Phantasy Star Series

[BryanM]

Oi, what they did to the Genesis and the Saturn is even worse than the Atari catastrophe imo. Just on the basis that they had actual game dev teams that were often pretty good. It's all the guys in suits I tells ya; if it was up to the nerds they'd have been trying out experimental games all the time.

[GaijinPunch]

That was so long ago though. Any company worth it's salt should have been able to reinvent itself in that time (a couple of times over actually). I mean, they kind of did by definition when they dropped consumer hardware. Then again, here we are.

[BrainΦΠΦTemple]

fAt seastar

[cave hermit]

I started playing Phantasy Star 1 as a side RPG to FF7 remake.

I'm using the Switch sega ages release for the portability, auto mapping, FM synth and item references, but I'm playing in original mode to make leveling up and getting new equipment feel more satisfying and because I feel like they toned down the encounter rate a bit too much in ages mode.

Not planning on using a walkthrough unless I get really stuck, although I was already spoiled on how to get the road pass from watching My life in gaming.

So far I've recruited Myau and Odin, so I guess the next step is to head to the town in the forest...

[Blinge]

Not planning on using a walkthrough unless I get really stuck,

Oof good luck with that. Does this version have maps for the overworld too? That'd make it a helluvalot easier

[cave hermit]

Unfortunately no, just dungeons get mapping. I'm actually having trouble keeping track of all the different towns and landmarks, so a feature like that would have been super helpful.

[Blinge]

Some of the dungeons don't have names either as far as I could tell unless some random NPC happens to mention them.
might have to make your own maps, cave! eee!

[BryanM]

It's a good time for me to eat crow about the cell phone game - not only did it survive past a year, it's entering the closed beta for its english version as you're reading this. Them profit margins be crazy.

It's kind of neat how one of Sega's major income streams is an arcade gacha rthymn dodge! game, Ongeki. It brings to mind how much cooler something in the vein of Golden Axe could be, if putting in credits unlocked more stages and characters.

[GaijinPunch]

I played that game w/ a friend once as we were killing time. Kinda fun but yeah, it's not an arcade game. Just something to do when you're drunk.

[Blinge]

Mentioned this in whatnot but let's talk here.

I'm doing a fresh playthrough of PSII, drawing my own maps and using the worst characters.
I'm thinking final party will be Hugh, Anna, Shir.

Not sure whether i'll use the GiRes items for the rest of the game. maybe I should do so to stop myself going nuts.

I'm just about to say goodbye to Rudolf, as Hugh has shown up

Fortunately I still have my own drawn maps from the last time I attempted this.- only up to Uzo island however. And i'll be using the world map that's in the game's manual.

Not sure if i'm gonna continue on paper at this point or try to get some graph paper doodling going on on my ipad. Sadly it's so old that no drawing apps will fucking download anymore. it'll have to be on the notes app that doesn't have graph paper on this version.

Should I try and record some? Maybe when i have a full party of bads.

[MX7]

That's a really fucking hardcore undertaking, lots of respect! I played through PS2 with the US pack-in guide and I feel no shame. I feel a lot of JRPGs are 'supposed' to be played with a glossy strategy guide, especially of this era. I have a few SMT books and they're really lovely, filled with lots of concept art, additional side stories and bios and really feel like they round off the whole experience.

Similar vein: got PS1 for Switch, with automapping and easy mode and everything. Yeah it's heritical but I've done my time, I've made my maps, and I'm looking forward to knocking through this in a different way!

[Blinge]

Good to hear from you man, It's been a while!

Ah man SMT books from that era? sounds rad.

Yeah we'll see if Hugh and Shir's uselessness makes me tap out in the end

[MX7]

Keep going! I'd love to complete PS2 with my own maps. It's such a horrible game. I love it.

[Blinge]

It really is fucking nasty isn't it

The first real dick-kick for me is the Blasters in the Biosystems lab. wiping like 20 hp at least off your entire party.
One of the few enemies I used Zan with my low level Rolf for, just to make them dead asap.

