I never thought starting this year that by the end of April I would have finally played all 4 of the original classic Phantasy Star games. They have been on my bucket list for years and the experience has been a mixture of surprises and Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium is no exception.
To start with I really want to get this out the way that this game is by far the best of the 4 games. It takes all the good parts of Phantasy Star II and builds on them in all the right aspects while still linking the story of every game in the series together. It really feels like it ties the plot up for all of them while still being able to play it on it's own. It's an incredibly well made experience with a couple of aspects that really stood out in particular.
Story wise the game takes place 1000 years before Phantasy Star III and 1000 years after Phantasy Star II which in turn was 1000 years after Phantasy Star I. We are once again in the Algol star system following mercenary hunters Alys Brangwin and her apprentice Chaz Ashley on planet Motavia. They have been hired to take care of some monsters that lead them on a steadily longer world saving adventure than they could have anticipated. The writing and story of Phantasy Star IV is a massive increase in quality over it's predecessors with full comic like panel cutscenes, genuinely funny jokes, facial expressions and stand out personalities making the story moments actually a delight rather than simply a cardboard set of instructions for the next location. This was such a pleasant realisation within less than 10 minutes of starting that this was going to be a much different experience than I initially thought.
The game moves at a fast pace generally and while certainly not linear I would say it seems very focused so it's quite clear in most cases where to go but still plenty of space for side exploring and without being super grindy. The combat is still turn based and the dungeons are third person. The most interesting thing about the combat is how kind of insanely ahead of it's time it feels. Though it has the basics of the genre in that you can attack, use magic and items it also lets you can set up macros from a list prior to fights. These serve as pre selected moves for your whole party for that turn. For example I had 'macro A' set up as my opening gambit to cast buffs for defence, attack, speed up and a strong attack spell so I didn't have to manually select them each time with 'macro B' as all attack, C as spells etc. Certain combinations of spells or skills would also unlock extremely strong special attacks like a combo though you would have to experiment or look them up to know what they are and set them off in the right turn order uninterrupted.
Another stand out feature I didn't expect is the game also has a hunt system at the guild so at this point I am really feeling like Final Fantasy XII took the gambit system, hunt system and Star Wars influences entirely from Phantasy Star IV... It's obviously more limited here to only a dozen or so and are essentially side quests you (sometimes) get rewards for but with the improved dialogue, characters and towns it all comes together to make the game and world feel very alive for a title in this era.
Visually it's colourful and crisp and the aforementioned anime scenes are fantastic. I love the art style and designs that Phantasy Star II really solidified for the series. I've generally enjoyed all the music in the games so far but like everything it feels like Phantasy Star IV just cranks it up to eleven with every track creating this crunchy electronic bass the megadrive was so good at. There is even a great Phantasy Star 1 remix as part of the OST.
Honestly I really loved Phantasy Star IV and it is easily in my top games to recommend for the megadrive for it's pacing, production values, compact design and scenes but there is one thing that does hold it back from a five star award from me. It goes through party members at such an insane pace it's a bit strange with characters constantly coming and going sometimes within the space of a dungeon or two. They were often the ones I liked most leaving me consistently with Chaz who, and let's be polite to him, is an unlikeable idiot. It is however only a small nit-pick really in an otherwise fantastic RPG I would recommend.
+ Anime scenes and dialogue make the game feel slick with personality.
+ Macros are such a great feature for setting up combat instructions in a seamless way.
+ Music is fire.
- Going through party members like disposable cutlery with the story pacing.
To start with I really want to get this out the way that this game is by far the best of the 4 games. It takes all the good parts of Phantasy Star II and builds on them in all the right aspects while still linking the story of every game in the series together. It really feels like it ties the plot up for all of them while still being able to play it on it's own. It's an incredibly well made experience with a couple of aspects that really stood out in particular.
Story wise the game takes place 1000 years before Phantasy Star III and 1000 years after Phantasy Star II which in turn was 1000 years after Phantasy Star I. We are once again in the Algol star system following mercenary hunters Alys Brangwin and her apprentice Chaz Ashley on planet Motavia. They have been hired to take care of some monsters that lead them on a steadily longer world saving adventure than they could have anticipated. The writing and story of Phantasy Star IV is a massive increase in quality over it's predecessors with full comic like panel cutscenes, genuinely funny jokes, facial expressions and stand out personalities making the story moments actually a delight rather than simply a cardboard set of instructions for the next location. This was such a pleasant realisation within less than 10 minutes of starting that this was going to be a much different experience than I initially thought.
The game moves at a fast pace generally and while certainly not linear I would say it seems very focused so it's quite clear in most cases where to go but still plenty of space for side exploring and without being super grindy. The combat is still turn based and the dungeons are third person. The most interesting thing about the combat is how kind of insanely ahead of it's time it feels. Though it has the basics of the genre in that you can attack, use magic and items it also lets you can set up macros from a list prior to fights. These serve as pre selected moves for your whole party for that turn. For example I had 'macro A' set up as my opening gambit to cast buffs for defence, attack, speed up and a strong attack spell so I didn't have to manually select them each time with 'macro B' as all attack, C as spells etc. Certain combinations of spells or skills would also unlock extremely strong special attacks like a combo though you would have to experiment or look them up to know what they are and set them off in the right turn order uninterrupted.
Another stand out feature I didn't expect is the game also has a hunt system at the guild so at this point I am really feeling like Final Fantasy XII took the gambit system, hunt system and Star Wars influences entirely from Phantasy Star IV... It's obviously more limited here to only a dozen or so and are essentially side quests you (sometimes) get rewards for but with the improved dialogue, characters and towns it all comes together to make the game and world feel very alive for a title in this era.
Visually it's colourful and crisp and the aforementioned anime scenes are fantastic. I love the art style and designs that Phantasy Star II really solidified for the series. I've generally enjoyed all the music in the games so far but like everything it feels like Phantasy Star IV just cranks it up to eleven with every track creating this crunchy electronic bass the megadrive was so good at. There is even a great Phantasy Star 1 remix as part of the OST.
Honestly I really loved Phantasy Star IV and it is easily in my top games to recommend for the megadrive for it's pacing, production values, compact design and scenes but there is one thing that does hold it back from a five star award from me. It goes through party members at such an insane pace it's a bit strange with characters constantly coming and going sometimes within the space of a dungeon or two. They were often the ones I liked most leaving me consistently with Chaz who, and let's be polite to him, is an unlikeable idiot. It is however only a small nit-pick really in an otherwise fantastic RPG I would recommend.
+ Anime scenes and dialogue make the game feel slick with personality.
+ Macros are such a great feature for setting up combat instructions in a seamless way.
+ Music is fire.
- Going through party members like disposable cutlery with the story pacing.
I loved when the heroes asked one of the main villains stuff like "What you're doing will kill all life on this planet" and "Do you realize that you'll die too?" and then his response was "Yeah, and?"
Phantasy Star V when
This review contains spoilers
On its own, Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium is one of the finest JRPGs of its era. After having played through the rest of the series, I would elevate it to one of the finest JRPGs, period. I would recommend the prior games in the series only with caveats. I recommend Phantasy Star IV without caveat and without reservations.
I am continually surprised at how early in the lifespan of the genre the Phantasy Star games are. Phantasy Star released within days of Final Fantasy; Phantasy Star II about a year after Dragon Quest II and a couple months after Final Fantasy II; Phantasy Star III within a couple months of Dragon Quest IV and Final Fantasy III. By the time Phantasy Star IV released, JRPGs were truly in their golden age — contemporary to Phantasy Star IV are such legendary titles as Final Fantasy VI, Dragon Quest V, Lufia & the Fortress of Doom, Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, and Secret of Mana. Walking into the first three Phantasy Star games, I always had the feeling, conscious or otherwise, that these were early titles in the genre and gave them some leeway accordingly. Phantasy Star IV immediately hit me with the fact that the kid gloves were off. The minimum stakes for the genre had been raised, and Phantasy Star had more than kept with the times.
The Phantasy Star games have never been truly "typical" JRPGs. The setting is the most obvious measure of this, being sci-fi in a sea of medieval fantasy, but being different than the competition was a stated design goal of the series as far back as the first Phantasy Star game, which took pains to be as different from Dragon Quest as possible. That tradition of uniqueness is upheld: Phantasy Star IV's visual style, sound design, and combat system are unlike anything I've seen elsewhere in the genre.
I absolutely love how Phantasy Star IV tells its story. The comic book panels do a masterful job of setting the scene and the tone, and the way that the panels are timed to the narration add so much depth to scenes. Nowhere is this more present than the finale, where control over the text speed is fully taken away from the player, allowing the designers to fully control the exact pace of the visuals. The effect can be somewhat goofy when panels start piling on top of each other, but the game knows when to do that and when to keep the screen sparse.
Phantasy Star IV has been lauded for how it tells its story not only through its cutscenes, but through its gameplay and its battle system. Chaz's growth as a person is demonstrated not only through his dialogue, but literally in how he plays as he finds his own purpose and niche, his abilities being a direct outgrowth of Alys' advice. Hahn's increasing ineffectiveness in the combat leads to him leaving the party as he discovers that he's simply not cut out for that kind of adventure. Alys' loss is never really filled: as much as Kyra wants to be a big sister figure to Chaz, she can never truly replace what Alys meant to him, and their similar kits only serve to highlight how she cannot act as a stand-in for Alys. Gryz's meathead nature is reflected in how his stats prioritize strength, and his near lack of skills and techniques reinforce this. All of Seth's skills are skills used by enemies associated with Dark Force, a small foreshadowing of his true nature. Raja being an utter goofball would fool people into thinking he's washed-up if his kit didn't reveal him to be the single best healer in the game, joining the party with a massive variety of healing skills and techniques, showing how knowledgeable he truly is. Rika, a newborn, starts with no experience (combat or otherwise) and levels up quickly to reflect how much she's learning about the world.
The combat system itself is a wonderful evolution of the systems present in II (and, to a lesser extent, in III). In addition to the standard Techniques, which cost TP, there are now Skills which can now be used a certain number of times between rests at an inn. By being given specific numbers of casts, the use of skills is heavily encouraged — I've got 20 uses of whatever the hell HEWN and TELELE are, I may as well use them. The macro system provides what is probably the single greatest flexibility in turn order of any game that I've seen — I think the only way to improve it would be the ability to create macros on-the-fly in combat. The fact that Macro A is preset to "everybody attacks" is the icing on top. Items that cast spells aren't nearly as useful as they were in Phantasy Star II, and I would say that it's for the better given how much of late-game Phantasy Star II is using the items that can cast Gires. I love how the vehicles have their own battle mode with a unique interface and music.
