For anyone struggling with macro combo attack consistency, I found that if you make the slowest character who has a part in the combination attack, act first, then you're guaranteed the combo attack. Because then the enemy will either go first before the whole group, or after the combo attack. Macros aren't just setting the character moves for the turn, they also determine turn order based on their position in the macro. Thanks for the video! Love when people shine some light on this gem~
PSIV was and always will be one of my fav rpgs. That game was so fun in my youth and still holds weight in todays market as an all around great game imo
I was 10 years old when I got a copy of this game. I absolutely treasured this game. The experience of playing it with my brother was one of was one of the best and most memorable of my childhood
Phantasy Star II was rumored to be a late stage Sega Master System project, something that becomes obvious as you play it. In fact, this was confirmed in an interview somewhere, though I can't remember the link. PS1 was meant, like Shenmeu (also developed for the Saturn, but released for the Dreamcast--sequel was never released on those consoles), to showcase the capabilities of SEGA hardware, but ended up losing money because, even at $70, the 4 megabit ROM and high development costs were too much. AFAIK, none of the early PS games and remakes were ever done by the same developers, and all of them were rushed and/or ported to different hardware. Incredibly, no PS game was ever released for the Sega CD, despite the $300 addon being designed originally for jRPGs just like the PS series. The decline and fall of Sega was in large part due to the fact that the company never had any long range plan and kept pulling the rug out from under its third party developers and loyal fanbase.
Played through this in fall of 2019. Nothing like sitting in front of a Mac with Genesis controller and playing through it. Used rewind to avoid too many random encounters…yes, I am a cheater. Got through it all and just loved it. Before 2019 started and stopped many times. Played it in tandem with Mother 3 which I do recommend. Followed up with Panzer Dragoon Saga which is a real banger. Everyone who wants a novel well honed experience it is there.
yeah, i really didn't see that coming. spent the following week just in disbelief. i kinda got psii's trick spoiled which was pretty frustrating, but not this one and i couldn't believe it!
So excited to have gone on this nostalgic journey with you and excited for this video your videos are always a great way to unwind after work or when gaming. . Keep up the great content and keep up the awesomeness!! P.s. we're all super proud of you buddy
The star system of "Phantasy Star" is unforgiving. The worst part is, I think it's the player's fault, all the way back to the first game. So focused on saving the empire, you did not think of anything else. I wonder if the feeling of dirtiness you feel is intentional. If so, this saga IS a work of art.
Most definitely my favorite game of all time, despite only getting to experience it in the 2000s. I grew up with PS1 and it took YEARS to finish the original. A series that defined my taste in games and stories for my whole life. A point regarding Wren's return. Obviously, that isn't the Wren from PS3. This is far more apparent in the Japanese script as the PS3 wren was named something like "Wren 3", and the PS4 Wren was "Wren 4". This also gives the crashed colony ship and various factory's "Wren" robots as bit of a Cylon vibe from the Battlestar Gallactica remake: The mass produced robot soldiers and the synthetic leaders. Also, while just my head cannon, I love the idea that the language and the names evolved over the series. This would not be the first time a language changed major phonetic sounds such that it would be spelt so differently. Alas, Japan throwing translating efforts at the intern is about as much thought as went into PS1.
Phantasy Star IV was the game that got me into RPGs as a whole. I had played Final Fantasy I on the NES as well as the SaGa games on GameBoy (aka Final Fantasy Legend) before hitting PS4 and I really didn't like those other games (though after trying them again later I eventually reversed my opinion). The fact that PS4 was comparatively easier (at least in my mind) and was so overtly ANIME, it really drew me into the game in a way that other titles at the time didn't. I then went back to play the rest of the series afterwards, but 4 was still my favorite. It honestly goes toe-to-toe with other titles of the era like FF6 and Chrono Trigger, but is far less recognized and well-received, it seems like. A damn shame. Phantasy Star IV deserves to be honored as one of the greatest RPGs of the 16-bit era, and a shining example of what such a game should be. It's both a love letter to series fans, as well as a friendly and welcoming gateway for players new to the series and the genre as a whole. I can only continue to pray that one day, the series might receive some kind of modern remaster to bring it properly into the spotlight for a new generation.
It's great to hear this series nailed an ending that so often can elude even great stories. :) It's a shame companies have such a hard time remembering how valuable just learning from your last couple of games is worth. The RPG trope of amnesia always gets to them. XD The online games are most likely best to play in order of release as the gameplay steps up over time, though one of the in-between steps from Universe to PSO2, Phantasy Star Nova, was a Japan-exclusive made by Tri-Ace (speaking of which, Star Ocean 6 was GREAT. :) ) The story of Phantasy Star Online is expressed mainly through the single player Hunter's Guild missions and through data pods from the Hunter Red Ring Rico scattered throughout the stages, relaying her thoughts and experiences investigating Ragol's mysterious disaster. However, you may want to check a guide for one thing: there's a hidden side mission in the guild quests that involves saying some specific things and fighting a secret boss that gets you a pretty kickass weapon anyone can use. Because of the game's difficulty being level-linked, you can complete both episodes at a relatively low level. Higher level play involves just repeating those stages and getting better stuff from them. Episode III is a weird game, but it does have a story that's pretty detailed and its strategic rules are pretty fun to mess with. PSO2, depending on the version may come together with NGS. It depends on the client you use. Some let you run separate downloads. Its story is accessed through a counter as well, like PSO, but is WAY less passive. Couldn't guess at what you'll think of it, but honestly? I unironically love the first 3 episodes, which comprise the Oracle Storyline (though I mentioned that back on the discord some time ago when I got to see the anime version of the Oracle storyline.) PSO2, in short, is another universe. It's an entirely different realization of how the Profound Darkness, Dark Falz entities and the Great Light came to exist. NGS is 1000 years after the ending of Ep.6 and as for how it connects, well we literally just found that out a few days ago when Chapter 5 released. Until then, really nothing had been happening and I really want them to look back at this and realize people DO love it when they try to tell a story. :D
For me, the greatest 16 Bit RPG. Great review, I watched all your classic Phantasy Star reviews back to back and it got me super emotional, as Phantasy Star 1 was my first RPG, and Alisa was my role model (specially in an age where most video game protagonists were dudes and most female protagonists served as eye candies). The post-credits image of this game always make me happy, really marks the end of a great saga that spans millenia.
