Retro gaming is an interesting topic for a lot of reasons. Original hardware? Ports? Remasters? CRT? There are so many ways for people to play them and everyone has a different preference. In this instance I played this with a friend using the PS3 Sega Megadrive Collection as one of the extra games. What really matters to me though isn't how you choose to play, but how the game holds up. Considering this game came out in 1987 (and is nearly as old as I am) I was actually impressed by a lot of it but after discussing with the friend I played this with after beating it we decided your enjoyment of Phantasy Star is probably going to boil down to an entirely binary decision.

With, or without a walkthrough?

You see this game is very much a product of it's time, and I mean no insult by that. It plays akin to an adventure game as much as an RPG meaning you have to find a lot of strange items in dungeons from very cryptic clues from villagers you talk to. Going through the wrong dungeons in the wrong order without the right items or knowing how and when to use them can mean you hit frustrating dead ends. Magic spells and items don't have descriptions and the localisation feels almost machine translated it's so wooden and clunky. Wrong pronouns and spelling errors abound!

Unless you want the original experience of mapping out dungeons on graph paper and trying to work it out on your own, I'd advise using a guide personally to get the most enjoyment out of it. Playing with a friend was like rally car driving with one person in control whilst the other gave directions. The dungeons themselves were impressive in some ways regardless, despite their repetition. Phantasy Star has this cool effect where the traditional top down view of the world map changes to a first person dungeon crawler. The view change for a Master System we found really impressive with the dungeons wireframe programming and perspective being something feeling more like a Megadrive game, (I also love the catchy dungeon theme).

The game does some other really neat things too, the character and enemy designs are really neat. Having a female protagonist is still rare in JRPGs now never mind in 1987. though the story is incredibly threadbare of Alis avenging her murdered brother by going to kill the evil king, she doesn't come across as some weak damsel in the few animated cutscenes either, she just gets the job done. Other party members follow you on screen as you move around and I loved Myau the space cat's animation as he runs behind you. A lot of the enemy designs and sprites are really unique too with Phantasy Star's heavy Star Wars influence at the forefront with robots, sandworms and Jawa looking enemies. Some of these have surprisingly fancy and varied attack animations that kind of show what the Master System was really capable of for an 8 bit system.

Honestly I was surprised just how much I really liked this. Yes engaging with it as you would have in 1987 on it's own terms in 2024 is a somewhat painful experience, but playing it with a guide to experience this sci-fi and fantasy mix is kind of a delight. The music is surprisingly great, the art design is good and overall it still holds up well still. All that said I wouldn't play it again, at least this version. I do want to try the Sega Ages 2500 remake at some point, just to see an updated space cat if nothing else.

+ Great art design and enemy sprites.
+ The first person dungeon crawling is a neat effect.
+ Surprisingly catchy music (if limited on tracks)

- Dungeons do all look identical.
- Extremely difficult to know where to go or what to do without following a guide, a product of it's time.

Moments of greatness and intrigue cut off at the knees by needlessly juvenile and cringe inducing jokes.

So the premise to this game is great. You play Kaname Date, a police officer working for a department that specializes in diving into suspects subconsciousness to try to learn the truth. One night you are called to a grisly murder that sets off a chain of events as you investigate further. The gameplay to this backdrop is split into 3 main parts all of which have ups and downs:

The visual novel section - Most of the game is spent visiting areas talking to characters, asking questions to lead further on the investigation. A lot of the characters are pretty good (I especially liked Aiba and Mizuki) while some are pretty bad (intentional or not Ota is an insufferable weasel) and the localization and voice acting along with this is superb. Each character's voice fits them perfectly and I thought the performances were really good. While in these locations you look through Date's eyes and can move the camera around highlighting objects getting descriptions and lines I quite liked (Does get old revisiting areas with little new). So all good? The problem is the game is obsessed with throwing in terrible sexual innuendos, puns and other cringe humour, often at seemingly completely inappropriate moments and characters. It constantly wants to stick a spike in it's own wheel killing immersion and it gains nothing from it.

The action section - Every so often in the story there are mini quick time event scenes with shoot outs as your investigation progresses. These moments are absolutely destroyed by the above mentioned issue in that they are meant to be serious moments of danger but no, everyone is distracted by porno mags. It's so painful I rolled my eyes 360 degrees in my skull. It wasn't funny or clever once, by the fifth time I was actually angry by it.

The Puzzle sections - While diving into people's minds they play out like a surreal puzzle as you try and bump your way through. Many of them are full of great imagination. The issue is they play out entirely in a trial and error scenario with timers to complete and random penalties or boosters earned on each action. Due to the nature of a surreal dream there is no logic to it meaning you bumble about hoping to choose the right option on random objects. It just feels like the idea is great but needs refining to actually be fun.

I guess that's my main issue with this game just being great ideas but the execution never lands. The writer seems like a 13 year old horny boy and a grizzled divorced father at the same time. The premise is great but the puzzles feel annoying more than fun etc. All that said I enjoyed so many aspects of the plot, characters and art that I saw it through to every ending, a couple of which I genuinely found moving so it was worth it in some ways, It just could have been so much greater.

+ Story premise is great.
+ Some nice art.
+ Great voice acting and presentation.

- Juvenile humour constantly ruins pacing and story moments.
- Seriously why is it so cringey?
- Trial and error puzzle sections aren't as fun as they should be.

I know that it's a rpg series that doesn't do that much that SNES predecessors haven't already done, but i played this before those. The art is charming, some of the music insanely good, the characters are likeable, main villains intriguing, and you visit all kind of interesting places. The overarching story is a typical save the world affair, but it's done well (and like 90% of all rpgs come down to that in one way or another).That's enough for me to really like a jrpg.
If you have enough Djinn the combat can be played in a djinn set and summon only fashion, but i didn't mind that much. The summon effects were awesome even after spamming them for ages, i still remember all the rank 4 ones. I had to use a guide for my 100% playthrough, because a few of the djinn were in the open world on secret spots (not a fan of that). But most of them you discover naturally without to much chance to completely miss them.
I don't care that much for puzzles in a rpg, but that's a strong aspect in this game as well.