Which is Better? Phantasy Star I vs III

There were a lot of changes made to the Phantasy Star games over the course of the series. Phantasy Star III seemed to go back to how things were done in the first game. When I revisited both games, I saw quite a few similarities.

Both games are more science fantasy than science fiction. It is a nice change of pace from what most console RPGs were doing at the time. There isn’t as much that connects the stories for the two games, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

It is interesting to see how the series has changed from game to game. The first game took some chances, and a few of them carried over to the other entries. The third game was a departure from what was done before, as it was made by a different development team.

Game Descriptions/Overviews

These two games tell similar stories, but take unique routes towards an inevitable battle against an evil force. Phantasy Star and Phantasy Star III have some similarities, and they are both closer to science fantasy games.

Phantasy Star is a space-faring adventure where the player visits several planets to gather key items. This all leads to a battle with a corrupt king, and then to the evil force behind him. It is a science fantasy game with some influences from Greek Mythology that mesh well with a futuristic setting.

Phantasy Star III is a more complex story, which is told in three parts. The people have been trapped on a massive spaceship for so long that they’ve separated into opposing factions. The story takes place across three generations and ends with a final confrontation with the main villain of the series.

These are simple descriptions of both games. Phantasy Star III is the black sheep of the series, as it was made by a different team. It is connected to the series, but feels like a side story. Every game in the series takes something from the first game, and they improve on the initial formula. Let’s go over some of the main differences between the two games.

Main Differences 

There are a number of big differences between the two games. There are more characters, the art direction and dungeons are different, and the third game has a different setting. I’m sure I’ll think up a few more, which I’ll hold onto for the next section.

Phantasy Star III has a larger cast of characters because of the story that is being told. The first game has four core characters, and it tells a simpler story. In the third game, you follow three generations of heroes, which means you’ll have three parties of characters to meet. There is a little overlap between the generations, but you’ll meet more party members.

The first game has bright and colorful graphics, while the third game is a little darker. You can see this on the world map, in the cut scenes, and in the battle screens. You can tell that a different team worked on both games.  

The dungeons are completely different. Phantasy Star uses a first-person perspective for its dungeons, and they resemble how dungeon crawlers look. Phantasy Star III uses an overhead perspective, which resembles what you would traditionally see in a console RPG.

The settings are totally different. The first game has the player traveling around a solar system. You explore each planet and meet the different races that live there. The third game takes place on a massive spaceship that happens to have several biomes. It is less of a grand adventure.

Those are the main differences that I came up with. There are a few minor ones that appear in every series. Developers like to tinker with different mechanics, and make each game is a little different. Let’s take a closer look at some of the two games’ core mechanics.

Comparing Core Mechanics (Combat, Story, Visuals, etc)

I’ve gone over some of this already, but let’s take a closer look at the combat, story, and the visuals. If I think of anything else, I’ll bring it up. These aren’t too different from each other, but there are some notable differences.

Both games are turn-based RPGs where you have a party of characters. You go on a quest to find your party members, use magic, and have to grind for levels. The only differences between them are the user interface and how more enemies appear in Phantasy Star III. The first Phantasy Star is a basic RPG where you only fight one monster at a time.

I’ve touched on the story already, but I’ll add a bit more here. The two stories end with a confrontation with Dark Force. This is the big bad of the series, so it isn’t surprising that it shows up in both games. The first game starts as a revenge tale and eventually ends with a fight between the heroes and Dark Force. It is unknown to the people of the solar system. Phantasy Star III takes some time to get to that point. The people in this game already know it exists, but believe it to have been defeated.

The visual style isn’t all that different between the two games. You can tell that a different team made the game. The third game still looks like a Phantasy Star game, but it does look noticeably different from the others.

With two games in the same series, I try to think about the improvements and style changes. The first and third games aren’t too different, but the third is more ambitious in terms of the story. Let’s talk about what I think each game does better than the other.

What Does Phantasy Star III do Better?

Phantasy Star III does a few things better than the first game, while building on some of the things that I enjoyed from it. The story is more ambitious as it is told across several generations. The dungeons are better, and I like how this game builds on the lore from the others.

