Phantasy Star Series

[Blinge]

General thread about Phantasy Star as there's enough fans here.
come have a cola or monomate or yeah.

I'll also be sharing my experience of the megadrive titles here rather than clog up the megadrive thread.

I'm currently on PSII, with Xyga's warning forever in mind:

PSII can be brutal. Depends on how you decide to play it and what you have in your inventory.

Without using the cute hand-drawn official strategy guide (Hint Book) originally bundled with it, the game will murder you a million times before you see the end credits.

Don't expect your party to ever become strong enough to spend as much time as you wish exploring the sadistic dungeons to come.
Fights of course don't get easier, it's not rare to see your party annihilated in one turn if you make the wrong decision.
If you miss some vital support items (not exactly mentioned in the guide) it will be Hell.

It's not impossible, but some of the most complex structures can take dozens of hours to solve and get through if you don't know what you're doing.

PSII has a unique atmosphere, fans of the series tend to have more love for it than the 4th despite its spartan nature.

Spoiler

Following the advice of the hintbook, I've just beaten Uzo island and gotten hold of the Maruera leaf (legalize it)
I made an attempt at navigating the island without the map, about twice.. ended up nearly beaten to death so had to warp out and back to the last town on the mainland. Fortunately when you warp the Jet Scooter relocates to the shore, instead of leaving it on the island and fucking your game up irreparably.

These excursions earned me enough MST to properly kit out my team, making Uzo much easier when I went back and used the hintbook's map to find that damn leaf. Something I do appreciate about JRPGs is the temporary knowledge you get from staying in a dungeon too long, you end up having a gameplan for every variant of enemy encounter: "okay, i'll take out this guy with Gifoi and let the rest go ham on the others with melee."

Also, concerning the garbage dump dungeon, Roron: I only explored the bottom tower to get the Jet Scooter. Is there any point looking through the first?

Next up: Climatrol. "The largest dungeon you have set seen"... ulp
Party: Rudo, Rolf, Nei, Amy.
I figure I'll get the wrecker guy in once I find a place with robot enemies.

[Ruldra]

If anyone is planning to play Phantasy Star 1, I recommend using this re-translation patch. The official translation is atrocious and this one makes things a lot better.

[Xyga]

Spoiler

Following the advice of the hintbook, I've just beaten Uzo island and gotten hold of the Maruera leaf (legalize it)
I made an attempt at navigating the island without the map, about twice.. ended up nearly beaten to death so had to warp out and back to the last town on the mainland. Fortunately when you warp the Jet Scooter relocates to the shore, instead of leaving it on the island and fucking your game up irreparably.

These excursions earned me enough MST to properly kit out my team, making Uzo much easier when I went back and used the hintbook's map to find that damn leaf. Something I do appreciate about JRPGs is the temporary knowledge you get from staying in a dungeon too long, you end up having a gameplan for every variant of enemy encounter: "okay, i'll take out this guy with Gifoi and let the rest go ham on the others with melee."

Also, concerning the garbage dump dungeon, Roron: I only explored the bottom tower to get the Jet Scooter. Is there any point looking through the first?

Next up: Climatrol. "The largest dungeon you have set seen"... ulp
Party: Rudo, Rolf, Nei, Amy.
I figure I'll get the wrecker guy in once I find a place with robot enemies.

Spoiler

Nothing important in Roron nor Climatrol, just don't miss any items later in the dams.

I think I'll give the PS2 remake a try, it just received a French fan translation (hopefully an English one will soon follow).
Very light game so I bet even an average laptop could handle it in PCSX2.

[BrianC]

One funny thing is when I got my US SMS at a yard sale, the guy put Fantasy Zone in the bundle because he thought it was a RPG (probably mistook it for Phantasy Star). I didn't mind since it's a nice port and the system came with a couple RPGs (Miracle Warriors and Ys). I did get PS later and I like it quite a bit. I also got the JP SMS because I found it at a decent price on ebay with a bunch of loose Mark III/SMS and SG-1000 games, including Phantasy Star (though I had the US version before I got the JP SMS). I still play the US one because of the text, but the FM music on the JP version is so much better.

[Squire Grooktook]

Started playing PS2 myself last year. Got side tracked by other things, but I intend to return to it this summer once I get time for more rpg's then just Fire Emblem and Trails in The Sky.

Okay to mention Phantasy Star Online here as well?

Spoiler

I only play it on Spring and Winter break, but I've been playing PSO2 since its launch a few years back. Currently at the level cap (or at least was back during winter break) with my HuMarl and just reached Ultimate Difficulty. Game has pretty fun combat, I like it better then most dedicated hack and slash.