[vol.2]

That's the hardest moment of the whole game in my memory. The Blasters wiped me out three or four times completely and I had to restart the lab. It's really just dumb luck making it through there alive unless you mega-grind your people or something, but it would take the challenge out of the first half of the game if you were powerful enough to fend them off.

Shir is actually not a bad character because she has a very high agility. If you give her all the agility items then she will allow you to control the fight every single time. The only really big drawback to her IMO is that you can't take her off world because she will just keep ending up back at your house when she steals shit, and then be all like "sorry buddy I had to take to walk." It's just no end of aggravation.

Not super impressed with Rudo. First half of the game, guns don't work as well as knives. I gave him the laser canon and it did less damage most of the time then two laser knives, the only exception being the occasional *very* high defense enemy. I don't remember what it's like to use the pulse vulcan, but I found some documentation that it's max hit is 18x4, and that's only if it hits each time which it doesn't always do. I think he's mainly just a good bullet sponge, but is pretty boring with no tech.

I actually think that all of the characters are doable if you let yourself pick a diverse enough party, and you don't purposefully abandon the items in the game designed to balance out a non-traditional party. I suppose if you really just want to cripple your team, don't use any armaments with tech abilities at all. But you could still do it, you'd just have to grind like crazy or fumble through each dungeon until you get a lucky break with the enemies. If you level your party to 50, it probably doesn't much matter who you use at the end. But I've never got to 50 in PSII; the last 5 levels will take longer than the first 45 (or so I've heard).

Are you going to keep Nei? I tried to do it when I was a kid. I was lucky (cursed) enough to have a save game just before that fight, and I didn't want to accept that she had to die. I looked into some years ago and found that it's actually possible to keep her if you get her to 50 and play it really smart. I didn't bother this time, but I will do it someday. I might load a save from this run and try it after I'm done.

Do you use cloning labs? I never liked the cloning labs, and I refuse to use them (always have even when I was a kid). It creeped me out that I was playing a clone of my character, and my mind couldn't handle the thought the first version of the character was "dead" and that I was playing a clone. It made no difference that it was a game, just seemed wrong and that the game must be keeping track of that in some way. I'm sure now that's not, but I still can't bring myself to do it. If anybody dies, I just turn it off and load a save. Yes, I understand how misguided that sounds.

[Sengoku Strider]

Mentioned this in whatnot but let's talk here.

I'm doing a fresh playthrough of PSII, drawing my own maps and using the worst characters.
I'm thinking final party will be Hugh, Anna, Shir.

Not sure whether i'll use the GiRes items for the rest of the game. maybe I should do so to stop myself going nuts.

I'm just about to say goodbye to Rudolf, as Hugh has shown up

Fortunately I still have my own drawn maps from the last time I attempted this.- only up to Uzo island however. And i'll be using the world map that's in the game's manual.

Not sure if i'm gonna continue on paper at this point or try to get some graph paper doodling going on on my ipad. Sadly it's so old that no drawing apps will fucking download anymore. it'll have to be on the notes app that doesn't have graph paper on this version.

Should I try and record some? Maybe when i have a full party of bads.

This game's not really mapping-friendly. How are you laying the maps out?

[Gamer707b]

Grew up with the series. I used to get a Sega magazine around 87-88 to the house. Don't remember what it was called but there were articles on the first PS. I wanted it so bad , but couldn't convince my mom to pay $80. That's what it cost then. I eventually bought PS2 second hand a couple years later. Funny story is that it was my first turned based rpg and every time the game went into battle mode, I would think something was wrong with the game. Because I would be walking in the over world, then all of a sudden , poof. I'd be in the middle of a battle. Lol. Great memories.

[Blinge]

This game's not really mapping-friendly. How are you laying the maps out?

Badly.

