Dude, your ending monologue about things needing to end is so amazing. I'm glad you came to that conclusion. We don't need PS5. The story is perfect, wrapped up and we need to cherish what we have and be grateful that we got it at all!!! Most of, if not ALL of my friends are ALWAYS pinning for THIS or THAT to come back or get a re-make or something and it always seemed so pointless to me when we still have the treasures that we grew up with to enjoy THE WAY we grew up with them. I dunno, your message just really resonated with me and I think it's a mature stance to have as a thirty-something year old Phantasy Star fan!!! Great video, my friend!!! \o\

I really want SEGA to announce a Phantasy Star V as part of their franchise revival! That would be the most epic announcement!

This game is such a blast. So fast paced and colorful and fun. At least the original series ended on an absolute high note.

Such an underrated RPG seriously

PSIV has the best pacing of any RPG I've ever played. It's always just right; good length dungeons, solid challenge but no need to grind and multiple worlds to explore. One of my all-time favorites. Such an overlooked gem.

I love Phantasy Star 4, wish they made more in the classic style.

I literally just got done playing this like 2 days ago . I will always love this game and go back to it. It’s good

1 hour of GTV talking about Phantasy Star 4. Yes please!

GTV delivers Phantasy Star for a Christmas treat. Life is good 🙏🏻

One of the best grand finales gaming has ever managed.

I just played Phantasy Star IV for the first time last year through Nintendo Switch Online. It is easily one of the best RPGs and games I have ever played. Easily top 20. I loved it.

Great seeing Phantasy Star get some love! Great work as always

OMG, what a wonderful tribute to one of the best 16-bit games ever! Phantasy Star IV and Shining Force II were my favourite childhood games!

If a future announcement of Phantasy Star V includes the full animated cutscenes and voice acting of the proposed initial MegaCD release for Phantasy Star IV I think that would be incredible! Other great RPGs that deserve a reboot include Shining in the Darkness, Shining Force, Landstalker, and Sword of Vermillion - all classic staples of the MegaDrive RPG golden era!

Thank you for this thoughtful retrospective. I first played Phantasy Star 4 back in 1994, and it remains my favorite RPG to this day. While in the hospital back in October, I played it again, and it still holds up so well for me. Such a fantastic story, and an excellent cap to the whole series. I agree with you. We don't need a part 5. There's always room for more, but another thirty years can pass without a sequel, and I'd be just fine with that. I had heard this game was originally meant to be a Sega CD title, and that would have given the team the necessary hardware to properly bring back the first person dungeons, along with red audio music and animated cutscenes. I'm glad that didn't happen, because it would have been stuck to the Sega CD. Phantasy Star 4 has been released so many times digitally over the years, with new generations having the chance to at least find out about it, even if they don't gravitate toward it as much as I did. I feel that would have been lost on a Sega CD or even Sega Saturn title. We only just recently got a mini console with Sega CD titles, the Nintendo virtual consoles and e-shops never got any Sega CD titles, and even Sega Forever did not have CD games. You know they all got, though? Plenty of Phantasy Star 4. Not sure where I am going with that, aside from the fact that I love the game a lot, and I am glad it still holds strong to this day. Here's to the past 30 years!

it's finally here, my favorite game of all time

Phantasy Star 4 is definitely the best of the series, no doubt about that. I especially love how it manages to provide a satisfying conclusion to the series. I really like what you said at the end too. This is why I’m more apprehensive nowadays about revivals and remakes and the near-constant requests for sequels and such. I feel like we’ve been paralyzed by a surge of nostalgia, yearning for the good ol’ days in a present that (in some ways) sucks. This prevents the very flood of creativity that big companies like Sega allowed to happen in, for instance, the fifth and sixth generations. Nowadays, it seems indie games are providing more original games, with those devs willing to take more risks to make something great. I think more than ever, we need to see that same kind of mentality in the video game industry as a whole. That’s just my opinion though. Great video! Glad to have witnessed the end of this series.

As someone who grew up with PSO/PSU, I've been on fence about playing the original quadrilogy, but after watching this video (and playing hours of PSP2i) I'm going to to give PSIV a try. Thanks GTV!

