The favorite Phantasy Star game poll

[CanzetYote]

Easily IV. It was one of the very first video games I ever played in my life so I have a definite soft spot for it.

[Zucca]

For one who's played all the previous PS -games before playing PSIV... PSIV really looked like a pretty game with huge nostalgia effect. A game that seems to be more polished than II and III, but way too easy to complete. I remember I basically run the game trough and died maybe once... The last part of PD surprised me with Megid. That's what I remember.

[etony33]

I found III to be easier than IV.

It's all relative. PS4 was about as difficult as other JRPGs released around the same time (Final Fantasy VI for instance). It just SEEMS easier because the first two games were quite difficult and required a lot of grinding.

[cala]

It's all relative. PS4 was about as difficult as other JRPGs released around the same time (Final Fantasy VI for instance). It just SEEMS easier because the first two games were quite difficult and required a lot of grinding.

I'd go one further and say that it's actually above-average difficulty-wise for the time. Random enemies can do a decent amount of damage to your party if you don't defeat them quickly enough, and certain bosses can quite easily kill you if you're unprepared, underlevelled, or don't know how useful buffs like Deban and Barrier are. Plus unlike a lot of other games at the time, you can't save directly before bosses, making boss fights harder to prepare for and a little bit more nerve wracking for first time players. It's not a difficult game by any stretch of the imagination, particularly if you know it well, but I think its difficulty is a little understated by many Phantasy Star fans simply because, like you say, the other games were on the tougher end of the spectrum as far as JRPGs go. I found PS4 far more challenging on my first time through than games like Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, and Lufia 2, where even underlevelled, enemies were little more than a nuisance, bosses never even came close to killing me, and the only abilities I ever really needed to use were my strongest attacks and healing.

With regards to the topic, I think my favourite is probably Phantasy Star 2 for nostalgic reasons. It was my first Phantasy Star game and my first JRPG, and while I don't think it's the easiest game to get into nowadays due to the grind and certain very dated elements, I still love the music, the aesthetics, and the very desolate, lonely vibe it conjures up. The ones I revisit the most nowadays are Phantasy Star IV and Phantasy Star Online, but neither are as close to my heart as II is.

[Drake_Zeppeli]

Sort of relevant...so from what I've seen from Classic PS, PSO, and PS Universe/Portable, lemme rank each part of the series from my least favorite to my absolute favorite. (PS Zero and PSO2 counts as part of PSO, Classic PS does include every side game related to it such as PS Adventure, and PSU/PSPortable should be self-explanatory)

#3: PSO - Probably very debatable and controversial on my part, but its influence is undeniable and the gameplay is definitely the best the series has to offer. However, in terms of the overall plot/storytelling and the way the writers handled the characters, it usually hits all the wrong notes with me for some reason. And honestly, PSO2 is the worst offender because of how poorly written Episode 4 was alongside the anime that was supposed to be the prequel yet the anime barely has anything to do with anything related with the established world and gives us an unnecessary world in the form of PSO2's Earth. And localization issues is not one of the reasons why I placed PSO at the bottom, just to let ya all know.

#2: Classic PS - PSIV is arguably my favorite game in the whole series overall because of how well-written the story is for the most part, how the gameplay still holds up to date, and for how the characters have their own personality that feels unique to them. However, I will admit that I did not have as much fun playing the PSI, PSII, and PSIII since I lacked the patience and conviction to beat those games because of how slow the walking was in the overworld as well as the battle systems just not doing anything for me even with the strategies I've learned in comparison to PSIV.

#1: PS Universe/Portable - In my personal opinion, Universe/Portable was the best in terms of likeable characters, plot, and the use of the established world. Granted, Universe/Portable had their fair share of flaws in gameplay like PSO games such as the AI in PSU, but its easily forgivable since it does not affect how players control their characters. (Or Ethan if playing PSU single-player campaign.) On a side note, while I have not played any of the PSO and PSU/Portable games, I have seen enough playthroughs of those games that should probably help in my analysis of the series, but from what I've seen, Portable 2 easily earned its place as my second favorite PS game of all time, right behind PSIV.

[Kaihaku]

Definitely Phantasy Star IV. I think it's a classic on it's own...but as a sequel it's almost unparalleled. There are few games that so perfectly build on everything that came before them.

Phantasy Star ranks in at second for me. I'm not a big fan of first person dungeons but it's so bold and evocative - incredible when you compare it to it's peers at the time.

There are so many things that I like about Phantasy Star II...but the overly convoluted dungeon design really kills the pacing of the game.

As for Phantasy Star III, I'm more fond of it in concept than in implementation...maybe one day it will get a Shadows of Valencia style remake.

[euRika98]

I also have to tip my hat off to Phantasy Star IV. Sega's RPG magnum opus in a series already brimming with innovation and brilliance. There's a level of polish with Phantasy Star IV that elevates it to a timeless status, with all the elements from the rich characters to a finely tuned battle system working towards a marvelous and unforgettable journey.

[GreenGiant]

Phantasy Star IV, for me, was the most fun out of the series.

It would be even better if they added in the first-person dungeons like in the original Phantasy Star.

[Zucca]

It would be even better if they added in the first-person dungeons like in the original Phantasy Star.

3D dungeons were on the development list, but later got removed. There have been some screenshots on magazines which show the 3D dungeon interface. If the code for 3D dungeons was baked in the game at some point, there could be some beta versions around which has them... but I highly doubt it.

Whenever you release new hardware or equipment, users are going to have high expectations for it. For example, with the Sega Master System, the 3D dungeons in Phantasy Star probably grabbed a lot of attention for that reason. I know we’ve had a lot of requests to add the 3D dungeons back in for the Megadrive Phantasy Star games. However, players won’t be satisfied with SMS-era technology for the 3D dungeons in a Megadrive game, and it doesn’t make sense with our design plans either: everything has to be rotatable, floors, ceilings, etc, and that would take up far too much memory.

[zio_falz]

I contest these results.
We know Phantasy Star II is the best of the classic series.

[gio]

Beside PS4 which is my favourite because it makes the whole serie an integrated serie, I have hard time to make a top among the first three, because each of them take a (so) different direction. And each of the first three have big qualities and big flaws, but very different ones in each case, so that it is very hard to compare them to each other, you don't have a common measurements.