THE FORGOTTEN SEQUEL | Phantasy Star Online: Episode 3
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- čas přidán 9. 09. 2024
- Phantasy Star Online was the first console MMORPG, and exploded in popularity on release. Its impact was large enough that it still has a cult following to this day. The most common way to play PSO nowadays is through the PC version, Blue Burst, which contains every expansion except Episode 3.
It's hard to find a lot of information about this particular episode, since it was basically abandoned and forgotten shortly after release. However, I grew up with it and still consider it to be a very solid game, even though it took the series in a different direction.
This video isn't as much of a "review" as it is showing what this game was about. I strongly believe Episode 3 should have been appreciated more, and hopefully you'll be convinced why.
All the footage was recorded by me, even the old splitscreen clip from the Gamecube version. That was taken a long time ago and is still on my channel.
![[PSO: Blue Burst] How to Convert Enemy Parts into Gear!](/img/n.gif)
Such a unique game that if made in today on mobile platforms would be a hit.
yeah no doubt!!
Sega unfortunately has a reputation of making very poor marketing decisions though
GameCube can now be Emulated on a Phone and I must get this game.
Welp the Line Battle coming to PSO2 NGS is a start!
this game was amazing. The soundtrack is insane
can be said for all pso games
As someone who only ever played PSO for the gamecube offline, this game was a staple for me and my friends on my block. We would build decks solo and then all get together and use the Game Cubes memory card swap feature to play 2v2 games. So many good memories and so much nostalgia facilitated by this title. Great video, brought back all those good feels.
I did this too. I remember adoring this system with friends. It soo much space though.
I remember too all my friends used monster decks and I was the only person who used Hunters
I loved Episode 3. By the time I was able to get Episode 3 online, it was the last year or two of its service. A lot of fond memories of it. The game really was unfairly judged the by community and they never gave it a fair chance. They saw it was a card game and immediately dismissed it.
When we look at what was going on when PSO3 was released, it's clear to see why they went the card game format. What was super popular in 2003? What was everyone playing? Yu-Gi-Oh and the Pokemon card game. Both were more or less in their peak at the time and were the big thing. Sega clearly wanted to cash in on the fad so they made a card game of their own. You can see the Yu-Gi-Oh inspiration all over PSO3: Monster cards, equipment cards, "action cards" are basically spell cards. And Assist Cards are similar to Trap cards (Some of the maps even literally use assist cards as traps if you walk onto that space). It's crystal clear why they went the card game route. But they did their own style so it certainly does not feel like a Yu-Gi-Oh clone despite borrowing so much from it.
Episode 3 doesn't deserve all the hate it got, but it seems destined to forever be the black sheep of the PSO family.
Guilty
I actually initially hated the game myself, but I tried it again and.. oh my lord did it STICK!! What an unforgettable and majestic experience! All of the different types of decks you could build, the strategy involved in fights, the storyline was good, and the music..man, the OST was straight fire ALL the way through!
I'm pretty bummed that it will never get the attention and praise it deserved due to how dismissive the PSO community in general can be- and we ALL know how true that is.
At the end of the day, Episode 3 became my favourite card video game of all time & I've never played another that was quite as magical an experience.
My #1 favorite GameCube game of all time. We still have players on the Schthack Private Server that play since it's mostly playable on the server these days. We just had our first big online tournament last month too. It's great that this game can still be played online cross platform on GameCube, Wii, Wii U, PC & Android (via Dolphin emulator).
I spent way too much time looking for this game and found your video. OH MY GOD MY CHILDHOOD!
Edit: One of the OSTs started to play in my head, and I tried HARD to remember it. I miss this game SO MUCH
Man to see people still playing pso this day. It’s crazy. Only had GameCube and I never got to play online
I had some glorious combo decks on Arkz side: a card that matched the target's attack score and a wolf that killed anyone with the same attack score; canabins that exploded on 1hp and a card that leaves you on 1hp when you'd be damaged. Loved this so much
I had some headcanon for the grid too, in that it was the same grid system used in Phantasy Star II
I literally asked the other day why no talks about episode 3 and happy to see others liked it.
This is my favorite game all time, would pay a full $60 just to replay a remastered version on the Xbox
Retroarch on xbox dev mode with 10x resolution BAM there ya go
@@sammysalgado1475 Not too many GC games work on Xbox's Dolphin core unfortunately. Don't know about PSO Episode III, but usually games over 1 gig don't fare well.
