/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.1149285]

Which Phantasy Star game should I start with? Mainly looking for something easy, besides the obvious entertainment factor.

[Anonymous No.1149287]

>>1149285
The first one you dolt

[Anonymous No.1149338]

If you want something easy you should probably play a different RPG. Phantasy Star 1 in particular will fucking murder you right at the beginning unless you don't go more than one step from town for about two hours of grinding.

Two isn't much more forgiving.

[Anonymous No.1149394]

>>1149338
3 is easy though, and that's the main reason it sucks.

[Anonymous No.1149404]

>>1144285
Use the catalog newfriend

[Anonymous No.1149428]

>>1149394
Yeah but then they got it totally right with 4, which stands up to any SNES Squaresoft game.

[Anonymous No.1149441]

1 is grindtastic at the start but lightens up after that. The battle difficulty isn't bad but traversing in the later dungeons will basically require you to get out some grid paper and draw maps.

2 is equally grindtastic at the start and basically the same as the first in terms of difficulty. The dungeons aren't grid based, but they are ridiculously designed though. The designers must have truly hated the players.

3 is easy but it's just an okay game. It's not very interesting.

4 is probably what you're looking for. It's cool to see the progression that the games go in, but if you want to just play one of them, go with this one.

[Anonymous No.1149447]

>>1149428
I never got to play 4. I remember saving my money for it back in the day. I got $80 plus enough to cover tax, thinking surely that was enough, then I drove 30 miles to the nearest Babbages store to buy it, only to find out they were selling it for $99.99. I was so pissed, drove home empty handed, and swore I'd never buy another Sega product again. I then sold my Genesis, and shortly thereafter got my first gaming PC, and I never looked back... until now.

I need to emulate it to see what I've been missing. PS used to be my favorite franchise. PS II was my most anticipated game of all time.

[Anonymous No.1149449]

4 is the perfect one to start with.

great music, art, story presentation, and balanced difficulty. you have to grind a bit, but not nearly as much as in 1 and 2.

[Anonymous No.1149619]

>>1149449

Wat.

The 4 games should be played in order. Because of back story, twists, etc.

Phantasy star is a real series. Playing 4 wouldn't be half as enjoyable if you didn't know the backstory of Ago system.

[Anonymous No.1149624]

>>1149449

Wat.

The 4 games should be played in order. Because of back story, twists, etc.

Phantasy star is a real series. Playing 4 wouldn't be half as enjoyable if you didn't know the backstory of AIgo system.

[Anonymous No.1149678]

>>1149624
Ideally, Yes but if someone gets frustrated with 1 and 2 they can play a bit of 4 to see where it all is going then maybe go back. You can't be so committed to doing things the "right" way that you don't do them at all.

[Anonymous No.1149682]

>>1149619
>>1149624
samefag

[Anonymous No.1149684]

>>1149682
Gee ya think? How'd you spot him? Leet hax0r skillz

[Anonymous No.1152132]

PS1 is the worst, and it contains almost nothing that is referred to in the later games. There's barely any story at all, and it's not really related to the sequels.

[Anonymous No.1152451]

>>1152132
Except it IS referenced in all the sequels.
- starting a new game on PSII immediately shows a flashback of the first game.
- Rolf is a descendant of Alis
- there are brief mentions of Alis in PSIII
- Don't even get me started on PSIV....
Trolling or not, I love this series and hopefully PSNova's female protag is an Alis-like female heroine.

[Anonymous No.1152723]

>>1152132
Everything you said is wrong. Even your opinion that PS1 is the worst is wrong.

[Anonymous No.1152764]

Is it just me? or are people here exagerrating on how grindy PSI is? I only had 2 spots in the game where I had to grind - that is at the beginning where I have to level to 3 (or was it 5?) before even thinking of going to the next town, and the second was when I have to farm sandworms to afford the most powerful gear in the game that was being sold at a shop. 2 spots. Other than that, it's a pretty smooth playing game especially considering the pressumptions about rpgs released at the time.

