Sinestris
Novice
Update The First: Intimidation Tactics 101
Screenshots Taken For This Update: 410 (Ow.)
Screenshots Total: 410
Once upon a time (1994, to be precise), SEGA made RPGs. Good RPGs. Games that had interesting characters, solid plots, and fun battles. What happened? I suspect Sonic the Hedgehog happened.
But before SEGA disappeared down the blue-tinted drain… they made an incredible game called Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millenium for the Genesis. It had good music, a great story, graphics that pushed what the Genesis was capable of at the time, an incredibly awesome set of antagonists and the most touching death scene in gaming. *sniff*
And we’re gonna play it.
Hey Sin, what’s with these Conversations Within Elsydeon?
Conversations Within Elsydeon were started by Joel Fagin on the now sadly defunct Phantasy Star Discussion Board. They’re silly, funny, and if you get the references, often distinctly irreverent. I contributed a few back in the day, but the only ones you’ll see here are Joel’s. Why? Because I can, and because they add a little mwaha and pizzazz to the game.
The Japanese ad for the game.
Narrator: The victor sacrificed the vanquished to the heavens. Four bells tolled. Four torches were lit. And the world continued for hundreds of years…
The End of the Millenium – The theme music of the game. Very nice indeed.
: You’d better put your heart into it!
: From this day on, you are a full-fledged partner! Now come on! Let’s go!
: It’s a bit far. We’re going to Motavia Academy in the town of Piata.
: Wow! So we’re going to the Town of Learning! I wonder what’s happened there?
Ahhh, Japan, you and your strange love of Random Capital Letters.
: Who knows? The message said ‘Just come.’ We’ll get the details once we’re there.
: …the Academy.
: Is that all you can think about? Get moving or I’ll leave you behind!
Narrator: …more frequent and powerful, an elite few begin to wonder what is behind this outbreak… and when and how will it all end?
: I’ve got to find her…
Scientist: I’m so frightened, I can’t even think about my research!
Oh for… Chaz is not the brightest of protagonists…
: Chaz, where have you been? C’mon, let’s go!
: But…
: We have to see the principal and get the details about this commission.
: Hmm… a person from two thousand years ago.
Whee! Throwback references already! Lubetz (known in the States as Luveno) was a scientist from Phantasy Star 1. He pretty much single-handedly made the ship that Alis, Myau, Odin and Noah used to travel between the three planets of the Algo solar system; Motavia, the desert planet; Palma, the forested planet; and Dezolis, the ice planet.
Apparently he’s a god now. Who knew?
Incidentally, the Algo solar system actually exists, and is known in some circles as Medusa’s Eye. Alis and co fought Medusa. I love these games.
Researcher: confusion by the destruction of Mother Brain. After that, Motavia sustained a direct hit by a fragment of the exploding planet Parma. Our civilisation was almost destroyed. We call this the ‘Great Collapse.’ …Oh, I didn’t realise you weren’t students.
And more!
Mother Brain was the trump card of mankind. We destroyed Earth, and so we emigrated to Algo on a great colony ship called Noah. When we reached Algo, we found the native Palmans in chaos, the planets Motavia and Palma having swapped orbits not long before. They adapted their AI, Mother Brain, to stabilise the two planets. They would slowly make Motavia habitable, and when the time came, they would reveal themselves as the saviours of the Algo system, and all they wanted in return was a portion of Motavia for themselves.
Then Dark Force got onto the ship and corrupted Mother Brain, setting the events of Phantasy Star 2 into motion. We know that Rolf and his friends eventually destroyed Mother Brain, but not before she orchestrated the utter destruction of Palma. Later on, we’ll find out just why that is incredibly bad.
"I can't believe Rolf actually opened it. I mean it had 'Pandora' written on the top and everything. I bet he touches wet paint to see if it's still sticky." - Amy, Conversations Within Elsydeon
Woman: men carried a big parcel into the Academy! This happened some time ago, but I wonder what it could’ve been.
Oooooh, interesting.
…Okay then. Moving right along.
: the principal commissioned? It would be nice if he’s a dependable kind of guy…
: He’s not listening to anything people are saying.
But… but nobody said anything!
Principal: I’m the principal of this academy. Let’s see, you must be Alys, the hunter, and you are her assistant, Chaz.
