What was playing PSI for the first time like for you?

[furrypaws]

This kind of thing interests me. What was your experience? How did you come across the game, and what did you know about it going in? I'm just curious, as it's about to be my first time through. Obviously, I'll have a different mindset than someone who played it way back in '89, and I think seeing the two experiences juxtaposed together would be fascinating. Of course, any time period of a "first play" is fine for this topic. It's fascinating!

[landman]

99-2000 maybe, emulation, I played PS4 first, that one was very player friendly, like most JRPG today. Then I started from the beginning... first contact with a true classic RPG, extremely hard and frustrating lol I couldn't handle it, and... cheated :wacko:

[Bragatyr]

I was definitely a latecomer. I never played a single game in the series until a year or so ago. I started out with the first one and worked my way up. All of them blew me away in different ways, but the original was probably the most impressive in terms of its historicity and the sheer scope of it. I still can't believe they were doing that kind of stuff in 87-88.

I always thought it was awesome, for example, that both Lassic and Dark Falz had their own themes. And Lassic's theme is immortally awesome, on top of that. It was also really neat to see a female lead. Even now that's hardly the norm. Oh, and having a talking cat in the party is one of the greatest things ever.

I do have to admit that I found it really difficult, at least as far as the dungeons. I never really figured out how to accurately map them out. I did have to resort to help on more than one occasion. Which is shameful, because I've been playing RPG's all my life. But that darn lying Dezorian in that one dungeon doesn't help matters!

[Crazyleo]

I only encounter this game briefly, but I was helping a friend out who had the game to get to the final boss. (He done everything else by himself)

[RemiusTA]

I tried it jan of this year. Only reason i didnt beat it is because my save file got ruined and i had to start over.


Honestly....it's dated as hell, but oddly enough, i was very much intrigued to play it. Which is odd, because i played 2 and had no intention of beating it.


I might go back and beat I after i beat 4, which is definitely modern enough for me to enjoy to the fullest.

[Apone]

I played Phantasy Star 1 in 88' I was already a sega fan because I was always at the arcade. I saw the commercial for this game and it blew me away at the time. I rented the game 3 times in a row just so I could beat it. Im pretty sure PS1 was my first RPG, it got me hungry for other RPGS but back then there were no other console RPGs that even compared and I didn't have a PC. Its VERY hard by todays standards but back then I didn't even notice like I would today.

[Deco_Bryl]

I played it as I was entering my late teens. It was hard! I stumbled in and out of dungeons. I couldn't make maps to save my life. I got Myau killed mid-flight. I stranded my party on the Air Castle. And the Motavians and Dezorians were shockingly hostile. ;.;

Somehow, though, I made it to the end, but not without having to consult a guide to find Dark Force's hiding place. Yes, it was hard... Good times... :P

[RemiusTA]

the simplicity of that game is oddly attractive to me. Something about it.

[ShadowDragon28]

Got it shortly after it first came out back in like 1987 i think, as an X-mas present.

I was absolutely blown away by it, the tough as heck gameplay, the amazing music, the awesome 3-d scrolling dungeons. To me it was like when I saw "Star Wars" for the first time, just jaw-dropping amazed. I went from playing Atari 2600 games to Phantasy Star.

I was used to seeing games and playing games like this (since I didn't own a NES and only seen Dunk Hunt and wasnt that impressed with it at the time):
http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/pitfall.jpg

and then saw this once I put in Phantasy Star in the master system, I saw this
http://www.thehouseofgames.net/files/p/phantasy_star/phantasy_star-1.gif
http://www.efkm.com/dezoris/ps_mad1.gif
http://www.coolrom.com/screenshots/mastersystem/Phantasy%20Star%20(2).gif

[Zorafim]

Soon after I got PSO for the gamecube, I saw an ad that had PS 1-3 on a GBA cartridge. I was in love with PSO (even though I only played offline), and wanted to see where it came from.
Well, I gotta say, it was a bit too painful to handle on my own. I consulted a guide for almost the entire game, and got myself stuck in the air castle (after I saved). I took a break from the game, and gamesharked myself some extra mp to go back home after I came back.

