PS2 overtakes PS4 in Japan!

[zoothe]

I found a ranking page on a japanese Playstation site (http://www.jp.playstation.com/game/this ... nking.html) and it seems that the PS2 remake for Phantasy Star 2 is climbing as the PS2 remake of Phantasy Star IV is declining. Interesting!

[Monocromatico]

And... what does that mean?

[zoothe]

Well, the site is kind of like a "Most Wanted" page. So it would seem that, at the moment, the Phantasy Star II remake is more anticipated than part IV. I personally have always liked part 2 more than part 4, but I noticed that the majority opinion here in the Cave is reversed. I just thought it'd make for a intersting topic.

[Goldark]

Personally, even if PSIV is so good and superior in almost any aspect, comared to II, I think that what II had that still make me feel so attached to it is probably the feel of the overall game, or maybe because it was so much more difficult compared to IV, of maybe Nei's death, or maybe the hypertechnological society in which is played.

[K.I.L.E.R]

Don't mind me butting in being a newbie and all but I believe the massive love for PSII is because of the highly dramatical story coupled with a surprising and unexpected ending.<p>Personally, the moment I had seen the ending to PSII my jaw dropped and I kept thinking to myself, "WTF???".<p>I also liked the scenario of where and how PSII is played out and I really like the characters. <p>A biologist, a cute doctor, a hunter who hunts hunters, a spoiled brat who's a thief, a poor hunter who'd lost his family to bio monster outbreaks, a poor girl who is an outcast of society because of how she came to existence coupled with a machine wrecker who tends to wreck things unexpectedly and finally my favourite character Rolf who's an agent working for the governor of Mota. LOL!<p>An interesting combination of characters IMO.<p>The elements of PS2 which I have mentioned played a massive roll in making PS2 my absolute favourite.<br>PS1 coming second to PS2.

[Benoit]

I think it's easy to explain why the PSII remake is more anticipated than PSIV's. PSIV is already close to perfection. It doesn't need any remake. While PSII could use some little finishing touches, like being able to select which enemy to attack instead of a group, a more intuitive battle system and some backgrounds. Though personally I didn't mind all the above that much, except sometimes for the random enemy selecting in an enemy group.

[Saner]

yeah. PSIV is already perfect as it is. I even don't mind playing PSIV again these days! ^_^ <p>it exceeds in all categories, even story. <p>PSII is great too. and a remake is more expected from it than IV because I dunno, the PS1 remake made PS1's visuals so beautiful and stuff.<p>I'm afraid they might butcher PSII's plot and art style maybe. but it might also turn out to be a good remake worth checking out. <br>:D <p>and even if the remake turns not as good, there's always the original to play. <p>I just hope they don't mess up anyone's hair or face. <p>and they shouldn't remix the music too much. just keep it simple and cool and true to the original.

[zoothe]

<blockquote>and they shouldn't remix the music too much. just keep it simple and cool and true to the original.<br></blockquote> <p>I agree. PSII has, in my opinion, the best music of the entire series. I love all the tunes, and I seriously hope they don't mess with the orchestration that much.

[Cherok]

I agree with Benoit in that PSIV requires only a graphical facelift, some music modernizations (only modernizing the instruments, not any of that remix stuff) and some small fixes in dialouge. The original translators did a great job, although I feel that certain character to character dynamics could be emphasized a bit more, Ie: Wren and Rika's relationship. (that would help explain as to why she feels sadness during promising future). <p>Personally, I would like to see the battle system improved upon. Keep the fast paced, hard hitting music, sfx and character animations and get rid of the anti-flow of basic turn based fighting. <p>I dont know who would agree with me, but I would like o see innovations such as the a battle meter which builds up before a character is able to attack, or character attacks which simultaneously with other character attacks. Ie:Suikoden<p>Basically, turn a rigid rail driven video game battle in to a fluid, fast, and intense scrum between enemy and hero party<p>If that made any sense. Less like video game, more like movie

[Cherok]

<blockquote><i><br>I'm afraid they might butcher PSII's plot and art style maybe. but it might also turn out to be a good remake worth checking out. <br>:D <br></blockquote><p>They will have to do something with the character designs. Unfortunatley, the 'Dirty-Pair look' went out with the 80's.

