Zeon wins. He burns Lemon alive, then knocks out everyone, including you, the supposed hero of the story.
Only for god himself to intervene, revive lemon, and have him take out Zeon by himself. It was badass watching Zeon repeatedly burn Lemon, only to have Lemon get back up and advance towards Zeon slowly
Thanks to this thread I've booted up the ol' cart once more and it's refreshing to see how PSIV still holds up as a fun little game.
I think what's best about the actual playing of the game is that status effects and instant-kill moves actually work on the enemies reliably. That little touch alone means that combat goes quickly and relatively grind-free if you play smart by debuffing and disabling half the enemies while targeting the rest.
"Fuck you, Giant Death Frog #20. <instant kill>"
It sure beats getting raped by using the time-honored Square-Enix "ATTACK ATTACK" method and being smited since you're not several levels grinded ahead.
That, and PSIV actually gives enough MP for everybody to be able to freely use magic and skills at a good pace.
Combination skills, too - awesomesauce that leads to different party dynamics so everybody can cast or attack in different ways. Even just the simple casting of "Foi + Wat + Tsu" (equivalent of "Fire," "Ice," "Lightning") at the same time leads to a massive tri-elemental attack-all death beam good for a massive chunk of the game.
Just lots of little touches ahead of its time that hold up well today. It's a shame in newer games that there's not a button that lets you talk to your party and ask, "Hey, what the hell are we supposed to be doing now?" after coming back to the game a month later.
It's a massive, massive upgrade to the UI and play over the rest of the series, and over many other RPGs too.
That glitch has not been fixed. I think it's funny though, if you go over level 99 your character becomes considerably weaker. Characters begin to lose their best spells, you wear your shoes on your hands, and hamburgers eat people. Supposedly, SEGA forgot to provide a level cap, so while you could move characters past level 99, the game had no idea what to do when this happened.
The level 99 glitch was finally fixed in the (Japan only) PS2 Phantasy Star Complete Collection, as well as another glitch that was present only in PSIV's original Japanese release. Said collection also includes the English versions of the games, so if you have the means to play JPS2 games it's worth checking out.
I had planned on making an appreciation thread of sorts for PSIV when its VC release was confirmed, but seeing as how this thread is already here, I'll just cut and paste my OP here. Below is a wall of text I've been writing on and off since PSII was released on the VC, which should inform you as to why you should give a damn about PSIV and even go the extra mile to provide some spoiler-free tips for those new to the game.
As you may have already known, the Mega Drive struggled to compete in Japan. While it was extremely successful in the West, Sega was unable to garner much key support from big Japanese publishers, and in no genre was this more obvious than the RPG. With hardly any backing from Japanese 3rd parties (barring some notable support on the Sega CD), Sega would have to rely on in-house development for action RPGs (Landstalker), strategy RPGs (Shining Force), and traditional turn-based JRPGs (Phantasy Star).
Phantasy Star I on the Master System was very technically impressive for 8-bit hardware, featuring animated enemies and some spiffy-looking 3D dungeons. Phantasy Star II's plot had some rather interesting and shocking twists and turns. Phantasy Star III, while only tangentially connected to the other games in the series, is notable for its story that spans multiple generations, the last of which changes entirely depending on the decisions you make throughout the game.
And while the previous three games in the series have their fans, I have to admit that I was never really able to get into any of them. I didn't look into the series at all until Phantasy Star Online was beginning to generate a lot of buzz. Being a latecomer to the series, I found the first three games difficult to approach without the nostalgia factor for various reasons, be it clunky user interfaces, gargantuan sprawling dungeons, grind-or-die difficulty, or sub-par scripts/localizations. I find 8-bit RPGs difficult to enjoy, period, so PSI's technical advantages over its peers of the day mean nothing to me. PSII is a first-generation Genesis game, preceeding the likes of the original Sonic the Hedgehog by about two and a half years, and it shows. PSIII is regarded by most to be the weakest link in the series for a variety of reasons.
I'm of the opinion that it took Sega precisely four tries to get it right. But oh man, when they did...
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium landed in Japan on December 17, 1993 and in the States in February of 1995. It represents to me, perhaps moreso than any other game, the golden age of JRPGs, the point where the capabilities of gaming consoles and the programmers and designers who utilized them had advanced far enough to convey sufficiently epic adventures, varied gameplay, and user-friendly interfaces without the shitload of FMV, obscenely-long and time-consuming summons, and long-entrenched cliches that have been dragging the genre down ever since then. Most of the little (but important) things in PSIV are done oh so right. Your default walking speed isn't painfully slow. The combat system places a lot of (not-so-obvious) tools at your disposal, making it almost completely unnecessary to grind provided that you take the time to learn how to work it. The battles themselves move at a brisk pace while being sufficiently animated. Instant death spells WORK! With high success rates, even!
I could go on, but just let me say that if you play one traditional turn-based RPG on the Sega Genesis, make it Phantasy Star IV.
The Story
The universe of Phantasy Star is unique among its contemporaries in that it blends traditional fantasy staples of wizards and magic with futuristic sci-fi worlds populated with androids and high-tech weaponry. Strangely enough, I think the combination works out just fine, at least in this installment.
As the events of Phantasy Star IV follow directly after those of Phantasy Star I and II, it doesn't hurt to provide a very brief summary of the major events of those games. Though it's not required to enjoy PSIV, some important previous events are referenced in this game and it doesn't hurt to familiarize yourself with them. I'll put these behind spoiler tags just in case some people would prefer to play through the first two games and unfold all of the story for themselves, but all of these events will be "spoiled" during PSIV anyway (and several of them in the game intro, for that matter).
Phantasy Star I:
Heroine Alisa Landale, along with Myau the Musk Cat, Lutz the Esper (aka "Noah"), and Odin the Hunter(?) end the reign of the tyranical King Lashiec and dispose of the mysterious personification of evil itself, "Dark Force," that had been controlling him.
Phantasy Star II:
One thousand years after the events of Phantasy Star, government agent Rolf Landale (along with Nei the "Numan," a unique genetic construct mostly human in appearance with some Musk Cat-like traits) is ordered to investigate the cause of weird climate abberations and biomonster sightings on planet Motavia. Ultimately, he defeats the resurrected Dark Force, but the aftermath of the final battle results in a disaster that more or less knocks the entire Algo solar system back into the dark ages.
(Phantasy Star III, as said previously, is only tangentially-related to this game, and the events of PSIII and PSIV partly overlap in the time-frame but take place in entirely different locations. Some events of PSIII are mentioned in an early optional sidequest of this game, however.)
The story of Phantasy Star IV, as copied from the in-game intro:
The long, long struggle of ancient times finally ended...
The victor sacrificed the vanquished to the heavens.
Four bells tolled. Four torches were lit.
And the world continued for thousands of years...
The Algo solar system, somewhere in space...
Once a brilliant civilization flourished here. The citizens devoted themselves to the art and the sciences, and life was prosperous and good.
Then a series of disasters struck. The system-wide management system, 'Mother Brain,' was destroyed. So was the first planet, Parma. Over 90% of the system's population died, and the advanced technological culture was lost. Society declined, spiralling downward until at last only a few scattered groups even remembered there were once better times.
A thousand years passed.
