|
|
Post by psychofox on Feb 20, 2009 16:00:51 GMT
Glad you guys are enjoying it as much as me  It really is an amazing game, everytime I play it I'm amazed that it's 20 years old! |
|
|
|
Post by Stan on Feb 22, 2009 19:45:48 GMT
I'm really impressed with some of these monster animations. The sand worm things on the desert planet are particularly good. How far are you guys? I just gave the governor the cake and I'm traveling to the cave with the letter. You seem to be able to raise levels quite easily in this game and I like how when you get more characters and you fight lower-level creatures you have to face more of them most of the time, makes fighting them not totally annoying.
|
|
|
|
Post by grolt on Feb 23, 2009 7:10:49 GMT
I'm still leveling up before I start to embark on the game proper. I think I'm at 4 or 5, but once I get to 6 it's time to embark on a whole new world. I'm hoping to at least drop an hour a day on this sucker, but time's tight!
|
|
|
|
Post by Stan on Feb 24, 2009 13:51:11 GMT
I'm whooping on this game, guys. Here's a quick hint. If you're looking to raise levels and collect cash early on REAL quick, stay on the first planet. While there, and if you're at least I think level 5 for each player or so, go above Alice's city around the water. There, you can fight fishmen. Packs of four or five of these beasts will occasionally attack, and though it may be grueling at first, they give you a huge amount of experience and cash and you can readily heal in town with no fear of going back on low life because mainly sworms and scorpions attack on the way back.
|
|
|
|
Post by grolt on Feb 24, 2009 19:11:47 GMT
I'm whooping on this game, guys. Here's a quick hint. If you're looking to raise levels and collect cash early on REAL quick, stay on the first planet. While there, and if you're at least I think level 5 for each player or so, go above Alice's city around the water. There, you can fight fishmen. Packs of four or five of these beasts will occasionally attack, and though it may be grueling at first, they give you a huge amount of experience and cash and you can readily heal in town with no fear of going back on low life because mainly sworms and scorpions attack on the way back. Nice! I've come upon them before, but since I'm only one strong at this point, I obviously get owned. I'm at a level five all by my lonesome, and I have checked out a few of the other cities, but still haven't added to my party or done any real story development. Tonight I hope. It's amazing how relevant the game still feels today. The animations during the battles are surprisingly engulfing and it's funny that the mechanics of the RPG haven't really changed at all since Phantasy Star set the standard 20 years ago. How's that for a lasting legacy? |
|
|
|
Post by Stan on Feb 25, 2009 0:39:54 GMT
This game definitely set the standard. It was leagues beyond the Dragon Quest games at that time and made PC RPGs more user-friendly. There's a great interview with the woman who created it online somewhere, I think I have it linked in the character section if you click on Alice's profile.
|
|
|
|
Post by grolt on Feb 25, 2009 2:04:14 GMT
This game definitely set the standard. It was leagues beyond the Dragon Quest games at that time and made PC RPGs more user-friendly. There's a great interview with the woman who created it online somewhere, I think I have it linked in the character section if you click on Alice's profile. Alice?! You Americans always have to phonetically spell everything different! Great write up on the character, though. It was an informative read. |
|
|
|
Post by grolt on Feb 25, 2009 6:57:34 GMT
Well, I got the cat. I'm on my way to victory now! I love how each new member of the party is always shown animated behind Alis. Just another flourish that sets this game apart.