: Forgive me, but Chaz is a full-fledged partner of mine. Now, let’s get down to business. Describe the situation.
Principal: Ah…
Principal: appear in this academy! It appears they have made the basement their headquarters. I’ve since closed it off. So far, no one’s been hurt, but who knows when they’ll appear again? Please, I beg you to destroy all those creatures! Ah… I’d like to settle this matter discreetly, I’m counting on your reputation, Alys.
: No problem. You can rely on us. Although, it’s strange that all those monsters suddenly appeared in this academy. Usually monsters don’t come into inhabited areas. Do you have any idea how this happened?
Principal: Stop asking questions. Just hurry and exterminate those monsters! Don’t forget, I’m paying you dearly for your services!
: That principal was hiding something.
: Maybe he’s afraid of the monsters?
: I think there’s more to it than that. Things are starting to get interesting!
: You don’t think we can do the job?
: No, no not at all! I didn’t mean that!
: Since we have the principal’s permission, let us pass.
: Wait! Take me with you!
: Hmm. And why should we?
: I am assistant at this academy. I work for Professor Holt, who has gone to investigate Birth Valley for his research. We haven’t heard from him since. So, now I am searching for the professor’s whereabouts!
: Birth Valley… that’s that mysterious place that has been called the sacred valley of life.
: But what’s the connection between the valley and this current monster scare?
: After the investigation team, led by the professor, was reported missing, the principal barred everyone from entering Birth Valley! We’re trying to get information as to what’s going on, but he keeps evading the issue. And then this monster scare begins! I’ll bet anything there is some kind of connection between these incidents.
: Well it’s true that there is something fishy about the principal’s behaviour.
: Given the circumstances, I feel compelled to investigate the basement myself. But come to think of it, it is a bit dangerous…
: So you were just waiting for us to arrive?
: Well, ah, yes. You catch on quick!
*facepalm* Well done, Hahn…
: What?
: We’ll take you with us for 100 meseta. I hope you weren’t thinking of asking to tag along with us for free?
: Er… I can’t get that kind of money from the principal…
: That’s not my problem. Now, what are you going to do?
: …Ok, I’ll pay…
I love this woman. Alys is possibly the most incredibly awesome woman in the history of video gaming. And we get all the money she extorts from Hahn. :D
Alys is nicely balanced. She starts with some solid Techniques:
Foi,
Shift, and
Saner. Fire damage, single target attack boost, and full party agility boost. We will be abusing those Techniques like mad for a few boss fights later in the game.
She also starts with 5 uses of
Vortex, a nice single-target attack that does about 50-70 damage. This early in the game, that’s pretty devastating.
Chaz is also nicely balanced, and will become very, very powerful with both attacks and techniques by the endgame. He starts with
Res, a single target heal that’s basically a full heal for the time being.
He also has three uses of
Earth, which paralyses an enemy. It’s pretty unpredictable, and we won’t use it for any purpose beyond me getting a shot of it at some point.
Hahn’s our magic user for quite some time. We’ll be joined temporarily by an uber-mage, but Hahn will be our reliable little thrower of Techniques for pretty much the first act of the game. He starts with
Res, and
Gelun.
Gelun drains attack power, which can neutralise enemies in a decent amount of places. A lot of people talk about it being useless, but I personally think it’s brilliant.
He also gets five uses of
Vision, which boosts Dexterity. It’s a very yummy skill, and great for boss fights.
…is it just me, or is that a surprisingly cute abomination in the eyes of god?
Meet Them Head On – Battle theme.
Monomates are healing items, and worth about 40-50 HP a pop. They only stay useful for a while, but dammit, healing is healing.
ACK! Not so cute any more!
One of the best features in this game is the ability to set up macros. While they can be used as a cheap way of avoiding telling everyone to just smack something, their usefulness really shines once we get some fun setups down the line. They’re also the best way to try and pull of Combination Attacks, which I will talk about when I can actually show you one. You act in the order set in the Macro, so it’s generally best to put your fastest characters first and slowest ones last.
Those big fellas hit hard for this stage of the game, so smacking a
Gelun on them can be useful. Keep about 6 TP in reserve, though, for the upcoming boss.
I think we just stole the entire History department’s funding for the next year.
