Dude, your ending monologue about things needing to end is so amazing. I'm glad you came to that conclusion. We don't need PS5. The story is perfect, wrapped up and we need to cherish what we have and be grateful that we got it at all!!! Most of, if not ALL of my friends are ALWAYS pinning for THIS or THAT to come back or get a re-make or something and it always seemed so pointless to me when we still have the treasures that we grew up with to enjoy THE WAY we grew up with them. I dunno, your message just really resonated with me and I think it's a mature stance to have as a thirty-something year old Phantasy Star fan!!! Great video, my friend!!! \o\
Although it is true and I see your point, I wouldn't be against some more attention to the serie. I am flabbergasted that no phantasy Star was part of Sega all star racing for instance despite having in cannon jet scooters and other vehicles and strong brand characters. Also new teams of developers showed on other series that they could put heart in a remake and go beyond and above (star ocean 2 remake this year is what I am thinking about) If not a PSV I would appreciate seeing the characters here and there and would have loved a Sega smash bros with a couple of the heroes in it :)
Yeah wanting more of something is a double edge sword. Sometimes it can be great if the proper love and attention to detail is given and sometimes it can be a disaster. Just look at Star Wars being in the wrong hands. 🤦♂
@@GTV-Japan I actually liked the prequels. The sequels however was very disappointing. I knew Lucas selling it to Disney was going to bite fans in the backend and not give them what they wanted. And it was more apparent when they decided to make all the great novels that had been written not canon.
Don’t get too excited but when I made a video for FF4, pixel remasters were announced days later. When I did Cosmic Fantasy, a rerelease was announced two weeks later. If Sega announce some new PS thing in January, I’ll know I have some sort of curse!
@feiwong3634 well, it’s bad for me because I can’t add it to the video 😂 it was funny because especially CF a bunch of people were like heyyy what about the rerelease? And I’m just like dude that was 2 days after the video!
PSIV has the best pacing of any RPG I've ever played. It's always just right; good length dungeons, solid challenge but no need to grind and multiple worlds to explore. One of my all-time favorites. Such an overlooked gem.
I'm glad to hear someone else say that. I've pointed out many times the game has a brisk pace, both in its story and in how the game plays, which is one reason I like it so much. I don't know if Sega's arcade background had any influence in that, but I like to think they put a tiny bit of an arcade feel into the game with the pacing.
Yes, but if you weren't forcing the Zol slugs in that cave on Motavia to fuse together into a giant slug just to hunt them down for 400 exp a pop, then were you even really playing? 😅
@liveactioncow Sandworms are where it's at. Either outright encountering one or defeating all but one of the little worms and watch it burrow and summon the big sandworm.
I remmember as a kid. I had a LOT of NES games, controller 4 controller port, the glove...just a lot of stuff. Sold everything to buy a SNES with Super metroid and SF2 turbo. After playing all the good rpg on the snes, i sold everything to buy a sega with comix zone and Phantasy Star 4. No regret. Best rpg right after Final Fantasy 3.
I just played Phantasy Star IV for the first time last year through Nintendo Switch Online. It is easily one of the best RPGs and games I have ever played. Easily top 20. I loved it.
When I heard about twitch, phantasy Star was the only go to title I thought of to see if people were still playing it. I've seen a few people discovering the title and all have a good time despite it being an old title. The game is that well balanced that it shines even 30 years after with its concepts, pacing and game design I am happy you also got to play the game. I wish we could remake the other episodes with the same pacing as PSIV
If a future announcement of Phantasy Star V includes the full animated cutscenes and voice acting of the proposed initial MegaCD release for Phantasy Star IV I think that would be incredible! Other great RPGs that deserve a reboot include Shining in the Darkness, Shining Force, Landstalker, and Sword of Vermillion - all classic staples of the MegaDrive RPG golden era!
If it ever came to it I’d love for a PSV to have Sonic Mania style graphics, not every modern day game needs to have the best graphics that are expensive to make.
Because of this game I spent so much time talking about it on Pscave and other forums back then Now a few discords still continue, "esper mansion" being the most active I would say, Crazy to think community are still engaged after so long.
Something that didn't make the final cut but I have always wondered about is that Alys and Chaz both wear red and white clothes with headbands. Do Hunters have uniforms? Are they like a company, or militia? I always thought it was just for survival. There is no clear answer.
Doesn't Chaz's armor look similar to Rolf's armor in phantasy Star 2? It made me think that maybe it was part of some ancient government in some capacity. It could also be the outfit of those who fight to maintain order. I don't know...
Personally that's a point I like about the game : the colours. Chaz and Alys are hunters and have similar colours that put them above civilians. We understand they are special people when we compare with Hahn that has simple colours and simple clothes. We are brought step by step into this fantasy world Then comes Rune who has blue hair and royal colours, he stands out and we are introduced to "magic" and more fantasy elements. Studying the colours is great in the game as it is quite adapted to the level you are at. Rika and Wren get to have a story link together and share plastic / metal black grey dominant armies because they are characters deeply linked with the tech of 1000 years before. When you arrive in dezo you only have magical blue and white dominants for this planet with Kyra and Raja. There is a story to be told through chara design alone and colours in PSIV made perfect sense in its story telling. I don't know if they thought about it or if it was natural but yeah it is great
This video makes me cry. I have fond memories playing all 4 non online games as well as the online ones. I especially love the battle with Zio and that rocking music.
Every time, when I only see the cutscenes, I´m thinking, that Phantasy Star IV could not only be the greatest / best Mega CD game but also the greatest / best CD-based RPG before the Playstation. But even in his final form PS IV is one of THE PROOFS, why the Mega Drive / Genesis, is for me the greatest 16 - bit console EVER MADE.
As someone who grew up with PSO/PSU, I've been on fence about playing the original quadrilogy, but after watching this video (and playing hours of PSP2i) I'm going to to give PSIV a try. Thanks GTV!
Phantasy Star 4 is definitely the best of the series, no doubt about that. I especially love how it manages to provide a satisfying conclusion to the series. I really like what you said at the end too. This is why I’m more apprehensive nowadays about revivals and remakes and the near-constant requests for sequels and such. I feel like we’ve been paralyzed by a surge of nostalgia, yearning for the good ol’ days in a present that (in some ways) sucks. This prevents the very flood of creativity that big companies like Sega allowed to happen in, for instance, the fifth and sixth generations. Nowadays, it seems indie games are providing more original games, with those devs willing to take more risks to make something great. I think more than ever, we need to see that same kind of mentality in the video game industry as a whole. That’s just my opinion though. Great video! Glad to have witnessed the end of this series.
Thank you for this thoughtful retrospective. I first played Phantasy Star 4 back in 1994, and it remains my favorite RPG to this day. While in the hospital back in October, I played it again, and it still holds up so well for me. Such a fantastic story, and an excellent cap to the whole series. I agree with you. We don't need a part 5. There's always room for more, but another thirty years can pass without a sequel, and I'd be just fine with that. I had heard this game was originally meant to be a Sega CD title, and that would have given the team the necessary hardware to properly bring back the first person dungeons, along with red audio music and animated cutscenes. I'm glad that didn't happen, because it would have been stuck to the Sega CD. Phantasy Star 4 has been released so many times digitally over the years, with new generations having the chance to at least find out about it, even if they don't gravitate toward it as much as I did. I feel that would have been lost on a Sega CD or even Sega Saturn title. We only just recently got a mini console with Sega CD titles, the Nintendo virtual consoles and e-shops never got any Sega CD titles, and even Sega Forever did not have CD games. You know they all got, though? Plenty of Phantasy Star 4. Not sure where I am going with that, aside from the fact that I love the game a lot, and I am glad it still holds strong to this day. Here's to the past 30 years!
Good points all around! I doubt that it would have moved a lot of Sega CDs and likely would have been “forgotten “ however great that presentation would have been 🚀
Bought this game in December 1995 for 500 francs :-) I 've such fond memories of this one. You can still see its influence on some game, Cosmic Star Heroine for example. Maybe not a sequel but something with the same spirit and feels.
@@GTV-Japan the funny thing is back when game were on cartdridges, it was not uncommon to see some game above €60 before the cd rom revolution though, if i remember well, even pc games on floppy were above €45. Oh i also forgot to mention in ROM Read Only Memory the indie visual novel, originally you were supposed to play a female character named Alyssa then you play an ungendered relative to her, they made quite obvious Alyssa was a tribute to Phantasy Star.
going in depth into the development staff is much much more than what the "leading brands" of gaming UA-cam would do. that's just the GTV Japan Difference™
It is the GTV difference! I read only sources from that period, many in Japanese and THEN went to Wikipedia and erased all the parts that were repeated. 👍
@JE-nr6xw I usually release videos on Friday at 11pm Japan time but I was so out of it I had to wait 12 hours to properly screen the vid on UA-cam to check for errors. Had there been any, it’d take more time! Aaaa
Wonderful tribute to a wonderful RPG series! With the passing of Rieko Kodama I too consider my Phantasy Star V wishes to be officially off-the-table. I think the best thing, if anything now would be for someone to create a "spiritual successor" to Phantasy Star that involves an entirely different cast and star-system.