The soundtrack is, as always for the Phantasy Star games, absolutely stellar. This game may have the distinction of "Most Obviously a Genesis Game," with that sweet crunchy bass. The title theme immediately sets the tone, and its reuse for the credits is perfect. Motavia Field is one of my favorite overworld themes of all time. For dungeon music, Cave sounds straight out of Super Metroid. Behind the Circuit is a fantastic "tech dungeon" theme, especially when contrast with the upbeat Machine Center. The remixed dungeon themes from Phantasy Star are excellent, and my only wish is that they also included the Air Castle theme from that game for when that dungeon is revisited here. The combat themes are no slouch either: Meet Them Head On immediately gets into the action, while Defeat at a Blow encourages a more measured response to the boss encounters. Abyss and Ooze sell the sheer menace of the final boss, and I would argue that Laughter is one of the all-time greatest JRPG boss themes. Dezolis Town 2 has no right to be as much of a bop as it is. Pain and Her Last Breath elevate an already effective death scene and make it absolutely heartrending. The music for the final cutscenes mixes perfectly with the visuals, even including the rare bit of silence.
Phantasy Star IV is the grand finale of the series, and that fact shines through every facet of the game: from the obvious direct usage of things from earlier titles to the more subtle thematic throughlines, there is little in Phantasy Star IV that is not built upon in some way from the earlier entries. The brilliance is that it doesn't come off as fanservice, the common pitfall of this kind of story.
That said, I absolutely will gush over all the callbacks and continued elements. How the spaceship, the Landale, is named after Alis Landale, who also literally has a shrine (with Myau!) in Termi. The gift shop in Termi sells "perolymates", which were in all the food shops in the first Phantasy Star as "Cola" in the US. The final dungeon of the first game, the Air Fortress, is revisited with the exact same dungeon layout and final boss, who is somehow even more difficult than in the first game. At least you can't accidentally softlock in this one. Alis herself appears in a vision when Chaz first picks up the Elsydeon. As in Phantasy Star II, Noah/Lutz once again has a speaking role as Rune. The fourth planet that had to be cut from the original for space reasons is brought back as the mysterious hidden planet Rykros. The party once again stores massive vehicles in their pockets, with the Land Rover and Ice Digger making a triumphant return.
The events and fallout of Phantasy Star II are related to Chaz within the first minutes of the game by an NPC in the academy. Much of the game's plot is a direct continuation of the events of II: at the end of II, the party destroyed Mother Brain, who was keeping the environmental systems in place. These same environmental systems finally failing drives much of the early plot of IV. Rika herself is a reference to Nei — the story goes that the character designer Toru Yoshida wanted her to literally be Nei, but the rest of the staff objected so they went with making Rika a blatant copy. The vehicle combat that couldn't make it in to II was finally implemented here. An entire town on Dezolis serves as a grave and memorial to the one guy who sprung you from space jail in II.
A sidequest dungeon near the end of the game consists entirely of the basic bird enemies from Phantasy Star III. Androids of both Siren's and Wren's make and model are common enemies in the tech-based dungeons. The wreckage of one of the Alisa III's sister ships is explored, and it's even laid out like a typical Phantasy Star III dungeon. The scene upon the conclusion of that dungeon where the party learns of the colony ships meant just about nothing to me on my first play of IV. Now, having played III, it meant everything. Even now I'm tearing up thinking about it.
The core party members are each representatives of the games in the series: Rune is Noah/Lutz, Rika is a stand-in for Nei, and Wren is the best non-Sari party member (don't @ me) of Phantasy Star III. Gryz and Raja are the first playable native Motavians and Dezolisians (respectively) in the series. Alys is clearly meant to mislead the player into thinking she's the protagonist, and her name being a clear reference to I's Alis aids in that endeavor.
Overall, Phantasy Star IV: the End of the Millenium is the perfect end to not only the millenium but to the Phantasy Star series as a whole. Seeing Chaz and Rika in casual clothes in the credits roll nearly broke me. The final image of the statue of Alis had me sobbing. Now, a full day later, I'm crying all over again thinking about it.
I am continually surprised at how early in the lifespan of the genre the Phantasy Star games are. Phantasy Star released within days of Final Fantasy; Phantasy Star II about a year after Dragon Quest II and a couple months after Final Fantasy II; Phantasy Star III within a couple months of Dragon Quest IV and Final Fantasy III. By the time Phantasy Star IV released, JRPGs were truly in their golden age — contemporary to Phantasy Star IV are such legendary titles as Final Fantasy VI, Dragon Quest V, Lufia & the Fortress of Doom, Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, and Secret of Mana. Walking into the first three Phantasy Star games, I always had the feeling, conscious or otherwise, that these were early titles in the genre and gave them some leeway accordingly. Phantasy Star IV immediately hit me with the fact that the kid gloves were off. The minimum stakes for the genre had been raised, and Phantasy Star had more than kept with the times.
The Phantasy Star games have never been truly "typical" JRPGs. The setting is the most obvious measure of this, being sci-fi in a sea of medieval fantasy, but being different than the competition was a stated design goal of the series as far back as the first Phantasy Star game, which took pains to be as different from Dragon Quest as possible. That tradition of uniqueness is upheld: Phantasy Star IV's visual style, sound design, and combat system are unlike anything I've seen elsewhere in the genre.
I absolutely love how Phantasy Star IV tells its story. The comic book panels do a masterful job of setting the scene and the tone, and the way that the panels are timed to the narration add so much depth to scenes. Nowhere is this more present than the finale, where control over the text speed is fully taken away from the player, allowing the designers to fully control the exact pace of the visuals. The effect can be somewhat goofy when panels start piling on top of each other, but the game knows when to do that and when to keep the screen sparse.
Phantasy Star IV has been lauded for how it tells its story not only through its cutscenes, but through its gameplay and its battle system. Chaz's growth as a person is demonstrated not only through his dialogue, but literally in how he plays as he finds his own purpose and niche, his abilities being a direct outgrowth of Alys' advice. Hahn's increasing ineffectiveness in the combat leads to him leaving the party as he discovers that he's simply not cut out for that kind of adventure. Alys' loss is never really filled: as much as Kyra wants to be a big sister figure to Chaz, she can never truly replace what Alys meant to him, and their similar kits only serve to highlight how she cannot act as a stand-in for Alys. Gryz's meathead nature is reflected in how his stats prioritize strength, and his near lack of skills and techniques reinforce this. All of Seth's skills are skills used by enemies associated with Dark Force, a small foreshadowing of his true nature. Raja being an utter goofball would fool people into thinking he's washed-up if his kit didn't reveal him to be the single best healer in the game, joining the party with a massive variety of healing skills and techniques, showing how knowledgeable he truly is. Rika, a newborn, starts with no experience (combat or otherwise) and levels up quickly to reflect how much she's learning about the world.
The combat system itself is a wonderful evolution of the systems present in II (and, to a lesser extent, in III). In addition to the standard Techniques, which cost TP, there are now Skills which can now be used a certain number of times between rests at an inn. By being given specific numbers of casts, the use of skills is heavily encouraged — I've got 20 uses of whatever the hell HEWN and TELELE are, I may as well use them. The macro system provides what is probably the single greatest flexibility in turn order of any game that I've seen — I think the only way to improve it would be the ability to create macros on-the-fly in combat. The fact that Macro A is preset to "everybody attacks" is the icing on top. Items that cast spells aren't nearly as useful as they were in Phantasy Star II, and I would say that it's for the better given how much of late-game Phantasy Star II is using the items that can cast Gires. I love how the vehicles have their own battle mode with a unique interface and music.
The soundtrack is, as always for the Phantasy Star games, absolutely stellar. This game may have the distinction of "Most Obviously a Genesis Game," with that sweet crunchy bass. The title theme immediately sets the tone, and its reuse for the credits is perfect. Motavia Field is one of my favorite overworld themes of all time. For dungeon music, Cave sounds straight out of Super Metroid. Behind the Circuit is a fantastic "tech dungeon" theme, especially when contrast with the upbeat Machine Center. The remixed dungeon themes from Phantasy Star are excellent, and my only wish is that they also included the Air Castle theme from that game for when that dungeon is revisited here. The combat themes are no slouch either: Meet Them Head On immediately gets into the action, while Defeat at a Blow encourages a more measured response to the boss encounters. Abyss and Ooze sell the sheer menace of the final boss, and I would argue that Laughter is one of the all-time greatest JRPG boss themes. Dezolis Town 2 has no right to be as much of a bop as it is. Pain and Her Last Breath elevate an already effective death scene and make it absolutely heartrending. The music for the final cutscenes mixes perfectly with the visuals, even including the rare bit of silence.
Phantasy Star IV is the grand finale of the series, and that fact shines through every facet of the game: from the obvious direct usage of things from earlier titles to the more subtle thematic throughlines, there is little in Phantasy Star IV that is not built upon in some way from the earlier entries. The brilliance is that it doesn't come off as fanservice, the common pitfall of this kind of story.
That said, I absolutely will gush over all the callbacks and continued elements. How the spaceship, the Landale, is named after Alis Landale, who also literally has a shrine (with Myau!) in Termi. The gift shop in Termi sells "perolymates", which were in all the food shops in the first Phantasy Star as "Cola" in the US. The final dungeon of the first game, the Air Fortress, is revisited with the exact same dungeon layout and final boss, who is somehow even more difficult than in the first game. At least you can't accidentally softlock in this one. Alis herself appears in a vision when Chaz first picks up the Elsydeon. As in Phantasy Star II, Noah/Lutz once again has a speaking role as Rune. The fourth planet that had to be cut from the original for space reasons is brought back as the mysterious hidden planet Rykros. The party once again stores massive vehicles in their pockets, with the Land Rover and Ice Digger making a triumphant return.
The events and fallout of Phantasy Star II are related to Chaz within the first minutes of the game by an NPC in the academy. Much of the game's plot is a direct continuation of the events of II: at the end of II, the party destroyed Mother Brain, who was keeping the environmental systems in place. These same environmental systems finally failing drives much of the early plot of IV. Rika herself is a reference to Nei — the story goes that the character designer Toru Yoshida wanted her to literally be Nei, but the rest of the staff objected so they went with making Rika a blatant copy. The vehicle combat that couldn't make it in to II was finally implemented here. An entire town on Dezolis serves as a grave and memorial to the one guy who sprung you from space jail in II.
A sidequest dungeon near the end of the game consists entirely of the basic bird enemies from Phantasy Star III. Androids of both Siren's and Wren's make and model are common enemies in the tech-based dungeons. The wreckage of one of the Alisa III's sister ships is explored, and it's even laid out like a typical Phantasy Star III dungeon. The scene upon the conclusion of that dungeon where the party learns of the colony ships meant just about nothing to me on my first play of IV. Now, having played III, it meant everything. Even now I'm tearing up thinking about it.
The core party members are each representatives of the games in the series: Rune is Noah/Lutz, Rika is a stand-in for Nei, and Wren is the best non-Sari party member (don't @ me) of Phantasy Star III. Gryz and Raja are the first playable native Motavians and Dezolisians (respectively) in the series. Alys is clearly meant to mislead the player into thinking she's the protagonist, and her name being a clear reference to I's Alis aids in that endeavor.
