The Phantasy Star series

[Peklo]

I'm right there with you (well, I haven't played Marble Madness, though I should maybe rectify that if the music is as good as in Phantasy Star II lol)

It's mostly the opening practice race theme that brings the comparison to mind to me--which, on its own, is one of the best VGM tracks ever composed. Marble Madness was the first arcade game to utilize FM synth, through the Yamaha YM2151 chip, and there's of course a throughline there given that the Mega Drive's sound hardware uses the Yamaha YM2612 chip. Different people brought out different aspects of it, and I think Tokuhiko Uwabo's work here really captures the lonesome tones the instrumentation is well suited for, and the game's themes besides.

 

[Kazin]

Dang. That's... quite a couple of songs for a game about rolling a marble around. That's good stuff.

And yeah, the music really fits Phantasy Star II. That title screen theme is haunting, in a good way.

EDIT: Oh and also my final party is now Rudo, Rolf, Anna, and Shir. I'm committed to using her. I leveled her up a bit while getting some meseta and she's pulling her weight, and I don't even have any items to Use to cast spells for her yet.

 

[Peklo]

That's the party I always end up with. Pure preference for character aside, this isn't a series where I feel a great need for casters in general, so more physically-oriented characters tend to have the edge for the long-form treks asked of the player... particularly in the tribulations that PSII puts you through.

 

[Kazin]

I'm a bit worried about not being able to cast partywide heals for the final bosses with this party, but I've heard Shir can steal some of those Star Mists and/or Moon Mists, so maybe I'll grind out some of those to make myself feel better before entering the final dungeon. In any case, I've got the Visiphone, so I can save right in front of the bosses anyway and try again if things go bad lol

 

[Peklo]

One thing you can do is give each member of the party a Gires-casting piece of equipment to hold onto (they each need their own as it's self-targeting only). When playing more dependent on items for healing, that's a good way to squeeze more longevity out of your resources... potentially self-sustainingly so once everyone's set up. There's more than enough of said equipment to go around, so it's not difficult to do after a point.

 

[Kazin]

Gires-casting piece of equipment

Plopping this down here so I don't have to look it up later, since the last time I played through PSII I accidentally either sold or didn't pick up these items. What you want, future Kazin, for Gires casting gear is: Crescent Gear (Blue Dam), Amber Robe (Yellow Dam, Guaron), Aegis (Green Dam), Truth Sleeves (Green Dam, Naval), and then also Storm Gear (Blue Dam, Menobe) for Gizan casts which I remember selling because I didn't realize what it did lmao

 

[Peklo]

Yeah, as can be surmised from that round-up, the game really starts spoiling the player for choice from the dam scenario on; it's very much FFI-esque in that your experiences with it as far as attritional hardship are very different once you discover that casting equipment exists. Neifirst is not only a big wall but pound for pound probably the hardest fight in the game given your capabilities at that point... not that there are many bosses to begin with, which is a rare and good quality for an RPG like this, I think.

 

[Kazin]

it's very much FFI-esque in that your experiences with it as far as attritional hardship are very different once you discover that casting equipment exists.

This is interesting to me, because I have never enjoyed playing FF1, yet here I am just a couple years after my first full playthrough having a great time replaying Phantasy Star II. I wonder if the casting equipment thing would help me enjoy FF1 because it has always felt like a slog to me. I suppose that's off topic, though.

I agree with you on the Phantasy Star II not having many bosses being a good thing front - the ones that are there are more impactful because of how rare they are, and really, getting to them is usually the real challenge anyway (aside from the final boss, I suppose).

 

[Kazin]

Got the keycards for the Dams.

The Hint Book got Amy and Anna mixed up both in the image and the text lmao

 

[FelixSH]

Huh, I remember Dark Force being completely unbeatable to me, and I think even Mother Brain? I even grinded for some time, but could not survive at all.
Neifirst was tough, but perfectly beatable.

Also, thanks for sharing your thoughts and the screenshots. Love the ones with Nei, the artstyle is lovely. And the storybeats are great, I love how grim this game is.

 

[Peklo]

The Hint Book got Amy and Anna mixed up both in the image and the text lmao

It's possible their original Japanese names may have ended mixing up things in the author's mind, as they are almost swaps from what the localization adapted them to: Amy went by Anne, and Anna went by Amia. Who knows why they were changed to begin with, given that they fit the all-important four-character limit.

