Preliminary: Oooo glad to hear the dungeons aren't as awful as PSII, not so happy to hear the plotline is lacking tho. I normally would play a fan translation of the original Japanese version but allegedly the differences are minor between the original release and the NA release? Biggest one is a different background during battles, it seems.

As always a great jam right off the bat. Phantasy Star does tend to hit with its Look and Sound.

Early Game

I mean cmon just compare this look to the NES games like Fire Emblem and FF3 and the Ganbare RPG from this time. No comparison

Omg and the animation of the water in the fountain in town. Okay I'll shush about the Look, but very impressed. Lol really silly beginning plotline tho. Just snatched her. Do they not have a roof?

Slow walking like usual with the Phantasy Stars, but beautiful, good music, and fast-paced so far. Which is a bit detrimental to the plot/feel, but great for the gameplay :-p

What in the world is this combat menu (it didn't take me long to figure out, but still. very odd lol)

I definitely see that this PS is much more fantasy/medieval-y than the earlier PSes. (so far). So far the grinds have been reasonable, but I always say that early in an RPG and then regret it later :-p

That first cave/dungeon was... surprisingly simple. Lol, that's a huge change from PSII. And I like how Phantasy Stars tend to give you a character with the ability to use healing techniques pretty early in the game. Nice.

I just realized what the Monitor feature is (basically like a world map that gets filled in? Or something?). Either way I will start to use it more and see if it works in dungeons too etc.

Gotta love your new teammates coming at level 1 and no equipment >.< But Wren is a cool idea/Look

Great music in the Weather Control Tower, very hypey, tho disappointed to see the rise of the confusing-backgrounds-for-dungeons thing like in PSII. Still, these dungeons are so much more enjoyable, so far, than PSII. If only they had sped up the walk since PSI and PSII, this would be looking like a new Favorite! I'm surprised it's the black sheep of the series.

Some of the music is a bit too "medieval"-y for my taste. And it still has that sluggish nature carried over from the NES JRPGs (with the menus, move slowment, etc.), despite its more advanced Look Sound and Feel. Reading up about the way the choices can lead to different routes and different endings and apparently even different characters to play as (?) is a bit overwhelming, but a neat idea for a JRPG of its time. Kinda hard to tell when I'm mid game tho cuz it seems I can do many different options, good idea for replayability tho. Argh it is epic and everything and a neat idea to have the different options but all these early RPGs where you lose items when you lose a character etc is quite frustrating.

Lol some really weird enemies.

I'm on the big choice! And I read up about them and both have valid points. One option gives you teleport amulet for the third generation, but the other has healing spells available earlier, which I always like. Hmmm

Wait uh I didn't realize I must've chose Nial because he kinda looks like me loll.

As neat as the idea is, like... uh, I think it was just an excuse to give you more level 1 characters. I finally had built up Lena and Lyle... Makes you not want to grind much.

Mid Game

The gameplay is definitely getting a bit more tedious and frustrating (as early JRPGs tend to do) in the later quests. And the music hasn't been as notable. (Now I'm having to navigate back through soooo many areas just to go to the next step..) But I still have that RPG hook that I can't shake haha.

Definitely wishing for more variety in the music, esp for boss battles and epic new areas, as I near my 2nd wedding. It's starting to feel quite repetitive, tho I still overall like the game and can't deny the RPG hook. Just too bad cuz I was thinking this would prove to be a 5 star, but looking like a 4 or 3. Oh and the plotline is meh. Like okay he called off the war suddenly cuz saw it was her sister. K. Oh and now you choose between 2 women. And moving on to another generation. So much potential with the generation concept squandered.

This part for the buildup to Aron's quest was kinda cool and the music was refreshing.

Ok the transition to Aron's quest was smoother and I was better about keeping strong equipment for the replacement characters now that I knew what would happen.

End Game

Oh wait turns out this is end game?! Cuz might be the last generation? Ok good cuz the burnout was creeping up.

Wren and the Aero Parts/Sub Parts concept are a really cool touch. Plus, Wren was my coolest team member regardless. Finally moving fast with the Aero Parts, looking like Batman :-p

And the music is bopping during this okay hopefully this final arc boosts this overall game. And glad I chose the path that gave me Laya's Pendant (maybe they all do? I dunno) so I can teleport with the Palaces.

Cool concept with the domes all gathered together as a spaceship. And dang these ultimate weapons slap!

As always, like with the upcoming game Super Mario World, I love when a game gives a "sneak peek" at a much later place, like the underwater temple in this or the final world sneak peek in SMW.

Darn I thought I was gonna finally finish this tonight but dang the guide suggests a huge grind before the final dungeon. Hmmmm. At last

Apparently there are multiple endings. This was Aron's. Black hole ah! Lol and then happy music cuz we were just being transported by it phew. The drama!

Look: 8.5/10 Way ahead of its NES contemporaries but nothing phenomenal or anything.

Sound: 8/10 Some great tunes, but not quite up to the earlier 2's level. If the ending song would've been more impactful, this might've been higher.

Play: 8/10 Definitely sluggish, but as good as a JRPG can be from this era. Better than the NES ones for sure.

Feel: 8/10 Felt a bit dry, but I can't deny it had the RPG hook plus the next generation of console's Look.

Attachment: 8/10 How often will I want to deal with the tedious navigating back and forth of mid and late game? Probly about as often as I want to return to early RPGs :-p I can't deny my hook to these games despite their tedium and frustrating antics. But I just occasionally get an urge to play retro JRPGs. And as I go deeper into the 90s, maybe the SNES and/or PS1 eras will prove to be my favorites.

Overall: 8.1/10