I've been wondering if maybe some form of prequels could be a decent way to go. How did the primitive Algol races survive the early days when Dark Falz surfaced? Or maybe just go over the first time the Great Seal weakened enough for Dark Falz to take form, assuming there's nothing anywhere to suggest the first time that happened was in Alyssa's time. I've even been curious about if a time travel plot could work, having a party from the distant past or future, travelling between the ends of millenniums, to lend a hand where needed and nudge things towards the best end results. Things like chasing Medusa out of her cave and over to her tower so Alyssa can rescue Tyrone and saving Eusis in the final fight against the humans so Rudy can exist. Although that plot would require someone who can both handle the complexities of time travel stories as well as being very knowledgeable of the classic franchise to write it, which I feel is a bit outside of Sega's available workforce these days.
@@ShaimingLong I think the only thing I think might be remotely in Sega's wheelhouse at least at the moment would be to remake the games in a more easy-to-digest format and greatly improve the visuals, of course. I'm not even sure I'd be hopeful for something like that though because big parts of the games would probably need alteration at least for PSII and PSIII. PSII is still a favorite of mine but it's a brutal game. The funniest thing is that the "Generations 2" remake made the game even more brutal not less. I was really surprised! XD PSIII on the other hand would probably need a complete tear-down remake if they wanted people to actually enjoy it this time. So I really don't know. GTV might be right that, we should just appreciate what we have. Hahaha.
@@OhmiKuma An ideal situation would be an independent team, like what we got for the Panzer Dragoon remake or maybe Streets of Rage 4, people that care about the legacy of the franchise and want to do it justice rather than earn a pay check working on a game they don't care about. The idea of the Generations games was fairly solid, create a uniform remake of the full series with better connectivity. Though I don't particularly like some of the changes, as well as them just dropping it half way through. The difficulty thing was weird, PS1 seemed easier, especially with the added level of hand-holding. PSII seemed like a bit of an overcorrection!
@@GTV-Japan Yes! I was going to mention the first king, though I had forgotten his name. I'd already waffled on long enough though. I think there's enough blank space to make a solid game there without even having to recycle the good vs evil plot. Although I wouldn't be surprised if it were used as a motivation to achieve unity. Some sort of "I found out a great evil surfaces every 1000 years away and we're only 300 years away from the next time, we should be working together and preparing." With whatever factions opposing the player refusing to believe some folklore prophecy. I could even see there being some subtle nods, like maybe Waizz was told of Dark Force by an Esper who turns out to be Lashiec's ancestor, and not Lutz' as a more casual fan may assume. Thorough players could find evidence of a long game plan to eventually overthrow the Landales and take over in service of the 'dark god' giving a non-canon alternate end where you're forced to fight your game long ally and traitor, gaining the strong unity that the eventual Nero and Alyssa have to properly face Dark Force. I would be 100% behind a game with that premise! If I had the money and knew the talent I would be forming a company to do this, and remake Shining Force III.
It's kind of funny how everybody around this time was playing Sonic 2, 3 or even streets of rage - yet, I was sitting at home trying to understand what this game was that I was given back when I was a small kid and all the amount of rage I had for this game for the crazy difficulty spikes or even really the fact that I didn't understand some of the wording that was placed in this game, made me hate this game but yet love it as the years went by I even still owned the game to this day.
@@GTV-Japan Absolutely!! I specifically enjoyed how you went over all of the super-combination attacks! It was cool to see them all in action! That and all of those beautiful 90's manga panel scans you shared too! Great stuff! BTW Do you have a twitter page I can follow?
Ohhh wow, I was really looking forward to this after watching your Phantasy Star 1 through 3 recap and story explanation videos and then I was like "okay he says Phantasy Star IV came out years later, I'll wait... so when the time comes, you'llI just need to wait for like almost 3 years but then it's okay because I like the 20 year anniversary concept"... and "boom" this episode comes out today, wasn't expecting it. Sooo grateful !!! Thanks for all the great work and the quality you put into producing your videos about Phantasy Star. Tonight I'm gonna binge watch starting from your first video about this series just for the sake of getting back into Phantasy Star once more ! That's how much I love it !
Yes December 17 is the anniversary date! I was half joking when I said it before but I knew this day would come. You wouldn’t believe how many people have said they’ve been waiting for 3-4 years for this! It’s a lot!🚀
There is so much information collected here that could have gone completely unknown to a fan in the age before the internet. Thanks for your journalism here!
This was a fantastic watch and I have been waiting for it for a long time. You really made some great points about why PSIV was and is a great title. I haven't played it in awhile, so I need to rectify that asap.
Get on it! Be sure to put up the pennant! Rika really hated that for some reason. You could tell how their relationship was going to be after the game 😂
Oh wow its already the anniversary! Years go by quickly. Ive actually played and finished the first 3. Played a bit of this one but got distracted by other games. Definitely going to finish though. I really like it so far.
I'd heard the name Phantasy Star for years, but didn't give the series the time of day until I got the Sega Genesis Mini for Christmas 2019. Though it wasn't until July 2020 that I gave PSIV a try. I'd gotten into a rut of playing the same few games over and over. So I decided it was time to get out of my comfort zone. Long story, short: I got hooked and have beaten it between two different playthroughs. I put on podcasts to break up the monotony of grinding. For example, I got Chaz up to Level 85 or so by now. (Been a long time since I played it.) I owe much of my leveling up to countless Sandworm encounters. So you can get an idea of how much I played it. Of courses, I've made copious use of save states. You know I also have the Nintendo mini consoles and got a head start on Final Fantasy III/VI around this time five years ago. I left off just before I'm supposed to meet Sabin and learn his Blitz moves. To be honest, I'm not the best at button mashing BS. I can't successfully execute quarter circle moves on my first attempt much less half circle, three-quarter circle or even full circle moves. It wasn't until a couple months ago that I played FFIII/VI again. I mostly got kicks by doing a little grinding, but am apprehensive about committing after that. Needless to say, I got a very long way to go with that long winded monstrosity of a game. Yeah I'm sure many would burn me at the stake for speaking blasphemies against that sacred cow. So what am I even getting at? The moral of the story is that I find Phantasy Star IV to be far more user friendly than its aforementioned contemporary. I've gladly committed countless hours to PS IV yet drifted away from FF3/6 within a month. *In fact I've had the NES Classic since 2018 and yet only started playing FF1 last fall. I have my party (2 fighters, black mage and white mage) at Level 22. I've reached Crescent Lake and will keep grinding before taking on Gurgu Volcano. I find the game to be unfair in how quickly it escalates the with each chapter. Again I listen to music and podcast to break up the monotony of grinding. Okay, enough of my autistic rabbit trails All in all, Phantasy Star IV most definitely deserves its accolades.
I've been waiting for this documentary for years. When i finish watching the ps3 30th anniversary i thougjt to myself "wow now i have to wait for almost 4 years to enjoy the fourth one" well here it is! Thank you very much GTV. And may we never forget the irreplaceable Rieko Kodama, she would be proud of you work.
Yes I agree with you. Good things come to an end. If you are left alive for too long you will be a corpse of what you use to be. Final fantasy is no longer final fantasy. It’d be a shame if phantasy star became something else. I guess that’s what happened with phantasy star online, but they never dared name it phantasy star 5, I’m thankful.
I’ve never played all the online games but I can excuse having multiple versions because they are essentially the same and if we’re just a PC game it’d get updated and just stay the same thing. But it’s just an undeniable truth of life, eventually your favorite things will let you down if you don’t let them go.
You are right about Final Fantasy series being different from what it used to be. I wasn’t a final fantasy fan but I have played final fantasy 1 , 5, and 6. Loved the dungeons and dragons theme.
Even though FF took many different routes, the fact that it continued until now gave them the opportunity to have a large pool of story and characters to use and integrate in different kind of games. Many will say that the core of Final fantasy has been successfully integrated in the online FFXIV that proved to be successful, rich in story and expanding the ideas of the first 6 episodes. Although some games could turn bad it might have been an overhaul positive to keep the franchise alive, after 30 years we could pay for live concert tickets, see characters of PS integrate the roster of smash bross, see different type of games in the lore. It would pick my curiosity at least a bit if a game claimed to be a rhythm game phantasy Star, or a city builder phantasy Star or a metroidvania phantasy Star etc etc. Would they be good? I don't know Would I check those? For sure !
@@stefanswiss3760 I get that in a sense, but for me it would degrade the phantasy star name. It would turn phantasy star into just a skin of its body full of meat, bones and skin
Actually, I've come back here to report that thanks to this video, GTV, I've been inspired to re-play PS4 on my Switch again. First time in over a decade since I beat it on my PSP.
Thank you for this. The PS series have always been near and dear to my heart. And while I look back with appreciation and nostalgia, it is ok, to let something we love End.
Man before i found this channel. I knew nothing of this series. But ever since ive watched the rest of the retrospectives, i was waiting for this oneee
Literally the first ever JRPG I ever played to completion, so it's remained very special to me ever since. It may not be my all-time favorite game, but it's up there.
Fantastic video, been waiting for this one. Phantasy Star 4 will always be to me my favorite and best rpg. Every few years I go back and play it again. Thank you again for taking the time to make this video!
You're still undefeated when it comes to providing the best Sega content on this site. I know you do more than just that (and it's all of just as high quality), but nothing on this site gets me quite as excited as a new GTV Sega documentary.
