Phantasy Star

[Anonymous No.5123074]

I want to play through Phantasy Star series, what is the best way to go about it? I'm only really interested in 4 numbered games, but wouldn't mind playing some of the others for complete experience

[Anonymous No.5123096]

Play the PS2 versions of 1 and 2, forget 3, then play 4.

[Anonymous No.5123106]

>>5123096
I hate the PS2 remake, you need to talk every NPC in order to trigger flags to proceed in the game. In the original you just equip yourself and go straight to the dungeon to kill stuff.

[Anonymous No.5123116]

>>5123074
Play the original versions of each game. PS 1 still holds up pretty well. For PS 2 don't hesitate to use a guide for the dungeons as they can be confusing as fuck. PS 3 is a special case, I enjoyed it, some people didn't but for valid reasons. PS 4 is simply one of the best JRPG I've ever played and is still a blast to play today.

[Anonymous No.5123209]

>>5123074
If you're gonna play the original PS1 use the fan translation patch and FM music.

[Anonymous No.5123868]

>>5123106
of course a version of the game you haven't played in 10 years and forgotten all the tediousness in is the best one

[Anonymous No.5123871]

>>5123209
What's wrong with the original, official translation?

[Anonymous No.5123880]

Wait for the Switch release.
http://archives.sega.jp/segaages/ps/

[Anonymous No.5123931]

>>5123880
I sure do LOVE the idea of paying Nintendo a monthly fee for video games! It's like they'll never stop taking my money this way!

[Anonymous No.5124156]

>>5123871
It's just not very good. Feel free to compare them yourself.
The FM sound is also not available iirc. That's only in the japanese game, which the fan translation uses of course.

[Anonymous No.5124340]

>>5123074
Play PS4 and forget the rest. And play the megadrive/genesis version.

[Anonymous No.5124441]

>>5123871
The official translation is as mangled as you'd expect from a 1988 JRPG. It's passable. None of the vital quest information is indecipherable. (Though an early one is slightly more frustrating.) I played through the original translation and enjoyed it. But if you like to play through your RPGs in English instead of Engrish the option's available.

[Anonymous No.5124553]

>>5123074
For PS1 you want the retranslation here: http://www.smspower.org/Translations/PhantasyStar-SMS-EN
Play it in an emulator with FM sound enabled unless you have some way of getting FM on real hardware.

For PS2 there is a half-arsed retranslation floating around, it is based upon thhe American rom but fixes names up to be more consistent with the rest of the saga. Go with it if you're emulating but it doesn't work on real hardware and isn't worth speifically emulating for, unlike the PS1 retranslation.

A retranslation for PS4 seems to have recently come out, I don't like what I've seen in screenshots of it. Not much wrong with the original beside arbitary name changes which said retranslation seems to only fix some of anyway. I don't know what to say about this one since I haven't touched it, but you should at least know it's an option.

For PS3: original Mega Drive all the way. The Playstation 2 collection (NOT the remakes, which are atrocious) is also a good option for PS2, PS3 and PS4 but not for PS1 unless you can read moon. The text adventures and PS Gaiden are for completionists only, they are not very good games.

[Anonymous No.5124557]

>>5123871
Literally everything. Are you not familiar with 80's videogame translations? They're never good.

[Anonymous No.5124765]

>>5123074
Start with 4, if you really like it go back to the rest.

[Anonymous No.5124779]

play PSO in some form
a form that does not involve Episode 3

[Anonymous No.5124917]

>>5123931
Emulation and piracy are a thing.

[Anonymous No.5124998]

>>5124779
OP only asked about the 4 original episodes. But if he has to play PSO I’d recommend checking the private server Ephinea

[Anonymous No.5125007]

Why did they call PSO Phantasy Star when it has nothing to do with the original series?

[Anonymous No.5125112]

>>5123931
This has nothing to do with the switch online subscription, dumbass. It'll be a stand-alone release sold on the eshop like any other game.

[Anonymous No.5125208]

>>5125007

[Anonymous No.5126132]

>>5123116
Good advice

>>5123096
>>5123880
>>5124340
>>5124765
Shit advice

These games are ALL classics, and you will enjoy each game more if you've played it's predecessors. If you don't like them you probably don't like old JRPGs in which case you're in the wrong place...

[Anonymous No.5126174]

While the games are much more closely connected with each other than any two Final Fantasies are with each other, they can each be enjoyed on their own, so you don't really have to play in order if you don't want to.
2 is my favorite, but it is an easy game to lose patience with. Every time I recommend it to someone, they play it for a few hours and drop it. Here are my tips to help you not hate your experience: 1) grind at the beginning a bit before really digging into the first dungeon, then stop grinding and use strategy for the rest of the game 2) use or draw maps for dungeons 3) don't underestimate the usefulness of shields 4) always have 1 escapipe.
I like the text adventure games with the ps2 characters. They really flesh the world and characters out, and none of them will take you very long. Give them a try if you like that sort of thing.

