Which is better? Phantasy Star II vs Sweet Home

Phantasy Star II and Sweet Home are very different games. While they’re both turn-based RPGs, there are major differences between them. They’re both good games in their own way.

Comparing anything to Sweet Home is a little difficult. It is a hybrid of an RPG and a survival horror game. There is some overlap between these two genres. These are usually fun to go through and see what each game has to offer.

Thankfully, these games aren’t too far apart when it comes to graphics and storytelling. When it comes to gameplay, that is where they really do things differently. We also have one game based on a movie, while the other is an original story. Let’s get into the games and see which one is better.

Game Descriptions/Overviews

Just like the other games that I’ve compared to Sweet Home, this is a case of traditional vs unique. There is nothing wrong with having a small setting. Sweet Home makes the most out of where the story takes place. Phantasy Star II tells a larger story, much like the other RPGs from the 1980s and 1990s.

Phantasy Star II is a science fiction RPG. It does away with the fantasy elements of the first game in favor of more robots. It feels like a bigger game as you travel between planets and space stations. In the game, you’re fighting against the source of all evil and a corrupted AI. This AI controls the weather on the planets. It also tries to tie the game to Earth, which felt like something from an Issac Azamov book.

Sweet Home is a movie-based game. The story takes place in a mansion. There is a restless spirit that kills anyone who enters, and there are a bunch of other monsters. For some reason, there are servants in the mansion, and it isn’t clear if they’re ghosts or not. As you navigate the mansion, you learn about what happened and those who came before you.

This is just a basic overview of both games. There are a lot of differences between the two games. Let’s get into the differences between these two great games.

Main Differences 

There is a lot to cover here. I’m going to try to keep this to three or four things that are the biggest differences. I’ll be focusing on the setting, gameplay, and the main characters here. In the next section, I’ll go over the combat, story, and visuals. There might be some overlap, and I’ll do my best to minimize it.

These games have radically different settings. Phantasy Star II takes place in a solar system. You have to travel between worlds and space stations. It feels like a grander adventure because of the scale of what you’re doing. Sweet Home takes place in a mansion. It has some variety, but you’re in one location, which makes the story feel smaller.

The gameplay is a little different once you get passed the turn-based combat. Sweet Home has you create several parties. You have five main characters, but can only have a maximum of three in a party. Each character feels important to the game. Phantasy Star II has a larger cast of playable characters, but you only control one party of four. There are a few characters that you don’t need, or only become good later in the game.

The main characters in Sweet Home are trapped in the mansion. They’re supposed to be filming a documentary, but end up having to fight a lot of monsters. Phantasy Star II has you trying to unravel a mystery on a much larger scale. The stakes are bigger in this game than in Sweet Home.

Those are the major areas that I wanted to go over. There are more, but I’ll save those for the next section. Let’s dig deeper into the core mechanics of both games.

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

Both games are turn-based RPGs. Your characters gain experience and level up from fighting monsters in random encounters. They’re both cinematic games that have cutscenes that use in-game graphics and comic book-style scenes. The approaches they take are different.

Phantasy Star II has magic and techniques, while Sweet Home only has a prayer mechanic. Each player can use it, and the only thing it does in combat is a physical attack. Sweet Home lets you call for help from your other party, which is really cool. Phantasy Star II is a grind heavy game, and Sweet Home isn’t. When I played it, I didn’t have to do any grinding.

The stories are radically different. Phantasy Star II is told in parts as you learn more about what is happening. It is also a sequel, so it has source material to build on. Sweet Home doesn’t have any twists and turns to it. You know what you have to do from the beginning, and then there are a bunch of puzzles. Both games tell their story well; the subject matter is just very different.

The graphics are pretty different. It isn’t just Genesis vs Famicom/NES; it has more to do with the theme. Phantasy Star II is bright and colorful, even when you’re in space. Sweet Home is darker, which fits with the game’s horror theme.

Once you dig into the games, they have some similarities but take different approaches. Phantasy Star II is what you would normally see on a home console. Sweet Home is a hybrid of an RPG and a survival horror game.

What Does Phantasy Star II do Better?

There are a few things that Phantasy Star II does better. Most of these are tied to the game being an RPG, and not a hybrid. I love the story, the graphics, and the setting.

Phantasy Star II has a very good story. It is like other science fiction stories where a computer decides to eliminate humanity. There is a little more to this version of the story. It gets tied into the series’ big bad guy, which happens to be the source of all evil. Then there is the twist at the end, which gets dropped from the series lore.