Yours are always the best documentaries. Thank you always for all the effort that goes into making them.

Every time, when I only see the cutscenes, I´m thinking, that Phantasy Star IV could not only be the greatest / best Mega CD game but also the greatest / best CD-based RPG before the Playstation. But even in his final form PS IV is one of THE PROOFS, why the Mega Drive / Genesis, is for me the greatest 16 - bit console EVER MADE.

This video makes me cry. I have fond memories playing all 4 non online games as well as the online ones. I especially love the battle with Zio and that rocking music.

Ohhh wow, I was really looking forward to this after watching your Phantasy Star 1 through 3 recap and story explanation videos and then I was like "okay he says Phantasy Star IV came out years later, I'll wait... so when the time comes, you'llI just need to wait for like almost 3 years but then it's okay because I like the 20 year anniversary concept"... and "boom" this episode comes out today, wasn't expecting it. Sooo grateful !!! Thanks for all the great work and the quality you put into producing your videos about Phantasy Star. Tonight I'm gonna binge watch starting from your first video about this series just for the sake of getting back into Phantasy Star once more ! That's how much I love it !

YESSSSSSS! I followed your page years ago JUST because you had initially teased about dedicated an entire episode to my FAVORITE GAME

This was a fantastic watch and I have been waiting for it for a long time. You really made some great points about why PSIV was and is a great title. I haven't played it in awhile, so I need to rectify that asap.

Well done. PSIV is one of the great RPGs of the era and it is properly appreciated here.

I can't wait! Literally have been waiting for this one since watching your Phantasy Star 2 retrospective many years ago

Thanks for making the best Phantasy Star reviews on KZfaq! Your research and presentation are both thorough and smooth. Keep up the great work!

Wonderful tribute to a wonderful RPG series! With the passing of Rieko Kodama I too consider my Phantasy Star V wishes to be officially off-the-table. I think the best thing, if anything now would be for someone to create a "spiritual successor" to Phantasy Star that involves an entirely different cast and star-system.

Something that didn't make the final cut but I have always wondered about is that Alys and Chaz both wear red and white clothes with headbands. Do Hunters have uniforms? Are they like a company, or militia? I always thought it was just for survival. There is no clear answer.

Bought this game in December 1995 for 500 francs :-) I 've such fond memories of this one. You can still see its influence on some game, Cosmic Star Heroine for example. Maybe not a sequel but something with the same spirit and feels.

Oh wow its already the anniversary! Years go by quickly. Ive actually played and finished the first 3. Played a bit of this one but got distracted by other games. Definitely going to finish though. I really like it so far.

going in depth into the development staff is much much more than what the "leading brands" of gaming KZfaq would do. that's just the GTV Japan Difference™

Fantastic video, been waiting for this one. Phantasy Star 4 will always be to me my favorite and best rpg. Every few years I go back and play it again. Thank you again for taking the time to make this video!

It's kind of funny how everybody around this time was playing Sonic 2, 3 or even streets of rage - yet, I was sitting at home trying to understand what this game was that I was given back when I was a small kid and all the amount of rage I had for this game for the crazy difficulty spikes or even really the fact that I didn't understand some of the wording that was placed in this game, made me hate this game but yet love it as the years went by I even still owned the game to this day.

This was well-worth the wait: Amazing work as usual, GTV!

Thank you for this. The PS series have always been near and dear to my heart. And while I look back with appreciation and nostalgia, it is ok, to let something we love End.

Awesome video, I've been waiting years for it, great work!!! Phantasy Star IV is my favorite game in the series and surely the game that I loved most in my life for the emotions that it gave me at the time! 🥰

I've been waiting for this documentary for years. When i finish watching the ps3 30th anniversary i thougjt to myself "wow now i have to wait for almost 4 years to enjoy the fourth one" well here it is! Thank you very much GTV. And may we never forget the irreplaceable Rieko Kodama, she would be proud of you work.

