Phantasy Star

[ninjabearhug]

So, I just don't get the fascination with this type of game. I'm really losing interest in this one now, my play sessions on it have dropped from a few hours to a few fights. I have quite a short attention span anyway, so I suppose it's done well to still be in my playlist at all. The thing that winds me up is the turn based fighting, it sucks ass big time! Having to take a hit, or even five hits, every time I enter a battle just drives me mad. I like action RPG's if I have to play them generally, that way it's down to me and my skill whether I get hit or not. Too much grinding in the beginning too, so boring.

That said, the story isn't too bad I don't suppose, the graphics are fine and it's not particulary hard either, just boring.

[Tears of Opa-Opa]

Jan 27, 2011 15:45:55 GMT brian said:

Haven't finished PSII however I'm on the final boss, but only level 31... soooo.... Rather than level up for hours on end to beat him I just had to move on PSIII.

At first I HATED it... everything about it... except the store music...
However now I'm just moving on to the second generation and have chosen Lena as my wife and now have Nial as my character, and I'm loving it. The more I played the more I began to love all the things I hated before. It's amazing.

Awesome series. Awesome.

PSIII is the one I've never actually played myself, back when it was new I watched my friends (brothers) play it. That was good enough for me at the time. I plan on playing it sometime. I played it a bit with them but I've never gone from start to finish by myself and I got to watch basically the whole game played out. It's been ages since then so I can't say I remember much about the game. I actually played IV for the first time about 2 years ago. When part IV came out I really didn't play games at all so I don't even remember anyone having it. It was all new to me when I played and it was an amazing game. I had played PSO and PSU before this so it was also interesting seeing where a few things like rappies came from.

So did you get that weird glitch in PSII? Between playing it on an emulator and Wii I just assumed it was a problem with the ROM/emulator so it was horrifying to run into it again on the Wii. Playing through this game twice without the satisfaction of finishing it is just wrong.

Jan 27, 2011 16:54:18 GMT ninjabearhug said:

So, I just don't get the fascination with this type of game. I'm really losing interest in this one now, my play sessions on it have dropped from a few hours to a few fights. I have quite a short attention span anyway, so I suppose it's done well to still be in my playlist at all. The thing that winds me up is the turn based fighting, it sucks ass big time! Having to take a hit, or even five hits, every time I enter a battle just drives me mad. I like action RPG's if I have to play them generally, that way it's down to me and my skill whether I get hit or not. Too much grinding in the beginning too, so boring.

That said, the story isn't too bad I don't suppose, the graphics are fine and it's not particulary hard either, just boring.

I can see your points. I guess I think of it a bit different because it's a good memory of a game I played as a kid. If I had never played it back then I'm not sure how much I could get into it now. Friends have suggested other old games like this to me and I just can't get into them.
Level 30 is max in part 1 so you should just finish it up and call it a day. I can also see not wanting any outside help from a guide but this is just one of those games that without knowing what to do next really has to add to the boredom level. Besides the hidden doors taking awhile to figure out I can at least see getting through part 1 without a guide but with PSII, I can think of one specific part that could drive someone mad trying to figure out. I'm sure some could do it but on a whole I'm guessing most people would give up on it at that point.

[Tears of Opa-Opa]

Here's some videos of the glitch in PSII. I didn't remember this glitch from the original cart but my friend told me it was a well known glitch.

Bug in the system Ps2


Solution to the bug in the system Ps2




In case the videos disappear here is the soultion.

You actually don't need the Visiphone to resolve the glitch. So long as you can save your file. You can toss a Ryuker to teleport back to town, save there, end and restart and that will work too. You just need to get the system to reload the game-- it happens on the Genesis too occasionally, interestingly enough, it's not an emulation glitch, but a bug in the original code, though it does seem to be more common in emulated versions.

So you basically need the Visiphone or Ryuker to get back to town, save, reload.