[GaijinPunch]

How are you connecting to PSO2. I was in Japan when they started blocking white people. I was on the job hunt the whole time in the USA, so never bothered to get around the wall. I'm preparing for the GRE now, so not dying to play, but I am probably going to try soon. I have a friend in Japan setting up a Raspberry Pi, but he's busy as well. This is the main guy I played w/. Characters are all at level 70... I know a lot's changed since August.

Huge fan of the original series. Played PS1 on my SMS in like 6th grade back in 1987. Damn, memories. Played it... a lot actually. Easily start to finish 15 times. Made my own maps, etc. The rest of the series, not so much but multiple times. If you're stuck on time w/ PSII, the PS2 collection version has easy mode and frame skip (while keeping the music in tact) which helps a lot, but I can see how that would turn some people off.

PSIII is kinda whack. The IV one is great. All in all, I like the original the best.

[ryu]

I spent a couple of weeks playing PSO2 last year. People say it's a shit game, but I had fun with it. Much more so than with FFXIV. I'll most likely pick it up again someday... if I'm not banned yet. No idea how aggressively they're banning gaijins.

Been eying the original series for a while. Guess I'll check out the saturn collection sometime this year or so. PSO on DC is also on my list.

[Squire Grooktook]

How are you connecting to PSO2. I was in Japan when they started blocking white people.

They didn't, as far as I know. Last year there was a huge DDOS attack on the servers that broke a lot of peoples connections for a few months and forced Sega to do massive amounts maintenance to fix all the damage (they even gave in game compensations to people who couldn't play during the maintenance). As I understand it, afterwards Sega apparently never bothered/realized to fix connection issues with certain western internet providers. No one's actually been banned, just problems connecting to the server.

The easy way to get through is a VPN. The fan made launcher (which also automaticly applies english patches and other useful things) has a built in an option for connecting with a proxy/vpn that is pretty much 100% guaranteed to work.

It's been speculated that the reason the western release never went through is because they realized that everyone in the west who was interested was already playing it, and went to all the trouble of translating it and everything for them. No need to spend all that extra dough on servers and localization when you already got the gaijins given you money. They'll probably never ban the westerners, or localize it.

[GaijinPunch]

How are you connecting to PSO2. I was in Japan when they started blocking white people.

They didn't, as far as I know. Last year there was a huge DDOS attack on the servers that broke a lot of peoples connections for a few months and forced Sega to do massive amounts maintenance to fix all the damage (they even gave in game compensations to people who couldn't play during the maintenance). As I understand it, afterwards Sega apparently never bothered/realized to fix connection issues with certain western internet providers. No one's actually been banned, just problems connecting to the server.

The easy way to get through is a VPN. The fan made launcher (which also automaticly applies english patches and other useful things) has a built in an option for connecting with a proxy/vpn that is pretty much 100% guaranteed to work.

It's been speculated that the reason the western release never went through is because they realized that everyone in the west who was interested was already playing it, and went to all the trouble of translating it and everything for them. No need to spend all that extra dough on servers and localization when you already got the gaijins given you money. They'll probably never ban the westerners, or localize it.

By blocking I meant at the network level, not account level. They did some fancy routing that effectively cut off most of the world. There are ways around it, but I didn't try any. I was playing when the DDOS attack happened, and then after for a couple of months. Then I went to Burning Man, then I went through the arduous interview process.

I will check the launcher, thanks. If I don't want the English patches, can I avoid them? I'd rather not break or alter the experience... just connect and play. Is the VPN/proxy made available or do I need to sort out my own?

Also, what ship are you on? I really need to do the GRE before I bother with PSO2. Shit, even now I want to log in and try but I know I'll wind up playing all night... definitely when I should be sleeping due to time lag.

[Squire Grooktook]

How are you connecting to PSO2. I was in Japan when they started blocking white people.

They didn't, as far as I know. Last year there was a huge DDOS attack on the servers that broke a lot of peoples connections for a few months and forced Sega to do massive amounts maintenance to fix all the damage (they even gave in game compensations to people who couldn't play during the maintenance). As I understand it, afterwards Sega apparently never bothered/realized to fix connection issues with certain western internet providers. No one's actually been banned, just problems connecting to the server.

The easy way to get through is a VPN. The fan made launcher (which also automaticly applies english patches and other useful things) has a built in an option for connecting with a proxy/vpn that is pretty much 100% guaranteed to work.

It's been speculated that the reason the western release never went through is because they realized that everyone in the west who was interested was already playing it, and went to all the trouble of translating it and everything for them. No need to spend all that extra dough on servers and localization when you already got the gaijins given you money. They'll probably never ban the westerners, or localize it.