I'd heard the name Phantasy Star for years, but didn't give the series the time of day until I got the Sega Genesis Mini for Christmas 2019. Though it wasn't until July 2020 that I gave PSIV a try. I'd gotten into a rut of playing the same few games over and over. So I decided it was time to get out of my comfort zone. Long story, short: I got hooked and have beaten it between two different playthroughs. I put on podcasts to break up the monotony of grinding. For example, I got Chaz up to Level 85 or so by now. (Been a long time since I played it.) I owe much of my leveling up to countless Sandworm encounters. So you can get an idea of how much I played it. Of courses, I've made copious use of save states. You know I also have the Nintendo mini consoles and got a head start on Final Fantasy III/VI around this time five years ago. I left off just before I'm supposed to meet Sabin and learn his Blitz moves. To be honest, I'm not the best at button mashing BS. I can't successfully execute quarter circle moves on my first attempt much less half circle, three-quarter circle or even full circle moves. It wasn't until a couple months ago that I played FFIII/VI again. I mostly got kicks by doing a little grinding, but am apprehensive about committing after that. Needless to say, I got a very long way to go with that long winded monstrosity of a game. Yeah I'm sure many would burn me at the stake for speaking blasphemies against that sacred cow. So what am I even getting at? The moral of the story is that I find Phantasy Star IV to be far more user friendly than its aforementioned contemporary. I've gladly committed countless hours to PS IV yet drifted away from FF3/6 within a month. *In fact I've had the NES Classic since 2018 and yet only started playing FF1 last fall. I have my party (2 fighters, black mage and white mage) at Level 22. I've reached Crescent Lake and will keep grinding before taking on Gurgu Volcano. I find the game to be unfair in how quickly it escalates the with each chapter. Again I listen to music and podcast to break up the monotony of grinding. Okay, enough of my autistic rabbit trails All in all, Phantasy Star IV most definitely deserves its accolades.

Oh I need to make time to play through these classics before I can fully listen to your retrospectives (don’t want to be spoiled on the story)! Thank you for putting this out alongside the others. Guarantee it’s absolute quality!!!

Man before i found this channel. I knew nothing of this series. But ever since ive watched the rest of the retrospectives, i was waiting for this oneee

You're still undefeated when it comes to providing the best Sega content on this site. I know you do more than just that (and it's all of just as high quality), but nothing on this site gets me quite as excited as a new GTV Sega documentary.

Actually, I've come back here to report that thanks to this video, GTV, I've been inspired to re-play PS4 on my Switch again. First time in over a decade since I beat it on my PSP.

