Customer Reviews

Phantasy Star II

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Phantasy Star II was the best RPG of its generation. The seemingly simple game by Sega introduced complex, party-based combat to a generation of Genesis owners who missed the original Phantasy Star on the Sega Master System. PSII featured turn-based combat in which you could see your character carrying out the action you had ordered. This simple feature made combat extremely entertaining, and provided incentive to get new weapons and abilities. Watching Rolf, the protagonist, run up to a dragon and deliver a vicious slash with his laser sword is one of my favorite gaming memories.

In PSII you control a party of up to 4 characters. Players wander around a world map until they encounter one of the random battles that are extremely common. This game is combat heavy! Expect to spend most of your time wading through vicious battles and leveling your party.

While the combat is excellent, and holds up very well over time, the story is also extremely advanced for a Genesis game. PSII has a dark tone to it, and there is an excellent plot twist mid-way through the game. In some ways the plot mirrors that of Final Fantasy VII, despite the fact that PSII came out years earlier. I don't want to give anything away, but some aspects of those two games are VERY similar.

If you can get your hands on a copy of PSII (I'm not selling mine!) check it out. The graphics are surprisingly strong for a Genesis title, and the audio isn't bad either. Of course, this is one of my all-time favorites, so I'm a little biased.

This is an awesome game from a great series. Phantasy Star was kinda like the "Final Fantasy" of Sega, with some profound differences in style and setting.

The graphics on this game, though they are 16-bit, are actually quite good, drawn in stylish anime. The music is great, easily reflecting the technological setting of the series.

The gameplay is pretty good, although newer RPG gamers might be discouraged from playing this... it's most definitely "old school," which means typical, turn-based, random battles and dungeons that are long, maze-like, and very complicated to get through. I've been playing RPGs since Dragon Warrior, and even I can't really stand to go through these dungeons. Being "old school" also means that you'll have to spend some time just going out and fighting monsters in order to level up for the next coming areas.

Now, this game is quite good, but unfortunately, the tedium of level-building and the excessively long dungeons take a little bit away from the rating. Overall though, this game is pretty good, if you can still find it.

Only a year after Phantasy Star, through its relative obscurity, established itself as a landmark amongst RPGs of the era, its sequel accomplished much of the same. Phantasy Star II, set 1000 years after the first game, again proved that Sega was the company going that extra mile to provide gamers with quality entertainment.

The setting returned; the Algol star system with its three unique planets, three primary races, and mixture between the mystical and technological. The epic story added another layer as Rolf, descendant of the heroine Alis, finds himself pitted against an immeasurable threat in order to restore prosperity to Algo. Some time following the defeat of King Lassic, a technological marvel was created to supplement the struggling ecosystem on the World of Motavia. Previously little more than desert with a scattering of towns, the advent of the "Mother Brain" super computer transformed Motavia into a world bristling with vegetation and new wildlife. But something went wrong. The Biosystems lab, responsible for breeding animals suited to the new environment, suddenly began to produce dangerous monsters, complete departures from the engineering of normal animals.

Rolf, working as an agent out of the town of Paseo, is commissioned by the governor-general to retrieve the lab's data recorder, which would provide some insight as to what was causing this bizarre malfunction. Teaming up with Nei - a mysterious girl he met three months earlier who bears traits of both human and animal, Rudo - a Hunter who kills Biomonsters to avenge his slaughtered family, and Amy the Doctor, who in the name of science wants to determine the cause of the troubles as well, Rolf sets out to the Biosystems lab. What he discovers there only raises many more questions, and thus does his quest truly begin, as it seems the malfunction may very well stem from Mother Brain itself. Meeting several other characters along the way, each with their own stake in this fated quest, Rolf must uncover a dark secret, one which extends into the depths of history, and even beyond the Algol star system.

Phantasy Star II welcomed back the innovations of its predecessor, along with adding a few of its own. Whereas in the original Phantasy Star, ally attacks were represented by slashes and shots from a first person perspective, Phantasy Star II shows the characters fully animated on screen, delivering a variety of attacks; from sword slashes to shot gun blasts, slasher throwing to technique casting. Phantasy Star II also drastically increased the number of techniques at each character's disposal, presenting over 50 to the original Phantasy Star's 8.

With an interchangeable team of 8 characters, only 4 deployable at a time, players had to determine which to choose for each new situation. Unlike the RPGs of today, where there is little balance and all characters can be souped up to god-like strength if you have the patience, Phantasy Star II's characters had their strengths and weaknesses, proving useful under certain conditions, and useless in others. For example, Hugh the Biologist at higher levels can cast a wide array of techniques which can harm or cripple Biomonsters. However, these same techniques do absolutely nothing to machine-type enemies. This is where Kain the Wrecker comes in, utilizing his arsenal of techs which lay the mechanical minions to waste.

Phantasy Star II also still stands as one of the most challenging games ever created. It's dungeons were so massive, sprawling, and complex in fact, that the strategy guide was included. You would be hard pressed to find anyone today willing to tackle the game's labyrinthine dungeons without those convenient maps right beside them. Even with the maps, they took a good deal of labelling and figuring out in order to proceed.

Phantasy Star II also prevented the common strategy of "maxing out" your characters, for the maximum level was 50. While reaching this level did give you a much better chance at defeating the final boss, it did not make it so easy that the challenge was eliminated completely. Afterall, one of the bosses has abilities that prove terribly effective no matter how strong your characters are. We've all seen poison, paralysis, and sleep...but how many enemies have you seen crush a character with their own despair or instill greed within them, making them use their turn to steal other character's items? Once again Yuji Naka proved that quality gaming lie in innovation, presenting the world with another gem. Phantasy Star II managed to keep gamers enthralled, and in a high state of anticipation for its sequel, which would be released a mere 2 years later. It would be enough to establish a massive fan base in both the East and the West, for as the Genesis's first RPG, it quickly gained the recognition it deserved...