[Anonymous No.5127314]

>>5123116
>>5126132
>>5126174
I second all of these. While they can be played out of order and still enjoyed pretty well, I'd recommend playing them in order since the last game in the series is basically a love letter to the series as a whole and I only wish I was able to experience that way instead of belatedly realizing the references and etc after playing the other games.

I haven't played any of the translations (or much the remakes) yet so I can't really say much on them but I'll at least recommend PS3's retranslation patch since the game already gets overlooked enough for a variety of (unfortunately valid) reasons and the localization doesn't help much. It came out earlier this year using a translation that's been around the web for a while now and helps makes better sense of it's place within the overall PS timeline.

As it was said before, the PS2 text adventures do well to flesh out both the characters and the world/setting for the game since they all happen before the main game starts and shows you how they ended up there; I'd recommend playing at least these side games with the main games if anything. Meanwhile you don't have to worry about Phantasy Star Adventure or Phantasy Star Gaiden unless you end up enjoying the series to that extent. I personally haven't played Gaiden but I've been told it's not really the best (especially the weird plot twist) and while I have played Phantasy Star Adventure, at best it's a short peak into a citizens life mostly removed from the main plot.

I'd also recommend reading translations of side materials/production diaries since there's a considerable amount of ideas that never formally made their way into the games as well as more fleshed out explanation of certain things they weren't able to include in the games at the time but only if this game ends up captivating you like it did with the young me, after you finish playing them all of course.

I hope you enjoy anon.

[Anonymous No.5127318]

>>5127314
Picture didn't attach

[Anonymous No.5129194]

>>5127314
>the PS2 text adventures do well to flesh out both the characters and the world/setting for the game since they all happen before the main game starts and shows you how they ended up there; I'd recommend playing at least these side games with the main games if anything.

I'd only recommend playing them if you're really thirsty for more from the phranchise and then only after you're done with the main series. They really present a very different version of the world of PS2 and don't fit very well in continuity. (are we to accept Motavia went from a desert wasteland in Eusis' Adventure to terraformed paradise in PS2 within 6 months?) They work best when PS2 is NOT fresh in your mind.

[Anonymous No.5129771]

>>5123074
If you are interested in the other games OP, here's what you should play them on :
-PSO has a great private server called Ephinea with a game experience very close to vanilla with qol stuff and a great community
-For PSU and its expansion, if you want to enjoy the story try the PS2 versions. To my knowledge, the expansion wasn't released on 360. And on PC it can be hard to play offline. Or if you are interested in the multiplayer only, PSU has a private server called Clementine. Still being developped but the team does a great job.
-For Phantasy Star Portable, either on PSP or through emulation.
-For Portable 2, play Infinity
-For 0, emulation or Nintendo DS
-Avoid PSO 2
Haven't tried Nova but I've seen pretty mixed reviews about it

[Anonymous No.5130084]

>>5129771
>And on PC it can be hard to play offline.
Torrenting and running both PSU version 1 and AOTU is pretty basic and painless, I do not recall having any trouble getting them running in offline mode when I played a couple of years back. Anybody reporting trouble with them may have gone full retard and tried starting the online modes. As for Clementine, it's a mere curiosity at this point. Let's not accidentally make anybody believe it's actually playable.

Though even bringing up PSO and PSU in a classic Phantasy Star thread seems a bit odd, really.

[Anonymous No.5130095]

>>5130084
>Though even bringing up PSO and PSU
I think it was more of a "hey buddy after you're done with the old games, give these a shot" kind of deal.

[Anonymous No.5130128]

>>5130084
>>5130095
OP was also interested in the other games hence the list.

[Anonymous No.5130317]

>>5127314
>translations of side materials/production diaries
where do I find those?

[Anonymous No.5130375]

>>5130084
I personally don't like torreting stuff so I bought a copy of AOTU on ebay and tried to run it offline but I wasn't able to. Even with patches. So I got a PS2 copy for pretty cheap, around 10 bucks

[Anonymous No.5131756]

>>5130375
>Even with patches
The patches themselves could have been the problem. When you say you ran it offline, were you truly offline? As in, was your internet connection disabled? You wouldn't want a dead game to try to update.

[Anonymous No.5132137]

>>5131756
Goddamit I didn't think of that. I'll try that next time. Thanks for making me realize I'm an idiot anon

[Anonymous No.5134319]

For the first game is the fan translation of the SMS version with the FM music the best option I have?

[Anonymous No.5134332]

>>5123880
>automap
Into the trash.