By blocking I meant at the network level, not account level. They did some fancy routing that effectively cut off most of the world. There are ways around it, but I didn't try any. I was playing when the DDOS attack happened, and then after for a couple of months. Then I went to Burning Man, then I went through the arduous interview process.

I will check the launcher, thanks. If I don't want the English patches, can I avoid them? I'd rather not break or alter the experience... just connect and play. Is the VPN/proxy made available or do I need to sort out my own?

Also, what ship are you on? I really need to do the GRE before I bother with PSO2. Shit, even now I want to log in and try but I know I'll wind up playing all night... definitely when I should be sleeping due to time lag.

Hmmmm, after the DDOS I had to switch to the vpn/proxy permanently. If any other anti westerner measures were implemented, I must not have noticed as a result (last time I played was back in january/febuary, think I logged in once or twice in the past few month's since)

Also yeah, the english patch is optional. I think you might have to uncheck a box or something in the options menu for the launcher or say no to downloading the patch, don't remember, but you should be able to uninstall or not download it.

Me and most of my friends are on ship 2 also.

[GaijinPunch]

I'm Ship 6. I'll try the launcher at some point, but I want to finish this damn test first. PSO2 is a massive time suck, and I was glad there was a hurdle to connect when I left Japan. I admit it, I have an addictive personality and can't say no to much of anything. Not sure where PSO2 ranks against pussy and whiskey, but it's somewhere in the same ballpark.

[Blinge]

PSO2 is a massive time suck, and I was glad there was a hurdle to connect when I left Japan. I admit it, I have an addictive personality and can't say no to much of anything.

This is why I don't touch MMORPGs =[

I'd love to, hell I even played runescape ages 14-16 (dun tel any1 k?). But it'd probably kill me.

Not sure where PSO2 ranks against pussy and whiskey, but it's somewhere in the same ballpark.

Hahah, I'm sure the devs would love to hear that

[GaijinPunch]

Not sure where PSO2 ranks against pussy and whiskey, but it's somewhere in the same ballpark.

Hahah, I'm sure the devs would love to hear that

Pretty sure they've got it written in the manual somewhere.

[cicada88]

I really want to get into this series sometime in the next year or two. I particularly am interested to play the original with FM sound.

[goombakid]

Phantasy Star for SMS was one of my faves...still haven't finished it. May have to restart my game since the last time I touched it was right around when I was going to high school about 25 or so years ago.

The soundtrack for the Genesis Phanasty Stars were great to listen to.

I could never get into PSO, though. Not much into MMORPGs.

[Xyga]

May have to restart my game since the last time I touched it was right around when I was going to high school about 25 or so years ago.

You made me realize; isn't it amazing how long those 'button batteries' can keep a game saved ?

Both of my PS1 & PS2 carts can still record new games and I'm almost positive I have 20+ years old saves on both lol.

PS: I'm feeling old.

[GaijinPunch]

For those that are thinking about taking the plunge, play the originals. I, II, and IV are great. III isn't bad, but it doesn't feel like Phantasy Star.

In my searchings, the rarest items that are somewhat attainable are the SPEC collection of books. Here's one. I hunted high and low on YJ and actually got a nice set, including the envelopes they shipped them in. I'm selling most of my stuff, but holding on to those. The search function of gamengai is broken, but you can see links to all of them in the book section.

[goombakid]

You made me realize; isn't it amazing how long those 'button batteries' can keep a game saved ?

Both of my PS1 & PS2 carts can still record new games and I'm almost positive I have 20+ years old saves on both lol.

I haven't tried it since, so I'm not sure even if the battery is still good on it. Some of my old NES games still work great. My Pokemon Red cart still had my save.

PS: I'm feeling old.

You and me both. LOL!

[Blinge]

Saw this awesome fuckin' tune from PSIV on youtube.
Damn I love the megadrive/genesis sound chip. Although I've probably spoiled an epic boss atmosphere for myself.

big spoilers for PSII:

Spoiler

Climatrol such a labyrinth. And I bet that's nothing compared to the rest of the game!

Whoever scanned their hintbook in and put it online has left annotations like arrows on the chutes telling me whether they're up or down. My sense of shame in not navigating all the dungeons myself past an initial two attempts is rapidly fading.

So I made it to the NeiFirst battle. It was slightly spoiled for me when I look at RPGclassics character information, when choosing who to have in my party. Although having only glanced at the spoiler I thought a supremely powerful Nei herself would end up against me.



