Board 8 > Which one was the best Phantasy Star game?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Curious, since I had these games on my mind all of a sudden.

Which of these sci fi fantasy games did you think was the best, if you played any of them?

For that matter, which one did you think sucked the most?

Note that by definitive versions only, I mean that for all practical purposes, if you would answer "Phantasy Star Online", you might as well include Episode I & II, and if you include that, you might as well include Blue Burst.

And yes. I'm including the tactical card game. Why not?
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Phantasy Star IV this is my all time favorite game
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Episode III is amazing but I had to pick Blue Burst

PSIV is really great too but the other classic Phantasy Stars are kinda old, in a cool way but also in a kind of I don't actually want to play this way. they are cultural relics

PSU is ok but it's not as good as PSO

PSZ is just kinda mediocre but it was neat to have a PSO on DS

I have not played PSO2 but my friends say it's horrible

alright who voted for Phantasy Star III
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Who the **** voted for III? I really wanna know.

Anyway

IV >>> I >>> II > III

Haven't played nor am I interested in playing any of the others.

IV is legit one of the best RPGs of its time.
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Always IV

Then II

Then..... well I think I'm one of the few people who actually like universe so I probably put that 3rd

I wish PSO2 would come out properly in English and not through English fan patch shenanigans
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Paratroopa1 posted...

Episode III is amazing

I'm a bit surprised to hear this, since most forums I go to tend to regard it as an oddity, if not an outright black sheep.

Since it's basically a card video game.

ninkendo posted...

Then..... well I think I'm one of the few people who actually like universe so I probably put that 3rd

It would probably be #2 for me, but then I haven't played the original Phantasy Star games, so Online onwards is my only experience with the series.

I actually have a soft spot for Universe's story mode, basically being Bleach in Space (come on, don't tell me Karen doesn't look like Space Elf Rukia)

I just wish Universe's Episode 3 had been released offline, because I never got the chance to play it before the servers went down.

And I also wish PSO2 would come out properly in English but I'm convinced that it'll never happen now. Everyone who's going to play is playing on the Japanese servers, and everyone who isn't already doing that isn't going to play it if it does come out.

The insulting part is that there's still an English web page for the game that obviously hasn't even been touched since it was made.
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woo only one to vote phantasy star universe!

literally the only mmo I've ever payed for. Good days.
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Why the hate for III?
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Blue Burst was the one that included Episode IV, right? How was that?

PSIV btw
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PSIV is one of the most underrated RPGs of that era, alongside Lufia 2.
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I mean I love card games, so yeah I love Episode III

obviously if you're looking for a game that's exactly like PSO epI&II it's really strange and probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I think it's a really clever and interesting game

my friend who is a huge fan of PSO almost didn't play it because he doesn't really like card games, but I convinced him to play it and he loved it too

Paratroopa1 posted...

I mean I love card games, so yeah I love Episode III

obviously if you're looking for a game that's exactly like PSO epI&II it's really strange and probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I think it's a really clever and interesting game

my friend who is a huge fan of PSO almost didn't play it because he doesn't really like card games, but I convinced him to play it and he loved it too

Honestly, I enjoyed it myself, but I ended up never beating the game even once on either side.
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2 was the first game from the series I played, and I always enjoyed it, but I have to concede that 4 is a better game.
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I'm pretty sure PSO2 is just a waifu creator with a game attached.
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Voted PSO. I fucking love Ep 3 but I can't put it above Ep 1&2. I actually got back into PSO at the end of last year. Playing on Ultima.
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Waluigi1 posted...

Voted PSO. I fucking love Ep 3 but I can't put it above Ep 1&2. I actually got back into PSO at the end of last year. Playing on Ultima.

I should try playing again sometime soon.

The only issue I have is that Techs become worthless after awhile and I don't like Mechguns, which seem to be the common endgame weapon from what I've seen.

I'm still salty that it's almost impossible to create an Episode 3 server without encountering massive glitches due to so much of the code being server side, code that has been locked in Sega's/Sonic Team's vaults
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You can actually play Episode 3 online with, um... I believe it was Shthack(?) but I was literally the only person on the whole server lol. You can do it because it uses the same servers as the GC Ep 1&2.

What do you mean about Techs becoming worthless though? For Hunters?
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Waluigi1 posted...

You can actually play Episode 3 online with, um... I believe it was Shthack(?) but I was literally the only person on the whole server lol. You can do it because it uses the same servers as the GC Ep 1&2.

Last time I tried, everything was glitchy, cards wouldn't work, and battles softlocked more than worked, but that was years ago.

Waluigi1 posted...

What do you mean about Techs becoming worthless though? For Hunters?

Last I checked, enemy resistance increases so much more drastically compared to defense that tech damage becomes absolutely worthless compared to Shifta, Zalure, and a weapon (usually mechguns), even for FOnewms.
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Nah, FOs definitely still use techs even in Ultimate. You've just got to use the enemy weaknesses and use the spell type that your class boosts, like FOnewearls with the base spells and such.
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Waluigi1 posted...

