This game still stands on its own today but still can be a chore to finish.

User Rating: 8.5 | Phantasy Star II: Kaerazaru Toki no Owari ni GEN
I thought about my reviews for these older games and decided why not review them to how they stand up today and not just review them based on nastalgia.So thats how i'm gonna try to do this.

Phantasy star 2 takes place in the algo star system and you start out on mota a wonderful paradise of a planet.Until strange monsters start poping up all over the place and then you are sent to investigate.The story in the game is decent and I really mean that.This is a story that has many twists turns and even tradgedies.

The gameplay is pretty much old school RPG fare.Get ready for tons of random battles,a long adventure and twists and turns.Yes it has items,weapons,armor, and so on.Your characters can learn techniques that consume tech points which is basically your magic in phantasy star.the random battles are better than in phantasy star.You can now use strategy in battles witch allows you to use techniques,target a specific enemie use defend and so on.

Now there is a problem here if you don't have the original manual and guide and pack ins that came with this title then get ready for a little bit of trouble.If you got it on a compilation of some sort get ready for trouble.The interface and menu's are super clunky.You'll no doubt get a little angry at this early on in the game if you don't have anything explaining it.Still thankfully there is not a lot of menu's to navigate so even with the horrid interface you should still get it down in a short amount of time.Another thing that gets really old is the techniques don't say what they do so you'll just have to push it and see what it does and if you got it on a compilation then save before you do it just in case it zaps you out of a dungeon or something.

Heres the major problem I have with the game.....random battles.Sometimes this game just feels like one big random battle marathon.Yes their are towns and a few other things to do but most of the time you'll be out and about and everytime you get and idea or maybe a solution your thrust into a battle.I find the battle system better than some JRPG's but still others may not have the patience for it.

All in all phantasy star 2 has a surprising amount of depth and still is a really good game even today.Some old games just plain suck these days while others hold on and phantasy star 2 is for sure one of those classics.Don't expect anything flashy or fancy though but if you take the game for what it is I think you'll have a fun time with it.