glad you enjoyed watching through them all! i had a blast playing them and think about these games a lot. it's a shame that newer entries are more online multiplayer focused than the tight single player experiences these 4 (or at least 3/4) provided me
@@ZaffreRevolution I kind of also love the online games, specially Universe's online mode, me and friends really making our own stories while exploring dungeons. PSO2 (classic one) has a really robust single player story (that took 9 years to be completed), so I hope you enjoy it (you have to play PSO2 NGS's tutorial to access it nowadays for some reason).
Universe also has a complete story with it's own protagonist while the online with your created character is it's own thing. Zero is one of the best, as each one of the races got their own single player campaign.
Phantasy Star 4 is basically the exact meeting point between Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, and even Super Metroid, which was impressive for a game that predated all three games.
The best of the series and even better than the original...my only complaint being that it came in a crappy cardboard box and not a classic Genesis clam shell. P.S. Shame that Ristar didn't get the love it deserved upon release.
Apparently it's not the same Wren, which I think is stupid. Just the same robot type. My biggest gripe with this game is that they didn't rename spells, "What the hell does deban do again?" But even with that I still consider this to be one of the best games for sega
Searren (PSIII) is a robot, whereas Forren (PSIV) is an android. Despite artistic inspiration, they share no direct link. Forren predates Searren by 2000 years, as PSIII occurs 1000 years after PSIV. Sega of America translated the PSII & IV technique ‘Die Wand’ (the wall) as ‘Deban.’ In PSI, the magic was known as ‘Waller’ (translated as ‘Warla’ in PSIV-US). Both terms refer to casting protective walls (through magic or technique).
Quick tip regarding combos and Macros: If you input moves individually, characters and enemies will move in order of their Dexterity stat with a bit of random chance added (or Agility or whatever it is called been a few years since I played it :) ). For example Rika will almost always move before Chaz. However if you put in a Macro, the characters will move in the order you put. However Dexterity still plays into this. So the trick is then to put a slow character like Gryz or Rune early into the Macro, which forces the rest of the Macro to wait. The drawback is this often lets a monster get a turn in before, but some tuning will make your combos MUCH more reliable to use. Also be aware that a few combo moves require the characters to I’ve in a specific order, instead of just after each other (usually the bigger combos).
FYI, while this is a bit risky, Macros become super reliable of you have your slowest character go first. That way, sent enemies faster than your Combination Attack characters will go first, making sure that that your Combination Attack won't be interrupted, unless one of the requisite party members got killed by the enemies who are faster than your slowest party member.
I still wonder why Sega doesn't resurrect Phantasy Star as a JRPG. The original quadrilogy could be retold, or another solar system could be the stage for another saga. They have the potential to be the star-warsy/trekkish sci-fi Dragon Quest, and sci-fi+JRPG it's a combination too seldom seen
I think the pace is good. the pace is fast. And they're trying to figure stuff out. No one character knows everything or people don't believe them at first. Macros/combo attacks work pretty consistently. But figuring them out as an adult is pretty tough. Also the Item menu desperately needed a place to store items. As a kid, it was my first PS game. The atory still feels like there's so much lore behind it. And learning about the previous games was so cool.
PSIV is still one of my top 5 games. I still return to it ever few years to this day. Even played it again last year. I'm still so attached to the characters and would love a modern remake. I could talk about it for hours.
I'm proud of you ❤️ You're really becoming the definitive spot for Sega RPGs xD And ye, this is the game in the series I've spent the most time with (even though I haven't beaten it... the backlog is strong, I promise I'm getting there ;~;) I played it for the first time on the PS2 Sega Genesis Collection in the late 00s and I gotta say, it blew me away. The character designs, the comic panels, the sharp writing, I could tell the team was firing on all cylinders. Luckily, this one is on the Genesis Mini, I'm very looking forward to playing through it.