At last, civilization is once more on the rise across the Algo system. People are once again turning to the thought of an easier life. Old knowledge is being rediscovered. But just as things look brighter, beyond a threshold long thought closed, a dark and very ancient evil stirs...
Phantasy Star IV begins as hunter Alys Brangwin is summoned to investigate some mysterious finds in the basement of Piata Academy. As with the heroes of the previous games, she and her companions have no idea just what they are getting themselves into.
(Partial) Cast of Playable Characters
Alys Brangwin
An extremely talented mercenary employed by the Aiedo Hunters Guild. Adored by many and feared by others, she's the one in command. She calls all the shots. Alys' primary weapons, Boomerangs and Slashers, hit all enemies at once. Make sure to keep two of the strongest types of available Slashers equipped to her whenever possible.
Chaz Ashley
A hunter-in-training and apprentice of Alys. Somewhat naive and prone to acting on impulse, Chaz starts out as a bit of a weakling but soon earns his place among the party as its most-skilled sword-wielder. Chaz will be the primary damage dealer for single enemies throughout the course of the game, and he can also heal single allies should you need him to (though not as well as some of the other characters). Make sure he has a sword in his hands whenever possible.
Hahn Malay
A gifted scholar of Piata Academy, disowned by his father for abandoning the family business in favor of his studies. Engaged to a school teacher from Krup. Also rather naive, trusting, and prone to panicking, traits Alys uses to manipulate and string Hahn along quite frequently. While Hahn may initially seem to be a useless character, physically weaker than Alys and Chaz and lacking in offensive spell-casting compared to Rune, he will eventually become one of the most versatile party members in the game. He learns a wider variety of techs and skills than any other character, which makes several more team attacks possible (see the section below). It's up to you as to whether he should carry two knives/daggers for an extra physical attack boost or two shields for defense while he casts magic instead.
Rune Walsh
A mysterious young wizard adept in several disciplines of supposedly-forgotten magic. Also a bit cocky and forever on Chaz's bad side. Seems to have a previous history of some sort with Alys. Rune joins your party briefly near the beginning of the game, then leaves for a little while, then returns. Feel free to experiment with his destructive magic as much as you want at the beginning of the game, and toss out his canes for a pair of Silver Shields when they become available, as the defense boost is much more useful for him than a physical weapon.
Gryz
A Motavian whose village was burnt to the ground by the dark magician Zio. He seeks nothing more than revenge on the main who killed his family and friends. Gryz is fairly straightforward, battle-wise. An axe-wielder who learns few techs/skills, he'll be your most potent physical attacker while he's in the party.
Demi
The control android responsible for overseeing the operation of all of Motavia's environmental systems. Very enthusiastic and child-like, especially when working with various types of machinery. Also very bashful when installing internal weapon units. Has to walk rather fast to keep up with the taller characters. (Her walking sprite is lol.) Androids are unique in that they heal themselves by 1 HP with every step they take, and they also automatically recover from 0 HP at the end of a battle should they happen to be wiped out during the fight. Otherwise, with some rare exceptions, the only skill that can heal them is RECOVER, and the only item that can do so is REPAIR-KIT. Since enemies are more prone to attacking the first person in your party, place Demi at the front when she joins, as her auto-regeneration attributes allow her to absorb a lot of the damage dealt to your party.
Presentation
While Phantasy Star IV was developed in 1993, it didn't see a release in the States until 1995. This makes it look and sound a bit dated in comparison to other later-generation AAA games on the Sega Genesis, to say nothing of those on the SNES. It is a big improvement over its predecessors in this regard, however, and any technical deficiencies in the presentation are offset with one cool feature: the cutscenes.
Almost all of the major events in PSIV are accompanied with illustrations that play out like comic book sequences. Along with the at-least-decent localization for its day, I feel this does a lot to flesh-out the characters and universe of PSIV. You could make a good argument that the major plot points and twists of PSII actually make it superior to PSIV story-wise, but PSIV's presentation makes it seem so much more full of life. My only complaint is that there aren't enough of these cutscenes in the later parts of the game.
The music isn't universally great, but there are plenty of standout tracks. Two of my favorites:
The one aspect of Phantasy Star IV's gameplay system that is the least user-friendly is the combat system. The vast majority of techniques have strange names with no in-game descriptions, forcing the user to experiment with all of them to determine exactly what it is that they do.
Special moves in PSIV are divided into two camps: techniques and skills. Techniques all cost a specific amount of TP but can be used as long as you have enough TP to perform them. Skills have their own stock that depletes by 1 each time they are used. Both TP and individual skill stock increase as the characters level up. Several of the healing techniques can be used both inside and out of battles.
First, some basics about the naming conventions. If a tech starts with RE, then it's a healing or restoration skill of some sort (RES, REVER, REGEN). If it starts with GI or NA, then it's a stronger version of a previous tech (RES, GIRES, NARES). If it starts with SA, then that means it affects either all enemies or all allies (SAR, SANER, SAVOL, etc). Try to memorize at least this much.
A complete list of techniques (and items that perform similar, but not always identical, functions in parenthesis) is below. Regarding status-changing techniques, you should generally stick to techs that increase your own party's power rather than those that decrease those of the enemy party unless otherwise noted. Those that affect your own party have 100% success rates.
Once you learn techniques that perform the same functions as simple, inexpensive items (such as HINAS/RYUKA/ANTI/RIMPA), it's usually best to sell all of your remaining stock of those items in order to free up inventory space (40 items max), save for perhaps one ESCAPIPE for absolute emergencies.
HINAS - Escape from the current dungeon. (ESCAPIPE)
RYUKA - Transports the party to any previously-visited town. (TELEPIPE)
RES/GIRES/NARES - Restores HP of one (organic) ally. (MONOMATE/DIMATE/TRIMATE)
SAR/GISAR/NASAR - Restores HP of all (organic) allies. (STAR-DEW)
ANTI - Cures poison. (ANTIDOTE)
RIMPA - Cures paralysis. (CURE-PARAL)
AROWS - Cures sleep.
REVER - Revives one fallen (organic) ally and restores 25% HP. (MOON-DEW)
REGEN - Revives one fallen (organic) ally and restores ALL HP (SOL-DEW)
DEBAN - Increases physical defense of all allies.
SHIFT - Increases physical attack power of one ally.
SANER - Increases agility of all allies.
GELUN - Lowers physical attack power of all enemies.
DORAN - Lowers agility of all enemies.
SEALS - Prohibits all enemies from using techniques. Useful against enemies with healing techniques or instant death spells.
RIMIT - Inflicts paralysis on all enemies.
FOI/GIFOI/NAFOI - Fire attack. Effective in cold environments.
WAT/GIWAT/NAWAT - Water attack. Effective in desert environments.
TSU/GITHU/NATHU/MEGID - Energy attack. Effective against darkspawn enemies.
ZAN/GIZAN/NAZAN - Wind attack. Hits all enemies.
GRA/GIGRA/NAGRA - Gravity(?) attack. Hits all enemies.
BROSE/VOL/SAVOL - Instant death attack. BROSE has a low success rate. SAVOL hits all enemies. All 3 are ineffective against bosses and inorganic foes.
And now, a complete list of skills, divided into subcategories. Whereas many techs are shared between multiple characters, several skills are character-specific.