[Blinge]

That's the hardest moment of the whole game in my memory. The Blasters wiped me out three or four times completely and I had to restart the lab. It's really just dumb luck making it through there alive unless you mega-grind your people or something, but it would take the challenge out of the first half of the game if you were powerful enough to fend them off.

So I prioritised them and had Rolf hit them with zan. if they managed to get 2 shots off they'd invariably kill Amy. So I would warp out, 'revive' her, restock and head back out again. This happened only twice.

But I've never got to 50 in PSII; the last 5 levels will take longer than the first 45 (or so I've heard).

wow fuck that! I'll use the tech items, then.

Are you going to keep Nei? I looked into some years ago and found that it's actually possible to keep her if you get her to 50 and play it really smart.

ooh I'd like to see some evidence of that, if you can find any?
Nah personally I wouldn't. she dies canonically, and she's good enough that having her in my party would ruin the bad party challenge.

Do you use cloning labs? I never liked the cloning labs, and I refuse to use them (always have even when I was a kid). It creeped me out that I was playing a clone of my character, and my mind couldn't handle the thought the first version of the character was "dead" and that I was playing a clone. It made no difference that it was a game, just seemed wrong and that the game must be keeping track of that in some way. I'm sure now that's not, but I still can't bring myself to do it. If anybody dies, I just turn it off and load a save. Yes, I understand how misguided that sounds.

For my sanity, yes. It is creepy though. I think at this point in my game only Rudo and Hugh are truly the same men.

[Blinge]

Lol what is happening?? What's this accent supposed to be?

Also we're going after bad'uns... are we? The mission is to get to Climatrol (no one in the world knows where it is) and find out why a massive surge of energy was routed from there to Biosystems. There hasn't been mention of any bad actor.

I've depleted Hugh's MP pool twice trying to use SHINB on monsters. it has not worked once.

[vol.2]

ooh I'd like to see some evidence of that, if you can find any?
Nah personally I wouldn't. she dies canonically, and she's good enough that having her in my party would ruin the bad party challenge.

From what I understand, the game story continues as if she dies and there is no change to anything. I don't know if they still visit the cloning lab in the "cut scene" or not, but they probably do.

I don't want to watch this because I want to see it for my own eyes when I do it, but this is a youtube video of beating Neifirst. I'm sure it's possible also I've read many PS forums throughout the years and it's never been contested that it's possible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOSO300THOY

Keeping her in your party would actually be harder because her stats taper-off pretty hard with levels over 20 and they didn't place any advanced equipment for her in the game on Dezo. I've never done it before, but I would expect that you still have to keep her with you at all times like before and that will limit the party skill diversity through the Dams and forward.

For my sanity, yes. It is creepy though. I think at this point in my game only Rudo and Hugh are truly the same men.

That's cool. It's just a weird thing from my childhood I think. Like stepping on sidewalk cracks or something.


I like your maps! I never even considered mapping a console RPG on paper before. Even when I was a kid, it was kind of unspoken that you got the Nintendo power for the maps on stuff like Dragon Warrior or whatever, so I wouldn't have bothered. However, I surely drew maps for text games (Zork series) and AD&D titles on the PC.

I played through Zelda with no maps the first time around; just had to memorize everything. Not sure if I could still do that.

[BryanM]

Ah, I could never bring myself to map in vidyagames. I'd just memorize everything I could and fuddle around the bits that got hazy. Even in Dungeon Master that worked ok since sub areas were small, distinct, and had landmarks in that game.

You can bring Nei back in the remake, Chrono Trigger style, I heard.

Do you use cloning labs? I never liked the cloning labs, and I refuse to use them (always have even when I was a kid). It creeped me out that I was playing a clone of my character, and my mind couldn't handle the thought the first version of the character was "dead" and that I was playing a clone.

hoo hoo, there's a philosophical argument that... it's not!

