Best way to play Phantasy Star IV?

[c0ldb33r]

In this thread (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=114428), I was asking whether I had to play PS I, II and III before playing PS IV. I came to the conclusion that I was going to play PS IV now and maybe at some point play the others.

My question now is - what method should I play PS IV on?

[j_factor]

Genesis cartridge, but I wouldn't recommend using the Nomad. There's quite a bit of blur when moving around towns/dungeons.

[NE146]

I say on an emulator like on the Xbox or something. That way you can speed through the battles whenever you feel like it or save whenever.

[Wraith Storm]

I HAVE to play games on the system for which they were designed. Final Fantasy 3 on the SNES stole a year of my life and I LOVED it! I bought the PlayStation and the GBA port and just can't get into them. I also bought Bonks Revenge for the Virtual Console and It plays and feels very different than the Turbo Grafx version.

Nothing can replace the feeling of putting the original cart into the system and pressing the familiar power button. Then holding the controller that the game was designed to be played with. Seriously, this is half the experiance for me. I hate playing games like the Genesis collection on the PS2. They might be solid ports but it just doesn't feel right to me.

I played Phantasy Star IV on my X'Eye and then once I reached the "Air Castle" I believe it was called, I had to do some major power leveling. So I made sure everytime I went out I had PS IV in my Nomad and when I had a moment I would fight a few battles here and there. Before long my party had leveled up several times and I was ready to tackle that part of the game.

Which ever method you choose to play the game, I hope you enjoy it. It was one of the last RPG's I have ever played that REALLY challenged me without being overly difficult.

[Overbite]

I have PS4 for the genesis and the ps2 and I play it more on PS2 for 2 reasons!

1) Save anywhere. I can stop when I want!

2) No chance of cart battery dying and I lose my save, like what happened to my sonic 3 cart.

3) I have the ps2 hooked up and not the genesis.

[kainemaxwell]

Either one is good. I prefer the auctual cart because I love the game so much.

[G-Boobie]

I played the Phantasy Star games last year on my PSP via an emulator. I tried playing them on the PS2 Genesis Collection, but what with school, work and girlfriend, I never had time to play.

Portable system? Problem solved!

Any way you play it though, it's a great game. Really forward thinking and hard as hell.

[Berserker]

Oh, just play the damn game already.

LOL

[diskoboy]

I'd vote emulator or PS2.

I just don't trust battery backups..

[Poofta!]

i vote psp, always nice to be able to play anywhere, and you can save anywhere, save wont get lost either.

wasnt there also a phantasy star out for the gameboy in that collection they did?? or was that just 1-3?

[c0ldb33r]

I've started the PSP version. I chose it because I can save whenever I want, and I'm afraid of a cartridge battery giving out (that happened to me in Final Fantasy II for SNES, I don't want to relive it). BTW, it's absolutely fantastic so far. Great graphics and music. If I were playing this on an actual Genesis, I'd have to double check and make sure it wasn't a SNES.


Oh, just play the damn game already.

LOL

lol - I know what you mean, but before you drop ~40 hours into a game you wanna make sure you not going to regret it halfway through :)


wasnt there also a phantasy star out for the gameboy in that collection they did?? or was that just 1-3?
That was something I was going to ask.

I have the Phantasy Star Collection for GBA. It's got PS I-III. Why not PS IV as well? Does anyone know? I would have preferred it on GBA because a GB micro is much more handy than a clunky PSP.

[Daria]

lol - I know what you mean, but before you drop ~40 hours into a game you wanna make sure you not going to regret it halfway through :)

XD

You don't play many RPGs do you?

[Blitzwing256]

I've started the PSP version. I chose it because I can save whenever I want, and I'm afraid of a cartridge battery giving out (that happened to me in Final Fantasy II for SNES, I don't want to relive it). BTW, it's absolutely fantastic so far. Great graphics and music. If I were playing this on an actual Genesis, I'd have to double check and make sure it wasn't a SNES.



lol - I know what you mean, but before you drop ~40 hours into a game you wanna make sure you not going to regret it halfway through :)


That was something I was going to ask.

I have the Phantasy Star Collection for GBA. It's got PS I-III. Why not PS IV as well? Does anyone know? I would have preferred it on GBA because a GB micro is much more handy than a clunky PSP.


If I recall they were having emulation issues with it, and the image was too large to fit on the collection for some reason.