Over half an year ago, I randomly stumbled across a UA-cam comment under a Shining Force 2 (another Sega Genesis game) video. I don't remember the exact wording, but this comment mentioned the Phantasy Star series, which I knew nothing about at this point in time. So I became curious and looked this series up online. Phantasy Star 1 looked too old, Phantasy Star 2 too grindy and Phantasy Star 3 was simply unappealing to me. So I've decided to play the supposedly best game in this series, Phantasy Star 4. Phantasy Star 4 seemed like such an odd game to me. I couldn't quite put my finger onto it, but something seemed off about this title. Hunters slaying monsters in a deserted post-apocalyptic sci-fi-fantasy world? A black wizard facturing a cult around him? Spaceships and androids? Just what was going on with this game? The only 16-bit-RPGs I had played were Super Mario RPG and the first part of Breath of Fire 2. I was also not familar with the Sega Genesis. So Phantasy Star 4 was pretty much unfamiliar territory for me. Still, over time I warmed up to this title: The characters were memorable, the story was good, the battle system okay and Phantasy Star 4 as a whole was pretty good. Not the best RPG I had ever played, but certainly a memorable experience. And I don't think I'll ever forget the summer evening, where I finally finished this video game. The final boss fight was a struggle and took forever to beat, but hey I did it. I truly beat this random RPG, which I only started out of a whim. And I'm glad to have invested my time in Phantasy Star 4, I'm so glad I did. And to be honest, this video game has stuck with me ever since. Maybe I've developed some weird overobsession with an RPG, which is much older than I am, but it just goes to show how memorable Phantasy Star 4 really is. I love the character design and the continuity of this game. And don't get even started on the music! I absolutely adore the soundtrack of this videogame. Phantasy Star 4 has one of my favorite video game soundtracks in general. I actively have to stop myself to not listening to it everytime I ride the bus. You know, normally I wouldn't be glad about a series ending on a high note. It's always a shame seeing a franchise getting abandoned by its developers, when it is at its peak. But Phantasy Star 4 is different. It took everything great about its predecessors and rank it up to eleven. And now, after having played all the games in the classical Phantasy Star series, I couldn't be happier about the end of the Phantasy Star series. Thank you to the original staff, Sega for re-releasing their Genesis games like crazy, Zaffre Revolution for making these great retrospectives and every classical Phantasy Star fan who helps in not letting this series fade into obscurity. Now if you'll excuse me, I should probably finish Breath of Fire 2. Until then, -Fyala
Now THIS should have been part 3! my experience with 3 wasn't dissimilar from yours; I found it bland, dull and uninspired. I didn't stick with it for long. But when I played 4 I was immediately engaged with its story and well-crafted world that's just bursting with life
Even though I only just now marathoned your quadrilogy of videos on the Phantasy Star (original series) quadrilogy of video games, I'm still very proud of you! I'm also very proud of Alis, Rolf, not you, and Chaz! Without them, the Algol System would be toast! Oh, and the devs too, I _guess_ Oh, I'm also looking forward to your future Phantasy Star videos if you do decide to keep going! I can't wait for the PSO2 video 25 years from now.
It's nice to have a series concluded out of its own free will. I have all of these games on my Switch & PS3 & once I've cleared by big games & JRPGs I may jump on board to the Phantasy Star series. Also yes I'm proud of you good job
Finally caught one of these close to release! I'm so angry that this game looks the most interesting because I have to play at least two other games before it but at least it'll be satisfying to see the progression of story and gameplay come to a head with this one. Great video Zaffre, loved that small heartfelt speech at the end :D Also yes I'm proud of you good job
glad you enjoyed the video! i do think you can get a ton of enjoyment out of this one regardless of whether you played the prior entries or not but either way, my boy... play this game it's fuckin heat
First let me say I'm proud of you. But also you almost had me in the beginning about expectations and the ocean. I was like I KNOW this man ain't about to say he kept his expectations in check. Haha. Also agree about the characters, I loved them all except the blue-green furby looking dude. BUT ALSO the music was FIRE. And I'm glad I wasn't the only one struggling with the combo moves and the lack of turn order stick. They say make the slowest character act first but I call bullshit on that. I tried that trick and it was not working for me. Anywho you ALMOST make me wanna go back to 1 and 2 because I only played four to this day and frankly I had no idea Darkside was a reoccurring character!
yeah darkside was like the main villain of the whole series! in 1 i was like "what the heck is this thing" but the more it kept popping up, especially in this game, i was more so curious what they were cooking. playing this series in order shows that they really do connect in a satisfying way, it's super cool. definitely get to playing 1 and 2 at some point, they're great i swear! just gotta get around some old school jank. i'm kinda jealous this was your first jrpg though, this was a hell of a place to start
Very happy to see you being happy with the game. It was truly a fine piece then and I agree is still plenty enjoyable now, I actually see many people starting on twitch and I often end up sticking with them as they discover the game. So many great mecanics have been introduced in this game, there is a second layer of pleasure just in understanding and replaying the game with good knowledge and improved strats that makes you feel powerfull at even low levels. Battle speed is great, music awesome, art fantastic, I am still attached to the game now more than ever and would have loved to dive again in a sequel to those game to enjoy a solo RPG with cameos or call backs to PS 1.2.3 and 4 lore that kept getting richer through the serie. Thx for your well crafted video
I wish they would bring back and/or finish the Remake of Phantasy Star 4, the original is awesome and timeless and a true remake could only make it better.
Oh so the party is handled like tve first 3 Tales of's, with a clear main group and a few loveable extras that can come and go, that's cool. But yeah I'm glad this game is a high note of a finale. I've been playing 1 on switch (and have the other 3 on steam, dabbled a bit with 2 a few months ago) so now im excited to get to 4
Alas, this was the first Phantasy Star game I played. So I didn't experience the build up. I rented the Genesis cartridge from the local video store every weekend until I beat it twice.
Glad to see you enjoyed this game; going through it now myself with the relocalization patch that cleans up the script a bit and yeah, this is absolutely one of the best RPGs of the era. At no point does it feel padded or tedious, and it does feel like the team learned the positives and negatives of the previous games in order to give the player the best gameplay experience possible which is something I can't even necessarily say about a lot of Squaresoft RPGs from the same time period. Since you did wind up liking Phantasy Star, I feel like I should recommend Cyber Knight and especially Cyber Knight II for the SNES / PC Engine. Those games are more pure scifi outside of some exploration of alien ruins and such. They were, however, incredibly innovative games for the time they came out, and the second game is on the level of Phantasy Star IV imo, except for the story obviously. Like, there isn't just minimal grinding; there are anti-grinding mechanics in place to make sure you don't waste your time, and there's a control center you can return to if you're ever unsure of where to go next. Perfectly playable without a guide. The first game is a little rough, but not too bad either. You mainly just have to remember where everything is after you go the first time, so you can return once you have what you need. It doesn't become suffering until the final dungeon.