I still listen to the sound track! I used to love playing online back in the day.. had a buddy and we would do doubles tournaments with decks we specifically built around each other. One of us would only use offensive cards and the other only use defensive so we would always have an answer. Good times, man. Thanks for the vid.
This time of the year always gets the nostalgia feels flowing. I started playing online in winter of 02/03 with Socom and Everquest Online Adventures both taken offline years ago now but have private servers. My cousins birthday was this month as well (actually the same day you uploaded this) and he was big into Socom with me and he passed in January of 06, so it's just a bitter/sweet time and PSO was also part of that nostalgia during the early days of console online gaming!
Amazing game. I totally forgot about the card game haha!!! Kinda reminds me of the FFVIII card game, though totally different. I played PSO on Xbox the last few weeks it was online before being taken down... i guess that's my life, a series of defunct online games lol. Great video man!
Game did have some amazing music... I still listen to Tower of Caleum repeatedly! Defo agree on confusion on which character to play after cut scenes. Luckily games have evolved since then! Great video btw
Thank you! Episode 3 had an underrated as hell soundtrack for sure. And I did really enjoy the cutscenes, though a guide is pretty much necessary.
Just stumbled upon this great video. PSO EPIII is my favorite strategy game. If you had access to the online, there were some special cards you could obtain like holiday themed rappies that had unique abilities. I still regret that someone sold my memory card with all the saved data. And I always wanted to obtain the dark falz.
Glad you made this video to atleast spread the word how this game is so overlooked.
I gave my original xbox to my niece and it had all my characters data on it... as you might know you can't even log into the single player with a fresh boot... you NEED to have gone online at least once lol. So yeah... WHOOOOOPS! I had a ton of rare mags, mostly hacked since people went nuts towards the end of the games life cycle.
I also lost my original save data. It had amazing cards like gran sorcerer, gibbles, megid, grants, dark bridge, etc. Towards the end of its life, I briefly had indi belra +
As a kid, I was a HUGE PSO fan. Played EP. 1 on the DC offline, and then when I got my Xbox, I finally was able to play online. When EP. 3 came out, I remember wanting to play it sooooo bad, but i never had a Gamecube. I think I'm going to have to look into giving this a play after all these years.
Do it. It's an epic game. No other game like it.
This is the peak form of PSO. Incredible stuff, coming from an old bastard whose favourite game is the original Phantasy Star IV on the Genesis
Just like you mentioned, I played PSO EP II, and when I saw this game at the store, didn't even looked at the box, just went straight for it. It was a shocker when I played it and was not what I was expecting. Didn't even touched the game for weeks, until I got bored of my other games and gave it a try. Boy oh boy, I ended up playing that game for months, trying t o get everything. I have at least like 300 hrs, and loved the game. Best part was the soundtrack for sure. What memories. I wish I had the gear to play it online back then.
Still an amazing game that I'll always remember.
Not gonna lie, this is probably my favorite out of all four episodes having played the rest as well. You know a game's soundtrack is good when despite the game itself being unpopular, it shows up in PSO2 as samples and an entire remix for one of -that- game's final bosses. The card-based combat was fun for me too, and I'm always glad to see people enjoying it to this day.
Please do an updated versio of this that goes over the lore. I enjoyed this a bunch.
I still have my GameCube copy of this alongside 1 & 2
This has to be one of my favorite games of all time. Unfortunately, I never got to play it online... and never got the cool, rare cards like Indi Belra. It has been so long ago and I'm still wondering about all the hidden monster cards :/
Indi belra was standard in almost all of my playthroughs, it was only R4 rarity. If we talking rare and unique cards, chaos bringer or delbitter are where it's at
@@richcast66 Good to know, Sir. Guess I was an unlucky youngster back then.
@@richcast66My brother got a Delbiter while I had Chas Bring +! Do you know about that version of Chaos Bringer or ever seen it in the game?? It's rainbow-colored and transparent and has max rarity!!
When I got episode 3 as a kid It was not at all what I expected but I barely thought about what it "should have been" and just had a lot of fun with it and went back to episode 1&2 whenever I got bored. It was a nice change. Maybe episode 1&2 owes its longevity to this radically different entry to the series that didn't seek to replace it.
