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Exhuminator wrote:You guys are crazy. Phantasy Star is the greatest 8-bit JRPG there ever was or ever will be.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if the combat were more interesting, it'd be one of my absolute favorites, because the rest of the game is rather compelling. But the battles are just boring me to tears. Of course, it's not the only 8-bit RPG that seems hard to go back to. I don't think I've played through Dragon Warrior in at least 15 years, probably more. Phantasy Star is definitely superior to it. And thankfully, most of my grinding is pretty organic from just trying to figure out where to go. Too bad that encounter rate is awful to go with the "Attack-Attack-Attack-Attack" combat.

(I did pick that playthrough back up, I should be done with Dezoris now. Time to rock on to Medusa's Tower, I suppose.)

For my money, the best 8-bit RPG will always be Dragon Warrior IV. Right behind that is Final Fantasy III and Dragon Warrior III. I might even swap all those out depending on the day you ask me.

Sarge wrote:

Exhuminator wrote:You guys are crazy. Phantasy Star is the greatest 8-bit JRPG there ever was or ever will be.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if the combat were more interesting, it'd be one of my absolute favorites, because the rest of the game is rather compelling. But the battles are just boring me to tears. Of course, it's not the only 8-bit RPG that seems hard to go back to. I don't think I've played through Dragon Warrior in at least 15 years, probably more. Phantasy Star is definitely superior to it. And thankfully, most of my grinding is pretty organic from just trying to figure out where to go. Too bad that encounter rate is awful to go with the "Attack-Attack-Attack-Attack" combat.

(I did pick that playthrough back up, I should be done with Dezoris now. Time to rock on to Medusa's Tower, I suppose.)

For my money, the best 8-bit RPG will always be Dragon Warrior IV. Right behind that is Final Fantasy III and Dragon Warrior III. I might even swap all those out depending on the day you ask me.

Phantasy Star is my favorite 8-bit RPG, and while I haven't played too terribly many yet, I'm also quite fond of Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior. Dragon Warrior II was good, but it wasn't as impressive as the original IMO.

Sarge wrote:For my money, the best 8-bit RPG will always be Dragon Warrior IV. Right behind that is Final Fantasy III and Dragon Warrior III. I might even swap all those out depending on the day you ask me.

You have good taste. DQIII is my personal favorite, but I can see why you would choose DQIV.

Final Fantasy III, Dragon Warrior III, and Dragon Warrior IV are all better than Phantasy Star. They also have the benefit of being released after PS. Expand the field to action-RPGs and the list grows longer.

I do love Phantasy Star though. It's a ridiculously ambitious game.

BoneSnapDeez wrote:I do love Phantasy Star though. It's a ridiculously ambitious game.

Me too. I like it quite a bit more than its sequel, actually.

Sigh.

Obligatory ranking...

Online > IV > I > III > II

BoneSnapDeez wrote:Final Fantasy III, Dragon Warrior III, and Dragon Warrior IV are all better than Phantasy Star.

While I have not played FFIII or DQIII yet, I have beaten DQIV and I don't think it's better than Phantasy Star.

I haven't played III, IV, or PSO...so, I can't really participate...

Exhuminator wrote:

BoneSnapDeez wrote:Final Fantasy III, Dragon Warrior III, and Dragon Warrior IV are all better than Phantasy Star.

While I have not played FFIII or DQIII yet, I have beaten DQIV and I don't think it's better than Phantasy Star.

The GBC port of DQIII is just phenomenal. You really must play it sometime. FFIII is also really, really good, and it can be very, very challenging. (You are kind of a casual gamer, however; so, you might find it to be a little too frustrating. )

I think for both games, there's a good bit of "you had to be there". When Phantasy Star released stateside, there was nothing that remotely compared in scale or ambition. That it was passed up by later releases certainly isn't surprising. Still, I believe Final Fantasy came out almost the same time in Japan, and I prefer it right now, too. How much of that is nostalgia, I have no idea. Eventually it becomes difficult to separate those formative experiences from current experiences, because there's something comforting about revisiting your old favorite games that probably influences one's objectivity.

Or, of course, one could just flat-out prefer Phantasy Star if the bland combat doesn't bother, because most everything else is good. Those 3D dungeons are amazing, too.

(And to clarify: I don't hate the game. In fact, there are bits I rather like a lot. I'd say it's... hmm. If I use Dragon Quest as a baseline, I'd give the original a 5/10 (dead average), so I'd probably make Phantasy Star a 6.0 or 6.5. Maaaybe a 7. If I'd played it when it came out here, it'd be my favorite, bar none, 10/10 best RPG of all time at that point.)

prfsnl_gmr wrote:

BoneSnapDeez wrote:I do love Phantasy Star though. It's a ridiculously ambitious game.

Me too. I like it quite a bit more than its sequel, actually.

I just plain didn't care for Phantasy Star II. It wasn't bad, by any means, but it just felt really...meh.