MEDICE - Similar to NARES tech but also works on androids. (TRIMATE)
MIRACLE - Similar to NASAR tech but also works on androids. (STAR-DEW)
RECOVER - Restores all HP of the user. Only learned by androids. (REPAIR-KIT)
ATARAXIA - Restores some TP for all organic allies.
MEDIC PW - Revives all fallen organic allies and restores 25% HP.
BLESSING/WARLA - Similar to DEBAN tech. Increases physical defense of all allies.
BARRIER - Increases magic defense of all allies.
WAR CRY - Increases the user's physical attack power.
VISION - Increases the party's dexterity (critical hit and evasion stats).
TELELE - Lowers physical attack power of all enemies.
ILLUSION/SHADOW - Lowers agility of all enemies.
EARTH/MOONSHAD/BINDWA/MINDBLST - Inflicts sleep on all organic enemies.
HIJAMMER - Inflicts sleep on all mechanical enemies.
STASISBM - Inflicts paralysis on one organic enemy.
VORTEX/CROSSCUT/DBLSLASH - Inflicts a high amount of damage on a single enemy.
AIRSLASH/DISRUPT/SWEEPING - Inflicts normal attack damage on all enemies.
BURSTROC/PHONON/POSIBOLT - Hit-all skills of increasing strength, acquired by androids.
FLAELI - Fire attack. (Stronger than FOI but weaker than GIFOI.)
HEWN - Wind attack, hits all enemies. (Equal in strength to GIZAN.)
RAYBLADE - Energy attack. (Slightly stronger than NATHU.)
TANDLE - Electric attack, hits all enemies.
ST. FIRE/EFESS - Holy light attacks, hit all enemies.
FLARE/ASTRAL/LEGEON - Radiation attacks. LEGEON hits all enemies.
CORRSION - Physical force attack that hits all enemies.
BROSE - Instant death, generally ineffective.
SPARK - Instant death, works on machines.
DEATH/ELIMINAT/DIEM/DTHSPELL - Instant death, generally effective.
HOLYWORD - Instant death, very effective against dark enemies.
CRASH/EXPLODE/NEGATIS - Instant death, generally very effective. NEGATIS hits all enemies.
Team Attacks and Macros
One of the key elements of combat in Phantasy Star IV (and my favorite aspect of the gameplay) is the use of combination attacks between two or more characters. If you tell two characters use CROSSCUT and EFESS one after another, for example, they will instead combine the effects of these skills to create the particularly devastating GRANDCROSS team attack. Team attacks are usually much more damaging than the sum of the component attacks used to create them, and ALL of them will hit every enemy (provided that the enemy is not immune to that particular type of move). Knowing how and when to perform these attacks isn't necessary to beat the game, but it goes a long way in carrying your party through situations in which they would otherwise be under-leveled.
Here is a complete list, roughly arranged in the order that you'll be able to use them. (If a > is used instead of a +, that means that you have to perform the moves on the left side of the > before performing the others.)
TRIBLASTER (FOI + WAT + TSU) - Radiation attack. Useful early in the game.
FIRESTORM (FOI/GIFOI/NAFOI/FLAELI + ZAN/GIZAN/NAZAN/HEWN) - Fire attack. Useful early in the game.
BLIZZARD (WAT/GIWAT/NAWAT + ZAN/GIZAN/NAZAN/HEWN) - Water attack. Useful early in the game.
LETHAL IMG (ILLUSION + DEATH) - Extremely high chance of instantly killing all enemies.
SILENTWAVE (AIRSLASH + PHONON) - Strong physical attack, hits all enemies.
CIRCUITBRK (HIJAMMER + TANDLE) - Instant death to all machines.
SHOOTINSTR (BURSTROC > FOI/GIFOI/NAFOI/FLAELI) - Fire attack, hits all enemies. Useful in cold environments.
GRANDCROSS (CROSSCUT + EFESS) - Strong light attack. Useful against dark enemies. EXTREMELY useful against certain bosses.
BLACK HOLE (GRA/GIGRA/NAGRA + NEGATIS) - Extremely high chance of instantly killing all enemies.
CONDUCTTHND (WAT/GIWAT/NAWAT > TANDLE) - Electricity attack. Useful against machines.
HOLOCAUST (SAVOL + DIEM) - Extremely high chance of instantly killing all organic enemies.
PARADINBLW (RAYBLADE + ASTRAL) - Very strong energy attack. Only hits a single enemy. Useful against dark enemies.
PURFYLIGHT (HOLYWORD + EFESS) - Instantly kills all enemies weak against light magic.
DESTRUCT (DEBAN > MEGID + LEGEON + POSIBOLT) - Strongest energy attack. Inflicts up to 999 damage to all enemies. Generally not that useful against bosses for its cost.
There is one particular risk when attempting team attacks, however: If either an enemy or an ally attacks in the timeframe between two characters who are using a team attack, it won't work and the two characters will instead perform their individual attacks. Therefore, you have to ensure that your characters always attack in the proper order and are not interrupted by the enemies. You can do this via the MACRO option.
When not in a battle, go to the MACRO option in the main menu. From here, you can specify up to 8 different arrangements of attacks that the entire party can use in a single turn, including who does what and in what order. Make the character with the lowest agility attack first. Since everyone who will follow that character has higher agility, they should all follow immediately without any enemies interrupting. If you want to be doubly sure that your team attack is successful, arrange the entire party from slowest to fastest, with the characters performing the team attack always going dead last. This, of course, runs the risk of enemies getting to attack before anyone in your party moves, so you'll have to weigh the pros and cons depending on the situation or perhaps use SANER to increase your party's agility. To use a macro, select the MACR option during battle.
The three component techs of this particular team attack are associated with different elements and only hit one enemy at a time. Their combination not only hits all enemies but is tremendously more powerful than any of the three techs individually.
Supplemental Weapon Effects
Some weapons have a small chance of inducing a status effect or instant death on an enemy when used in normal attacks:
STUN-SHOT - induce sleep
DREAM-ROD - induce sleep
DEFEAT-AXE - induce sleep
SHADWBLADE - DIEM-like instant death
GENOCYCLAW - DIEM-like instant death
ELSYDEON - HOLYWORD-like instant death
If you use one of the following weapons as an item in battle (select them through the item menu, not the attack/tech/skill options), they will have the following effects. Sometimes it's useful to continue carrying these weapons around even when they're not equipped to anybody.
Equipping the following shields alongside a dagger, claw, or slasher has the following effects:
CRMCSHIELD - accompanying weapon acts like a fire-based weapon
PSY-SHIELD - accompanying weapon may inflict sleep
PLSM-FIELD - accompanying weapon acts like a radiation-based weapon
Abridged Walkthrough
A brief but complete and mostly spoiler-free walkthrough for PSIV can be found here should you desire to use one. It provides a list of all the treasure in each dungeon (in the order that you should find it so that it's easy to know when you missed something), strategies for each boss, recommendations for what equipment/weapons to buy in each town, and information for every sidequest. Though no plot details are provided, sometimes the given strategies and instructions give away major upcoming events in the story, and you generally shouldn't read ahead too much if you don't want to spoil yourself. There is also no word-wrap, so save the file to your computer and open it from there if you wish to use it.