Would love to see a remake of 4 this, and. PS5. I made a little RPG back in high school based on a comic my brother and I created. The game was heavily inspired by Phantast Star 4 combined, with Xenogears and Chrono Trigger... No time travel though lol.
So at no point do we ever get to dungeon-crawl through a battleship during a fleet battle, or astral-project ourselves across the stars, or get trapped in a landmaster as its drives itself to the enemy stronghold, or arm space pirates to convince people to join your cult of darkness for safety, take over a certain MMO to distribute pro-Earthmen propaganda, rediscover your favorite YA novel "Terror Former" and make its plot a reality, hunt down dark forces to absorb their power so you can transform into a universe-swallowing black hole, sink the royal palace into lava during a blizzard-hurricane and carve a trail of destruction across the galaxy only to have all your plans ruined by overpowered parents. Dunno it just seems like more could be done with this setting. hrm? A plot for a sequel? ok Not a century has passed and already history repeats itself. Motavia is ruled by the genocidal Arugoru Empire under the leadership of King Lashiec. They are determined to prevent the return of The Profound Darkess by destroying all references to anything it might have interacted with. Their society is one of order; their tech scifi hardness in ignorance of a setting that has actual magic. The only opposition is one Princess Alis whose quest begins with her execution and a connection to a dark force that holds her body intact at 0 hp Elsewhere in a remote star system known only as "Sol" a dozen colonies are kept isolated by the sinister Cult of Terra. From the gardeners of Venus and elementalists of Mercury to the Belter pirates and industrialists of Titan each colony offers a different technology base and weapon to use against Lashiec. All the galaxy needs is a hero to unite them - or a villain so terrifying they have no choice but to unite
You probably already got this comment, but the Wren in PSIV is actually a a predecessor to the Wren in PSIII. Not the same character as PSIII is technically the last game in the timeline. It's kind of a bummer to even think about the implications of PSIII being 1000 years later and Dark Force's return.
This was my first JRPG game, played circa 2002. Really got me into trying others, had only played stuff like Diablo. Hadn't played none of the others but still enjoyed the story very much. Great, great game. PSO is great but has basically no story (sadly). Many hours put into it but because it's another kind of game.
When i played it first i could barely read my own languae and this was english. But i was just hooked. Soundtrack, graphics, the design etc.....you had even elemental damage like light/dark and shit. Does anybody know that wood cane or guard rod are useful if used as items in battle? Or that the silvr tusk does light damage? Im still thinking the 3 stooges at air castle are wack but it doesnt matter. Later i used to train with sand worms even before the zio battle. I hate you PSO. I hate you.
Glad you loved it. Certainly up there with the other 16-bit classics. Gotta say I disagree with you on pacing. To me it's arguably the best paced jrpg along with FF7. Nothing overstays its welcome, dungeons are just right, grinding is minimal to none and always the next story hook.
Maaaaan I wish they would have stayed the course with the PSO series. If it were more like PS IV, I'd play it more. PS IV is my favorite Genesis RPG, narrowly beating out Shining Force 2. They're pretty close, but I find myself replaying/thinking about PS IV waaay more often.
i'm holding out hope they'll one day come back to this style because this was too good to be the end haha. all good things must go eventually but i wouldn't complain about more phantasy star
01:15 that is funny, because that same people that laugh are the Same Ones that complain that a game is taking too long to make. Ya, I'm talking about you. Lol
For anyone struggling with macro combo attack consistency, I found that if you make the slowest character who has a part in the combination attack, act first, then you're guaranteed the combo attack. Because then the enemy will either go first before the whole group, or after the combo attack.
Macros aren't just setting the character moves for the turn, they also determine turn order based on their position in the macro.
Thanks for the video! Love when people shine some light on this gem~
PSIV was and always will be one of my fav rpgs. That game was so fun in my youth and still holds weight in todays market as an all around great game imo
I was 10 years old when I got a copy of this game. I absolutely treasured this game. The experience of playing it with my brother was one of was one of the best and most memorable of my childhood
It's a bittersweet thing. The series has a perfect ending, but that also means we aren't getting any more PS games like this.
This is the legendary ending of any franchise!
Phantasy Star II was rumored to be a late stage Sega Master System project, something that becomes obvious as you play it. In fact, this was confirmed in an interview somewhere, though I can't remember the link. PS1 was meant, like Shenmeu (also developed for the Saturn, but released for the Dreamcast--sequel was never released on those consoles), to showcase the capabilities of SEGA hardware, but ended up losing money because, even at $70, the 4 megabit ROM and high development costs were too much. AFAIK, none of the early PS games and remakes were ever done by the same developers, and all of them were rushed and/or ported to different hardware.
Incredibly, no PS game was ever released for the Sega CD, despite the $300 addon being designed originally for jRPGs just like the PS series. The decline and fall of Sega was in large part due to the fact that the company never had any long range plan and kept pulling the rug out from under its third party developers and loyal fanbase.
Played through this in fall of 2019. Nothing like sitting in front of a Mac with Genesis controller and playing through it. Used rewind to avoid too many random encounters…yes, I am a cheater. Got through it all and just loved it. Before 2019 started and stopped many times. Played it in tandem with Mother 3 which I do recommend.
