"This one isn't quite like the others..."

******POSSIBLE SPOILERS******

A lot of people say this is a bad game, its not a true RPG, yada yada yada... I completely and 100% disagree with them. I'll explain why. This is actually pretty similar to FF3 in battle style, which was one of the reasons its debated not to be a "true" RPG. This was a good RPG, not great, but good. Pretty innovative too, the generations were a extremely good idea. This still doesn't touch greatness that is Phantasy Star IV though

Gameplay-7/10
They weren't spectacular, but they were fairly simple. The battles were pretty fun, some of them were pretty tough as well. They game speed, as in walking around, was EXTREMELY slow, and made this game a little tough to stick all the way through with.

Characters-8/10
Ehh, again, not great, but good. They were developed from birth, almost literally. No real relationship development between the main characters, but you had to pick one to marry at the end of each generation? A little iffy with that decision, didn't ruin the game though.

Fun Factor8/10
Probably the best aspect of this game, which isn't saying a bunch. It was pretty fun to play through. I liked the music, and that makes walking through the dungeons, especially the one leading to Dark Force, bearable. It was very boring to walk around the towns though. The slow game speed really hurts the fun factor, and probably is the reason it isn't a 10/10.

Replayability10/10
Screw what I said in the Fun Factor section about that being the best aspect of this game, this is by far and away the best thing this game has going for it. There are numerous ways to play through the generations of this game. You could play this game solid for a month and not hit all the combinations.

Overall7/10
Not a bad game. Contrary to popular belief, it is an actual RPG. I suggest you play this game if you liked either 2 or 4. This one is a tad different from those, but still not a bad find.

~vh2k4~

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/02/04