 

[Kazin]

Huh, I remember Dark Force being completely unbeatable to me, and I think even Mother Brain? I even grinded for some time, but could not survive at all.
Neifirst was tough, but perfectly beatable.

Well, if you fought Mother Brain, you got through Dark Force! You can save between those fights as they are entirely separate. I think I had to have a few tries for both, and I may have even escaped and gone back for Mother Brain after beating Dark Force (which is unlike me, generally, as walking through the final dungeon twice doesn't sound like something I'd have done. Still, I have a vague feeling I did do that).

Also, thanks for sharing your thoughts and the screenshots. Love the ones with Nei, the artstyle is lovely. And the storybeats are great, I love how grim this game is.

Oh, my pleasure, I'm glad anyone reads my blathering! And yeah, I love the art of Phantasy Star. Such stylish games.

It's possible their original Japanese names may have ended mixing up things in the author's mind, as they are almost swaps from what the localization adapted them to: Amy went by Anne, and Anna went by Amia. Who knows why they were changed to begin with, given that they fit the all-important four-character limit.

Oh what the heck, I had no idea there names were that close. My apologies, Hint Book writer (I wonder who wrote the Hint Book, actually. It is actually rather helpful, and was probably a very thankless job back upon release)! This reminds me, I need to play those Phantasy Star II prequel text adventures. No better time than after I finish this playthrough, I suppose!

Two dams down, all items in each acquired. I wonder if the robots have a higher ambush rate than the biomonsters, because I feel like I'm getting ambushed more often now, though this game generally has a much higher ambush rate than other RPGs. Also, it's interesting that you can't "use" items like the Amber Robe outside battle, and cannot target anyone in battle, so if you use it in battle, it will only heal the user. Using the Fire Staff is similar, though it'll just target whatever random enemy Shir wants. It's neat to engage with mechanics I've not engaged with before in this game, considering I have beat it once!

 

[FelixSH]

I cheated some super stats onto my characters back than, because I just couldn't beat Dark Force. A shame, but better than stopping there.

These text adventures sound interesting. More from that world would be nice. I wonder how the quality is.

 

[Kazin]

Okay, the Blue Dam wasn't too bad, but the Green Dam, especially trying to get all the treasure chests (well, the good ones, anyway), was pretty confusing. But it's done!

Spoiler

We have stopped Mota(via) from flooding! We are rewarded by being captured and put on a prison satellite.

Put to death! The Phantasy Star II party just has it awful from start to finish, geez.

This is such an intriguing, important bit. We're largely left in the dark as to what happened here - presumably, the government (Mother Brain, I suppose?) put the Gaila satellite into a collision course with Palm(a) after putting us, who threaten it, on it to kill us in the process of destroying Palm(a)? I wonder if this is spelled out more in Japanese. Even if it isn't, it works - it's ambiguous as to what happened, though it obviously infers Mother Brain is totally nuts and is hell bent on destroying Algo(l).

Lucky for us, Tyler was here and saved us all. As far as I can remember, this is his only appearance - he saves you and the rest of the party, drops you off in Paseo, and is never seen again. Presumably he goes on pirating out there the rest of his life. I cut off his last text boxes here where he says he doesn't think we did anything wrong and is taking us to Paseo.

Man, though. Such a pivotal event in the series - it is the entire backstory to Phantasy Star III, and has story effect even in Phantasy Star IV, which is 1,000 years after II. Even Phantasy Star Online pseudo-riffs on it. And yet in the game it happens in, it's so ambiguous as to why it happened! I love it so much. Heck, even III doesn't explain how there were already ships full of people escaping Palm(a) - could they detect the satellite was going to crash in time to get them ready, or were those colonists going to leave anyway?

Anyway, while stocking up on Trimates before my trip to (gulp) Dezo, Shir stole something I'm actually pretty happy about:

Rad!

 

[FelixSH]

The minimalist storytelling is really intriguing. I don't know why, but it works.

Also, this game is just so incredibly grim. Does anything actually good happen at all in there? I love the juxtaposition of the colorful sprite graphics with all the horrible things that are going on in this "utopia". I really wonder what lead to PS II getting such an incredibly dark story, after the general adventurous one of PS I.

 

[Kazin]

I have no idea, but I agree, it's so grim.

