What are you playing?

[noiseredux]

15 he's into Madden 18 and loving every minute. I play a game a night when I can.

Also started GTA IV which I had originally skipped for some reason. Enjoying the story so far but not as compelled by the open world as I was in V. I did get to bowl though so that was cool.

[Segata]

I do not seem to be really motivated to play Phantasy Star IV, for some reason. It's a good game, but I just don't always have a real urge to continue playing it. Certainly, it's nice to see a Phantasy Star game on the Genesis that actually figured out how to not constantly punish the player for even thinking about playing it. I'm willing to blame two things at this juncture: The music in PSIV doesn't do a whole lot for me, and while it's not bad by any means, it doesn't really enhance my playing experience, either; The story beats have been pretty predictable so far.

I like that PSIV took a little time to sort out the sequence of events between the original game, and itself (although I feel like it retcon-ed one or two things). I've actually gained a little bit more of an appreciation for PSII, from playing PSIV so far, as well; It's really not so bad, aside from the god forsaken dungeons. Playing PSIV also makes me think a bit more about playing PSO, than continuing with what It's doing--it almost feels like I'm cheating on it with another game. (Due in large part to the inclusion of Hunter's Guild missions, I'm sure.)

At any rate, I feel like PSIV gets most things right, but I'm not really convinced at this point that it really separates itself from some of the best (read: my favorite) RPGs of the generation. Probably better than CT, or FFVI, but that's a relatively low bar, in my opinion.

Ooh, that last sentence I dunno man. That said I feel PSIV is the best in the series. Really great game.

[Exhuminator]

That said I feel PSIV is the best in the series. Really great game.

I still think the original PS is the best, but PSIV is a very close second. I don't agree with Pierrot's opinions on PSIV, but then again he has very unique tastes.

[noiseredux]

The original Phantasy Star is an absolute masterpiece and in my opinion kicks the shit out of the first installment of FF and DQ.

[marurun]

That said I feel PSIV is the best in the series. Really great game.

I still think the original PS is the best, but PSIV is a very close second. I don't agree with Pierrot's opinions on PSIV, but then again he has very unique tastes.

The strength of his Japanese also allows him to play a lot of games we normally can't with a lot of extra depth of understanding, so while he indeed has some unique tastes compared to many of us, there's at least one really compelling reason contributing to those unique tastes.

I remember when I was in Japan I sat down with my Japanese dictionary, my incomplete language skills, and Saturn Grandia and decided to try to translate my way through the game, and it was kind of awesome, up until I ran out of time and energy. I learned some neat grammar having to figure out what some stuff being said was. But being able to engage with the game in its native language was an incredibly special experience. Even the best English localizations we get here are filtered though translators and localizers. So while we often do have a comparative experience, something inevitably changes. On rare occasions a localization will get more love and attention than the original writing, which is awesome. But if you have enough cross-cultural experience to understand the original cultural context and language of a Japanese game, it can really change the experience of that game quite dramatically.

Sorry, I know that was kind of a random aside, but I wanted to share a thought.

[prfsnl_gmr]

The original Phantasy Star is an absolute masterpiece and in my opinion kicks the shit out of the first installment of FF and DQ.

Yes. It is.

To its credit, Dragon Quest was released almost a year and a half earlier, which was practically an eternity in 1980s computer time. Final Fantasy has no such excuse ( even if it is still a good, fun game).

It is too bad Phantasy Star II is such a grind and, in my opinion, so much worse than its predecessor. Both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest improved tremendously as the series progressed. Phantasy Star didn't really do that, and by the time Sega released Phantasy Star IV, it was playing catch up a bit.

[marurun]

Phantasy Star II has a lot of grinding, but the basic mechanics are pretty good as is the story. The game would have been a lot stronger had it been streamlined a bit on length and grindiness. (new word, woo!)

[noiseredux]

honestly, I can't say I consider Phantasy Star MORE grindy than the first game. Well, maybe slightly. But Phantasy Star is really really great. The music is *almost* as good as the first game, but the original's music is absolute fantastic. The second game has the better dungeons in my opinion. Sure the weird overhead pipe things that obstruct your view are stupid, but I still prefer them to the first person dungeons even if those were visually impressive.

We've been coming back to PS a lot lately 'round here. (Which is great!) It's reminded me that I've actually never played the third game! For shame. I'd be pretty happy to see some PS on the Switch - JRPG's just really make sense on portable systems to me. Does anyone really mind grinding if you can do so while half-watching Netflix?

[Exhuminator]

Does anyone really mind grinding if you can do so while half-watching Netflix?

This is how I get through a lot of grindy old JRPGs honestly. Binge on a show while you auto-battle to victory.

As for PSIII, as you know a lot of people consider it a black sheep. I remember enjoying PSIII. However, my memories are from 1991. Considering I haven't played the game in over a quarter decade, my memories probably aren't succinct. I recall really enjoying the "generational" aspect (having kids that become your protagonists), the fact that houses were scaled properly to the player sprite, and a lot of the enemy design was crazy. I remember being disappointed at how easy the game was, as I beat it in a weekend. I also remember the last boss is found in a treasure box or some silliness like that, and it seemed anti-climatic. Compared to PS, PSII, and PSIV, I'd say PSIII is a bit weak. But compared to the greater lexicon of 16-bit JRPGs, I'd say PSIII is above average.

---

On topic I'm currently playing...

Front Mission Alternative
This is real time strategy versus traditional FM turn based strategy, hence the name "Alternative". This Front Mission entry is only available in Japanese (no fan translation sadly), but the menus/commands are all in English making it playable. I'm having a fair amount of fun with it. There's something like 34 missions and I'm only on mission 9 currently, so it could take quite a while to finish this one.

The Granstream Saga
I never played this because it has a less than stellar reputation. However it comes from a high pedigree. At any rate, I put two hours into this last night and had fun. So far, so good.

-

If you're wondering why I'm playing Playstation games back to back, it's because my house's electricity has been out since Monday morning due to Irma. Been staying at a relative's and playing ePSXe on my smartphone as a result. No electricity for three days and counting sucks mighty ass.

[BoneSnapDeez]

The original Phantasy Star is an absolute masterpiece and in my opinion kicks the shit out of the first installment of FF and DQ.

Yes. It is.

To its credit, Dragon Quest was released almost a year and a half earlier, which was practically an eternity in 1980s computer time. Final Fantasy has no such excuse ( even if it is still a good, fun game).

Yeah comparing Dragon Quest to Phantasy Star is like comparing Mario Bros. to Super Mario Bros.

Final Fantasy and Phantasy Star are on pretty even footing I think. They were released two days apart!

In any event, all these games rule and I can't find a compelling reason to not play all the 8/16-bit installments of all three series.