If you would prefer not to use a guide and experience the entire story completely unspoiled, allow me to at least direct you to a few key sidequests you absolutely should not miss. I'll put these behind spoiler tags just in case, but really, you should probably just read them anyway.
The Mysterious Valley:
This cave can be found once you have the Ice Digger in your possession. You obtain the best claw weapon from this dungeon. Its stats are actually lower than some of the other claws, but it is extra effective against dark enemies, which includes all of the major enemies and bosses towards the end of the game.
The Climate Center:
This dungeon can also be found once you have the Ice Digger. The important thing to obtain here is the PULSEVULCN from a treasure chest, which is the strongest android weapon capable of hitting all enemies at once.
Silver Soldier:
This is the final Hunters Guild mission, and you can apply for it once you have the Hydro Foil in your possession. (You also MUST complete it before initiating the end-game, as you won't be able to apply for it once you've passed a certain point in the story, so you'd best take care of it once it's available.) The important thing to obtain from this sidequest is the PHOTNERASR from a treasure chest, which is the strongest android weapon that targets a single enemy. (You can also find the POSIBOLT skill upgrade in the same dungeon.)
The Anger Tower:
This dungeon can be accessed after obtaining ELSYDEON. Even though there seems to be more-pressing things to take care of at this point in the story, you had best head back to the place you had recently come from (same location as the towers of strength and courage). Search the map for a third tower, and enter it. The important things to obtain here are the final GUARD-MAIL from a treasure chest and a special reward from the tower's guardian.
There are several more sidequests in the game, and you should generally take the time to complete them, as most of them provide either a substantial EXP/MST boost or yield important weapon and skill upgrades. Make sure to obtain all the treasure from normal dungeons as well. Taking the time to find all of the important equipment upgrades will keep you from wasting much more time grinding levels to compensate for inadequate equipment.
Posting as an update: In my virginal state, I've put about maybe 6-8 hours into PS4 and it's been very good so far (I just did the part with Nurvus). Everything said about the game being very fast-paced is spot on—battles have been quick and I haven't had to do any grinding (as in running-around-in-circles-solely-to-gain-experience grinding) yet. The whole system of organics and androids is really novel, where all of the healing and revival spells only work on humans and such, but androids automatically regenerate HP while walking around in the overworld and have their own healing skills and repair items. Dungeons are moderately challenging but they're always fairly short, and you find a good deal of loot so I'm always upgrading and selling off gear.
The only real complaint I have is what Sixfortyfive alluded to: The skill names are way too opaque, and I find myself referring back to FAQs and this thread just to remind myself of what the skills and spells all actually do, since they don't tell you at all in-game.
Still, very excellent and it holds up supremely well. I took a quick peek at PS2 and I don't know if it's just the Genesis Collection emulation or what but the battle sound effects were pretty heinous. :x
Posting as an update: In my virginal state, I've put about maybe 6-8 hours into PS4 and it's been very good so far (I just did the part with Nurvus). Everything said about the game being very fast-paced is spot on—battles have been quick and I haven't had to do any grinding (as in running-around-in-circles-solely-to-gain-experience grinding) yet. The whole system of organics and androids is really novel, where all of the healing and revival spells only work on humans and such, but androids automatically regenerate HP while walking around in the overworld and have their own healing skills and repair items. Dungeons are moderately challenging but they're always fairly short, and you find a good deal of loot so I'm always upgrading and selling off gear.
The only real complaint I have is what Sixfortyfive alluded to: The skill names are way too opaque, and I find myself referring back to FAQs and this thread just to remind myself of what the skills and spells all actually do, since they don't tell you at all in-game.
Still, very excellent and it holds up supremely well. I took a quick peek at PS2 and I don't know if it's just the Genesis Collection emulation or what but the battle sound effects were pretty heinous. :x
No, the Genesis Collection is a perfect port; the battle sounds really do sound like that. It's still a great game though.
Also, the LP is still in effect; it is still going to happen. I just need to finish up some other stuff before I start on it.
Posting as an update: In my virginal state, I've put about maybe 6-8 hours into PS4 and it's been very good so far (I just did the part with Nurvus). Everything said about the game being very fast-paced is spot on—battles have been quick and I haven't had to do any grinding (as in running-around-in-circles-solely-to-gain-experience grinding) yet. The whole system of organics and androids is really novel, where all of the healing and revival spells only work on humans and such, but androids automatically regenerate HP while walking around in the overworld and have their own healing skills and repair items. Dungeons are moderately challenging but they're always fairly short, and you find a good deal of loot so I'm always upgrading and selling off gear.
The only real complaint I have is what Sixfortyfive alluded to: The skill names are way too opaque, and I find myself referring back to FAQs and this thread just to remind myself of what the skills and spells all actually do, since they don't tell you at all in-game.
Still, very excellent and it holds up supremely well. I took a quick peek at PS2 and I don't know if it's just the Genesis Collection emulation or what but the battle sound effects were pretty heinous. :x
No, the Genesis Collection is a perfect port; the battle sounds really do sound like that. It's still a great game though.
Also, the LP is still in effect; it is still going to happen. I just need to finish up some other stuff before I start on it.
Maybe it's just nostalgia but I love the music and sound effects in this game. Of course, I'm also a huge fan of chiptunes so that could also be why.
Just realized I left 3 weapons out of the supplemental effect section of my previous post (Swift Helmet, Power Shield, Mahlay Shield), so I went ahead and fixed that. Not many of the weapons in that list are particularly useful as items unless you're attempting a low-level run, though.
Posting as an update: In my virginal state, I've put about maybe 6-8 hours into PS4 and it's been very good so far (I just did the part with Nurvus). Everything said about the game being very fast-paced is spot on—battles have been quick and I haven't had to do any grinding (as in running-around-in-circles-solely-to-gain-experience grinding) yet. The whole system of organics and androids is really novel, where all of the healing and revival spells only work on humans and such, but androids automatically regenerate HP while walking around in the overworld and have their own healing skills and repair items. Dungeons are moderately challenging but they're always fairly short, and you find a good deal of loot so I'm always upgrading and selling off gear.
Most of the dungeons in PSIV are simply wars of attrition. In many cases, the random enemies are likely to wear you down more than the bosses, but you can't run away from too many random encounters lest you risk being underleveled for the next boss. The first point most players have trouble with is the Tonoe warehouse basement. The random generic enemies in there are likely to slaughter you if you don't have up-to-date equipment, but there's no boss and therefore no reason to hold back on any of your spells.
If you've made it to post-Nurvus without any grinding, you're in decent shape. The other major hurdle most players have is the stretch of the game concerning the Eclipse Torch, but that should be absolutely no problem once Rune knows Efess.
Tangentially related: A few months ago, over 1000 Sega prototypes were dumped onto the Internet. I made a thread about it here. If you're interested in seeing what PSIV's script looked like while it was a work in progress, I recommend thumbing through that thread.
I like PSIV too. Alot. It is a good game
I play it every couple of years. Every time it is still good on it own merits, never soley for nostalgia.
I would buy this game every few years for the forseeable future. Every console generation maybe? I have it on the PS2 Mega Drive Collection and am waiting to buy it again on Virtual Console
Phantasy star IV, I remember reading about it in an old issue of (I think) EGM. My parents didn't have enough money to buy me whatever games or toys I wanted, so the only time I ever got new games was on my birthday and christmas, so I thought to myself "Great, another game i'll never get to play."