[James8BitStar]

In this thread (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=114428), I was asking whether I had to play PS I, II and III before playing PS IV. I came to the conclusion that I was going to play PS IV now and maybe at some point play the others.

My question now is - what method should I play PS IV on?

Dude, don't take this the wrong way but... do you always need other people to make your decisions for you?

You're the one who is gonna be playing, so decide for yourself which method is the best.

EDIT: Just saw this:


lol - I know what you mean, but before you drop ~40 hours into a game you wanna make sure you not going to regret it halfway through :)

There is no such assurance except to actually play the game. If you don't like it, just stop playing.

[c0ldb33r]

Dude, don't take this the wrong way but... do you always need other people to make your decisions for you?
I think you're looking at it the wrong way - I've just never played a phantasy star game before and appreciate the input from fans of the series.

Oh and by the way I SOLD THE DAMN WOOD CANE!!! I didn't realize you could use it for the res spell until after I already sold the damn thing. By the time I realized it I have already gained a few levels grinding.

[Volcanon]

XD

You don't play many RPGs do you?

PS4 is only like 20 hours. In terms of hours PS2 is waaay longer, even though most of it is dungeon crawls (after the damn 4 dams i wasn't really pleased to find out I had to go through another 4 damn caves on desolis)

Does PSP PS4 have all the bugs that Genesis PS4 had? Like that weird one where you can warp to random planets?

[c0ldb33r]

So guys (and ladies) - is there any way to get the wood cane back? Can I buy it somewhere?

[James8BitStar]

I think you're looking at it the wrong way - I've just never played a phantasy star game before and appreciate the input from fans of the series.

I think I'm looking at it the right way. Fan input is really not a great thing to base your decision off of, simply for the chance that your tastes and playing style might not match those of whoever responds. Fans also in my experience tend to have a pretty effed-up way of deciding whether something is good or not.

[G-Boobie]

I think I'm looking at it the right way. Fan input is really not a great thing to base your decision off of, simply for the chance that your tastes and playing style might not match those of whoever responds. Fans also in my experience tend to have a pretty effed-up way of deciding whether something is good or not.

True... But we're all part of the same retarded retro-gaming club, so it's a pretty fair assumption that we have the same general tastes. :)

[thetoxicone]

Doesn't matter on what system you play the game as long as you are naked with a towel over your lap.

[James8BitStar]

True... But we're all part of the same retarded retro-gaming club, so it's a pretty fair assumption that we have the same general tastes. :)

I'll be sure to remember that the next time I hear someone complain about "grinding" because they had to fight grasshoppers for five minutes to reach level three.

[108Stars]

Genesis Collection, because it lets you save anywhere.

[Zebbe]

If saving anywhere is so important, it means you are insecure or bad at RPGs. Go with the original and the best, on the Sega Genesis and/or Nomad.

[Daria]

If saving anywhere is so important, it means you are insecure or bad at RPGs. Go with the original and the best, on the Sega Genesis and/or Nomad.

Or don't like back tracking or scrambling for a save point when you have to suddenly turn off the game for any number of legitimate reasons.

That said how can anyone be "bad" at RPGs? They're games that predominately take a ton of patience, but not necessarily skill.

[James8BitStar]

That said how can anyone be "bad" at RPGs? They're games that predominately take a ton of patience, but not necessarily skill.

Depends on how you define "skill."

I'm thinking one day I'll have to write an article all about this subject, since its something I'm really sensitive about.

[Zebbe]

Or don't like back tracking or scrambling for a save point when you have to suddenly turn off the game for any number of legitimate reasons.

That said how can anyone be "bad" at RPGs? They're games that predominately take a ton of patience, but not necessarily skill.

There are no legitimate reasons to turn off Phantasy Star IV.

Then I guess they can't be hard or easy either.

[Daria]

Then I guess they can't be hard or easy either.

Not true. Rhapsody is a perfect example of an easy RPG while Persona 2 is a good example of a hard one. But again I would say that Persona takes more patience to beat than skill. You have to have the patience not to get easily frustrated or give up, and the willingness to keep refighting bosses with different strategies until you succeed. They may not require much skill, but they definitely require thinking.

Also back to the original point, save points are an antiquated system designed for games with cartridge limitations. There's no reason that any modern RPG shouldn't have an option to save straight from the menu system. Sure you can abuse the save feature, but if you're using it to gimp on leveling you're doing more harm than good the farther you progress into the game.