I hate Skure Spaceport. I've got the Hint Book map and a map I found online and I still find it absolutely confusing to navigate. I got to the three towns so they're in the teleport shop now, but I know I'm going to have to go back a few times. Ugh

 

[gorha]

Also, this game is just so incredibly grim. Does anything actually good happen at all in there? I love the juxtaposition of the colorful sprite graphics with all the horrible things that are going on in this "utopia". I really wonder what lead to PS II getting such an incredibly dark story, after the general adventurous one of PS I.

Yeah, this is one of the things that really strikes me about PSII. It's so bright and colorful and the music is so cheerful, so you set out to heroically vanquish some biomonsters, and then you finish the first dungeon and see the scene with the bandit guy and his daughter, and realize what kind of story you're really in for. And it only gets worse from there! It's quite the juxtaposition, indeed.

 

[Kazin]

I dunno, just about the only upbeat songs in Phantasy Star II are the shop and town themes, really. I guess the overworld Mota(via) music is upbeat? The title screen, dungeon, and event music is all pretty bleak (in an amazing way - I love PS2's music as I said upthread).

 

[gorha]

I was mostly thinking of the town and overworld themes, yeah. I think the first dungeon theme was pretty upbeat as dungeon themes go? Maybe not quite as bouncy as PSI's, though.

 

[Peklo]

Even at its cheeriest, there's a plaintive, driving dramatism to the game's soundtrack; the battle theme alone has a mournful undertone. The melodies and chords in some of the more upbeat moments wouldn't be out of place in a sci-fi anime OP of the time, which is where the aesthetic in character design leans in on too: colourful with a cartoon edge.

 

[Kazin]

Well, not that I thought it was all that likely anyway, but we can cross @Peklo off as one of the potential authors of the Hint Book:

To be fair to the Hint Book people, it is nice they put on there where to go if Shir leaves. It would be nice if she didn't somehow fly all the way back to Paseo, but at least if you do take her to Dezo (like I am), the book tells you where she is if she steals something. I'd have just phrased it something like "beware if you do happen to take Shir to Dezo," not just not to do it lol

 

[Kazin]

Dang, the infinitely reusable Gires equipment breaks open the final boss - she couldn't kill me, even at the extremely low level of 28 (my other save file was 35 when I beat the game)! And this is with the supposedly "useless" Shir as my final party member - she did plenty in my playthrough and held her weight basically as soon as Nei left.

Dark Force was the real problem. His random ability to confuse any party member for however many turns until the Neisword decides to glow can be devastating - my first two attempts at him, I couldn't touch him because he confused everybody quickly and the sword refused to glow. He did plenty of that in my winning battle, but between Shir using the Snow Crown to cast Deban on everyone and having inventories full of Trimates, I was able to push through. I saved and wondered... Could I take out the final boss? I don't recall her having a confuse-type attack, so if she doesn't one shot my characters and if my Gires-casting equipment healing outpaces her damage... I should just beat her with patience!

And that's exactly what happened. @FelixSH , the next time you play this, if you get Gires-casting equipment for each member of your final party, you should be able to beat the game. Save in front of Dark Force and just keep throwing yourself at him until you get lucky. Mother Brain can't do much to you if you've kitted out your party with their best equipment and have those items.

Now, on to the ending (plenty of offscreen photos and plot spoilers behind the spoilerpop):

Spoiler

I didn't take a photo of it, but Rolf and the party feel a sense of hope right after this text box... Just for it to be dashed:

"You can't return again!" ...did Lutz know Rolf and his friends would not return? It sure seems like it - he even teleports the rest of your party up to Noah when the Earthlings threaten everyone:

It's so... bleak. They seem to succeed in stopping the Earthlings - there are explosions in several of the character ending cinematics, implying that not only are they fighting the Earthlings, but trying to bring Noah down to ensure they're all destroyed.

And so, they die, likely completely unappreciated and forgotten by everyone on Dezo(ris) and Mota(via) save Lutz. They don't even get statues in Phantasy Star IV like Alis and friends did!

Ugh, I wish they used people's actual names in the credits back in the day. This is apparently Chieko Aoki, who worked on (among other things) the first two Phantasy Star games, then stopped making games when she married a coworker. I wonder what the heck was going on in her life at this point to write this bleak-assed game lmao (I love it, for the record)

RIP Rieko Kodama.

Thanks Bo. What a friggin credit. As Peklo has mentioned above, this is Tokuhiko Uwabo, who did fantastic work on the soundtrack to this game.

King shit.

