy Star Online games? We had Phantasy Sar Online 3 Card Revolution for game cube growing up. It was a game my brother got and is very much differentfrom other rpgs ive played. Its the only phantasy star game I've played, so idk how it measures up to the rest.
I was just thinking about this game well these games 😅
Lucky Star
Trying to like a game is so retro. Not a dig...im a 90s kid myself. I just remember a bad game store decision was pretty permanent. So you played the hell out of the game, getting good to find the charm. Only to find that whole in your heart was anticipating more.
Then you switch back to Sonic/Mario and that new game collects dust
“Why don’t games let you run from fights with guaranteed success?” Because then you can just run from every fight and never be at risk. You don’t have to prepare for traveling or plan anything
Then you might as well get rid of combat, which would be a “smoother” experience, but not very fun or interesting
@@deebee5378 idk about all of that. running away means no exp gained, and you'd be screwed on mandatory fights. encounters are there to make you prepared, but if the choice presents itself i just want it to work as it says. running from every fight would mess you up in the long-run but it'd totally be on you so i really don't see why it can't always work
@@ZaffreRevolution it makes going from one place to another pretty trivial
@@ZaffreRevolution Being able to freely run away not only removes attrition, but also screws you over if you get trapped in a boss fight. I lost a FF10 run that way.
With more people caring less, i think unskipable cutscenes are fine. i draw the line at missable cutscenes and items[ff12 heinous for this]
3's best feature is its ambitious scope. Unfortunately, it fails on every other level.
If you want a classic jrpg of similar scale but done right: Dragon Quest 5!
Merci.
Sega came out with infinite wealth. Great rpg.
2:10:59 - I'm a real one, and I'd tell you that you need to put strokes around your text. That was hard to read. XD Also, we didn't nearly get enough from Overworks.
@@Furluge lol thought the shadows would be enough. my b!
I can give you a like for this video for...let's say....1000 Meseta!
@@sdmayday how about i trade you this laconian pot instead?
I made three qaurters through phsty stsr 2 and my freinds little brother erased it. I never went back. Dam might have to revisit my youth😅
[Loads Shotgun with Falz Intent] You will trimate, or you will dimate.
metal as hell
🐣
Id love to see a new reimagining of the whole series (maybe a #3 with out the generation thing) kind of like how they are doing for ff7. But i worry that they would make it into something its not like they did with ff7. (Dont like the ff7 remake btw)
❤❤❤
I really like the story in 2… but damn, that game’s not fun. It definitely deserves a remake, or at least the Sega Ages treatment. If the battles were rebalanced and you have a guide with you, it could become a tolerable experience.
if you gonna play through the 3d titles in the series - please, do not overlook psz or any of psp titles. all of them are worth a play, and, i dare to say that, pspo1 is the definitive way to experience psu specifically, combat wise, with pspo2/2i being the evolution of it that eventually led into creation of pso2. psz on the other hand is like perfect bite-sized pso1 with qol that og game desperately needed but never got.
Phantasy Star 3 was even back in the Genesis/Mega Drive days not well received. It was the only Phantasy Star game with a rating below 80%
@@Momoka7 pobrecito :P
@@ZaffreRevolution Not really poor lol, I bought me the Genesis Phantasy Star 2, it came in the US version with the guide. You know why lol. Phantasy Star 3's main issue was they didn't have enough space on the cartridge, they where too ambitious. So they had to cut stuff, one of the things they cut was in combat you didn't see your characters at all on screen. Which turned me off hard.
downdoot and click off for disliking star ocean 2 smh
Wait a sec, did you beat Phantasy Star 3? Because it's VERY connected to the first two games, in a genius way too. It seems like you've missed it.
@@falksi3182 no i beat it, the connection was lame tho. i think i said that because it's a spoiler and i wanted to keep it spoiler free, but it's connection is still rather loose. you could definitely skip it if you wanted
@@ZaffreRevolution Fair play. Personally, I still think that's a mind blowing bit of storytelling. Yes, the way the story is told is definitely anemic, but for the actions of heroes of 3 generations to result in their spaceship travelling back in time & space, to then ultimately provide the Earthlings with the tech to invade the Algo solar system in the first place, and thus start the events in motion which kick 2 off, to this day still amazes me. Even after all this time, few JRPGs have come close to replicating such a cross-game connection.
@@falksi3182 Not just the tech to INVADE, but probably to colonise all those star systems in the first place. The invasion was likely the result of a Dark Force doing Dark Force things.