Wat is freakin’ sweet. Cold damage is the best damage we can do for quite a long time, because almost everything on Motavia is weak against it. This already makes Hahn a powerhouse.
Defeat at a Blow! – Boss Theme
Oh my GOD this boss is cheap. Not cheap as in a bastard, cheap as in insanely grindable. He only has two moves: Fission, which summons a peon who can be one-shotted by Chaz, and a spray of fire, which does about 3 damage to Hahn and 1 damage to Alys and Chaz. It only uses the fire if it can’t summon a minion, so unless you suck it will never attack. If you want to grind for a couple of cheap levels, just have Alys defend, Chaz attack the most recently spawned minion, and Hahn either attack the minion or the boss. By the time it drops, you can get a while TON of experience. However, I didn’t want to spend eternity killing it, so I dropped two of Alys’
Vortex on it. It still took half an hour.
: Chaz! You need more practice. Your swing is too slow!
: What? But we destroyed the monster…
: With my help…
: Sorry…
: Now, Hahn? Come over here.
: What?
: What are these glass containers for?
: These…
: Hey, are you by any chance breeding monsters here? If that’s the case, this monster business is no mystery after all!
: I… I don’t know anything! It’s the first time I’ve been in this room! I’ve only just learned that such a thing exists at the academy!
While the translation is generally pretty good, sometimes we get lines like that…
: Um…
: Really, it’s the truth!
: I believe you… for now.
: The principal must know about these containers!
: He must also know the connection between this and the disappearance of Professor Holt.
: Yes, let’s see the principal again. C’mon, Chaz!
: Hey! Don’t leave me here!
Principal: Were you able to defeat those monsters?
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand he’s a dead man.
: Yes, but there’s something I want to ask you.
Principal: What?
: Is it just my imagination that I saw some strange things in the basement?
Principal: Ah…
: Someone keeping information from me is the sixth most dangerous thing in this world!
Taking votes on the top five!
Principal: All right already… I’ll tell you what I know. You are aware of the recent outbreak of a new breed of monster?
: Oh yes. Thanks to the outbreak I’m not hurting for work.
Principal: Three months ago, Holt identified Birth Valley as the origin of the outbreak, and he went to investigate… He says he discovered the remains of an ancient and advanced civilisation! The investigation team brought back the monster breeding capsules, and immediately set forth on their second investigative mission. But…
: Not one of them came back…
Principal: Yes, that’s right, Hahn.
: And despite all this, you didn’t send out a rescue team and banned entry to Birth Valley!
Principal: No, no! I… I was trying to send a rescue team! But…
: Something happened?
Principal: At that moment, a man who called himself ‘Zio’ appeared before my eyes…
: Zio! I’ve heard of him. That fake magician!
Start Flashback…
: How are you doing?
Principal: Who… who are you?
: My name is Zio… Zio the black magician. Do not intrude on Birth Valley.
Principal: What do you mean?
: In the future, if you ever let anyone set foot in Birth Valley…
: Let me make something clear… There is no need for you to go to Birth Valley!
End flashback. That was refreshingly short.
Zio is an awesome villain. He does nothing without a reason, he doesn’t just go torment and annoy the heroes, and quite frankly… he’s already most of the way to victory. And dear lord, when he drops the act and gets serious… he’s utterly, utterly terrifying. Fuck Sephiroth, that silver-haired git has NOTHING on Zio.
: It’s related to the research team!
: So that’s why the Birth Valley situation wasn’t announced, and also why you tried to keep a lid on the monster situation. But… what is all this about? Remains of an ancient advanced civilisation and Zio?
: It seems like these are signs of something to come.
: I need to help the professor! I’m going to Birth Valley!
: This is egg-laying season for sand worms, so be careful.
: Ah… Alys?
: We’ll tag along for 300 meseta plus expenses.
I love this woman.
: Ah… deal! Birth Valley is to the northeast! Let’s hurry!
Next time: Wait, we’re on the world map already?
"Waaiiit a minute! The Principal never paid us!" - Chaz, Realisations Within Elsydeon
Character Introduction: Alys “The Eight Stroke Sword” Brangwin
Alys is awesome. She can deal solid damage with her attack techniques, has some of the nicest support techniques in the game, and can hit all enemies on screen with her normal attack. Give her two slicers and she can set up easy kills for the rest of the party. She should always act at the beginning of your ‘Attack Shit’ Macro. She’s also able to set up some nice Combo Attacks, as I’ll try to show you later.