Overall, Phantasy Star IV: the End of the Millenium is the perfect end to not only the millenium but to the Phantasy Star series as a whole. Seeing Chaz and Rika in casual clothes in the credits roll nearly broke me. The final image of the statue of Alis had me sobbing. Now, a full day later, I'm crying all over again thinking about it.
Full disclosure, my 5 star rating for this is absolutely due to childhood nostalgia and a feels based rating, the game is obviously not without its problems. Though I have played it more than once during my adulthood, and it holds up reasonably well, especially for a Sega JRPG. We had slim pickins on the Genesis back then, and if this genre was your cup of tea, localized Jrpgs were rare. I'm pretty sure I played all three of them that made it to Canada.
PSIV was, for me, more than anything else a formative game. I distinctly remember the art style catching my eye as a child, with its 80s anime "cutscenes" something I had never really seen before. It definitely was the start of me noticing there were styles and genres I liked, and probably kicked off my interest in anime.
The story is pretty standard 80s jrpg fare, with a pretty cool "after the end" post future, buried tech, fantasy kind of setting, which is really helped by the soundtrack popping out of the iconic synthy bweoowwy genesis sound chip. Chaz and the gang are decent enough characters, not terribly complex but not paper thin either. Rune fucks. Canonically.
If the game suffers it's mostly in the localization, with the mega drive/genesis having limited memory space for English translations, hence the characters all having 4 letter names. The spells and abilities have very short or abbreviated names that require trial and error to figure out the functions of, unless you have the manual (which I did not).
The combo abilities are really cool (and predate Chrono Trigger by two years!) and the macro function is a helpful tool to speed up battles and ensure those combo abilities can be executed, but again, it takes some trial and error to figure out how it works if you're a dumb kid without the manual like me.
For the time, for the console, for the genre, Phantasy Star IV is probably the best offering you could find for that classic JRPG experience.
PSIV was, for me, more than anything else a formative game. I distinctly remember the art style catching my eye as a child, with its 80s anime "cutscenes" something I had never really seen before. It definitely was the start of me noticing there were styles and genres I liked, and probably kicked off my interest in anime.
The story is pretty standard 80s jrpg fare, with a pretty cool "after the end" post future, buried tech, fantasy kind of setting, which is really helped by the soundtrack popping out of the iconic synthy bweoowwy genesis sound chip. Chaz and the gang are decent enough characters, not terribly complex but not paper thin either. Rune fucks. Canonically.
If the game suffers it's mostly in the localization, with the mega drive/genesis having limited memory space for English translations, hence the characters all having 4 letter names. The spells and abilities have very short or abbreviated names that require trial and error to figure out the functions of, unless you have the manual (which I did not).
The combo abilities are really cool (and predate Chrono Trigger by two years!) and the macro function is a helpful tool to speed up battles and ensure those combo abilities can be executed, but again, it takes some trial and error to figure out how it works if you're a dumb kid without the manual like me.
For the time, for the console, for the genre, Phantasy Star IV is probably the best offering you could find for that classic JRPG experience.
This review contains spoilers
Definitely one of the better classic JRPGs I've gone through. PSIV offers the soul, likable cast and sense of adventure you expect from a quality JRPG with its own unique twists. The sci-fi setting, complete with planet hopping, robots and beam weapons sets it apart from the other JRPGs of the time which were largely dominated by medieval fantasy. The aspect of PSIV that I especially appreciate was the cutscene images. Even though they were just showing character expressions or poses as they talked, it can't be stated enough how much more alive it makes the dialogue feel compared to just having the sprites standing around with textboxes and maybe small face portraits. While the plot is standard "save the universe" material, the fact that you travel to several different planets and help people there helps emphasize the scale of the threat and reinforce your sense of importance. The story also manages to have a surprisingly emotional moment or 2 thanks to Alys's unexpected early death scene. The party in PSIV is particularly impressive, partially thanks to the fan re-translation which helped the characters' personalities shine through better. Alys is a charismatic role model, Rune is arrogant but undeniably cool and seeing him warm up to Chazz over the course of the game is a delight, Chazz is a quality example of a coming-of-age character arc, Wren is the stoic but dependable android and Rika is really cute with a great design. The rotating 5th party member slot also does a good job of keeping the party and its interactions fresh, especially with Raja who's extremely endearing. The gameplay is pretty par for the course but the distinctions between human and android characters as well as characters having separate skill and technique systems helps it feel fresh enough. I also like the presentation of the fights in which you see the characters fight from the back. Unfortunately the dungeons can be pretty bland and the encounter rate is too high but that's pretty common for classic JRPGs. The music is nice but repetitive apart from major scenes.
This game really gets elevated by the way it animates it's cutscenes. I saw nothing like it in other games on the Genesis/SNES. I thought it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but it really helps with the immersion. I would give this game half a star just for those alone. Just imagine Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest games having them like this. I wonder why they don't do these kind of cutscenes on snes based indiegames these days, it really is a lost art.
It also reminds me of Dragon Quest 3 in the ways it connects with earlier Phantasy Star games and the lore of those games (except 3, they want you to forget that one). PS 1 wasn't really that loreheavy, but 2 was and it is great to see the characters rediscover what happened in the millennia before. It does it in a way like the Trigun anime, with advanced technology lost, and people trying to make the best with what they still know of it. I love that kind of setting, and while the year it came out holds back it's full potential, the story was interesting throughout.
The gameplay is the regular JRPG experience of the time (turn based, high encounter rate, some grinding required), with the added annoyance of having to try out and remember what each spell and skill does, because the names of them are not intuitive and there is no description what they do. Hated it in Lufia and hated it here.
This definitely is the best JRPG on the Genesis, and better than a whole lot of those on the SNES. Highly influential with the way it does party chat and develops it's cast. I'm pretty sure this is a game the developers of games like Tales of Phantasia and Legend of Heroes looked at. The whole hunter association and how you can complete jobs for it is really familiar to the adventures guild Legend of Heroes came up with not much later, and that eventually evolved in the Bracer guild from the Trails series.
It's a shame there never was a PS 5, there was potential to chase the darkness in other solar systems. I guess some later PS titles go into that (the PSP ones which i didn't play), but i heard it was not on a level a good main line title could have. And PS online is a MMO.
It also reminds me of Dragon Quest 3 in the ways it connects with earlier Phantasy Star games and the lore of those games (except 3, they want you to forget that one). PS 1 wasn't really that loreheavy, but 2 was and it is great to see the characters rediscover what happened in the millennia before. It does it in a way like the Trigun anime, with advanced technology lost, and people trying to make the best with what they still know of it. I love that kind of setting, and while the year it came out holds back it's full potential, the story was interesting throughout.
The gameplay is the regular JRPG experience of the time (turn based, high encounter rate, some grinding required), with the added annoyance of having to try out and remember what each spell and skill does, because the names of them are not intuitive and there is no description what they do. Hated it in Lufia and hated it here.
This definitely is the best JRPG on the Genesis, and better than a whole lot of those on the SNES. Highly influential with the way it does party chat and develops it's cast. I'm pretty sure this is a game the developers of games like Tales of Phantasia and Legend of Heroes looked at. The whole hunter association and how you can complete jobs for it is really familiar to the adventures guild Legend of Heroes came up with not much later, and that eventually evolved in the Bracer guild from the Trails series.
It's a shame there never was a PS 5, there was potential to chase the darkness in other solar systems. I guess some later PS titles go into that (the PSP ones which i didn't play), but i heard it was not on a level a good main line title could have. And PS online is a MMO.
The coziest I've ever felt in my entire life was when I entered that cave filled with cute kitten O_O
Imagine walking through a park and triggering a battle every time you step on an ant. That is what this game feels like. Would have been great otherwise
Imagine walking through a park and triggering a battle every time you step on an ant. That is what this game feels like. Would have been great otherwise
Released three years after Phantasy Star III, Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium is an impressive leap forward in quality, weaving the best elements of their past games together while accomplishing their narrative zenith. More than just being a glorious conclusion and a tribute to their past games, Phantasy Star IV stood apart as one of the first genuine efforts in developing a character-centric JRPG story, a process that began with Ys several years before. While the characters were derivative and the plot was conventional, their execution and style was monumental. It was ultimately a conscious focus on rendering involved character interactions, dramatic story moments, and for the first time, impactful character development. This release continued the genre's transition from old grind-based JRPGs towards a future defined by character subplots and heavier story moments.
Finally played through the game in Japanese and I really liked it a lot. The writing, especially in the earlier parts, is full of personality, and the plot really moves along extremely quickly.
I still really like the battle system; again, fast and generally easy to operate, with the only really clunky bit (using equipment as items - which turns out to be key to making the game much easier) being largely alleviated by intelligent use of the macro system.
Overall if there's a weakness, it's that in general it's quite short and easy, especially if you know what you're doing. When I first played it in the 90s it was very much my first JRPG and, combined with not having the manual to hand, I ended up mostly grinding my way through any problems. This time around, knowing what does what, it's actually a pretty standard fight and heal type system. Dungeons I remember being massive slogs actually go by extremely smoothly, buffs make boss encounters much more manageable, and good use of some of the equipment as items massively reduces the amount of magic and skills you need to deploy in the field.
In the end though the whole package comes together so well, in spite of the fact it's nearly 30 years old at this point. It's not super long but there's loads of variety. The script's lively, the story is constantly moving forward and the cut-in graphics do such a good job of raising the presentation you could add an intro animation and some CD music and you'd have a damn good Mega CD game. Essential.
I still really like the battle system; again, fast and generally easy to operate, with the only really clunky bit (using equipment as items - which turns out to be key to making the game much easier) being largely alleviated by intelligent use of the macro system.
Overall if there's a weakness, it's that in general it's quite short and easy, especially if you know what you're doing. When I first played it in the 90s it was very much my first JRPG and, combined with not having the manual to hand, I ended up mostly grinding my way through any problems. This time around, knowing what does what, it's actually a pretty standard fight and heal type system. Dungeons I remember being massive slogs actually go by extremely smoothly, buffs make boss encounters much more manageable, and good use of some of the equipment as items massively reduces the amount of magic and skills you need to deploy in the field.
In the end though the whole package comes together so well, in spite of the fact it's nearly 30 years old at this point. It's not super long but there's loads of variety. The script's lively, the story is constantly moving forward and the cut-in graphics do such a good job of raising the presentation you could add an intro animation and some CD music and you'd have a damn good Mega CD game. Essential.
All my homies pick Raja for the final dungeon. Ataraxia is a hell of a drug
I most enjoyed the manga-panel style of cutscenes that would happen from time to time. Nice art.
