Phantasy Star 2 is still the best one for me. Spent a summer completing Phantasy Star 2. That lead to me completing an RPG every summer while I was in school until I graduated and beat Final Fantasy VII that final summer before I went to college.
@@thameekstaninjahman8337 You can tell phantasy star's producers took dragon quest as a stantard for what they wanted to do... and compared to dragon quest, ps2 doesn't have much grinding
I don’t know but when I was in 7th grade I was obsessed with this game. I’d get no sleep for school, couldn’t turn it off. I later played the first one and really liked it but PSII will stay in my vivid memory forever. The music was PHANTASTIC!!! Sorry... It really was mesmerizing though.
It's interesting that the hint book wound up being such a downside for you, when for me, it -- along with the hint book included in the instruction manual for Ultima: Quest of the Avatar on the NES -- kind of sparked my lifelong love of hint books (and maps in particular). I too used the hint book pretty much every step of the way, but that just made the experience all the more special for me, as it made me feel like an explorer consulting the notes left for me by previous explorers. I was an archaeologist exploring ruins that someone else had already mapped, but which few dared enter today due to the immense dangers that lurked therein! In fact, I work at XSEED Games, and it was the hint books included in Ultima:QotA and Phantasy Star II that inspired me to push for -- and eventually write -- the "Reah's Trusty Field Manual" included in the back of the Ys I & II Chronicles PSP manual, as well as "Adol's Travel Journal" included in the limited edition box set of Ys: Memories of Celceta on Vita. I was hoping to give someone else the same sense of wonder that I felt when I spent many long afternoons poring over those Phantasy Star and Ultima books. I guess it's all a matter of perspective, in the end. What you want out of these games determines how you'll react when encountering guides like this.
I remember doing Rolf-alone runs. You can actually take out the mother brain with him alone as well. Eventually I started doing save-outs before leveling up in order to keep resetting until I got better stats. I got so obsessive with this that I eventually modded my Genesis controller with an extra button that reset the console just so I didn't have to reach over and reset the console directly. One other feat I did was grind Nei up to level 50 and actually beat Neifirst with her alone. I was surprised to discover that the game anticipated this and had a separate conclusion to what happened next.
KarbuncleX lol damn! get after it! Playing PS2 for the first time. Had ps1 on the MS when i was 7 kr 8 around 87 or 88. Ive beat it so many times lol, its my favorite game ever. Im really liking ps2 though. I just got Amy a little bit ago so now I have a 4 person team. Its a little different and seems more polished to me than ps1. Still liking it a lot so far.
yeah dude. Rolf alone rocks. 4x experience points. levels up every fight, even in the dezo dungeons. i have always done this too. Just load up Rolf with tons of trimates, so you wabt waste MP on healing, saving it for Rolf's awesome offensive techs. I rarely use Megid, as it eats too much MP. and damag eisnt great for the price. You can cast 2 or 3 Nathu for the MP cost of Megid, and the damage tallies up to be way more than Megid's damage.
@@jasonmalice You can grind Blastoids in Climatrol and hit level 35 before fighting Neifirst. Makes the rest of the game sooooo much easier especially the dams and Dezos. I still recommend playing the Phantasy Star G1 and G2 remake.
I'd never really thought of this game as a graphical step back from the first. 3d first person mazes always felt so nondescript it was hard to tell where I was. The grid background seemed to accentuate the scifi nature of the game, and the animations were so cool I always liked how battles looked. However I do agree with you that more space travel would have been an improvement.
5:20 I think this is the biggest setback of the blue grid background The absence of background and 3D dungeons were due to lack of memory. The guy who created the dungeon maps made them too huge and complex, thus consuming almost all memory of the cartridge (he was a newcomer trying to showcase his dedication and the production leader felt bad to have to throw that away and used all of it). We all agree with the space travel part I guess. I would add the lack of vehycles as a probem as well, which phantasy star 4 corrected beautifully
Phantasy Star 2 is much more than a simple game, it contains the secrets to the meaning of life - trust me! My life was changed forever once I played this game, now I look up to the skies and know that somewhere, Mother Brain is there taking care of everything for us. She is alive throught each and every one of us, she experiences the worlds throught our senses.
I am really enjoying this game, even though I’m 15! I’m using a scan of the manual and hint book to help. I haven’t played the first one yet, so I don’t know if it’s better. It looks cool though, can’t wait to play it!
AMAZING game and AMAZING series! Sega really missed the mark by not giving us a Phantasy Star 5. To this day I do not know why Sega has not given us the an English version of the Phantasy Star remakes from the Sega Ages Collection on the PS2. Thanks for the video!
steve5123456789 Seriously! That is beyond tragic :( Oh the possibilities especially seeing how good 4 was on the Genesis. It was so good it was a major reason why I picked up another Sega Genesis.
New Age Retro Sans Even with that, they created such an amazing universe with such a cool look and style in Phantasy Star it is worth visiting again. In the very least, English translations of the remakes should be on Steam.
I distinctly remember not minding that the screens were like that for what you said, as well as the fact we were just thrilled that you could see multiple opponents at once on screen with animations.
I remember using that hint book, but I did it kind of sparingly. I'd only really look at the dungeon maps and maybe find out WTF town I was supposed to head to. I really disliked the dungeons because I felt that they were sooo slow. Overall I felt that the game was a major downgrade from part one, but I did enjoy it nonetheless.
+Game Sack [Coury] If i was just a little older, I feel I'd have done the same. The dungeons were very slow feeling and were just annoying because of all the ups and downs. But yeah, a definite downgrade from the first game. Its pretty crazy just how much more complete and, for lack of a better word, advanced, the first game felt. Its superior is nearly every way.
I came from the NES, and PStar2 blew me away compared to what I was used to with Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy 1. Great vid, but you hardly mentioned the monster graphics + animations.
In Phantasy Star III, combat is much faster, the dungeons are easier to navigate though you still move slowly, you have multiple ending paths depending on who Rhys, Ayn, or Niall marries, leveling up results in noticeable strength and technique improvements, and even low level healing techniques like Res gets stronger as you level up. Even the character story lines, strength, and techniques are different depending on whom your main character marries in a previous generation. For example, in the second generation, Ayn (son of Rhys and Maia) will go on a quest to stop Siren's cyborg attack on Layan lands whereas Niall (son of Rhys and Lena) will stop Lune's monster attacks.
@@HalifaxHercules Phantasy Star III is newer sure, so is less janky than PSII but the concept of generations was really badly implemented. By the 3rd gen the developers really didnt give a flying fuck about it and it was mostly empty. Other games did the generations system better with DQ V and FE4 handling with much finesse.
@@Epsilonsama thats because by the 3rd generation most of the population was dead. it was also when dark force's influence on rokario and siren, by the canonical path, make their final move by attacking the other surviving palman ship, and attempting to take control of the Alissa 3 to steer it into a black hole to complete the time paradox that allowed for the events of ps1 to come about. they actually gave alot of fucks about it, just because the end game wasnt chock full of side quests (or any of the game for that matter) dosent mean anything. 3rd generation is where you find out almost everything about whats ACTUALLY going on in the game and why shits been getting progressively more fucked the past 50 years or so.
I found PS2 to be wayyyyyy too grindy. Like, sweet Jesus, I'm level 20 in an area that can be navigated at level 5, and I'm STILL putting out 10 damage for a hit with a sword. And hey, I'm going to do this again 5 steps from now in a dungeon I can barely navigate because EVERYTHING LOOKS THE FUCKING SAME! And with only 5000 meseta, I still don't have enough to fully upgrade in the next section. Which means I GOTTA GRIND SOME MO! The music is mediocre at best, the plot has moments of pure absurdity (Im playing the translated remake, and I literally laughed out loud when the father killed his daughter. The look on Rolf and Nei's faces was priceless.) I get it that it gets a bit more epic later on, but the simple pacing and plot development of 1 felt more natural. 3 at least had enough quality of life improvements that made it good in it's own right. And 4 just blows every game right out of the water (and is easily one of the top 3 RPGs of the era). Phantasy star 2 is overrated.
I always liked the grid backgrounds for the fighting sections. They fit the game art style very well and it standout to me as something different then the other RPG of that time. I also like the early box art of the Genesis with the similar grid look on the box.
The person is reviewing this game from a present/modern day perspective. He clearly did not experience the game when it first came out and how it compared to other RPGs. He complains that characters only had a paragraph of backstory, and the story only moved along with a paragraph. That's how ALL RPGS were back then. They didn't have 10 minute CG rendered cinematics back then.