Thanks for the support! Undefeated! I like that! There will be many Sega vids next year. Sonic 3 just start and one of the three games I mentioned near the end👍
This was my very first RPG and there are moments that still, to this day, make me want to cry (tearing up now writing this). Thank you for taking me through the journey that was my childhood and reminding me that as an adult that these stories are never too old to be enjoyed.
Oh I need to make time to play through these classics before I can fully listen to your retrospectives (don’t want to be spoiled on the story)! Thank you for putting this out alongside the others. Guarantee it’s absolute quality!!!
Awesome video, I've been waiting years for it, great work!!! Phantasy Star IV is my favorite game in the series and surely the game that I loved most in my life for the emotions that it gave me at the time! 🥰
I remember I was playing this game on an emulator on my Samsung Galaxy s1 on a Chicago train. A couple of dudes sat next to me and were mesmerized because I was playing this game on my phone which back then was a big deal since emulators just came out on Android. I ended up missing my train stop because I was so immersed in this game. It's crazy they didn't bring it back.
Upon seeing this in my feed I first went back and watched the PS2 and PS3 videos, and now that it's all over I just have to commend you this touching tribute of a sadly neglected series. I watched those videos because I played PS2 and 3 as a kid on emulator, for I was a Nintendo kid back in those days and missed out. But because I was big into emulation by the time I went to the MD's library I had already played Secret of Mana 2 (back when that was it's name), Final Fantasies 4 to 6, Super Mario RPG, Chrono Trigger, Breath of FIres and Earthbound... siuffice it to say that PS2 and 3 with their early 16-bit graphics and compromised designs couldn't charm me like they could've if I played them when they were new. I acknowledge their strong sides and the service they did to RPG-hungry gamers in the early days, ESPECIALLY here in Europe. I liked their ambition with PS2's dark narrative and PS3's ambitious generation-plot. But... PS2's dungeons got too long in the tooth and monotonously looking, and the characters just didn't move me since it felt like their whole character growths (or characters over all) were shunted off into those those prologues you had to download. And PS3 barebones graphics and slower battles were already a strike, having most of the characters be vessels to carry the plot ofrwards rather than strong characters that carried the narrative on their own was practically a death sentence. I don't even think I finished that one. All in all, I didn't see the need to go on and test PF4.... until WAY later when I decided to follow a Let's Play of the game on a whim (and play it on my own after wrapping the Let's Play), and oh man. Did I ever regret stopping at 3. Plot and characters as engaging as anything Square ever made, fun and fast fights, macros letting you do cool combo-moves before Chrono Trigger was a thing, callbacks that had me going back to old games just to make sure I remembered right, it's all just... a treasure. Without a doubt Sega's finest RPG of the 16-bit generation, a story involving sacrifice, growth, sidequest, and ACTUAL PLAYABLE ALIENS YESSS NO MORE BORING HUMANS ONLY. It was everything you'd ever want... and then Phantasy Star was over as a single-player experience. Just like that. I wonder if that's why your call to have people remember the good times rather than wish for a return goes so unheeded in the comment section, even if I think you're right that without Rieko it's chances are low, and especially since SEGA are probably content with letting Atlus be their RPG-company these days. You can say that the franchise never broke our hearts by going into a decline, but I honestly think people would've PREFERED that as long as they got more content. Because the Phantasy Star series never got to have a"Final Fantasy 7 to 9 arc" on the 32-bit generation. It never got to become as famous as most think it SHOULD have been, even if PSO pioneered online-RPGs. Deep down PS fans feel a hole when they see what others got and they did not, and I think that if they could have had that... they would have accepted a "Final Fantasy 13"-like turn for Phantasy Star in the late 00's. Because I think humans in general are just REALLY bad at being satisfied with what they have when they can instead dream of what they COULD have. Sometimes the ambition that stems from such hunger gets us four bold adventures among the stars. Sometimes it gets us people who can't accept we just got FOUR such adventures. But regardless of whateve the fanbase wants- thank you for these retrospectives, and for awakening my memories of Phantasy Star. They're not as shiny or old as most of the people here since I wasn't a SEGA kid, but it's still fair to give Phantasy Star, SEGA and the development team their dues as the pioneers and influences they were. Hopefully more people can come across these videos and get interested in revisiting these fine works- so more eyes can see the stars and the forces therein, light as well as dark.
I still maintain that this is the among the best of all the 16 bit RPGs out there. It's also got a really satisfying localization. While SNES RPGs were self-censoring things from the Japanese versions because they didn't want to upset NOA (and also preventing us from getting classics like Live-A-Live due to their mature content) this game keeps the tone and humor of the original, and just in general, the translation quality is WAY better than what you get out of a lot of its competition on the SNES. It just shows the love Sega's always had for their fans.
of Dragon quest, Final fantasy and Phantasy star. PS was the only where we got all games in the series. no skips and basically no censorship (Though PSIII had some translation issues.) It's kind of incredible to me as a younger man, who didn't get to play these legendary JRPG series when they came out. (Born in 1998) I remember finishing 4 with a huge smile on my face, I hope 3 and 4 get remakes. just so I can get a sense of finality with the other 2 remakes. Thanks Reiko Kodama and everyone else. for giving me one of my favorite childhood series.
One of my favorite RPG's and possibly my favorite turn based RPG of all time. The flow of the game and the presentation of the story, with the comic panels, pretty much perfection. For my own experience, I played this before I ever played FFVII and I must say, the death of Alys hit me even harder than Aerith. Alys was your party leader and how could I even continue. I also felt super warm at the end when Rika leaps from the ship to be with Chaz. So emotional and perfect. PS4 also wrapped up the story that began with the 1st console RPG and 1st JRPG I ever played.
This was an excellent retrospective and was a pleasure to watch. I learned things and relived great memories. I was never the biggest RPG fan, though I have enjoyed some back in the day. Fittingly, I got my start with RPGs with the first Phantasy Star on the Master System in 1988 or 1989. There's always been something special about Phantasy Star 4 for me, almost like it was made to suit my tastes perfectly. I remember it being so expensive when it came out. I bought it a couple of years later used because I was filling in my library after getting a Nomad. Phantasy Star was one of the titles I played most on that portable Genesis and it was a fun way to experience it since I could do it anywhere(within arm's reach of a wall outlet). I also appreciated your closing thoughts. There is value in something good ending on a high note and staying finished. The ending of Phantasy Star 4 was really great and surprisingly emotional and it a great way to leave things. I realized years ago that the people who make things(movies, shows, games, etc) are more important than the franchise which is largely window dressing. If there's a revival of an old franchise, but different people are making it, then I can't get excited. Sometimes, those revivals can turn out well because the new people really love and understand the source material, but many times it is not the case. So if there was a proper Phantasy Star 5, I'd be curious enough to look into it, but I'm also okay if 4 is the ending. Even if there is a 5 and it's not for me, I can easily ignore its existence. Seeing how Sega is reviving old franchises, I'm inclined to think there might be something related to Phantasy Star in the pipeline. I also wanted to add that my one disappointment in there not being a Phantasy Star 5 back in the day is that I would have loved another RPG with a similar look and feel.
Wow I had no idea! My cable carrier in 1995 was stubborn and didn’t offer it. They also didn’t offer Comedy Central!! Thank the Lord mystery science theater 3000 moved to to sci fi channel which thankfully we had
@@GTV-Japan my mom worked for the local cable company, I was extremely lucky to have Sega Channel, it introduced me to a whole world of games I never would have known about otherwise.
@Naptastic_voyage nice!! I moved in the early 90s to a house 8 miles away but the cable company was different. Had 54 channels then down to like 36. Boooo
Played Phantasy Star 4 a few months ago on the SEGA Ultimate Mega/Genesis Collection from the XBox 360/PS3 gen. Really loved the game and how easier it was to finish compared to the earlier games, only needed a game guide a few times just to figure out what to do in certain parts of the story as well as being aware of how much to grind before going into that Castle Tower in Space towards the 3/4 part of the game.
As a child, I picked up PS4 at Blockbuster one Friday night after having rented Warsong for weeks. Rented that sucker every weekend I could. Funny enough, my save was always still there so I guess nobody else was renting it before I did or maybe not at all.
I'm fairly certain I first sampled this game on Sega Channel but I might be wrong. Either way, I was hooked from the jump. It was my first Phantasy Star and even as the fourth in the series, didn't alienate newcomers. I eventually played the rest and have beaten all but 2, though that will happen sooner or later. PS4 Dungeon Arrange 2 remains one of my favorite, and definitely most nostalgic, video game BGM of all time.
@@GTV-Japan Now that I think harder on it, yes it was indeed, because I remember there being a sort of guide associated with the game that made sense of what some of the techniques were.
@@GTV-Japan I am going to start a new playthrough today for the Christmas holiday. This video has motivated me to give it another try. Thank you again.
@John-PaulHunt-wy7lf Yeah they're totally different and the online games only became "Phantasy Star" because SEGA wanted to use the brand for the first Sci-Fi themed online RPG on the Dreamcast. Still, it's what sparked my interest in the rest of the series.
Just writing a quick comment saying that I'll come back to your video tonight because I don't have time to watch it now... But I waited for this video for more than a year, since your video of PS3 ! Can't wait!