Thankfully, I can now say I was wrong, thanks to the Genesis collection. I can also say that my great unattainable dream is a full-on DS remake of this game. which is unlikely to happen, as sega is currently obsessed with recreating the success of PS Online, and forgot PS as a standalone series years ago.
I remember the day when my friend first brought this game to my house, which is crazy because I must've been like 7 years old. Between this and Earthbound, they might be the reasons I started playing RPGs in the first place.
I really regret selling my copy. ):
This game used to scare the piss out of me. The music they play during that school cutscene, and going down into dark basements. And especially walking into a town where everybody is stone. It might have been my overactive child imagination, but still. This is a game just has a really good 'tone'. I don't really know how to describe it.
You've made the right decision if you're still going to make that purchase (sorry, I skipped from the OP straight to here if you've already bought it or changed your mind). I made it a priority to EBay the Genesis & Capcom Collections on the cheap about 5 months back, and there are usually 2 of them with me at all times. The Genesis Collection allows you to save anywhere in any game, which makes it ridiculously easy to play through the PS series. That, and PSIV is almost worth the price of entry at $15.
Either way, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!
After playing PSII, I kept comparing the others to PSII... and being disappointed.
PSII by itself is worth owning a Genesis for.
There is a lot of truth in this post.
I was a HUGE Phantasy Star fan when it first hit the Master System. My friends and I would cut school to go home and play it. When Phantasy Star II hit the Genesis, I was all over it despite it being a pricey game. I seem to recall it being $70, which at the time was a fuckload of money.
The non-3D dungeons took some getting used to -- I think I might still like PS1's better -- but everything else was like, wow. You mean I can choose who tags along in my party? Awesome! Putting together the pieces of the puzzle re: what happened in between gameswas excellent. And that ending. Yes!
Really fantastic stuff. I'm not sure how it holds up, as I haven't played it in several years, and even then I didn't get far into it (I have a hard time grinding levels in JRPGs these days), but my memories of this game are fond indeed.
Then I played Might & Magic on the Genesis and my love for JRPGs was ruined forevermore...
I'm playing PS IV for the first time in god knows how long.
Man does this game look terrible.
Also the localization is bad.
Still, the pacing is solid, battles are lightning fast, Macros are always welcome, and it's still better than III and II.
I probably would have preferred the game as it was originally intended with 3D dungeons ala PS1 and anime cutscenes powered by the Sega CD.
This game compares well to some of the lesser SNES efforts like Robotrek and Paladin's Quest, but considering I just came off of Chrono Trigger DS, Secret of Mana, and Paper Mario on my latest retro RPG kick it doesn't seem like anything special. Let's see if it can change my mind.
Posts
It was a BADASS ending because of
Only for god himself to intervene, revive lemon, and have him take out Zeon by himself. It was badass watching Zeon repeatedly burn Lemon, only to have Lemon get back up and advance towards Zeon slowly
Such a cool ending.
I think what's best about the actual playing of the game is that status effects and instant-kill moves actually work on the enemies reliably. That little touch alone means that combat goes quickly and relatively grind-free if you play smart by debuffing and disabling half the enemies while targeting the rest.
"Fuck you, Giant Death Frog #20. <instant kill>"
It sure beats getting raped by using the time-honored Square-Enix "ATTACK ATTACK" method and being smited since you're not several levels grinded ahead.
That, and PSIV actually gives enough MP for everybody to be able to freely use magic and skills at a good pace.
Combination skills, too - awesomesauce that leads to different party dynamics so everybody can cast or attack in different ways. Even just the simple casting of "Foi + Wat + Tsu" (equivalent of "Fire," "Ice," "Lightning") at the same time leads to a massive tri-elemental attack-all death beam good for a massive chunk of the game.
Just lots of little touches ahead of its time that hold up well today. It's a shame in newer games that there's not a button that lets you talk to your party and ask, "Hey, what the hell are we supposed to be doing now?" after coming back to the game a month later.
It's a massive, massive upgrade to the UI and play over the rest of the series, and over many other RPGs too.
I had planned on making an appreciation thread of sorts for PSIV when its VC release was confirmed, but seeing as how this thread is already here, I'll just cut and paste my OP here. Below is a wall of text I've been writing on and off since PSII was released on the VC, which should inform you as to why you should give a damn about PSIV and even go the extra mile to provide some spoiler-free tips for those new to the game.
As you may have already known, the Mega Drive struggled to compete in Japan. While it was extremely successful in the West, Sega was unable to garner much key support from big Japanese publishers, and in no genre was this more obvious than the RPG. With hardly any backing from Japanese 3rd parties (barring some notable support on the Sega CD), Sega would have to rely on in-house development for action RPGs (Landstalker), strategy RPGs (Shining Force), and traditional turn-based JRPGs (Phantasy Star).
Phantasy Star I on the Master System was very technically impressive for 8-bit hardware, featuring animated enemies and some spiffy-looking 3D dungeons. Phantasy Star II's plot had some rather interesting and shocking twists and turns. Phantasy Star III, while only tangentially connected to the other games in the series, is notable for its story that spans multiple generations, the last of which changes entirely depending on the decisions you make throughout the game.
And while the previous three games in the series have their fans, I have to admit that I was never really able to get into any of them. I didn't look into the series at all until Phantasy Star Online was beginning to generate a lot of buzz. Being a latecomer to the series, I found the first three games difficult to approach without the nostalgia factor for various reasons, be it clunky user interfaces, gargantuan sprawling dungeons, grind-or-die difficulty, or sub-par scripts/localizations. I find 8-bit RPGs difficult to enjoy, period, so PSI's technical advantages over its peers of the day mean nothing to me. PSII is a first-generation Genesis game, preceeding the likes of the original Sonic the Hedgehog by about two and a half years, and it shows. PSIII is regarded by most to be the weakest link in the series for a variety of reasons.
I'm of the opinion that it took Sega precisely four tries to get it right. But oh man, when they did...
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium landed in Japan on December 17, 1993 and in the States in February of 1995. It represents to me, perhaps moreso than any other game, the golden age of JRPGs, the point where the capabilities of gaming consoles and the programmers and designers who utilized them had advanced far enough to convey sufficiently epic adventures, varied gameplay, and user-friendly interfaces without the shitload of FMV, obscenely-long and time-consuming summons, and long-entrenched cliches that have been dragging the genre down ever since then. Most of the little (but important) things in PSIV are done oh so right. Your default walking speed isn't painfully slow. The combat system places a lot of (not-so-obvious) tools at your disposal, making it almost completely unnecessary to grind provided that you take the time to learn how to work it. The battles themselves move at a brisk pace while being sufficiently animated. Instant death spells WORK! With high success rates, even!
I could go on, but just let me say that if you play one traditional turn-based RPG on the Sega Genesis, make it Phantasy Star IV.
The Story
The universe of Phantasy Star is unique among its contemporaries in that it blends traditional fantasy staples of wizards and magic with futuristic sci-fi worlds populated with androids and high-tech weaponry. Strangely enough, I think the combination works out just fine, at least in this installment.