True that. Play Cable was test marketed in...New Jersey, I think? in 82/83. Great idea, never went national. Led to the...unusual...creation of the Intellivison port of Bump N Jump, which is a cool story in and of itself :)
I didn't play PS1, but I loved the battle background of plain-lines on black, it emphasized the characters and their battle animations, which were great. The battle music was great too. Also, the top-view dungeons were excellent.
It would have been nice if Sega had included a brief note on the first page of the hint book, saying something to the effect of, "We think you'll enjoy the game more if you try to solve puzzles and explore the world on your own, but if you get stuck use this guide!"
+Gonçalo Tordo [Coury] The remixes here are on the fantastic Phantasy Star Sound Collection CD set. You can find more info here: www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/psc1/index.html
I felt the same way. I only bought a Sega Genesis for the soft polystyrene insert that surrounded the system and controllers. What a disappointment. SMFH 🙄
I had a different experience with Phantasy Star 2. I bought my game used at Funco, so I didn't get the hint book. I never beat it, I spent too much time grinding and when I spent time away from the game I couldn't remember what I was doing or where I was going. If I wandered too far, I'd usually die and lose a lot of progress.
That game is really bugged. I've started playing the ps2 remake and to put it down for good. The slow combats and excessive amount of random encounters were excruciating, and the dungeon are so randomly designed that it's almost impossible to go through without proper maps. I got tired of the game and stopped playing when reaching Dezoris, after discovering that I couldn't obtain the enhancer because I had to do something in a specific moment in the game. I said "screw this!" and never played it again. Perhaps if I had played it when it was released I'd have enjoyed it more, but it has aged really bad.
PS2 was awesome. I know a lot of people today have issues with the level grinding but it made the game more rewarding. You felt a sense of accomplishment when you can finally get through an area or afford all the equipment you needed. Leve grinding exists in modern RPGs except it is smartly hidden. In early RPGs you would arrive at an area and grind to get your level and money up. Today the grinding has been replaced with sub quests. Same concept just executed in a way that does not feel tedious. And the lack of background animation during battles made no sense since the background was once again fully animated in PS4. Well in PS3 as well but the background and animation looked like garbage so no need to even really mention it.
Iirc, the backgrounds during the battles had to be removed due to lack of space on the cartridges but they were actually made initially. Sadly the enhanced remake Phantasy Star Generation 2 was only released in Japan. Damn the whole Sega Ages 2500 collection is pretty much Japan only . . . .
Interesting that this game came with a full hint-book. I'd say a good thing since back then there were no online walkthroughs, at certain points you'd definitely get stuck. The hint books are probably a rare today, collectors items.
Quick question for you Coury. What version were you playin @ 2:42 where it said in the upper left corner PlayStation 2 / Component? I can only find the Sega Ages Collection. And I thought that version was only a Japanese with a new design.
You're correct - the first two were remade as part of the Sega Ages series, but there was also a Phantasy Star Collection done during that series as well that included 1-4, and had both japanese and english roms included. The reason for me to play this version is for two reasons. One is that it includes a 240p resolution mode and secondly, it has a difficulty selection. By setting the game to "Very Easy" you can get 4x money and experience per battle, removing all the grind.
This game had a huge impact on me because I played it as a kid in 1989/1990. It was tough as hell and took me and a friend several weeks to finish it. We rented it over and over again from a local video store, and stayed up really late several nights in a row 'til we "beat" the game. This was the second or 3rd RPG I played. First was the orig. Zelda, 2nd was Dragon Warrior I, then this. I can see now how this game could drive someone nuts because RPGs have evolved quite a bit, but its characters and music stuck with me. The part with the cats (magic or mojic cap) and "the beautiful man in the Crevice." All pretty unique stuff... and how Nei dies.
the first guide book i used was for pokémon colloseum, and at the time it was kind of refreshing not dying to "gym" leaders like i did in crystal, because i had the book telling me what their pokémon would be ahead of time and what level i should get to.... but after i saw the final guy within a few days i felt similarly empty. after that i would only look up walkthroughs if i was stuck, until i decided to try playing metroid prime 3 with one, since i was borrowing it for only a week with a friend. i did manage to 100% everything, but once again i just kind of felt like i was dancing to someone else's tune. i don't like, judge other people who enjoy playing with walkthroughs just to have the experience without the worry, though i myself can't really understand it, and from then on i've only used them to look up solutions to annoying puzzles, and trying super hard to not let myself read ahead once i've found the answer.
The ending was good in a tragic way how they all did not go down without a fight to the end against the counsel. Too bad we were not able to play in that battle and see the outcome. The music was good too.
+My Life in Gaming The ending was the cherry on top made the game look great for it's time so I would have to disagree with your lack of enthusiasm. I did not play the original one but maybe some games should be played the same way people watch star wars, which is to start off with the 2nd game first LOL Playing old games again now are not as exciting since those games were great for their time but and we mostly reflect things based on other experiences which is the issue you had with it when comparing it with the first game. Things were original and people were experiencing new concepts, art, idea, and game play. The first game was nice when playing the remake but it still I am basing my experience based on the squeal which the first one does not hold as much fondness since I did not grow up with it despite it was a good game despite the many annoying things having to look at walk though to see where to go many times. I assume many played the 2nd one more than the first. And the music was memorable which helped in the game experience to like the game more. The 3rd game was good but the music was not as good as the 2nd one.
It's actually not supposed to be ambiguous at all. In the original Japanese it near outright says your party kicked the living shiz outta the last of the Earthmen. This is backed up in PSIV. I think I prefer the English ambiguity better though.
I recall renting PS2 early in the genesis days. Couldn't make heads or tails of it and was disappointed, as i was really craving a zelda style adventure which didn't show up on genesis until landstalker much later.
Fantastic video. Avoidance of guides has always been a big thing for me since the Dragon Warrior 1 guide. Now I'll be honest I use them more now since I'm trying to play through so many times I don't want to spend hours figuring out what to do next. But, knowing what's next is a huge spoiler so even now-a-days I just refer to one if I really need it.
+rguitar78 [Coury] I'll definitely do Sword of Vermillion. Recently bought a nice complete copy for that express purpose. The Shining Games, I have all the Genesis games in the series, so I'll probably do them at some point.
You described the weak points of the game pretty well. The game gives way to PhS1 in everything, except the plot & design. I also lack a possibility to talk with enemies from prequel! It was such a good feature of 80's JRPGs like Miracle Warriors, Heracles no Eikou, Laplace no Ma, Gegege no Kitaro 2, etc. And deaths of play characters were introduced in Final Fantasy 2, which came out several months earlier.
Игротека 90-х actually he did not describe it well at all,the graphics were beautiful,it was nowhere near marginally worse,do you even lnow anything about the gpus in the two consoles?? And that the original ps was a mark 3 game ported. The grid in battles was changed for a reason but whatever,horrible video of one who has not do e proper research and knows not of the two co soles hardware.
Lol I actually just got Sega smash pack 1 and 2 for the PC because I wanted to play Phantasy Star 2, as I don't have a Sega genesis. However, there is this weird glitch where after a few minutes of playing the game, it cuts back to the main menu. Is there a way I can fix this glitch? I been looking for a way to fix this. I was having a nice time playing Phantasy Star 2, and I'm desperate to continue it, as this would be my first time playing a RPG (besides Kingdom Hearts), and I have a feeling I would really like this game.
[Coury] I played the Phantasy Star Collection on PS2 by M2. Their emulation practices are generally considered the best and most accurate. The disc has both Japanese and US region versions and has a 240p mode. But the truth is, I played this version because if time. PS2 is a very, VERY grind heavy game and this specific version has an "easy mode" that gives you 4x money and experience. Thus making it a much breezier ordeal. I would have played the cart but I just didn't have time, though I consider the footage captured as close to the real version as possible.
Great video! Your channel is great, and I think it's at its best when you guys do these memories/retrospective videos. Your perspective is unique and presented very well. Keep up the great work!
+El Tron [Coury] Thanks! Our RGB videos are definitely our most popular but we'll never abandon doing videos like this. We have years worth of ideas at this point.