The odds of any specific person existing is almost zero, but they can't observe anything if they don't exist. Thus, this implies multiverse theory. A creepier extrapolation of this is the idea of Quantum Immortality, where an observer has plot armor like a character in fiction. Taken to the extreme, these ideas can be interpreted to imply that even if you get vaporized, in some universe, some time, a brain that continues your point of consciousness could maybe assemble itself somehow, like an isekai protagonist I guess.

It's not too far-fetched to assume the clones here would be a suitable vessel for this "body hopping" of consciousness. But only to the reincarnee's point of view, everyone who survived is definitely walking around with another person.

.... this really implies every observer gets their own universe basically. Darkly, you could view all other life as p-zombies or NPCs. A bit heady for a "wander dungeons and make numbers go up" game.

I've depleted Hugh's MP pool twice trying to use SHINB on monsters. it has not worked once.

Shinb is supposed to cause all biomonster type enemies to flee from the encounter[1], but a bug in the game prevents this technique from ever working[2]. Regardless, if cast Shinb will still expend 4 TP. When cast, the message "Didn't work!" will display with no effect on the enemies.

Hugh is the only player character who can use Shinb.

hehe

[Immryr]

i'm reading that accent as west country or cornish or something

[Blinge]

I'm sure it's possible also I've read many PS forums throughout the years and it's never been contested that it's possible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOSO300THOY

Aye, that's not evidence for Nei remaining alive throughout the game tho. If you have to make use of a glitch to make it possible too then I'm not gonna bother with it.

I played through Zelda with no maps the first time around; just had to memorize everything. Not sure if I could still do that.

That final dungeon? eww no thanks.

[vol.2]

Aye, that's not evidence for Nei remaining alive throughout the game tho.

I looked into it more. You're right, it's only possible to get her back in the game after Neifirst with a hack, and she is apparently a selectable character at that point because the game code "releases" the requirement that she be in your party after the fight. It IS possible to legitimately keep her alive and solo Neifirst if you level her way up and use lots of trimate. It's also possible to revive her during the full-party battle with Neifirst. Either way, the game assumes she's dead and she disappears from you party when the cutscene is over.

That final dungeon? eww no thanks.

Yup, even that final dungeon. I didn't have a Nintendo Power sub when I was a kid, so I was forced to borrow them. IAC, Power didn't come out until 88 at some point, so that was like 2 years after Zelda 1.

[GaijinPunch]

This game's not really mapping-friendly. How are you laying the maps out?

Badly.

Dude, I just cleaned out my old condo and ran across my PS1 maps I made as a kid. Ultimately, decided NOT to trash them. They're in a container but maybe I'll take some photos for posterity.

[Blinge]

I went back to the house I grew up in a few months ago as my mother sold it. Dug through the closet -- found my home made maps.

couple pages back

I've also gone back and been reading my exact same process for the run I'm doing. Last time I tapped out before Climatrol or life got in the way or something 2018? jeez.

[Blinge]

I like your maps!

Maybe you won't like my 2021 approach



Edit: Just been watching a retrospective and.. PSIII reviewed really well at the time!? Magazines calling it the greatest adventure game of all time what the fuck.

[vol.2]

I never had a tablet, so that looks like futuristic shit to me. I think it's very Phantasy Star appropriate that you are using robotic assistance in your mapping.



AFA PS3 goes. I remember being super excited when it came out, and also enjoying it. Because I was also into ye olde dungeon adventures and such, I didn't give that much thought to severe departure in tone and story. It was like getting an RPG that had PS on the name, but wasn't PS, and I wasn't jaded enough to care at the time. I think it also had to do with what was available in 1990 for RPGs on a console, and on the Genesis in particular. Sure the combat kinda sucks, and the generation feature is somewhat flawed, but it's an interesting concept and it genuinely held my interest the first time I played it. In those days, that was a win for me. I honestly haven't played it since then and I'm not sure what I would think today. Are you going to play it after you're done with 2?

[Blinge]

Oh I've finished both before. I wasn't ever gonna play 3 again but I might, just to take the Orakkian genealogy the whole time and play a more boring generation