I loved this game at NA launch. Still have my save file on a GC memory card.
I really liked this game. It was fun making new decks and trying them out online
Bought and played this game a good bit back when it came out and loved it as a kid. Went back and played it a few years ago, worried it wouldn't be what I remembered. What I found was an incredibly fun and unique card game; if anything it's better than I realized as a kid!
The branding did it no favors. They were asking for disappointment by calling it episode 3 when episode 2 itself was more of the same, bigger and better. I’m not saying a new title would have made it an instant classic but it would have avoided crushing disappointment for fans looking for what they would have rightfully expected to be a logical extension of the game they loved.
Man the sound track I this game was amazing
Lent this game to my friend and never got it back...so I brought another one years later on amazon, but now it lost somewhere in my mums house 🏠 and I’m looking for it , wish me luck
Thanks for making this. I am that teenager who bought episode 3 randomly seeing it in EB games (Australian) gave it on try, never played it again. I still have the game in perfect condition along with my cube and memory cards. I want to try complete it now that I am OLDER, and fucking SEGA never released PSO ep 5 or ep 1 & 2 HD (grr)
I stumbled upon your review doing research for a PSO video I'm working on--dude, you did such a great job! I love this game and am stoked to see it get such a thorough, well-made review. Definitely going to point folks to this video if I ever need to convince them it's still worth checking out. I really hope you make the plot analysis video in the future, too!
I don't know if you're aware or not, but this game can still be played online today on the schtserv private server. The player base is continuing to grow.
Could you please tell me if this is still the case??? I'd LOVE to play, omgggg
@@Gillian_FFXIV yes it is.
You might be pleased to know that the music seems to have been used for the Line Strike card game recently added to PSO2
And now they have Line Strike in pso2 NGS lol it immediately reminded me of this game
Great video, would love to see a story dive for sure. I don't know where my copy is but it's interesting that there's a connection in PSO2.
The connection is more just referential, PSO2 during it's original 3 episodes always referenced the corresponding final boss of PSO1's equivalent episodes through music themes. PSO2 Episode 1 had Cry for Idola the Holy in it's final boss theme, for example. How PSO2 Episode 3 takes it a bit further is that it's reference to PSO1 Episode 3 doubles as a reference to what PSO1 Ep3's final boss was *also* a reference to, the Profound Darkness from Phantasy Star IV. PSO2's Profound Darkness uses the PSIV final boss theme, then switches to the PSO1 Ep3 final boss theme for the second phase of the boss fight, because, despite not being obvious, PSO1 Episode 3's final boss is PSO's version of the Profound Darkness.
I loved this game. I ended up being a USA God 7 by the time i quit. Sound track is still top tier 👌
My older brother (who was the MASTER of all things PSO, the PSO God to me as a kid - he gave me all the cool rares and a Black Box mag) LOVED the card game version of PSO. I ... hated it. Lol ;) But eventually, it grew on me as I got older.
I actually LOVE PSO epIII. I lost my copy with a near-perfrct save about ten years ago, but I recently hacked my Wii to play it as well as PSO epI&II again.
Seems like a lot of us have similar experience. I'm currently playing it on my tablet with dolphin.
Got a copy on eBay at a decent price, looking forward to finally trying it!
1:45 YEP i remember, i saw the opening intro on the gamestore and was like : awesome !
Little did i know it was a card a game and at the time i didnt understand single word of english.
edit: oh tower of caelum, fk how the beat drops it's crazy, would make an insane boss music.
Whar was really cool on release: Playing tournaments online. Such a neat feature.
I still have both games to this day
its been fun back as a kid !
I remember the convo I had with my bro... "a card game?.. Nah pass on that..".. Still playing episode 1 and 2 to this day and haven't played 3 lol.. Or bb tbf
What a shame.
It's probably the "Black Sheep" of the PSO series (like how Phantasy Star III was for the classic one).
I understand why they made a TCG spin-off because of the early 00's fad (with Yugioh being a prime example). I can also understand why some were annoyed that a spin-off was canon and Gamecube/console exclusive (unlike versions 2 and Episode 1&2)
I was going to make the same comparison to PSIII
"Tutorial? Nah, I know what I'm doing. I've played PSO before"
This broke me 🤣
Never forgot this game. It was a ton of fun. Still love pso 1 and 2 more though. Playing it still to this day.