Upon seeing this in my feed I first went back and watched the PS2 and PS3 videos, and now that it's all over I just have to commend you this touching tribute of a sadly neglected series. I watched those videos because I played PS2 and 3 as a kid on emulator, for I was a Nintendo kid back in those days and missed out. But because I was big into emulation by the time I went to the MD's library I had already played Secret of Mana 2 (back when that was it's name), Final Fantasies 4 to 6, Super Mario RPG, Chrono Trigger, Breath of FIres and Earthbound... siuffice it to say that PS2 and 3 with their early 16-bit graphics and compromised designs couldn't charm me like they could've if I played them when they were new. I acknowledge their strong sides and the service they did to RPG-hungry gamers in the early days, ESPECIALLY here in Europe. I liked their ambition with PS2's dark narrative and PS3's ambitious generation-plot. But... PS2's dungeons got too long in the tooth and monotonously looking, and the characters just didn't move me since it felt like their whole character growths (or characters over all) were shunted off into those those prologues you had to download. And PS3 barebones graphics and slower battles were already a strike, having most of the characters be vessels to carry the plot ofrwards rather than strong characters that carried the narrative on their own was practically a death sentence. I don't even think I finished that one. All in all, I didn't see the need to go on and test PF4.... until WAY later when I decided to follow a Let's Play of the game on a whim (and play it on my own after wrapping the Let's Play), and oh man. Did I ever regret stopping at 3. Plot and characters as engaging as anything Square ever made, fun and fast fights, macros letting you do cool combo-moves before Chrono Trigger was a thing, callbacks that had me going back to old games just to make sure I remembered right, it's all just... a treasure. Without a doubt Sega's finest RPG of the 16-bit generation, a story involving sacrifice, growth, sidequest, and ACTUAL PLAYABLE ALIENS YESSS NO MORE BORING HUMANS ONLY. It was everything you'd ever want... and then Phantasy Star was over as a single-player experience. Just like that. I wonder if that's why your call to have people remember the good times rather than wish for a return goes so unheeded in the comment section, even if I think you're right that without Rieko it's chances are low, and especially since SEGA are probably content with letting Atlus be their RPG-company these days. You can say that the franchise never broke our hearts by going into a decline, but I honestly think people would've PREFERED that as long as they got more content. Because the Phantasy Star series never got to have a"Final Fantasy 7 to 9 arc" on the 32-bit generation. It never got to become as famous as most think it SHOULD have been, even if PSO pioneered online-RPGs. Deep down PS fans feel a hole when they see what others got and they did not, and I think that if they could have had that... they would have accepted a "Final Fantasy 13"-like turn for Phantasy Star in the late 00's. Because I think humans in general are just REALLY bad at being satisfied with what they have when they can instead dream of what they COULD have. Sometimes the ambition that stems from such hunger gets us four bold adventures among the stars. Sometimes it gets us people who can't accept we just got FOUR such adventures. But regardless of whateve the fanbase wants- thank you for these retrospectives, and for awakening my memories of Phantasy Star. They're not as shiny or old as most of the people here since I wasn't a SEGA kid, but it's still fair to give Phantasy Star, SEGA and the development team their dues as the pioneers and influences they were. Hopefully more people can come across these videos and get interested in revisiting these fine works- so more eyes can see the stars and the forces therein, light as well as dark.

Forst got on contact with Mega Drive Games in 2017, this is truly one of the best Games of the System.

Been trying my best to stay healthy so i can witness this ep. One of my fav RPG. Great works as usual!

Literally the first ever JRPG I ever played to completion, so it's remained very special to me ever since. It may not be my all-time favorite game, but it's up there.

I still maintain that this is the among the best of all the 16 bit RPGs out there. It's also got a really satisfying localization. While SNES RPGs were self-censoring things from the Japanese versions because they didn't want to upset NOA (and also preventing us from getting classics like Live-A-Live due to their mature content) this game keeps the tone and humor of the original, and just in general, the translation quality is WAY better than what you get out of a lot of its competition on the SNES. It just shows the love Sega's always had for their fans.

I wasn't able to get with the franchises all but this game is definitely one of my favorite RPGs of all time

of Dragon quest, Final fantasy and Phantasy star. PS was the only where we got all games in the series. no skips and basically no censorship (Though PSIII had some translation issues.) It's kind of incredible to me as a younger man, who didn't get to play these legendary JRPG series when they came out. (Born in 1998) I remember finishing 4 with a huge smile on my face, I hope 3 and 4 get remakes. just so I can get a sense of finality with the other 2 remakes. Thanks Reiko Kodama and everyone else. for giving me one of my favorite childhood series.

THIS is my #1 RPG of all time.

Your Sega content is much appreciated

NICE! Been waiting for you to drop this one for years.

Finally got to watching this. Great video, buddy. Thank you :)

This was an excellent retrospective and was a pleasure to watch. I learned things and relived great memories. I was never the biggest RPG fan, though I have enjoyed some back in the day. Fittingly, I got my start with RPGs with the first Phantasy Star on the Master System in 1988 or 1989. There's always been something special about Phantasy Star 4 for me, almost like it was made to suit my tastes perfectly. I remember it being so expensive when it came out. I bought it a couple of years later used because I was filling in my library after getting a Nomad. Phantasy Star was one of the titles I played most on that portable Genesis and it was a fun way to experience it since I could do it anywhere(within arm's reach of a wall outlet). I also appreciated your closing thoughts. There is value in something good ending on a high note and staying finished. The ending of Phantasy Star 4 was really great and surprisingly emotional and it a great way to leave things. I realized years ago that the people who make things(movies, shows, games, etc) are more important than the franchise which is largely window dressing. If there's a revival of an old franchise, but different people are making it, then I can't get excited. Sometimes, those revivals can turn out well because the new people really love and understand the source material, but many times it is not the case. So if there was a proper Phantasy Star 5, I'd be curious enough to look into it, but I'm also okay if 4 is the ending. Even if there is a 5 and it's not for me, I can easily ignore its existence. Seeing how Sega is reviving old franchises, I'm inclined to think there might be something related to Phantasy Star in the pipeline. I also wanted to add that my one disappointment in there not being a Phantasy Star 5 back in the day is that I would have loved another RPG with a similar look and feel.

