Why sega is sucking?

[Akaimizu]

Is anybody actually still waiting for it to at this point?

That's fine though. Modern iterations of Phantasy Star have very little to do with anything I'd recognize as Phantasy Star anymore, and I almost have to thank Sega. Had they released it, I'd have downloaded it and probably spent a bunch of money and time on it - all the while frustrated and pissed off that it isn't Phantasy Star. Now that they said I can't have it... I'm fine with it. Chalk Phantasy Star up on the pile of other old Sega IPs that we'll only ever see decent versions of on emulators.

If Sega doesn't want my money, then, fuck - I'll just have to give it to Bethesda instead.

I have been. I dabble in the Japanese version, but I'm not throwing any money that way. To a degree, it actually paid off because all the IPs around here were off that service for over 6 months. And because I was not staying home during that time, I pretty much was off of it. So more of a *forced* wait. Still, I don't throw money at stuff where I could be disconnected from it, at any time. I'm not holding my breath for it, at this time. Nor am I for just about any major cool IP Sega has kept under lock and key.

We're getting a slow trickle of 3D arcade conversions on the 3DS, and that's pretty much the main non-Sonic things we are getting.

Still, the big reason is the same reason Commodore failed. (One of the most historic examples of a corporate failure in the computer or videogame industry) They simply decided to completely ignore too much of the fanbase, and all the way to the bottom, they pretended to act as if they knew everything. They also had the added fuel of ignoring the branches of the company that partly had the job of relaying regional consumer demands to the parent company.

[Sinue_v2]

Not even Final Fantasy feels like older final fantasy, and it's the only franchise that has managed to be alive today with a name.

True enough, but I also haven't bought a Final Fantasy game since X, and haven't really even had a passing interest in that series either after I finished XIII on a rental. Bravely Default is rather nicely scratching that itch for classic Final Fantasy/JRPGs, and I'll probably stick to that franchise provided they make sequels and don't go completely off the rails again.

Still, I'd rather give my money to Sega than Bethesda.

I can't really speak to how it is in regards to their MMO, since I don't have it yet and am not invested in it's community - but in general, while there's a lot of faults to find with Bethesda's games - from what I've seen, the company has a great dynamic with their fanbase. Just releasing the Creation Kits/GECK and telling people to go nuts and build something crazy is reason enough to support them, but then they go beyond that by adding in references to community members in their games, linking to community projects - from game guides to Out of Game Texts to script extenders - on their official pages. Not to mention the tacit (though not explicit - gotta protect those copyrights) approval of C0DA which basically legitimizes head-canon, and mods. It really makes the games feel open and participatory.

They may not even have the best relationship with their community, but compared to Sega, it's the difference between night and day.

[Blitzkommando]

Sega had the dual benefit and misfortune of being early into the whole online action RPG scene with PSO. PSO wasn't particularly good itself (rife with hacking, server outages, corrupting of save files wiping out . But, it was new and it was fairly unique at the time. Mostly. Going back and attempting to play it shows just how much has changed in the ensuing 14 years (nearly). Don't get me wrong, I loved PSO but it really was the people I met and interacted with that kept me coming, and they have since dispersed to the wilds of the internet. Once that ended, I just stopped playing. Compared to the thousands of hours I spent in high school, I've done maybe ten hours in the past ten years even though I have all my saves and games still.

And, that kind of sums up Sega since around 2001. Occasional bright sparks where even without the polish and shine of a well made product, it was made up by a somewhat new and interesting experience, but that is the outlier rather than the rule. Far more often they attempt to go back to that initial spark only to find that, much like a spark, it has already disappeared with only burned remains and smoke left. That they are insanely compartmentalized between Sega Japan and the rest of the world is just more reason they draw ire and become even more scrutinized.

And, as much as I would love to see a new Phantasy Star singleplayer JRPG, it won't happen. Phantasy Star as it was no longer exists. That ended with PSO. And, should they decide to reboot it, the lore and style of PSO would undoubtedly overwrite all of the older lore and gameplay simply because even if PSO and its derivatives are old, Phantasy Star itself is outright ancient in comparison. Trying to bring that into this century would just be fraught with conflict of trying to figure out how to do that, and that's leaving out all of the intra-Sega strife that would result of Sega Japan and Sega America competing. Anything that would result would be Phantasy Star in name only, perhaps with a handful of nods to the old but nothing too obvious or integral.