The characters are fun although they weren't particularly fleshed out and one of the interesting pupil-student relationships gets killed off early on, replaced by a bunch of characters who barely say anything or vanish pretty quickly. Too many twists are followed by more twists that it starts to become predictable, and the dungeon design also gets repetitive. Some of the boss fights can be tricky although I rarely felt like I was using any interesting strategy besides carefully managing my healing. Some great music though, was fun to hear how it got remixed into some Phantasy Star Online music (e.g. the VR areas in PSO Episode 2)
The characters are fun although they weren't particularly fleshed out and one of the interesting pupil-student relationships gets killed off early on, replaced by a bunch of characters who barely say anything or vanish pretty quickly. Too many twists are followed by more twists that it starts to become predictable, and the dungeon design also gets repetitive. Some of the boss fights can be tricky although I rarely felt like I was using any interesting strategy besides carefully managing my healing. Some great music though, was fun to hear how it got remixed into some Phantasy Star Online music (e.g. the VR areas in PSO Episode 2)
(sonic's ultimate genesis collection 19/40)
this was, shockingly good after playing phantasy star II. far more lenient, far more fun, and most of all just far more captivating. the characters are all memorable and interesting to get to know, and it led to some honestly pretty touching moments, which in II were kind of negated because nobody was really fleshed out enough to get attached to. the games are about the same length i think, but certainly didn't feel like it bc grinding in particular has been toned down a lot in comparison. there are still moments of it, but the macro feature and also just better exp from enemies makes it go a lot smoother now.
overall was very, very pleasantly surprised by this game, and it is truthfully one of the strongest i've come across in the collection so far. i could see it staying that way, but we'll see.
i still have III to do lol. that game looks like dogwater
this was, shockingly good after playing phantasy star II. far more lenient, far more fun, and most of all just far more captivating. the characters are all memorable and interesting to get to know, and it led to some honestly pretty touching moments, which in II were kind of negated because nobody was really fleshed out enough to get attached to. the games are about the same length i think, but certainly didn't feel like it bc grinding in particular has been toned down a lot in comparison. there are still moments of it, but the macro feature and also just better exp from enemies makes it go a lot smoother now.
overall was very, very pleasantly surprised by this game, and it is truthfully one of the strongest i've come across in the collection so far. i could see it staying that way, but we'll see.
i still have III to do lol. that game looks like dogwater
honestly not as good as i expected, but i may have le nostalgia googles for PSII tho lol
Hot damn. Like, HOT DAMN. I had heard that this game was the best RPG on the mega drive, but I always thought that it was just going to be an above-average game since the other PS games, while solid, weren't phenomenal to me and the mega drive isn't really known for its RPG library anyways. What I ended up playing was not only the best RPG on the mega drive, but one of the best games on the system period. The plot and characters are very well written, the cutscenes are more cinematic than most SEGA CD games I've played, and the pacing is absolutely on point. The game also rewards players of previous games with lore and references, yet doesn't indulge so much in them that new players will be left out. Genuinely a masterpiece of retro RPGs and absolutely worth playing.
Phantasy Star 4 is one of the most well-paced JRPGs I've ever played that can be comfortably beaten in under 15 hours. So how and why did I stretch it to an experience that was over 30 hours long? Hey, let's talk how it really drew me into its world in every way imaginable for the 2nd or 3rd or phantillionth (number of copies it sold) time.
Gameplay:
Phantasy Star 4 seems like standard JRPG affair at first glance. Everybody can use attacks, items, techniques/magic, and defensive positions. However, it builds on the familiar mechanics of the genres in ways that make it accessible to newcomers while also having surprising QOL to veterans such as myself.
I'm just going to say straightup I think the macro system should be in every JRPG. The player is given 8 command prompts to fill out where they can use a combination of inputs for every character in their party with a single click. Want everybody in the party to just attack? Set that to macro A? Want everybody in the party to guard? Macro B! Healing spells in C, status ailments in D, strongest techs in E, combos in F....
Oh that's right, not only are status ailments in this game actually useful (to the point I would have never beaten bosses like the castle owner without barriers or speedup) but there are combination attacks and different types of special moves. Skills can be used so long as the character has a pool of shared TP resources, while techniques can only be used a set number of times without resting. This helps to encourage the player saving their resources for boss fights or truly tough random encounters rather than just mashing their strongest attacks endlessly, especially since TP restores are practically non-existent outside of Ataraxia and the inventory space is limited as is.
The combination attacks are never really brought up in the game sadly but they look quite cool and ones like tri-blaster, blizzard, or grand cross proved to be immensely useful across the game while also looking immensely badass. My favourite is the Black Hole, which has a massive chance to absorb enemies into nothingness (yes, a JRPG where instadeath spells are actually useful, crazy right?) and can be seen here https://youtu.be/gI54FwiI6kQ?t=8
Unfortunately, the combination attacks are rather... clumsy. In a way it's unfair to compare this to Chrono Trigger since CT came out over a year later, but fuck it Sega's a big boy and I feel the comparison is warranted. CT's interface with combination attacks was incredibly intuitive; simple press the combo button and there would be a 100% chance of a combo coming out. In Phantasy Star 4, it is a dice roll if a combination attack comes out or if the characters simply perform their individual attacks. This wouldn't be such a problem, except resources in this game are extremely limited. This creates an almost unfair amount of RNG, but the game is still perfectly manageable even with this in mind so it's not a huge knock. I feel there was greater potential for the combo system, but it's still ultimately a net positive in my eyes.
Exploration is rather one of a kind as well. Every vehicle feels like real thought was put into it. The player can use an ice digger or airship, but they have notable limits; the airship cannot fly above the tallest mountains in the world and both vehicles have unique sets of weapons and sensors that render the battles looking entirely different from within their cockpits. The polish is simply unreal. Just be careful not to fight giant enemies without a vehicle, or suffer the same fate as me here
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129254943530950738/Phantasy_Star_IV_USA_patched_Genesis_-_BizHawk_2023-07-08_00-52-59.mp4
Overall the exploration is always fresh, and like all the 16-bit JRPG greats it has several world maps to explore with their own sets of sidequests and memorable dialogue. I also appreciate how characters use their spells in cutscenes (such as GiRes after the Zio battle) since it makes for a dope way to intertwine gameplay with story, which brings me to my next section.
Story:
Phantasy Star 4 may be a grand interstellar war epic, but it's really the little moments that make it. It may just be the earliest JRPG I can think of with party chat, which is of course hilarious when Chaz and Rune get into pissing contests like an old married couple over and over again.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129256255286956113/image.png
The NPC dialogue hardly feels like some by the books "thou shalt visit the town northeast of here!" On the contrary, so many NPCs feel alive. Basically every NPC in the game has new sets of dialogue depending on whether something happens in the world such as an earthquake in the city over in one cutscene. There's even a city that gradually gets rebuilt after the player finds it destroyed. The main characters and NPCs alike also sound very human with their jokes or concerns, with some of the following lines being favourites of mine
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129256817470484531/image.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129257068512157696/56.png
Further, the game tackles some pretty serious issues in surprisingly grounded ways. At one point, a city is closed off, so the NPCs go full "fuck capitalism" mode after the merchants use this to their advantage to raise the prices of essential goods. It's rather stunning to see this handled so competently in a space fantasy game.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129257521761222787/image.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129257521983528970/53.png
Then of course there are the doomerpilled NPCs worrying about climate change, all while the player slowly gets to see the world fade to shit.
But more than the serious issues, it's the tiny touches in the game that make the characters feel humans. Just about every house in the game has items like stoves, bookshelves, and so forth. Not only can the player decorate their house with souvenirs while Chaz gets called out for his tacky taste in furniture, but the description of things like the bookshelves actually change depending on the NPC's house. The NPC who is obsessed with birds has books about animals, the outcast in the village is noted for not cleaning his dishes for days on end, etc. There's even an easter egg where Chaz will attempt to open someone's cabinets without permission and get scolded for it after constantly telling the player it's rude to steal from the houses of other people.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129258464103903262/21.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129258464418463785/22.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129258464720465940/23.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129258464993087528/24.png
I can't mention the bookshelves without mentioning all the lovely Sega easter eggs too. The game does a pretty great job establishing my boy Chaz the chad as a geek with moments like him having no idea a prostitute is hitting on him, but I think what really sells it is his enthusiasm to stop saving the world for a detour to play Game Gear games. He just like me for real for real.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129258980422717561/41.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129258979827142787/19.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129258980129112094/20.png
When talking about Phantasy Star 4's story, plenty of people have mentioned how it's this solar system spanning story about saving the universe and how shocking several moments are (it's one of the only JRPGs I can think of where a particular death scene feels long and dragged out rather than some fantastical "going out in a blaze of glory" style scene) but for me, again, it's really all the tiny things that just add up. The flames in one village just being ordinary flames instead of religious candle lights to signify which civilizations worship a particular religion... sometimes less dialogue truly is more.
All around, the story is not only a fantastic adventure, but also a comfy simulator for the life of a traveler. And it's one hell of a great tribute to Sega as a whole, especially the older Phantasy Star games. Endless tributes exist in the form of cool flashback scenes, remixed music, Alis' sword being equippable, the cat cave, returning bosses, some expy characters like Rika, etc. But to me the coolest tribute has got to be that if the player slips past the bounds of one village and travels all around the outskirts, they can find a hidden shop with the shortcakes from the first Phantasy Star. Simply epic sauce.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129260815577518190/image.png
Visuals:
The Phantasy Star series has always set itself apart with anime styled cutscenes and extremely expressive characters. 4 is no exception in that regard. Which Chaz reaction image are you today?
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129261758310256790/image.png
Is Phantasy Star 4 sakuga? Discuss!
Be it in dialogue boxes or extended cutscenes, every character in this game is full of various expressions. And this includes the enemies as well. Every attacked is fully animated with characters performing unique animations for casting moves as mentioned earlier, but what I didn't mention was... the Rappy's sick fucking dance moves? Cus that's totally a thing
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129262231029293117/Phantasy_Star_IV_USA_patched_Genesis_-_BizHawk_2023-07-13_23-01-14.mp4
Every world looks visually distinct and there's simply a plethora of unique sprites. One world may look snowy while another is earthlike. All sorts of alien species' coexist, with Raja being a favourite character of mine for his unique appearance of being a green alien dude who is also a priest. https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/phantasystar/images/d/df/Raja_portrait.png/revision/latest?cb=20151204000221
He's also 85 years old, which makes him the oldest playable JRPG character in existence by a solid 60+ years
Obviously it's not quite as visually stunning as something like Tales of Phantasia due to the lack of mode 7 or proper transparency support on the Genesis, but damn does it try its best and honestly it's so well stylized with its anime approach that I can't see it as anything but a visual masterpiece for the system.
Audio:
Hands down, Phantasy Star 4 has one of the best soundtracks in the medium due to its sheer variety of new songs and remixes. I'll never forget how flashbanged I felt by Sega going "what if we put the best remix of Opa-Opa's theme in an optional dancing scene 5 hours into this JRPG?" (Yet another based Sega homage!)
