Is Phantasy Star II worth sticking with??

[westside]

I've played, beaten, and fully enjoyed PS IV for the genesis. Enough so that I went and got PS II and III. I figured I better start at the beginning with II, however I find myself much less entertained with this version, needless to say i'm only a few hours in, but I'm finding motivation hard to come by. I'm not worried so much about graphics, but the fight controls just seem a little less refined than IV, as well as a few other things, such as saving. SHOULD I STICK IT OUT?

[Aussie2B]

Phantasy Star 2 is basically the same thing straight for the entire game. If you don't like it now, there's likely nothing that will change your mind about it later on. I personally disliked it pretty much from the very beginning, and I still disliked it just the same at the end, no less no more (well, maybe a little more purely for the fact that I was stupid enough to put myself through that torture for so long).

[TheRedEye]

I find I more rewarding than II, go get that.

[Melf]

You're bound to be disappointed, having played part 4 before part 2; however, I think you should give it a chance. Just about near the dams, it gets better, and the plot really picks up. You leave the planet and things get more interesting (and tougher). It can be kind of tedious without the handbook, as the dungeons are simply brutal. I recommend you go to the Phantasy Star Pages (http://www.phantasy-star.net/) and download some maps to help you out.

Give it a chance, and it will get better.

[Damion]

2 was the best for it's time and if you didn't play it before 4 then you might just have shot yourself in the foot. Also if you don't have the guide book your going to miss out on a few things. will theres always online FAQ's I guess.

but yeah I say give it some more time. It is rather Tedious in the early stages. when "Someone" Dies (storyline death) and you still don't care. then I'd go ahead and lay off.

[Graham Mitchell]

I'm currently wrestling through it myself. I dig the challenge, and I actually think it's pretty fun. Not as amazing as 1, but satisfying. If you like being challenged, keep going. If you find it a pain in the ass, then, like Aussie said, nothing's going to change your mind if you go further.

[wberdan]

i never played 4... i thought 4 would be a let down- you guys say its a good one though?

i did play all the way through II- it was incredibly hard as i remember, even with the hintbook.

i found it to be very rewarding to play all the way through, but i had played the first one and loved it, so that was my perspective.
since you have played a later one first, perhaps it wont be as fun.


willie

[FantasiaWHT]

Phantasy Star 2 is my all time favorite game :)

I've played it through at least 6 or 7 times. This was before the time of time-played timers, but I'd have to guess that each playthrough was somewhere around 30-40 hours.

The game is insanely difficult, as stated. The dungeons are as brutally difficult in their own way as the first game's were. Especially the one where you had to fall through holes in the floor over and over and over again to get to JUST the right spots on the bottom floor... even WITH the guide, that took forever. And the boss fights will tear you to shreds, too. And you don't get a resurrect spell until WAY into the game, and the item that lets you resurrect is in extremely limited quantity.

It also has one of my favorite endings of all time. It's not protracted, and not complex at all, but rather profound and moving.

Gotta agree with the above tho, you might've shot yourself in the foot there... 4 adds a huge amount of depth of character and plot that was missing from 2, and it was also quite a bit easier (tho still challenging, especially by today's measures)

God I talk about this game way too much hehe

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Well if it's the dungeons and enemies you're having a tough time with there is a glitch/secret in the game that lets you avoid all random encounters by continuing to re-open and close the menu. Maybe you sould try using that to tip to advance a little faster.

[suppafly]

Phantasy Star 2 is the best game in the series IMHO. And the ending IS worth the journey!!!!

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, Phantasy Star II is a mixed bag. Great map designs, but far too wicked - this is definitely a "pro" game. One of the few RPGs that you really, seriously, need to map out, print a walkthrough, or go visit Crude ASCII Maps for.

The music is great, but loops quickly. Advanced and Silent Zone are still some of my favorite game tracks of all time. Damn, they're good.

The graphics are unfortunately incredibly sparse, but what's there is OK to incredible, with some ugly parts now and then. I especially like some of the enemy robot/mech designs.

A small(-ish) failing is that sprites don't really align like they should on the map - you seem to be offset about a tile from the rest of the world. Walk into a barrier or at some bushes, you'll see what I mean.

