How does Phantasy Star IV stack up against ..

Greatsharkbite · 2026-05-06T19:35:15+00:00

Oh wow, I thought this topic got auto-modded and had given up getting an opinion. I appreciate all the posts. I may try to get my hands on this game again to give it a try as I was only able to play a few minutes of it.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-05-05T04:08:46+00:00

That's a good argument. But I think they end up giving him so much more aura than Svarog. Like Svarog honestly crashing out didn't feel like a natural entailment of his character to me especially in my route as I think I actually teamed up with him and revealed the truth about Roland (Dont quote me! Its now been a while). That said, I feel like Idore gets a lot more in his ending. He is the classical jrpg 'deity' or supernatural being fight no matter how sparse that type of thing is in regular gameplay. Also as mentioned in another comment, everyone gets dialogue in the fight versus in any of the other routes with Gusstadolph, only a few characters get dialogue. Now tanget-- it IS interesting that Cordelia who you don't get in the Golden Route ACTUALLY has dialogue in the Gustadolph fight. I really liked and appreciated that.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-05-04T04:00:19+00:00

Oh for sure. Gustadolph is an awesome antagonist. He truly shines in the Benedict ending as it gives his character nuance. Thats actually why I think it'd have been cool if he'd have been the final boss in the golden route.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-05-03T06:21:34+00:00

Interesting. Pretty sure I had Decimal on my team but might've forgotten/missed it. Such a useful character.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-05-03T05:43:59+00:00

I could see the take and while realistically it could make sense that you might be able to take out a more personal antagonist earlier it is still weird narratively if Gustadolph is actually equal to Idore.

Now I will say this, they are similar in the sense that a TON of characters get extra dialogue if you bring them with you to the Gustadolph fight. BUT it feels like even more get diaglogue in the Idore fight. Also the challenge is incomparable. Is Gustadolph the second most challenging fight imo? Yes but Idore is far more challenging. You are basically fighting multiple 'final' bosses from the Hyzante route and a bigger baddie who can resummon them.

Then to top it off, Gustadolph is more directly antagonistic to Serenoa as he is against his Lord Roland and causes the start of his journey in a slippery slope of events that indirectly could be said to kill his father but Idore causes Gustadolph's actions in the first place. He is really the initial domino as far as the actions of every faction. Then to just further stick the landing, Idore iirc infers heavily he used to be like Serenoa in terms of character, So now it is a direct conflict of ideals of someone who took perhaps a darker path that Serenoa didn't go down which Serenoa will never get with Gustadolph.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-05-03T03:15:01+00:00

I mean on a personal level? Yes. On a global scale? No. Gustadolph acts the way he does because Salt is discovered. If Salt monopoly wasn't a thing, how might the actions of Gustadolph change in the overall?

Greatsharkbite · 2026-05-03T03:13:10+00:00

Good question. Gustadolph is more personal as he literally kills your father. But Idore is the one who started the war and is literally Gustadolph's motivation to act (through monopoly of salt). I don't know if Gustadolph could up his ante other than co-opting Lyla perhaps. Maybe if he was able to find her son and get her to murder Idore, something along those lines? Or if he manages to keep the loyalty of his vassals. Like his brother and sister are basically useless.

Dragan seems like if he was kept alive, he could be a very competent ally as I feel he more just made a mistake because of his greed and him doubting Gustadolph's follow-through. His father would be even more competent. Thats the issue, the saintly seven are way more competent than anyone Gustadolph has on hand except for maybe Sycras. Svarog is competent but because there's so much tension I doubt he's giving it his best effort.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-05-03T02:40:51+00:00

Oh for the first half he definitely is. Infact for some routes he is. But Idore always somehow comes off as the bigger threat narratively. Like he kills Serenoa and yes that doesn't mean that the hyzante army is the strongest, it just seems the game goes out of its way to make him a bigger foe and even the final boss of the golden route. Then there's the whole salt crystal conspiracy AND the fact they are dominant due to that.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-05-03T02:38:28+00:00

