RPG Diary

Phantasy Star III

While Phantasy Star II was technically a 16-bit game, it still felt like an 8-bit game to me — it was tedious and grindy. Will Phantasy Star III be more of the same, or will it evoke my nostalgia for 16-bit RPGs?

Title	Phantasy Star III
Year	1990 (US 1991 )
System	GEN
Developer	Sega
Publisher	Sega

As a 1990 game, it's unsurprising that Phantasy Star III still feels more like an 8-bit game — it was contemporary with Final Fantasy III and Dragon Quest IV. Still, the branching story with actually impactful choices is pretty impressive for its time. The story exceeded my (low) expectations, though it still has a weak and terse presentation (perhaps limited by the era).

Unfortunately, my strongest memory of this game will probably be the endless backtracking across the various maps. The game is quite frankly an endurance test as the plot will force you to travel literally corner to corner, often through the same tunnels and caves over and over again. While there are finally "vehicles" in the final act, they have various limitations that prevent them from improving the travel situation. Inexcusably, the escape and teleport spells from the previous game have also been removed, so I had to backtrack out of several dungeons as well. (Yes, there is a consumable for the escape spell, but I always forgot to buy them!)

Thankfully, Phantasy Star III is not as hard as the previous game, and I spent far less time on dedicated grinding. However, combat is also far less interesting, as spells are essentially useless this time around — every character should just attack, unless they need to heal. I guess this is both good and bad, as it made it easier to just zone out during the long boring hikes to previous locations.

I usually don't comment on soundtracks. While some RPGs do have a wonderful soundtrack, it never raises my opinion of the game — it's just a bonus. However, I found the Phantasy Star III soundtrack so annoying that it was actually detrimental to my experience.

After completing a game, I add it to my overall enjoyment ranking which orders the games I've completed from those I most enjoyed to those I least enjoyed. I'll put this ahead of the similarly backtracking-heavy Dragon Quest VII, because Phantasy Star III is magnitudes shorter in length. I think I had more fun playing Final Fantasy though.