Phantasy Star Series

[WelshMegalodon]

The official translation was serviceable and certainly didn't make the game unplayable, but it was also pretty simplistic and limited. Healing items turned into fast food, character names switched up for whatever reasons, and overall it just has a really robotic and stilted tone (though since the game was originally in katakana I guess you could say it's faithful in that regard :S ).

Having played through the PS1 fan translation recently, I can definitely recommend it. It just lets the story shine a bit brighter and sticks closer to the original text, and it's quite well presented, too. Hell, you can even switch between the PSG and FM soundtracks by pressing Start at the title screen!

So about this 'retranslation'... if it's the SMS Power! retranslation that's been making the rounds, this user claims that it is actually a dramatic re-imagining rather than a direct translation. Normally I'd be reluctant to trust YouTube comments, but given that most English fan translations are criticized for things like poor presentation or weeaboo speak rather than important things like whether the translation is actually accurate, I'm willing to give this person the benefit of the doubt.

[Heavy Viper]

Doesn't surprise me at all that some are dubious about the accuracy, given that people have been arguing about Phantasy Star series localization since long before I even had internet access. :S

From what I've seen over the years, SMS Power folks are a decent bunch, so I'd still stand by what I said. Admittedly, with only a basic grasp of Japanese, I can't really speak as to the accuracy of the translation myself. The source files for the translation are available here, though, and includes .txt files with the original katakana and the team's new translations side-by-side. I figure that's a pretty good show of confidence.

[Specineff]

After all this time, I've just realized that the healing items in the original Japanese PS1, Ruoginin and Peloriemate are spoofs of Regain/Aruginin and CalorieMate. It makes sense why the original translation would call them burgers and cola, since the original reference would be lost on English speakers.

[Xyga]

PSII cart battery failure the other day. 27 years isn't too bad for a button battery I guess...

This one was a loose cart though, I'm more worried about the one from my CIB 'kit'.

[EmperorIng]

A cart I bought recently came in and had no working battery to speak of. Sending it in to a fixer revealed a totally corrosive battery (I'm amazed the cart even powered on), and the revelation that "it appears to have been submerged in water at one point."

I gave up bitching for a refund on ebay because apparently it's not the seller's responsibility to know whether or not the battery works. Bullshit.

I had to buy another one, which does have a working battery; though for how long I don't know - the seller said it's either still working or a brand-new one. I'd like to get to it fast, but I sort of want to beat Phantasy Star first. That will depend on how much its dungeons fatigue me. Though, lol, if PS1's dungeons are fatiguing to me, that bodes ill for Phantasy Star II!

I sort of wish what enemies you attacked weren't (semi?) random; it feels like it drags on the fight instead of concentrating your efforts on one enemy at a time. I've got three party members and am rearing to go find some cakes in some God-forsaken shithole.

[Blinge]

I played PSI on the mega drive ultimate collection for ps3, does anyone know if that was the original translation?

PSIV continues to be awesome, I didn't think the characters were particularly "wacky kerazy" until I just met Raja. It's more the whole style and setting is a bit more light-hearted than II & III.

Edit: Upon crash landing for the first time, a Dezorian said something like "where on earth did you come from?" That's interesting, considering the games are set in the fictional Algo system, and Earth isn't there.
Or Maybe:

Spoiler

The events at the end of PSII passed into legend. So with the failed Earthling takeover, "where on earth" could mean something like 'where the hell did you come from.' Earth being a legendary or perhaps hellish place.

Of course these musings are moot as the answer is probably bad localisation.

Spoiler

I tried to drag the battle against Zio in Nervus out for a while to make it feel more epic.. Alas, I haven't done intentional grinding but he didn't seem all that difficult. Only a minor complaint though.

I do understand the criticisms brought by Mischief in favour of PSII, but This guy disagrees.. bahaha

..sorry.

[BryanM]

Aw, it ain't a Breath of Fire.

BoF: God's revenge on humanity for killing Jesus.

[EmperorIng]

I hope that's singular; BoF3 and 4 had good localizations iirc.

The first two games, uh... not so much.

[Mischief Maker]

I do understand the criticisms brought by Mischief in favour of PSII, but This guy disagrees.. bahaha

..sorry.

I want those four minutes and forty-five seconds of my life back!

It's one thing to have a different opinion than me and think PS2 is boring. Fair enough. It's another thing entirely to be boring yourself while panning the game. Spoony's Phantasmagoria this guy ain't.

[Blinge]

Just finished PSIV. Now the whole tetralogy is done. Damn son, what a journey!
I know people here wouldn't agree but I'd place it right next to FFVI as teh best 16bit jRPGs evar.

Spoiler

I loved the pacing, the game never felt like drudgery. The story wasn't as grimdark as 2/3 but I don't mind that. Lashiec was epic, Rykros and Profound Darkness were epic. I took Kyra with me to the final battle.