I tried to say no to the battle at first, but seeing there was no other way to proceed I let the Nei 1on1 commence. Went a few rounds until NeiFirst whipped out a sword and killed my Nei in one hit. RIP =[

The holographic flashing of Neifirst's face above her battle sprite in time with the unique battle music was really cool. That's the sci-fi shit I've been wanting to see, it gave that same old battle screen more of a cyberspace feel. For the real battle I tried to get some buffs out with Amy but she was struck down instantly, the rest of the fight went pretty bad. 2nd attempt went a lot better, got my team fully buffed and managed to wear her down.

So clone man says Nei can't be brought back because she's not human.. that didn't stop me before ¬_¬. Also lol at his 'everybody's gotta go someday' speech. He said something about burying her on a mountain overlooking Paseo or suchlike, can I do that? My whole party are clones at this point so I'm going to assume the main characters are all in fact, dead. Maybe the only true way to beat PSII is to do a perma-death run

So I've brought Kain & Shir off the bench now there's robots after me; the replacement of original enemies from the overworld is a cool touch. Especially as they give a lot of exp and aren't too brutal, so the new guys are catching up fast.

Got Shir to steal a Visiphone, and I want her to steal some Fire Rods for Amy before I switch her for Amy again..
However the steal system is be very annoying- There's only a 5% chance Shir will steal a Fire Rod, if she steals anything at all.

I've appreciated the increase in sci-fi tropes since PSI, with its caves and towers that didn't seem very futuristic. I know I know, hardware limitations.

[Xyga]

Spoiler

So clone man says Nei can't be brought back because she's not human.. that didn't stop me before ¬_¬. Also lol at his 'everybody's gotta go someday' speech. He said something about burying her on a mountain overlooking Paseo or suchlike, can I do that? My whole party are clones at this point so I'm going to assume the main characters are all in fact, dead. Maybe the only true way to beat PSII is to do a perma-death run

So I've brought Kain & Shir off the bench now there's robots after me; the replacement of original enemies from the overworld is a cool touch. Especially as they give a lot of exp and aren't too brutal, so the new guys are catching up fast.

Got Shir to steal a Visiphone, and I want her to steal some Fire Rods for Amy before I switch her for Amy again..
However the steal system is be very annoying- There's only a 5% chance Shir will steal a Fire Rod, if she steals anything at all.

Spoiler

Maybe the real reason Nei can't be cloned anymore was somehow lost in translation, that western release received a very loose translation according to hardcore fans, there's a retranslation patch somewhere...

Regarding Amy; I'm not a big fan of her, she's always too low on defense except only later in the game if you give her some of the strongest shields, and her offensive side can pretty much be covered using only support items such as the Storm Gear (her staves aren't much more powerful anyway).
One may think she's a keeper for her healing abilities, but after you get a couple of the healing support items (also later acquired) you won't see any reason to have her in your party anymore.
Kain is good against robots and a good character as a whole.
Shir's low stealing success rates are really annoying yeah, but she can steal Star Mists and Moon Dews, which you will need for the very last parts of the game. You can take time for stealing sessions later though, you're not in a hurry.

[BIL]

Saw this awesome fuckin' tune from PSIV on youtube.
Damn I love the megadrive/genesis sound chip. Although I've probably spoiled an epic boss atmosphere for myself.

Nah. Unspoilable, every rare occasion that tune is heard. Fucking killer boss BGM.

[Blinge]

Spoiler

Maybe the real reason Nei can't be cloned anymore was somehow lost in translation, that western release received a very loose translation according to hardcore fans, there's a retranslation patch somewhere...

Regarding Amy; I'm not a big fan of her, she's always too low on defense except only later in the game if you give her some of the strongest shields, and her offensive side can pretty much be covered using only support items such as the Storm Gear (her staves aren't much more powerful anyway).
One may think she's a keeper for her healing abilities, but after you get a couple of the healing support items (also later acquired) you won't see any reason to have her in your party anymore.

Spoiler

Something to do with Neifirst and Nei in fact being the same being and so one can't live without the other existing. Seems a bit supernatural rather than sci fi but whatever.

Xyga that ain't what I wanted to hear! Alright so.. I keep Amy for the time being until I get that later equipment and can trade her out for Shir? Or maybe I should rely on items more for healing instead of my 'fuck items' mentality from years of playing FF.

[Xyga]

Spoiler

Xyga that ain't what I wanted to hear! Alright so.. I keep Amy for the time being until I get that later equipment and can trade her out for Shir? Or maybe I should rely on items more for healing instead of my 'fuck items' mentality from years of playing FF.

Spoiler

Well, with all her healing abilities Amy is good for a defense and high autonomy-oriented party, but ask yourself if you want each battle to last 25% longer to win because you've got a weak fighter in your team (and if you've got two it can be 50% longer. Yes.)