Despite never playing this game, this episode struck very close to home for me. When I was younger I used a guide to spoon-feed me through Super Metroid, Zelda Link to the Past and Final Fantasy III. Even today I do regret having robbed myself of what I feel would have otherwise been much more rewarding gaming experiences. But as you would say, live and learn. Thankfully through those mistakes I came to understand how valuable an experience getting through a game 'by yourself' can be. Games are, after all, much like virtual playgrounds, it only offers the tools to have fun, the rest is up to us! Thanks for this video and look forward to your future work.
Ah, the days of prepackaged hint books before RPGs were mainstream. The ones that came with the older Zelda games clearly stated that they should only be consulted if you're absolutely stuck on a specific part, but I was just as guilty and studied them as much as the actual instructions, eheh. Still, I doubt I would've figured some of that stuff out on my own even if the old games were new to me now
The game's story and concept is amazing, but you can blame most of the flaws on the Short time the developers had to make the game, just 6 months to make a huge RPG launch-title for the Genesis.
Nice video. I used the hint book - only after being stuck for more then say 6+ hrs in a given section of the game. Of all the games in the Phantasy Star series ; III Generations of time was probably the one I spent the most time on - going through each different "Generational" time line after completing one of the other time lines first.
Phantasy Star was a good game that could have used a lot of polish. Just look at PS4. Not nearly as bad as PS3 though. Easy ways to make PS2 better: * 1/8 the encounter rates * 4x walking speed * Make the difficulty spikes less absurd * Get rid of the pipes/fog and make the mountain tunnel puzzle less lame * Make it less about OMG FOUR DUNGEONS * Way more tile variety in all of the dungeons. In other words, make it PS4.
You know what guys I never owned a Genesis growing up but I had a couple friends that had one. I was always curious about this game growing up and now that I have it coming in the mail for my Retron 5, along with playing it on the PSP through the Sega Collections I'm loving it.
I was in the same predicament with FFIX only this year where I used IGN's walkthrough for pretty much the entire game but that guide handled it very differently because outside of letting you know that there was going to be a boss in the next room it was extremely light on story details. Even though my hand was being held the entire time I could still be involved and surprised with where the story went.
I read your "faq"and "about us" on your back log site, and wow. I'm impressed by your ambition, and determination. You really have a good idea in that site. Kudos to you sir.
+Nick Daniel (Senpai) [Coury] the PSO series doesn't have any connections story wise to the mainline series. I would say that PSO (at least the first one) takes the most aesthetic inspiration from Phantasy Star 2, though.
Great video! Good to see another person with an appreciation for the Phantasy Star series. I can see how using the guide book could ruin your experience in Phantasy Star 2, but that wasn't the case for me. My family didn't have a lot of money and I was lucky to even have a Genesis. I first played Phantasy Star 2 as a rental shortly after it was released. I had the game and a photo copied version of the map that came with the rental and that was it. I kept renting the game until I finished it. It took about three rentals. I had to figure out the game on my and experience it without any spoilers. I really enjoyed the game. However, my favorite in the series is still the first entry Phantasy Star, followed by Phantasy Star 4. My least favorite in the series is Phantasy Star 3. I am currently playing through the translated version of Phantasy Star Generation 2. I really miss the different weapon attack animations and sound effects in the origin Phantasy Star 2.
[Coury] I love stories like this. It really feels like people who played these games when they came out have great experiences with them. Something about that time of how unknown JRPGs were. I had a little bit of a segment on the remake but I ended up cutting it because it didn't flow in the edit. We will be playing the remake w fan translation this Sunday on our Episode Debrief live stream a 9pm est
wow! PS2 is the greatest in the series. Really sorry it got spoiled for you. Nei was a heartbreaker for me. I actualy played PS1 after 2 but loved it to death. Someday I hope to play 1 and 2 and the text adventures all in order.
I wouldn’t call this a bad game, but it’s certainly disappointing because the first game was so good as it blew the competition out of the water. Phantasy Star 2 is just inferior to Final Fantasy.
I only used that walkthrough to find my way through dungeons. I didn't read ahead. I regretted how my characters were nowhere near strong enough for the final boss though because I powered through the game too quickly with that guide.
I remember how people complained that a guide was included. I always wanted to say, like, 'Just don't look'....? Phantasy Star 4 continues the story of 2, I'm just getting to it now on 360. Yup, I forked over 80 bucks for this game when it was released!
Phantasy Star 2 was my first RPG that I played. I didn't know what I was getting - and I loved it. It was hard as hell. I had nothing to compare it against at the time. I am currently playing the remake and I am enjoying it. I feeel like a kid again :). RPG's from this era did not age as well as other games. However I consider it a good game. Wish they would make a true sequel to 4.
When I played it, it was O.K. But the mazes were maddening! I used the hint book to try to figure out how TF to go to get through the mazes, but even the maps didn't help much. Out of the four games, I'd rate them best to worst 1, 4, 3, 2. 2 would have beaten 3 but the mazes killed it. One wrong turn and you dropped to the bottom and had to start over; all the dead ends; having to do the maze 4 (or more) times to get each of the items... It was a disaster. 4 was great, I loved the ability to combine spells and skills to get mega attacks (ie. foi (or flaeli) + zan (or hewn) = fire storm), crosscut + effes = grand cross, but my favourite was deban + legeon + megid +posibolt (in that order) = destruct. The only 2 downsides were 1) You could only do 999 damage per attack (later in the game Legeon & megid alone did more damage than the combo) and if you went past level (IIRC) 94, you would start to *lose* stats!!!
I recently beat Phantasy Star 2 for the first time, so I don't have any nostalgia for it. I knew nothing about the game other than the dungeons are notoriously complex. I read the manual and fired it up. The first thing I noticed was the very unique setting (good) and how slow your character moves (not good). After grinding for a bit, I bought a Sonic Gun for Rolf. His attacks now dealt less damage despite his attack stat being a higher. Whatever. Found the first dungeon and was immediately put-off by the annoyingly overlay which obscured the walls underneath. After my first enemy encounter, the game had my character facing a different direction than before the battle, only adding to the confusion. By this point I was starting to learn techniques that were hardly mentioned in the manual. Pretty souring experience so far. This is when I finally decided if I'm going to continue, I'm looking up dungeon maps. After that, it became a somewhat enjoyable experience. There was more grinding involved, but I didn't mind. Eventually I also used save states and looked up item stats. This definitely improved my experience. After finishing, I was pretty relieved the game was over. Sometimes you want the game to not end. Not this one. I think every single aspect of the game has its positives and negatives, even the music (I experienced the glitch when talking to Lutz, nearly freaked out when the game froze, but luckily still had a recent save state). Unfortunately, the only way I can recommend this game to someone is if, at the very least, they look up maps. I realize that completely takes out a huge fun factor for an RPG, but this one is just too flawed in other areas that I'm not getting into. It also feels the only way to beat this game is knowing what items cast Gires. I guess you can figure that out by using every weapon/armor in battle, but how fun is that? Plus neither the game nor manual hint at doing this. These are probably explained in the hint book, I'm sure, but that should have never been necessary.
Honestly, the hint book already warns you right on the table of contents page; "It's best to read the hint only if absolutely necessary, and then, only the hint you really need." So while I completely understand being so hyped for the game that you just gotta read the hint book (so did I), the only one to really blame for the lack of feeling accomplished is yourself. =P
There are only a few games I remember my dad playing while growing up. He was never much of a gamer, but did like sci-fi/fantasy. He commandeered our Sega Genesis that he bought for us kids and played this one religiously every night for about a month all the way through to the end. Must have been a good game. It's weird, because as a kid I always thought of this as a weird/creepy game with strange music and confusing mechanics. It is only now that I see it through the eyes of an adult as my dad saw it as, and I can understand the attraction to this game. Sadly now that there are much more advanced games and the old 16-bit days have passed, I will not be able to experience the joy of this "cutting edge" game. Sure I can download the ROM and muddle through it, but to be playing it during the time it was new and exciting, to unfold that game map and read through the book to find answers - those days have passed.
Phantasy Star 2 is my favorite of the series. But I do wish it kept more of what made Phantasy Star 1 great in the first place. Like cool battle backgrounds and 3D dungeons. The only time I needed the hint book was that one dungeon in Dezo where it had you teleporting to whole bunch of different spots.
phantasy star 2 vs 3 I prefer the black grid with more animated monsters. I was really disappointed when I got ff3 and there where amazing backgrounds and really minimal sometimes downright silly animations. Like the grinders that wiggled their ears for attacks, or the guys in the turbans that would wiggle their finger. So disappointing. That game was rough without the guide. I tried to not look at it as much as possible. I actually played ps2 first then went back to explore the first one and loved it as well.