The ending was mehh, I feel like so many games end with the incredibly unrealistic "well bye then!" not even a pause to recover from the mortal battle they were just engaged in.
If I saved the world with a bunch of people I'd probably want to stay in contact, but that's just me..

Also: how the hell did Rune get between Motavia and Dezolis before Chaz&Co found the spaceship?

[Mortificator]

Just finished PSIV. Now the whole tetralogy is done. Damn son, what a journey!
I know people here wouldn't agree but I'd place it right next to FFVI as teh best 16bit jRPGs evar.

I'd agree, though I'd also put Chrono Trigger next to them.

Spoiler

I vaguely remember some Phantasy Star fansite talking about a Japanese-only book which suggests that after the game, Chaz knocked-up Rika, then died young.

As for Rune, he might have some Esper magic to get between planets that only works on himself.

[Mischief Maker]

Just finished PSIV. Now the whole tetralogy is done. Damn son, what a journey!
I know people here wouldn't agree but I'd place it right next to FFVI as teh best 16bit jRPGs evar.

Spoiler

I loved the pacing, the game never felt like drudgery. The story wasn't as grimdark as 2/3 but I don't mind that. Lashiec was epic, Rykros and Profound Darkness were epic. I took Kyra with me to the final battle.

The ending was mehh, I feel like so many games end with the incredibly unrealistic "well bye then!" not even a pause to recover from the mortal battle they were just engaged in.
If I saved the world with a bunch of people I'd probably want to stay in contact, but that's just me..

Also: how the hell did Rune get between Motavia and Dezolis before Chaz&Co found the spaceship?

Spoiler

Maybe Lutz hung on to Rolf & Co's old spaceship and it was so rickety when Rune used it that it was only good for a one way flight?

As a kid I was excited by Rika's images in magazine previews, (They brought Nei back to life??? How???) but after finishing the game I really thought it was both a betrayal and made no sense that there would be a Nei clone. It's a betrayal equal in standing to bringing Spock back to life after his iconic death in part 2. And it makes no sense because Nei and Neifirst were supposed to be a failed experiment, so why clone another?

[Blinge]

I think that's your emotional attachment to 2 more than anything, chief.

Spoiler

Did the game she's a direct clone? I thought it was just another attempt at making a human/numan. they had 1,000 years to get it right after all. Her personality is definitely her own, we cant possibly have a japanese game with dialogue and no kawaii character after all..

I can't place that much weight on that part of 2's story cause the reason for Nei's death was a bit silly imo. "one can't exist without the other" is more high fantasy fare.

[Mischief Maker]

I think that's your emotional attachment to 2 more than anything, chief.

Fair enough.

I roll my eyes at all the little whippersnappers who get misty-eyed at Final Fantasy 7's big twist it would be hypocritical to think the same can't apply to me.

At least PSII makes an attempt at an excuse why the typical treatment won't work this time.

[EmperorIng]

At least PSII makes an attempt at an excuse why the typical treatment won't work this time.

Unless you glitch the game and keep that character alive.

[Blinge]

haha well when someone's down in FF7 it's called " wounded " isn't it?

my 26 year old gf got to that point for the first time recently, cried, and now refuses to play FF7 anymore.
Apparently they "broke the rules"

Though how anyone can like that character at all is beyond me.

[WelshMegalodon]

Apparently they "broke the rules"

Fact: Final Fantasy has been killing off playable characters since 1988.

We're talking about エアリス, right? You really need to tell your girlfriend about Yuffie warping.

EDIT: Damn. I usually read through these things before replying, I swear.

[Blinge]

Fact: Final Fantasy has been killing off playable characters since 1988.

Haha yeah I know. It was referenced earlier in the thread

[Shoryukev]

During the process of moving I got the chance to rearrange all my games, I came across a Phantasy Star Collection cartridge for the GBA. Is the port of the first game faithful to the original? I have the Genesis games so I'm not concerned with II or III.

[Shoryukev]

I recently picked up a copy of the original SMS game for a decent price, and thought I'd post my first impressions per Blinge's suggestion.

The presentation of this game is fantastic. Having been no stranger to NES RPG's I didn't go into it expecting much, but wow......the size of the sprites and the use of color is just astounding for an 8 bit system. If I didn't physically slap it in my Master System I'd swear it was an early 16 bit game.

I just set Odin free from his stone form, so I'm not very far into the game...but as of right now I'm happy with the pacing. A lot of early RPGs are super grind-heavy and you don't feel like you're making any progress. In Phantasy Star I still find myself going back and forth between town and the overworld to level and collect money.....but the results are more prominent.

I haven't gotten to any of the complex dungeons yet, so I'm not sure how I will be able to digest the first person-view....but with the simple dungeons I've delved into it was fun. I could see it becoming annoying, but it's an important part of the presentation that makes the game so impressive for its time. I've seen a lot of people talk about the translation to English bothering them....but "well," I've honestly rather enjoyed the Engrish.