Shir is another very weak fighter, her only use if for shoplifting...really.

An all-offensive party is better in PSII because you've got the visiphone to save everywhere anytime and the infinite-use gires-casting items (remember those equipment bits with attached techniques are the game-changing things! you'll definitely understand when you acquire those)
Amy can be a savior in cases of emergency though, but almost exclusively during fights against the toughest enemies and the very few bosses.

If you really want to keep her as, say, an insurance or a way not to rely too much on the visiphone and infinite-gires items, then keep her all the time, push her to higher levels and equip her with the strongest defense gear.
Later in the game when enemies get really strong with high HP, remove her weapons completely and give her two shields/emels instead, for attack you can keep a storm gear or similar in her inventory to use in battles.

Lol spoiler conversation. Maybe not be necessary as this is a PS-dedicated thread ?

[Blinge]

Thanks for the advice =]

haha yeah I get confused about forum etiquette sometimes.

edit:
Actually damn, should I take Anna instead of Amy or Shir then? I read somewhere that Hugh is useless. Surely I can just farm items with Shir when I need them rather than take her with me ever.

[Ruldra]

Saw this awesome fuckin' tune from PSIV on youtube.
Damn I love the megadrive/genesis sound chip. Although I've probably spoiled an epic boss atmosphere for myself.

My favorite PS4 track, still get shivers down my spine when I hear it. The fight that accompanies that track is one of the most memorable battles in gaming for me.

[Xyga]

I kind like the second land rover battle theme, the one you hear only on Rykros as far as I remember, but I can't find it on YT.

damn, should I take Anna instead of Amy or Shir then? I read somewhere that Hugh is useless. Surely I can just farm items with Shir when I need them rather than take her with me ever.

The obligatory characters are Rolf and Rudo, here's what I think about the other;

Shir -> only for stealing or if you want to build a strategy around her speed. Her high AGL properly boosted gives her the initiative in many situations, over other party members and even over most enemies. Which means you have the first move for using an item, casting a spell with one of the special items or whatever you want.
But as a whole if find she's wasting a party slot.

Hugh -> he's got a couple very powerful techniques that work only on bio enemies, which mean he's useful only near the end of the game. A problem I've noticed though is that he misses often...meh.

Anna -> although she can deal a lot of damage to group-enemies, she's weak against robots and single-enemies. Almost no useful techniques... I don't like her.

Amy -> as I suggested if you choose her you got to keep her with you all the time and give her the best defensive items. She's another one that becomes really useful only around the end of the game against the strongest enemies + bosses.

Kain -> a well-rounded, versatile character, good with both attack and techniques, and his stats aren't too weak as well.

My fav party would be Rolf, Rudo, Kain, Amy (giving her two shields, Snow Crown, and carrying a Storm Gear in her inventory).
But I could live without Amy and take Anna instead for a full-weapon-offensive party and assuming frequent uses of the visiphone.
Remember this is taking special support items into consideration.

Shir is clearly the oddball, if she wasn't so slow to level-up and a poorly-skilled thief, she would be interesting. But she's not.
People who have time to play until their characters reach level 40 or beyond will like her, but you definitely don't need to go that far to clear the game.

[Stevens]

I played PS to death as a child. Like many of you - made my own maps and what not.

Played PS 2 as an adult. Used the hint book. That might actually be the hardest RPG ever made without it.

Never played 3 (I know the cannon though), but 4 was amazing.

Used to love this site:

http://www.phantasy-star.net/

[GaijinPunch]

http://www.phantasy-star.net/

Indeed -- and it's been up forever. I thought I had found it before 1997, but perhaps not. This was a golden time for me... well, the 80's when the first game came out was moreso, but the 90's, some 7-10 years later when you could find someone even more fanatical than you that showcased everything they knew about some series or thing you were into. Good stuff. I tip my hat for keeping the site up for so long. The forum has long since gone down though, which I find a little sad, but at least the page is still there in all it's Internet 1.0 glory.

[Stevens]

Didn't discover it until around 2000.

I've read the timeline. If anyone is curious it is totally worth your time.

[Mischief Maker]

To be honest, playing Phantasy Star 2 with a strategy guide is missing the point entirely. The plot was good for its time, the setting unique, and a certain overrated JRPG from years later stole its biggest plot twist.

But the real hook of Phantasy Star 2 is the marriage of oldschool RPG challenge (I'm talking mapping your way through Might and Magic) with the ease of console RPG controls.

I don't think any other game ever accomplished that, especially that piss-easy anime nightmare Phantasy Star 4.