I think it's a really interesting, but highly dated, game. It has a really different style than other RPGs. It's very colorful, and some parts of the game look amazing for a game that old. To this day, the cutscene pictures look great, and the monsters look on par with SNES rpg monsters.
However, going through dungeons is just painful without a map, and even then it's easy to get lost. The balance is pretty terrible, but some may say that's part of its charm (it's neat knowing which things are good and bad, and exploiting that). The worst part is the level grinding, though. I just watched a speed run of the game, and a good half of it was spent grinding for exp and money.

I'd recommend the game, for sure. The grinding is excusable the first time playing through it, and if the dungeon design is too much for you, look up maps. It might be difficult knowing where to go, so you might also want to look up where to get certain items if you can't figure it out. And you definitely want to look up what each item does, since the game won't tell you.
But on the plus side, it has an amazing retro feel to it, it's colorful and entertaining, it has a fantastical story, and it's great seeing such old styled cutscenes.

[Norco]

I first got PSO on gamecube because well my brother was like "WE HAVE TO GET THIS!", at the time I knew next to nothing about the Phantasy Star series while my brother had played PSIV on an emulator.

Anyway, after playing PSO I instantly fell in love with the game and I also got curious where it all started. I had seen my brother play PSIV which looked really fun. However I wanted to play another game then he did just because I wanted to know something he did not. So he suggested PSII since he already had that as an emulator and I loved it, even though I got stuck really fast due to being "teh suxor" on rpgs.

After that I ask both my brother and a friend of mine; "what about the first Phantasy Star?". They said pretty much the same thing.. "the beginning is hard compared to the other games so you will need to grind a lot". Being the stubborn person I am I took on the challenge to play the first Phantasy Star..

Since I did not really mind grinding I LOVED IT, even though I often looked up the guide on pscave.com, checked maps and such. I thought it was a fun experience. There was one problem though, before I got to the castle and fight Lassic.. I accidently deleted my save when clearing space on the computer. So to this day I have still not finished the first Phantasy Star xD

[Wing Eye]

I can't remember exactly when I first played it because I was so young, it was probably 89 or 90 when I was 4 or 5 years old. My older brother got it for his birthday, because Miracle Warriors was such a fantastic game for him, he had to get the other RPG for the Master System.
It was probably because I was so young and the simple controls were easy for me to pick up that I was instantly hooked on the game. Playing the game helped me learn how to read.

[zoulen]

This is pretty much includes my whole Phantasy Star history but...
I remember when PSO originally released on the Dreamcast and I wanted to play it so bad, but my older brother said I couldn't because he claimed it would be too confusing for me. So after a couple years went by I bought a Gamecube and found the game at the local Target on sale for 34 dollars. After seeing it I knew it was a must buy. Came home with it and my brother flipped out and we pretty much played it for two days straight. I was clueless to the originals prior to the Dreamcast title so after seeing that they made a collection set for Gameboy on the back of the instruction manual I picked up the GBA copies. Lets just say I got maybe 2 hours into the game and was completely lost. I'm debating on emulating them though just so i can give them another go, and maybe enjoy them more now that I'm older.

[Omega_Weltall]

I 1st played it on the original SMS back in 89 when i was 7 (yes i'm old) getting mad i cant survive past the walls. Then after i got the hang of the game i remember running to my older brother telling him i got farther than he did. Then sometimes he'd play and I'd watch him. Then Phantasy Star 2 comes along and we just loved the game. Trust me with out that 110 pg hint book that came with it we'd be lost. Along comes 3. At 1st i loved the graphics... then the fights came and we were a bit dissapointed at the ass animation. But we gave it a shot and its fell in love with the whole generations thing. Then when 4 hit the scene i practically exploded. I guess for me it was more of a bonding thing with my brother and I. Even to this day we remember back and tell my nephews (his sons) about how ass rapeingly hard and unforgiving PS1 and especially 2 were. And it kinda makes me sad that we may never get a Phantasy Star 5. Dont get me wrong PSO and PSU are great games... they just dont feel like Phantasy Star to me.