Who else feels like they need to play through the whole series again after watching this? 😁

I enjoyed this entire ride with you. I was there for the first and happy to be here for the last.

Rewatching the entire series to prep for this vid

Just writing a quick comment saying that I'll come back to your video tonight because I don't have time to watch it now... But I waited for this video for more than a year, since your video of PS3 ! Can't wait!

Amazing game and lot of love in this video.great way to wrap up this year 🎉

Just want to give you props for making retrospectives for this series it was done excellently and kept true to the spirit of the series.

Awesome video! ❤

When i was starting fourth game in the series i was expecting at most good old game, but i get much more. Phantasy Star IV was awesome! Great story with conclusion for whole original series, great gameplay, great graphics, great music, optional content for discorver, there was everything here for me to like it. I was feeling like this is almost modern-like title. For me best game in quadrology and worth to play classic. Anyway, thanks for in-depth documentaries for each game, i certainly learnt interesting trivias.

I’ve been waiting for this one man.

Yes I agree with you. Good things come to an end. If you are left alive for too long you will be a corpse of what you use to be. Final fantasy is no longer final fantasy. It’d be a shame if phantasy star became something else. I guess that’s what happened with phantasy star online, but they never dared name it phantasy star 5, I’m thankful.

This video was very well done and chock-full of nostalgia! I recently replayed all 4 games and relived some my childhoods best memories! While I've always wished for a Phantasy Star 5, your ending put into words my conflicted feelings I have as to why it is perfect leaving it as is. Awesome video, thank you!

I'm a lucky guy, I still am to play any Phantasy Star game! Thanks for the great story-telling videos though, and Happy Holidays!

I got this game for my 9th birthday, and also had a big sleepover that night. I wanted to send everyone home so bad.

One of my fav MD/GEN game and great video really enjoyed it

Discovered this game on Sega Channel back in the day and loved it soooo much Rune's theme music is one of my favorite pieces of videogame music

Your outro about acceptance hits home. Thank you for this review series. The hard work really shows.

Thanks GTV, I've been waiting for this all year. Merry Christmas my guy keep working hard.

Now this is the episode I was waiting for. 👍

Will never forget fighting giant Sand Worms to power level my party

As a child, I picked up PS4 at Blockbuster one Friday night after having rented Warsong for weeks. Rented that sucker every weekend I could. Funny enough, my save was always still there so I guess nobody else was renting it before I did or maybe not at all.

I realized that I have been looking forward to this retrospective since the last one you did. This was a very pleasant surprise tonight.

Oh man oh man oh man. Super hyped for this. Time to actually watch the video now 😂

This channel is such a passion project. Another well crafted video where the runtime just flew by. I wish more of KZfaq was like this. Have a fantastic holiday season!

Excellent job honoring these incredible games! It's easy to see that you put a lot of love and time into your Phantasy Star retrospectives. I've enjoyed them all. Obviously, a Phantasy Star V could be incredible if the right people are involved, but there is no guarantee that they would be. Still, Sega has very recently resurrected their long-dead franchises like Shinobi, Golden Axe Streets of Rage, so...believe it or not, there is actually a chance these days at a Phantasy Star V, and that is more than just totally-out-there wishful thinking.

This was the first RPG I ever played for a long period of time. Never beat it, but loved every minute of it. Thank you for this video.