Phantasy Star 2 has some amazing animation, especially on the mech enemies. The giants in Phantasy Star 3 twiddled their fingers which always made me laugh. PS3 does have very nice still visuals and beautiful music (PS3's opening theme and dungeon music are glorious).
spodevids crazy, that’s almost exactly my story as well. Played PSII first, loved it. Will hold a special place in my memory forever. Then I played PSI, liked it a lot but it wasn’t quite as intriguing to me. Then I got III when it came out and hated the music and didn’t enjoy the game very much. Then I got IV and it wasn’t too far off from III... PSII was the forever nostalgic game in the series for me.
I feel really lucky we didn't bother using the hint book. This became my favorite RPG of all time. I actually played it again recently on steam. (I don't have a sega anymore)
Great Video! This game is now free on iOS btw. A word of caution though - I grinded all day the first day, only to find out after logging in the next day that the cloud save did not work properly. I'm thinking I'll go with my original thought and stream Phantasy Star II on Twitch. Subscribed, looking forward to checking out more of your videos!
Love this video! I wish you would spotlight ALL the Phantasy Star single-player rpgs. :D I have a lot (Over 1500 hours) worth of experience with the multiplayer games but I've never played thru one of the rpgs.
I guess it was good that my copy of PS2 didn't include the book (got it used). In retrospect, I almost wish it did, I had one hell of a time finding the spot in the ocean to go underwater on the first planet.
Me, as a third world country inhabitant, only found this game as a chinese bootleg cart without any booklets or anything I spent soooo much time trying to figure out where the hell the crevice was i leveled up all my characters to level 30 and up And in the end had to look up where it was 15 years later online
I couldn't afford PS4 when it came out, but my friend had the strategy guide, so I read it cover to cover before I played the game. it didn't ruin it for me.
Too sad that you read the hint book to finishe the game . Here in Brazil we didn´t have any information at all so I did finished the game by myself . It was really hard but I enjoy ever second of it . I love your videos !
Coury so far as I watch this I agree with your points on why this game didn't live up to expectations. For me it was way too much tech over fantasy. Also the battle backgrounds and lack of 3d dungeons was a downer. But the biggest let down was that the original cast of characters were not there. No Alis, Myau, Odin, or Noah. I think the game could have been called something else it was so different. For me Phantasy Star was the game that had the biggest impact on me so I had higher expectations. I formed a "relationship" with the Phantasy Star original cast, I wanted them back for another adventure.
[Coury] I definitely agree. A lot of games from the time used a 1000 year time skip so that they can change things up completely. I do like the overall look of the game, and the advanced technology of it all, but i really felt like PS IV was a much better mix. It seems with that game that they totally embraced their past too, with how many references to previous games there are. I agree on the relationship bit too. I love it when games have the same characters picking back up and it would have been awesome to play Phantasy Star 2 as Alis, Queen of Algol.
Alis as queen...nice. that would have been cool. Then odin, Noah,, Myau and a maybe a new partner heading out until Ali's joins in...PS 4 was the second best out of the 1-4 series I feel. Nice review though....
I didn't see the hint book as the Book of Ruined Experience. On the contrary, it helped when I got stuck which is what it was there for. I hadn't played PS1 to compare it to - the Sega Megadrive was my first console. I imagine that if you had the Master System to play PS1, you couldn't have been that young when playing PS2. But your points are good especially the change from fantasy to sci-fi and the background detail. Whilst I did not experience that in the PS games, I experienced that in book reading and I avoided sci-fi and stuck to fantasy. But I think that when taking into account all the firsts that PS2 brought, first major perma death of a lead character, largest RPG at the time with high memory cartridge (PS2 was £60 retail and I picked it up beause it was £20 on offer), accompanying large hint book, ambiguous ending. I think the perma-death of a lead character and the ambiguous ending (did they die or did they survive? Was Lutz a traitor?) causes so many questions unanswered and emotions that it can't really be compared and its what makes it the best out of the series and indeed the best RPG at the time. Those that played PS2 would periodically look up in later magazines or RUclips to see if some questions had been answered and whether the characters died in the end. I don't think the others have the same effect.
Have you ever played Sega Ages 2500 phantasy star 2? (I have XD) Phantasy Star 2 was my first game through some trial on some old website that sold Sega Genesis games and allowed you to play like, 5 minutes of them at first. I later played and got much further on the Wii and was like, huh, this is cool. Though I failed to ever try the first game, skipped 3 and went to 4 which I really enjoyed so far as my favorite in the series. Regardless, I’m very interested to try 1 through the Sega ages switch version and maybe even the 2500 ps2 one.
I do understand how you were disappointed by this game at first, because of how much it was different from the first game. But I did liked it. I was less shocked by the changes of the second Phantasy Star than from those of the THIRD game, who was likeable but a bit strange to play at first, when you thought it was supposed to be a Phantasy Star game.
Maybe the walkthrough ruined the experience of the game for you, but consider the opposite: deciding you will complete this game without consulting a walkthrough, getting stuck 75% of the way through the game, and never finishing it. That was my experience. I started the game in 1993 & came back every few years, picking the game back up & failing to progress, until my girlfriend at the time finally pressured me into selling off my retro collection in 2018.
I don't know what crack this guy was smoking, but back in the early 90's this game was the graphical tour tour Dr force. The bright and vibrant colors just captivated my imagination in a way PS1 never did
Phantasy Star 2 is still the best one for me. Spent a summer completing Phantasy Star 2. That lead to me completing an RPG every summer while I was in school until I graduated and beat Final Fantasy VII that final summer before I went to college.
Razel oh man, my friend and I used to skip school junior year just to play FF VII.
RPGs was meant to be challenging back in the day
@@thameekstaninjahman8337 You can tell phantasy star's producers took dragon quest as a stantard for what they wanted to do... and compared to dragon quest, ps2 doesn't have much grinding
My favorite game of all time.
While everyone was trying to resurrect Aerith Gainsborough, I was still wishing I could clone Nei.
YES YES YES!! If the rest of the world only knew that FF7 ripped off PSII!
Mine too. Truly the greatest game I have ever played. Still holds up for me to this day. Making my way through it again here recently.
I personally think both are great, why try to make one seem bad when both of them are great in their own way?
I don’t know but when I was in 7th grade I was obsessed with this game. I’d get no sleep for school, couldn’t turn it off. I later played the first one and really liked it but PSII will stay in my vivid memory forever. The music was PHANTASTIC!!! Sorry... It really was mesmerizing though.
Aerith is so overrated
It's interesting that the hint book wound up being such a downside for you, when for me, it -- along with the hint book included in the instruction manual for Ultima: Quest of the Avatar on the NES -- kind of sparked my lifelong love of hint books (and maps in particular). I too used the hint book pretty much every step of the way, but that just made the experience all the more special for me, as it made me feel like an explorer consulting the notes left for me by previous explorers. I was an archaeologist exploring ruins that someone else had already mapped, but which few dared enter today due to the immense dangers that lurked therein!
In fact, I work at XSEED Games, and it was the hint books included in Ultima:QotA and Phantasy Star II that inspired me to push for -- and eventually write -- the "Reah's Trusty Field Manual" included in the back of the Ys I & II Chronicles PSP manual, as well as "Adol's Travel Journal" included in the limited edition box set of Ys: Memories of Celceta on Vita. I was hoping to give someone else the same sense of wonder that I felt when I spent many long afternoons poring over those Phantasy Star and Ultima books.
I guess it's all a matter of perspective, in the end. What you want out of these games determines how you'll react when encountering guides like this.
I remember doing Rolf-alone runs. You can actually take out the mother brain with him alone as well. Eventually I started doing save-outs before leveling up in order to keep resetting until I got better stats. I got so obsessive with this that I eventually modded my Genesis controller with an extra button that reset the console just so I didn't have to reach over and reset the console directly. One other feat I did was grind Nei up to level 50 and actually beat Neifirst with her alone. I was surprised to discover that the game anticipated this and had a separate conclusion to what happened next.
KarbuncleX lol damn! get after it! Playing PS2 for the first time.