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1048770623805079633/1124870893936578640/Phantasy_Star_IV_USA_patched_Genesis_-_BizHawk_2023-07-01_00-47-42.mp4
Shoutout to the sound effects, the random penguin with Ristar's voice stealing my expensive ass food out of nowhere still gets a smile out of me too.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129263979710140437/Phantasy_Star_IV_USA_patched_Genesis_-_BizHawk_2023-07-09_05-35-30.mp4
Anyhow, the main thing that sets 4's soundtrack apart to me is its variety. Not one but 2 crazy remixes of the dungeon theme from the first Phantasy Star, 3 unique world map themes, some of the most unconventional boss themes of all time... oh and the drums aren't fucked up in the NA version like with Phantasy Star 2! Just a W all around.
Remember kids, you can't spell slaughter without laughter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao2LP75E7ac
TLDR
Phantasy Star 4 is a game that's well worth anyone's time, be they general JRPG fans or just Sega enthusiasts. Even if one didn't enjoy the first 3 Phantasy Stars, 4 has a level of polish with its NPC dialogue and battle QOL that makes almost any other JRPG pale in comparison. It's not quite simple but not quite complex, it's constantly keeping things fresh, it does things with the genre that are unique to this day, and it's the ultimate JRPG love letter to Sega and the sci-fi genre. Also Chaz is my son and Rune is my boywife. That is all.
Gameplay:
Phantasy Star 4 seems like standard JRPG affair at first glance. Everybody can use attacks, items, techniques/magic, and defensive positions. However, it builds on the familiar mechanics of the genres in ways that make it accessible to newcomers while also having surprising QOL to veterans such as myself.
I'm just going to say straightup I think the macro system should be in every JRPG. The player is given 8 command prompts to fill out where they can use a combination of inputs for every character in their party with a single click. Want everybody in the party to just attack? Set that to macro A? Want everybody in the party to guard? Macro B! Healing spells in C, status ailments in D, strongest techs in E, combos in F....
Oh that's right, not only are status ailments in this game actually useful (to the point I would have never beaten bosses like the castle owner without barriers or speedup) but there are combination attacks and different types of special moves. Skills can be used so long as the character has a pool of shared TP resources, while techniques can only be used a set number of times without resting. This helps to encourage the player saving their resources for boss fights or truly tough random encounters rather than just mashing their strongest attacks endlessly, especially since TP restores are practically non-existent outside of Ataraxia and the inventory space is limited as is.
The combination attacks are never really brought up in the game sadly but they look quite cool and ones like tri-blaster, blizzard, or grand cross proved to be immensely useful across the game while also looking immensely badass. My favourite is the Black Hole, which has a massive chance to absorb enemies into nothingness (yes, a JRPG where instadeath spells are actually useful, crazy right?) and can be seen here https://youtu.be/gI54FwiI6kQ?t=8
Unfortunately, the combination attacks are rather... clumsy. In a way it's unfair to compare this to Chrono Trigger since CT came out over a year later, but fuck it Sega's a big boy and I feel the comparison is warranted. CT's interface with combination attacks was incredibly intuitive; simple press the combo button and there would be a 100% chance of a combo coming out. In Phantasy Star 4, it is a dice roll if a combination attack comes out or if the characters simply perform their individual attacks. This wouldn't be such a problem, except resources in this game are extremely limited. This creates an almost unfair amount of RNG, but the game is still perfectly manageable even with this in mind so it's not a huge knock. I feel there was greater potential for the combo system, but it's still ultimately a net positive in my eyes.
Exploration is rather one of a kind as well. Every vehicle feels like real thought was put into it. The player can use an ice digger or airship, but they have notable limits; the airship cannot fly above the tallest mountains in the world and both vehicles have unique sets of weapons and sensors that render the battles looking entirely different from within their cockpits. The polish is simply unreal. Just be careful not to fight giant enemies without a vehicle, or suffer the same fate as me here
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129254943530950738/Phantasy_Star_IV_USA_patched_Genesis_-_BizHawk_2023-07-08_00-52-59.mp4
Overall the exploration is always fresh, and like all the 16-bit JRPG greats it has several world maps to explore with their own sets of sidequests and memorable dialogue. I also appreciate how characters use their spells in cutscenes (such as GiRes after the Zio battle) since it makes for a dope way to intertwine gameplay with story, which brings me to my next section.
Story:
Phantasy Star 4 may be a grand interstellar war epic, but it's really the little moments that make it. It may just be the earliest JRPG I can think of with party chat, which is of course hilarious when Chaz and Rune get into pissing contests like an old married couple over and over again.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129256255286956113/image.png
The NPC dialogue hardly feels like some by the books "thou shalt visit the town northeast of here!" On the contrary, so many NPCs feel alive. Basically every NPC in the game has new sets of dialogue depending on whether something happens in the world such as an earthquake in the city over in one cutscene. There's even a city that gradually gets rebuilt after the player finds it destroyed. The main characters and NPCs alike also sound very human with their jokes or concerns, with some of the following lines being favourites of mine
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129256817470484531/image.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129257068512157696/56.png
Further, the game tackles some pretty serious issues in surprisingly grounded ways. At one point, a city is closed off, so the NPCs go full "fuck capitalism" mode after the merchants use this to their advantage to raise the prices of essential goods. It's rather stunning to see this handled so competently in a space fantasy game.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129257521761222787/image.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129257521983528970/53.png
Then of course there are the doomerpilled NPCs worrying about climate change, all while the player slowly gets to see the world fade to shit.
But more than the serious issues, it's the tiny touches in the game that make the characters feel humans. Just about every house in the game has items like stoves, bookshelves, and so forth. Not only can the player decorate their house with souvenirs while Chaz gets called out for his tacky taste in furniture, but the description of things like the bookshelves actually change depending on the NPC's house. The NPC who is obsessed with birds has books about animals, the outcast in the village is noted for not cleaning his dishes for days on end, etc. There's even an easter egg where Chaz will attempt to open someone's cabinets without permission and get scolded for it after constantly telling the player it's rude to steal from the houses of other people.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129258464103903262/21.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129258464418463785/22.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129258464720465940/23.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129258464993087528/24.png
I can't mention the bookshelves without mentioning all the lovely Sega easter eggs too. The game does a pretty great job establishing my boy Chaz the chad as a geek with moments like him having no idea a prostitute is hitting on him, but I think what really sells it is his enthusiasm to stop saving the world for a detour to play Game Gear games. He just like me for real for real.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129258980422717561/41.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129258979827142787/19.png
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129258980129112094/20.png
When talking about Phantasy Star 4's story, plenty of people have mentioned how it's this solar system spanning story about saving the universe and how shocking several moments are (it's one of the only JRPGs I can think of where a particular death scene feels long and dragged out rather than some fantastical "going out in a blaze of glory" style scene) but for me, again, it's really all the tiny things that just add up. The flames in one village just being ordinary flames instead of religious candle lights to signify which civilizations worship a particular religion... sometimes less dialogue truly is more.
All around, the story is not only a fantastic adventure, but also a comfy simulator for the life of a traveler. And it's one hell of a great tribute to Sega as a whole, especially the older Phantasy Star games. Endless tributes exist in the form of cool flashback scenes, remixed music, Alis' sword being equippable, the cat cave, returning bosses, some expy characters like Rika, etc. But to me the coolest tribute has got to be that if the player slips past the bounds of one village and travels all around the outskirts, they can find a hidden shop with the shortcakes from the first Phantasy Star. Simply epic sauce.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129260815577518190/image.png
Visuals:
The Phantasy Star series has always set itself apart with anime styled cutscenes and extremely expressive characters. 4 is no exception in that regard. Which Chaz reaction image are you today?
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129261758310256790/image.png
Is Phantasy Star 4 sakuga? Discuss!
Be it in dialogue boxes or extended cutscenes, every character in this game is full of various expressions. And this includes the enemies as well. Every attacked is fully animated with characters performing unique animations for casting moves as mentioned earlier, but what I didn't mention was... the Rappy's sick fucking dance moves? Cus that's totally a thing
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129262231029293117/Phantasy_Star_IV_USA_patched_Genesis_-_BizHawk_2023-07-13_23-01-14.mp4
Every world looks visually distinct and there's simply a plethora of unique sprites. One world may look snowy while another is earthlike. All sorts of alien species' coexist, with Raja being a favourite character of mine for his unique appearance of being a green alien dude who is also a priest. https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/phantasystar/images/d/df/Raja_portrait.png/revision/latest?cb=20151204000221
He's also 85 years old, which makes him the oldest playable JRPG character in existence by a solid 60+ years
Obviously it's not quite as visually stunning as something like Tales of Phantasia due to the lack of mode 7 or proper transparency support on the Genesis, but damn does it try its best and honestly it's so well stylized with its anime approach that I can't see it as anything but a visual masterpiece for the system.
Audio:
Hands down, Phantasy Star 4 has one of the best soundtracks in the medium due to its sheer variety of new songs and remixes. I'll never forget how flashbanged I felt by Sega going "what if we put the best remix of Opa-Opa's theme in an optional dancing scene 5 hours into this JRPG?" (Yet another based Sega homage!)
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1048770623805079633/1124870893936578640/Phantasy_Star_IV_USA_patched_Genesis_-_BizHawk_2023-07-01_00-47-42.mp4
Shoutout to the sound effects, the random penguin with Ristar's voice stealing my expensive ass food out of nowhere still gets a smile out of me too.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1094162928644653057/1129263979710140437/Phantasy_Star_IV_USA_patched_Genesis_-_BizHawk_2023-07-09_05-35-30.mp4
Anyhow, the main thing that sets 4's soundtrack apart to me is its variety. Not one but 2 crazy remixes of the dungeon theme from the first Phantasy Star, 3 unique world map themes, some of the most unconventional boss themes of all time... oh and the drums aren't fucked up in the NA version like with Phantasy Star 2! Just a W all around.
Remember kids, you can't spell slaughter without laughter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao2LP75E7ac
TLDR
Phantasy Star 4 is a game that's well worth anyone's time, be they general JRPG fans or just Sega enthusiasts. Even if one didn't enjoy the first 3 Phantasy Stars, 4 has a level of polish with its NPC dialogue and battle QOL that makes almost any other JRPG pale in comparison. It's not quite simple but not quite complex, it's constantly keeping things fresh, it does things with the genre that are unique to this day, and it's the ultimate JRPG love letter to Sega and the sci-fi genre. Also Chaz is my son and Rune is my boywife. That is all.
Pointless fanservice wankfest going back on the prior game’s actual experimentation
Strong vibes, excellent narration and solid 16 bit jrpg adventuring with an overall difficulty curve just on the right spot..for the most parts.
