Epic, important and difficult! But not without it's faults. But worth seeing past it's faults to see a timeless classic!
Plot is simple. Fast forward from the first game about 1000 years. You live in a society gone soft through years of peace and reliance on technology. However the Mother Brain computer that runs the planet is experiencing problems. Monsters are appearing and terrorising the locals. You are given the task to investigate the problem. Your half cast adopted sister won't let you go alone and so the journey begins.
Personally I just simply enjoy playing these kind of RPG's and are the very definition of Role Playing in my books. I even enjoy these more than Final Fantasy (yes I know that'll upset a lot of you) but it's most due to the fact it's the very title that made me get hooked on the genre. Killing monsters, levelling up characters, upgrading weapons and equipment. I just really dig this kind of gaming.
The music is perhaps the best aspect of the game along with the reasonably in depth plot for a game of it's age. Navigating screens is reasonably easy but buying weapons and equipment demands more organisation skills on your behalf as, unlike current RPG's, this will not tell you whether or not a piece of equipment will be an upgrade or not. It's up to you to track that on your own.
This game is no push over. It still demands a long sitting on your behalf. But with an abundance of hint sites and shrine sites dedicated to the Phantasy Star franchise you should be able to print out enough material to help you through the entire game.
Of all the Phantasy Star titles made there was only three worth playing. Phantasy Star, Phantasy Star II and Phantasy Star IV. This is my sentimental favourite as it show casted the Mega Drive off in an era dominated by Nintendo and gave birth to RPG's to the hard core gamers. Worth the download on either Xbox Arcade or Wii.