I pre-ordered this game, picked it up on release, then sold it rhe next day. I knew it was a card game but expected some element of exploration when they wasn't what i saw early in the game I was over it
I love this game so much
Finally someone talking about it 😭😭😭 i love this game sooo bad my whole name is inspired by Viviana the elf with pink hair 😞🫶🏻
Has someone that played phantasy star 1&2 and 3 I did like the card system. The storyline was better then 1&2 it reminded me of sonic adventure 2 which makes sense, since team sonic helped make it. The problem was the pacing and game play for me and updated version of all three games like remastered would be cool especially since they were supposed to be played online if you have the game cube connector.
OMG someone else who actually liked this game ?
Hell yes.
Damn i must convinve my brothers and cousin to play PSO BB with me. They didnt playe Episode 4 yet cause it wasnt out on Gamecube that time
Episode 3 is by far my favorite PSO and probably one of my favorite games ever released. When it was new people made fun of it; because by early 2004 massive Yugioh and Pokemon fatigue had set in. To the average person episode 3 seemed pastiche. As a card game/strategy game there is a lot of depth here. Especially when building decks for a 4 player free for all or even more so collaborating with another to player to make complimentary 2v2 decks.
I was in for hundreds of hours on episode 3. My total for 1-2 is about 100 hours for the two combined. Episode 3 has so much depth and different strategies in there. How many times can you kill Dark Faiz without getting bored.
As an online game that uses a keyboard for communication Episode 3 is far better suited to as it is a turn based game and encourages players to discuss strategy mid-match.
Me and my brother played pso 1&2 we both been playing it for 24yrs its now 2024. Episode 3 is pretty fun the music in thetone. Is sooo fking good. I know u play with cards but its still good
I wouldn’t say it’s forgotten per se, “ignored” is more like it
aparently word has it that episode 3 was supposed to take advantage of the TCG craze that yugioh started
I LOVED episode 3
Do you know it's truly ironic? Due to this game, Mega Man Network transmission, and the two Lost Kingdoms games that means that Baten Kaitos the game that people think of when you say card based Gamecube JRPG...came out last!
Ironically if this game WASN’T called “Episode III” I probably would have been obsessed with it when it dropped
Instead I just skipped it out of frustration, because it felt like we weren’t getting a “real” episode III because of this game. Should have been presented as a spin-off.
Learning about PSO because I'm playing PSO2NG
Like commented and subscribed 👍
It definitely seemed decent to me at first, but once you realize all the commons are the best cards and you just keep using them and realize there's no progression or anything it really loses its flair fast. Doesn't have the magic of the original PSO where you want to keep getting better and better stuff.
I have episode 3 and played a little bit at a friend's house, but the only reason why I haven't played it more is because it practically takes up a memory card all to itself.
I remember loving this game. The strategy was deep, the story was good, the music was great. I wish I'd had a chance to play it online.
I actually prefer this gameplay to the hack and slash of the others, but that's just me. I was definitely in the minority, I remember this game going on discount after just a few weeks of being released.
I remember having this on GameCube. Had no clue what the hell I was doing and the tutorial was confusing for me at the time.
Can't say i'm surprised space Yugi-oh wasn't a big hit. Well, wouldn't be the first time a title in the PS library would polarize it's audience.. *peeks at PS3*
Loved this game as a kid. Made a female character and some dude gave me a bunch of rare cards. Only realized years later it was because he was simping for my character lol
It was a very good game, however I was expecting an upgraded action-based hack and slash experience. Unfortunately, what I got was a card-based RPG! This really came out of left field for me (I’m not used to playing card games) so I didn’t fully appreciate this game for what it is. They called it “Episode 3” (I was so excited that I rushed to the store on the day of release to pickup my preorder of it!) but when I finally got home and put in the disc…this game was…different?! It’s still a great title, don’t get me wrong though, but a completely different game… That really stung! Welp…so much for the naming convention… They should’ve titled it differently, given that it is in fact just a spin-off of Episodes 1 and 2 (and by extension, Episode 4 Blue Burst) due to it’s difference in design and style from said games.
I..actually loved this game after playing the first two episodes
I'd love the lore video
More people are suggesting this... hmm...
I know this is an old video but just saw it now. The game is great but it seriously should have been a different series or a spin off. I know I should let it go but I'm still disappointed to this day that this was a card game and not an actual PSO ep1/2 gameplay
My cousin got PSO Episode 1/2 and we Coop´ed the shiet out of it sooooo much fun.
