I can't even really explain what draws me more to PS I and II, and why IV felt kinda bland, in comparison? With "bland" being totally the wrong word, but I feel like I'm lacking a better one? But also, these games are so different, it's a bit hard to even compare them.
Like, the first one draws, to me, a lot from having a mix of old-school and approachability. Yeah, you have these first-person dungeons, but most of them are simple enough that you can memorize them (or you can still map them, which is fun, if you are in the right mood). And you do have to talk with all the NPCs, finding out about the world and what to do that way. But still in a way that, at least in my memory, is largely non-obtuse. If you talk with everyone, you should mostly find your way, which feels very remarkable. A bit of a best-of-both-worlds thing, where you make hardcore stuff playable for console players.
The second one is such a grim game. It starts you in what seems like a utopia, with a town straight out of classical sci-fi, and immediately throws horrible details at you, how this planet is falling apart, and everything is horrible. Isn't there a suicide, very early? When one of your team dies, they are dead. Yeah, you get a clone with all their abilities and memories, but it's still a clone. The other person is still dead. It feels a bit like a monkey-paw version of the wish for infinite life, as if a machine made it, misunderstanding a key part. Which feels pretty fitting, actually. It's really bleak, and with these brutal dungeons, even as a player you will just suffer. I tried to map out the first dungeon, like in the first game, and then realized that I needed more space than I had on a page. Gave up, used a guide, which worked. But I feel like I cheated. Like, these dungeons are such an integral part of the game, and I never really beat them. I want to conquer them, myself. And I want to re-experience this horrible world. And this crazy ending. It's such a unique game.
Still haven't played III, but will correct that at one point. I read a bit about what makes it special, storywise, which seems like a shame. Would have been a cool surprise.
And IV feels like a very, very polished game, immediately making clear the high quality, in every aspect. I'm only at the start, but as I already talked about, it is a super good start. I guess it feels less like its own thing (like I and II, and probably III as well, certainly do), and orients itself more on what worked for other RPGs. Which is perfectly fine. The game is fun to play and the presentation alone is amazing. God, I love the old-school anime sci-fi vibes that this game, this series, gets like no other. Is there even anything like this? (Cosmic Star Heroine certainly isn't it - I like that game, it just isn't that). And it combines it with Megadrive graphics, which will always feel special for me. Point is, it feels like this game borrows a bit more from others, stuff that really works, which makes it a bit less of an oddball?
Ok, enough analysing of a game I didn't play much, I mainly had the urge to talk about I and II. I just really wonder, why IV feels like it feels. Maybe I'll have a better answer after playing it, or maybe I will look at it different in general.
But seriously, if anyone knows any other game, that has a similar mood, specifically catching the old-school anime sci-fi vibe, please tell me. It makes me feel like I can reach the stars.