Personally I feel like the story started of stronger than it ended up with, but the cartoon styled cutscenes were super cool and plentiful, while the pacing never dropped throughout its 20 or so hour run.
The inventory menu is easily the weakest aspect with zero item/ gear stat or spell descriptions, and there are A LOT of spells and skills to keep track of, so holding a sheet with descriptions on the side is absolutely essential to play through this.
While dungeons are a lot easier to traverse than Phantasy Star II, they still have no checkpoints, so if you game over it's straight back to the title screen.
Phantasy Star 4 also loves throwing gimmick bosses at you, so be ready to suddenly get wiped because you didnt use a requisite item or weapon.
Even with its share of flaws and less intuitive design choices, it's still a fantastic jrpg worth the trouble.
Personally I feel like the story started of stronger than it ended up with, but the cartoon styled cutscenes were super cool and plentiful, while the pacing never dropped throughout its 20 or so hour run.
The inventory menu is easily the weakest aspect with zero item/ gear stat or spell descriptions, and there are A LOT of spells and skills to keep track of, so holding a sheet with descriptions on the side is absolutely essential to play through this.
While dungeons are a lot easier to traverse than Phantasy Star II, they still have no checkpoints, so if you game over it's straight back to the title screen.
Phantasy Star 4 also loves throwing gimmick bosses at you, so be ready to suddenly get wiped because you didnt use a requisite item or weapon.
Even with its share of flaws and less intuitive design choices, it's still a fantastic jrpg worth the trouble.
Ah Phantasy Star 4.
I decided to replay this on a whim after some friends decided against it as a game club pick, and with cheats and such I was done in about 6 hours or so.
It's just such a wonderful experience. Planet hopping, offing the big bad guy(s), funny dialogue, gorgeous looking graphics. I just adore it.
I don't have incredibly deep thoughts, but I just like it a lot.
I decided to replay this on a whim after some friends decided against it as a game club pick, and with cheats and such I was done in about 6 hours or so.
It's just such a wonderful experience. Planet hopping, offing the big bad guy(s), funny dialogue, gorgeous looking graphics. I just adore it.
I don't have incredibly deep thoughts, but I just like it a lot.
Something I really like to do when trying out a new franchise is starting from the beginning - I love playing through a series and seeing how it grew with each successive entry, even if it means trudging through some frankly horribly aged games. Phantasy Star is, bar none, the epitome of this kind of endeavour; it kinda baffles me how they kept hammering at this franchise after III, but man am I glad that they did. IV is, in my opinion, one of the greats of the 16-bit era, thanks to its unique presentation and consistent game flow. To explain why IV is so good, at least for me, in greater detail, though, a bit of a lengthy summary of my experience with the series is needed. You can skip straight to my thoughts on IV if you want, though. It'll be clearly marked.
Phantasy Star was a game that was certainly interesting for the time, electing to take place in the sci-fi-fantasy hybrid Algol Solar System. It still had very obvious roots in contemporary jrpgs for the time, but definitely stood out, being one of, if not the first game in the genre to feature multiple differing overworlds - a year before Dragon Quest III and three before Final Fantasy III. The 3D dungeons and their smooth scrolling were undeniably impressive for the time as well, with other dungeon crawlers like Digital Devil Story - Megami Tensei and the Wizardry series being several leagues behind in terms of presentation. Despite all this, the game aged pretty poorly, with the endeavour of playing it nowadays being slow, grindy and obtuse. Even the Sega Ages re-release wasn't able to solve the latter. It is nonetheless one of the pioneers of the JRPG genre, and provides the setting and baseline lore that the rest of the series would build on. Naturally, the sequel would build on this and be an improvement, right?
Right????
Yeah. When I left a review for Phantasy Star II initially, all I did was say; "Dungeon design is my passion", and gave it one star. That's not a lot to go by, aside from the dungeon design being terrible. Maybe I was a bit too harsh, but let me tell you; unless you have played the game yourself, you have no IDEA how labyrinthian and contrived Phantasy Star II's dungeons truly are. I genuinely cannot properly express how miserable they are to play through. They're horrendously mazey, moreso than Phantasy Star I's actual mazes for dungeons (that were at least easy to draw on on paper), absolutely full of dead ends and paths designed to waste your time and put you in a loop, and require you to search them from top to bottom to progress. Most of Phantasy Star II IS the dungeons, too. You'll spend more time in them than on the overworld, or in towns, because the thing you need to do or get in order to progress will almost always be in one of them. Oh, and the walkspeed is just as slow as the first game on top of it having a higher encounter rate and somehow being even grindier. You're admittedly fed more story than PSI, and the ways it continues the first game's narrative are actually cool. The ending is also a really unique, interesting twist, and some of the revelations and developments around the mid-game have a permanent effect on the Algol Solar System that are touched on in later entries in the series, and referred to as historical events. Still, any semblence of story is so infrequent and requires so much reading between the lines that it just isn't worth the play. What is worth it, though, is reading a plot synopsis, as doing that will do the game and its impact on the rest of the series far more justice than actually playing it. I highly recommend watching this video by Mr. Gentleman on Youtube for this purpose: https://youtube.com/watch?v=k3QN8HxMkIw
The next game, Phantasy Star III - Successors of Time as it was dubbed in Japan, or Generations of Doom as it was dubbed in the west, was a bit of an odd experiment. Essentially, development was handed to a B-Team, and the end result was something very different to the games that came both before and after it. It's a game that still inherited its fair share of flaws from its predecessors, but made an active effort to rectify some of them. It feels like Sega just wanted to test the waters a little with a filler entry and see what changes needed to be made for the Algol saga's finale to truly be remembered fondly. Grinding no longer became necessary, for one, but most importantly, III dropped II's dungeon design philosophy and instead opted for simple albeit mazey 1-2 floor ventures. They were far from ideal, but perfectly tolerable. One thing that people often point out about Phantasy Star III though is the dismally slow walking speed. Yeah, they made it even slower, for some reason, and I'm convinced that complaints from reviewers convinced the devs to finally increase the default walking speed in IV. While Phantasy Star I and II were marred by archaic game design and inexperienced developers, III is actually tolerable to play through for the most part, but it's still far from a must-play. By this point, the story in these games was still being dripfed, and III was heavily disconnected from the first two games in the series. The series was starting to fall behind competitors in both quality and quantity, and it needed a title that would not only mark an end of the Algol saga, but prove that the Mega Drive was more than capable of housing worthwhile JRPGs.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>THE ACTUAL REVIEW<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Historically, the Mega Drive hasn't really been a console that was known for its JRPGs. The Super Nintendo had numerous prolific Squaresoft, Enix and Atlus games to its name, but the Mega Drive only housed a few notable series and standalone titles. Needless to say, it was a tough sell for fans of JRPGs. Fastforward 30 years later, though, and games like Shining Force II and Phantasy Star IV place very favourably in JRPG rankings; so what happened?
An actually good video game happened. A game with superb worldbuilding and contextualisation of past titles' events. A game with presentation that not only raised the bar for limited 16-bit consoles but for the genre as a whole. A game with actual characters and discernable character development nearly a whole year before Final Fantasy VI. Most importantly though, Phantasy Star IV was a game that understood the fundamental, core appeal of the genre. I can't understate how satisfying and refreshing Phantasy Star IV was after the first three games. I went from dozing off in the sloggish labyrinths of PSI and II, constantly looking to a guide in hopes of getting them over with as soon as possible, to enjoying just about every second of IV, not thinking once of turning to any external help. It was the game I got into the series for, so it needed to live up to the praises I'd seen online, and it delivered.
Addressing the elephant in the room - yes, the encounter rate is pretty high - but it becomes a non issue considering that battles are faster than ever, and the macro system lets you customize auto-battling to deal with encounters to your liking. It also helps that grinding is never required, and bosses generally remain challenging. The walking speed is practically tripled from past games in the series, as well, so you'll never be on the overworld or in a dungeon for too long. On the topic of dungeons, they're actually pretty well designed, being concise and short, but not lacking complexity or branching paths. TP and skill uses are very finite, and, for the most of the game, are irreplenishable in dungeons, so resource management is paramount. Enemy and character sprites in battles are beautifully detailed and animated, and the battle theme has this distinct Mega Drive twang to it that I love. The game part of Phantasy Star IV is all around just incredibly solid, even compared to many other JRPGs.
I adore the manga style cutscenes, for one. They're extremely well illustrated and plentiful, helping to elevate the game's moments and story. The best thing that games could do at this point in time were FMVs, but those were heavy on storage and compressed to even display favourably on consoles that supported it, but Phantasy Star IV's way of storytelling proved to be far more effective and engrossing. Shockingly enough, basically no other game I can think of adapted this style with the same quality, consistency, and frequency, which is a damn shame. I can only imagine what it was like playing the game back when it released, seeing those cute closeups of Alys teasing Hahn, Chaz' many emotions, Rune's introduction, and so on, and thinking: video game story presentation had progressed.
The story admittedly isn't amazing; it's kinda tropey, but what it provides is definitely good. This is more than made up for by the previously mentioned stellar presentation, but also by how it validates players of the first three games with the references and alusions to events of the past, and the worldbuilding. I've referred to the connected story of these games as a saga, but I wouldn't be calling it that if it weren't for Phantasy Star IV. The passage of time and consequences of the preceding games' events are made no more apparent by the transformation of Motavia; the home planet and initial setting for Phantasy Star II and Phantasy Star IV. The Motavias of Phantasy Star I, II, and IV are almost entirely different, yet IV carries DNA of both prior incarnations. Abandoned, technologically advanced factories from II are being unearthed and becoming sites of archeological and historical interest, while the terraformed landscape has long since eroded and has mostly reverted to the desert that it was in the first game, with occasional patches of grassland and greenery still growing a thousand years after the collapse that stopped facilitating their growth. The game even starts with you visiting an academy that studies the past, the bookshelves being littered with historical accounts and notes, and the professors expressing their findings. Even the third game, despite being disconnected, is given representation in the form of a data log that had been long since lost to history. This aspect is probably my favourite of the game.
Phantasy Star IV ends the story of the Algol Solar System on an incredibly high note, both comparatively and relatively. It's one of the most unique JRPGs of the 16-bit era, embracing its sci-fi setting and affirming its, for the time, unparalleled presentation. While not a stand out game narratively, it's a must-play for anyone into JRPGs, and a cornerstone of the genre.
Phantasy Star was a game that was certainly interesting for the time, electing to take place in the sci-fi-fantasy hybrid Algol Solar System. It still had very obvious roots in contemporary jrpgs for the time, but definitely stood out, being one of, if not the first game in the genre to feature multiple differing overworlds - a year before Dragon Quest III and three before Final Fantasy III. The 3D dungeons and their smooth scrolling were undeniably impressive for the time as well, with other dungeon crawlers like Digital Devil Story - Megami Tensei and the Wizardry series being several leagues behind in terms of presentation. Despite all this, the game aged pretty poorly, with the endeavour of playing it nowadays being slow, grindy and obtuse. Even the Sega Ages re-release wasn't able to solve the latter. It is nonetheless one of the pioneers of the JRPG genre, and provides the setting and baseline lore that the rest of the series would build on. Naturally, the sequel would build on this and be an improvement, right?
