I've heard Phantasy Star mentioned on these forums and others before; what do you have to say about the games and their soundtracks, and which ones in particular would you recommend (considering BOTH the games AND their soundtracks)?

Well I have a tremendous fondness for the first game, as it was the first JRPG I played and obviously I'd never played anything remotely like it before. The music is great as far as Master System music can be in technical terms, but some of the melodies are excellent and timeless, particularly the three planet themes and the cave theme. Phantasy Star 2 - all I can remember about it is that it was incredibly tough. I did reach the end, but got flattened by the last boss and never could bring myself to grind the levels in order to beat it. Decent tunes again, and I do like the battle theme very much.

I skipped over 3 and 4 entirely, aside from a bit of emulation dabbling, and I can't say I'm a particular fan of the soundtracks to either in their original forms but the rearrangements on the two 'Collection' albums are uniformaly superb.

That brings us to Phantasy Star Online (if you're considering that a true addition to the series). Er... one of the best games I ever played. Played it relentlessly for several years across various formats and think the entire soundtrack is a work of art. It really only worked as an online game though. Offline is just a refuge for nostalgics like myself

I was very disappointed with Universe in all respects. The game felt shallow and disjointed after the solid structure of PSO, and nothing in the soundtrack spoke to me on the same level.

I'm a pretty avid fan of 1, 2, and 4, with 4's soundtrack being my pick for the best in the series. (And the game being a contender for my top ten, not due to the fact that it was the first JRPG I ever actually played through)

3 was playable, and it was interesting enough as a self-contained game (the generations aspect was reasonably well done, and the ability to distribute tech power inspired some parts of a few of the earlier game engines I wrote), and its soundtrack was hummable, though only a few pieces have stuck with me, but it was technically weak (two-frame attack animation had no business being anywhere in 1992), and it just can't stand up to the other games in the series, even disregarding the consistency errors.

I actually couldn't stand PSO in any of the forms I tried it, and its soundtrack felt kinda bland and generic. To each their own, I suppose.

I've grown to enjoy the music that comes from the Genesis, so I listen to both PS2 and PS4 on a pretty regular basis. PS2 is a little short, but PS4 is one of the more compelling RPG OST's I've heard from start-to-finish. The first Sound Collection arrange album is my favorite arrange album of all time...the second could have been a lot better and didn't sound nearly as rich as the first one, but it had some sweet moments as well (though in many cases, I liked the original track more...thinking of "Landeel", "Land Master AXV" and the stuff in the battle medley mostly)

I had a small run with the PSO soundtracks (and PSU, earlier), but the obsessive focus on fairly ambient electronica and orchestral compositions meant it got old a lot faster than I would have liked. Outside of the Idola: Strange Fruits theme from PSO 3, I don't listen to these anymore. If anyone's interested, I still have Songs of the Ragol Odyssey for sale in the marketplace (which has leftovers from PSO1's soundtrack on disc 1 and the entire PSO2 soundtrack on disc 2).

Haven't played any of the games myself, but I think Phantasy Star Online I and II Premium Arrange deserves a listen.  It contains remixes of Hideaki Kobayashi's songs from a whole host of famous composers like Shimomura and Sakuraba.  Takayuki Aihara's remix of "Silent Palace" is a great track on that album.

Phantasy Star is a good game if you bear in mind that many RPGs were pretty barebones back then.  It feels like Dragon Quest I/II but with a sci-fi setting and 3D dungeons.  The music of course is good, and more importantly, very unique.  Bo's music just seems to perfectly capture that space colony feel.

Phantasy Star II is a classic and very much worth a look.  It has a story that was perhaps ahead of its time.  The only potential downside is the difficulty.  Getting through dungeons tends to be a war of attrition and level grinding is a must.  Like with the first game, the music is great, and with that same sci-fi kind of sound.

Phantasy Star IV is the most accessible of the original games.  The pacing is more consistent and the game is easier than the others.  It has nifty comic book-style cutscenes and the music is pretty good as well (no Bo though), albeit with more of a rock'n edge versus the first two games.  It's a good, solid RPG.

I have Phantasy Star III, but I haven't played it yet.  I only know that it's considered to be the black sheep of the series since it apparently wasn't developed by the same team.  I don't own and haven't played any of the PSO/PSU games.

So for me, I'd say that Phantasy Star II was the most memorable.  Something about the atmosphere of that game has stuck with me, and I only first played it a few years ago.

I'm playing this on-and-off right now (Genesis Collection...VERY nice. Save anywhere!) and I have to say the pacing is absolutely perfect so far. It CAN be hard if you're underleveled, but there's practically no level-grinding either (and even then, there's a ton of special attacks per character to learn and setting up macros is ingenious). I've done a ton of stuff (battles, events, sidequests) in just 6 hours of playtime, while most modern RPG's are barely getting started in that same timespan, which is beyond refreshing. And 5 characters in battle is great, no matter what the circumstances...I've always said I've hated the modern regression to just 3 party members (normally) and this just re-affirms more is generally better.