When i was starting fourth game in the series i was expecting at most good old game, but i get much more. Phantasy Star IV was awesome! Great story with conclusion for whole original series, great gameplay, great graphics, great music, optional content for discorver, there was everything here for me to like it. I was feeling like this is almost modern-like title. For me best game in quadrology and worth to play classic. Anyway, thanks for in-depth documentaries for each game, i certainly learnt interesting trivias.
Fantastic game. Great video, too. While I know that PS4 is by far the better game, I'll always prefer PS2 out of any of them, simply due to the fact that it was the first time I'd ever experienced a player character die permanently (I also prefer the soundtrack). That moment still sticks with me to this day. But, I remember when PS4 first came out at that insane price point. It was one of those "rent it a few times and hope nobody erases your save" types of games. Sega is reviving some older properties now, so maybe there's hope for a proper PS5, and while I absolutely love the PS Online games, I'd still like to see the series continue, perhaps many thousands of years later in the timeline.
@@GTV-Japan That is very wholesome and kind of the other people renting the cartridge. These days I feel like too many people would overwrite it on purpose just to "troll" some kid.
This channel is such a passion project. Another well crafted video where the runtime just flew by. I wish more of UA-cam was like this. Have a fantastic holiday season!
Thanks you too! I'll say that the recorded audio part was originally 1 hour 22 minutes! But it trimmed it down by removing all redundant parts. after finishing the edits I always watch the video 3-4 times to see if any parts drag, then remove them. 53 minutes is long for a video on here sure but not if its what ya like! Have a good Christmas and New Year!
@@GTV-Japan trust me, there’s no fat on a topic you’re truly passionate about. this game deserves a love letter and you probably just wrote the definitive one.
Hopefully Sega releases a remake, remaster or another sequel to Phantasy Star, while they now seem in the spirit to get old series back on track. Great video as always!
This video was very well done and chock-full of nostalgia! I recently replayed all 4 games and relived some my childhoods best memories! While I've always wished for a Phantasy Star 5, your ending put into words my conflicted feelings I have as to why it is perfect leaving it as is. Awesome video, thank you!
Excellent job honoring these incredible games! It's easy to see that you put a lot of love and time into your Phantasy Star retrospectives. I've enjoyed them all. Obviously, a Phantasy Star V could be incredible if the right people are involved, but there is no guarantee that they would be. Still, Sega has very recently resurrected their long-dead franchises like Shinobi, Golden Axe Streets of Rage, so...believe it or not, there is actually a chance these days at a Phantasy Star V, and that is more than just totally-out-there wishful thinking.
While I also don't see a particular need for Phantasy Star V, I'd say I'd really like to see the return of "Fantasy meets Science Fiction" that the original series was known for, where admittedly later entries were more focused on the Sci-Fi than Fantasy. To that extent, I really liked how they tackled it in Idola, even if that game barely survived 2 years of its run. Well, everything is up to Sega now.
I’m glad you liked it! I wasn’t going to let anybody down. When I said “Dec 17 2023 will be here before you know it” I wanted to make sure it was ready on that day! The next video already is in motion too. I wrote 2500 words today! I do also actually work my real job on 12/25! 🧑🎄 so I hope you have a. Merry Christmas too🚀🚀
This was definitely my favorite of the series. Losing Alys was a total gutpunch, but added so much weight to what was happening. The music, the characters, the story, nostalgia mode activate! As much as I would love to see a new true Phantasy Star game, I think you're right, it ended so well, and these had so much charm that it likely wouldn't be the same, or would just undo a great ending for fan service sake. Some remakes wouldn't go unmissed though. I would love to see you do a retrospective on the Shining Force games!
A little late to the party, but I wanted to say thank you for all the great videos! I binge your catalog every now and then and all your vids just give me so much nostalgia for some reason, even if they’re about games I haven’t played. Love all the commercials for the games interspersed between sections of the videos, makes it feel like I’m watching a documentary on tv like when I was a kid watching G4. Keep up the good work! 🎉🎉🎉
Thanks for the support! You’re never too late. ⏰ 😃 I appreciate you watching the older stuff because I made that with same spirit as any new video regardless of how big the channel is so it’s good someone is still watching them!! G4 may be gone but worry not G1 lives!
Ah man I love this game. I feel fortunate to have been able to pay it in my youth. I still have my cart, and working Genesis. It comes out about once a year to get a play through. :)
That ending was beautiful and the stuff you said can even be thought of as life lessons, Phantasy Star ends on a high note just like the Mother/Earthbound and speaking of that I found it a bit funny you included Earthbound in the Blast Processing Commercial and its also a coincidence since they both end on high notes.
@GTV Japan I love your videos so much! You bring back that Sega love in the most poignant way. So, as much as I want to finish your video, I’ll hold off and go finish PSIV (I played every other game in the series when it was released, except for IV). I’ll be back!
Dude, your ending monologue about things needing to end is so amazing. I'm glad you came to that conclusion. We don't need PS5. The story is perfect, wrapped up and we need to cherish what we have and be grateful that we got it at all!!! Most of, if not ALL of my friends are ALWAYS pinning for THIS or THAT to come back or get a re-make or something and it always seemed so pointless to me when we still have the treasures that we grew up with to enjoy THE WAY we grew up with them.
I dunno, your message just really resonated with me and I think it's a mature stance to have as a thirty-something year old Phantasy Star fan!!!
Great video, my friend!!! \o\
Although it is true and I see your point, I wouldn't be against some more attention to the serie.
I am flabbergasted that no phantasy Star was part of Sega all star racing for instance despite having in cannon jet scooters and other vehicles and strong brand characters.
Also new teams of developers showed on other series that they could put heart in a remake and go beyond and above (star ocean 2 remake this year is what I am thinking about)
If not a PSV I would appreciate seeing the characters here and there and would have loved a Sega smash bros with a couple of the heroes in it :)
There was some kind of mobile card battle game in 2018. A racing game though? That’d be cool!
Yeah wanting more of something is a double edge sword. Sometimes it can be great if the proper love and attention to detail is given and sometimes it can be a disaster. Just look at Star Wars being in the wrong hands. 🤦♂
I quite liked Episode III!
@@GTV-Japan I actually liked the prequels. The sequels however was very disappointing. I knew Lucas selling it to Disney was going to bite fans in the backend and not give them what they wanted. And it was more apparent when they decided to make all the great novels that had been written not canon.
I really want SEGA to announce a Phantasy Star V as part of their franchise revival! That would be the most epic announcement!
I already asked for that in a Sega's community post where they asked what Sega game would you like to see under the Christmas tree :)
Yes! I always imagined it taking place on a space colony working to salvage the asteroids into a new planet, the Neo-Palma project.
Don’t get too excited but when I made a video for FF4, pixel remasters were announced days later. When I did Cosmic Fantasy, a rerelease was announced two weeks later. If Sega announce some new PS thing in January, I’ll know I have some sort of curse!
@@GTV-Japan not a curse but a blessing.
@feiwong3634 well, it’s bad for me because I can’t add it to the video 😂 it was funny because especially CF a bunch of people were like heyyy what about the rerelease? And I’m just like dude that was 2 days after the video!
Such an underrated RPG seriously
This game is such a blast. So fast paced and colorful and fun. At least the original series ended on an absolute high note.
As I mentioned in my own comment, it is a much more user-friendly RPG than contemporary Final Fantasy titles.
PSIV has the best pacing of any RPG I've ever played. It's always just right; good length dungeons, solid challenge but no need to grind and multiple worlds to explore. One of my all-time favorites. Such an overlooked gem.
*except for the sky fortress 😂
I'm glad to hear someone else say that. I've pointed out many times the game has a brisk pace, both in its story and in how the game plays, which is one reason I like it so much. I don't know if Sega's arcade background had any influence in that, but I like to think they put a tiny bit of an arcade feel into the game with the pacing.
Yes, but if you weren't forcing the Zol slugs in that cave on Motavia to fuse together into a giant slug just to hunt them down for 400 exp a pop, then were you even really playing? 😅
@liveactioncow
Sandworms are where it's at. Either outright encountering one or defeating all but one of the little worms and watch it burrow and summon the big sandworm.
good length dungeons except for sky fortress
It feels like I was exploring 2 dungeons at the same time
I literally just got done playing this like 2 days ago . I will always love this game and go back to it. It’s good
I love Phantasy Star 4, wish they made more in the classic style.
I remmember as a kid. I had a LOT of NES games, controller 4 controller port, the glove...just a lot of stuff.
Sold everything to buy a SNES with Super metroid and SF2 turbo.
After playing all the good rpg on the snes, i sold everything to buy a sega with comix zone and Phantasy Star 4. No regret. Best rpg right after Final Fantasy 3.
GTV delivers Phantasy Star for a Christmas treat. Life is good 🙏🏻
All thanks goes to The Lord!
1 hour of GTV talking about Phantasy Star 4. Yes please!
Enjoy!
I just played Phantasy Star IV for the first time last year through Nintendo Switch Online. It is easily one of the best RPGs and games I have ever played. Easily top 20. I loved it.
Great! Thanks for sharing your experience!
When I heard about twitch, phantasy Star was the only go to title I thought of to see if people were still playing it.
I've seen a few people discovering the title and all have a good time despite it being an old title.
The game is that well balanced that it shines even 30 years after with its concepts, pacing and game design
I am happy you also got to play the game.
I wish we could remake the other episodes with the same pacing as PSIV
One of the best grand finales gaming has ever managed.