[Noblewine]

They also have a bad habit of flagging videos related to their games on youtube.Shows how they feel about fans showcasing their products. Which helps them by introducing newcomers into looking into their games.

[Akaimizu]

Not even Final Fantasy feels like older final fantasy, and it's the only franchise that has managed to be alive today with a name. People hate the new games? sure, but they still sell, and they still make them and try to change the formula every time. Phantasy Star is not the only unrecognisable franchise that is alive today, Shining Force since Tears entered the hentai dimension never to return.

To a degree. Except for one thing. Apparently it seems that Square Enix still knows how to make a classic Final Fantasy experience while bringing modern sensibilities to it. They managed to do that in Bravely default. (Mistwalker (original creater) seems to also know that stuff and can make new FF-like games)The problem with certain other franchises, is that nobody came to take on the mantle, even with a new name.

Shining Force original kind of died, and as of right now, the closest we have is the newly revitalized Fire Emblem series. At least, (though missing certain support and friendship aspects of SF3) they do seem to capture a lot of that spirit in somewhat different systems. They also contain an interesting (though different in implementation) version of a friendship and support dynamic. To a degree, that might be enough.

Phantasy Star RPG, more or less, has a much further stretch to see games holding the torch for it. The closest was stuff like Star Ocean (which I'm not sure if the series is dead or not), and Xenoblade Chronicles. Due to how different those are, may not be enough to actually carry on what Phantasy Star left behind.

The Phantasy Star online experience is still unique. Nobody really came along and followed it in a sci-fi theme. Still too many differences. Sci-fi being still the black sheep of online MMOs (everybody wants high fantasy), and the few that make it are all so different from each other.

[NoiseHERO]

Turn based rpgs aren't fun anyway.

Unless they're SMT.

that's why FF 15 is gonna be KH4

[Akaimizu]

I Agree and Disagree a little. SMT and Bravely Default. But before Bravely Default....... mostly SMT.

I still consider SMT the main series I compare any game's balance of Offensive and Defensive skills/spells from. The best series to get that right. When buffs and debuffs, along with a good attack plan actually make up the decisive part of battles. It's hard to top SMT on that, unless you copy it. I love a game that can keep the RPG from turning into just a DPS battle.

[NoiseHERO]

Oh wait SMT and pokemon.

But pokemon imo is only fun against humans/end game difficulty challenges. Otherwise way too easy to just type matchup OHKO everything.

and while everyone can find an excuse to enjoy classic FFs... I definitely don't play them for their battle systems personally, even tho their names for magic and items are iconic for me.

And theres dragon quest but... I've only played and enjoyed DQ9 but not long enough to finish the game, and that series is basically FF's dad anyway.

So if it's not one of those 3-4 games I'll be turned off in seconds But otherwise yeah SMT and pokemon for actual battle.

[Sinue_v2]

Phantasy Star RPG, more or less, has a much further stretch to see games holding the torch for it.

To a degree, this can also be an asset, because it won't be as much of a stretch to make something that feels relatively fresh and inspired to new customers - even while it's modeled to please the fans of the classic series. The market simply isn't as saturated with ideas and variations on the theme as it is for high fantasy. That could be an edge it needs in the market to stand out. Phantasy Star classic has generally had a high-fantasy component to it as well, and if designed right, could help smooth things over.

Though, one thing I think would be needed to make a new successful PS game is a mind towards western inspirations and sensibilities. Phantasy Star classic was all about the juxtapositions of contrasting themes - such as the mixing of high tech sci-fi and rationalism with magic and dark spiritual powers as subversive elements. Dark Falz was, in part it seems, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's works which blended that same kind of rational world with madness and malevolent magics laying just behind the veil. The games were also highly inspired by Star Wars (Again, a juxtaposition between high-tech sci-fi and eastern religious concepts underlying the Force), and other franchises familiar to the west. I believe in the PS:Compendium - designers from the classic series admitted that these confabulations of cultures was intentional, and I think it would be a good idea for the series to head back in that direction if they want the game to have a broad mass market appeal.

Sadly, I don't see that happening, as Phantasy Star has firmly been in the court of generic anime tropes popular in Japan since PSU (and arguably PSO - but it did have a pretty decent streak of Star Wars influence in it's own right.)

[NoiseHERO]

I bet if Xenoblade X had the name Phantasy Star V instead, everyone on this site would doodoo their jeans.

But there's no way SEGA could make a game that good.