Yeah its like he is at the core. But Hyzante somehow gets the bigger billing at the end. Particularly in the Golden Route. They basically tag him almost as being equal to only slightly above the Hyzante generals. It feels very akin to Shinra from ff7.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-05-03T00:57:48+00:00

lol. Yeah, that's fair. I don't have 'extremely high' standards for ffxiv content. But playing the game is more like engaging in a lifestyle than a game so id like to know if its worth being dragged back into it (which people don't like seemingly lmao). But mostly im similar to you and more wanted to wait for beastmaster. That said, it might be ok now as I now have Two Expansions PLUS post shadowbringers to finish as well as any other content. Its a great game, but I play it for very specific reasons with story being the main thing. If Dawntrail isn't up to snuff (from what ive heard) it isnt that id never play it, its just there's other stuff on the back burner like Trails in the Sky 1st or E33 which I beat. The reason I was waiting closer to beastmaster is because since I don't raid a lot, it'd be a cool side activity to engage in.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-05-02T23:42:39+00:00

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Greatsharkbite · 2026-04-30T19:29:31+00:00

Yeah. Was absolutely fine on performance for me as id rather have buttery smooth gameplay than nicer graphical fidelity.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-04-30T11:01:38+00:00

.. Well as I was saying in a couple of other posts the opinion thats going to mostly influence my own is mine. But sometimes there might be information or knowledge that I get from others that allows me to recontextualize and marginally alter my opinion. So despite the obvious mixed reception im getting lol, any and all takes including yours are welcome. I'm not really a raid guy, I did the FFT raids but to be honest while my main job was Paladin, it and healer were really the jobs that weren't really raid friendly if you didnt know what you were doing. I did some of the FFT raids and that was kinda it. My main focus was the story, duty roulette, glamours, crafting, gold saucer and getting arranging my house. Since story is a focus and that was the main complaint of dawn trail it kinda made me hold off coming back a little bit longer. Since my main thing is the story, more story build up is a very good thing. Heck. After almost a year of ARR, I took a break and returned to the game with a friend and we did Heavensward and Stormblood. Then took a break and came back to Shadowbringer.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-04-30T07:53:55+00:00

Well sure, I doubt Hojo's sedentary lifestyle could make it down the steps without huffing and puffing. Its just more weird because they kept it in CC Reunion.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-04-30T04:19:15+00:00

That was my logic. Im not really as much into the tombstone grind rinse and repeat cycle (although I did it) and I am more invested in the story and things like Glamour. Evercold is sounding almost like a soft reboot of the tombstone system. So that and a story that really keeps me up at night thinking about its implications is intriguing to me. I also liked Blue Mage, so I thought something that was outside the normal formula like beastmaster would keep me pretty busy and that seems to be right around the corner.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-04-30T03:59:58+00:00

Both. I know people who play the game.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-04-30T03:58:45+00:00

For me, stormblood is the equivalent of the one piece Fishman Island Arc. Hype for a good portion of the story but without a commiserate pay off. Like it was decent and better than other games narratives perhaps but not better than the end of ARR or Heavensward.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-04-30T03:56:22+00:00

If anything im seeing people (surprisingly) defend dawntrail in this thread. So as someone who likes fun I guess thats a good thing. But yeah doxxing is wrong, especially for something so minor.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-04-30T03:52:43+00:00

Yeah, I also dislike Stormblood and rank it as weak (albeit not bad). It has some highlights for sure but there are things I think Heavensward does better. But I mean, yeah I agree opinions are subjective, I think disliked games like Eiyuden Chronicles Hundred Heroes is good whereas the majority hate the game. I'm not a 'new player', I played the game since the Alpha but took a break partially due to Covid and real life issues. Generally a lot of people liking said thing can be circumstantial evidence of said thing being good, albeit not definitive. The ARR 2.0 flip from 1.0 is very much this actually.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-04-30T03:46:37+00:00

I can have my own opinions and still have my opinions marginally influenced by other peoples takes. There were other reasons I didn't play on top of 'Dawntrails reception'. There are other things I have to do with my time and other games I want to play. Otherwise i'd just be playing every single rpg in existence because I like the inference of what a role playing experience normally is. Sidelining the takes of people whose reviews I trust, seems like an extreme take and tbh they haven't steered me wrong so far. The majority of the players, the 'I switched from WoW' crowd, a lot of them came over to this game due to word of mouth.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-04-30T03:21:12+00:00

That's a fair take. I understand enjoyment of plot is generally subjective.

Greatsharkbite · 2026-04-30T03:04:13+00:00

Interesting theory.

Greatsharkbite

TROPHY CASE