Had ps1 on the MS when i was 7 kr 8 around 87 or 88. Ive beat it so many times lol, its my favorite game ever. Im really liking ps2 though. I just got Amy a little bit ago so now I have a 4 person team. Its a little different and seems more polished to me than ps1. Still liking it a lot so far.
yeah dude. Rolf alone rocks. 4x experience points. levels up every fight, even in the dezo dungeons. i have always done this too. Just load up Rolf with tons of trimates, so you wabt waste MP on healing, saving it for Rolf's awesome offensive techs. I rarely use Megid, as it eats too much MP. and damag eisnt great for the price. You can cast 2 or 3 Nathu for the MP cost of Megid, and the damage tallies up to be way more than Megid's damage.
@@jasonmalice You can grind Blastoids in Climatrol and hit level 35 before fighting Neifirst. Makes the rest of the game sooooo much easier especially the dams and Dezos. I still recommend playing the Phantasy Star G1 and G2 remake.
@@chron151 Esp if you kill everyone in your party except Nei. Then she reaps all of the exp. So it doesnt take that long.
Phantasy Star Generation 2 has an english patch now, i'm trying to get the game to experience this enhanced remake :P
I'd never really thought of this game as a graphical step back from the first. 3d first person mazes always felt so nondescript it was hard to tell where I was. The grid background seemed to accentuate the scifi nature of the game, and the animations were so cool I always liked how battles looked. However I do agree with you that more space travel would have been an improvement.
Same with the Persona series
5:20 I think this is the biggest setback of the blue grid background
The absence of background and 3D dungeons were due to lack of memory. The guy who created the dungeon maps made them too huge and complex, thus consuming almost all memory of the cartridge (he was a newcomer trying to showcase his dedication and the production leader felt bad to have to throw that away and used all of it).
We all agree with the space travel part I guess. I would add the lack of vehycles as a probem as well, which phantasy star 4 corrected beautifully
I feel the same way. If you take a close look at the assets in the background, everything is super detailed.
Phantasy Star 2 is much more than a simple game, it contains the secrets to the meaning of life - trust me! My life was changed forever once I played this game, now I look up to the skies and know that somewhere, Mother Brain is there taking care of everything for us. She is alive throught each and every one of us, she experiences the worlds throught our senses.
...the ending after that long journey! WOW!!! (Still shivers me)
Agreed. I also look up and wonder what the hell’s gotten into climatrol. Its spiraled OUT of control.
word.
I am really enjoying this game, even though I’m 15! I’m using a scan of the manual and hint book to help. I haven’t played the first one yet, so I don’t know if it’s better. It looks cool though, can’t wait to play it!
AMAZING game and AMAZING series! Sega really missed the mark by not giving us a Phantasy Star 5. To this day I do not know why Sega has not given us the an English version of the Phantasy Star remakes from the Sega Ages Collection on the PS2. Thanks for the video!
+Ali Robins They planned a phantasy star for the 32x but cancelled it.
+Ali Robins I haven't played the games except for part of the first one, but from what I hear Part 4 wraps up everything with a satisfying conclusion.
steve5123456789 Seriously! That is beyond tragic :( Oh the possibilities especially seeing how good 4 was on the Genesis. It was so good it was a major reason why I picked up another Sega Genesis.
New Age Retro Sans Even with that, they created such an amazing universe with such a cool look and style in Phantasy Star it is worth visiting again. In the very least, English translations of the remakes should be on Steam.
Very true, it's baffling to me why they have II, III, and IV on Steam, but not I. This is why the Wii Virtual Console exists, folks.
I think the 'generic blue grid' background was cool in a way. Made the battles feel a little more 'sci-fi'.
I distinctly remember not minding that the screens were like that for what you said, as well as the fact we were just thrilled that you could see multiple opponents at once on screen with animations.
It looked like it was inspired by old-school arcade gaming to me, and that's why I like it.
You get it.😊
I remember using that hint book, but I did it kind of sparingly. I'd only really look at the dungeon maps and maybe find out WTF town I was supposed to head to. I really disliked the dungeons because I felt that they were sooo slow. Overall I felt that the game was a major downgrade from part one, but I did enjoy it nonetheless.
+Game Sack [Coury] If i was just a little older, I feel I'd have done the same. The dungeons were very slow feeling and were just annoying because of all the ups and downs.
But yeah, a definite downgrade from the first game. Its pretty crazy just how much more complete and, for lack of a better word, advanced, the first game felt. Its superior is nearly every way.
Nevertheless, one of the greatest endings in all of videogames. The ending left me stunned and amazed.
But what about the extra mega power?
I came from the NES, and PStar2 blew me away compared to what I was used to with Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy 1. Great vid, but you hardly mentioned the monster graphics + animations.
Interesting... after playing ps2 first, I thought ps1 was inferior.
If Phantasy Star 2 is your least favorite in the series, how does it compare to Phantasy Star 3?
In Phantasy Star III, combat is much faster, the dungeons are easier to navigate though you still move slowly, you have multiple ending paths depending on who Rhys, Ayn, or Niall marries, leveling up results in noticeable strength and technique improvements, and even low level healing techniques like Res gets stronger as you level up.
Even the character story lines, strength, and techniques are different depending on whom your main character marries in a previous generation.
For example, in the second generation, Ayn (son of Rhys and Maia) will go on a quest to stop Siren's cyborg attack on Layan lands whereas Niall (son of Rhys and Lena) will stop Lune's monster attacks.
@@HalifaxHercules Phantasy Star III is newer sure, so is less janky than PSII but the concept of generations was really badly implemented. By the 3rd gen the developers really didnt give a flying fuck about it and it was mostly empty. Other games did the generations system better with DQ V and FE4 handling with much finesse.
@@Epsilonsama thats because by the 3rd generation most of the population was dead. it was also when dark force's influence on rokario and siren, by the canonical path, make their final move by attacking the other surviving palman ship, and attempting to take control of the Alissa 3 to steer it into a black hole to complete the time paradox that allowed for the events of ps1 to come about. they actually gave alot of fucks about it, just because the end game wasnt chock full of side quests (or any of the game for that matter) dosent mean anything. 3rd generation is where you find out almost everything about whats ACTUALLY going on in the game and why shits been getting progressively more fucked the past 50 years or so.
I found PS2 to be wayyyyyy too grindy. Like, sweet Jesus, I'm level 20 in an area that can be navigated at level 5, and I'm STILL putting out 10 damage for a hit with a sword. And hey, I'm going to do this again 5 steps from now in a dungeon I can barely navigate because EVERYTHING LOOKS THE FUCKING SAME!
And with only 5000 meseta, I still don't have enough to fully upgrade in the next section. Which means I GOTTA GRIND SOME MO!
The music is mediocre at best, the plot has moments of pure absurdity (Im playing the translated remake, and I literally laughed out loud when the father killed his daughter. The look on Rolf and Nei's faces was priceless.)
I get it that it gets a bit more epic later on, but the simple pacing and plot development of 1 felt more natural. 3 at least had enough quality of life improvements that made it good in it's own right.
And 4 just blows every game right out of the water (and is easily one of the top 3 RPGs of the era).
Phantasy star 2 is overrated.
@@cronoesify So is PSO.
I always liked the grid backgrounds for the fighting sections. They fit the game art style very well and it standout to me as something different then the other RPG of that time. I also like the early box art of the Genesis with the similar grid look on the box.
The person is reviewing this game from a present/modern day perspective. He clearly did not experience the game when it first came out and how it compared to other RPGs. He complains that characters only had a paragraph of backstory, and the story only moved along with a paragraph. That's how ALL RPGS were back then. They didn't have 10 minute CG rendered cinematics back then.
And thats even if you were talkin about snes rpgs that came out 5 years after this
I wonder what Phantasy Star 2 would look like if they had more time to put it together...
Intellivision is the earliest console I can think of that supported downloadable games through a cable TV service. Now that is ahead of their time.
True that. Play Cable was test marketed in...New Jersey, I think? in 82/83. Great idea, never went national. Led to the...unusual...creation of the Intellivison port of Bump N Jump, which is a cool story in and of itself :)
I didn't play PS1, but I loved the battle background of plain-lines on black, it emphasized the characters and their battle animations, which were great. The battle music was great too. Also, the top-view dungeons were excellent.
It would have been nice if Sega had included a brief note on the first page of the hint book, saying something to the effect of, "We think you'll enjoy the game more if you try to solve puzzles and explore the world on your own, but if you get stuck use this guide!"
I wish there had been a Phantasy Star 5 on the Sega CD-32X...
Remember the thief girl?
Where did you find these remixes of Phantasy Star 2?