Ah, Phantasy Star II, made back in the golden age of video games when music and gameplay actually counted, and because of the technological limitations back then, developers had to work very hard to deliver various quality game titles such as this one, and it forced developers to use their imagination and creativity to the best of their abilities, and it certainly shows in this 1989 RPG classic. It starts you off with a better detailed story than most RPG's at the time, and a clear goal for the first 10 hours of gameplay, and the anime style character designs are outstanding and jaw dropping for being from a launch Sega Genesis title, and the music is very memorable as they were able to utilize drums very well, along with other instruments that add to the atmosphere in the game, and the combat system was certainly a milestone for its time, as it was one of the very first RPG games to have your party face the enemy directly in 3rd person view, which was used later in the Playstation era RPGs, and the best added RPG element this game introduced are dramatic scenes in some parts the game that take place, which were also uncommon for RPG's made at the time. This game set the bar for future RPG games, believe it or not. Even though this may not be an Xbox 360 RPG like Lost Odyssey or Blue Dragon, one must appreciate the origins of the genre to fully enjoy it, and Phantasy Star II sure did set the bar for RPG developers in future generations, and I am very glad to say that I did not miss out on one of the best RPG games of all time; so what are you waiting for? Play this Sega Genesis masterpiece as soon as you can!!!

Phantasy Star 2 is a very, very good RPG from heyday of the Sega Genesis/Super Nintendo era. It is probably the strongest of the four Phantasy Star games. The music score is excellent, and the graphics are decent. The strongest part of this game is probably its storyline, which is both compelling and mature. There is no "let's beat the master archfiend" or "let's rescue the princess" in this game. PS2 has a futuristic/sci-fi setting, rather than a medieval castle-type setting. Your mission is to find out why biomonsters are wreaking havoc on your world when the computer system that supposedly provides for all of the world's citizens' needs is supposed to prevent such outbreaks.

Thus, your journey begins.

Let it be known that this is an old-school RPG. It features a lot of random battles which are all turn-based. The battle engine has some strengths in that you can choose the "FGHT" command which will let you fight on autopilot until you intervene. Or for more difficult battles, you can choose the "STGY" command to use items, cast spells, or defend. One weakness of the battle engine is that the only way to know how much damage you sustain from the enemies is to watch your own HP level. This leads to a few incidents of being wiped out by an enemy that can use mass attacks and you don't not even know it until it's too late. (Blasters, I'm looking at YOU.)

This game features about 20 dungeons on two different planets. Many of these dungeons are HUGE and COMPLEX. It is STRONGLY recommended that you either make your own maps or download some maps from elsewhere because you will NOT be able to just randomly bungle your way through these places like you could in a Final Fantasy game. Even the very first dungeon can be difficult to navigate.

There are also 8 playable characters in this game. You can have up to 4 in your party at any given time. Each character has his or her own unique ability. Some are great fighters. Some are better with magic. And some are better depending on whether you're fighting a biomonster or a robot. So there's a bit of strategy involved here; not everybody can learn every spell or equip every weapon. Also, you cannot breeze through this game by overleveling because there is a cap on how high you can go.

One flaw with this game is the fact that you will have to do A LOT of grinding. Equipment upgrades are expensive, and when you are buying equipment for 8 warriors, that gets pricey fast. Also, as you gain companions, they will all start at Level 1. So you often have to build up their strength before moving on to the next town or dungeon. That causes a break in the action. While that may slow things down a bit, it's probably necessary because you will have a hard time advancing in this game with inferior equipment and being underleveled.

This, however, is a minor quibble. If you are patient, this game will reward you with an incredible gaming experience. There's not much flashy about it in terms of cut scenes, animations, and voiceovers. But the gameplay is definitely solid and the storyline is very well thought out. Again, be advised that this is not a game for people who are new to RPGs or who like their RPGs on the easy side. Some of the dungeons in this place are downright cruel. If you don't mind a challenge, then get your graph paper ready and prepare to be amazed.

Well well,
I remember playing this game for hundreds of hours growing up. So much fun. the little pocket stragegy guide it came with was really handy when you got to the UZO islands and the Green Dam. The characters in this game really stood out from most RPG's in its time. Its always fun to go back home and see another person wants to join you in your fight to save the planet Algo.

Most Rpg's have a older feel with knights and Soldiers and many of these games are classics. I think one of phantasy star II's strong points is how its set in the future. And not to mention the battles were far above most RPG's of its time with how detailed the attacks were. It also helped you had 8 party memebers you could change in and out so it helped things not get boring when fighing 100 + Battles.

I remeber first playing Phantasy Star 2 when I was getting into video games. It is what a jrpg should be- a quest that easily takes 10+ hours to finish. The graphics are very anime-ish with fitting music. I am now on my 2nd play-though of ps2. If you play it, be sure to download a faq for it.

Phantasy Star 2, without a doubt a game ahead of its time when it was released on the Genesis years ago. While it may look simplistic now compared to the recent RPG's of late, but everything from the anime style graphics to the excessively long quest made Phantasy Star 2 worth playing. The final boss was one of the most memorable bosses in video game history, when I was younger it gave me nightmares. All in all, if you can find it now it may be a bit pricey, but next to Gunstar Heroes, this is the second best Genesis game ever.