Comparing games to Destiny of an Emperor is difficult. While games like Phantasy Star share core mechanics with it, their overall gameplay is very different. This is going to be a little hard to get through.
There are a few similarities in gameplay, story, and quests. This isn’t all that surprising given that these games are both turn-based RPGs. Their graphics aren’t too far apart on the world map, but that is where it ends.
I really like both of these games. Phantasy Star is newer to me, and is more of a traditional RPG, while Destiny of an Emperor is a game I’ve been playing for years. If you’re looking for a difficult retro RPG, I recommend Phantasy Star. For something unique, try Destiny of an Emperor.
Game Descriptions/Overviews
Phantasy Star is a science fiction RPG that has the player go on a space-faring adventure across three planets. Destiny of an Emperor takes place in ancient China, and is a fictional retelling of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is closer to alternate history than anything else.
Both games send the player on a quest to assemble a party of characters, but one of them has hundreds of characters and several plot twists. They have different magic systems, and Destiny of an Emperor has you assemble a party of seven characters instead of four.
Phantasy Star is a more straightforward RPG that follows a familiar pattern. You know how the game is going to end, and you know right away who you have to fight at the end of the game. With Destiny of an Emperor, you are constantly fighting different enemy armies.
Both games end the same way, and like most of the RPGs on the home console. You defeat the last big bad guy and restore peace to the game’s world.
That is a very brief overview of these two games. Now, let’s go over some of the major differences between the two.
Main Differences
There are a lot of them between these two games. The graphics, story, and parts of the gameplay are very different. There are a lot of other differences between them, but these are the big differences.
Graphically, these games are very different. Phantasy Star has comic book cutscenes, the enemies are well detailed, and the dungeons are in first-person perspective. Destiny of an Emperor looks more like one of the Dragon Quest games. It doesn’t look anywhere near as good as Phantasy Star.
The stories and the settings are wildly different. There are more twists and turns in Destiny of the Emperor, and the bad guy that you’re fighting changes several times throughout the game. Phantasy Star has a more traditional narrative structure where you gather your party members, collect key items, and eventually defeat the game’s bad guy.
In Phantasy Star, you only have four playable characters. In Destiny of an Emperor, you have dozens, if not hundreds, of possible playable characters. You have so many options to put together your seven-man party, not to mention all of the possible tacticians you could use. Eventually, Destiny of the Emperor settles down to six characters you need in your party, but that takes a while to get to.
The magic systems are totally different. Phantasy Star is a more straightforward magic system where spells use magic points. In Destiny of an Emperor, the player has several military tactics that are only available if you’ve assigned one of your generals the role of tactician. The names of these spells have been Romanized instead of being translated, which means you’re going to have to look up what they do if you’re new to the game.
Those are the major differences between the two games. If I think about it more, I could probably come up with more, but I want to move on to the next section.
Comparing Core Mechanics (Combat, Story, Visuals, etc)
There are some similarities when you look at both games. They’re turn based RPGs where you have to go on a quest for the members of your party, and the stories are about bringing peace to a country. Graphically, the two games are totally different.
In Phantasy Star and Destiny of an Emperor, the player has to assemble their main party as the game goes on. This is easier to do in Phantasy Star. Getting the main generals in your party takes most of the game in Destiny of an Emperor, and even when you do that, two of them leave and are replaced with their sons.
Phantasy Star is a science fiction RPG where you have to free a solar system from a tyrannical king. The setting is a mix of science fiction and Greek mythology. It is a very fun and unique story for a console RPG.
Destiny of an Emperor is a historical fiction RPG that is based on a fictional account of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The game can also be called alternate history if you really want to. You play as five generals who are helping Liu Bei as he tries to unify ancient China.
Graphically, these games are like night and day. Phantasy Star is one of the best looking games on the Master System, and looks much better than the RPGs on the NES. Destiny of an Emperor is closer to how the first two Dragon Quest games look.
Those are the core mechanics for these games. They end up being very different when you take a close look. Let’s go over which game I think is better, and which game I would rather play.
What Does Phantasy Star do Better?
Phantasy Star does a lot of things better than Destiny of an Emperor. It has a better magic system, graphics, and it is less confusing as far as your party system goes. There are a lot of other things, but I’m going to focus on these three,
Phantasy Star’s magic system is much better than Destiny of an Emperor’s. It is easier to know what each spell does, and I like that you’re not pulling from a pool of magic points for all your characters.