The graphics are wonderful! I love the look of the Phantasy Star series, and Phantasy Star II looks very good. While it has issues, I love the bright and colorful art style. I also think the cutscenes in Phantasy Star II are better than Sweet Home.

I like science fiction more than horror. This is just a personal preference, but I enjoy the setting of Phantasy Star II more. I love how you travel to other planets and space stations. It feels like a bigger game than it is.

The game’s combat is better than Sweet Home. Phantasy Star II has you fighting more than one enemy at a time, and the bosses are harder. There is also more than one boss in the game. Combat requires more strategy as you have a fleshed out magic system.

These are mostly personal preferences. That is what most of this series is after all. Being part of a series helps this game out quite a bit. Phantasy Star II is a pure RPG instead of being a hybrid, and this helps the game out a lot.

What Does Sweet Home do Better?

Much of what Sweet Home does better has to do with it being different. It is a unique game that doesn’t play like the other retro RPGs released in the 1980s. It stands out by having more puzzle solving, creepy visuals, and inventory management.

Instead of having fetch quests, Sweet Home has you solve puzzles. They require you to manage your character’s inventory as you’ll need specific items. This is the part of the game that plays more like a survival horror game.

If you don’t like grinding for levels, then Sweet Home is for you. I didn’t run from the fights in the game, and I ended up a little overpowered. I know some people don’t like to grind for levels, and this game cuts that out.

There wasn’t much I can point to as being clearly better in Sweet Home. Much of what it does is as good as Phantasy Star II, but it doesn’t surpass it. Let’s move on to which game I think is better, and which I would rather play.

Which is Better Overall and Why? 

Phantasy Star II is the better RPG. When I look at these two games and just compare them as RPGs, then Phantasy Star is better. Much of this has to do with my personal interests. I like the story and setting in Phantasy Star II more, and I like the gameplay more.

Science Fiction stories are more interesting to me. While I like both science fiction and horror, I’m going to give the edge to science fiction. Going on an adventure across a solar system is more fun to me. I really like traveling between planets and space stations.

The story in Phantasy Star II is more interesting to me. Sweet Home tells a good story and has a lot of lore in the game. What Phantasy Star II does better is tell a more complex story. The idea of machines being corrupted and turning on humanity is more enjoyable to me. The twist ending is a little weird because it isn’t followed up on, but I still like it.

There is a lot of grinding in Phantasy Star II. This is something that might turn other people off, but I find it relaxing. The battles are more complex and require more strategy than Sweet Home. There are also more options in constructing your party.

Those are the reasons I like Phantasy Star II more than Sweet Home. This isn’t a clear-cut choice like it was with other RPGs from the 80s and 90s. Both games have great things in them, and just because I like one, it doesn’t me the other is bad. Let’s go over which one I would rather play.

Which Would I Rather Play?

I would rather play Sweet Home. It is a nice change of pace from the other RPGs on the NES, Genesis, and SNES. There really isn’t another retro game like it on the home console. It has a good story and great graphics. The gameplay is also very good!

Sweet Home is based on a movie of the same name. The game has much of the movie’s plot in it. The goal of appeasing a restless spirit, and the paintings explaining the plot, are here. Another group was added to the story so the main characters could survive.

The graphics are excellent! For a 1980s Famicom/NES game, Sweet Home looks very good. I love the little cutscenes, how the developers recreated scenes from the movie, and the battles. The monsters look great, the mansion looks good, and the final boss looks cool.

The multi-party system in this game is really cool! I like how each character matters. It is also cool that you can assemble two or more parties out of the five playable characters. Because each character basically plays the same, it doesn’t matter who is in each party. The puzzle-solving in the game is awesome!

Because this game is still new to me, it is the game I would rather play. It is a very fun RPG, and it works as a survival horror game. This is a mash-up of genres that wasn’t common at the time. I really enjoyed playing it, even if it took some time to get used to the controls.

Conclusion 

These are great RPGs. I like Phantasy Star II a little more because I’ve played the game more, and I like science fiction. It is also part of my favorite series of RPGs.

Sweet Home is a fantastic RPG. I can see why Nintendo of America didn’t bring it to North America. Playing it now can be a little difficult. It took me some time to get used to the controls. Once I did, I found it to be a great game.

This should bring me up to date on my retro game comparisons. I’m going to finish up the Phantasy Star III series of posts and then move on to the next game. I still have to figure out what I want to do with Final Fantasy II.

This has been fun so far. If you have a game recommendation for me, please put it in the comments. It will take me some time to get to it, but I’ll do my best to get to everything.

If you liked this post, please check out my other vs. posts. Some examples are Dragon Quest vs Final Fantasy or Phantasy Star vs Destiny of an Emperor.