I like the story in Phantasy Star III more than the first game. It explains what happened to one of the space ships that made it out of the second game, and the developers do a good job of explaining that they’ve been in space so long that they’ve forgotten who they were. How Dark Force got there is a little strange, but it feels like the entity is always going to come after the people from the Phantasy Star series.

The dungeons in this game are more to my liking. Even if they’re more simplistic than any other game in the series, I still like them more than the first game. It is easy to see what is going on and where you need to go.

A lot of the other parts of this game are either the same or not significantly better than the first game. I could list all the differences, but I think these are where the game makes improvements over the first game. Let’s get into what the first game does better.

What Does Phantasy Star do Better?

Coming up with something was a little difficult. I was really digging deep to find something that I could point to as being better than the third game. The user interface on the battle screens is better, and I like this setting better than the third game.

The user interface on the battle screens is better in the first game. The third game uses icons instead of words, and it can cause a little confusing at first. At the end of the day, I like the way the first game’s set up on the battle screen.

When I think of the Phantasy Star series, I think of a space-faring adventure where you visit several planets. The first game in the series delivers on this, and it feels like a bigger game than it is. That is the big reason why I think the first game has a better setting than the third game.

The cutscenes were a little better in the first game than in the third game. Both use comic book cut scenes as well as in-game graphics to tell their story. Some of this is due to the change in development teams, but the brighter graphics of the first game work better for me.

Those are the things I think that Phantasy Star does better than Phantasy Star III. I was really nitpicking as I was looking for things. With this out of the way, let’s go over which one I think is better overall and which one I would rather play again.  

Which is Better Overall and Why? 

Phantasy Star III is the better game overall. It is an easier game to play, the graphics are a little better, and the story is more interesting. Playing through three generations of characters is also an interesting twist to the way the story is told. While they end up in the same place, the path that each game takes is unique.

You know where this game is going to end, but the path to get there has a little variety. There are four possible endings depending on which path you take during the game. This gives the game some replayability that doesn’t exist in the other entries in the series.

The setting is also unique for the series. I like how the developers tied it into the events of the second game, even if they ignored the ending of that game. Since Phantasy Star III takes place in the far future of the series, revisiting the ideas it presents is an interesting option for future games. It’s a shame that Sega probably won’t do anything with it.

The story and setting are what set this game apart from the others. It is an easier game than the first two, which I found nice. At the end of the day, I had more fun with this game than the first.

Which Would I Rather Play?

This is always a little hard for me. I would rather play Phantasy Star III at this point. While I like Phantasy Star, it is a slow moving game because of all the grinding for levels.

Since I’ve only seen two of the endings, I have a reason to come back and play this game. While it has some things that I don’t like as much, there is enough here that keeps me engaged. It is a good RPGs that happens to be in a series with one of my all-time favorite games.

Phantasy Star III always felt a little strange to me. When I first played it back in the 1990s, I didn’t understand why. It felt like a radical departure from the fourth game, and I don’t remember spending much time with the game. My friends rented it, along with the fourth game, but spent most of our time playing the fourth game.

As I’ve gotten older, I look at the story and graphics in a different way. Also, learning about the game’s development over the years changed my opinion of it. If I had to choose between this game and the first in the series, I would rather play Phantasy Star III.

Conclusion 

I don’t pay attention to online communities, so I’m not sure how these games are viewed by the fans. When I play a game, I like to go into it and make up my own mind about it. Most of the games I write about are the ones I played as a kid or find interesting. I played both of these games in the early 2000s, and I revisited them in the late 2010s.

Looking at them again has been a lot of fun. I’m finding things that I missed from the last time that I played through them. While I like Phantasy Star III more, that doesn’t mean that I think the first game is bad.

It is always strange to me when someone tries to pass their opinion, or their friends’ opinions, off as facts. We all have different tastes, and we look at these games differently. That doesn’t invalidate someone else’s opinion; it simply means that they focused on something that you didn’t.

If you liked this post, please check out the other posts in this series, such as Sweet Home vs Phantasy Star or Phantasy Star vs Phantasy Star II.