The truth probably is that it's not as good as the regular SNES Final Fantasy games, but it came out two years before any of those did. Maybe it's not up to FF3 quality, either (does it show that I haven't played any FF but Mystic Quest?), but who cares? It's a totally different kind of experience, and a pretty good one at that. The harsh dungeon design and enemy encounter rate keep the excitement level higher than it could be, and I don't miss having tons and tons of odd "go meet the professor" FF-style fetch quests, anyhow.

[Graham Mitchell]

The truth probably is that it's not as good as the regular SNES Final Fantasy games, but it came out two years before any of those did. Maybe it's not up to FF3 quality, either (does it show that I haven't played any FF but Mystic Quest?), but who cares? It's a totally different kind of experience, and a pretty good one at that. The harsh dungeon design and enemy encounter rate keep the excitement level higher than it could be, and I don't miss having tons and tons of odd "go meet the professor" FF-style fetch quests, anyhow.

Very good point, Ed. Another thing to keep in mind is that as long as you don't die, there's no such thing as a wasted journey in that game(Ryuka and Hinas are your friends!) Even if you get totally lost in a dungeon, all the enemies you killed will benefit you greatly if you warp out and heal your characters. Having to go in and out of the same dungeon repeatedly is par for the course, but by the end you're so strong that you can kick the ass of almost anything there.

[FantasiaWHT]

Well if it's the dungeons and enemies you're having a tough time with there is a glitch/secret in the game that lets you avoid all random encounters by continuing to re-open and close the menu. Maybe you sould try using that to tip to advance a little faster.

I highly recommend NOT using this except in the extreme circumstance of "I'm running home with my tail between my legs and one more fight will kill me". If you rely on it at ALL, you'll never be close to strong enough to handle the bosses when you get to them.

[westside]

Hmmm. Well, I guess I'll stick with it for another stretch. I'll download the maps, that will surely help stop some frustration. Thanks for all the input. Keep it comin' if ya got more.

[Cthulhu]

If you're frustrated with the difficulty of the game, stop early. It actually gets harder as you go on, not easier. It's good if you want a really, really challenging RPG, but it hasn't aged nearly as well as IV overall.

[Ed Oscuro]

Oh, and the special features are awesome. Like the sound test ;D Just awesome how they did that. I think I see an x68K in the background, too!

[Graham Mitchell]

Oh, and the special features are awesome. Like the sound test ;D Just awesome how they did that. I think I see an x68K in the background, too!

I personally loved how they tried to explain the graphs of rainfall versus time over the year to show how Climatrol was malfunctioning. I didn't see anything that nerdy in a game until they tried to explain molecular orbital theory in Metal Gear Solid 3 to get snake to understand why the glowcap mushrooms glow. LOL

[Aussie2B]

Well, just to throw my experience out there, I started by playing the game with none of its packaging to help me out, and I mapped out the first dungeon. However, I quickly discovered that it was NOT the kind of old-school game that's fun to make maps of. Mapping it out myself just added to the tedium and made making the tiniest bit of progress take an eternity. So after that, I went to some site and printed out maps (I assume they came with the game?), and while it did make the prospect of beating the game more tolerable, I ultimately found that it only made a bad game easier to play. The maps unfortunately didn't make me enjoy the experience any more than I was before.

[NE146]

I was a HUGE Phantasy Star fan on the SMS (still am).

Let me just say that I was am still dissapointed with Phantasy Star II. I played it through and beat it (although I don't recall it being very hard at the time). But would i play it again now? No.. not really.

Put it another way... I only played the game once through in my entire life! Whereas I've played Phantasy Star 1 multiple times.. including only recently on the GBA.

And for you, if you don't like it halfway through.. it won't change later.

[rbudrick]

I beat this game when I was 14...right around when the Genesis hit the states. I'll never forget it....it was the best damn thing that ever happened to me at the time! LOL A bit of sarcasm, but seriously...the game really moved me in a crazy way. The game was pretty revolutionary for it's time, imo....well except for PS1, heh heh.

I recently went through th GBA version of it, and while it didn't hold much of a candle to modern RPGs, it was great to relive the story, settings and the music. The music is probably my favorite part of the game...great tunes.

But going through IV first? Man, you ruined it. LOL You would have been much happier doing it the other way around.

The dungeons are a BITCH, though. Of course, if you have the guide book that originally came with the game, it's very tolerable. I beat the game in two weeks as a kid.

-Rob