Phantasy Star II

[Melf]

First among great 16-bit RPGs, the monster that is Phantasy Star II still intimidates gamers to this day. It's massive quest and brutal difficulty sometimes overshadow what is a downright awesome game. You need to play this one, friends. Luckily for you, we have a review to get you in the mood!

[Mel]

Bravo Bravo!!!

Congratulations on a review well done!

[Genesis Knight]

Only an 8? Interesting, interesting...

[Melf]

I think the random battles and difficulty level take it down a notch, along with how long it takes to really get going.

[Electroman]

I think the random battles and difficulty level take it down a notch, along with how long it takes to really get going.

Not only that Melf, but how every battle scene has that boring 3D grid in the background, and how slow the battles can be. At least they are animated, unlike the little finger twitches present in PS3.

But folks, having played through PS2 (albiet 16 years ago, has it been that long, jeeze that's scary), if you can stand the difficulty, have a map (almost required), and patience, you will get a great RPG that has logical magic spell trees, a good story, and characters you just may really care about.

It may have been the novelty of 16bit RPG's, but I still even preferred PS2 to PS4. PS3 is required if you care to play it to be 'complete'.

[vintagegamecrazy]

I've been playing this game again and am going to finally finish it this time around. Man is it daunting and hard though! I'm enjoying it more this time around too.

[Sega Genesis]

Compare 4th review picture to this:

[The Coop]

I love the Phantasy Star series, but this is my least played entry. The quest is big, which is great. It has some interesting twists, and that's fine. It's music and graphics are good for that period in the Genesis' life, there's lots of little things to play around with and do, and all that good stuff. But dear lord can some of the dungeons just pummel you without mercy as they drag on.

It's a Genesis classic without a doubt. But it's also a considerable chore at times to play through, sucking some of the fun out of it.

[TmEE]

Super Off Road has Zero Tolerance screenshot...

nice reads none the less, particularly Zebbe's

[ThugsRook]

was, and still is, one of the best games ever.

(there is a loss-of-sound bug near the end of the game, press PAUSE to fix it)

[midnightrider]

Started this one again recently. The music really does need to be discussed more. The town and battle themes have bass lines that sound like Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) going to town.

If you actually slow down, and listen to the battle theme, it helps out with the needed grinding, as it's actually pretty calm, in spite of the previously mentioned bass line. Unlike, say, Dragon Quest's battle theme, which sounds kind of panicky, and makes it sound urgent that you finish the battles as fast as possible.

As with most of the genre, it's, especially, not a game you play when you want to move things along quickly. If you're OK with stopping at a point where you're in the middle of gaining levels, knowing that's what you're going to be doing when you come back to it, you'll be fine. Speaking of, I'm in the middle of getting Amy 3 more levels, before I head to the Bio-Labs, and finally end the first mission.

Edit:
...and then the boringness of time consuming, slow paced, turn based, random battle games kicks in...

[midnightrider]

Actually did finish this one a little while back. Hack that bugfixed(unfortunately, I probably would have liked to have used some), improved walking speed, and doubled battle gains. Still felt grindy, but I think the money farming was the worse aspect. I got Rolf to level 32, which kept the others at least at 30, or high 20's, but I think even my lowest leveled character was 30.

It's rough, but I think it's easy to forget that this is '89 in Japan.

Played this one growing up, so a lot of nostalgia attached to it. However, between this and the original Dragon Warrior, I should have known this would never be my personal favorite genre. Unfortunately I got to play Chrono Trigger and was dumb enough to think there was more of that within, instead of the others. Oddly I would grow to love Phantasy Star IV more than CT though... Few good games in the genre, but this one is definitely more for hardcore genre fans.

[waldox]

I first played this game when I was in high school and managed to finish it! And I had been lucky enough to play Phantasy Star a few years earlier. The amount of nostagia I have for these titles, and my love for them, knows no bounds!

I also love PS4, but PS3? That's the only one I've never finished; just can't get into it, but I may try again soon.

[BubsyFan1]

^ I'd say Phantasy Star III is definitely worth a playthrough if you're a fan of the series. I wouldn't necessarily say it's good, but there were things I appreciated about it.

Played this one growing up, so a lot of nostalgia attached to it. However, between this and the original Dragon Warrior, I should have known this would never be my personal favorite genre. Unfortunately I got to play Chrono Trigger and was dumb enough to think there was more of that within, instead of the others. Oddly I would grow to love Phantasy Star IV more than CT though... Few good games in the genre, but this one is definitely more for hardcore genre fans.

That's kinda funny. Years ago, after finishing Phantasy Star II, I remember trying Chrono Trigger and not finishing it because I couldn't stand the battle system. I was completely fine with the battle system in Phantasy Star II though. I keep meaning to revisit Chrono Trigger but have yet to do so.

[waldox]

Been playing Phantasy Star 3 for the last week and.......still kinda hate it. I think for me, the worst part is the writing. There's almost no character development, and none of the NPC conversations seem like real people at all, just "go get the Saphire", and "I has the saphire, but now you can has it!". Just terrible. My daughter has made RPGs with better writing on her 3DS in RPG Maker Studio!

However, I do think the the magic system is very interesting. In the past, I never delved into how the technique distribution works, but now that I have, I kinda like it! So it's not ALL bad and I'm going to stick with it for now. :-)

P.S. Chrono Trigger is great! One of my favorites in addition to PS I, II and IV!