Set her first in your lineup until Chaz hits about Level 7, because she can negate more damage than he can until that point. Do not hesitate to abuse
Saner and
Shift during boss battles.
"Stop rubbing against my legs. That's not what 'Eight Strokes' means." - Alys to Myau, Conversations Within Elsydeon
Screenshots Taken For This Update: 410 (Ow.)
Screenshots Total: 410
Once upon a time (1994, to be precise), SEGA made RPGs. Good RPGs. Games that had interesting characters, solid plots, and fun battles. What happened? I suspect Sonic the Hedgehog happened.
But before SEGA disappeared down the blue-tinted drain… they made an incredible game called Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millenium for the Genesis. It had good music, a great story, graphics that pushed what the Genesis was capable of at the time, an incredibly awesome set of antagonists and the most touching death scene in gaming. *sniff*
And we’re gonna play it.
Hey Sin, what’s with these Conversations Within Elsydeon?
Conversations Within Elsydeon were started by Joel Fagin on the now sadly defunct Phantasy Star Discussion Board. They’re silly, funny, and if you get the references, often distinctly irreverent. I contributed a few back in the day, but the only ones you’ll see here are Joel’s. Why? Because I can, and because they add a little mwaha and pizzazz to the game.
The Japanese ad for the game.
Narrator: The victor sacrificed the vanquished to the heavens. Four bells tolled. Four torches were lit. And the world continued for hundreds of years…
The End of the Millenium – The theme music of the game. Very nice indeed.
Ahhh, Japan, you and your strange love of Random Capital Letters.
Narrator: …more frequent and powerful, an elite few begin to wonder what is behind this outbreak… and when and how will it all end?
Scientist: I’m so frightened, I can’t even think about my research!
Oh for… Chaz is not the brightest of protagonists…
Whee! Throwback references already! Lubetz (known in the States as Luveno) was a scientist from Phantasy Star 1. He pretty much single-handedly made the ship that Alis, Myau, Odin and Noah used to travel between the three planets of the Algo solar system; Motavia, the desert planet; Palma, the forested planet; and Dezolis, the ice planet.
Apparently he’s a god now. Who knew?
Incidentally, the Algo solar system actually exists, and is known in some circles as Medusa’s Eye. Alis and co fought Medusa. I love these games.
Researcher: confusion by the destruction of Mother Brain. After that, Motavia sustained a direct hit by a fragment of the exploding planet Parma. Our civilisation was almost destroyed. We call this the ‘Great Collapse.’ …Oh, I didn’t realise you weren’t students.
And more!
Mother Brain was the trump card of mankind. We destroyed Earth, and so we emigrated to Algo on a great colony ship called Noah. When we reached Algo, we found the native Palmans in chaos, the planets Motavia and Palma having swapped orbits not long before. They adapted their AI, Mother Brain, to stabilise the two planets. They would slowly make Motavia habitable, and when the time came, they would reveal themselves as the saviours of the Algo system, and all they wanted in return was a portion of Motavia for themselves.
Then Dark Force got onto the ship and corrupted Mother Brain, setting the events of Phantasy Star 2 into motion. We know that Rolf and his friends eventually destroyed Mother Brain, but not before she orchestrated the utter destruction of Palma. Later on, we’ll find out just why that is incredibly bad.
"I can't believe Rolf actually opened it. I mean it had 'Pandora' written on the top and everything. I bet he touches wet paint to see if it's still sticky." - Amy, Conversations Within Elsydeon
Woman: men carried a big parcel into the Academy! This happened some time ago, but I wonder what it could’ve been.
Oooooh, interesting.
…Okay then. Moving right along.
But… but nobody said anything!
Principal: I’m the principal of this academy. Let’s see, you must be Alys, the hunter, and you are her assistant, Chaz.
Principal: Ah…
Principal: appear in this academy! It appears they have made the basement their headquarters. I’ve since closed it off. So far, no one’s been hurt, but who knows when they’ll appear again? Please, I beg you to destroy all those creatures! Ah… I’d like to settle this matter discreetly, I’m counting on your reputation, Alys.