As the events of Phantasy Star IV follow directly after those of Phantasy Star I and II, it doesn't hurt to provide a very brief summary of the major events of those games. Though it's not required to enjoy PSIV, some important previous events are referenced in this game and it doesn't hurt to familiarize yourself with them. I'll put these behind spoiler tags just in case some people would prefer to play through the first two games and unfold all of the story for themselves, but all of these events will be "spoiled" during PSIV anyway (and several of them in the game intro, for that matter).
Phantasy Star I:
Phantasy Star II:
(Phantasy Star III, as said previously, is only tangentially-related to this game, and the events of PSIII and PSIV partly overlap in the time-frame but take place in entirely different locations. Some events of PSIII are mentioned in an early optional sidequest of this game, however.)
The story of Phantasy Star IV, as copied from the in-game intro:
Phantasy Star IV begins as hunter Alys Brangwin is summoned to investigate some mysterious finds in the basement of Piata Academy. As with the heroes of the previous games, she and her companions have no idea just what they are getting themselves into.
(Partial) Cast of Playable Characters
An extremely talented mercenary employed by the Aiedo Hunters Guild. Adored by many and feared by others, she's the one in command. She calls all the shots. Alys' primary weapons, Boomerangs and Slashers, hit all enemies at once. Make sure to keep two of the strongest types of available Slashers equipped to her whenever possible.
A hunter-in-training and apprentice of Alys. Somewhat naive and prone to acting on impulse, Chaz starts out as a bit of a weakling but soon earns his place among the party as its most-skilled sword-wielder. Chaz will be the primary damage dealer for single enemies throughout the course of the game, and he can also heal single allies should you need him to (though not as well as some of the other characters). Make sure he has a sword in his hands whenever possible.
A gifted scholar of Piata Academy, disowned by his father for abandoning the family business in favor of his studies. Engaged to a school teacher from Krup. Also rather naive, trusting, and prone to panicking, traits Alys uses to manipulate and string Hahn along quite frequently. While Hahn may initially seem to be a useless character, physically weaker than Alys and Chaz and lacking in offensive spell-casting compared to Rune, he will eventually become one of the most versatile party members in the game. He learns a wider variety of techs and skills than any other character, which makes several more team attacks possible (see the section below). It's up to you as to whether he should carry two knives/daggers for an extra physical attack boost or two shields for defense while he casts magic instead.
A mysterious young wizard adept in several disciplines of supposedly-forgotten magic. Also a bit cocky and forever on Chaz's bad side. Seems to have a previous history of some sort with Alys. Rune joins your party briefly near the beginning of the game, then leaves for a little while, then returns. Feel free to experiment with his destructive magic as much as you want at the beginning of the game, and toss out his canes for a pair of Silver Shields when they become available, as the defense boost is much more useful for him than a physical weapon.
A Motavian whose village was burnt to the ground by the dark magician Zio. He seeks nothing more than revenge on the main who killed his family and friends. Gryz is fairly straightforward, battle-wise. An axe-wielder who learns few techs/skills, he'll be your most potent physical attacker while he's in the party.
The control android responsible for overseeing the operation of all of Motavia's environmental systems. Very enthusiastic and child-like, especially when working with various types of machinery. Also very bashful when installing internal weapon units. Has to walk rather fast to keep up with the taller characters. (Her walking sprite is lol.) Androids are unique in that they heal themselves by 1 HP with every step they take, and they also automatically recover from 0 HP at the end of a battle should they happen to be wiped out during the fight. Otherwise, with some rare exceptions, the only skill that can heal them is RECOVER, and the only item that can do so is REPAIR-KIT. Since enemies are more prone to attacking the first person in your party, place Demi at the front when she joins, as her auto-regeneration attributes allow her to absorb a lot of the damage dealt to your party.
Presentation
While Phantasy Star IV was developed in 1993, it didn't see a release in the States until 1995. This makes it look and sound a bit dated in comparison to other later-generation AAA games on the Sega Genesis, to say nothing of those on the SNES. It is a big improvement over its predecessors in this regard, however, and any technical deficiencies in the presentation are offset with one cool feature: the cutscenes.
Almost all of the major events in PSIV are accompanied with illustrations that play out like comic book sequences. Along with the at-least-decent localization for its day, I feel this does a lot to flesh-out the characters and universe of PSIV. You could make a good argument that the major plot points and twists of PSII actually make it superior to PSIV story-wise, but PSIV's presentation makes it seem so much more full of life. My only complaint is that there aren't enough of these cutscenes in the later parts of the game.
The music isn't universally great, but there are plenty of standout tracks. Two of my favorites:
Phantasy Star 1 Dungeon Arrangement
Laughter
Basic Combat
The one aspect of Phantasy Star IV's gameplay system that is the least user-friendly is the combat system. The vast majority of techniques have strange names with no in-game descriptions, forcing the user to experiment with all of them to determine exactly what it is that they do.
Special moves in PSIV are divided into two camps: techniques and skills. Techniques all cost a specific amount of TP but can be used as long as you have enough TP to perform them. Skills have their own stock that depletes by 1 each time they are used. Both TP and individual skill stock increase as the characters level up. Several of the healing techniques can be used both inside and out of battles.
First, some basics about the naming conventions. If a tech starts with RE, then it's a healing or restoration skill of some sort (RES, REVER, REGEN). If it starts with GI or NA, then it's a stronger version of a previous tech (RES, GIRES, NARES). If it starts with SA, then that means it affects either all enemies or all allies (SAR, SANER, SAVOL, etc). Try to memorize at least this much.
A complete list of techniques (and items that perform similar, but not always identical, functions in parenthesis) is below. Regarding status-changing techniques, you should generally stick to techs that increase your own party's power rather than those that decrease those of the enemy party unless otherwise noted. Those that affect your own party have 100% success rates.
Once you learn techniques that perform the same functions as simple, inexpensive items (such as HINAS/RYUKA/ANTI/RIMPA), it's usually best to sell all of your remaining stock of those items in order to free up inventory space (40 items max), save for perhaps one ESCAPIPE for absolute emergencies.
HINAS - Escape from the current dungeon. (ESCAPIPE)
RYUKA - Transports the party to any previously-visited town. (TELEPIPE)
RES/GIRES/NARES - Restores HP of one (organic) ally. (MONOMATE/DIMATE/TRIMATE)
SAR/GISAR/NASAR - Restores HP of all (organic) allies. (STAR-DEW)
ANTI - Cures poison. (ANTIDOTE)
RIMPA - Cures paralysis. (CURE-PARAL)
AROWS - Cures sleep.
REVER - Revives one fallen (organic) ally and restores 25% HP. (MOON-DEW)
REGEN - Revives one fallen (organic) ally and restores ALL HP (SOL-DEW)
DEBAN - Increases physical defense of all allies.
SHIFT - Increases physical attack power of one ally.
SANER - Increases agility of all allies.
GELUN - Lowers physical attack power of all enemies.
DORAN - Lowers agility of all enemies.
SEALS - Prohibits all enemies from using techniques. Useful against enemies with healing techniques or instant death spells.
RIMIT - Inflicts paralysis on all enemies.
FOI/GIFOI/NAFOI - Fire attack. Effective in cold environments.
WAT/GIWAT/NAWAT - Water attack. Effective in desert environments.
TSU/GITHU/NATHU/MEGID - Energy attack. Effective against darkspawn enemies.
