Rank the main series games. Give your reasons.

[Tryphon]

Instruments vs. melody

[etony33]

I am guessing he is talking about the limitations of the SMS

[etony33]

Characters are so-so

I disagree with this (regarding PS4). Chaz in particular isn't so-so. Most protagonists in jRPGs don't have much depth - they save the world from evil because it's the right thing to do. Sean, Alis, and Rolf to some degree do it because they want revenge for what happened to someone close to them. Chaz goes after ZIO for that reason...but beyond that, his reasons are very different. Look at the way he responded to Le Roof. He's actually pretty selfish, all told. He fights because he likes to fight (and part of it, I think, is that he wants to gain Rune's respect, which he does by the end of the game).

[BenoitRen]

@Tryphon: Well then, I disagree that the PSG is a bad instrument.

@etony33:
I don't think Chaz 'likes' to fight. He used to fight because he needed to to survive, and then he got picked up by Alys who enlisted him in the Hunter's Guild.

Chaz's outburst was not for selfish reasons, the way I see it. As he explains afterwards, he was concerned about not being different from Zio. Why did Zio fight? Because his god told him to. Then Le Roof told Chaz to fight because the Great Light said so.

[Tryphon]

@Tryphon: Well then, I disagree that the PSG is a bad instrument.

Let's say it isn't always well exploited (and in that case, it wasn't).

[etony33]

I don't think Chaz 'likes' to fight. He used to fight because he needed to to survive, and then he got picked up by Alys who enlisted him in the Hunter's Guild.

At first, this was true. Once Zio was defeated, then what? He continued to fight because it was what he knew and he enjoyed it. Alys was avenged...he didn't have to go to Zelan and continue on. I don't think he was doing so simply because it was the right thing to do...he had his own reasons beyond that, at the very least.

[BenoitRen]

I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that he went to Zelan because he likes to fight.

[Kalisiin]

OK, here's mine:

Favorite, hands down, Phantasy Star 2. I just really liked the smooth mechanics of how that one worked, and the linearity was intact. Not to mention, for it's time, the graphics were truly awesome.

Second place has to go to PS1. That game was just better than any 8-bit game had any right being! This has to be the last RPG I ever had to actually use pencil and paper to map myself along to get through the mazes. 3D mazes in an 8-bit game is just incredible. Yeah, the battle graphics seem primitive, but remember that this WAS an 8-bit game.

Third place PS3. Seriously. I know most people rank this one dead last, but I don't. It had it's good points, and the generations thing was pretty cool...even though it WAS sort of annoying to lose a lot of the stuff you'd built up at each new generation. It also kind sucked that MEGIDO could only be used as part of the story, and you couldn't totally NUKE AN ENEMY with it, like you could in PS2 with MEGID. There were some interesting plot twists in there.

Last, I say PS4...because it was just plain too long...and too modern. I am an old-schooler, and PS4...while an admirable game...just wasn't really MY speed. To say nothing of the even-newer PS games out there. I did play t through and enjoy it...but it just has to be last in my book. The FEEL of the game just isn't the same as PS2 or PS1. Even PS3 retained a lot of the old-school feel.

[MrStarbird]

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.

[etony33]

Phantasy Star helped me learn to read as well. I was three years old. To this day, my dad refuses to play any other RPG. Phantasy Star is it, and he plays it once every couple of years.

[MrStarbird]

My uncle is the same way. Can't really get him to play another other RPG but he will play the Phantasy Star series about once a year, and ONLY the Master System version. I got him Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for his X360 and he still won't play that version. Unauthentic, he calls it.

[BenoitRen]

To be fair, Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection's emulation is rather dodgy, as expected of Backbone Software.

[etony33]

To me, Phantasy Star was the only game in the main series to have been the right difficulty. Phantasy Star II was quite difficult and a little bit too grindy, so to speak (want Shir to get to level 45 so she learns NaGra? Good luck with that)...III was simple, and IV wasn't much harder than III.

[Lutz25]

Favorite: PS4 - Playing in the order of PS2 then PS3, this just brought all of the nostalgia for me. The storyline i thought was great and made sense. And Zio... one of the best villains in any game (other than Kefka or Kafka from Final Fantasy). I hated his guts the minute he turned Zemans into stone and destroyed the poor Motavian's village (along with Gryz' parents). I think it did great to bring all 4 games together, including bringing back a sick looking Lashiec. I know people hate the nostalgia stuff, but I thought bringing little things into the story (Tyler and the ship, Musk Cats, Lutz and the telepathy ball) was awesome!

It is very hard for me to choose the next 3 in order, they are so close but here goes:

2nd fav: PS1. Unfort, I played and beat the other 3 games before playing this. However, I am blown away how great this game is, especially considering on an 8-bit system and how limited the programmers were back then. And even as an adult, I spent lots of time on playing/beating it, and enjoyed every minute of it. The difficulty was tough. Unfort, battle could get old after a while, but increasing the speed in an emulator helps. Yes it is a long and drawn out game, but as a kid, I would have had the time then. This is what I was searching for as a kid having the NES. My urge was satisfied with the other 3 games and Genesis.

3rd: PS3. I wish Sega didnt rush the game, this could have been the best one. For what it was, I loved it. Having a 1,000 year old uncle still alive? And finding out other characters from legend are still alive? Love it.

4th: PS2. Since I played PS1 last (never had access to the game because I had NES, and didnt play it until much later with Emulators). I wish I had the experience of exploring Palma, and then seeing sadly the planet destroyed in PS2 without setting foot. Kinda feel like Laya in Star Wars. Dont get me wrong, while I loved the game, I dont have the passion for it as most other fans of the series.

[etony33]

I'm not sure that Zio was necessarily an all time great villain. It's pretty cookie cutter, actually - person makes a deal with the devil, is granted power, does evil things for evil's sake, and is killed.

The best villain in the main series would have to be either Neifirst, Lune, or Rulakir. All have really complex reasons for doing what they did, to the point where they actually elicit a bit of sympathy.