[Anonymous No.1152871]

>>1152764

I'm playing through it for the first time and it is

a) really good
b) really grindy

Part of the reason for it being grindy is the somewhat vague nature of the game. The "clues" you get on what to do next are pretty obscure sometimes and you can end up trying to beat a dungeon you don't even know if you're supposed to be tackling. For example, I had my ass kicked over and over again in the Medusa tower, spend ages fish-man hunting to get the money for diamond armour for my guys, and then when I finally reached the top of the tower bitch turned them all to stone. If I'd have played the dungeons in the "right" order I probably wouldn't have needed to grind so much.

It is a really good game though. In many ways the best of the series despite being 8-bit.

[Anonymous No.1152878]

PS games are all pretty difficult but the one that has held up the best and is least rage inducing is IV. Stay away from the first III if you cant handle obtuse design and mile long teleport dungeon puzzles.

[Anonymous No.1152883]

Start with 4. Its the type of 90s JRPG you are probably familiar with. Its moderately challenging, and has top notch presentation. The best Genesis RPG. 10/10

IF you really like it, try 2. 2 is an 80s style dungeon crawler, but with a more palatable top down perspective. No confusing first person shit. However, once you hit the halfway mark, the dungeons become absolutely nightmarish. Get out your graph paper at that point. It'll be a while before I replay this one, but for what it is, I really liked it, and got incredible satisfaction for every dungeon I defeated. That isn't exactly a common feeling in the JRPG genre. 8/10.

3 is a half finished game made by Sega's B-team. There's some good ideas there, but its hardly must play. 6/10.

1 is ok. Its kind of simplistic, and the first person mode is confusing, even WITH hand drawn notes. If you play this one, boost the sound on your emulator, as this game was compatible with the improved Mark III sound-chip. Wouldn't rate it, as I haven't finished it.

[Anonymous No.1153028]

if it doesn't say Online at the end of Phantasy Star, it probably sucks.

[Anonymous No.1153038]

>>1153028

badum *tisssss*

*crickets*

[Anonymous No.1153736]

1 is a meat grinder. Especially at the very first.

2 is less a meat grinder. And one of my Top 5 games of all times.

3 is the lame black duck in the family. I couldn't finish it after 2.

4 I have not played yet, it is in my backlog.

I heartily recommend playing PSII. Be prepared for some serious 80s-mode RPG though, it does not hand out victory like modern RPG.

[Anonymous No.1153778]

>>1152764
It's not just you. The grinding accusation comes from people like >>1152871 who go into dungeons they're not equipped to beat and grind because they're too dumb to do anything else.

[Anonymous No.1153808]

I think maybe people aren't exaggerating enough how much the grinding lets up after you gain those first few levels. The economy eventually breaks and becomes like every other jrpg where you have tons of money and can buy anything you want. You have to earn that, though. Each new item and spell feels significant which makes for a good sense of progress.

[Anonymous No.1153850]

Alright, I'm starting Phantasy Star for the first time. Should I play the Japanese version with a translation patch or the US released version?

Oh, and will I need graph paper for the dungeons?

[Anonymous No.1153860]

>>1153850
The dungeons are first person, and every single wall looks exactly the same. I mean, you COULD do it without making a map, but I can't imagine you would want to.

[Anonymous No.1153878]

>>1153850
The original translation is charming but definitely flawed. I haven't played much of the retranslation but it looks pretty good.

>>1153860
It's not that hard. The only place you really need to map is Baya Malay. I reached the top through intuition and brute force, but never found Damor so I was screwed later on.

Fuck Damor.

[Anonymous No.1153883]

>>1153850
The original translation is actually pretty good for an 8 bit game. It's still full of grammatical errors but it's good enough that you're still able to get through the game. It's not like Zelda 1 or 2 where half the things NPCs say just confuse you even more than you were before.

You will definitely need graph paper or a photographic memory for the later dungeons. You can bruteforce your way through a lot of the dungeons but every wall in the dungeon looks the same so it can be easy to forget where you are in relation to everything else.

[Anonymous No.1153889]

>>1149285
oh i love these threads.