ZAN/GIZAN/NAZAN - Wind attack. Hits all enemies.
GRA/GIGRA/NAGRA - Gravity(?) attack. Hits all enemies.
BROSE/VOL/SAVOL - Instant death attack. BROSE has a low success rate. SAVOL hits all enemies. All 3 are ineffective against bosses and inorganic foes.
And now, a complete list of skills, divided into subcategories. Whereas many techs are shared between multiple characters, several skills are character-specific.
MEDICE - Similar to NARES tech but also works on androids. (TRIMATE)
MIRACLE - Similar to NASAR tech but also works on androids. (STAR-DEW)
RECOVER - Restores all HP of the user. Only learned by androids. (REPAIR-KIT)
ATARAXIA - Restores some TP for all organic allies.
MEDIC PW - Revives all fallen organic allies and restores 25% HP.
BLESSING/WARLA - Similar to DEBAN tech. Increases physical defense of all allies.
BARRIER - Increases magic defense of all allies.
WAR CRY - Increases the user's physical attack power.
VISION - Increases the party's dexterity (critical hit and evasion stats).
TELELE - Lowers physical attack power of all enemies.
ILLUSION/SHADOW - Lowers agility of all enemies.
EARTH/MOONSHAD/BINDWA/MINDBLST - Inflicts sleep on all organic enemies.
HIJAMMER - Inflicts sleep on all mechanical enemies.
STASISBM - Inflicts paralysis on one organic enemy.
VORTEX/CROSSCUT/DBLSLASH - Inflicts a high amount of damage on a single enemy.
AIRSLASH/DISRUPT/SWEEPING - Inflicts normal attack damage on all enemies.
BURSTROC/PHONON/POSIBOLT - Hit-all skills of increasing strength, acquired by androids.
FLAELI - Fire attack. (Stronger than FOI but weaker than GIFOI.)
HEWN - Wind attack, hits all enemies. (Equal in strength to GIZAN.)
RAYBLADE - Energy attack. (Slightly stronger than NATHU.)
TANDLE - Electric attack, hits all enemies.
ST. FIRE/EFESS - Holy light attacks, hit all enemies.
FLARE/ASTRAL/LEGEON - Radiation attacks. LEGEON hits all enemies.
CORRSION - Physical force attack that hits all enemies.
BROSE - Instant death, generally ineffective.
SPARK - Instant death, works on machines.
DEATH/ELIMINAT/DIEM/DTHSPELL - Instant death, generally effective.
HOLYWORD - Instant death, very effective against dark enemies.
CRASH/EXPLODE/NEGATIS - Instant death, generally very effective. NEGATIS hits all enemies.
Team Attacks and Macros
One of the key elements of combat in Phantasy Star IV (and my favorite aspect of the gameplay) is the use of combination attacks between two or more characters. If you tell two characters use CROSSCUT and EFESS one after another, for example, they will instead combine the effects of these skills to create the particularly devastating GRANDCROSS team attack. Team attacks are usually much more damaging than the sum of the component attacks used to create them, and ALL of them will hit every enemy (provided that the enemy is not immune to that particular type of move). Knowing how and when to perform these attacks isn't necessary to beat the game, but it goes a long way in carrying your party through situations in which they would otherwise be under-leveled.
Here is a complete list, roughly arranged in the order that you'll be able to use them. (If a > is used instead of a +, that means that you have to perform the moves on the left side of the > before performing the others.)
TRIBLASTER (FOI + WAT + TSU) - Radiation attack. Useful early in the game.
FIRESTORM (FOI/GIFOI/NAFOI/FLAELI + ZAN/GIZAN/NAZAN/HEWN) - Fire attack. Useful early in the game.
BLIZZARD (WAT/GIWAT/NAWAT + ZAN/GIZAN/NAZAN/HEWN) - Water attack. Useful early in the game.
LETHAL IMG (ILLUSION + DEATH) - Extremely high chance of instantly killing all enemies.
SILENTWAVE (AIRSLASH + PHONON) - Strong physical attack, hits all enemies.
CIRCUITBRK (HIJAMMER + TANDLE) - Instant death to all machines.
SHOOTINSTR (BURSTROC > FOI/GIFOI/NAFOI/FLAELI) - Fire attack, hits all enemies. Useful in cold environments.
GRANDCROSS (CROSSCUT + EFESS) - Strong light attack. Useful against dark enemies. EXTREMELY useful against certain bosses.
BLACK HOLE (GRA/GIGRA/NAGRA + NEGATIS) - Extremely high chance of instantly killing all enemies.
CONDUCTTHND (WAT/GIWAT/NAWAT > TANDLE) - Electricity attack. Useful against machines.
HOLOCAUST (SAVOL + DIEM) - Extremely high chance of instantly killing all organic enemies.
PARADINBLW (RAYBLADE + ASTRAL) - Very strong energy attack. Only hits a single enemy. Useful against dark enemies.
PURFYLIGHT (HOLYWORD + EFESS) - Instantly kills all enemies weak against light magic.
DESTRUCT (DEBAN > MEGID + LEGEON + POSIBOLT) - Strongest energy attack. Inflicts up to 999 damage to all enemies. Generally not that useful against bosses for its cost.
There is one particular risk when attempting team attacks, however: If either an enemy or an ally attacks in the timeframe between two characters who are using a team attack, it won't work and the two characters will instead perform their individual attacks. Therefore, you have to ensure that your characters always attack in the proper order and are not interrupted by the enemies. You can do this via the MACRO option.
When not in a battle, go to the MACRO option in the main menu. From here, you can specify up to 8 different arrangements of attacks that the entire party can use in a single turn, including who does what and in what order. Make the character with the lowest agility attack first. Since everyone who will follow that character has higher agility, they should all follow immediately without any enemies interrupting. If you want to be doubly sure that your team attack is successful, arrange the entire party from slowest to fastest, with the characters performing the team attack always going dead last. This, of course, runs the risk of enemies getting to attack before anyone in your party moves, so you'll have to weigh the pros and cons depending on the situation or perhaps use SANER to increase your party's agility. To use a macro, select the MACR option during battle.
The three component techs of this particular team attack are associated with different elements and only hit one enemy at a time. Their combination not only hits all enemies but is tremendously more powerful than any of the three techs individually.
Supplemental Weapon Effects
Some weapons have a small chance of inducing a status effect or instant death on an enemy when used in normal attacks:
STUN-SHOT - induce sleep
DREAM-ROD - induce sleep
DEFEAT-AXE - induce sleep
SHADWBLADE - DIEM-like instant death
GENOCYCLAW - DIEM-like instant death
ELSYDEON - HOLYWORD-like instant death
If you use one of the following weapons as an item in battle (select them through the item menu, not the attack/tech/skill options), they will have the following effects. Sometimes it's useful to continue carrying these weapons around even when they're not equipped to anybody.