Principal: Stop asking questions. Just hurry and exterminate those monsters! Don’t forget, I’m paying you dearly for your services!
*facepalm* Well done, Hahn…
I love this woman. Alys is possibly the most incredibly awesome woman in the history of video gaming. And we get all the money she extorts from Hahn. :D
Alys is nicely balanced. She starts with some solid Techniques:
She also starts with 5 uses of
Chaz is also nicely balanced, and will become very, very powerful with both attacks and techniques by the endgame. He starts with
He also has three uses of
Hahn’s our magic user for quite some time. We’ll be joined temporarily by an uber-mage, but Hahn will be our reliable little thrower of Techniques for pretty much the first act of the game. He starts with
He also gets five uses of
…is it just me, or is that a surprisingly cute abomination in the eyes of god?
Meet Them Head On – Battle theme.
Monomates are healing items, and worth about 40-50 HP a pop. They only stay useful for a while, but dammit, healing is healing.
ACK! Not so cute any more!
One of the best features in this game is the ability to set up macros. While they can be used as a cheap way of avoiding telling everyone to just smack something, their usefulness really shines once we get some fun setups down the line. They’re also the best way to try and pull of Combination Attacks, which I will talk about when I can actually show you one. You act in the order set in the Macro, so it’s generally best to put your fastest characters first and slowest ones last.
Those big fellas hit hard for this stage of the game, so smacking a
I think we just stole the entire History department’s funding for the next year.
Defeat at a Blow! – Boss Theme
Oh my GOD this boss is cheap. Not cheap as in a bastard, cheap as in insanely grindable. He only has two moves: Fission, which summons a peon who can be one-shotted by Chaz, and a spray of fire, which does about 3 damage to Hahn and 1 damage to Alys and Chaz. It only uses the fire if it can’t summon a minion, so unless you suck it will never attack. If you want to grind for a couple of cheap levels, just have Alys defend, Chaz attack the most recently spawned minion, and Hahn either attack the minion or the boss. By the time it drops, you can get a while TON of experience. However, I didn’t want to spend eternity killing it, so I dropped two of Alys’
While the translation is generally pretty good, sometimes we get lines like that…
Principal: Were you able to defeat those monsters?
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand he’s a dead man.
Principal: What?
Principal: Ah…
Taking votes on the top five!
Principal: All right already… I’ll tell you what I know. You are aware of the recent outbreak of a new breed of monster?
Principal: Three months ago, Holt identified Birth Valley as the origin of the outbreak, and he went to investigate… He says he discovered the remains of an ancient and advanced civilisation! The investigation team brought back the monster breeding capsules, and immediately set forth on their second investigative mission. But…
Principal: Yes, that’s right, Hahn.
Principal: No, no! I… I was trying to send a rescue team! But…
Principal: At that moment, a man who called himself ‘Zio’ appeared before my eyes…
Start Flashback…
Principal: Who… who are you?
Principal: What do you mean?
End flashback. That was refreshingly short.
Zio is an awesome villain. He does nothing without a reason, he doesn’t just go torment and annoy the heroes, and quite frankly… he’s already most of the way to victory. And dear lord, when he drops the act and gets serious… he’s utterly, utterly terrifying. Fuck Sephiroth, that silver-haired git has NOTHING on Zio.
I love this woman.
Next time: Wait, we’re on the world map already?
"Waaiiit a minute! The Principal never paid us!" - Chaz, Realisations Within Elsydeon
Character Introduction: Alys “The Eight Stroke Sword” Brangwin
Alys is awesome. She can deal solid damage with her attack techniques, has some of the nicest support techniques in the game, and can hit all enemies on screen with her normal attack. Give her two slicers and she can set up easy kills for the rest of the party. She should always act at the beginning of your ‘Attack Shit’ Macro. She’s also able to set up some nice Combo Attacks, as I’ll try to show you later.
Set her first in your lineup until Chaz hits about Level 7, because she can negate more damage than he can until that point. Do not hesitate to abuse
"Stop rubbing against my legs. That's not what 'Eight Strokes' means." - Alys to Myau, Conversations Within Elsydeon
Phantasy Star IV is the first RPG where I went from 'well that sucks, I lost my healer' (Aeris) to genuinely crying when... well, I won't say any more because FUCK SPOILERS.