+Gonçalo Tordo [Coury] The remixes here are on the fantastic Phantasy Star Sound Collection CD set. You can find more info here: www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/psc1/index.html
+My Life in Gaming oooh thank you! Personally, Phantasy Star I is my favorite, followed by Phantasy Star IV, II and III last. Great video btw :)
loved the Genesis Phantasy Star IV and SMS Phantasy Star
I felt the same way. I only bought a Sega Genesis for the soft polystyrene insert that surrounded the system and controllers. What a disappointment. SMFH 🙄
I had a different experience with Phantasy Star 2. I bought my game used at Funco, so I didn't get the hint book. I never beat it, I spent too much time grinding and when I spent time away from the game I couldn't remember what I was doing or where I was going. If I wandered too far, I'd usually die and lose a lot of progress.
That game is really bugged. I've started playing the ps2 remake and to put it down for good. The slow combats and excessive amount of random encounters were excruciating, and the dungeon are so randomly designed that it's almost impossible to go through without proper maps.
I got tired of the game and stopped playing when reaching Dezoris, after discovering that I couldn't obtain the enhancer because I had to do something in a specific moment in the game. I said "screw this!" and never played it again.
Perhaps if I had played it when it was released I'd have enjoyed it more, but it has aged really bad.
@@akualung Nothing you listed is a "bug". You probably use "it's bugged" when talking about a lot of games, and what you're mentioning is not a bug.
PS2 was awesome. I know a lot of people today have issues with the level grinding but it made the game more rewarding. You felt a sense of accomplishment when you can finally get through an area or afford all the equipment you needed. Leve grinding exists in modern RPGs except it is smartly hidden. In early RPGs you would arrive at an area and grind to get your level and money up. Today the grinding has been replaced with sub quests. Same concept just executed in a way that does not feel tedious.
And the lack of background animation during battles made no sense since the background was once again fully animated in PS4. Well in PS3 as well but the background and animation looked like garbage so no need to even really mention it.
Iirc, the backgrounds during the battles had to be removed due to lack of space on the cartridges but they were actually made initially.
Sadly the enhanced remake Phantasy Star Generation 2 was only released in Japan. Damn the whole Sega Ages 2500 collection is pretty much Japan only . . . .
Interesting that this game came with a full hint-book. I'd say a good thing since back then there were no online walkthroughs, at certain points you'd definitely get stuck. The hint books are probably a rare today, collectors items.
Really? You liked 2 the least? Make a video on 3... I’d love to hear why you like that better.
Quick question for you Coury. What version were you playin @ 2:42 where it said in the upper left corner PlayStation 2 / Component? I can only find the Sega Ages Collection. And I thought that version was only a Japanese with a new design.
You're correct - the first two were remade as part of the Sega Ages series, but there was also a Phantasy Star Collection done during that series as well that included 1-4, and had both japanese and english roms included. The reason for me to play this version is for two reasons. One is that it includes a 240p resolution mode and secondly, it has a difficulty selection. By setting the game to "Very Easy" you can get 4x money and experience per battle, removing all the grind.
My Life in Gaming Wow,
This is great news Coury. I will need to track down a copy of this Phantasy Star Collection for my slim PS2.
This game had a huge impact on me because I played it as a kid in 1989/1990. It was tough as hell and took me and a friend several weeks to finish it. We rented it over and over again from a local video store, and stayed up really late several nights in a row 'til we "beat" the game. This was the second or 3rd RPG I played. First was the orig. Zelda, 2nd was Dragon Warrior I, then this. I can see now how this game could drive someone nuts because RPGs have evolved quite a bit, but its characters and music stuck with me. The part with the cats (magic or mojic cap) and "the beautiful man in the Crevice." All pretty unique stuff... and how Nei dies.
I always thought the blue grid for the battle background was parodying Tron or something.
the first guide book i used was for pokémon colloseum, and at the time it was kind of refreshing not dying to "gym" leaders like i did in crystal, because i had the book telling me what their pokémon would be ahead of time and what level i should get to.... but after i saw the final guy within a few days i felt similarly empty.
after that i would only look up walkthroughs if i was stuck, until i decided to try playing metroid prime 3 with one, since i was borrowing it for only a week with a friend. i did manage to 100% everything, but once again i just kind of felt like i was dancing to someone else's tune.
i don't like, judge other people who enjoy playing with walkthroughs just to have the experience without the worry, though i myself can't really understand it, and from then on i've only used them to look up solutions to annoying puzzles, and trying super hard to not let myself read ahead once i've found the answer.
The ending was good in a tragic way how they all did not go down without a fight to the end against the counsel. Too bad we were not able to play in that battle and see the outcome.
The music was good too.
[Coury] yeah, I love how ambiguous the ending is. It was pretty gutsy at the time to do that, but we know now that they were successful
+My Life in Gaming The ending was the cherry on top made the game look great for it's time so I would have to disagree with your lack of enthusiasm. I did not play the original one but maybe some games should be played the same way people watch star wars, which is to start off with the 2nd game first LOL
Playing old games again now are not as exciting since those games were great for their time but and we mostly reflect things based on other experiences which is the issue you had with it when comparing it with the first game. Things were original and people were experiencing new concepts, art, idea, and game play.
The first game was nice when playing the remake but it still I am basing my experience based on the squeal which the first one does not hold as much fondness since I did not grow up with it despite it was a good game despite the many annoying things having to look at walk though to see where to go many times.
I assume many played the 2nd one more than the first. And the music was memorable which helped in the game experience to like the game more.
The 3rd game was good but the music was not as good as the 2nd one.
It's actually not supposed to be ambiguous at all. In the original Japanese it near outright says your party kicked the living shiz outta the last of the Earthmen. This is backed up in PSIV. I think I prefer the English ambiguity better though.
I recall renting PS2 early in the genesis days. Couldn't make heads or tails of it and was disappointed, as i was really craving a zelda style adventure which didn't show up on genesis until landstalker much later.
Fantastic video. Avoidance of guides has always been a big thing for me since the Dragon Warrior 1 guide. Now I'll be honest I use them more now since I'm trying to play through so many times I don't want to spend hours figuring out what to do next. But, knowing what's next is a huge spoiler so even now-a-days I just refer to one if I really need it.
The best music in video game history.
Phantasy Star 2 was incredible for it's time. I own it on Steam now, it's very cheap now!
it's = it is
its = possessive
12:18 where did you get that figurine?? I want one!
He got the figure from up his ass. He literally shoved his hand up his rectum and pulled it out.
My favorite part was when Nei learned SAK, and I tested it out to see what it did in the middle of a dungeon.
Please oh please do Shining in the Darkness and/or Sword of Vermillion! Great Show!!!!!!!!!
+rguitar78 [Coury] I'll definitely do Sword of Vermillion. Recently bought a nice complete copy for that express purpose. The Shining Games, I have all the Genesis games in the series, so I'll probably do them at some point.
Fantastic to hear, thanks so much.
+rguitar78 Shining in the Darkness is incredible. One of my all-time faves.
I thought PS2 was the best in the series. 3 is where the real dropoff was, then 4 brought it back up a bit.
You described the weak points of the game pretty well. The game gives way to PhS1 in everything, except the plot & design.
I also lack a possibility to talk with enemies from prequel! It was such a good feature of 80's JRPGs like Miracle Warriors, Heracles no Eikou, Laplace no Ma, Gegege no Kitaro 2, etc.
And deaths of play characters were introduced in Final Fantasy 2, which came out several months earlier.
Игротека 90-х actually he did not describe it well at all,the graphics were beautiful,it was nowhere near marginally worse,do you even lnow anything about the gpus in the two consoles?? And that the original ps was a mark 3 game ported. The grid in battles was changed for a reason but whatever,horrible video of one who has not do e proper research and knows not of the two co soles hardware.
Phantasy Star II is my favorite RPG of all time. So many things to like here. And yes, you must use the bundled strategy guide sparingly.
I prefer the Sega version than the ps2 remake especially the dungeon music. It sounds cute, upbeat, and makes me smile.
Lol I actually just got Sega smash pack 1 and 2 for the PC because I wanted to play Phantasy Star 2, as I don't have a Sega genesis. However, there is this weird glitch where after a few minutes of playing the game, it cuts back to the main menu. Is there a way I can fix this glitch? I been looking for a way to fix this. I was having a nice time playing Phantasy Star 2, and I'm desperate to continue it, as this would be my first time playing a RPG (besides Kingdom Hearts), and I have a feeling I would really like this game.
great video. why the PS2 version through YPbPr instead of Genesis cart through RGB?