Overall I'm happy I finally get to dive into this one, and it has been a lot of fun. I can see why it is probably the #1 talked about Master System game, it really is that good. I have PS2 and 4 for the Genesis, but I waited it out till I got the first game to play them....so I'm all lined up to sweep through the series. I might buy #3 as well, but from what I've read it is the black sheep of the family. Also #4 is supposedly connected to the story of #2 directly, so I don't mind playing the third installment last.

[Mischief Maker]

I might buy #3 as well, but from what I've read it is the black sheep of the family. Also #4 is supposedly connected to the story of #2 directly, so I don't mind playing the third installment last.

Unlike the Final Fantasy series, 1 2 3 and 4 are all directly connected in story.

But 3 barely gets a mention in 4 and honestly 3 is not a good game. Save your money.

[FinalBaton]

I haven't played 3 and I don't think I ever will.
The presentation is just so damn bad (>_<)
And from what I hear from everyone who has played it, it's not a super fun game either.

[BryanM]

Having been no stranger to NES RPG's I didn't go into it expecting much, but wow......the size of the sprites and the use of color is just astounding for an 8 bit system. If I didn't physically slap it in my Master System I'd swear it was an early 16 bit game.

The Master System just blows the NES out of the water, graphically. The NES palette in particular is baaaaaaaaad. So bad. Once, I made a simple little palette editor for the nes version of Pokemon Yellow to fix the colors. The NES palette has a good selection when it comes to greens and a few options in the blue and purples. But there's no true red or yellow. Do you have any idea how many pokemon want to be red or yellow?!

The human eye is terrible at registering shades of blue. They coulda put some of those slots toward the red side.

The Atari 2600 has a vastly better palette, for cryin' out loud.

The primary difference between the NES and SNES graphically is the higher sprite limit and better palette of the SNES. The resolution is basically the same - that's why there's so many NES rom hacks with plagiarized SNES sprites.

There's a lot to wonder about how things shook out back then. Being a couple years earlier, having Mario, and all that cultural phenomenon name recognition... the SMS probably never stood a chance, no matter how superior it was as a piece of hardware.

[Shoryukev]

The SMS was really impressive for it's time! I remember getting a Game Gear when I was very young....and only having an NES prior to it, I was astonished that they could get graphics like that out of any system....let alone a handheld. Little did I know I was holding a slightly modified SMS in my hands...

I wonder about it a lot too. I had one friend who had a SMS as a kid (which is where I got my SMS actually), the rest of us had NES. It wasn't split like the 16 bit generation was....it was basically 90% or more NES from what I can tell. A lot of it probably broke down to nintendo's policy with 3rd party developers, later deemed to be illegal LOL.....so in the states we never got Contra, MegaMan, Final Fantasy, or hardly any 3rd party games for that matter.

When the SMS did get a 3rd party title, most of the time it was better than the NES. Double Dragon and Paperboy are miles better on the SMS when compared to the NES.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Need to get back into Phantasy Star. Started it on the 360 Mega Drive Collection (as much as I usually get the original games, I can't be bothered with battery back up hassle) and was enjoying it... after the dumb bit early on where you need to buy the "it's a secret" item to progress. Nope, nothing in these towns. Nope nothing here. Nope loads of high level monsters and instant death here. Looked up that you have to ask the guy several times to buy the expensive secret item. It's like you're supposes to think of this after you've bashed your head against everything else first! That aside it was way more fun than I thought it'd be - I was blindly opposed to RPGs when I was younger, so never gave this time of day.

[Shoryukev]

The fact that you have to ask him 3 times makes it a bit tricky. It took me awhile to figure that out.

Battery backups are actually really easy if you know how to solder. I ordered a pack of 20 batteries that came with a couple different sized special nut-drivers on ebay. The battery in several of my games died last year.....Super Metroid, Link to the Past, Donkey Kong GB, NES Zelda 2, and my Pokemon Yellow. To my surprise they all used the same exact battery, and changing it out all of them at once took me maybe half an hour total.

From here on out I've decided that if I'm going to play a game that uses a battery backup, I'm going to change the battery before I start playing it. Nothing more frustrating than putting 30 or more hours into a game and losing your progress!

[IrishNinja]

one day, ill have an FM modded SMS + everdrive and play the PS retranslation with proper sound!

Unless you glitch the game and keep that character alive.

how did this work? i even game genie'd it to keep her alive once, got a different message with the same results

[Shoryukev]

I'm very interested in the FM sound mod.....just how much am I missing out on in Phantasy Star without it?

[Xyga]

I'm very interested in the FM sound mod.....just how much am I missing out on in Phantasy Star without it?

http://youtu.be/zDPvSoiCAWg

[ryu]

I just got Lutz in PS1 and now the game stutters noticably when I'm walking on the over world. Surely that's a problem with the Saturn version?