Great seeing Phantasy Star get some love! Great work as always
Oh hey! I quite liked your Phantasy Star series you recently did.
Small world, guys.
If a future announcement of Phantasy Star V includes the full animated cutscenes and voice acting of the proposed initial MegaCD release for Phantasy Star IV I think that would be incredible! Other great RPGs that deserve a reboot include Shining in the Darkness, Shining Force, Landstalker, and Sword of Vermillion - all classic staples of the MegaDrive RPG golden era!
A Landstalker remake would be fantastic!
Shining Force almost got a pretty game but it was canceled. Was some gacha however but still looked pretty.
Sword of vermilion redone could actually be pretty awesome. That game was pretty cool. Had some of the best music on the mega drive too
@mattframe9210 that strategy guide was even bigger than PS2!
If it ever came to it I’d love for a PSV to have Sonic Mania style graphics, not every modern day game needs to have the best graphics that are expensive to make.
it's finally here, my favorite game of all time
It is one of the best games of all time, and my personal Mega Drive favorite game ever :)
Because of this game I spent so much time talking about it on Pscave and other forums back then
Now a few discords still continue, "esper mansion" being the most active I would say,
Crazy to think community are still engaged after so long.
OMG, what a wonderful tribute to one of the best 16-bit games ever! Phantasy Star IV and Shining Force II were my favourite childhood games!
Me too! Thanks for watching!
Something that didn't make the final cut but I have always wondered about is that Alys and Chaz both wear red and white clothes with headbands. Do Hunters have uniforms? Are they like a company, or militia? I always thought it was just for survival. There is no clear answer.
Shopping at that army surplus.
Doesn't Chaz's armor look similar to Rolf's armor in phantasy Star 2? It made me think that maybe it was part of some ancient government in some capacity. It could also be the outfit of those who fight to maintain order. I don't know...
Personally that's a point I like about the game : the colours.
Chaz and Alys are hunters and have similar colours that put them above civilians.
We understand they are special people when we compare with Hahn that has simple colours and simple clothes.
We are brought step by step into this fantasy world
Then comes Rune who has blue hair and royal colours, he stands out and we are introduced to "magic" and more fantasy elements.
Studying the colours is great in the game as it is quite adapted to the level you are at.
Rika and Wren get to have a story link together and share plastic / metal black grey dominant armies because they are characters deeply linked with the tech of 1000 years before.
When you arrive in dezo you only have magical blue and white dominants for this planet with Kyra and Raja.
There is a story to be told through chara design alone and colours in PSIV made perfect sense in its story telling. I don't know if they thought about it or if it was natural but yeah it is great
@jonathandevitto2515 it could also be Sega somehow trying to save money!!💰
This video makes me cry. I have fond memories playing all 4 non online games as well as the online ones. I especially love the battle with Zio and that rocking music.
Every time, when I only see the cutscenes, I´m thinking, that Phantasy Star IV could not only be the greatest / best Mega CD game but also the greatest / best CD-based RPG before the Playstation. But even in his final form PS IV is one of THE PROOFS, why the Mega Drive / Genesis, is for me the greatest 16 - bit console EVER MADE.
Agreed!🚀
As someone who grew up with PSO/PSU, I've been on fence about playing the original quadrilogy, but after watching this video (and playing hours of PSP2i) I'm going to to give PSIV a try. Thanks GTV!
Great! I recommend ps4 to everyone. 1-3 are less accessible for people casually interested but 4 is where it’s at! Have fun!!🚀🚀
Phantasy Star 4 is definitely the best of the series, no doubt about that. I especially love how it manages to provide a satisfying conclusion to the series.
I really like what you said at the end too. This is why I’m more apprehensive nowadays about revivals and remakes and the near-constant requests for sequels and such. I feel like we’ve been paralyzed by a surge of nostalgia, yearning for the good ol’ days in a present that (in some ways) sucks. This prevents the very flood of creativity that big companies like Sega allowed to happen in, for instance, the fifth and sixth generations. Nowadays, it seems indie games are providing more original games, with those devs willing to take more risks to make something great. I think more than ever, we need to see that same kind of mentality in the video game industry as a whole.
That’s just my opinion though. Great video! Glad to have witnessed the end of this series.
Happy to have you here for all of it!
Thank you for this thoughtful retrospective. I first played Phantasy Star 4 back in 1994, and it remains my favorite RPG to this day. While in the hospital back in October, I played it again, and it still holds up so well for me. Such a fantastic story, and an excellent cap to the whole series. I agree with you. We don't need a part 5. There's always room for more, but another thirty years can pass without a sequel, and I'd be just fine with that.
I had heard this game was originally meant to be a Sega CD title, and that would have given the team the necessary hardware to properly bring back the first person dungeons, along with red audio music and animated cutscenes. I'm glad that didn't happen, because it would have been stuck to the Sega CD. Phantasy Star 4 has been released so many times digitally over the years, with new generations having the chance to at least find out about it, even if they don't gravitate toward it as much as I did. I feel that would have been lost on a Sega CD or even Sega Saturn title. We only just recently got a mini console with Sega CD titles, the Nintendo virtual consoles and e-shops never got any Sega CD titles, and even Sega Forever did not have CD games. You know they all got, though? Plenty of Phantasy Star 4. Not sure where I am going with that, aside from the fact that I love the game a lot, and I am glad it still holds strong to this day. Here's to the past 30 years!
Good points all around! I doubt that it would have moved a lot of Sega CDs and likely would have been “forgotten “ however great that presentation would have been 🚀
Yours are always the best documentaries. Thank you always for all the effort that goes into making them.
Thanks for taking the time to watch them! Let’s hope in 24 we can watch some more good ones!✌🏻
Well done. PSIV is one of the great RPGs of the era and it is properly appreciated here.
It’s been my favorite since the first time I played it! Thanks for watching 🚀🚀🚀
Bought this game in December 1995 for 500 francs :-) I 've such fond memories of this one.
You can still see its influence on some game, Cosmic Star Heroine for example. Maybe not a sequel but something with the same spirit and feels.
Good point! How many Euros is 500FR? It seems like a lot
@@GTV-Japan € 75 more or less, pretty much the same price as a current triple A game in 2023
@jeffmaesar ah ok! It’s the same here except for some reason the three kingdoms games are often sold for over 10,000 yen here!
@@GTV-Japan the funny thing is back when game were on cartdridges, it was not uncommon to see some game above €60 before the cd rom revolution though, if i remember well, even pc games on floppy were above €45.
Oh i also forgot to mention in ROM Read Only Memory the indie visual novel, originally you were supposed to play a female character named Alyssa then you play an ungendered relative to her, they made quite obvious Alyssa was a tribute to Phantasy Star.
@jeffmaesar nice!
going in depth into the development staff is much much more than what the "leading brands" of gaming UA-cam would do. that's just the GTV Japan Difference™
It is the GTV difference! I read only sources from that period, many in Japanese and THEN went to Wikipedia and erased all the parts that were repeated. 👍
Oh and I also made this video (and sonic mania day) while fighting a 102 fever and never taking a single day off from work!
@@GTV-Japan damn O_O i would not have the strength for that
@JE-nr6xw I usually release videos on Friday at 11pm Japan time but I was so out of it I had to wait 12 hours to properly screen the vid on UA-cam to check for errors. Had there been any, it’d take more time! Aaaa
Wonderful tribute to a wonderful RPG series! With the passing of Rieko Kodama I too consider my Phantasy Star V wishes to be officially off-the-table. I think the best thing, if anything now would be for someone to create a "spiritual successor" to Phantasy Star that involves an entirely different cast and star-system.
I've been wondering if maybe some form of prequels could be a decent way to go.
How did the primitive Algol races survive the early days when Dark Falz surfaced?
Or maybe just go over the first time the Great Seal weakened enough for Dark Falz to take form, assuming there's nothing anywhere to suggest the first time that happened was in Alyssa's time.
I've even been curious about if a time travel plot could work, having a party from the distant past or future, travelling between the ends of millenniums, to lend a hand where needed and nudge things towards the best end results.
Things like chasing Medusa out of her cave and over to her tower so Alyssa can rescue Tyrone and saving Eusis in the final fight against the humans so Rudy can exist.
Although that plot would require someone who can both handle the complexities of time travel stories as well as being very knowledgeable of the classic franchise to write it, which I feel is a bit outside of Sega's available workforce these days.
@@ShaimingLong I think the only thing I think might be remotely in Sega's wheelhouse at least at the moment would be to remake the games in a more easy-to-digest format and greatly improve the visuals, of course. I'm not even sure I'd be hopeful for something like that though because big parts of the games would probably need alteration at least for PSII and PSIII. PSII is still a favorite of mine but it's a brutal game. The funniest thing is that the "Generations 2" remake made the game even more brutal not less. I was really surprised! XD
PSIII on the other hand would probably need a complete tear-down remake if they wanted people to actually enjoy it this time. So I really don't know. GTV might be right that, we should just appreciate what we have. Hahaha.
@ShaimingLong what happened to Waizz Landale would be a good story
@@OhmiKuma An ideal situation would be an independent team, like what we got for the Panzer Dragoon remake or maybe Streets of Rage 4, people that care about the legacy of the franchise and want to do it justice rather than earn a pay check working on a game they don't care about.