[grolt]

Jan 27, 2011 16:54:18 GMT ninjabearhug said:

So, I just don't get the fascination with this type of game. I'm really losing interest in this one now, my play sessions on it have dropped from a few hours to a few fights. I have quite a short attention span anyway, so I suppose it's done well to still be in my playlist at all. The thing that winds me up is the turn based fighting, it sucks ass big time! Having to take a hit, or even five hits, every time I enter a battle just drives me mad. I like action RPG's if I have to play them generally, that way it's down to me and my skill whether I get hit or not. Too much grinding in the beginning too, so boring.

That said, the story isn't too bad I don't suppose, the graphics are fine and it's not particulary hard either, just boring.

It's definitely a game from a different era of game design, where video games were an "investment" and gameplay was so hart, obtuse and quirky so as to make sure you got your money's worth (and in Phantasy Star's case, that was a lot of cash!). These days, as we're all adults with little time to burn, these kind of grinding or maze mechanics certainly seem archaic or punishing. As a kid (though I never played this particular game then), it was something challenging to explore. I braved this a few years ago with a guide and quite enjoyed it. It can be completed without a guide, sure, but I wasn't about to spend an extra 10 hours just to prove that I can eventually make my way through a maze. I'm not a mouse!

What I still take from it today, though, are the great graphics, the advanced 8-bit story, the sci-fi setting, the stellar music, 3D dungeons and the attention to detail. I like how the background for each battle would change depending on where you are in the map. In the second game, you just always go to a generic grid...very lame by comparison. In many ways, PS was ahead of its time, even compared to the sequels in its own series!

I find the game does reward you, too, for all the meandering exploring and stuff you have to do. One of my favorite 8-bit moments is when there's this shop keeper guy who needs to give you a key item at the end of a maze. You find him in a corner, and he gives you the item and then says something to the tune of "I haven't had a customer in ages. Who the hell puts a store here?" There's that, and that woman (or is it a robot, can't remember) that references Sega games in one of the cities. Cute easter eggs for dedicated Sega fans, something you didn't see much back then and see even less of today.

Again, tough, if you understand the game from the climate in which it was made, it's still a pretty remarkable experience. If you don't have the time or patience, though, it definitely is a, well...grind.

[zavias]

Feb 23, 2011 19:51:23 GMT grolt said:

Jan 27, 2011 16:54:18 GMT ninjabearhug said:

So, I just don't get the fascination with this type of game. I'm really losing interest in this one now, my play sessions on it have dropped from a few hours to a few fights. I have quite a short attention span anyway, so I suppose it's done well to still be in my playlist at all. The thing that winds me up is the turn based fighting, it sucks ass big time! Having to take a hit, or even five hits, every time I enter a battle just drives me mad. I like action RPG's if I have to play them generally, that way it's down to me and my skill whether I get hit or not. Too much grinding in the beginning too, so boring.

That said, the story isn't too bad I don't suppose, the graphics are fine and it's not particulary hard either, just boring.

It's definitely a game from a different era of game design, where video games were an "investment" and gameplay was so hart, obtuse and quirky so as to make sure you got your money's worth (and in Phantasy Star's case, that was a lot of cash!). These days, as we're all adults with little time to burn, these kind of grinding or maze mechanics certainly seem archaic or punishing. As a kid (though I never played this particular game then), it was something challenging to explore. I braved this a few years ago with a guide and quite enjoyed it. It can be completed without a guide, sure, but I wasn't about to spend an extra 10 hours just to prove that I can eventually make my way through a maze. I'm not a mouse!

What I still take from it today, though, are the great graphics, the advanced 8-bit story, the sci-fi setting, the stellar music, 3D dungeons and the attention to detail. I like how the background for each battle would change depending on where you are in the map. In the second game, you just always go to a generic grid...very lame by comparison. In many ways, PS was ahead of its time, even compared to the sequels in its own series!