EDIT: Oh, and the Hint Book largely works to get you through the game, although the Skure Spaceport map is somehow split into three floors when it only has two, and they really needed to label what treasure chest had what. There were some other minor errors but it was actually useful.

 

[Peklo]

My favourite aspect of Dark Force in this game is that beyond the initial shock of the uncanny non-sequitur of a penultimate nightmare springing out of a treasure chest, it frames him as a pox on humanity equal to the contents of Pandora's box, further reinforced by how the battle against him plays out: instead of the usual repertoire of RPG status effects, his influence instead makes the party behave uncharacteristically and as their worst selves, in trying to escape in cowardice, listlessly refusing to fight, or rifling through others' inventories in greed. It's some good mechanical storytelling.

 

[Kazin]

I was so focused on beating the thing I didn't really think about it, but yes, you're right - it's not just a typical "confusion" status, the game does go out of its way to describe your party doing things they never would otherwise. About my only complaint is it starts with saying Dark Force made, say, Rolf, "evil," rather than saying something like "Dark Force's influence made Rolf act uncharacteristically" or something (I'm no writer, someone could come up with something better lmao) to really hammer home that this is Dark Force's actual influence on people as you say.

Gosh! Phantasy Star II is so cool!

 

[Kazin]

Actually, as I play III, I need to try these II text adventures.

Rolf/Eusis did not strike me as vain and cocky, but I guess he's still a kid here. He certainly gets fucking humbled later in life, at least lol

 

[Purple]

Phantasy Star II Hint Book writers: I appreciate you putting treasure chests on the map, but please also put, say, the Recorder location on there, too.

real Phantasy Star II heads know:

Aww... I saw that first bit and thought I'd have a chance to explain to someone once again how Shir Gold is the one true thief in the world of JRPGs. Good for you keeping her in the party the whole game though. People really oversell how garbage she is besides the obvious utility of saving anywhere and infinite money.

 

[Kazin]

Oh wow, these text adventures are short. I beat Eusis's!

Spoiler

So Eusis grew up in an orphanage and was a sword prodigy, apparently. O'Conner, the secret governor general of Paseo, noticed his skill but thought he was arrogant, so he concocted the whole kidnapping plan to manipulate Eusis into getting stronger and more level-headed to eventually recruit him into working for the government. God dang, his whole life is just a friggin series of manipulations and tragedy.

In any case, it wasn't too difficult - I'm glad I could use savestates on my Everdrive, because the final boss has to miss for me to beat him (granted, had I gone all the way back to the orphanage and gotten another bread, I could probably have beaten him). In any case, it was pretty neat and thankfully very short! I'll probably play through all of these things. Nei next, probably.

 

[Kazin]

Oh my god. Please let the Phantasy Star II characters be happy, jesus

 

[Kazin]

Another PSII text adventure down! This one (Nei's Adventure) took me about an hour:

Spoiler

This one was a little more difficult than Rolf/Eusis's - not because the battles were harder - they were easier, really. There was just a *lot* more wandering around, figuring out where to go next. Not that the game world was huge - it wasn't - but where you were supposed to go was a bit more unclear. Nei wanders the streets of Paseo, scrounging for food and getting sneered at by humans... Multiple people want to kidnap and study her, and at one point she even gets tranquilized and taken to an old man who doesn't think she is the creature he's looking for. Nei leaves, helps some cats, meets a friendly young man (who has a fencing trophy in his house, hint hint), and fights a couple rabid dogs and giant rats. Eventually, she is able to fight the hunter who killed her adoptive parents - she barely wins, but he tries to trick her but the young man from before steps in and saves her. He turns the hunter into the government, as it turns out he was wanted anyway. The young man is Eusis/Rolf! Nei begins to live with him and seven months later, the events of *Phantasy Star II* begin... What's neat about all this is how quickly Nei grows, which is used to explain how quickly she levels up in *Phantasy Star II* proper.

 

[Peklo]

Lucky for us, Tyler was here and saved us all. As far as I can remember, this is his only appearance - he saves you and the rest of the party, drops you off in Paseo, and is never seen again. Presumably he goes on pirating out there the rest of his life.

There's follow-up to him in PSIV: him and other Palman refugees landed on Dezoris during the Great Collapse and founded a town there that's named after him, which the party visits. They enter a hidden hangar through a mechanism on his grave where they procure Tyler's old ship, The Landale, to replace their crashed shuttle.