The OG phantasy Star was a little before my time but the GameCube version of Phantasy Star online was so good. They even have community servers for it today as Phantasy Star Blue burst. The game is now dated but honestly I could still play it because it had a good grind formula
To clarify: Blue Burst was actually the PC port. [0] I put alot of time into that one, once an English patch became available on Schtserv. They made a bunch of the perks/models available to everyone that were previously only available to Sega employees and holidays. Running through the game with a trio of friends, all skinned as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, is one of my treasured gaming memories.
Phantasy Star Online was so far ahead of its time. I remember connecting it up to my early modem via phone jack.
Gameplay was amazing, story and graphics were great, the community was really fun.
Oddly it’s also the last MMO I ever really played. As I got into high school I focused more on music and whenever I would try a new MMO game they never felt nearly as good as PSO.
NoLinkToMe 1 hours ago [-]
Uff Blue Burst, fantastic online game, it's one of those blasts of sheer nostalgia that is almost unbearable, I'd give everything to go back. It's partly the game, and partly my life around the time I was playing the game, a time of constant wonder and exploration and true excitement. There are times every few years that I just put the games' music album on a loop to relive the memories. Though just watching some gameplay is also fantastic with the sound and graphic design.
hnlmorg 2 hours ago [-]
I still play PSO weekly online with a small guild of friends.
It's free and they're almost always some open parties available for people to join (or create your own team and randoms will almost certainly join and help you level up).
I'm usually around on Tuesday evenings (UK timezone) but the guild meets other days too.
Do you have any characters already leveled up? Or would you be starting from scratch?
mghackerlady 36 minutes ago [-]
what version do you play? I believe that affects it. There are custom servers for pc and gamecube, but there's more work on dreamcast
The Dreamcast has it's own community servers and isn't compatible with Schtserv. Though I believe that might just be because Episode 2 wasn't release on the DC.
I do have an account for the DC servers too but I wouldn't recommend them. The DC takes too much hassle to get online for the value when most people on the DC PSO server are there for the novelty rather than the grind.
Blue Burst (PC) has it's own community servers too. But I've never owned nor played PSO on the PC.
AdmiralAsshat 2 hours ago [-]
Reiko Kodama did some incredible work for Sega, Skies of Arcadia probably being her most notable after Phantasy Star. She unfortunately passed away in 2022, and it took some months before anyone was even aware of it due to her family's desire for privacy.
izzydata 23 minutes ago [-]
I like Phantasy Star IV, but my main love of the franchise is still Phantasy Star Online 1. From my understand during the planning phase of PSO it hadn't been decided to be a Phantasy Star game. It wasn't until later that they decided to skin the game to Phantasy Star. Funny how you can be well into development on the fundamentals of a game and not know what it will be called or exactly what it will look like.
fooqux 14 minutes ago [-]
I would say it showed though. The game basically had zero story, and that's why.
mghackerlady 37 minutes ago [-]
Phantasy Star is such an underrated series. They're all far before my time, I was exposed via a sega genesis collection on the xbox 360. I've played a lot of I, II, and IV. I've also played and enjoyed phantasy star zero on the ds and got some enjoyment out of it
kinow 37 minutes ago [-]
Phantasy Star I was the first RPG I played when child. I remember my father showing us the basic commands, and then my brothers and I taking notes of items, magic, and drawing cave maps.
functionmouse 4 days ago [-]
Awesome game, highly recommended. It's fine if it's your first PS game
Esn024 1 hours ago [-]
Yes, it is surprisingly polished. I tried playing the first three Phantasy Star games, but each time was put off by one annoying design flaw or another (such as the camera not being centred in II, so that you can't see very far ahead when exploring). In the fourth game, everything just works.
Just about the only annoying flaw still left is that it's not obvious what items do, and you kinda will need to memorize lots of random names... (Well, or have a reference near you while you play) This is actually mentioned in the interview as them not wanting to be too explicit about what things do (not saying "attack +20" etc.) - unfortunately, it's one of those design decisions that does create friction for the player.
ansgri 2 hours ago [-]
PS3 was one of my favorite games, maybe it's time to get myself one of those pocket emulators and play PS4 finally.
functionmouse 4 minutes ago [-]
I recommend Retroid Pocket 6 if you like Android or want to play GC/PS2/N64, or a Miyoo Mini Plus if you don't care about any of that. Neat thing about the mini plus is its 640x480 screen, so you get Genesis/Mega Drive games edge to edge 2x integer scale if configured properly. Also has OnionOS which is a pretty good custom firmware.
