Phantasy Star

Skip the GBA ports. SMS and Genesis emulators work just fine.

>>3208252
Enable FM Sound Unit in your SMS emulator and play with the SMPower translation patch.

THEN play PS2 on the Genesis. If the grind is too much, you could use an XP hack, I guess.

PS3 is optional, as it's a side-story with some references to the other games, and it's honestly kinda shitty compared to the rest of the series.

PS4, the magnum opus of PS and arguably the greatest JRPG of the '90s, then awaits you.

Phantasy Star Collection for the Playstation 2

>>3208252
>on my Android tablet.
I shudder. Hope you can find a MS emulator with FM sound or you're really crippling your experience. Definately use the translation patch and the FM sound. At all costs. Even if you have to play on a device that's actually not shit for games.

>>3208280
>If the grind is too much, you could use an XP hack
As if exp does anything at all for you in that game.

>>3208315
Why do you shutter at using an Android tablet for emulation? It's literally the same emulators as on PC.

>>3208315
Actually, I think I may have just found an Android emu with FM sound. It's called MasterGear and like >>3208365 said it seems to be a port from PC.

Nevertheless, I'll keep in mind what you said and if nothing works, I'll emulate it on my PC. Although it'd be way more comfortable for me to play on a portable device.

>>3208315
Well, calling it a mere XP hack is a bit misleading. There's a hack floating around that rebalances everything, from monsters to bosses to your party.

>>3208315
to be honest I don't think the FM sound is that much better.

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>>3208465

For some reason I like the SMS battle music a lot more than the FM sound one.

Ok, I've been checking different emus for the last two hours.

Just for future reference:

The best Master System emulator for Android seems to be MD.emu. There are two version, free and pro.
It looks and works a lot like Snes9x EX (made by the same people) and also emulates Mega Drive (obviously) and Sega CD, though I have yet to check anything other than PS1.
It's fast, highly customizable and has FM sound on by default.

>>3208465
It's okay to be wrong, my friend.

I really do love the FM sound, myself. Not even my nostalgia goggles (or nostalgia earmuffs?) for the soundtrack I grew up with can overpower the sheer betterness.

>>3208482
I just mean that both soundtracks are sort of meh, except maybe for the Palma and Motavia themes.

2 improves a lot on this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24JW1lxW-2U

>>3208491
I don't really think much of the PS2 music. Only PS1 and PS4 really do it for me in the soundtrack department.

By the way, what about PS2-4? Should I use any hacks or keep them vanilla?

>>3208491
the music sounds a lot like Space Harrier II. I wonder if it's the same composer.

Also: fuck the dungeons in this game. All of them.

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>>3209075
yep, it's Uwabo. Sega has great composers.

>>3209112
Phantasy Star 2 is a special kind of hell.

For real though, the first game is amazing.

>>3209069

Playing them the first time SHOULD be done vanilla, if only to appreciate the improvements made later.
PS2 and 3 are a special kind of monotonous hell though, for different reasons. 2 is a grindfest, primarily to get the best gear. 3 is less of a grindfest, but that's because you take so damn long to get anywhere that you have the money needed to buy upgrades when you DO get there.
4 is perfect as is, and if you use any hacks whatsoever, I will cut you right through the fucking internet. Seriously, you should leave it alone...you'll be glad you did.

>>3208252
STOP.

Play PSIV instead of the first one. It's fucking awesome and I don't even like RPGs usually.

>>3209224
What about stuff like increased walking speed? The PSX2 collection has options for such things.

>>3209224
I wasn't really talking about that kind of hacks. I was thinking more about stuff like bug fixes or better fonts.

>>3209274
Not a bad idea. In fact, I usually play games in reversed order, like FFs and DQs from 6 to 1 or BoFs from 4 to 1.
I think I'll do that. I wouldn't want to get bored with the series before playing the best game.

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>>3209281
>>3210804

Even in those cases, the first time through should still be vanilla. As I stated, it makes you appreciate improvements that came later, either in the collections you mentioned, or later installments.
The one thing I would recommend is a list of the different spells(techniques) that you can use in the game, if only to find out what the fuck they do. It will save you a fuckton of trial and error, along with 'WTF did this do, if anything?'(that's REALLY bad in PS3).
I can't argue with >>3209274, but I would urge you to at least try the others before 4. When/if you feel yourself getting bored, THEN jump to 4. This is another case of 'enjoying improvements'.
Regardless, have fun!

>>3209069
>hacks
No, with the exception of the half arsed translation patch for PS2 that fixes SOME of the dialogue and tries to keep it more consistent with other games. Better than the original text, if nothing else, but will not run on real hardware.

PS2's dungeons are fucking brutal (as someone 90% finished with 4)

I remember seeing this 'definitive' hack of PS1 that does a retranslation and bugfix, but do not recall the name. I just remember it being described as 'the' way to play Phantasy Star. Does this really exist?

>>3212420
Yes, though I didn't play both that hack and vanilla, so can't say if it's actually better.

It's this one:
http://www.romhacking.net/translations/1069/

>>3212420
>>3213018
I've played both. The patch is significantly better. It's not a bugfix patch, the game doesn't need one, it just gives the game a non-shit translation and allows for the FM soundtrack to be used.

>>3209069
>>3209224
>4 is perfect as is, and if you use any hacks whatsoever, I will cut you right through the fucking internet. Seriously, you should leave it alone...you'll be glad you did.
Is mostly right but if you've not started yet You should consider the lvl99 fix hack just to be safe, if you're likely to grind.

(By default it punishes overleveling by having stats fall off a cliff once you hit lvl99, patching THAT out will do nothing to harm your experience but will stop you irreparably fucking yourself.)

