Phantasy Star Order?

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nesfan1
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Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phantasy Star Order?

Postby nesfan1 » March 9th, 2015, 9:23 pm

I've been in a Sega Genesis mood lately and I'm really considering buying Phantasy Star II. But I've never played a PS game, except for PSO. And I don't have a Master System so I can't play the first one. So I was wondering if I could get away with starting with the second one. Do I have to play them in order or is it a Final Fantasy situation where the stories are totally different between each game?

Oltobaz1
Posts: 1605
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phantasy Star Order?

Postby Oltobaz1 » March 10th, 2015, 12:11 am

You don't have to, still, if you get Sonic Ultimate Collection on PS3, you'll have access to the
first Master System game, as part of the collection. Just as classic as the Genesis games.

ptdebate1
Posts: 909
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phantasy Star Order?

Postby ptdebate1 » March 10th, 2015, 7:51 pm

Phantasy Star II can be very trying with its labyrinthine dungeons and daunting battles but is worth playing due to the amazing story. Phantasy Star and Phantasy Star IV are a lot easier to play and Phantasy Star III is considered to be the worst in the series. I'd probably start with the first one if I were you and then proceed to IV, only attempting II after that. Looking at maps and guides is highly recommended for I and II--otherwise you will get lost often and (in the case of II) gradually fall prey to nightmarishly frequent and difficult random encounters.

Oltobaz's recommendation isn't a bad one but the emulation quality of Sonic's collection is pretty poor. A better way to play the original would be to buy it on virtual console or get the power base converter that lets you play MS games natively on your Genesis.

Oltobaz1
Posts: 1605
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phantasy Star Order?

Postby Oltobaz1 » March 10th, 2015, 8:11 pm

While I'd second purchasing the Power Base Converter as well, I think the Sonic Ultimate Collection is
as good as it gets as far as emulation quality. There might be issues I'm not aware of with Phantasy Star
specifically????

scotland171
Posts: 816
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phantasy Star Order?

Postby scotland171 » March 10th, 2015, 8:43 pm

Phantasy Star I and II come together on a game boy advanced cart too as phantasy star collection. The games are pretty faithful to the original. I see an ebay buy it now for ten dollars, others around 15 to 20. This gives you options for a GBA, GBA SP, DS lite, or with an adapter a SNES, or a Gamecube.

I found the graphical shift between I and II a bit jarring at first. Combat and dungeon perspective shifted...but I enjoyed both once I got used to it. The story in II is more complex, with some some twists, although the storytelling in english seemed to be missing some buildup.

I recommend using maps and having a walkthrough to help. There is a thief in one game I appreciated help in understanding how to make use of him/her.

I also enjoyed the way one of the two tales ends (wont tell you which). Maybe its a cultural thing, but I did not see it coming.

Edit: Not SNES, sorry...thats only GB and GBC. Gamecube adaptor works on all three.

nesfan1
Posts: 995
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phantasy Star Order?

Postby nesfan1 » March 11th, 2015, 7:42 am

Thanks for the responses, guys. It looks like there's a lot of options available for me here. I haven't really decided what I'm going to do quite yet. I'm getting the impression that I won't be lost, story-wise no matter which one I start with. If that's the case, I might just start with PSII. I got another RPG coming in the mail soon that I'm very excited to play. I think I'll decide what to do when I finish that game. As for getting a power base converter, I checked Amazon and it looks like the original Sega Master System consoles are actually cheaper.
[QUOTE=ptdebate]Phantasy Star II can be very trying with its labyrinthine dungeons and daunting battles but is worth playing due to the amazing story.[/QUOTE]I wasn't aware the second game had labyrinthine dungeons. I knew the first game was like that because of a few Youtube videos by Happy Console Gamer. He said when he played the fist game, he had to draw maps on graph paper. I've never done that before and I actually really want to try playing it that way. I'm sure there are maps online for it but the idea of drawing my own maps just seems pretty cool to me.  

Sut1
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Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phantasy Star Order?

Postby Sut1 » March 11th, 2015, 10:41 am

I played through the entire series on the PS3 Sega Collection. I played them in order but they are different enough to play through in any order you like.
The first two games had me reaching for GameFAQs sometimes but I enjoyed them.
Regarding Phantasy Star II, I really enjoyed the game and the storyline, but beware it's very grindy, you go anywhere underpowered and your history.

Phantasy Star 3 is certainly the weakest but it's far from awful, the art style and whole feel doesn't feel... Well Phantasy Star.
But with multiple paths depending on who you marry it's definitely worth a play through.

Actually more I think about it, I would recommend playing in chronological order, you don't have too but for me personally I would.

scotland171
Posts: 816
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Phantasy Star Order?

Postby scotland171 » March 11th, 2015, 10:48 am

A minor downside to starting with II is it does spoil how I ends, the conflict is larger than it first appears in I, and you will be seeing areas that are corrupted (which is what begins II) before seeing how they were originally. Oh, and I think you learn about the eventual fates of some character of I in II.

Nothing major. Also its neat that the primary hero in I is female, which given that was 1988 and they never did the Samus surprise thing, is kinda neat.


wur
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Re: Phantasy Star Order?

Postby wur » April 9th, 2015, 7:17 pm

I believe there was a remake of 1, 2 and 4 some time ago -- they completely changed the look and atmosphere, from my memory of what I saw.

I played through 1 on the GBA Phantasy Star collection -- I thought it was a masterpiece. A large portion is played in smooth 3D -- it was maybe a notch or two below Wolfenstein 3D -- very impressive feat for its time. It's maybe Final Fantasy 2/4 or Chrono Trigger - level in terms of difficulty.

I just couldn't get into 2 and 3 at all due to the reasons cited by the others here.

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ptdebate
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Re: Phantasy Star Order?

Postby ptdebate » April 10th, 2015, 10:59 am

wur wrote:I believe there was a remake of 1, 2 and 4 some time ago -- they completely changed the look and atmosphere, from my memory of what I saw.

I played through 1 on the GBA Phantasy Star collection -- I thought it was a masterpiece. A large portion is played in smooth 3D -- it was maybe a notch or two below Wolfenstein 3D -- very impressive feat for its time. It's maybe Final Fantasy 2/4 or Chrono Trigger - level in terms of difficulty.

I just couldn't get into 2 and 3 at all due to the reasons cited by the others here.


1 was always my favorite. The 3D dungeons were really interesting and technically impressive for the time. The story was also really good (and dramatic!). The only complaint I have is that the US version has poor sound quality due to the American Master System lacking the Japanese version's FM sound chip.


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