Followed up with Panzer Dragoon Saga which is a real banger. Everyone who wants a novel well honed experience it is there.
Phantasy Star 4 is my favorite Phantasy Star games. I just wish Alice Returns was going to be a thing.
I wholeheartedly agree. Along with Phantasy Star Online(GameCube Version), Phantasy Star IV is my favorite Phantasy Star game.
@@sperryyoungerjr.3985 Such a good story.
4&2 were my favorites
If you can, play Phantasy Star Gaiden.
PSIV MAAAAN ! This game made me cry (no spoil but I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about). Just so good and so well written !
yeah, i really didn't see that coming. spent the following week just in disbelief. i kinda got psii's trick spoiled which was pretty frustrating, but not this one and i couldn't believe it!
This young man has been really cooking these past few months
had to serve yall up right
So excited to have gone on this nostalgic journey with you and excited for this video your videos are always a great way to unwind after work or when gaming. . Keep up the great content and keep up the awesomeness!!
P.s. we're all super proud of you buddy
The star system of "Phantasy Star" is unforgiving. The worst part is, I think it's the player's fault, all the way back to the first game. So focused on saving the empire, you did not think of anything else.
I wonder if the feeling of dirtiness you feel is intentional. If so, this saga IS a work of art.
Most definitely my favorite game of all time, despite only getting to experience it in the 2000s. I grew up with PS1 and it took YEARS to finish the original. A series that defined my taste in games and stories for my whole life.
A point regarding Wren's return. Obviously, that isn't the Wren from PS3. This is far more apparent in the Japanese script as the PS3 wren was named something like "Wren 3", and the PS4 Wren was "Wren 4". This also gives the crashed colony ship and various factory's "Wren" robots as bit of a Cylon vibe from the Battlestar Gallactica remake: The mass produced robot soldiers and the synthetic leaders.
Also, while just my head cannon, I love the idea that the language and the names evolved over the series. This would not be the first time a language changed major phonetic sounds such that it would be spelt so differently. Alas, Japan throwing translating efforts at the intern is about as much thought as went into PS1.
Phantasy Star IV was the game that got me into RPGs as a whole. I had played Final Fantasy I on the NES as well as the SaGa games on GameBoy (aka Final Fantasy Legend) before hitting PS4 and I really didn't like those other games (though after trying them again later I eventually reversed my opinion). The fact that PS4 was comparatively easier (at least in my mind) and was so overtly ANIME, it really drew me into the game in a way that other titles at the time didn't. I then went back to play the rest of the series afterwards, but 4 was still my favorite. It honestly goes toe-to-toe with other titles of the era like FF6 and Chrono Trigger, but is far less recognized and well-received, it seems like. A damn shame. Phantasy Star IV deserves to be honored as one of the greatest RPGs of the 16-bit era, and a shining example of what such a game should be. It's both a love letter to series fans, as well as a friendly and welcoming gateway for players new to the series and the genre as a whole. I can only continue to pray that one day, the series might receive some kind of modern remaster to bring it properly into the spotlight for a new generation.
i'm proud of you bby
I'm on the younger side i grew up with this on the sega genesis classics game on the PSP and it was incredible
Excellent review, the best game imho. It had it all. And nobody knows of it. So it will remain something special to me...forever.
lol! Proud of you bro. Great review. It’s definitely a fav game of mine
It's great to hear this series nailed an ending that so often can elude even great stories. :) It's a shame companies have such a hard time remembering how valuable just learning from your last couple of games is worth. The RPG trope of amnesia always gets to them. XD
The online games are most likely best to play in order of release as the gameplay steps up over time, though one of the in-between steps from Universe to PSO2, Phantasy Star Nova, was a Japan-exclusive made by Tri-Ace (speaking of which, Star Ocean 6 was GREAT. :) )
The story of Phantasy Star Online is expressed mainly through the single player Hunter's Guild missions and through data pods from the Hunter Red Ring Rico scattered throughout the stages, relaying her thoughts and experiences investigating Ragol's mysterious disaster. However, you may want to check a guide for one thing: there's a hidden side mission in the guild quests that involves saying some specific things and fighting a secret boss that gets you a pretty kickass weapon anyone can use. Because of the game's difficulty being level-linked, you can complete both episodes at a relatively low level. Higher level play involves just repeating those stages and getting better stuff from them. Episode III is a weird game, but it does have a story that's pretty detailed and its strategic rules are pretty fun to mess with.
PSO2, depending on the version may come together with NGS. It depends on the client you use. Some let you run separate downloads. Its story is accessed through a counter as well, like PSO, but is WAY less passive. Couldn't guess at what you'll think of it, but honestly? I unironically love the first 3 episodes, which comprise the Oracle Storyline (though I mentioned that back on the discord some time ago when I got to see the anime version of the Oracle storyline.)
PSO2, in short, is another universe. It's an entirely different realization of how the Profound Darkness, Dark Falz entities and the Great Light came to exist. NGS is 1000 years after the ending of Ep.6 and as for how it connects, well we literally just found that out a few days ago when Chapter 5 released. Until then, really nothing had been happening and I really want them to look back at this and realize people DO love it when they try to tell a story. :D
Maybe the hub station could be taken over by the Eartheners and used to spread pro-Dark Force propaganda?
For me, the greatest 16 Bit RPG. Great review, I watched all your classic Phantasy Star reviews back to back and it got me super emotional, as Phantasy Star 1 was my first RPG, and Alisa was my role model (specially in an age where most video game protagonists were dudes and most female protagonists served as eye candies).
