by MrStarbird » Sat Feb 11, 2017 3:29 am
I always flip flop on these as well based on which one I've played more, but as far as which I think is better vs. which are my favorites, I guess I'll elaborate.
Which are my Favorites?
4th place: Phantasy Star - Good game overall, but unfortunately one of them has the make the bottom. Out of all four, this one is my least favorite not because of the timeframe in which it was developed, but because the games that came after I found more favor with. Each one added something to the original formula of this game to the point where Phantasy Star feels more like vanilla ice cream with a few sprinkles.
3rd place: Phantasy Star IV - It had so much going for it but playing this game casually becomes too easy. There are many ways to mitigate and generate damage that enemies will fall with no effort at all. The other three, though grinding was huge, kept the difficulty quite challenging, enough for me to want to bang my head against them to beat it.
2nd place: Phantasy Star III - I had a hard time placing this here because out of all the games, I feel this one had the best story and theory behind it. There is so much lore not only within its own world, but relating back to Algo as well and so many theories manifest from this game that there is always a good discussion to be had about it.
1st place: Phantasy Star II - I rank it as my favorite simply because I owe my life to this game. My fondest memories are of my father using this game to teach me how to read as a child. He used it as a tool as well as a way to keep us entertained, and considering the amount of vocabulary in this game, it definitely was some high end reading material for a 4-year old when it first came out.
Which I think is best:
4th place: Phantasy Star III - Again, one game had to make the bottom. This isn't to say this is a bad game, I think it is far from it. But, trying to be fairly critical, the game was under the gun in development and had a lot of obvious issues because of it. The game feels like it was a rush job, but considering the time they had to piece the game together and the rookie crew who had never worked on a Phantasy Star game, it is still a solid game in the franchise despite being the "black sheep".
3rd place: Phantasy Star - An older game compared to PStar3 but still shines to this day as a testament to how far RPGs have come. The story was rich, the gameplay and music was solid, and the visuals were amazing. Considering the time it was released, it just feels like more energy was put into making a highly polished game.
2nd place: Phantasy Star II - Arguably one of the greatest RPGs of all times and one that paved the way for an entire genre of games. It took what the first one did and made it more animated, added more depth and customization. The heartbreak one feels after the Neifirst fight is something that many games only hope to be able to replicate.
1st place: Phantasy Star IV - This game took everything from its predecessors and perfected it while adding more to it. The manga-style cutscenes laid out a story that was so much easier to follow, the battles were faster paced and more epic whereas even the weakest of enemies felt like a viable threat. The characters were amazing and each one had their own story to tell in a way that anybody could relate to. This one, out of all the original series, is quite possibly the only one as well that has aged gracefully. A child today, with all the games they have today and how they are presented, could pick this game up, understand what is going on, and have a fun time playing it.