"A misunderstood classic"

Intro
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Just yesterday, I received my copy of Phantasy Star 3 for my Megadrive, after buying it off E-bay. I'd actually previously completed the game via ROM, but being a fan of the series, I actually wanted to own the actual cart. Now over my years of being around the GameFAQs messages boards, one thing I've noticed is two misconceptions people have in regards to Phantasy Star 3: The first is that the game is incredibly bad, the second that this game is completely unrelated to the rest of the series (a claim that is more appropriate to Phantasy Star online than this game, and is also really silly as this point is addressed both in this game and in Phantasy Star 4). Anyway, instead of addressing anything about the game itself here in my intro, I'll cover off both the good and bad points in each section about the game below.

Storyline
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To be honest, the storyline is rather basic. The OVERALL storyline (IE the goal) is not too bad and actually kinda interesting when you know it all, but as you play through the game, it's a bit basic. For example, the storyline starts off well enough. You are Prince Rhys, the descendant of Orakio the hero of your people who, 1000 years ago, fought a war against a woman called Laya. Ever since, the descendants of both(Your people and the Layans) have remained enemies. On this day, Rhys is about to marry Maia, a girl that washed up on the beach many months ago. But before the marriage can start, Maya is kidnapped by a dragon. Knowing that Laya used monsters, you blame her people, swear to recover Maia, but your father doesn't believe it, as no Layans had been seen in years, You are sent to the dungeon and your quest begins...
Wow, not bad so far eh? I agree...from there, it gets kinda lame. For example, a girl shows up to rescue you, but doesn't say why and she just vanishes until MUCH later. You are left with not many clues about what to do. A bit later, you explore a cave and encounter a man who gives you a gem. You're not told why he stole it, or from where. When you meet him, he easily gives it up and claims to be busy.
And that is the main problem with the story. It's not so much bad...as it is rushed. Sega showed that they could do better with Phantasy Star 2 and the basic nature of most of the game's encounters with NPCs show that they did it really quickly.

Music
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Like most of the series, the music in this game has a very ''techno'' feel about it. And while none of the music is bad, the only really memorable theme I can remember hearing is the main theme music (which you hear on the title screen), it's great. The rest of the music is basically average. It does the job, but I wouldn't be adverse to muting my TV and listening to a CD instead. Good game music should be such that I don't even THINK about doing that.

Graphics
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Much improved over the previous 2 games, as everything, from tiles, to monsters and sprites, is better drawn. This is a good plus point for the game. The minus is that not all of these graphics are used well. The dungeons and world maps(s) are VERY bland for example, and are also very square. In fact, allot of the time I found myself wondering if I was playing Phantasy Star 3, or had somehow switched and was playing a homebrew RPG Maker 2000 game....okay, the maps aren't that bad, but the point remains that once again...it's obvious that this game was rushed and wasn't done as well as could be...this is extremely apparent when you get into a battle. No, I'm not referring the basic monster animation, but to your characters. Notice that you can't see 'em? That's my point. If I was playing Dragon Warrior/Quest, I'd expect not to see my characters during a fight, and that's how that series is. But when Phantasy Star 2 came along and DID show them...that raised the bar for the series, and to go back to ''first person'' was a big step back for Sega.

Gameplay
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I really don't have much to say here, as this plays much like any other Phantasy Star game...or any RPG of the period. However, one thing I will note is that this game is allot easier than it's prequel, in two regards(both of which are good) first of all, your characters level up a bit quicker in this game, and don't always remain as powerless against the monsters (in PS2, even a new set of equipment a few levels up meant you'd still have a hard time against later enemies). Second, is that the dungeons are MUCH less confusing. You'll probably still get lost sometimes, but by no means will you ever get as badly lost or frustrated as you would in PS2.

Overall
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Phantasy Star 3 is not the best RPG you'll ever play, either overall or on the MegaDrive, but at the same time, it IS a fun RPG, and for fans of Sci-Fi RPGs, Phantasy Star fans...or just about anybody, you really are missing out by not at least trying to play this game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/17/04