The idea of the Generations games was fairly solid, create a uniform remake of the full series with better connectivity. Though I don't particularly like some of the changes, as well as them just dropping it half way through.
The difficulty thing was weird, PS1 seemed easier, especially with the added level of hand-holding. PSII seemed like a bit of an overcorrection!
@@GTV-Japan Yes! I was going to mention the first king, though I had forgotten his name. I'd already waffled on long enough though.
I think there's enough blank space to make a solid game there without even having to recycle the good vs evil plot.
Although I wouldn't be surprised if it were used as a motivation to achieve unity. Some sort of "I found out a great evil surfaces every 1000 years away and we're only 300 years away from the next time, we should be working together and preparing." With whatever factions opposing the player refusing to believe some folklore prophecy.
I could even see there being some subtle nods, like maybe Waizz was told of Dark Force by an Esper who turns out to be Lashiec's ancestor, and not Lutz' as a more casual fan may assume. Thorough players could find evidence of a long game plan to eventually overthrow the Landales and take over in service of the 'dark god' giving a non-canon alternate end where you're forced to fight your game long ally and traitor, gaining the strong unity that the eventual Nero and Alyssa have to properly face Dark Force.
I would be 100% behind a game with that premise!
If I had the money and knew the talent I would be forming a company to do this, and remake Shining Force III.
It's kind of funny how everybody around this time was playing Sonic 2, 3 or even streets of rage - yet, I was sitting at home trying to understand what this game was that I was given back when I was a small kid and all the amount of rage I had for this game for the crazy difficulty spikes or even really the fact that I didn't understand some of the wording that was placed in this game, made me hate this game but yet love it as the years went by I even still owned the game to this day.
YESSSSSSS! I followed your page years ago JUST because you had initially teased about dedicated an entire episode to my FAVORITE GAME
Thank you. I hope you enjoy it. Let’s talk about it after you finish. ❤️
@@GTV-Japan Absolutely!! I specifically enjoyed how you went over all of the super-combination attacks! It was cool to see them all in action! That and all of those beautiful 90's manga panel scans you shared too! Great stuff!
BTW Do you have a twitter page I can follow?
@Ishida1694 no sorry. Why do that when you can just talk to me here?
Ohhh wow, I was really looking forward to this after watching your Phantasy Star 1 through 3 recap and story explanation videos and then I was like "okay he says Phantasy Star IV came out years later, I'll wait... so when the time comes, you'llI just need to wait for like almost 3 years but then it's okay because I like the 20 year anniversary concept"... and "boom" this episode comes out today, wasn't expecting it. Sooo grateful !!! Thanks for all the great work and the quality you put into producing your videos about Phantasy Star. Tonight I'm gonna binge watch starting from your first video about this series just for the sake of getting back into Phantasy Star once more ! That's how much I love it !
Yes December 17 is the anniversary date! I was half joking when I said it before but I knew this day would come. You wouldn’t believe how many people have said they’ve been waiting for 3-4 years for this! It’s a lot!🚀
There is so much information collected here that could have gone completely unknown to a fan in the age before the internet. Thanks for your journalism here!
I’m glad you liked it! 💫
Thanks for making the best Phantasy Star reviews on UA-cam!
Your research and presentation are both thorough and smooth.
Keep up the great work!
Thanks! I appreciate your viewership! Hopefully I can keep more PS coming outside the main series
This was a fantastic watch and I have been waiting for it for a long time. You really made some great points about why PSIV was and is a great title. I haven't played it in awhile, so I need to rectify that asap.
Get on it! Be sure to put up the pennant! Rika really hated that for some reason. You could tell how their relationship was going to be after the game 😂
I can't wait! Literally have been waiting for this one since watching your Phantasy Star 2 retrospective many years ago
That was light years ago! Thank you for your patience! 🚀
Oh wow its already the anniversary! Years go by quickly. Ive actually played and finished the first 3. Played a bit of this one but got distracted by other games. Definitely going to finish though. I really like it so far.
I'd heard the name Phantasy Star for years, but didn't give the series the time of day until I got the Sega Genesis Mini for Christmas 2019. Though it wasn't until July 2020 that I gave PSIV a try. I'd gotten into a rut of playing the same few games over and over. So I decided it was time to get out of my comfort zone. Long story, short: I got hooked and have beaten it between two different playthroughs. I put on podcasts to break up the monotony of grinding. For example, I got Chaz up to Level 85 or so by now. (Been a long time since I played it.) I owe much of my leveling up to countless Sandworm encounters. So you can get an idea of how much I played it. Of courses, I've made copious use of save states.
You know I also have the Nintendo mini consoles and got a head start on Final Fantasy III/VI around this time five years ago. I left off just before I'm supposed to meet Sabin and learn his Blitz moves. To be honest, I'm not the best at button mashing BS. I can't successfully execute quarter circle moves on my first attempt much less half circle, three-quarter circle or even full circle moves. It wasn't until a couple months ago that I played FFIII/VI again. I mostly got kicks by doing a little grinding, but am apprehensive about committing after that. Needless to say, I got a very long way to go with that long winded monstrosity of a game. Yeah I'm sure many would burn me at the stake for speaking blasphemies against that sacred cow.
So what am I even getting at? The moral of the story is that I find Phantasy Star IV to be far more user friendly than its aforementioned contemporary. I've gladly committed countless hours to PS IV yet drifted away from FF3/6 within a month.
*In fact I've had the NES Classic since 2018 and yet only started playing FF1 last fall. I have my party (2 fighters, black mage and white mage) at Level 22. I've reached Crescent Lake and will keep grinding before taking on Gurgu Volcano. I find the game to be unfair in how quickly it escalates the with each chapter. Again I listen to music and podcast to break up the monotony of grinding.
Okay, enough of my autistic rabbit trails
All in all, Phantasy Star IV most definitely deserves its accolades.
I've been waiting for this documentary for years. When i finish watching the ps3 30th anniversary i thougjt to myself "wow now i have to wait for almost 4 years to enjoy the fourth one" well here it is! Thank you very much GTV. And may we never forget the irreplaceable Rieko Kodama, she would be proud of you work.
Thanks for hanging in and waiting! At the time I thought it was a funny thing to say but I knew I’d have to get it done. Have a good new years!
Yes I agree with you. Good things come to an end. If you are left alive for too long you will be a corpse of what you use to be. Final fantasy is no longer final fantasy. It’d be a shame if phantasy star became something else. I guess that’s what happened with phantasy star online, but they never dared name it phantasy star 5, I’m thankful.
I’ve never played all the online games but I can excuse having multiple versions because they are essentially the same and if we’re just a PC game it’d get updated and just stay the same thing. But it’s just an undeniable truth of life, eventually your favorite things will let you down if you don’t let them go.
You are right about Final Fantasy series being different from what it used to be. I wasn’t a final fantasy fan but I have played final fantasy 1 , 5, and 6. Loved the dungeons and dragons theme.
Even though FF took many different routes, the fact that it continued until now gave them the opportunity to have a large pool of story and characters to use and integrate in different kind of games.
Many will say that the core of Final fantasy has been successfully integrated in the online FFXIV that proved to be successful, rich in story and expanding the ideas of the first 6 episodes.
Although some games could turn bad it might have been an overhaul positive to keep the franchise alive, after 30 years we could pay for live concert tickets, see characters of PS integrate the roster of smash bross, see different type of games in the lore.
It would pick my curiosity at least a bit if a game claimed to be a rhythm game phantasy Star, or a city builder phantasy Star or a metroidvania phantasy Star etc etc.
Would they be good? I don't know
Would I check those? For sure !
@@stefanswiss3760 I get that in a sense, but for me it would degrade the phantasy star name. It would turn phantasy star into just a skin of its body full of meat, bones and skin
Actually, I've come back here to report that thanks to this video, GTV, I've been inspired to re-play PS4 on my Switch again. First time in over a decade since I beat it on my PSP.
Nice!!
This was well-worth the wait: Amazing work as usual, GTV!
Thanks I hope you enjoyed it!🚀
Thank you for this. The PS series have always been near and dear to my heart. And while I look back with appreciation and nostalgia, it is ok, to let something we love End.
Thank for watching on day one!!✌🏻🚀
Man before i found this channel. I knew nothing of this series. But ever since ive watched the rest of the retrospectives, i was waiting for this oneee
Literally the first ever JRPG I ever played to completion, so it's remained very special to me ever since.
It may not be my all-time favorite game, but it's up there.
Forst got on contact with Mega Drive Games in 2017, this is truly one of the best Games of the System.
I wasn't able to get with the franchises all but this game is definitely one of my favorite RPGs of all time
Fantastic video, been waiting for this one. Phantasy Star 4 will always be to me my favorite and best rpg. Every few years I go back and play it again. Thank you again for taking the time to make this video!
I’m glad you liked it!🚀
You're still undefeated when it comes to providing the best Sega content on this site. I know you do more than just that (and it's all of just as high quality), but nothing on this site gets me quite as excited as a new GTV Sega documentary.
Thanks for the support! Undefeated! I like that! There will be many Sega vids next year. Sonic 3 just start and one of the three games I mentioned near the end👍
This was my very first RPG and there are moments that still, to this day, make me want to cry (tearing up now writing this). Thank you for taking me through the journey that was my childhood and reminding me that as an adult that these stories are never too old to be enjoyed.
