The name comes from alkahest, a universal solvent described in medieval alchemy texts, related to the philosopher's stone according to some. I had started this game some time ago, but now knowing that it's short actually revives my interest in playing it.
Fun Fact: The late and great Satoru Iwata designed this game. Also, does anyone else think that Alen from this game looks a little bit like Richter Belmont from Castlevania?
The old English translation patch for Alcahest was actually beta, since the translators want to replace passwords with a save/load feature. The passwords however were also stage titles too. Jun Ishikawa did the music for this game (I liked the title screen music btw). Great game though.
This is why i love your channel, to discover awesome games. You have no idea have many games i have played and beaten based on your recommendation (I'm playing right now Front Mission Gun Hazard and holy shit…what a game) This one also looks great. Thanks drunk and keep em coming!!
This game is also similar to Arcus Odyssey for the MD/Genesis with it's ally feature. Oddly enough Arcus Odyssey was also ported to the Super Famicom a few years later.
I played this recently for the very first time and was really into it. I would've loved this back in the day. Why the powers that be thought this wasn't worth localizing is beyond me.
Simple answer: Alcahest is when you get out of work on Friday night, you walk into your apartment and your roommates order you to take 3 shots immediately. Alca (alcohol) - Hest (an archaic form of behest, or to order or command).
This is why I come here and automatically give the videos a thumbs up before even watching anything: A great review for a game I never even heard about before :D
I remember playing and finishing Alcahest years ago. It's punishing in some spots but when you take the time to practice and explore, it's quite enjoyable.
Been playing this again lately, I'm on the last level. The music is in the unmistakable vein of Kirby Super Star which makes this game all the more nostalgic for me.
Super cool find, this game looks stunning... Drives me nuts how developers don't eventually release these old games translated and all in this day and age.
Thank you dude! I played this game when was a kid and never knew the name.. I had an american SNES and bought that game original in a Famicom cartridge, with carved dents on the sides to fit on the SNES. Never knew what I was doing, because everything was in Japanese, but managed to get the mage companion still. Great review!
Great review. I missed this one over the years, but over the last couple of months I've been watching someone route the speedrun for it. I definitely need to add it to the backlog.
This game always reminded me of Brainlord, one of my all time favorites, but maybe with a bit more fluidity. I never could stick with Alcahest though. I'll have to give it another try if it really is so short.
Cool! I remember snes drunk talking about this game a while ago. I wanted to play it but didn't bother because the password system didn't work back then. Glad to hear its fixed. Romhacking.net here i come.... Hope ladystalker gets a translation some day
i remember playing an early translated patch and wasn't able to finish it until a fully translated version came out to download! i really like this game!!
neat. first time hearing of this one. almost like a top-down version of Capcom's arcade game Magic Sword, with more RPG elements. Thanks for the heads-up on another awesome game. I've discovered a lot from your channel.
How come you don’t say have a great rest of your day anymore. That was always a nice finish to your awesome videos. Anyway I hope you have a great rest of your day.
Maybe someone here know the name of another Japanese Famicom RPG? You play as a guy with blue hair, you start in a castle, with simple clothes, then you search in a chest and find armor to put on. It reminds me of breath of fire for the stile and cameraview. The battles are isometric, I remember you attack by throwing your sword into the enemies. They fight goes like this: you and the enemy start standing in the corner of the screen and then go walking forward to each other and attacking throwing stuff or magic. You have lots of companions.
I remember going pretty far the first time I played this but I can't remember if I finished it. I didn't know a fix for the password system had been released since then, time to play this again I guess.
I never knew that HAL developed this game. I really like the opening track. The sense of urgency in the chords, and the 7/8 (?) time signature really make it unique. Good stuff. Here's another example of game music composers use odd time signatures -- the 5/4 in ua-cam.com/video/HS8iO3xPGPA/v-deo.html.
Dude everytime I got here I get to know even more cool games than I expected to find, and all of these goes directly to my Snes mini, by any chance do you know how to make Clock Tower to run on that? I'd really appreciate the assistance.
This seems like a nice little gem, why did the Snes seem to get all the good top down adventure games. As far as I know Gen only has Beyond Oasis lol? Landstalker sorta kind of counts I guess, maybe Light Crusader too? But in this genre overall I'd say the Snes wins.
A few hours sounds ideal to me. I can't be bothered with 60 hours games anymore, or even 40 or 20 hours games. I just want to get in, have some fun and be done in a few hours. Sometimes maybe I'd like to play a certain deep RPG for say 10-20 hours, but anything over that feels like a slog imo. So, yeah, this game sounds about ideal to me. :D The only thing I don't like is the little interaction blocks that let you dash and jump to different areas of the level. I think the designers could have been a little more creative with how they implemented those rather than making them look like clear "gamey" interaction blocks stuck in the middle of otherwise a convincing fantasy RPG world.
![Tales of Phantasia [SNES] review - SNESdrunk](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/GuabHJfomc0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Tales of Phantasia [SNES] review - SNESdrunk](/img/tr.png)
The name comes from alkahest, a universal solvent described in medieval alchemy texts, related to the philosopher's stone according to some. I had started this game some time ago, but now knowing that it's short actually revives my interest in playing it.
Dude, you're where I go to find games.