DYNAMITE - GIFOI attack (fire)
ECLPSTORCH - EFESS attack (light)
TORNDDAGGR - HEWN attack (wind)
MAHLAYDGGR - NAFOI attack (fire)
FLAMESWORD - FLAELI attack (fire)
THUNDRCLAW - TANDLE attack (electric)
MOONSLASHR - MOONSHADE attack (induce sleep)
WOOD-CANE - restores ~32 HP to a single organic ally
PSYCO-WAND - CANCELING attack (reset enemy stats)
DREAM-ROD - BINDWA attack (induce sleep)
LACO-ROD - EFESS attack (light)
GUARD-ROD - restores ~64 HP to all organic allies
SWIFT-HELM - SANER (increase user's agility)
POW-SHIELD - SHIFT (increase user's physical ATK power)
MAHLAYSHLD - DEBAN (increase user's physical DFS power)
Equipping the following shields alongside a dagger, claw, or slasher has the following effects:
CRMCSHIELD - accompanying weapon acts like a fire-based weapon
PSY-SHIELD - accompanying weapon may inflict sleep
PLSM-FIELD - accompanying weapon acts like a radiation-based weapon
Abridged Walkthrough
A brief but complete and mostly spoiler-free walkthrough for PSIV can be found here should you desire to use one. It provides a list of all the treasure in each dungeon (in the order that you should find it so that it's easy to know when you missed something), strategies for each boss, recommendations for what equipment/weapons to buy in each town, and information for every sidequest. Though no plot details are provided, sometimes the given strategies and instructions give away major upcoming events in the story, and you generally shouldn't read ahead too much if you don't want to spoil yourself. There is also no word-wrap, so save the file to your computer and open it from there if you wish to use it.
If you would prefer not to use a guide and experience the entire story completely unspoiled, allow me to at least direct you to a few key sidequests you absolutely should not miss. I'll put these behind spoiler tags just in case, but really, you should probably just read them anyway.
The Mysterious Valley:
The Climate Center:
Silver Soldier:
The Anger Tower:
There are several more sidequests in the game, and you should generally take the time to complete them, as most of them provide either a substantial EXP/MST boost or yield important weapon and skill upgrades. Make sure to obtain all the treasure from normal dungeons as well. Taking the time to find all of the important equipment upgrades will keep you from wasting much more time grinding levels to compensate for inadequate equipment.
Now get out there and fuck up some biomonsters.
Like TSR said, FF7 has nothing on this game.
In all ways.
This is not disputable.
Also, the Macro thing in the battle system is so awesome, and I wish more games would use it.
Posting as an update: In my virginal state, I've put about maybe 6-8 hours into PS4 and it's been very good so far (I just did the part with Nurvus). Everything said about the game being very fast-paced is spot on—battles have been quick and I haven't had to do any grinding (as in running-around-in-circles-solely-to-gain-experience grinding) yet. The whole system of organics and androids is really novel, where all of the healing and revival spells only work on humans and such, but androids automatically regenerate HP while walking around in the overworld and have their own healing skills and repair items. Dungeons are moderately challenging but they're always fairly short, and you find a good deal of loot so I'm always upgrading and selling off gear.
The only real complaint I have is what Sixfortyfive alluded to: The skill names are way too opaque, and I find myself referring back to FAQs and this thread just to remind myself of what the skills and spells all actually do, since they don't tell you at all in-game.
Still, very excellent and it holds up supremely well. I took a quick peek at PS2 and I don't know if it's just the Genesis Collection emulation or what but the battle sound effects were pretty heinous. :x
No, the Genesis Collection is a perfect port; the battle sounds really do sound like that. It's still a great game though.
Also, the LP is still in effect; it is still going to happen. I just need to finish up some other stuff before I start on it.
Maybe it's just nostalgia but I love the music and sound effects in this game. Of course, I'm also a huge fan of chiptunes so that could also be why.
Speaking of which, I've got several videos of low-level boss runs right here for those interested.
Most of the dungeons in PSIV are simply wars of attrition. In many cases, the random enemies are likely to wear you down more than the bosses, but you can't run away from too many random encounters lest you risk being underleveled for the next boss. The first point most players have trouble with is the Tonoe warehouse basement. The random generic enemies in there are likely to slaughter you if you don't have up-to-date equipment, but there's no boss and therefore no reason to hold back on any of your spells.
If you've made it to post-Nurvus without any grinding, you're in decent shape. The other major hurdle most players have is the stretch of the game concerning the Eclipse Torch, but that should be absolutely no problem once Rune knows Efess.
Grandcross > *
Tangentially related: A few months ago, over 1000 Sega prototypes were dumped onto the Internet. I made a thread about it here. If you're interested in seeing what PSIV's script looked like while it was a work in progress, I recommend thumbing through that thread.
I really like this game.
I play it every couple of years. Every time it is still good on it own merits, never soley for nostalgia.
I would buy this game every few years for the forseeable future. Every console generation maybe? I have it on the PS2 Mega Drive Collection and am waiting to buy it again on Virtual Console
Switch Friend Code: SW-3349-7357-2013
3DS Friend code: 3093 8504 2352
PSC is, however, a triumph in emulation.
Those games aren't ported. They are emulated. On the GBA.
SMS and the Genny. Pretty damn good besides the save glitch in PS.
Thankfully, I can now say I was wrong, thanks to the Genesis collection. I can also say that my great unattainable dream is a full-on DS remake of this game. which is unlikely to happen, as sega is currently obsessed with recreating the success of PS Online, and forgot PS as a standalone series years ago.
I really regret selling my copy. ):
This game used to scare the piss out of me. The music they play during that school cutscene, and going down into dark basements. And especially walking into a town where everybody is stone. It might have been my overactive child imagination, but still. This is a game just has a really good 'tone'. I don't really know how to describe it.
PSII by itself is worth owning a Genesis for.
Mix in a little Shining in the Dakness and a dash of M&M Gates to Another World...
... delicious.
Me and you? We are like long lost twins.
You've made the right decision if you're still going to make that purchase (sorry, I skipped from the OP straight to here if you've already bought it or changed your mind). I made it a priority to EBay the Genesis & Capcom Collections on the cheap about 5 months back, and there are usually 2 of them with me at all times. The Genesis Collection allows you to save anywhere in any game, which makes it ridiculously easy to play through the PS series. That, and PSIV is almost worth the price of entry at $15.
Either way, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!
There is a lot of truth in this post.
I was a HUGE Phantasy Star fan when it first hit the Master System. My friends and I would cut school to go home and play it. When Phantasy Star II hit the Genesis, I was all over it despite it being a pricey game. I seem to recall it being $70, which at the time was a fuckload of money.
The non-3D dungeons took some getting used to -- I think I might still like PS1's better -- but everything else was like, wow. You mean I can choose who tags along in my party? Awesome! Putting together the pieces of the puzzle re: what happened in between gameswas excellent. And that ending. Yes!
Really fantastic stuff. I'm not sure how it holds up, as I haven't played it in several years, and even then I didn't get far into it (I have a hard time grinding levels in JRPGs these days), but my memories of this game are fond indeed.
Then I played Might & Magic on the Genesis and my love for JRPGs was ruined forevermore...
Man does this game look terrible.
Also the localization is bad.
Still, the pacing is solid, battles are lightning fast, Macros are always welcome, and it's still better than III and II.
I probably would have preferred the game as it was originally intended with 3D dungeons ala PS1 and anime cutscenes powered by the Sega CD.
This game compares well to some of the lesser SNES efforts like Robotrek and Paladin's Quest, but considering I just came off of Chrono Trigger DS, Secret of Mana, and Paper Mario on my latest retro RPG kick it doesn't seem like anything special. Let's see if it can change my mind.