Other than that, lots of these things have major problems. Watch out for things like improperly calibrated joysticks (can't run in certain directions in 3D platformers, only walking speed), screen tearing, saves disappearing from the filesystem if the system shuts down improperly during gameplay, audio crackle/poor audio in general, IPS bleed around display edges, soggy dpads, face buttons too firm, etc. A lot of problems with any given device you can run into that don't fall under the usual umbrella of review metrics, so you won't know until you realize a week into owning it why something feels off about it...
deafpolygon 3 hours ago [-]
Not sure if it was on PS (except as part of the Sega Collection disc), but I played it on the Sega Genesis. Loved it.
loloquwowndueo 3 hours ago [-]
PS = Phantasy Star
deafpolygon 3 hours ago [-]
Oops. Yea. It works great as your first game. I recommend PSIV->PSII->PSIII and maybe skip the original unless you're really into it. It's quite outdated.
hnlmorg 2 hours ago [-]
The original is still a great game. But I'd recommend the `Sega Ages` version on the Nintendo Switch rather than the original because the Sega Ages version includes a couple of quality of life improvements such as a map of the dungeons. It's also a lot less "grindy".
mghackerlady 35 minutes ago [-]
imo part of the fun when I went back to it was drawing maps on graph paper :)
hnlmorg 22 minutes ago [-]
I might agree with you if it wasn't for those annoying trap doors. I got so lost as a result of them back when I originally rented the game back in the 90s that I never managed to complete it.
theologan 16 minutes ago [-]
This game was ahead of its time, and had a most excellent sound track.
tosh 55 minutes ago [-]
one of the best RPGs on Mega Drive
I wish like for Sonic (Mania) there would be additional Phantasy Star entries in the IV formula
ZeroClickOk 2 hours ago [-]
By far one of the best games I have played.
musha68k 3 hours ago [-]
Phoenix Rie <3
Rendered at 13:47:46 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
https://www.phantasystaronline.net/
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantasy_Star_Online#Blue_Burs...
Gameplay was amazing, story and graphics were great, the community was really fun.
Oddly it’s also the last MMO I ever really played. As I got into high school I focused more on music and whenever I would try a new MMO game they never felt nearly as good as PSO.
It's free and they're almost always some open parties available for people to join (or create your own team and randoms will almost certainly join and help you level up).
I'm usually around on Tuesday evenings (UK timezone) but the guild meets other days too.
Do you have any characters already leveled up? Or would you be starting from scratch?
The Dreamcast has it's own community servers and isn't compatible with Schtserv. Though I believe that might just be because Episode 2 wasn't release on the DC. I do have an account for the DC servers too but I wouldn't recommend them. The DC takes too much hassle to get online for the value when most people on the DC PSO server are there for the novelty rather than the grind.
Blue Burst (PC) has it's own community servers too. But I've never owned nor played PSO on the PC.
Just about the only annoying flaw still left is that it's not obvious what items do, and you kinda will need to memorize lots of random names... (Well, or have a reference near you while you play) This is actually mentioned in the interview as them not wanting to be too explicit about what things do (not saying "attack +20" etc.) - unfortunately, it's one of those design decisions that does create friction for the player.
Other than that, lots of these things have major problems. Watch out for things like improperly calibrated joysticks (can't run in certain directions in 3D platformers, only walking speed), screen tearing, saves disappearing from the filesystem if the system shuts down improperly during gameplay, audio crackle/poor audio in general, IPS bleed around display edges, soggy dpads, face buttons too firm, etc. A lot of problems with any given device you can run into that don't fall under the usual umbrella of review metrics, so you won't know until you realize a week into owning it why something feels off about it...
I wish like for Sonic (Mania) there would be additional Phantasy Star entries in the IV formula