There are several options.

If you wanna start with one you can be hxc cool kid and just play vanilla OG

or if you want an updated flavor in full 3d i believe they remade 1 and 2 for ps2

now the next one is a bit tricky but they released an enhanced remake of pso1 for cellphones in china that was true to the original but with high res sprites. I managed to track down links to the game file and the translation files.

It's called Phantasy star delux

[Anonymous No.1153890]

>>1153850
The re-translation is a lot better.

[Anonymous No.1153893]

>>1153889
http://www.psalgo.com/boards/phantasy-star-deluxe-translation-project-vt4853.html

and

http://www.pscave.com/dow/rom/

[Anonymous No.1153894]

>>1153860
>>1153878
>>1153883
>>1153890
Alright, I'll get some graph paper. As for the patch, from what I understand the main benefit is the Japanese version's superior music. I was just unsure about whether I'd miss out on the "experience" if I didn't play the vanilla version first, but I think I'll go with the patch.

[Anonymous No.1153898]

>>1153894
I don't think you'd lose out on anything by playing the Japanese version. You get a much better sounding dungeon theme, which you're going to be hearing a lot.

[Anonymous No.1153912]

>>1153894
You probably made the right choice. I just found out that the NPC who says "IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A DEAL, YOU SHOULD HEAD FOR THE PORT TOWN" was supposed to be directing you toward plot critical illegal goods.

[Anonymous No.1155747]

>>1153860
You guys and your maps. I played the game without looking at or making a map. Can't you use your memory a little? I don't even have a very good sense of direction and I managed. Making maps would take all the fun out of being lost in the dungeons and they won't do you much good when you fall down a pit anyway.

[Anonymous No.1155768]

>>1153889
I just reasearched your Phantasy Star Deluxe. It has no animated monsters. That means for all its "high res" it has overall worse graphics than the Master System version. I can't believe you would even suggest playing that to a new player.

[Anonymous No.1155782]

>want to play phantasy star
>remember that all the techniques and skills have random-ass names that don't even hint at what they do

at least with final fantasy i know that if i choose "fire," my guy's gonna attack with some fire. phantasy star is just badly designed on a fundamental and completely unnecessary level.

[Anonymous No.1155808]

>>1155747
If you were lucky enough to stumble into Damor by chance I envy you. Nobody in the fucking solar system could tell me where that guy was.

Everything else is managable, yeah.

>>1155782
Phantasy Star 1 doesn't have that problem, not in the original 1988 translation or the 2008 fan patch. The sequels have a lot of problems that the original didn't, really.

[Anonymous No.1155845]

>>1155782
>phantasy star is just badly designed
I would say, more accurately, "badly translated".

I can't get over all those 4-letter abbreviations in early 8-bit RPGs. Yes, I get it, 4 kana are enough for many words. 4 letters of the English alphabet are not.

[Anonymous No.1155860]

>>1155782
I think the manual explained the spells.

[Anonymous No.1157373]

>>1155860
Indeed. Complaints about spell names can only be attributed to player laziness. The manual is a part of the game, you can't blame the developers just because you were too lazy to Google a transcription of it for use with your rom.

[Anonymous No.1157825]

>>1157373
The version of Phantasy Star 2 that came with the Sega Smash Pack didn't explain the spell names in the manual. I don't think Google existed when that version was released. Not a problem anymore, of course.

[Anonymous No.1159087]

>>1155845
>>1155845

>have you heard of frad fibers?

[Anonymous No.1159183]

>>1155845
>I would say, more accurately, "badly translated".
No, I'm playing the Japanese version of PSIV right now and most of the techniques have stupid names in the original as well. Some of them are based on English words (e.g. アンティ = Anti, cure poison) and others seemingly on German words (シュネラ = Schneller, speed up; グランツ = Glanz, lightning damage; フォイエ = Feue(r), fire damage) which helps because I know both languages, but at least half the techniques still have names that are not intuitive at all to me.
It's all described in the manual of course, but why make the players memorize this sort of shit instead of just using meaningful names? It's a stupid design decision.