Not only is this game incredibly impressive for its age but it's also almost entirely aged gracefully since then. If you're looking to play this, use the PS2 Phantasy Star Collection (it's Japanese but lets you play the English version). I loved the fanservice it provided for previous games and even without that it stands pretty well on its own. If you're looking to play this, though, I'd recommend at the very least going through Phantasy Star 1 (SEGA Ages on Switch ideally) and trying to play 2 and 3 if you can, though I don't blame you if those two filter you. 4 plays and is designed leagues better than 2 and 3, so don't worry about it being painful to play.
The combat in this was about as simple as you'd expect an early 90s JRPG to play, but I was pleasantly surprised at the level of depth the game expected out of my thinking when it came to figuring out strategies and macros. I was genuinely impressed that I thought so much about my moves during this game, as I've been used to early DQ or FF wherein I can more or less spam the same 2 strategies against everything. The dungeons were vastly improved from 2 and 3; while I still think I prefer the cute first-person style of the first game, I think this one's designed far more effectively when it came to sheer aesthetics and enjoyability of dungeoncrawling. Further, the worlds were about as on point as the previous games, and I enjoyed the core cast of characters quite a lot. While several of them remained as simple and one-note as those from earlier games, the main two characters who stick from start to finish have a somewhat hands-off yet still effective pair of arcs. Their actions and thoughts make sense, especially given their ages, and I found their struggles compelling.
Unfortunately the game expects you to grind for a hot minute around 4/5 of the way through, so once you unlock a dungeon in the sky, switch to Very Easy for it as it'll quadruple your exp gain and money gain as well as lowering encounter rates (though you still may need to grind a tiny bit). Once that's done, switch to Easy for the rest of the game. If you do that and make sure to run from as few encounters as possible, you should be at approximately the 'right' level for a good amount of challenge from start to finish.
Anyway, it's really hard for me to put into words how perfect of a game series this felt to me. I don't mean to say the games themselves were, but I think the worlds they were trying to convey are exactly the sort of thing I enjoy. At the time of writing I don't know if I entirely prefer this to 1 as both games excel at their own things, but I can at least say this series is very much a bun-over-meat sort of thing (not to say I didn't get enjoyment out of 2 or 3). I'm really glad I decided to throw some cash at the Nintendo eShop to get Phantasy Star 1, cause I don't regret it at all. It's been an awesome journey and I'm glad 4 lived up to the hype.
The combat in this was about as simple as you'd expect an early 90s JRPG to play, but I was pleasantly surprised at the level of depth the game expected out of my thinking when it came to figuring out strategies and macros. I was genuinely impressed that I thought so much about my moves during this game, as I've been used to early DQ or FF wherein I can more or less spam the same 2 strategies against everything. The dungeons were vastly improved from 2 and 3; while I still think I prefer the cute first-person style of the first game, I think this one's designed far more effectively when it came to sheer aesthetics and enjoyability of dungeoncrawling. Further, the worlds were about as on point as the previous games, and I enjoyed the core cast of characters quite a lot. While several of them remained as simple and one-note as those from earlier games, the main two characters who stick from start to finish have a somewhat hands-off yet still effective pair of arcs. Their actions and thoughts make sense, especially given their ages, and I found their struggles compelling.
Unfortunately the game expects you to grind for a hot minute around 4/5 of the way through, so once you unlock a dungeon in the sky, switch to Very Easy for it as it'll quadruple your exp gain and money gain as well as lowering encounter rates (though you still may need to grind a tiny bit). Once that's done, switch to Easy for the rest of the game. If you do that and make sure to run from as few encounters as possible, you should be at approximately the 'right' level for a good amount of challenge from start to finish.
Anyway, it's really hard for me to put into words how perfect of a game series this felt to me. I don't mean to say the games themselves were, but I think the worlds they were trying to convey are exactly the sort of thing I enjoy. At the time of writing I don't know if I entirely prefer this to 1 as both games excel at their own things, but I can at least say this series is very much a bun-over-meat sort of thing (not to say I didn't get enjoyment out of 2 or 3). I'm really glad I decided to throw some cash at the Nintendo eShop to get Phantasy Star 1, cause I don't regret it at all. It's been an awesome journey and I'm glad 4 lived up to the hype.