You’re welcome! 💫
Oh I need to make time to play through these classics before I can fully listen to your retrospectives (don’t want to be spoiled on the story)! Thank you for putting this out alongside the others. Guarantee it’s absolute quality!!!
Thanks! Play them asap!🚀
Awesome video, I've been waiting years for it, great work!!!
Phantasy Star IV is my favorite game in the series and surely the game that I loved most in my life for the emotions that it gave me at the time! 🥰
Thank you for your patience 🚀🚀🚀
I remember I was playing this game on an emulator on my Samsung Galaxy s1 on a Chicago train. A couple of dudes sat next to me and were mesmerized because I was playing this game on my phone which back then was a big deal since emulators just came out on Android. I ended up missing my train stop because I was so immersed in this game. It's crazy they didn't bring it back.
Upon seeing this in my feed I first went back and watched the PS2 and PS3 videos, and now that it's all over I just have to commend you this touching tribute of a sadly neglected series.
I watched those videos because I played PS2 and 3 as a kid on emulator, for I was a Nintendo kid back in those days and missed out. But because I was big into emulation by the time I went to the MD's library I had already played Secret of Mana 2 (back when that was it's name), Final Fantasies 4 to 6, Super Mario RPG, Chrono Trigger, Breath of FIres and Earthbound... siuffice it to say that PS2 and 3 with their early 16-bit graphics and compromised designs couldn't charm me like they could've if I played them when they were new. I acknowledge their strong sides and the service they did to RPG-hungry gamers in the early days, ESPECIALLY here in Europe. I liked their ambition with PS2's dark narrative and PS3's ambitious generation-plot. But...
PS2's dungeons got too long in the tooth and monotonously looking, and the characters just didn't move me since it felt like their whole character growths (or characters over all) were shunted off into those those prologues you had to download.
And PS3 barebones graphics and slower battles were already a strike, having most of the characters be vessels to carry the plot ofrwards rather than strong characters that carried the narrative on their own was practically a death sentence. I don't even think I finished that one. All in all, I didn't see the need to go on and test PF4.... until WAY later when I decided to follow a Let's Play of the game on a whim (and play it on my own after wrapping the Let's Play), and oh man. Did I ever regret stopping at 3.
Plot and characters as engaging as anything Square ever made, fun and fast fights, macros letting you do cool combo-moves before Chrono Trigger was a thing, callbacks that had me going back to old games just to make sure I remembered right, it's all just... a treasure. Without a doubt Sega's finest RPG of the 16-bit generation, a story involving sacrifice, growth, sidequest, and ACTUAL PLAYABLE ALIENS YESSS NO MORE BORING HUMANS ONLY. It was everything you'd ever want... and then Phantasy Star was over as a single-player experience. Just like that.
I wonder if that's why your call to have people remember the good times rather than wish for a return goes so unheeded in the comment section, even if I think you're right that without Rieko it's chances are low, and especially since SEGA are probably content with letting Atlus be their RPG-company these days. You can say that the franchise never broke our hearts by going into a decline, but I honestly think people would've PREFERED that as long as they got more content. Because the Phantasy Star series never got to have a"Final Fantasy 7 to 9 arc" on the 32-bit generation. It never got to become as famous as most think it SHOULD have been, even if PSO pioneered online-RPGs. Deep down PS fans feel a hole when they see what others got and they did not, and I think that if they could have had that... they would have accepted a "Final Fantasy 13"-like turn for Phantasy Star in the late 00's. Because I think humans in general are just REALLY bad at being satisfied with what they have when they can instead dream of what they COULD have. Sometimes the ambition that stems from such hunger gets us four bold adventures among the stars. Sometimes it gets us people who can't accept we just got FOUR such adventures.
But regardless of whateve the fanbase wants- thank you for these retrospectives, and for awakening my memories of Phantasy Star. They're not as shiny or old as most of the people here since I wasn't a SEGA kid, but it's still fair to give Phantasy Star, SEGA and the development team their dues as the pioneers and influences they were. Hopefully more people can come across these videos and get interested in revisiting these fine works- so more eyes can see the stars and the forces therein, light as well as dark.
Thanks for sharing your story. It’s a great read. And thanks for spending some time here!🚀🚀
Phantasy Star 4 is the best in the series and I wish that a fifth game would happen. 😀👍🎮
I still maintain that this is the among the best of all the 16 bit RPGs out there. It's also got a really satisfying localization. While SNES RPGs were self-censoring things from the Japanese versions because they didn't want to upset NOA (and also preventing us from getting classics like Live-A-Live due to their mature content) this game keeps the tone and humor of the original, and just in general, the translation quality is WAY better than what you get out of a lot of its competition on the SNES. It just shows the love Sega's always had for their fans.
I never thought of that but it’s true!! 💫
Been trying my best to stay healthy so i can witness this ep. One of my fav RPG. Great works as usual!
Thanks and happy new year 🥳
THIS is my #1 RPG of all time.
of Dragon quest, Final fantasy and Phantasy star.
PS was the only where we got all games in the series. no skips and basically no censorship (Though PSIII had some translation issues.)
It's kind of incredible to me as a younger man, who didn't get to play these legendary JRPG series when they came out. (Born in 1998)
I remember finishing 4 with a huge smile on my face, I hope 3 and 4 get remakes. just so I can get a sense of finality with the other 2 remakes.
Thanks Reiko Kodama and everyone else. for giving me one of my favorite childhood series.
I enjoyed this entire ride with you. I was there for the first and happy to be here for the last.
I appreciate you staying all the way. But I am pretty sure it’s not the last. There’s still a lot of Phantasy Star out there!🚀
Just want to give you props for making retrospectives for this series it was done excellently and kept true to the spirit of the series.
Thank you!
Your Sega content is much appreciated
Cheers! There will be much more in 24!
Rewatching the entire series to prep for this vid
I got this game for my 9th birthday, and also had a big sleepover that night. I wanted to send everyone home so bad.
Thanks for sharing your story!! I was 19 and I waited until clearance and after the Genesis was retired I saw the game in used shops all the time.
One of my favorite RPG's and possibly my favorite turn based RPG of all time. The flow of the game and the presentation of the story, with the comic panels, pretty much perfection. For my own experience, I played this before I ever played FFVII and I must say, the death of Alys hit me even harder than Aerith. Alys was your party leader and how could I even continue. I also felt super warm at the end when Rika leaps from the ship to be with Chaz. So emotional and perfect. PS4 also wrapped up the story that began with the 1st console RPG and 1st JRPG I ever played.
That’s a great point of view and story. Thanks for sharing!!
This was an excellent retrospective and was a pleasure to watch. I learned things and relived great memories. I was never the biggest RPG fan, though I have enjoyed some back in the day. Fittingly, I got my start with RPGs with the first Phantasy Star on the Master System in 1988 or 1989. There's always been something special about Phantasy Star 4 for me, almost like it was made to suit my tastes perfectly. I remember it being so expensive when it came out. I bought it a couple of years later used because I was filling in my library after getting a Nomad. Phantasy Star was one of the titles I played most on that portable Genesis and it was a fun way to experience it since I could do it anywhere(within arm's reach of a wall outlet). I also appreciated your closing thoughts. There is value in something good ending on a high note and staying finished. The ending of Phantasy Star 4 was really great and surprisingly emotional and it a great way to leave things. I realized years ago that the people who make things(movies, shows, games, etc) are more important than the franchise which is largely window dressing. If there's a revival of an old franchise, but different people are making it, then I can't get excited. Sometimes, those revivals can turn out well because the new people really love and understand the source material, but many times it is not the case. So if there was a proper Phantasy Star 5, I'd be curious enough to look into it, but I'm also okay if 4 is the ending. Even if there is a 5 and it's not for me, I can easily ignore its existence. Seeing how Sega is reviving old franchises, I'm inclined to think there might be something related to Phantasy Star in the pipeline. I also wanted to add that my one disappointment in there not being a Phantasy Star 5 back in the day is that I would have loved another RPG with a similar look and feel.
Thanks for leaving such a great comment! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for spending your time here!🚀🚀
Discovered this game on Sega Channel back in the day and loved it soooo much
Rune's theme music is one of my favorite pieces of videogame music
Wow I had no idea! My cable carrier in 1995 was stubborn and didn’t offer it. They also didn’t offer Comedy Central!! Thank the Lord mystery science theater 3000 moved to to sci fi channel which thankfully we had
@@GTV-Japan my mom worked for the local cable company, I was extremely lucky to have Sega Channel, it introduced me to a whole world of games I never would have known about otherwise.
@Naptastic_voyage nice!! I moved in the early 90s to a house 8 miles away but the cable company was different. Had 54 channels then down to like 36. Boooo
Played Phantasy Star 4 a few months ago on the SEGA Ultimate Mega/Genesis Collection from the XBox 360/PS3 gen.
Really loved the game and how easier it was to finish compared to the earlier games, only needed a game guide a few times just to figure out what to do in certain parts of the story as well as being aware of how much to grind before going into that Castle Tower in Space towards the 3/4 part of the game.
The leveling up was much fairer and sensible so the game didn’t have many cheap deaths. I noticed that too
Your outro about acceptance hits home. Thank you for this review series. The hard work really shows.