[Coury] I played the Phantasy Star Collection on PS2 by M2. Their emulation practices are generally considered the best and most accurate. The disc has both Japanese and US region versions and has a 240p mode.
But the truth is, I played this version because if time. PS2 is a very, VERY grind heavy game and this specific version has an "easy mode" that gives you 4x money and experience. Thus making it a much breezier ordeal. I would have played the cart but I just didn't have time, though I consider the footage captured as close to the real version as possible.
Great video! Your channel is great, and I think it's at its best when you guys do these memories/retrospective videos. Your perspective is unique and presented very well. Keep up the great work!
+El Tron [Coury] Thanks! Our RGB videos are definitely our most popular but we'll never abandon doing videos like this. We have years worth of ideas at this point.
+My Life in Gaming Great to hear this!
Where does that Phantasy Star 1 map around 6:20 come from?
Great review btw :).
Despite never playing this game, this episode struck very close to home for me. When I was younger I used a guide to spoon-feed me through Super Metroid, Zelda Link to the Past and Final Fantasy III. Even today I do regret having robbed myself of what I feel would have otherwise been much more rewarding gaming experiences. But as you would say, live and learn. Thankfully through those mistakes I came to understand how valuable an experience getting through a game 'by yourself' can be. Games are, after all, much like virtual playgrounds, it only offers the tools to have fun, the rest is up to us! Thanks for this video and look forward to your future work.
Ah, the days of prepackaged hint books before RPGs were mainstream. The ones that came with the older Zelda games clearly stated that they should only be consulted if you're absolutely stuck on a specific part, but I was just as guilty and studied them as much as the actual instructions, eheh. Still, I doubt I would've figured some of that stuff out on my own even if the old games were new to me now
The game's story and concept is amazing, but you can blame most of the flaws on the Short time the developers had to make the game, just 6 months to make a huge RPG launch-title for the Genesis.
The only problem I had with the game was the battle backgrounds. Those backgrounds in ps1 made the game so alive and awesome, dungeons too :)
Nice video. I used the hint book - only after being stuck for more then say 6+ hrs in a given section of the game. Of all the games in the Phantasy Star series ; III Generations of time was probably the one I spent the most time on - going through each different "Generational" time line after completing one of the other time lines first.
3 planets do not make a galaxy. It's the Algo star system
Phantasy Star was a good game that could have used a lot of polish. Just look at PS4. Not nearly as bad as PS3 though.
Easy ways to make PS2 better:
* 1/8 the encounter rates
* 4x walking speed
* Make the difficulty spikes less absurd
* Get rid of the pipes/fog and make the mountain tunnel puzzle less lame
* Make it less about OMG FOUR DUNGEONS
* Way more tile variety in all of the dungeons.
In other words, make it PS4.
You know what guys I never owned a Genesis growing up but I had a couple friends that had one. I was always curious about this game growing up and now that I have it coming in the mail for my Retron 5, along with playing it on the PSP through the Sega Collections I'm loving it.
Till this day its music is still in my head. One of the best childhood moments of all time.
I was in the same predicament with FFIX only this year where I used IGN's walkthrough for pretty much the entire game but that guide handled it very differently because outside of letting you know that there was going to be a boss in the next room it was extremely light on story details. Even though my hand was being held the entire time I could still be involved and surprised with where the story went.
I read your "faq"and "about us" on your back log site, and wow. I'm impressed by your ambition, and determination. You really have a good idea in that site. Kudos to you sir.
Does this game actually has connection to the Phantasy Star Online series?
+Nick Daniel (Senpai) [Coury] the PSO series doesn't have any connections story wise to the mainline series. I would say that PSO (at least the first one) takes the most aesthetic inspiration from Phantasy Star 2, though.
Phantasy star 2 is the reason they still search for a new world in Phantasy Star Online
Great video! Good to see another person with an appreciation for the Phantasy Star series.
I can see how using the guide book could ruin your experience in Phantasy Star 2, but that wasn't the case for me.
My family didn't have a lot of money and I was lucky to even have a Genesis. I first played Phantasy Star 2 as a rental shortly after it was released. I had the game and a photo copied version of the map that came with the rental and that was it. I kept renting the game until I finished it. It took about three rentals. I had to figure out the game on my and experience it without any spoilers. I really enjoyed the game. However, my favorite in the series is still the first entry Phantasy Star, followed by Phantasy Star 4. My least favorite in the series is Phantasy Star 3.
I am currently playing through the translated version of Phantasy Star Generation 2. I really miss the different weapon attack animations and sound effects in the origin Phantasy Star 2.
[Coury] I love stories like this. It really feels like people who played these games when they came out have great experiences with them. Something about that time of how unknown JRPGs were.
I had a little bit of a segment on the remake but I ended up cutting it because it didn't flow in the edit. We will be playing the remake w fan translation this Sunday on our Episode Debrief live stream a 9pm est
PS2, PS4 - great games!
Holy crap I remember playing this as a kid on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Classics collection.
The only flaw in the game is the lack of background in the battle screens, but if you can get past that, it's a great game.
When are you doing phantasy star 3?
wow! PS2 is the greatest in the series. Really sorry it got spoiled for you. Nei was a heartbreaker for me. I actualy played PS1 after 2 but loved it to death. Someday I hope to play 1 and 2 and the text adventures all in order.
I wouldn’t call this a bad game, but it’s certainly disappointing because the first game was so good as it blew the competition out of the water. Phantasy Star 2 is just inferior to Final Fantasy.
I only used that walkthrough to find my way through dungeons. I didn't read ahead. I regretted how my characters were nowhere near strong enough for the final boss though because I powered through the game too quickly with that guide.
Cool just got the Sega genesis collection, this game did catch my eye
I remember how people complained that a guide was included. I always wanted to say, like, 'Just don't look'....? Phantasy Star 4 continues the story of 2, I'm just getting to it now on 360. Yup, I forked over 80 bucks for this game when it was released!
Ps2 was a great game. It had only one problem, it was the sequel to the greatest console rpg of all time.
I think its a great game and hella hard. Without the hint book, I think I could never make it. Maybe I'm just a limited player tho
Phantasy Star 2 was my first RPG that I played. I didn't know what I was getting - and I loved it. It was hard as hell. I had nothing to compare it against at the time. I am currently playing the remake and I am enjoying it. I feeel like a kid again :). RPG's from this era did not age as well as other games. However I consider it a good game. Wish they would make a true sequel to 4.
best game in the series and one of the best console rpgs of all time.
I bought this game second hand. No hint book and totally loved it almost as much as the first which is my favorite game of all time.
When I played it, it was O.K. But the mazes were maddening! I used the hint book to try to figure out how TF to go to get through the mazes, but even the maps didn't help much. Out of the four games, I'd rate them best to worst 1, 4, 3, 2. 2 would have beaten 3 but the mazes killed it. One wrong turn and you dropped to the bottom and had to start over; all the dead ends; having to do the maze 4 (or more) times to get each of the items... It was a disaster. 4 was great, I loved the ability to combine spells and skills to get mega attacks (ie. foi (or flaeli) + zan (or hewn) = fire storm), crosscut + effes = grand cross, but my favourite was deban + legeon + megid +posibolt (in that order) = destruct. The only 2 downsides were 1) You could only do 999 damage per attack (later in the game Legeon & megid alone did more damage than the combo) and if you went past level (IIRC) 94, you would start to *lose* stats!!!
I recently beat Phantasy Star 2 for the first time, so I don't have any nostalgia for it. I knew nothing about the game other than the dungeons are notoriously complex. I read the manual and fired it up. The first thing I noticed was the very unique setting (good) and how slow your character moves (not good). After grinding for a bit, I bought a Sonic Gun for Rolf. His attacks now dealt less damage despite his attack stat being a higher. Whatever. Found the first dungeon and was immediately put-off by the annoyingly overlay which obscured the walls underneath. After my first enemy encounter, the game had my character facing a different direction than before the battle, only adding to the confusion. By this point I was starting to learn techniques that were hardly mentioned in the manual. Pretty souring experience so far. This is when I finally decided if I'm going to continue, I'm looking up dungeon maps.