Right????
Yeah. When I left a review for Phantasy Star II initially, all I did was say; "Dungeon design is my passion", and gave it one star. That's not a lot to go by, aside from the dungeon design being terrible. Maybe I was a bit too harsh, but let me tell you; unless you have played the game yourself, you have no IDEA how labyrinthian and contrived Phantasy Star II's dungeons truly are. I genuinely cannot properly express how miserable they are to play through. They're horrendously mazey, moreso than Phantasy Star I's actual mazes for dungeons (that were at least easy to draw on on paper), absolutely full of dead ends and paths designed to waste your time and put you in a loop, and require you to search them from top to bottom to progress. Most of Phantasy Star II IS the dungeons, too. You'll spend more time in them than on the overworld, or in towns, because the thing you need to do or get in order to progress will almost always be in one of them. Oh, and the walkspeed is just as slow as the first game on top of it having a higher encounter rate and somehow being even grindier. You're admittedly fed more story than PSI, and the ways it continues the first game's narrative are actually cool. The ending is also a really unique, interesting twist, and some of the revelations and developments around the mid-game have a permanent effect on the Algol Solar System that are touched on in later entries in the series, and referred to as historical events. Still, any semblence of story is so infrequent and requires so much reading between the lines that it just isn't worth the play. What is worth it, though, is reading a plot synopsis, as doing that will do the game and its impact on the rest of the series far more justice than actually playing it. I highly recommend watching this video by Mr. Gentleman on Youtube for this purpose: https://youtube.com/watch?v=k3QN8HxMkIw
The next game, Phantasy Star III - Successors of Time as it was dubbed in Japan, or Generations of Doom as it was dubbed in the west, was a bit of an odd experiment. Essentially, development was handed to a B-Team, and the end result was something very different to the games that came both before and after it. It's a game that still inherited its fair share of flaws from its predecessors, but made an active effort to rectify some of them. It feels like Sega just wanted to test the waters a little with a filler entry and see what changes needed to be made for the Algol saga's finale to truly be remembered fondly. Grinding no longer became necessary, for one, but most importantly, III dropped II's dungeon design philosophy and instead opted for simple albeit mazey 1-2 floor ventures. They were far from ideal, but perfectly tolerable. One thing that people often point out about Phantasy Star III though is the dismally slow walking speed. Yeah, they made it even slower, for some reason, and I'm convinced that complaints from reviewers convinced the devs to finally increase the default walking speed in IV. While Phantasy Star I and II were marred by archaic game design and inexperienced developers, III is actually tolerable to play through for the most part, but it's still far from a must-play. By this point, the story in these games was still being dripfed, and III was heavily disconnected from the first two games in the series. The series was starting to fall behind competitors in both quality and quantity, and it needed a title that would not only mark an end of the Algol saga, but prove that the Mega Drive was more than capable of housing worthwhile JRPGs.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>THE ACTUAL REVIEW<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Historically, the Mega Drive hasn't really been a console that was known for its JRPGs. The Super Nintendo had numerous prolific Squaresoft, Enix and Atlus games to its name, but the Mega Drive only housed a few notable series and standalone titles. Needless to say, it was a tough sell for fans of JRPGs. Fastforward 30 years later, though, and games like Shining Force II and Phantasy Star IV place very favourably in JRPG rankings; so what happened?
An actually good video game happened. A game with superb worldbuilding and contextualisation of past titles' events. A game with presentation that not only raised the bar for limited 16-bit consoles but for the genre as a whole. A game with actual characters and discernable character development nearly a whole year before Final Fantasy VI. Most importantly though, Phantasy Star IV was a game that understood the fundamental, core appeal of the genre. I can't understate how satisfying and refreshing Phantasy Star IV was after the first three games. I went from dozing off in the sloggish labyrinths of PSI and II, constantly looking to a guide in hopes of getting them over with as soon as possible, to enjoying just about every second of IV, not thinking once of turning to any external help. It was the game I got into the series for, so it needed to live up to the praises I'd seen online, and it delivered.
Addressing the elephant in the room - yes, the encounter rate is pretty high - but it becomes a non issue considering that battles are faster than ever, and the macro system lets you customize auto-battling to deal with encounters to your liking. It also helps that grinding is never required, and bosses generally remain challenging. The walking speed is practically tripled from past games in the series, as well, so you'll never be on the overworld or in a dungeon for too long. On the topic of dungeons, they're actually pretty well designed, being concise and short, but not lacking complexity or branching paths. TP and skill uses are very finite, and, for the most of the game, are irreplenishable in dungeons, so resource management is paramount. Enemy and character sprites in battles are beautifully detailed and animated, and the battle theme has this distinct Mega Drive twang to it that I love. The game part of Phantasy Star IV is all around just incredibly solid, even compared to many other JRPGs.
I adore the manga style cutscenes, for one. They're extremely well illustrated and plentiful, helping to elevate the game's moments and story. The best thing that games could do at this point in time were FMVs, but those were heavy on storage and compressed to even display favourably on consoles that supported it, but Phantasy Star IV's way of storytelling proved to be far more effective and engrossing. Shockingly enough, basically no other game I can think of adapted this style with the same quality, consistency, and frequency, which is a damn shame. I can only imagine what it was like playing the game back when it released, seeing those cute closeups of Alys teasing Hahn, Chaz' many emotions, Rune's introduction, and so on, and thinking: video game story presentation had progressed.
The story admittedly isn't amazing; it's kinda tropey, but what it provides is definitely good. This is more than made up for by the previously mentioned stellar presentation, but also by how it validates players of the first three games with the references and alusions to events of the past, and the worldbuilding. I've referred to the connected story of these games as a saga, but I wouldn't be calling it that if it weren't for Phantasy Star IV. The passage of time and consequences of the preceding games' events are made no more apparent by the transformation of Motavia; the home planet and initial setting for Phantasy Star II and Phantasy Star IV. The Motavias of Phantasy Star I, II, and IV are almost entirely different, yet IV carries DNA of both prior incarnations. Abandoned, technologically advanced factories from II are being unearthed and becoming sites of archeological and historical interest, while the terraformed landscape has long since eroded and has mostly reverted to the desert that it was in the first game, with occasional patches of grassland and greenery still growing a thousand years after the collapse that stopped facilitating their growth. The game even starts with you visiting an academy that studies the past, the bookshelves being littered with historical accounts and notes, and the professors expressing their findings. Even the third game, despite being disconnected, is given representation in the form of a data log that had been long since lost to history. This aspect is probably my favourite of the game.
Phantasy Star IV ends the story of the Algol Solar System on an incredibly high note, both comparatively and relatively. It's one of the most unique JRPGs of the 16-bit era, embracing its sci-fi setting and affirming its, for the time, unparalleled presentation. While not a stand out game narratively, it's a must-play for anyone into JRPGs, and a cornerstone of the genre.
Not only is this game incredibly impressive for its age but it's also almost entirely aged gracefully since then. If you're looking to play this, use the PS2 Phantasy Star Collection (it's Japanese but lets you play the English version). I loved the fanservice it provided for previous games and even without that it stands pretty well on its own. If you're looking to play this, though, I'd recommend at the very least going through Phantasy Star 1 (SEGA Ages on Switch ideally) and trying to play 2 and 3 if you can, though I don't blame you if those two filter you. 4 plays and is designed leagues better than 2 and 3, so don't worry about it being painful to play.
The combat in this was about as simple as you'd expect an early 90s JRPG to play, but I was pleasantly surprised at the level of depth the game expected out of my thinking when it came to figuring out strategies and macros. I was genuinely impressed that I thought so much about my moves during this game, as I've been used to early DQ or FF wherein I can more or less spam the same 2 strategies against everything. The dungeons were vastly improved from 2 and 3; while I still think I prefer the cute first-person style of the first game, I think this one's designed far more effectively when it came to sheer aesthetics and enjoyability of dungeoncrawling. Further, the worlds were about as on point as the previous games, and I enjoyed the core cast of characters quite a lot. While several of them remained as simple and one-note as those from earlier games, the main two characters who stick from start to finish have a somewhat hands-off yet still effective pair of arcs. Their actions and thoughts make sense, especially given their ages, and I found their struggles compelling.
Unfortunately the game expects you to grind for a hot minute around 4/5 of the way through, so once you unlock a dungeon in the sky, switch to Very Easy for it as it'll quadruple your exp gain and money gain as well as lowering encounter rates (though you still may need to grind a tiny bit). Once that's done, switch to Easy for the rest of the game. If you do that and make sure to run from as few encounters as possible, you should be at approximately the 'right' level for a good amount of challenge from start to finish.
Anyway, it's really hard for me to put into words how perfect of a game series this felt to me. I don't mean to say the games themselves were, but I think the worlds they were trying to convey are exactly the sort of thing I enjoy. At the time of writing I don't know if I entirely prefer this to 1 as both games excel at their own things, but I can at least say this series is very much a bun-over-meat sort of thing (not to say I didn't get enjoyment out of 2 or 3). I'm really glad I decided to throw some cash at the Nintendo eShop to get Phantasy Star 1, cause I don't regret it at all. It's been an awesome journey and I'm glad 4 lived up to the hype.
The combat in this was about as simple as you'd expect an early 90s JRPG to play, but I was pleasantly surprised at the level of depth the game expected out of my thinking when it came to figuring out strategies and macros. I was genuinely impressed that I thought so much about my moves during this game, as I've been used to early DQ or FF wherein I can more or less spam the same 2 strategies against everything. The dungeons were vastly improved from 2 and 3; while I still think I prefer the cute first-person style of the first game, I think this one's designed far more effectively when it came to sheer aesthetics and enjoyability of dungeoncrawling. Further, the worlds were about as on point as the previous games, and I enjoyed the core cast of characters quite a lot. While several of them remained as simple and one-note as those from earlier games, the main two characters who stick from start to finish have a somewhat hands-off yet still effective pair of arcs. Their actions and thoughts make sense, especially given their ages, and I found their struggles compelling.
Unfortunately the game expects you to grind for a hot minute around 4/5 of the way through, so once you unlock a dungeon in the sky, switch to Very Easy for it as it'll quadruple your exp gain and money gain as well as lowering encounter rates (though you still may need to grind a tiny bit). Once that's done, switch to Easy for the rest of the game. If you do that and make sure to run from as few encounters as possible, you should be at approximately the 'right' level for a good amount of challenge from start to finish.