[suj3]

I got my brother this game when he was 5. He was hooked to it then and he is hooked to it now. Everytime he feels low, this game cheers him up. Today , i told my bro abt this forum and i think he has already joined it by now !

[KusanagiShiro]

I loved the game, ever since I first played it on Phantasy Star Collection. The classic series has always been a forte of mine... one of the reasons I tend to prefer weapons that have a connection to the classic series like Elsydeon.

Heck, my character of Shiro Landeel is himself a tribute to the classic series, a distant, distant descendant of Alis herself.

[Gibdozer]

Well when all my friends were getting nintendos I got a master system, and Phantasy Star was my favorite game for it. I still have the game and a graph paper notebook mapped with pens and highlighters, wow was that game tough.

[Ryo]

I played this when I was six, in '88. GOOD GOD WAS IT TOUGH. I actually became frustrated by it frequently.

The game belonged to my older brother, who was eight. Neither of us could beat it for the longest time, so we'd come back to it every few months, and eventually when my brother was ten, he beat it.

I returned to the game as an adult on GBA and got all the way through it. That game is just stunning, and having been a kid in the 80s, there was nothing else like it at the time.

It was pretty much the visual equivalent of FFVII dropping while Chrono Trigger was on top; just leaps and bounds above everything else.

[TheDeFiler]

The only one I ever played was PSIV and absolutely loved it. So I picked Sonic Allstar Collection when it was released and gave the first PS a try. Let me tell you, I absolutely fell in love with the game and I can't beleive it came out in 88. The 3-D dungeons were a great touch, backgrounds amazing, thought Alis was an awesome character along with the supporting cast and Myau was one bad ass little feline lol. Great game and I really wish more of my friends that are into JRPG's would have given this a try. Still to this day my all time favorite RPG.

[voodlar]

I started with PSII when it came out. Fell in love. Caused me to buy a Genesis and PS3 & PS4 when they came out. Loved them all. My brother bought me Phantasy Star Universe for pc and I played that like I was in a second world of my own! Unfortunately, the servers shut down and PSO2 hasn't been released in the US yet ^^;

You people are seriously going to cause me to get this game and play it. I'm sure I will not mind the grind. At my age, looking up a map if I'm totally lost or in a game-stagnation situation is exusable :-P

I'm thinking the best bet would be to purchase and download it for my pc??? If that's reasonable, any suggestions on a good safe site to do that from?

[voodlar]

I did get a hold of an original cartridge for the master system and a power base converter so I can play it on the Genesis. Works great and is well worth the money within the first two hours.

I'm doing a bit of grinding to get the Ice Digger because it costs 12K. And yes, I'm using maps. I have no patience for the 3D dungeons. Even with maps, I still scout them and grind. Plus I did not get a manual so I have no idea what items and some magics do until I try them.

What I don't get is how monsters that I fought in the very beginning of the game are now hitting me for 5-15 hp when their attack succeeds. These very same creatures hit for 1-5 hp back when I was level 1 and they still have the same amount of hp, so it's not like they leveled. Alis and party are many levels beyond them! Is the updated armor actually detracting from my defense? That would seem ludicrous but it would be a sneaky way to keep your characters in check???


UNREAL!!! Not 5 minutes after I typed the above, my system didn't want to come on and the cartridge's save slots were erased in trying to get it to work. Don't know how that happens but it did twice before on a newer Genesis. (Erased all save slots on Warsong and Langrisser II). Damn, I was actually having fun completing it too. This basically made the whole deal a waste of time and money since I'm not into starting over with the notion that could happen again. Oh well, maybe I'll try it again some other year.

[Bragatyr]

Yeah, I have to admit, the dungeons annihilated me. I even mapped them out, or tried to, but it was often to no avail. These old 3D dungeons give me vertigo anyway, ha ha.