Which Phantasy Star game would benefit most from a remake?

[LaconianShot]

Obviously there's been a lot of talk about the remakes of Phantasy Star I and II and how they will not be followed up by the promised remake of Phantasy Star IV. While the remake for PSIV has been shelved, for now, there's nothing saying that there won't be remakes in the future, perhaps when traditional RPGs become more viable.

However, if you could remake any game of the Phantasy Star series, which game would it be, and how would you change the game? Would you just upgrade the graphics and keep the gameplay intact? Or would you overhaul the entire game in an attempt to improve on the series while maintaining an already established cast of characters and storyline? This is a hypothetical situation, so you can do whatever you wish.

Personally speaking, I would remake Phantasy Star III. Not only is it my favourite game of the series, but it's the black sheep of the Phantasy Star family due to elements of the game that were rushed or not really fleshed out. Though it is still a great game in its own right, in many ways it seems unfinished. Therefore, I think that it would benefit most from a remake.

I would try to keep as much of the mood and charm of the original PSIII intact as possible. For me, the best thing about PSIII was its stark but beautiful trappings. To me, the music, the semi-realistic visuals, and the lack of a narrative connection to the rest of the Phantasy Star series made me truly feel thrust into a barbaric and alien place, familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. To this end, I would avoid fleshing out the story a huge amount. Yes, I would include more dialogue, more background, and some cutscenes (more on that later), but I would not make it a "chatty" game. The dialogue would be good, it would interesting, and it would flesh out the story, but it would not be common. There's something to be said about keeping things mysterious.

As for the art direction, I would sharpen the visuals and bring them closer to what today's standard is, but I would not change their intent. I would still keep the stark and realistic overworld, and the character portraits would be more realistic than PSII or PSIV, but they would still be done in the semi-anime visuals that PSIII featured before. However, I would take the manga style cutscenes from PSIV and use those to tell parts of the story. I wouldn't always use dialogue in the cutscenes, but I would use them to show the depth of the characters and their surroundings.

The music is something I would try to keep intact as purely as possible, but I wouldn't rule out using an orchestra for some of of the music, underneath the synthesizers and keyboards. However, a lot of what I liked about PSIII was the music, so it could probably do without changing too much.

The battle system is something I'd overhaul. I'd keep the menus like they are, but I would add character animation, and actually make the techniques useful for something other than healing. Also, I'd make a countering function, so the right timing of a button tap could result in an extra hit on the enemy. Perhaps different weapons (such as the slicers) would require aiming... I suppose that's something one could impliment really well on a new console such as the Wii or the DS.

I'd keep on going, but I've already writteb quite a bit about what I'd do with PSIII. So now it's your turn... which game do you think would benefit from a remake most, and how would you do it?

[BenoitRen]

Phantasy Star III, of course!

I'd overhaul the battle interface. Make it more like PSIV.
I'd make the monsters really animated. *wiggles ears*
I'd create some more dialogue, and try to give some basic personality to the main characters in the second and third generations.

[The HuBBs]

I would say 3 as well. In fact I think it would do good in 3D.

[Black Waltz 0]

I too would say III. It had so much potential, but it fell so short of that potential.

What I would like to see in a traditional PS remake is... voice acting. Good ones, too. *Cringes at the thought of PSU*

[rodrigo]

Do you know this remake?

http://ps3.huguesjohnson.com/fangames.html

or

http://rpgmaker.net/games/95/

made by Lys86
it is very good

It's a full remake of the first genaration.

I think you need RPG maker 2003 rpt to play it

[LegoMuskCat]

Do you know this remake?

http://ps3.huguesjohnson.com/fangames.html

or

http://rpgmaker.net/games/95/

made by Lys86
it is very good

It's a full remake of the first genaration.

I think you need RPG maker 2003 rpt to play it

I'm sorry, that was the game I was criticising on the other thread... I didn't think it was that good, to be honest. :\

[Mizerith]

I agree, PS III definitely.

I would make the battles more like PS II's and IV's where you see the characters from a rear-view and from the waist up, but still have it so you can focus your attacks on one enemy at a time unlike in II. And I would make the menus like the ones in IV as well, and maybe put in that cycling thing from II for the battles (where you put in your commands and go "fight", then everyone makes their moves until you press any button and then stop when the cycle is over).

Other than that I would keep the general look and feel of the game the same, just flesh things out a bit. Same with the music -- same feel, but more fleshed out; maybe pan flutes and such for the overworld, since that's what it sounds like to me. Stuff like that. And I would definitely make the enemies more animated.

As for dialogue, I haven't really gotten far enough into the game to experience much dialogue anyway, but I'll take your guys' word for it. So, ditto on the slight increasing of dialogue. And PS IV style cutscenes certainly would be cool.

And last but not least, the techniques. I don't know what's going on with them in PS III, so maybe I would make them like PS II's and IV's unless there's some point to the way they work in III that I'm just not getting.

[Miraglyth]

This question is a bit like asking "Which Phantasy Star game has III in the title?"

IV doesn't need a remake more than the three others, and everyone can see that. I and II have had brief modernisations on the PS2 which would be on the back of everyone's minds.

On the other hand, III is not only the oldest non-remade game, but is also so far departed from the other three games that many - self included - prefer to think of the series as a trilogy: I, II and IV.

[Flaeli]

made by Lys86
it is very good

It's a full remake of the first genaration.

I didn't know Lysander86 made such a thing! I have to try it immediately!!!
I love his other rm2k games ^__^

Back on topic, PS3 is probably the only one that really needs a remake.. It's clearly inferior to the other titles because of its graphics/playability...

[Malakai]

I'm just here to add that PSIII definitely needs the revamp more than the others becuase 1) I like the game and story but there were too many interfaces (read:battles WTF you never even see the characters) that were pretty poorly done and 2) needs some sidequests or something to make the whole generation concept more interesting and fun to play.

[shureshanz]

There are 2 games to remake
Phantasy star 3, make the battle interface like PS4 and some other things.
And PS4 a 3d version would be the best game ever seen.

[Lord Khyron]

Remake PSgaiden with animated enemies and cut scenes!

Or remake PSadventure..

[Miraglyth]

In terms of what I'd personally want to see remade, the answer would definitely be IV.

Because then a group like Conspiracy Games would be able to translate the trilogy to English, allowing me to play my two preferred games of I and II.

[BenoitRen]

Sounds like a poor reason. :/

As if they couldn't just release the two remakes in one.

[Lord Khyron]

Mira sounds like someone who prepaid for PS Collection TO be released by Conspiracy games.

You know.. when they announced the release of all 3 remakes, when PS IV hadn't been remade? Let's see.. They were advertising a collection of 3 remakes, 2 months before the US release date! But.. PS IV hadn't been remade..

I feel sorry for those people who pre-ordered that lie and believed gamestop..

I still laugh reading old posts about people FERVENTLY believing Conspiracy games will release the remakes, when one hadn't even been started!