Anyway, it's really hard for me to put into words how perfect of a game series this felt to me. I don't mean to say the games themselves were, but I think the worlds they were trying to convey are exactly the sort of thing I enjoy. At the time of writing I don't know if I entirely prefer this to 1 as both games excel at their own things, but I can at least say this series is very much a bun-over-meat sort of thing (not to say I didn't get enjoyment out of 2 or 3). I'm really glad I decided to throw some cash at the Nintendo eShop to get Phantasy Star 1, cause I don't regret it at all. It's been an awesome journey and I'm glad 4 lived up to the hype.
chaz and rika my favorite heterosexuals
The first time I played this, I got close to the final boss in just over two days, stopping only to eat and take little naps. It was so addictive and playing it again I can see why. The story and characters were top-notch, and the challenge level was just right. Being able to set macros (shortcuts) was a good touch, and the game had a few hidden combination attacks before Chrono Trigger made it cool. Easily one of the best RPGs on the Genesis and possibly the 16-bit era as a whole.
Surprised by how much I liked this game even without playing the other 3 in the series. I might have missed a few references but it was easy to pick up what happened in the others. The setting was amazing and I really enjoyed the story for about 80% of it. Combat was decent especially if you don't grind which seems to be a common theme in past jrpgs. Overall it was a nice short jrpg almost 30 years old now.
I really dug this game and it's aesthetic, if you're looking for a retro RPG then look no further. Now I want to play the first three games~
This review contains spoilers
Gotta say, I don't get the super-high ratings. I've been reading reviews to try and feel out what others were saying, but the game didn't hit me the same way as it seemed to hit others. It's fun, but not without its issues.
The game really shines in its cutscenes, which feel like a big step up in content versus the usual back-and-forth dialogue boxes the second and third games had.
Otherwise visually, it seemed fine -- I really prefer the aesthetic of PSII over PSIV, but to each their own.
Speaking of, music varied from awful to fine for the most part -- the one standout gem for me being the updated version of a particular dungeon track from the first PS game. I did not like the shop tracks at all and Gryz's town music was obnoxious.
I liked the concept of returning to combat in the vehicles that you use throughout the game, but interface aside, it just felt like fights took longer if you weren't using something like N-Sphere (of which you have a limited number of uses). Restoring HP after each fight is fine, but I'd honestly prefer just walking my way to new areas and fighting the monsters that were significantly harder on the ground (this was especially a thing in Dezolis).
Story-wise, I didn't feel like it was a masterful work -- it was a nice conclusion to what was going on in the previous three games and explained a lot of answers to questions that didn't necessarily have to be asked. That's not a bad thing, just a note that they did a good job with deciding to link the games together (though it does feel like PSIII got only the most passing of nods to it).
Actual combat was mostly fine. PSIV still used the "here are some unusual names with no descriptions" idea with their spells, so experimentation or Google are your friends in that instance. The macro system is nice -- I know it's me looking back to dated design at the time, but I wish the macros could have been edited and not just deleted and replaced each time, but I don't hold that against the game design.
Enemies are a mix of stuff from previous games along with some new enemies. Since I'm a sucker for PSII, seeing old familiar enemies like the Locusta line or the Dezo Owl line were a nice touch for me.
I noticed that people said experience came a lot more easily in this game and I don't know if I agree. It still felt like it took forever to level in some instances and in a game where levels are important, the grind felt real to me in a few spots (looking at you, Air Castle!). I didn't run from any fights, but still found myself needing to grind up a couple of times in a really bad way. Previous games had this issue, but I think that because I enjoyed the soundtracks of previous games more (not counting PSIII), the grind never felt as bad in those.
The biggest crime (to me) is the dungeon design. I liked the labyrinthine layouts of the first three games and I didn't mind using a Hinas to peace-out if things got dicey and Ryuka back to town. Those dungeons got replaced by mostly corridor pathing with branches that usually lead to a dead end just a short way up the wrong path.
The first time you hit Valley Maze, you think it's going to be something tricky to navigate, but it's quite literally "walk into a room, grab a chest or note a dead end, walk back and take the other path." And it's about what...four, five rooms of that and you're through the dungeon?
A lot of dungeons have that feel. The first time you reach Zio's Fort and go digging beneath, there's an impression that things are crazy with lots of paths...but most of those paths are just a dead-end a few further steps off-screen or another dead-end with a chest. Sure, there were way more of those than in Valley Maze, but it doesn't change how simple the dungeon structure is for MOST of the areas.
I think it's a fun game, I think the story's pretty good overall (and Chaz gets a lot of character development, even if others are just largely support units), but I'd say of the main series of four games, it's probably the least entertaining one for me. Definitely worth a playthrough for anyone that's remotely interested, though.
The game really shines in its cutscenes, which feel like a big step up in content versus the usual back-and-forth dialogue boxes the second and third games had.
Otherwise visually, it seemed fine -- I really prefer the aesthetic of PSII over PSIV, but to each their own.
Speaking of, music varied from awful to fine for the most part -- the one standout gem for me being the updated version of a particular dungeon track from the first PS game. I did not like the shop tracks at all and Gryz's town music was obnoxious.
I liked the concept of returning to combat in the vehicles that you use throughout the game, but interface aside, it just felt like fights took longer if you weren't using something like N-Sphere (of which you have a limited number of uses). Restoring HP after each fight is fine, but I'd honestly prefer just walking my way to new areas and fighting the monsters that were significantly harder on the ground (this was especially a thing in Dezolis).
Story-wise, I didn't feel like it was a masterful work -- it was a nice conclusion to what was going on in the previous three games and explained a lot of answers to questions that didn't necessarily have to be asked. That's not a bad thing, just a note that they did a good job with deciding to link the games together (though it does feel like PSIII got only the most passing of nods to it).
Actual combat was mostly fine. PSIV still used the "here are some unusual names with no descriptions" idea with their spells, so experimentation or Google are your friends in that instance. The macro system is nice -- I know it's me looking back to dated design at the time, but I wish the macros could have been edited and not just deleted and replaced each time, but I don't hold that against the game design.
Enemies are a mix of stuff from previous games along with some new enemies. Since I'm a sucker for PSII, seeing old familiar enemies like the Locusta line or the Dezo Owl line were a nice touch for me.
I noticed that people said experience came a lot more easily in this game and I don't know if I agree. It still felt like it took forever to level in some instances and in a game where levels are important, the grind felt real to me in a few spots (looking at you, Air Castle!). I didn't run from any fights, but still found myself needing to grind up a couple of times in a really bad way. Previous games had this issue, but I think that because I enjoyed the soundtracks of previous games more (not counting PSIII), the grind never felt as bad in those.
The biggest crime (to me) is the dungeon design. I liked the labyrinthine layouts of the first three games and I didn't mind using a Hinas to peace-out if things got dicey and Ryuka back to town. Those dungeons got replaced by mostly corridor pathing with branches that usually lead to a dead end just a short way up the wrong path.
The first time you hit Valley Maze, you think it's going to be something tricky to navigate, but it's quite literally "walk into a room, grab a chest or note a dead end, walk back and take the other path." And it's about what...four, five rooms of that and you're through the dungeon?
A lot of dungeons have that feel. The first time you reach Zio's Fort and go digging beneath, there's an impression that things are crazy with lots of paths...but most of those paths are just a dead-end a few further steps off-screen or another dead-end with a chest. Sure, there were way more of those than in Valley Maze, but it doesn't change how simple the dungeon structure is for MOST of the areas.
I think it's a fun game, I think the story's pretty good overall (and Chaz gets a lot of character development, even if others are just largely support units), but I'd say of the main series of four games, it's probably the least entertaining one for me. Definitely worth a playthrough for anyone that's remotely interested, though.
I feel like with II and III, Sega were trying to reinvent the wheel and add a lot of weird mechanics and plotpoints to set the Phantasy Star series apart from all the other JRPGs on the market. It's funny, then, that IV returns to the style of the first game to present a standard yet solid experience, and in doing so eclipses those two games with flying colors. Combat's fun and comprehensive, dungeons are well designed, the story and characters are all well written and memorable, and the graphics are outstanding, especially the character portraits and cutscenes. It's no Dragon Quest V or Chrono Trigger, but the fact that I can even compare it to such great games is a lot more than I can say about the prior two entries in the series.
It's a little silly, but I was a little worried that this game might be overrated because it's one of the few decent RPGs available on the Genesis. But this is actually pretty great. It's a relatively short (I did all the sidequests and some grinding and still managed to finish the game in under 16 hours), fast-paced, lean RPG. It was a pleasant surprise how much side content there actually was, with multiple optional dungeons and even an odd-jobs board like Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door would have. The story was always interesting, with a fun cast, lots of big revelations, a gradually escalating scale, and one moment that made me really damn sad. If you've beat the game, you know exactly which one. I think this game does a great job of balancing very light and very dark moments, and I love any media like that. The combat feels damn good, with great animations that move at a blazing speed and a convenient macro system. The fights are so fast, it's one of few JRPGs where I rarely reached for the fast forward button in my emulator.
I still think it's just slightly behind the highest tier of 16-bit RPGs. The overworld graphics can be a bit primitive, the spell and tech names basically require a glossary, and Air Castle can go straight to hell. I also felt the story had a few too many fake climaxes, which hurt the feeling of really building up to something. I really wish the combo system were more reliable as well, though Grand Cross was simple enough to pull off semi-frequently. But it's unfair to expect this game to live up to the likes of Final Fantasy VI. It's still an absolutely great time and one of Sega's finest achievements of the 90s.
I still think it's just slightly behind the highest tier of 16-bit RPGs. The overworld graphics can be a bit primitive, the spell and tech names basically require a glossary, and Air Castle can go straight to hell. I also felt the story had a few too many fake climaxes, which hurt the feeling of really building up to something. I really wish the combo system were more reliable as well, though Grand Cross was simple enough to pull off semi-frequently. But it's unfair to expect this game to live up to the likes of Final Fantasy VI. It's still an absolutely great time and one of Sega's finest achievements of the 90s.
Rough around the edges, but does enough things well to be worth a play.
In my opinion the best game in the Phantasy Star series. It polished all the best aspects of the earlier entries and the presentation (using manga like panels to tell the story, like some kind of early, 16-bit cutscenes) is superb. The story wraps up a lot of what PhS1 started and even though it's not necessary to play previous entries to understand this one, it certainly enhances the exprience and resolution.
The combat system is pure, traditional turn based and your party has a maximum of 5 party members. One thing I love is that you can create macros for each party member, so you can set up a series of combos for each character to use each turn, it's fun.
I'd say the only negative is that the pacing is wonky, the story feels aimless during the latter half, which is a shame.
Still immensely fun JRPG that I highly recommend.
The combat system is pure, traditional turn based and your party has a maximum of 5 party members. One thing I love is that you can create macros for each party member, so you can set up a series of combos for each character to use each turn, it's fun.
I'd say the only negative is that the pacing is wonky, the story feels aimless during the latter half, which is a shame.
Still immensely fun JRPG that I highly recommend.