Nah, FOs definitely still use techs even in Ultimate. You've just got to use the enemy weaknesses and use the spell type that your class boosts, like FOnewms with the base spells and such.

I guess I keep forgetting about that because that's how it is on the Gamecube version, which is the one I'm used to playing. In that case, that does change things a bit.

Putting this information here for my own benefit:

FOnewms are Gi and Ra, making them best for taking out groups of enemies.

FOnewearls are Basic, Healing, and Megid, capable of insane amounts of damage on one enemy or killing a bunch of enemies weak to Megid.

FOmarls are Healing, Support and Grants, if I recall correctly, but have decent fighting ability. Basically, they're Space Clerics. I'm tempted. I just hate that bodice thing they have that really messes their silhouette up from behind.

FOmars are just Gi and Support, but then they're also the ones best set up to take full advantage of Shifta/Zalura/Weapon combo.

...I hate to say it, but there's another problem I have with Forces, and that's "I can't look how I want and play how I want at the same time." I want to play a FOmar with a FOnewm's stats, basically. FOnewms are hard to make look good.
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Oh yeah, definitely. FOnewms are so fucking goofy looking lol. There is no way to make them seem cool. It's kinda part of their charm though. I play a battle FOmarl on Ultima. They have better accuracy than FOmarl but make up for it with their support techs. I believe FOmars also have the fastest unarmed cast speed. Not sure if that's something people actually use though. I also like FOmarls attack animations. I always thought it was cool how the different classes have different attack animations.
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Waluigi1 posted...

Oh yeah, definitely. FOnewms are so fucking goofy looking lol. There is no way to make them seem cool. It's kinda part of their charm though. I play a battle FOmarl on Ultima. They have better accuracy than FOmarl but make up for it with their support techs. I believe FOmars also have the fastest unarmed cast speed. Not sure if that's something people actually use though. I also like FOmarls attack animations. I always thought it was cool how the different classes have different attack animations.

I actually really like the simplicity that is the FOmar's casting animation when holding a Rod. FOnewms make it goofy, as usual, and besides that, Rods aren't actually a very good casting weapon aside from the rare and unique weapons.

But the FOmar Rod cast animation makes me feel like a freaking wizard.

That being said, I think my problem with FOnewm may have been that I tried too hard to make them look normal, when I should instead be striving to make them look as outlandish as possible.

That being said, I forgot about the material limit. Would a FOmar with materials pumped into MST be more powerful than a FOnewm doing the same? :/ Hm. I should do some research on this.
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We just tried playing episode III on schthack recently - and yeah, it's pretty close to unplayable, honestly. No fault of the people working on it, since it's a ton of work for not much reward for a game so few people have played. We ended up switching to playing through Dolphin netplay, which works a lot better (although it requires us to each start new files on a shared save game file that we need to pass between each other every time we play).

BowserCuffs posted...

That being said, I forgot about the material limit. Would a FOmar with materials pumped into MST be more powerful than a FOnewm doing the same? :/ Hm. I should do some research on this.

Nope, everyone has the same limits on mats.
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Humans can use more mats but mats can't get you past a certain stat limit anyway.

Okay, fair enough.

That being said, I was looking up guides on Ultima and...

Made your force.

Got some spells.

Time to go blow shit up!

Stop. Stop right there.

Here's my suggestion if you want to do this: Play another game.

Phantasy Star Online is extremely biased against Force offense, as once you hit the Ultimate game, tech resistances are far too high to do decent damage, and there's the existence of damage cancel. (If two attacks hit at rougly the same time, one or all of damage is cancelled. The window of time for damage cancel depends on the players' latency to the server. The better, the less damage cancel.)

That being said, techs can be decent in the Episode 4 environment with the correct tech boosts (solo'ing only!), as can Simple techniques on a max-MST FOnewearl.

Yeah this isn't encouraging...
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Forces are basically a support character in ultimate

Techs don't do nothing, but they aren't a primary source of damage - the most damage you do is through casting buffs/debuffs, which are insanely important

Paratroopa1 posted...

Forces are basically a support character in ultimate

Techs don't do nothing, but they aren't a primary source of damage - the most damage you do is through casting buffs/debuffs, which are insanely important

Truth.
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Waluigi1 posted...

Paratroopa1 posted...

Forces are basically a support character in ultimate

Techs don't do nothing, but they aren't a primary source of damage - the most damage you do is through casting buffs/debuffs, which are insanely important

Truth.

So what you told me here...

Waluigi1 posted...

Nah, FOs definitely still use techs even in Ultimate. You've just got to use the enemy weaknesses and use the spell type that your class boosts, like FOnewearls with the base spells and such.