The post-credits image of this game always make me happy, really marks the end of a great saga that spans millenia.
glad you enjoyed watching through them all! i had a blast playing them and think about these games a lot. it's a shame that newer entries are more online multiplayer focused than the tight single player experiences these 4 (or at least 3/4) provided me
@@ZaffreRevolution I kind of also love the online games, specially Universe's online mode, me and friends really making our own stories while exploring dungeons. PSO2 (classic one) has a really robust single player story (that took 9 years to be completed), so I hope you enjoy it (you have to play PSO2 NGS's tutorial to access it nowadays for some reason).
Universe also has a complete story with it's own protagonist while the online with your created character is it's own thing. Zero is one of the best, as each one of the races got their own single player campaign.
Proud of you Zaffre 😉 for seeing this through to the end. was interesting to see all about this series I very rarely looked into and heard about
Gotta do a Shining Force Series deep dive one day!
I'm proud of you! lol
This is my all-time favorite RPG...Always go back to it every other year or so. Must've beaten it 15 times since I was 10!
Same here! I made a UA-cam shorts tribute to the game using Midjourney AI if you are interested:
ua-cam.com/users/shortsoE799cWtNzE?feature=share
You love to see it.
Phantasy Star 4 is basically the exact meeting point between Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, and even Super Metroid, which was impressive for a game that predated all three games.
I f*cking love this game! Thanks for this video! That game is brilliant of 16bit era, I prefer Phantasy star IV, not the Final Fantasy VI.
I believe this game was 80-100 dollars when it released. At a time when the standard new game price was 50.
The best of the series and even better than the original...my only complaint being that it came in a crappy cardboard box and not a classic Genesis clam shell.
P.S. Shame that Ristar didn't get the love it deserved upon release.
Apparently it's not the same Wren, which I think is stupid. Just the same robot type.
My biggest gripe with this game is that they didn't rename spells, "What the hell does deban do again?"
But even with that I still consider this to be one of the best games for sega
Searren (PSIII) is a robot, whereas Forren (PSIV) is an android. Despite artistic inspiration, they share no direct link. Forren predates Searren by 2000 years, as PSIII occurs 1000 years after PSIV. Sega of America translated the PSII & IV technique ‘Die Wand’ (the wall) as ‘Deban.’ In PSI, the magic was known as ‘Waller’ (translated as ‘Warla’ in PSIV-US). Both terms refer to casting protective walls (through magic or technique).
PSIV is a masterpiece I replay every now and then.
Quick tip regarding combos and Macros:
If you input moves individually, characters and enemies will move in order of their Dexterity stat with a bit of random chance added (or Agility or whatever it is called been a few years since I played it :) ). For example Rika will almost always move before Chaz.
However if you put in a Macro, the characters will move in the order you put. However Dexterity still plays into this. So the trick is then to put a slow character like Gryz or Rune early into the Macro, which forces the rest of the Macro to wait.
The drawback is this often lets a monster get a turn in before, but some tuning will make your combos MUCH more reliable to use.
Also be aware that a few combo moves require the characters to
I’ve in a specific order, instead of just after each other (usually the bigger combos).
Damn, even though I played I to IV at the end of last year, I want to replay IV now!
I am glad you had a blast with that series 😄
do it!! the gane pops off
I never played the previous games but I just loved PS IV!
To my shame I've never played this.
FYI, while this is a bit risky, Macros become super reliable of you have your slowest character go first. That way, sent enemies faster than your Combination Attack characters will go first, making sure that that your Combination Attack won't be interrupted, unless one of the requisite party members got killed by the enemies who are faster than your slowest party member.
I still wonder why Sega doesn't resurrect Phantasy Star as a JRPG. The original quadrilogy could be retold, or another solar system could be the stage for another saga. They have the potential to be the star-warsy/trekkish sci-fi Dragon Quest, and sci-fi+JRPG it's a combination too seldom seen
that's what i'm saying! they have such great ideas for their jrpg series to continue but they don't and it's so sad T_T
I think the pace is good. the pace is fast. And they're trying to figure stuff out. No one character knows everything or people don't believe them at first.
Macros/combo attacks work pretty consistently. But figuring them out as an adult is pretty tough.
Also the Item menu desperately needed a place to store items.
As a kid, it was my first PS game. The atory still feels like there's so much lore behind it. And learning about the previous games was so cool.
PSIV is still one of my top 5 games. I still return to it ever few years to this day. Even played it again last year. I'm still so attached to the characters and would love a modern remake. I could talk about it for hours.
Love this game. Favorite of my childhood. Good review.
I'm proud of you ❤️
You're really becoming the definitive spot for Sega RPGs xD
And ye, this is the game in the series I've spent the most time with (even though I haven't beaten it... the backlog is strong, I promise I'm getting there ;~;) I played it for the first time on the PS2 Sega Genesis Collection in the late 00s and I gotta say, it blew me away. The character designs, the comic panels, the sharp writing, I could tell the team was firing on all cylinders.
Luckily, this one is on the Genesis Mini, I'm very looking forward to playing through it.
Watched this on the treadmill and still got goosebumps with the theme song at the end!
Over half an year ago, I randomly stumbled across a UA-cam comment under a Shining Force 2 (another Sega Genesis game) video. I don't remember the exact wording, but this comment mentioned the Phantasy Star series, which I knew nothing about at this point in time. So I became curious and looked this series up online. Phantasy Star 1 looked too old, Phantasy Star 2 too grindy and Phantasy Star 3 was simply unappealing to me. So I've decided to play the supposedly best game in this series, Phantasy Star 4.
