Very interesting and informative article, pitohui! Thanks for the link!
Welcome to the site.
Darkil
Post subject:
Posted: Sat Jan 3, '09, 12:58 am
You better believe I am anxious for the DS port that's coming in February. Plus I love that article...it helped me get more of my information organized. Thanks Pitohui!
I swore I'd stay out of this debate but couldn't put into words why, pitohui summed it up very well (Great 1up article BTW):
I agree with this 100%. If you start with the last game in a series then go back to the original you will probably be disappointed. It's simply not the same experience as starting from the beginning.
I know a few on this site aren't fond of the GTA series so I won't spend too much time on it but GTA:Vice City was the first game I played in the series. I doubt I'll ever go back and play GTA or GTA II because I know they're missing the aspects of Vice City I enjoyed (i.e. open environment).
On the other hand, Final Fantasy VIII was the first Final Fantasy game I played (really). I heard the soundtrack to it first and reasoned that if the game was 1/4 as good as the soundtrack then it would be incredible. In the end I didn't care for it though. I still went back and tried the original Final Fantasy and found I liked it better than part VIII. I think this is the exception more than the rule though.
You're free to not like PSIII - I'll even be the first to admit some of its faults (while disagreeing with many other grievances about it). I do prefer it to PSIV because PSIV felt like a "checklist sequel" to me (term I just invented right now). You know:
Looks like PSII, check Air Castle, check Reference to Alis, check Reference to Myau, check Lutz, check Wren cyborg, check Lead female character dies, check Dark Force, check
"OK folks, let's wrap it up, we've got a Phantasy Star game"
For the record, I enjoyed PSIV tremendously but wish it was a more independent game. I like having some references to the previous games but felt it went too far in that area, like it would be difficult for someone with no prior knowledge of the series to understand.
I don't mind seeing everything they borrwed from previous games to make PSIV because the finished product was playable. It's as if they took all the fan-friendly characters and references, gave it a usable UI, modern graphics and a story you can follow without going to the instruction booklet or on the internet looking for theories and fanfics. Everything we liked about Phantasy Star, in a good game.
I don't mind seeing everything they borrwed from previous games to make PSIV because the finished product was playable. It's as if they took all the fan-friendly characters and references, gave it a usable UI, modern graphics and a story you can follow without going to the instruction booklet or on the internet looking for theories and fanfics. Everything we liked about Phantasy Star, in a good game.[/quote]
I certainly agree with this. This is more accessible to newer fans and it gives them a brief rundown of what led up to PS4. Plus being able to move fast while "walking" instead of dragging along
AndrewZealand
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jan 8, '09, 2:23 am
So far some people have surprised me by saying they actually think PS4 is the worst of the series...
I think the reason why our opinions differ so much as that I'm not so much a fan of RPG/Strategy games. More a fan of Adventure/Story games.
On the Sega Master System, I went for games like Alex Kidd, WonderBoy's 2 & 3, Kenseiden, Golvellius, Land of Illusion but I never played games like Phantasy Star,Miracle Warriors and Ultima IV until much later in my life.
When i got a Mega Drive, I loved Landstalker, but Shining Force was the first real RPG I played. When i discovered it was a "turn-based" game with battle-maps and strategy and stuff, I thought "oh no", cause i thought I'd never learn how to work the system properly and never enjoy the game. I did learn how, and played to the end of that game and found it pretty well satisfying. I tried PS4 just a little bit after that and by that time was more used to that style of battling and found PS4's battle system a lot more straight forward than Shining Force anyway. After those 2 games i suppose i did keep a keen eye out for other such games. I remember trying Buck Rogers:Countdown to Doomsday and not liking it much cause even though it had a story, it was a lot more about planning, strategy, team management etc. There was Shining In the Darkness which in the main part was one giant PStar 1 Labarynth. Could get boring, but i ploughed through. The semi-animated story parts were great. Fatal Labarynth was another decent RPGish game, that i could bear. I never bothered with full-strategy games like Populous, Rampart, Power Monger,MegaloMania and Dune II.
I've been illiterate when it come to Dungeon and Dragons gamebooks and also in War Gaming with the battle maps and figurines and also those card war games (Spellfire etc.). I'd imagine more of the people here are interested in that sort of thing. I did enjoy the storybook-RPGs like Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf and Way of the Tiger. They of course, were driven by a good story. Plus of course, you could just go through them, not bothering about following the rules and still enjoy them!!
But with D&D and Wargaming, i had school mates who were mad about those and they'd go on and on about it and tell me to get lost if i asked a dumb question, while also sneering at my "childish" storybook-RPGs.
Schala Zeal
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Jan 14, '09, 2:10 pm
Hmm, I actually liked the first two Phantasy Stars more than the fourth one. Despite being less refined, more boring stories, and the characters having less character. It's probably just because the first two give me a nostalgic feeling. :3
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Posted: Fri Jan 2, '09, 8:01 pm 