...was something I read too much into, then.

Meh.

If I'm gonna be a support class, I may as well pick FOmarl then, since if my techs will just damage cancel, I'm better off not using them.
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Tbh, this is the first I've heard of this damage cancel thing...
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PSO 1 (Ep1+2; BB). Sure it's imbalanced and dated in areas (50 hit Charge Vulcans from the shop); but it by far had the best charm.

People tell me PSP2 Infinity is the best, but that only got released in Japan w/no patch, so it's underplayed. Plus it's dead now.

PSO2 can have it's moments, but it's too centered around "the current new content"; and the current content is not so exciting right now. Plus said content comes at a drip feeded pace to attach a new Waifu Sim Gatcha scratch. The game can still be fun, but overall it's a cluttered mess. Atm I only play whatever new quest comes out, then not play again. I can go into far bigger depth about PSO2's gameplay issues, but I don't feel like it.

Waluigi1 posted...

Tbh, this is the first I've heard of this damage cancel thing...

Basically, it's a glitch inherent in the game that causes damage to just not happen if too many sources of it happen at the same time, I think.

Prime offenders are Jellen and Zalure (which is why they should be rapidly cast first thing in a battle before anyone starts dealing damage), Heaven's Punisher, and Techniques.

It can result in a 50 damage attack cancelling a much larger attack, resulting in the enemy taking much less damage.

I'm starting to wonder if I should've even bothered installing this game now, I got a false hope.

EDIT: Found another forum post talking about it:

ts due to server-host issues. all clients do damage, send it off to the server, who sends it to the host-client (gamemaker). this one calculates the actual damage done (as well as enemy HP, drops etc).

damage cancel has bad and also good results.

if several clients attack the exact same target, the packages of damage might be interpreted by either server or host as multiplied and get erased. this has most likely to do with time delay tollerance of the network.

giving each player an unique identifier and adding this to each damage-packet would have prevented this i think, but well.

so, canceling erases one of both damages done (if 2 attack the same target) - in conclusion, it wastes time in two ways:
-the damage that got canceled out (even if both do equal damage) could have been dealt to another enemy in that moment.
-a ra with 0 or low damage canceling out a huct with mayor damage delays the fight - not a good idea when its about time or about killing a boss as soon as possible.


however the bright side is that for some weird reason, you can freezelock enemies with damage cancel. just have 2 or more players attack the same target while its frozen - preferably with multihit weapons and preferably around the time when the freeze breaks off.
(here the information that its not frozen gets cancelled out)


ways to prevent it:

1 on 1 - thats TA tactic
here, look for an enemy that suits your damage or that's not being attacked by now.

2 on 1 with rythm
pretty hard to pull off, you have to synchronize your combo with the combo of the other one. both have to stay predicable for the other player so you can time both combos to match into eachother like a zipper.

least risk tactic
on bosses, never use weak attacks.
a miss is better than a hit because it doesnt (seem to) get calculated into the damage done and thus doesnt cancel.

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Well in all my time playing, it hasn't been a big deal, so I honestly wouldn't worry too much about it. It's not game breaking.
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I have not run into damage canceling being a noticeable problem. I wouldn't worry about that.

I decided to go with a FOmarl, but I also started a RAcast on the side in case I get frustrated with the low amount of magic damage. However, I figured out the trick to making a FOmarl that didn't unnerve me.

Turns out the trick was that I had been going with the default thinness a lot which really makes her look like a stick. Kinda stuck her somewhere between a third to a half of the way to "fat" and she suddenly looks like a normal human woman. Kinda odd how it seems like FOmarl is the only one with this specific problem.

I think I was just overthinking the whole thing, really.

On that note, though, I just want to mention how extremely salty I am over PSO2 still not being released on western shores. I know it's probably not going to happen, but I've decided that I'm not going to jump through a single hoop to play that game until it comes out over here. I'm not going to shop where I'm not wanted. I just wish Sonic Team would grow a spine and just say "Yeah okay we're not going to release it, and we're shutting down the English site, sorry for taking so long to say this."

Not to mention the fact that PSO2's Episode 4 exists and is horrible and oh god why. Sword Art Online is bad enough, why did we need a PSO2 equivalent.
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Agreed man. I've been waiting for PSO2 for soooo long now. And now as to add insult to injury, it's been announced for Switch... Still for Japan only...
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IV and its not even close. II deserves some specific love too though, just distant from 4.
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Playing PSO2 outside of Japan isn't difficult at all. Been playing it for +5 years. And US release is extremely unlikely... the ship sailed too long ago.

Though given how boring PSO2 itself is right now, I'd rather they just move on to "PSO3" or the like, and make that available outside of Japan.

Honestly, I'd be fine with a Remake of PSO...
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GoldenAether posted...

Playing PSO2 outside of Japan isn't difficult at all.

Don't care. Even one hoop is one hoop too many.
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