But I also agree in terms of accessibility...PS1 and PS2 were just designed to hurt you. I still haven't gotten past the first dungeon in PS2...

Okay, here's what GMO has: http://www.gamemusic.com/cgi-bin/WebObj … 36&did=101

Here's what CDJ has: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/search.html?ty … ntasy+Star

And Coco: http://www.vgmworld.com/catalog/index.php?l=P

...

I'm a little confused, because they like to give special names to the OSTs, and there seems to be multiple installments of the OST for each game.

Is all the good stuff already out of print?!

PS Online 1 & 2 Premium Arrange sounds good (according to RPG Fan's samples), and I'm checking out what other ones still seem to be available...

...

By the by, what system(s) was each of the series installments on? I understand they were on SEGA systems, but other than that...for that matter, were these games released in the U.S.?

Phantasy Star Online Episode III, though probably the worst part of the PSO series (wasn't it just card-battles?), had some AWESOME music IMO.

Ramza

WAIT, so, is the full name of the series Phantasy Star ONLINE? PSO? All the games were online??

No, not quite.  Here's the breakdown of the series as I understand it.

Traditional RPGs:
Phantasy Star (Master System)
Phantasy Star II (Genesis)
Phantasy Star III (Genesis)
Phantasy Star IV (Genesis

Online Action RPGs:
Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast)
Phantasy Star Online Episode I+II (Gamecube/Xbox)
Phantasy Star Online Episode III: CARD Revolution (Gamecube)
Phantasy Star Online Episode IV (PC)

Phantasy Star Universe (PS2/360) - also has a fully realized offline mode with its own characters, apparently.

All of them came out in English on their original platforms, while I-III are also in the GBA cartridge compilation.  There's a glitch in the saving system in the first one that sometimes causes the game to freeze, and the music is not as good as the Genesis, but I think otherwise they're pretty solid.  I think II might've also been put on a Smash Pack disc for the Dreamcast.  To the best of my knowledge, you can't play IV in English anywhere but the Genesis.

Someone tell me if I've gotten something grossly wrong there.  My experience with the series amounts to a thousand odd hours with PSO and PSO I+II and a number of failed attempts at the original PS1 and 2 before realizing I have better things to do with my life than level that much.

I think you might have been in Japan at the time, but it was included on the Sega Genesis Collection on the PS2 (along with 2 and 3). PS2 WAS included on the DC Smashpack, but it was a shitty emulation...The Sega Genesis Collection ones are flawless from what I can tell.

Everyone I've talked to said the PSU 1p mode was just paled down crap. I stayed away from it as a result.

So, the OSTs for the first 4 Phantasy Star on the Master System and Genesis are all out of print?

Phantasy Star IV never received an original soundtrack album.  Just the arranged selections in Phantasy Star Sound Collection 2.  The complete OSTs of the first three can only be found on the first sound collection album, but they're in the form of one track per score (each track will go through all the music in each particular game).  Meaning that the complete PSI score is featured in one track, the complete PSII score in another, and so forth.  It sucks that you can't isolate and listen to each individual piece of music, but oh well.  At least the arrange disc is awesome.

Edit: Both of course are long out of print and pricey.

Recommended game: Phantasy Star IV.
Recommended music: Phantasy Star IV.

OST not needed, check Project 2612.

Yeah, PS 2~4 on the PlayStation 2 "Sega Genesis Collection" is a very very happy thing. Everyone should own!

Also, another game that is probably not worth mentioning, but w/e...

http://www.rpgfan.com/reviews/phantasys … nture.html

About as worthwhile as Radical Dreamers. Text-based adventure = fail.

Ramza

Come to think of it, I have had two minor Phantasy Star "Mysteries" that maybe someone can shed some light on.

1. There are a couple of remade themes from PS1 and PS2 floating around...These are NOT the Sega Ages upgrades. These are fully upgraded songs with lively synth and (I think) real guitars. These are also not from the Sega Rock CD's or the PS Sound Collections. One song is  the PS2 main overworld (done really good too) and the other is a dungeon theme from PS1. Any idea what these go to?

2. I found a file of the "End of the Millenium" (the opening theme for PS4), but from the Sega CD (it was from a compilation of Sega CD music). Indeed, it has slightly cleaner sound than the Genesis version. But...PS4 wasn't released on Sega CD. So does there exist a "Sega CD" version of PS4's music?

Let me know if these ring a bell to anyone.

Thanks Ramza...Always wondered what that GG PS was.

I don't know about the Sega CD, but there was a "Phantasy Star Collection" for the Saturn that included PSI-IV. Only released in Japan, though.

Another note - the Japanese version of PS1 took advantage of an FM-chip soundtrack that sounds significantly different to the US/Euro Master System version. A few tracks can be found on the 'Segacon' album, or indeed on the Japanese version ROM if you're into emulation.