Can someone explain the Phantasy Star universe?

[danzibr]

I've played PSI-IV but not any of the other games. I'm a big fan of I-IV (and understand their timeline rather well, I think), but how do all the others fit in? PSI-IV would look something like:

PSI->PSII->PSIV
---------->PSIII

Also, are the others even good games?

[polity4life]

Phantasy Star Online was amazing. It was a proto-MMO on the Dreamcast that you could play entirely for free using a trial online play code bug from another game. Good times were had with that one.

[Hida Reju]

All games after Phantasy Star 4 have no connection to the first 4 games.

Phantasy Star Online for dreamcast has no connection to the recent Phantasy Star Universe games.

But the Phantasy Star Universe games currently are set in the same timeline.

As for gameplay the new ones do not play at all like the first 4. They are action/RPG hybrids that I enjoyed but not as much as the old JRPGs.

[maglag]

There is a connection, it's just that there's huge time skips between them, and that's a staple of the series. Dark Force rises and starts brewing trouble, swordman+catgirl+robot maid+sci-fi wizard team up and go beat the crap out of it, Dark Force goes to sleep for a lot of centuries, civilization is completely changed, rinse and repeat. Add space travel and mysterious devastation of planets and mates and fluid and tecniques and you can't deny it isn't a Phantasy Star game.

Heck, we even see how the Hunter's Guild from PS IV evolved to the super organization it is in PSO!

[Airk]

I've played PSI-IV but not any of the other games. I'm a big fan of I-IV (and understand their timeline rather well, I think), but how do all the others fit in? PSI-IV would look something like:

PSI->PSII->PSIV
---------->PSIII

Also, are the others even good games?

Actually, it's kinda like this, as best as I can tell:

PSI-->PSII-->PSIV
|-->PSIII
|-->PSO Stuff

Basically, when Palma/Parma is blown up in PS2, a whole bunch of "colony ship" type things blast off from the doomed planet and hurtle through space. That's where PS3 takes place, and all the PSO games as well as best as I can tell.

Or, alternatively, SEGA just started making **** up for the PSO games. Frankly, turned me off to them pretty hard.

[Hida Reju]

Actually, it's kinda like this, as best as I can tell:

PSI-->PSII-->PSIV
|-->PSIII
|-->PSO Stuff

Basically, when Palma/Parma is blown up in PS2, a whole bunch of "colony ship" type things blast off from the doomed planet and hurtle through space. That's where PS3 takes place, and all the PSO games as well as best as I can tell.

Or, alternatively, SEGA just started making **** up for the PSO games. Frankly, turned me off to them pretty hard.

You can make a case for PSO on the dreamcast being one of the Ships from PS3 but its a weak case since there was little to no reference from any previous lore. In PSU the reasons for Dark Force is completely changed from all previous games (IE SEED vs Ancient evil entity slipping its chains once every 1000 years).