Fantasy Star
Sega's Phantasy Star is such a remarkable video game that it may justify its existence as the most expensive cartridge on the shelf. Can any cartridge be worth nearly as much as the game system itself? If it's as beautiful, clever and immense as this game is--yes, it's worth it.
Phantasy Star IV This is the explosive magic and monster packed finale to the incredible Phantasy Star saga. An ancient, hideous Dark Force stalks the Algol Star System. You, a young hunter, are destined to become Motavia’s greatest warrior, striking the deathblow that destroys evil forever! Online action RPG Phantasy Star Online 2, well known for its unparalleled character customization and battle action which captivated the world. We are announcing the latest entry to the “Phantasy Star Online 2” universe called “Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis (PSO2: NGS)” coming in 2021.
While some video games contain a few elements of role-playing games (RPGs), Phantasy Star is a full-tilt RPG scenario. The breadth of the adventure is greater than that of many intermediate-level RPGs, large enough to satisfy experienced players. Still, newcomers will have no trouble getting started. The menu system is very simple and user-friendly, and the manual is complete and clear. No quick reflexes or nimble fingers required. Time passes only in response to your input, and even combat is computer-controlled based on your commands for each party member.
The quest revolves around the Algol star system, comprised of three planets: Dezoris, Motavia and Palma. All three are ruled by King Lassie, a formerly benevolent, though lately tyrannical character. Lassie's evil rule is opposed by a young man named Nero. As the game's storybook prologue opens, Nero lays dying at the feet of Lassie's guards. His final words are to his sister Alis. He charges her with the task of avenging his death by defeating Lassie, and before he passes, he leaves her with a single clue.
Most RPGs involve a quest to defeat some evil authority figure, but few--Nintendo's Metroid for the NES is one that comes to mind--feature a female in the lead. You now assume Alis' role, and your first task is to enlist the help of a certain warrior. Alis is eventually joined by Odin, Myau (a catlike creature with a vicious bite) and Noah, a wizard.
Early in the game, all four characters are inexperienced and weak. But by defeating enemies, characters earn experience points and advance in level. For every new level attained, defensive and offensive strengths and endurance increase. Alis, Myau and Noah also learn a variety of spells, 18 altogether, as they progress from level to level.
The graphics are brilliant. Most of the game is played on any of three enormous, scrolling, overhead maps. Each map has a broad variety of terrains, from icy mountains to bubbling lava pools, poisonous swamps to dungeons and caves. The dungeons are pretty simple--there aren't many confusing tricks or special squares--but they are long and twisting, and you'll still have to map most of them--no hard task. Note-taking is also important because of the sheer number of clues given, but none of the puzzles are terribly difficult.
A curious mix of science fiction and fantasy pervades the game; robots and rocket ships work side-by-side with swords and sorcerers. Visually, the 3-D effect as the walls scroll past you is extraordinarily convincing. The intense colors, startling pit traps, ornate doors and foreboding staircases make up for a lack of atmospheric slime. Speaking of slime, though, the monsters of Algol are cleverly animated, and some are truly grotesque: For example, shambling zombies attack you by drooling, and hideous fishmen use their tongues in indescribable ways.
Fantasy Start Or Sit
Phantasy Star is one of Sega's rare four-megabyte games--hence the amazing graphics, endless areas to explore and wallet-tingling price. Better yet, the battery back-up allows you to save up to five games. That's a good thing, because this game may take you weeks to finish. This is the kind of game I hope to see more of: one that challenges and entertains the mind alone, exploring the limits of the equipment as it goes.
So. Finally, and after much heated and over-enthused fan speculation, Square-Enix have decided that at long last the time is right for a remake of their opus Final Fantasy VII.
Of course, I’m not personally a fan. I tell this to anyone who’ll listen (and sometime those who won’t). This isn’t because I’m one of those people who has to take every effort to hate a thing because it’s popular; I love Coke. Nay, it is because I had this nagging feeling on release that I’d seen it all before.
Specifically, two years earlier with Phantasy Star IV.
Far be it for me to whine about how they’re both RPG’s set in a quasi-futuristic dystopia and featuring a blonde-haired sword-wielding young man with militaristic ambitions as hot-headed protagonist who eventually grows up. That seems to be a pretty generous default for this style of game; but the similarities run deeper.
Their names both begin with ‘C’, too. Pure coincidence, as is the black-clad antagonist with a name pulled from Jewish culture acting on behalf of powers from above. That could be any two games, right?
Any two games where these similar characters both plot-killed a party member whose name begins with ‘A’, possibly. But I’m splitting hairs here.
Jenova appears at one point in Final Fantasy VII as a legless torso attached to a wall in a technological facility.
Dark Force appears at one point in Phantasy Star IV as a legless torso attached to a wall in a technological facility.
Toward the end of Phantasy Star IV, a second Dark Force appears, a fight waged against coastal scenery.
Toward the end of Final Fantasy, a second Weapon (Diamond) appears, a fight waged against coastal scenery.
None of this would mean anything, of course, if the denouement of both titles didn’t involve in some way an androgynous winged entity floating against an abstract background.
Safer Sephiroth is an androgynous winged entity floating against an abstract background.
Phantasy Star Wiki
The Profound Darkness is an androgynous winged entity floating against an abstract background.
Fantasy Starters
This is all just for fun, of course; Phantasy Star IV has nothing like the kind of rich world-building seen in Final Fantasy VII’s Midgar and similarly, the plot-mandated character death in FFVII is not handled nearly as respectful or sensitively as in PSIV. Really, they’re both great games.
Regardless of the similarities.