I love Phantasy Star I-IV (except III, mostly everyone agrees it's too flawed and wacky despite some good ideas). I never got into Phantasy Star Online, which is the only game people today seem to be familiar with, though. Is it even related to the original RPGs? I heard 2 has Dark Force as a boss but the events of IV make it...strange. That shouldn't be possible in-universe.
Still, Phantasy Star IV is my favorite and most likely the best RPG on the Megadrive by a long shot. It had good combat, good music, it stayed away from medieval fantasy and generally speaking was full of good vibes (except after the first battle with Zio. If you know you know.).
If you want to replay it there is a randomizer called Profound Distortion that allows to mix things up and I believe it's still in active development.
Anyway, I really loved some of the things it did with enemies like the witches using combined attacks or monsters fusing together like the Dualblade and the Life Deleter. Even today that stuff is rare to see, last game I remember with enemy fusions is Etrian Odyssey V.
I never managed to find the game in a normal shop, but when the local Blockbuster closed up, they happened to have a rental copy that I managed to get. It's still with me.
I wish like for Sonic (Mania) there would be additional Phantasy Star entries in the IV formula
Kodama: That’s also partly why this development was a lot of fun, I think: we (the developers) started the project on our own initiative, and many people on the team had worked on PSII and were able to address the shortcomings and unfinished ideas they had from that game in PSIV.
I really like the Manga style cut scenes in the game, it really added to the production value, and the plot is once again, full of twists and turns.
This is a JRPG that did age well and it's still engaging to play today, so it's a classic... like Breath of Fire III, Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger,... they have well crafted stories & characters and they are not too hard to play or too grindy... and they all have a certain care for presentation.
Yeah, and I don't want to play more phantasy star games, and you know why? I am klinging to those amazing positive emotions I can still remember, namely I don't want to ruin them.