There really isn’t too much to say about the graphics. While the world and town maps don’t look all that different, the battle screens, dungeons, and enemies all look better in Phantasy Star. Capcom didn’t do as good a job with how the game looks as Sega did with Phantasy Star.
The battle screens really stand out to me. Phantasy Stars look so much better than Destiny of an Emperor’s. The enemies look better, they have little combat animations, and you get more than a boring black screen.
Phantasy Star’s enemies are more creative than simply having human armies. The enemies look more threatening, are well detailed, and are much bigger on the screen. It is nice to play something that doesn’t use the sprites from the world screen as its enemies.
As much as I like the party system and how it is done in Destiny of an Emperor, it gets overly confusing as you end up with so many characters that aren’t all that helpful as the game goes on. Phantasy Star is much simpler, with only four characters.
I could keep going here, but I don’t want to make it look like I’m bashing a game that I like. Phantasy Star does so many things better than the other RPGs released on the home console in the late 1980s and early 1990s that it can feel like I’m dogpiling on a game.
What Does Destiny of an Emperor do Better?
There isn’t much I can point to as being better in Destiny of an Emperor. I like that you can recruit enemy generals, and there are a ton of characters; I also really like this interpretation of the source material. Much of this is going to have to do with the uniqueness of this game.
What Destiny of an Emperor does differently is being different from a traditional RPG. That is the game’s biggest asset. Nothing else plays quite like this game.
I like that you can recruit an enemy general, which makes some of your fights easier. By getting enemies to join your side, you can make it so they won’t fight you during boss battles. It is a very cool mechanic that you don’t find in other games.
Aside from being different from other games, there isn’t too much else that it does better than Phantasy Star. There are a number of things that I like about the game, but they’re all based on personal preference.
Which is Better Overall and Why?
Phantasy Star is better overall. It does just about everything better than Destiny of an Emperor, and if you’re looking for a more traditional RPG, then this is the one you should try. Both of these games have a high encounter rate and require the player to grind for levels, but Phantasy Star has less of it when compared to Destiny of an Emperor.
Phantasy Star has a better setting and story, graphics, and the gameplay is more user friendly. I know that might be hard to believe, but it is easier to manage your inventory and items in Phantasy Star.
The story is more straightforward in Phantasy Star, and it doesn’t force the player to do as much backtracking. While you do have to visit a few places several times, there are more fast travel options. You get a spaceship, a buggy, and a hovercraft.
Finding your party is easier and takes less time. It is also better incorporated into the story. Both games have quests to find all your party members, but it makes more sense in Phantasy Star.
The graphics are considerably better than Destiny of an Emperor. Phantasy Star has comic book cutscenes, the enemies look better, and the battle screens are way more interesting to look at. This part really isn’t all that fair to look at.
There is more I could mention here, but I don’t want to repeat myself. I like both of these games, but when I put these games next to each other, Phantasy Star is a much better game overall.
Which Would I Rather Play?
I would rather play Destiny of an Emperor. There is something I find compelling about the game that doesn’t exist in other games. The game isn’t like any other RPG on the NES, and I have a lot of memories of playing it.
I love the story and setting in this game. The Three Kingdoms period of China is such a great setting for a creative work. The games that Capcom made were based on a fictional interpretation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
It has a lot of things that you’ll never see in any other RPG. The game can be a lot of fun if you don’t mind grinding for levels and trying to find the characters that level up. You end up with dozens of characters that aren’t all that useful to you as the game goes on.
While the game has a number of issues, it is one of my favorite games. Once you learn how the game is played and how the magic system works, it is a wonderful experience. I have a ton of memories with this game, and that is why it is one of my favorite NES games.
Conclusion
This was harder than I was expecting. Trying to compare games to Destiny of an Emperor is much harder than I was expecting it to be. It is one of the most unique turn based RPGs on the NES.
Both of these games are a lot of fun to play, but I would rather go back to Destiny of an Emperor because of how different it is. Romance of the Three Kingdoms has a setting that I find very interesting, which is why I like games like this one.
Phantasy Star is a great game, but it isn’t my favorite of the series. It can also be a bit too difficult for newer players who haven’t played it before. It is the better game, but that has more to do with how hard it is to compare a traditional game to something like Destiny of an Emperor.
If you liked this post, please check out my other Vs posts, such as Final Fantasy vs Dragon Quest, or Destiny of an Emperor vs Dragon Quest.