[zoothe]

<blockquote>I agree with Benoit in that PSIV requires only a graphical facelift, some music modernizations (only modernizing the instruments, not any of that remix stuff) and some small fixes in dialouge.</blockquote><p>If that's what they do, then cool. If they change some things around, that's cool too. If PSIV is perfect, there is nothing that will change that, and so a remake will only be secondary... but at least those who never owned a Genesis or Mega Drive can play it on a new system and experience it (even if it's only a few).<p>I'm still pissed that they left part 3 out of the remake schedule. What kind of crap is that?!

[Cherok]

Personally, I think 3 deserves a remake just as much as the other 3 PS titles. In common opinion, it tends to be cast as the blacksheep of the series for its interface, plot, graphical and sound differences, although I believe it still deserves a degree of respect.<p>Plot innovations such as generations, or the fact that the characters world was eventually found out to be one gigantic starship literally 'beg' for elaboration.<br>Since the surface dialouge between characters left so very much to be desired, imagine PS3 characters having the same dynamic between themselves as the cast of PSIv did. <p>PS, another thing I loved about III was the way the feild characters were designed; especially Rhys, Nial, Lyle.. The emphasis and style that PS3 had on capes, shoulder armour<br>and chest plates was almost similar to Panzer dragoon (some of the larger pics in the hint guide help illustrate that). It carried the smae kind of sci-fi star trek look that PS2 and Iv did, although it pushed Palman fasion as being slightly more medevil

[zoothe]

<blockquote>It carried the same kind of sci-fi star trek look that PS2 and IV did, although it pushed Palman fasion as being slightly more medevil</blockquote><p>Yeah, and I think that was totally the right call. In the second game, the Palmans were vaguely described as thinkers and scholars, but I always imagined that they had not developed as much as Motavia and it's people. Maybe that they even rejected the tech advancement in favor of tradition. If this was the case, then it makes sense that they would have designed the worlds within the ships to be less tech and more traditional. <p>[size=small][Edit by zoothe on [TIME]1083856346[/TIME]][/size]

[Cherok]

Do you suppose that they were more of a philisophical artsy culture of people?<p>Palma though, from my understanding were a more established society;therefore, most likely had different views on certain industries. For example, Fashions and trends in clothing, archetecture, and lifestyle differ from country to country here on earth. It is a safe bet that Planets which had had little to no contact with each other (Since Mother Brain banned inter planetary travel) established their own cultural differences.<p>PS3 doesnt seem to show a heck of alot of palman technological superiority though. Perhaps Laya and Orakios wars were so devastating that things has to be re-started from scratch. <p>And on a side note, Alis and friends journey over Palma also exhibited certain cultural differences to what Rolf and Chaz encountered in their adventures<p>I havent any idea why it is so interesting to debate and wonder about the unsaid story portions of a video game. Phantasy Star must have truly been a monument of gaming to have all of us here yakking over it<br><p>[size=small][Edit by Cherok on [TIME]1083865265[/TIME]][/size]

[zoothe]

Though Palma was much more advanced than Motavia in PS1, Motavia saw a great advance going into part two thanks to Mother Brain. That coupled with that lack of real description on Palma's industrial state always left me feeling that Motavia had surpassed Palma in many ways technologically. Of course, Palmans had to be highly advanced to create the spaceships seen in parts 3 and 4, but it seems that their philosophies were more traditional. And I totally agree that the cut off of communication between the planets over the centuries led to huge cultural differences.<p>The speculation of "starting from scratch" after the wat between Laya & Orakio is quite valid as well.<p>I think that any story that is interesting enough will lead people to speculate on the untold aspects of it. It's also what makes for good sequels.