Phantasy Star 4 seemed like such an odd game to me. I couldn't quite put my finger onto it, but something seemed off about this title. Hunters slaying monsters in a deserted post-apocalyptic sci-fi-fantasy world? A black wizard facturing a cult around him? Spaceships and androids? Just what was going on with this game?
The only 16-bit-RPGs I had played were Super Mario RPG and the first part of Breath of Fire 2. I was also not familar with the Sega Genesis. So Phantasy Star 4 was pretty much unfamiliar territory for me. Still, over time I warmed up to this title: The characters were memorable, the story was good, the battle system okay and Phantasy Star 4 as a whole was pretty good. Not the best RPG I had ever played, but certainly a memorable experience. And I don't think I'll ever forget the summer evening, where I finally finished this video game. The final boss fight was a struggle and took forever to beat, but hey I did it. I truly beat this random RPG, which I only started out of a whim. And I'm glad to have invested my time in Phantasy Star 4, I'm so glad I did. And to be honest, this video game has stuck with me ever since. Maybe I've developed some weird overobsession with an RPG, which is much older than I am, but it just goes to show how memorable Phantasy Star 4 really is. I love the character design and the continuity of this game. And don't get even started on the music! I absolutely adore the soundtrack of this videogame. Phantasy Star 4 has one of my favorite video game soundtracks in general. I actively have to stop myself to not listening to it everytime I ride the bus.
You know, normally I wouldn't be glad about a series ending on a high note. It's always a shame seeing a franchise getting abandoned by its developers, when it is at its peak.
But Phantasy Star 4 is different. It took everything great about its predecessors and rank it up to eleven. And now, after having played all the games in the classical Phantasy Star series, I couldn't be happier about the end of the Phantasy Star series.
Thank you
to the original staff, Sega for re-releasing their Genesis games like crazy, Zaffre Revolution for making these great retrospectives and every classical Phantasy Star fan who helps in not letting this series fade into obscurity.
Now if you'll excuse me, I should probably finish Breath of Fire 2.
Until then,
-Fyala
I CANT WAIT FOR THE PHANTASY STAR UNIVERSE VIDEO
I'm proud of you bby!
Now THIS should have been part 3! my experience with 3 wasn't dissimilar from yours; I found it bland, dull and uninspired. I didn't stick with it for long. But when I played 4 I was immediately engaged with its story and well-crafted world that's just bursting with life
The soundtrack alone was an assault on the player.
Little detail to note. Macros force turn sequence and are the way to guarantee a skill/tech combo.
Even though I only just now marathoned your quadrilogy of videos on the Phantasy Star (original series) quadrilogy of video games, I'm still very proud of you!
I'm also very proud of Alis, Rolf, not you, and Chaz! Without them, the Algol System would be toast!
Oh, and the devs too, I _guess_
Oh, I'm also looking forward to your future Phantasy Star videos if you do decide to keep going! I can't wait for the PSO2 video 25 years from now.
For me, phantasy Star 4 is the second best 16bit JRPG right after Final Fantasy 6. It's just that good.
i actually love all 4 of the original series
It's nice to have a series concluded out of its own free will. I have all of these games on my Switch & PS3 & once I've cleared by big games & JRPGs I may jump on board to the Phantasy Star series.
Also yes I'm proud of you good job
hope to see you do it, i had a freakin blast. 1 and 4 especially are some of my favorites from the company at this point
Finally caught one of these close to release! I'm so angry that this game looks the most interesting because I have to play at least two other games before it but at least it'll be satisfying to see the progression of story and gameplay come to a head with this one. Great video Zaffre, loved that small heartfelt speech at the end :D
Also yes I'm proud of you good job
21:31 also WHO IS THIS PENGUIN. IS HE A PARTY MEMBER I MUST KNOW.
@@FinnishDuck15 LMAO there's like one town where you can pay to have a penguin walk with you for literally no reason. it was funny :3
glad you enjoyed the video! i do think you can get a ton of enjoyment out of this one regardless of whether you played the prior entries or not but either way, my boy... play this game it's fuckin heat
First let me say I'm proud of you. But also you almost had me in the beginning about expectations and the ocean. I was like I KNOW this man ain't about to say he kept his expectations in check. Haha.
Also agree about the characters, I loved them all except the blue-green furby looking dude. BUT ALSO the music was FIRE. And I'm glad I wasn't the only one struggling with the combo moves and the lack of turn order stick. They say make the slowest character act first but I call bullshit on that. I tried that trick and it was not working for me.
Anywho you ALMOST make me wanna go back to 1 and 2 because I only played four to this day and frankly I had no idea Darkside was a reoccurring character!
yeah darkside was like the main villain of the whole series! in 1 i was like "what the heck is this thing" but the more it kept popping up, especially in this game, i was more so curious what they were cooking. playing this series in order shows that they really do connect in a satisfying way, it's super cool. definitely get to playing 1 and 2 at some point, they're great i swear! just gotta get around some old school jank. i'm kinda jealous this was your first jrpg though, this was a hell of a place to start
a year later, but im proud of you. ps4 is a masterpiece
Very happy to see you being happy with the game.
It was truly a fine piece then and I agree is still plenty enjoyable now, I actually see many people starting on twitch and I often end up sticking with them as they discover the game.
So many great mecanics have been introduced in this game, there is a second layer of pleasure just in understanding and replaying the game with good knowledge and improved strats that makes you feel powerfull at even low levels.
Battle speed is great, music awesome, art fantastic, I am still attached to the game now more than ever and would have loved to dive again in a sequel to those game to enjoy a solo RPG with cameos or call backs to PS 1.2.3 and 4 lore that kept getting richer through the serie.