|
|
|
|
Post by Stan on Feb 25, 2009 21:18:56 GMT
Time for Odin! That first cave is pretty easy. I was ticked off, however, because the German guide book I have for the game doesn't list the treasure in it, just the location of Odin and the compass. Save up for the needle gun after you get him, useful for fishmen battles and in general.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kenneth on Feb 25, 2009 22:47:24 GMT
Man, the only RPG that managed to beat phantasy star 1 in my heart was... phantasy star II ! And I've completed something like 80 rpgs in the last decade (my first one was final fantasy 7, never played phantasy star before phantasy star online lol) As everyone said, can't believe this game is 20 years old. It's just pure awesomeness. The musics, guys, the musics ! Need to find my hint book and play it again |
|
|
|
Post by Jo Musashi on Feb 28, 2009 3:16:16 GMT
An even better place is south of the Spaceport compound; the forest around Eppi. There you'll fight Werebats that give an even better EXP/Meseta ratio, and they're easier to fight. This game is so awesome that I'm already on my second play-through of 2009! Just got the Ice Digger on Dezoris. I'm whooping on this game, guys. Here's a quick hint. If you're looking to raise levels and collect cash early on REAL quick, stay on the first planet. While there, and if you're at least I think level 5 for each player or so, go above Alice's city around the water. There, you can fight fishmen. Packs of four or five of these beasts will occasionally attack, and though it may be grueling at first, they give you a huge amount of experience and cash and you can readily heal in town with no fear of going back on low life because mainly sworms and scorpions attack on the way back. |
|
|
|
Post by Stan on Feb 28, 2009 3:57:00 GMT
Problem with the Werebats, as opposed to the Fishmen, however, is that they occasionally get powerful and do maximum damage. They can easily drop your life by 30pts at a time, even with decent armor. Bit safer in my opinion to go for the fishmen.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jo Musashi on Feb 28, 2009 4:10:40 GMT
Hmm, hadn't thought of that. Guess it depends what level you're on. I have also done my share of Fishman killing over the years...it's only the past couple years I've hunted regularly in the Eppi forest. Problem with the Werebats, as opposed to the Fishmen, however, is that they occasionally get powerful and do maximum damage. They can easily drop your life by 30pts at a time, even with decent armor. Bit safer in my opinion to go for the fishmen. |
|
|
|
Post by grolt on Feb 28, 2009 10:17:53 GMT
Made some more headway into this game tonight by getting Odin and owning a bunch of Fishmen. I fought some Werebats early on and just got annihilated, so I've not been down there since. I think now that I ponied up for some decent armor for the cat and the guy that I'd fare much better now, but until I level up a level or so, I'll stick with the Fishmen.
The game is a ton of fun, and I think they did a great job of balancing the fights to always have a bit of challenge. I like how the number of enemies per fight increases the more people you have in your party, so you can level up quicker and not just waste time fighting single creatures.
My one gripe, and it's a fairly big one, is that you can't zero in on an enemy and kill them off before taking at the next one. That's how I always roll in these games, since once you get one enemy, that's one less attack you have to take each round. The way it works now, though, is that you're always wearing each one down while alternating the focus of your attacks. So fights take way longer, have much more challenge and can occasionally be frustrating. There's nothing like getting 3 of the 4 Fishmen down to like 4 HP each only to then have your next five attacks all go for the guy who still has 38 HP left.
Still, this is a stellar (interstellar?) game and every time I play it I still marvel at how they were able to accomplish all this in 8-bit. Amazing.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jo Musashi on Feb 28, 2009 12:20:04 GMT
Made some more headway into this game tonight by getting Odin and owning a bunch of Fishmen. I fought some Werebats early on and just got annihilated, so I've not been down there since. I think now that I ponied up for some decent armor for the cat and the guy that I'd fare much better now, but until I level up a level or so, I'll stick with the Fishmen. The game is a ton of fun, and I think they did a great job of balancing the fights to always have a bit of challenge. I like how the number of enemies per fight increases the more people you have in your party, so you can level up quicker and not just waste time fighting single creatures. My one gripe, and it's a fairly big one, is that you can't zero in on an enemy and kill them off before taking at the next one. That's how I always roll in these games, since once you get one enemy, that's one less attack you have to take each round. The way it works now, though, is that you're always wearing each one down while alternating the focus of your attacks. So fights take way longer, have much more challenge and can occasionally be frustrating. There's nothing like getting 3 of the 4 Fishmen down to like 4 HP each only to then have your next five attacks all go for the guy who still has 38 HP left. Still, this is a stellar (interstellar?) game and every time I play it I still marvel at how they were able to accomplish all this in 8-bit. Amazing. This is the one flaw in an otherwise perfect game  Not sure if you have it yet, but go to Eppi and buy the Needle Gun for Odin. It'll hit every enemy every time for 5pts. There's three such guns in the game (heat {10pt damage}, then laser are next). I am currently using the Laser Gun on Dezoris and I've been fighting Mammoths regularly, sometimes in groups of five. They have 180HP each and the laser knocks 20HP off every time...helpful when 4 of them have 19HP and the last one has 171 ;D |
|