I’m glad you like it! One underlying theme of this channel is all about growing up but feeling appreciative of what we had
NICE! Been waiting for you to drop this one for years.
The day is here!✌🏻
@@GTV-Japanwell, I guess I’m starting another run after watching it.
As a child, I picked up PS4 at Blockbuster one Friday night after having rented Warsong for weeks. Rented that sucker every weekend I could. Funny enough, my save was always still there so I guess nobody else was renting it before I did or maybe not at all.
That’s awesome 👏
Amazing game and lot of love in this video.great way to wrap up this year 🎉
Thanks but I’m not done yet! Still more videos for 2023 to come!
Finally got to watching this. Great video, buddy. Thank you :)
It’s been a long time. Thanks for your patience
I'm fairly certain I first sampled this game on Sega Channel but I might be wrong. Either way, I was hooked from the jump. It was my first Phantasy Star and even as the fourth in the series, didn't alienate newcomers. I eventually played the rest and have beaten all but 2, though that will happen sooner or later.
PS4 Dungeon Arrange 2 remains one of my favorite, and definitely most nostalgic, video game BGM of all time.
Was it on Sega Channel? That’s quite a value!
@@GTV-Japan Now that I think harder on it, yes it was indeed, because I remember there being a sort of guide associated with the game that made sense of what some of the techniques were.
Will never forget fighting giant Sand Worms to power level my party
This was the first RPG I ever played for a long period of time. Never beat it, but loved every minute of it. Thank you for this video.
You’re welcome! Why not play it again and finally finish it?🚀
@@GTV-Japan I am going to start a new playthrough today for the Christmas holiday. This video has motivated me to give it another try. Thank you again.
@jayjohnson7762 great! Don’t forget to use the talk function a lot and go back to Chaz house with each character for some funny dialogue
I still play Phantasy Star Online 2 every day. It lives on.
The Alisa III did make it to Ragol after all.
@John-PaulHunt-wy7lf Yeah they're totally different and the online games only became "Phantasy Star" because SEGA wanted to use the brand for the first Sci-Fi themed online RPG on the Dreamcast. Still, it's what sparked my interest in the rest of the series.
@John-PaulHunt-wy7lf They have shut down PSO and PSU but there are private community run servers keeping them alive thankfully.
Just writing a quick comment saying that I'll come back to your video tonight because I don't have time to watch it now... But I waited for this video for more than a year, since your video of PS3 !
Can't wait!
Who else feels like they need to play through the whole series again after watching this? 😁
I realized that I have been looking forward to this retrospective since the last one you did. This was a very pleasant surprise tonight.
Thanks for watching! I hope ya liked it🚀🚀🚀
I loved the video. Thank you for the trip back to the past. I wish you did show all the secrets. :D
If I did then that discovery would not be as fun for everyone. But this is a big list!🚀
One of my fav MD/GEN game and great video really enjoyed it
When i was starting fourth game in the series i was expecting at most good old game, but i get much more. Phantasy Star IV was awesome! Great story with conclusion for whole original series, great gameplay, great graphics, great music, optional content for discorver, there was everything here for me to like it. I was feeling like this is almost modern-like title. For me best game in quadrology and worth to play classic. Anyway, thanks for in-depth documentaries for each game, i certainly learnt interesting trivias.
I'm a lucky guy, I still am to play any Phantasy Star game!
Thanks for the great story-telling videos though, and Happy Holidays!
Get started today!!🚀🚀🚀
Fantastic game. Great video, too. While I know that PS4 is by far the better game, I'll always prefer PS2 out of any of them, simply due to the fact that it was the first time I'd ever experienced a player character die permanently (I also prefer the soundtrack). That moment still sticks with me to this day. But, I remember when PS4 first came out at that insane price point. It was one of those "rent it a few times and hope nobody erases your save" types of games. Sega is reviving some older properties now, so maybe there's hope for a proper PS5, and while I absolutely love the PS Online games, I'd still like to see the series continue, perhaps many thousands of years later in the timeline.
I left notes in every RPG I rented asking to please not erase the save. It usually worked!
@@GTV-Japan That is very wholesome and kind of the other people renting the cartridge. These days I feel like too many people would overwrite it on purpose just to "troll" some kid.
@benisrood yeah unfortunately. But really saves like that didn’t matter after memory cards!
This channel is such a passion project. Another well crafted video where the runtime just flew by. I wish more of UA-cam was like this. Have a fantastic holiday season!
Thanks you too! I'll say that the recorded audio part was originally 1 hour 22 minutes! But it trimmed it down by removing all redundant parts. after finishing the edits I always watch the video 3-4 times to see if any parts drag, then remove them. 53 minutes is long for a video on here sure but not if its what ya like! Have a good Christmas and New Year!
@@GTV-Japan trust me, there’s no fat on a topic you’re truly passionate about. this game deserves a love letter and you probably just wrote the definitive one.
@shaynemac I wrote something to die hard game fan about it. They used to print fan reviews. Nothing! Well where are they now ?! Just kidding
Now this is the episode I was waiting for. 👍
Hopefully Sega releases a remake, remaster or another sequel to Phantasy Star, while they now seem in the spirit to get old series back on track.
Great video as always!
Thanks for watching as always. Who knew you guys had internet all the way out on Dezoris 🚀
This video was very well done and chock-full of nostalgia! I recently replayed all 4 games and relived some my childhoods best memories! While I've always wished for a Phantasy Star 5, your ending put into words my conflicted feelings I have as to why it is perfect leaving it as is. Awesome video, thank you!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and opinions 🚀🚀🚀
Excellent job honoring these incredible games! It's easy to see that you put a lot of love and time into your Phantasy Star retrospectives. I've enjoyed them all. Obviously, a Phantasy Star V could be incredible if the right people are involved, but there is no guarantee that they would be. Still, Sega has very recently resurrected their long-dead franchises like Shinobi, Golden Axe Streets of Rage, so...believe it or not, there is actually a chance these days at a Phantasy Star V, and that is more than just totally-out-there wishful thinking.
I know I got excited with that new announcement. I’m sure after year the full list will be announced and be let down. Or pleasantly surprised!
While I also don't see a particular need for Phantasy Star V, I'd say I'd really like to see the return of "Fantasy meets Science Fiction" that the original series was known for, where admittedly later entries were more focused on the Sci-Fi than Fantasy. To that extent, I really liked how they tackled it in Idola, even if that game barely survived 2 years of its run.
Well, everything is up to Sega now.
Good point!🚀🚀
Thanks GTV, I've been waiting for this all year. Merry Christmas my guy keep working hard.
I’m glad you liked it! I wasn’t going to let anybody down. When I said “Dec 17 2023 will be here before you know it” I wanted to make sure it was ready on that day! The next video already is in motion too. I wrote 2500 words today! I do also actually work my real job on 12/25! 🧑🎄 so I hope you have a. Merry Christmas too🚀🚀
@@GTV-Japan Class act, can't wait to watch that one too
@charlesdilks3267 I wrote 2500 words yesterday alone. Woo! Expect it sometime between Dec 28-31
Oh man oh man oh man. Super hyped for this. Time to actually watch the video now 😂
I hope you enjoy it!
This was definitely my favorite of the series. Losing Alys was a total gutpunch, but added so much weight to what was happening. The music, the characters, the story, nostalgia mode activate!
As much as I would love to see a new true Phantasy Star game, I think you're right, it ended so well, and these had so much charm that it likely wouldn't be the same, or would just undo a great ending for fan service sake. Some remakes wouldn't go unmissed though.
I would love to see you do a retrospective on the Shining Force games!
Maybe someday! Until then thanks for watching
A little late to the party, but I wanted to say thank you for all the great videos! I binge your catalog every now and then and all your vids just give me so much nostalgia for some reason, even if they’re about games I haven’t played. Love all the commercials for the games interspersed between sections of the videos, makes it feel like I’m watching a documentary on tv like when I was a kid watching G4. Keep up the good work! 🎉🎉🎉
Thanks for the support! You’re never too late. ⏰ 😃 I appreciate you watching the older stuff because I made that with same spirit as any new video regardless of how big the channel is so it’s good someone is still watching them!! G4 may be gone but worry not G1 lives!
Ah man I love this game. I feel fortunate to have been able to pay it in my youth. I still have my cart, and working Genesis. It comes out about once a year to get a play through. :)
That’s great to hear!!🚀🚀🚀
Still can't believe Phoenix Rie is no longer with us.
I know! 58 is too young, I wonder what happened 😢
That ending was beautiful and the stuff you said can even be thought of as life lessons, Phantasy Star ends on a high note just like the Mother/Earthbound and speaking of that I found it a bit funny you included Earthbound in the Blast Processing Commercial and its also a coincidence since they both end on high notes.
Also I just think it’d be funny to tie blast processing to an RPG. What would be the point? Ahah
Thank you!! I been wanting for you do do this a couple years now. You did a great documentary on the others
Thanks I appreciate your patience.
I’ve been waiting for this one man.
I loved this back in the day and am looking forward to revisiting it on my Miyoo Mini +
@GTV Japan I love your videos so much! You bring back that Sega love in the most poignant way. So, as much as I want to finish your video, I’ll hold off and go finish PSIV (I played every other game in the series when it was released, except for IV). I’ll be back!
See you soon 🚀
Awesome video! ❤