After that, it became a somewhat enjoyable experience. There was more grinding involved, but I didn't mind. Eventually I also used save states and looked up item stats. This definitely improved my experience. After finishing, I was pretty relieved the game was over. Sometimes you want the game to not end. Not this one.
I think every single aspect of the game has its positives and negatives, even the music (I experienced the glitch when talking to Lutz, nearly freaked out when the game froze, but luckily still had a recent save state). Unfortunately, the only way I can recommend this game to someone is if, at the very least, they look up maps. I realize that completely takes out a huge fun factor for an RPG, but this one is just too flawed in other areas that I'm not getting into. It also feels the only way to beat this game is knowing what items cast Gires. I guess you can figure that out by using every weapon/armor in battle, but how fun is that? Plus neither the game nor manual hint at doing this. These are probably explained in the hint book, I'm sure, but that should have never been necessary.
Honestly, the hint book already warns you right on the table of contents page; "It's best to read the hint only if absolutely necessary, and then, only the hint you really need." So while I completely understand being so hyped for the game that you just gotta read the hint book (so did I), the only one to really blame for the lack of feeling accomplished is yourself. =P
There are only a few games I remember my dad playing while growing up. He was never much of a gamer, but did like sci-fi/fantasy. He commandeered our Sega Genesis that he bought for us kids and played this one religiously every night for about a month all the way through to the end. Must have been a good game.
It's weird, because as a kid I always thought of this as a weird/creepy game with strange music and confusing mechanics. It is only now that I see it through the eyes of an adult as my dad saw it as, and I can understand the attraction to this game. Sadly now that there are much more advanced games and the old 16-bit days have passed, I will not be able to experience the joy of this "cutting edge" game. Sure I can download the ROM and muddle through it, but to be playing it during the time it was new and exciting, to unfold that game map and read through the book to find answers - those days have passed.
Phantasy Star 2 is my favorite of the series. But I do wish it kept more of what made Phantasy Star 1 great in the first place. Like cool battle backgrounds and 3D dungeons.
The only time I needed the hint book was that one dungeon in Dezo where it had you teleporting to whole bunch of different spots.
I had watch GTV video on Phantasy Star 2, the reason they use a grid for the battle is to save up space.
phantasy star 2 vs 3 I prefer the black grid with more animated monsters. I was really disappointed when I got ff3 and there where amazing backgrounds and really minimal sometimes downright silly animations. Like the grinders that wiggled their ears for attacks, or the guys in the turbans that would wiggle their finger.
So disappointing. That game was rough without the guide. I tried to not look at it as much as possible. I actually played ps2 first then went back to explore the first one and loved it as well.
Phantasy Star 2 has some amazing animation, especially on the mech enemies. The giants in Phantasy Star 3 twiddled their fingers which always made me laugh.
PS3 does have very nice still visuals and beautiful music (PS3's opening theme and dungeon music are glorious).
spodevids crazy, that’s almost exactly my story as well. Played PSII first, loved it. Will hold a special place in my memory forever. Then I played PSI, liked it a lot but it wasn’t quite as intriguing to me. Then I got III when it came out and hated the music and didn’t enjoy the game very much. Then I got IV and it wasn’t too far off from III... PSII was the forever nostalgic game in the series for me.
Phantasy Star 2 is the GREATEST RPG Ever made in the 16bit era of Video Games...
I feel really lucky we didn't bother using the hint book. This became my favorite RPG of all time. I actually played it again recently on steam. (I don't have a sega anymore)
Great Video! This game is now free on iOS btw. A word of caution though - I grinded all day the first day, only to find out after logging in the next day that the cloud save did not work properly.
I'm thinking I'll go with my original thought and stream Phantasy Star II on Twitch.
Subscribed, looking forward to checking out more of your videos!
I love Phantasy Star II myself!
Love this video! I wish you would spotlight ALL the Phantasy Star single-player rpgs. :D
I have a lot (Over 1500 hours) worth of experience with the multiplayer games but I've never played thru one of the rpgs.
+Jeremy McKinley [coury] I'll definitely be doing them all. Look for 3 this fall!
Sweet! Looking forward to it!
Finally know how to pronounce Nei, I loved the final boss and I cried when Nei died
Nice review...im having a playthrough these last days...like 30 years after i played the game for the first time
I guess it was good that my copy of PS2 didn't include the book (got it used). In retrospect, I almost wish it did, I had one hell of a time finding the spot in the ocean to go underwater on the first planet.
Me, as a third world country inhabitant, only found this game as a chinese bootleg cart without any booklets or anything
I spent soooo much time trying to figure out where the hell the crevice was i leveled up all my characters to level 30 and up
And in the end had to look up where it was 15 years later online
I couldn't afford PS4 when it came out, but my friend had the strategy guide, so I read it cover to cover before I played the game. it didn't ruin it for me.
Too sad that you read the hint book to finishe the game . Here in Brazil we didn´t have any information at all so I did finished the game by myself .
It was really hard but I enjoy ever second of it .
I love your videos !
Shout out to the time travelling artist for the American cover art who drew Mads Mikkelsen as the protagonist long before he was famous.
Coury so far as I watch this I agree with your points on why this game didn't live up to expectations. For me it was way too much tech over fantasy. Also the battle backgrounds and lack of 3d dungeons was a downer. But the biggest let down was that the original cast of characters were not there. No Alis, Myau, Odin, or Noah. I think the game could have been called something else it was so different. For me Phantasy Star was the game that had the biggest impact on me so I had higher expectations. I formed a "relationship" with the Phantasy Star original cast, I wanted them back for another adventure.
[Coury] I definitely agree. A lot of games from the time used a 1000 year time skip so that they can change things up completely. I do like the overall look of the game, and the advanced technology of it all, but i really felt like PS IV was a much better mix. It seems with that game that they totally embraced their past too, with how many references to previous games there are.
I agree on the relationship bit too. I love it when games have the same characters picking back up and it would have been awesome to play Phantasy Star 2 as Alis, Queen of Algol.
Alis as queen...nice. that would have been cool. Then odin, Noah,, Myau and a maybe a new partner heading out until Ali's joins in...PS 4 was the second best out of the 1-4 series I feel. Nice review though....
This game was amazing. Anything otherwise stated is blasphemy.
I didn't see the hint book as the Book of Ruined Experience. On the contrary, it helped when I got stuck which is what it was there for. I hadn't played PS1 to compare it to - the Sega Megadrive was my first console. I imagine that if you had the Master System to play PS1, you couldn't have been that young when playing PS2. But your points are good especially the change from fantasy to sci-fi and the background detail. Whilst I did not experience that in the PS games, I experienced that in book reading and I avoided sci-fi and stuck to fantasy. But I think that when taking into account all the firsts that PS2 brought, first major perma death of a lead character, largest RPG at the time with high memory cartridge (PS2 was £60 retail and I picked it up beause it was £20 on offer), accompanying large hint book, ambiguous ending. I think the perma-death of a lead character and the ambiguous ending (did they die or did they survive? Was Lutz a traitor?) causes so many questions unanswered and emotions that it can't really be compared and its what makes it the best out of the series and indeed the best RPG at the time. Those that played PS2 would periodically look up in later magazines or RUclips to see if some questions had been answered and whether the characters died in the end. I don't think the others have the same effect.
Have you ever played Sega Ages 2500 phantasy star 2? (I have XD)
Phantasy Star 2 was my first game through some trial on some old website that sold Sega Genesis games and allowed you to play like, 5 minutes of them at first. I later played and got much further on the Wii and was like, huh, this is cool. Though I failed to ever try the first game, skipped 3 and went to 4 which I really enjoyed so far as my favorite in the series.
Regardless, I’m very interested to try 1 through the Sega ages switch version and maybe even the 2500 ps2 one.
I do understand how you were disappointed by this game at first, because of how much it was different from the first game. But I did liked it. I was less shocked by the changes of the second Phantasy Star than from those of the THIRD game, who was likeable but a bit strange to play at first, when you thought it was supposed to be a Phantasy Star game.
Maybe the walkthrough ruined the experience of the game for you, but consider the opposite: deciding you will complete this game without consulting a walkthrough, getting stuck 75% of the way through the game, and never finishing it. That was my experience. I started the game in 1993 & came back every few years, picking the game back up & failing to progress, until my girlfriend at the time finally pressured me into selling off my retro collection in 2018.
I don't know what crack this guy was smoking, but back in the early 90's this game was the graphical tour tour Dr force. The bright and vibrant colors just captivated my imagination in a way PS1 never did