Is the game meant to be insanely hard on master system? Some of the enemies as soon as i leave the city centre area kill me in like 1 or 2 hits...

>>3213193
Grinding up to 99 takes active purposeful effort and puts you 40 levels higher than you could possibly need to be for the final boss.

>>3213418
The start of the game is pretty mean.

>>3213076
>http://www.romhacking.net/translations/1069/

so no reason not to use it really? I don't think I'll play it more than once.

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>>3213193
As >>3213438 said, getting NEAR, let alone over, 99 requires active effort and is ridiculously pointless. Honestly, if you grind that high in PS4, you suck at RPGs in general and are just flat out asking for the consequences.

>>3213418
Yeah, it's meant to be that way. General rule of thumb is to go no further than 2 steps away from starting town at all times for the first...4 levels? Once you hit that level, you an go a little further until...7, IIRC. After that, the game's mostly cake(Baya Malay and the Laeruma(sp?) Tower may be exceptions).

>>3213193
>>3213684
I'm remarkably shit at RPGs. Being honest, I play them for the adventure and exploration.
(Although in spite of this and active grinding in the land/ice rovers, I actually wound up at sky castle laughably underleveled.)

>>3213735
That part is a bit of a difficulty spike, and Rykros is another.

>>3213735
As do I(adventure/exploration). But I can still utilize strategy, even if that's spamming the fuck out of items in a fight. That was my point with PS4...you really have to be a special level of shit to do consistently poorly in it.
Some things to note for easier passage: in the Sky Castle, all but the Dimension Worms are vulnerable to instant death spells, so use those as much as possible. The worms can be killed pretty easily with the Silver Tusk(assuming you didn't sell it) or Gra spells.

>>3213458
>so no reason not to use it really?
Correct.

Does anyone still play PSO on Dreamcast?

>>3213831
The Psycho Wand deals good damage to them too, and outside of being used as an item to neutralize both parties buffs; can be equipped to further enhances Rune's tech/skill damage.

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>>3217914

Point, but really silly to do. Rune is best served to just dual-wield Silver Shields, turning him into a defensive powerhouse second only to Wren. The boost to his spells is negligible, and I think the Silver Shields give a boost to that even(not as much as the wand, but again, you shouldn't need that much).
>>3215445
I'm sure a number of people still do on private servers and the like, but you're better off finding the package install for PC, in my opinion.

What's wrong with the GBA versions? I got a modded PSP and I've been meaning to start this series. Which would be the best versions avaliable to me?

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>tfw playing Phantasy Star 1 blind and cannot figure out where the fuck to go for the life of me
I know I'm nearly done, I've got most of the Laconia stuff, the crystal, aero prism, nut, and all three vehicles
all I need to do is find the mirror shield, go kill medusa for her axe, then find Lassic and murder him. I assume the mirror shield is in that gas area on Motavia but I have no idea where the get the item that protects me from it and no NPC anywhere that I've found hints at it

>>3217914
>both parties buffs
Oh shit, really? Your own buffs too? Fuck, I always had Psycho Wand in my defence macro.

>>3218325
It's on Palma, on an island, in a town, in a dungeon, in a shop.

You not have yet found the town that is on an islandthat contains a dungeon with a shop.

>>3218481
Thanks for the tip, I should be able to finish the game now and move to 2.

>>3218292
Bump for answer.

>>3219101
A save crash bug.

>>3218292
>Which would be the best versions avaliable to me?
PS1 - This one: http://www.smspower.org/Translations/PhantasyStar-SMS-EN (Use with an emulator that supports FM sound for Master System)
PS2 - This one: http://www.romhacking.net/translations/72/ (will not work on a real Mega Drive, but you're an emulator guy, yeah?)

The rest: original roms for MD/Genesis.

phantasy star threads are always so comfy on here i love it

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Does anyone have a good hi-res scan of Yoneda's art for PSII? All of the best scans cut off the top with Dark Force (like this pic).

>>3209112
>Phantasy Star II's dungeons are so complicated because they were designed by a young new employee who wanted to impress everyone
>Devs didn't want his hard work to go to waste so they used them anyway
>devs admit this kinda fucked up the game
http://shmuplations.com/phantasystarii/


You know there's being polite and there's coming to the point where you say "hey buddy, I think you need to scale it back"

>>3224331
i don't mind them being that labyrinthine, but what's really painful is that most the time there isn't even great loot or good fights in them. Just the plot advancement item.

>>3208252
I have the GBA collection cart. It's pretty good. I mean, you're dealing with 8 bit games. the GBA does them just fine.

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>>3224331
Here is the file from the PS2 collection disc.

So I bought a PSII cartridge online that I discovered has a dead battery, despite the seller saying he tested the game and it was in working order. Is it unreasonable to ask for a partial refund to cover the cost of changing the battery? The guy is trying to pull "well it's an old game you should know this is common" - despite saying that he tested the game before putting it up for sale.

I can't imagine the game being played fast enough to not need a battery (cue a TAS video proving me wrong).

>>3224428
Sweet!! Thank you very much! Did Yoneda only do PSII and PSIV? I feel like his art is iconic to the series.

>>3224374
I would have preferred it if they were first person or at least had easily countable tiles. Mapping them precisely enough so that the stairs and pits lined up over multiple floors was too much for me.

>>3224490
Maybe. CR2032-Ts go for like 14 bucks online. Might be worth a try. But I don't think I would guarantee batteries in carts. It implies that you are willing to open up a sealed product and dick with it. That's got to be the domain of the new owner. As long as the game plays, batteries are on you.

>>3224494
Dunno. His Wikipedia page only mentions PS2.

>>3224386
16 bit.