It's funny, because I remember playing Phantasy Star 3 only briefly as a kid and it always struck me as really dull, compared to 2 and 4. What is it about that game, do you think?
Similar to why FF8 leaves a bad taste in so many fans' mouths, it's just too different from the main series. It doesn't look or feel like a Phantasy star game in and respect I can think of, though it is cool that Sega used the more interesting parts in Phantasy Star IV.
But on top of that, the pace is slow (not just the story, but the *walking*!), there's WAY too much tedious backtracking, the soundtrack is inferior to the other games', and because of the generational system (which was cool in theory), you never really get to know the characters, and their stories are told superficially. You can never really get attached to anyone.
So... yeah. Overall, it's a mediocre game in a series of very good ones, which makes it look that much worse.