He also had Episode 3 and we were all surpirsed it was a card game^^
I don't know if this is still the case, but the reason the private online server is dead is due to the server having a LOT of compatibility issues and at least at the last time I checked didn't really work properly.
Tower of Caelum is such a fucking banger
I still think it's cool but imagine an episode 3 that was similar to 1 and 2 gameplay as a standalone game with private server support.
It's been ages since I played blue burst on schthack; recently started playing PSU on clementine and man, I'd forgotten how much better the graphics of PSOBB were in comparison. What gives, wasn't PSU much newer?
Endu isnt the only one that relates to previous games. Relmitos relates to great sword zoke. it's heavily implied Kranz is related to Bernie. the fomarl and fonewm in arkz are related to the organization Kireek was a part of. there was even a dlc quest i believe where you fight Kireek. though you would of had to do all the offline quests to know this.
I can't believe I forgot Relmitos, of course!
If I was a kid and got this I would have been so mad 😂
I own a copy of this game and is a cool game for the Ten 1st hours. Well now is on my to do list to end it
"I won't spoil any stories...." Isn't this game 15-20 Years old already? I doubt it's spoiling much if anything now XD
Hey, thanks for making a video on this game.
I never knew about Episode 3 (Or, admitedly, episode 4)
I've recently been trying to find videos to learn the Lore from Phantasy Star 1 all the way up to PSO2.
Do you still plan on making a Lore video on Episode 3??
I've been marinating the idea of creating a big video going over the lore of Episodes 1-4, but the more I look into it the bigger it becomes! Episode 3 takes some very dark moments, so I'd love to go over those.
@@SkysNotTheLimit I can imagine it'd be quite a large project.
Likely a multi-part series.
Best success if you do take on this challenge, I'd love to see it!!
Sega could never hold onto a good idea. They're destined to burn their house down to prevent it from catching fire.
Good way to put it!
I actually had a physical copy too. bought it for 2 euro. Never played it very far... You can imagine why.
This is the only version of PSO I didn't play
None of us did really... i'm still astonished that it was green lit. I remember being pissed off over it lol, i'm sure i wasn't alone.
Лайк за информацию об этой игре. Отличная работа!
I had this game and loved everything about it EXCEPT the fact that it took the AI fuckin forever to get through it's turn.
That's why you don't just change up your gameplay overnight when your game is known for 1 style already
They didn't change up the rpg format, it's still an rpg they changed up the gameplay completely
Growing up with PSO on GC I always wanted to try this game out when I saw It at GameStop (or was it eb games?). finally decided to play it recently and I’d say it’s very underrated definitely not talked about enough if at all. Even if you don’t like PSO it’s just a very good game overall I’d say if you’re into strategy RPGs.
I personally liked it, it was too sophisticated and I understand why it was not widely accepted.
I wouldn't call it forgotten, see it everywhere!
I'm still trying to get everyone hyped for a remaster of these games...
Not going to happen
@RockBandPlayer84 probably not but it would be cool and this IS the era of remastered ports we are in now.
btw anyone knows where that " mama mia " clip from ? i need that xd
It's about half-way through this video!
czcams.com/users/shortsqsXVC1BjllE
yeah right there
czcams.com/video/qsXVC1BjllE/video.html
ur a hero man, how is this sht not a meme yet is beyond me xd
the art is very good.
I LOVED episode 3 i had to barrow it from a friend but i could never find it for sale anywhere.
Although I enjoyed episode 3, I much rather it be a hack N Slasher with options to play episode 1 and 2 and within the same game.
Still one of my favorite PSO themes.. Remix included
I think I...i think i remember this?!
pso gc was my fav game ever and i got so disappointed seeing it was a card game. Listened to the ost years later and wow... I probably played pso for more than 1000 hours and litterally never touched episode 3, yet it still is my most played pso ost. Thats how good the music is
I ❤ this game. I would instantly buy it on steam, same with baten kaitos
I remember being decent at this game, even winning a lot online, until I met 2 JP players online playing as ranged hero characters. They are the meta?
CARD is on the box.....
I loved Episode 3....different as it was, it's a really good Card Battle game and one of the best soundtracks of "PSO 1".
Just a shame people dunk it cause "lol curd gaem"