Thx for your well crafted video
and thank you for your comment! glad you enjoyed
I wish they would bring back and/or finish the Remake of Phantasy Star 4, the original is awesome and timeless and a true remake could only make it better.
…I can’t believe I never realized until just now that this series is connected to PSO.
I… I feel so dumb.
Oh so the party is handled like tve first 3 Tales of's, with a clear main group and a few loveable extras that can come and go, that's cool. But yeah I'm glad this game is a high note of a finale. I've been playing 1 on switch (and have the other 3 on steam, dabbled a bit with 2 a few months ago) so now im excited to get to 4
Megid!!!
Alas, this was the first Phantasy Star game I played. So I didn't experience the build up. I rented the Genesis cartridge from the local video store every weekend until I beat it twice.
Glad to see you enjoyed this game; going through it now myself with the relocalization patch that cleans up the script a bit and yeah, this is absolutely one of the best RPGs of the era. At no point does it feel padded or tedious, and it does feel like the team learned the positives and negatives of the previous games in order to give the player the best gameplay experience possible which is something I can't even necessarily say about a lot of Squaresoft RPGs from the same time period.
Since you did wind up liking Phantasy Star, I feel like I should recommend Cyber Knight and especially Cyber Knight II for the SNES / PC Engine. Those games are more pure scifi outside of some exploration of alien ruins and such. They were, however, incredibly innovative games for the time they came out, and the second game is on the level of Phantasy Star IV imo, except for the story obviously. Like, there isn't just minimal grinding; there are anti-grinding mechanics in place to make sure you don't waste your time, and there's a control center you can return to if you're ever unsure of where to go next. Perfectly playable without a guide. The first game is a little rough, but not too bad either. You mainly just have to remember where everything is after you go the first time, so you can return once you have what you need. It doesn't become suffering until the final dungeon.
i wish we got the sega cd version with fully animated cut scenes lol
Still one of the best JRPGs out there.
Would love to see a remake of 4 this, and. PS5.
I made a little RPG back in high school based on a comic my brother and I created.
The game was heavily inspired by Phantast Star 4 combined, with Xenogears and Chrono Trigger... No time travel though lol.
So at no point do we ever get to dungeon-crawl through a battleship during a fleet battle, or astral-project ourselves across the stars, or get trapped in a landmaster as its drives itself to the enemy stronghold, or arm space pirates to convince people to join your cult of darkness for safety, take over a certain MMO to distribute pro-Earthmen propaganda, rediscover your favorite YA novel "Terror Former" and make its plot a reality, hunt down dark forces to absorb their power so you can transform into a universe-swallowing black hole, sink the royal palace into lava during a blizzard-hurricane and carve a trail of destruction across the galaxy only to have all your plans ruined by overpowered parents. Dunno it just seems like more could be done with this setting. hrm? A plot for a sequel? ok
Not a century has passed and already history repeats itself. Motavia is ruled by the genocidal Arugoru Empire under the leadership of King Lashiec. They are determined to prevent the return of The Profound Darkess by destroying all references to anything it might have interacted with. Their society is one of order; their tech scifi hardness in ignorance of a setting that has actual magic. The only opposition is one Princess Alis whose quest begins with her execution and a connection to a dark force that holds her body intact at 0 hp
Elsewhere in a remote star system known only as "Sol" a dozen colonies are kept isolated by the sinister Cult of Terra. From the gardeners of Venus and elementalists of Mercury to the Belter pirates and industrialists of Titan each colony offers a different technology base and weapon to use against Lashiec. All the galaxy needs is a hero to unite them - or a villain so terrifying they have no choice but to unite
You probably already got this comment, but the Wren in PSIV is actually a a predecessor to the Wren in PSIII. Not the same character as PSIII is technically the last game in the timeline. It's kind of a bummer to even think about the implications of PSIII being 1000 years later and Dark Force's return.
This was my first JRPG game, played circa 2002. Really got me into trying others, had only played stuff like Diablo.
Hadn't played none of the others but still enjoyed the story very much. Great, great game.
PSO is great but has basically no story (sadly). Many hours put into it but because it's another kind of game.
When i played it first i could barely read my own languae and this was english. But i was just hooked. Soundtrack, graphics, the design etc.....you had even elemental damage like light/dark and shit. Does anybody know that wood cane or guard rod are useful if used as items in battle? Or that the silvr tusk does light damage?
Im still thinking the 3 stooges at air castle are wack but it doesnt matter. Later i used to train with sand worms even before the zio battle.
I hate you PSO. I hate you.
Glad you loved it. Certainly up there with the other 16-bit classics. Gotta say I disagree with you on pacing. To me it's arguably the best paced jrpg along with FF7. Nothing overstays its welcome, dungeons are just right, grinding is minimal to none and always the next story hook.
14:24 False; that's literally a different Wren unit. The Japanese fan names are even different; _Shiren_ and _Fuoren_
I can't believe they haven't done a REMAKE of this game. I wonder if there's some legal issue that has stopped folks from doing this.
Best of the four.
They don't make quality games like this anymore.
Games may look better, but looks aren't everything.
Maaaaan I wish they would have stayed the course with the PSO series. If it were more like PS IV, I'd play it more. PS IV is my favorite Genesis RPG, narrowly beating out Shining Force 2. They're pretty close, but I find myself replaying/thinking about PS IV waaay more often.
i'm holding out hope they'll one day come back to this style because this was too good to be the end haha. all good things must go eventually but i wouldn't complain about more phantasy star
01:15 that is funny, because that same people that laugh are the Same Ones that complain that a game is taking too long to make.
Ya, I'm talking about you. Lol