RPG Progress Report

[BoneSnapDeez]

Haha yeah, that's pretty hilarious.

[pierrot]

I'm really shocked that game wasn't localized.

Perhaps not as tragic as Monster World IV not being localized back in the day, but I've been thinking that same thing. It seems that the developers were probably trying to target 8 to 19 year old girls, to an extent, which would be a pretty hard sell in Japan, just considering the lack of success the Mega Drive had there. My guess is that Sega of America just didn't know what to do with it, from a marketing standpoint, so investing the money into localization of an RPG didn't appear fiscally reasonable.

I haven't played Phantasy Star IV yet, but it seems like Surging Aura would probably be about on that level.

EDIT: I just feel like mentioning that my copy of the game is in pretty nice condition, but appears to have some traces of lipstick on the cover of the manual, and it's a shade that almost screams "body-con."

[Exhuminator]

I haven't played Phantasy Star IV yet

I strongly advise you to stop playing anything else, and play through Phantasy Star IV immediately.

It will set a new watermark for your Megadrive gaming.

[Sarge]

Phantasy. Star. IV. DO IT.

Okay, maybe that's a little hyperbolic. But seriously, PSIV is a tremendous RPG, easily one of the best of that generation. In a lot of ways, it's sci-fi Dragon Quest.

[pierrot]

Yeah, I don't doubt it, I just can't allow myself to play it without playing PS III first, and I've had trouble doing that in the past.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I friggin' love PSIII. It's got this mellow laid-back vibe, the generational aspect is pretty swell, and the music is phenomenal. I never understood the hate.

I hear ya about playing games in order though. To me that's generally mandatory.

[Xeogred]

Aren't the PS games self contained, like FF though?

[Sarge]

There are linked elements, but they can all stand alone. I wouldn't feel bad about playing PSIV before PSIII at all. There's a reason that PSIII is the black sheep of the series. It's not a bad game, of course, but it ain't PSIV. And PSIII feels even more disconnected than the others, probably because of a different team being involved.

[MrPopo]

The main chronology is PS1->2->4, with 3 off in its own world pretty much. It does link back to the main chronology but doesn't really affect it at all.

[Exhuminator]

MrPopo is spot on. While I personally enjoyed PSIII (I hear ya Bone), it's like a gaiden thing. If you played PSI, PSII, and PSIV in that order, it'd feel like a solid continuation plot-wise without issue.