I've played the Sega Ages version on the Nintendo Switch.
Phantasy Star has the perfect formula for an old school RPG. It uses the Wizardry style of 1st person movement for the dungeons and the Ultima style for everything else. I enjoyed having the automatic maps for the dungeons and manual with me all the time (digitally available inside the game itself on the Nintendo Switch), and I would recommend both for anyone interested in playing this game for the first time. The QoL stuff made the world less overwhelming and allowed me to have fun exploring everything without feeling like I have no I idea of what I'm doing. The start is also very grindy, but it felt right, it allowed me to role-play as this character desperate for money that has zero experience with combat, so fighting low level monsters over and over and basically working and healing in the first minutes of the game felt right. After getting my first party member, I never had to grind again. Despite the hidden secrets in the final hours that can stress the less patient and the constant need of taking notes to be able to understand what to do next, Phantasy Star is surprisingly advanced for its time, both visually and in gameplay, albeit still very simplified compared to what was happening in the PC scene. And the most important is, I had a lot of fun and was left wanting more of this universe.
Phantasy Star has the perfect formula for an old school RPG. It uses the Wizardry style of 1st person movement for the dungeons and the Ultima style for everything else. I enjoyed having the automatic maps for the dungeons and manual with me all the time (digitally available inside the game itself on the Nintendo Switch), and I would recommend both for anyone interested in playing this game for the first time. The QoL stuff made the world less overwhelming and allowed me to have fun exploring everything without feeling like I have no I idea of what I'm doing. The start is also very grindy, but it felt right, it allowed me to role-play as this character desperate for money that has zero experience with combat, so fighting low level monsters over and over and basically working and healing in the first minutes of the game felt right. After getting my first party member, I never had to grind again. Despite the hidden secrets in the final hours that can stress the less patient and the constant need of taking notes to be able to understand what to do next, Phantasy Star is surprisingly advanced for its time, both visually and in gameplay, albeit still very simplified compared to what was happening in the PC scene. And the most important is, I had a lot of fun and was left wanting more of this universe.