I find the game does reward you, too, for all the meandering exploring and stuff you have to do. One of my favorite 8-bit moments is when there's this shop keeper guy who needs to give you a key item at the end of a maze. You find him in a corner, and he gives you the item and then says something to the tune of "I haven't had a customer in ages. Who the hell puts a store here?" There's that, and that woman (or is it a robot, can't remember) that references Sega games in one of the cities. Cute easter eggs for dedicated Sega fans, something you didn't see much back then and see even less of today.

Again, tough, if you understand the game from the climate in which it was made, it's still a pretty remarkable experience. If you don't have the time or patience, though, it definitely is a, well...grind.

Well said. I agree with you on everything you said. My favorite part is the zombie's whose bottom jaws drop to the ground when they attack you. I used to think it was great when I was a kid for some reason. lol

[chuckltd]

If I remember right, PS was $75 usd back then. I loved the first one, third and fourth games, but hated the second one.

[Tears of Opa-Opa]

Yeah, it was $70+ same with part 2. Very expensive back then.


Sega has announced Phantasy Star Online 2 for 2011.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWiOBcrLwN0&feature=related

There's also a Racaseal Elenor figure being made for the 10th anniversary of PSO. Sounds like it comes out in June but you can pre-order it now.
www.gundammodelkits.com/phantasy-star-online-racaseal-elenor-ver-apsy-model-kit.html




Last but not least.. Opa-Opa made an appearance in PSU. There was a SUV weapon that had 5 random blasts and Opa-Opa was 2 of the 5 blasts.
This video shows both of his blasts. You can see the other 3 in the 2nd part of that video. It was a novelty and random so you never knew which blast was coming, a few were weak while the others were strong.



PSU also had room decorations that included a few Sega systems. They were just something to look at, they didn't really do anything. Here's the SMS

[Tears of Opa-Opa]

This is cool, it's a room decoration of Myau from Phantasy Star Portable 2.

[Stan]

Okay, so I'm almost done with this game after procrastinating about it. Question, how in the hell can you make it through the stupid sky castle with any semblance of life left for the last boss? What was your level at that point (each character)? Anything I'm missing. I've liked most of the game the whole way through but this level crushing at the end is frikken annoying.

[zavias]

I always have to grind a few levels when I'm trying to complete the game at the end. After the sky castle, when you go back down to fight the final boss in the governer's house, you'll can grind for some levels in there pretty easily. Just don't save down there, because you cannot make it out without warping. I made that mistake once and ruined my game because I ran out of magic and couldn't heal or warp out of there.

As for getting through the sky castle with full life, just do the save, run from battle, reset if unsuccessful trick. You can make it through every area like this because you can save anywhere. I can check my cart tonight and tell you what level I was at when completing the game a few weeks ago.

[Stan]

Yeah, let me know. I've found that level crushing in there is pointless because you fight too many upper level enemies that give you scant EXP per enemy and you end up using a ton of magic. Best place I've found in the whole game is right near the starting city, near the coast. Move back and forth there and you'll fight tons of fishmen, who give you a decent amount of EXP each, as much total as one of the harder enemies, but with the benefit that they barely do you any damage and you can heal up right in town.

[Deleted]

I finished the game today. It´s an amazing game.
I don´t want to repeat the things which were mentioned in this thread a few years ago, but I agree with the most comments between page 1 to 5 (didn´t read the other pages).
It´s not manageable without an hint book with maps, and the german translation I have in my copy here was a big help too. Amazing graphics, especially the opponents look brilliant. The story is also nice.

I have a question to the hardcore Phantasy Star fans: After visiting the Governor for the first time, you fall into asleep and have a fight against one strong monster. I lost at that point, because I started to level up after that and not before that. Is it important for the ending to beat that monster in your dream? The reaction of the Governor was interesting, so I guess it´s a bit important.

[fj]

I read somewhere before it didn't matter whether you win or lose except for the small amount of exp points you get from defeating him. I defeated him and got the same ending listed most places so it most likely doesn't matter overall.

[Deleted]

Oh, okay. Thanks fj

[edwithmj]

I completed this for the first time a month ago or so. A brilliant RPG but I've never been a fan of turn based RPGs with experience points and the like.