Anyone who is an RPG fan probably has that very first game that they played that really reeled them in as far as the genre is concerned. I had played other RPG's before this on the NES and some of them were really great and exceptionally memorable but there is always that ONE GAME that sticks out in your mind as one that captivated you so much more than the others and for me, that game was Phantasy Star 2.
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I was one of the guys that got a Genesis early. It was the year it came out. This would be one of the last times in my life that I was an early adopter of technology and I'm not sure why that was, I guess I was just the exact right age. The Super Nintendo didn't yet exist so Sega's strategy of early release was an effective one and subsequently one of the last good decisions that the company would make until they completely left the home console market 15 years later or so. That's another story though.
Phantasy Star 2 was a turn-based role playing game with a cast of (eventually) 8 playable characters that would join your party. At some point in the game you were able to choose which ones you wanted to bring with you and could return to a certain area to change that out if you so chose. Since each of the possible members had different strengths and weaknesses there were many reasons why your initial decision might not be the correct one.
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Now, I am not suggesting that anyone go back and try this game today because even for someone like me who absolutely loved this game some things are better left in your memories and the gameplay would be considered very basic and even annoying at this point. For one thing, almost all of the battles were those annoying "random encounters" that even though nothing was displayed on the "walkabout" screen, you would randomly be attacked by something that you couldn't even see. There was no way to avoid battles and the time it would take between them seemed to be completely random. I can only assume there was some sort of mathematical something or other that determined when this would happen. Sometimes it would only be a few steps, other times you could walk for ages.
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The battles themselves were pretty great for the time period and the animation that each character had for their actions were different (although basic by today's standards.)
The main thing that made this game so great was the incredible writing that went into the game. Every character had a very compelling story and the overall mission was a very good one. It is another story of an evil governance of some sort that is oppressing the world that your reside in and yes, I realize that this is nothing special. The difference was that all of that characters had their own unique personalities and fit into the overall story very well. When one particular event happens in the story where one of the main characters who has been with you from the start has to sacrifice herself for the sake of saving the rest of the group, you are genuinely touched and perhaps even sad.
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The game also came with what is probably the largest packed in manual ever to come with a standard game and even though they refer to it as a 100 page tip book, it was basically a full color walkthrough that you better not read unless you completely wanted to spoil the game.
Overall, I think that the entire game was probably 60 hours or so, and this was unheard of at the time. Only a handful of companies had even attempted anything on that grand of a scale and most of them had failed at their delivery in the end. Phantasy Star would go on to make 2 more game on the Genesis and both of those were great as well.
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We all had a place where we fell in love with a particular type of game and for me Phantasy Star 2 is something that will stick in my mind forever. I can hear the music of the game in my head right now even though I haven't played this game in nearly 30 years. That's how embedded in my psyche it is.
I don't recommend anyone go back and play this game now because it wont be fun but I suppose it does kind of put retro gaming into perspective for the younger players out there. If you want to check it out you can get the ROM for it for free, HERE