I'm fairly certain I first sampled this game on Sega Channel but I might be wrong. Either way, I was hooked from the jump. It was my first Phantasy Star and even as the fourth in the series, didn't alienate newcomers. I eventually played the rest and have beaten all but 2, though that will happen sooner or later. PS4 Dungeon Arrange 2 remains one of my favorite, and definitely most nostalgic, video game BGM of all time.

Played Phantasy Star 4 a few months ago on the SEGA Ultimate Mega/Genesis Collection from the XBox 360/PS3 gen. Really loved the game and how easier it was to finish compared to the earlier games, only needed a game guide a few times just to figure out what to do in certain parts of the story as well as being aware of how much to grind before going into that Castle Tower in Space towards the 3/4 part of the game.

Great video!

A little late to the party, but I wanted to say thank you for all the great videos! I binge your catalog every now and then and all your vids just give me so much nostalgia for some reason, even if they’re about games I haven’t played. Love all the commercials for the games interspersed between sections of the videos, makes it feel like I’m watching a documentary on tv like when I was a kid watching G4. Keep up the good work! 🎉🎉🎉

@GTV Japan I love your videos so much! You bring back that Sega love in the most poignant way. So, as much as I want to finish your video, I’ll hold off and go finish PSIV (I played every other game in the series when it was released, except for IV). I’ll be back!

Yes!! It’s here, great work!!!

Dude!!! Your video is FANTASTIC!! I loved every single bit of it. Can't believe it was 30 years ago that I got that GameFan magazine and saw that my favorite game was getting a fourth installment!!! (I still had to wait for 3 years to actually play the game though) Fantasy Star series made me who I am, and I love it with all my heart. Because of Fantasy Star I decided to learn English and now I work as an English teacher. My entire career would be different without this game. Thank you very much for the video. Please don't forget it ans make some more videos from time to time. I write this with tears in my eyes, your ending monologue was AMAZING!!!

Phantasy Star 4 is the best in the series and I wish that a fifth game would happen. 😀👍🎮

Thank you!! I been wanting for you do do this a couple years now. You did a great documentary on the others

While I also don't see a particular need for Phantasy Star V, I'd say I'd really like to see the return of "Fantasy meets Science Fiction" that the original series was known for, where admittedly later entries were more focused on the Sci-Fi than Fantasy. To that extent, I really liked how they tackled it in Idola, even if that game barely survived 2 years of its run. Well, everything is up to Sega now.

This was definitely my favorite of the series. Losing Alys was a total gutpunch, but added so much weight to what was happening. The music, the characters, the story, nostalgia mode activate! As much as I would love to see a new true Phantasy Star game, I think you're right, it ended so well, and these had so much charm that it likely wouldn't be the same, or would just undo a great ending for fan service sake. Some remakes wouldn't go unmissed though. I would love to see you do a retrospective on the Shining Force games!

I've waited since your video of phantasy star II to get this video about 4. Your great work made it worth the wait. I stumbled upon your videos as I played through the games back in 2020. This video was worth the wait.

I just started playing this yesterday and it's amazing so far , (I'm not even an hour in). I LOVE the manga/comic book style to it. The encounter rate is insane, but otherwise I am hooked!

Ah man I love this game. I feel fortunate to have been able to pay it in my youth. I still have my cart, and working Genesis. It comes out about once a year to get a play through. :)

Yes!!! I discovered your videos around the time the PSIII retrospective was released, and was so sad I had to wait until 2024 for PSIV hahaha. Oh how time flies. I know it’s a whole different ballpark, but I do hope you’d consider doing retrospectives for PSO, and possibly the other Phantasy Star games. You put out some of the best quality gaming documentaries on the platform!

I loved this back in the day and am looking forward to revisiting it on my Miyoo Mini +

I loved all of the videos you did about Phantasy Star, thank you!

Niccccccceeee. Saving this one for later!!!!

Stellar work as always.

AH I WAS WAITING FOR THIS AND YOU RELEASED A DAY ARLY? BLAST IT!!! I WILL WATCH IT ALL!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PSIV, MY FAVORITE GAME EVER! I HOPE THAT SEGA BRINGS YOUR DESERVED REMASTER THAT WAS PROMISED SINCE IT IS FOCUSING OLD IPS BACK!