I'm not much of a gamer anymore. Somehow my interest in games waned after the end of the 16-bit era... or perhaps, what went after it failed to grasp my interest. Sometimes I still feel like playing; but when I do, it's the old Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo titles I go for. About two weeks ago I was in one such mood, which prompted me to return to the videogame RPG that has captivated my imagination the most: Phantasy Star III.<p>I have been on and off PSIII for about ten years now. Until recently I never played it to the end, though, always giving up to some seemingly unsolvable puzzle. This time I decided I was going to finish it no matter what, so when I did get stuck, I went in the Internet and looked for a walkthrough. In the process, I discovered the wonderful, surprinsingly active PS community, and have been exploring it up to now -- mostly hunting PSIII fanworks.<p>This is a bit funny, if you ask me. I understand that many Phantasy Star fans are not particularly fond of the third episode of the series, and I can understand them -- because I am not particularly fond of the PS series outside PSIII. It's not that I didn't like the other games; from what I saw they're fine, and I certainly plan to go back to them eventually... it's just that they didn't catch my heart the way the barely surreal saga of Alisa III did.<p>I hope I can be forgiven for my PSIII purism, however. Other than that I promise to behave, be a good community member, and even make an effort to like the other episodes more.