Heck yeah, found out about quite a few awesome games from this channel 🤠
Fun Fact: The late and great Satoru Iwata designed this game.
Also, does anyone else think that Alen from this game looks a little bit like Richter Belmont from Castlevania?
Gabe Mewell fun fact: who gives a shit
Obviously you, seeing that you took time out of your day to reply to my comment. Thank you for validating it.
Leonard Persin you aparently
thanks Lord Gaben 👍
Fun fact: Michael b Jordan is playing Joseph Stalin in all black version of the ussr
And that sweet Kirby-style music! (same composer)
The old English translation patch for Alcahest was actually beta, since the translators want to replace passwords with a save/load feature. The passwords however were also stage titles too. Jun Ishikawa did the music for this game (I liked the title screen music btw). Great game though.
This is why i love your channel, to discover awesome games. You have no idea have many games i have played and beaten based on your recommendation (I'm playing right now Front Mission Gun Hazard and holy shit…what a game) This one also looks great. Thanks drunk and keep em coming!!
Thanks for taking the time to watch
Juan Gil Do you Emulate the games? Most of the games he recommends are super expensive
How did this not get an official English release? It looks fantastic.
Graphics and design for this look really impressive
This game is also similar to Arcus Odyssey for the MD/Genesis with it's ally feature. Oddly enough Arcus Odyssey was also ported to the Super Famicom a few years later.
I played this recently for the very first time and was really into it. I would've loved this back in the day. Why the powers that be thought this wasn't worth localizing is beyond me.
Simple answer: Alcahest is when you get out of work on Friday night, you walk into your apartment and your roommates order you to take 3 shots immediately. Alca (alcohol) - Hest (an archaic form of behest, or to order or command).
Major Tom That's what we call trying way to hard...
perfect!
Isn't that what Geralt of Rivia drinks in The Witcher?
THIS right here is why I love your channel :D I had no idea this game existed and it looks like something I would like. Thanks for your hard work!
This is why I come here and automatically give the videos a thumbs up before even watching anything: A great review for a game I never even heard about before :D
I remember playing and finishing Alcahest years ago. It's punishing in some spots but when you take the time to practice and explore, it's quite enjoyable.
It really reminds me of Brainlord.
I really enjoyed playing Alcahest.
Watching this also reminded me of beyond oasis
It reminded me of Terranigma. Feels like the chests are the same model.
Been playing this again lately, I'm on the last level. The music is in the unmistakable vein of Kirby Super Star which makes this game all the more nostalgic for me.
Another great video man thanks for the time and effort you put into your channel.
Saw this on a longplay - looks like a classic banger.
Nice, I love the Gaia stuff. You always pick the best SNESdrunk!
Super cool find, this game looks stunning... Drives me nuts how developers don't eventually release these old games translated and all in this day and age.
People just don't appreciate this type of game anymore sadly. Oh well, their loss.
Thank you dude! I played this game when was a kid and never knew the name.. I had an american SNES and bought that game original in a Famicom cartridge, with carved dents on the sides to fit on the SNES. Never knew what I was doing, because everything was in Japanese, but managed to get the mage companion still. Great review!
Great review. I missed this one over the years, but over the last couple of months I've been watching someone route the speedrun for it. I definitely need to add it to the backlog.
Can definitely hear some Kirby in the music. Cool stuff.
Never heard of this game til your vid! Really want to try it now. I LOVE Soul Blazer
This game is great.
This game always reminded me of Brainlord, one of my all time favorites, but maybe with a bit more fluidity. I never could stick with Alcahest though. I'll have to give it another try if it really is so short.
Cool! I remember snes drunk talking about this game a while ago. I wanted to play it but didn't bother because the password system didn't work back then. Glad to hear its fixed. Romhacking.net here i come.... Hope ladystalker gets a translation some day
The armor changes your character's sprite - very nice.
i remember playing an early translated patch and wasn't able to finish it until a fully translated version came out to download!
i really like this game!!
What an odd coincidence. I text my friend about this game only a few hours before you posted this video.
probably my favorite jun ishikawa soundtrack
Had never heard of this game before. This is why this is such a great channel
I love this game. It's about time you featured it.
neat. first time hearing of this one. almost like a top-down version of Capcom's arcade game Magic Sword, with more RPG elements. Thanks for the heads-up on another awesome game. I've discovered a lot from your channel.
CooL game, I'd never had enough time to finish this one... but if it's that short, I'll give it a shot this week! As always, great review.
God-damn, I love that style of slightly atonal/microtonal 16-bit music in Boss fights!
Nice review. Time to give this game a try as I really loved Soul Blazer.
This game looks phenomenal!
This game is so sweet. I can't do turn based RPGs. This combination of all the stuff I like from RPGs with full real time action is perfect.
alcahest is an awesome game. you don't even really need the translation patch to enjoy it, it's definitely more arcadey than rpg-y.
How come you don’t say have a great rest of your day anymore. That was always a nice finish to your awesome videos. Anyway I hope you have a great rest of your day.
Now this is a true hidden gem
oh man I thought this was on Super Nintendo for a second it looks great you got my hopes up great videos always
I played this game a while ago, I liked it
Maybe someone here know the name of another Japanese Famicom RPG? You play as a guy with blue hair, you start in a castle, with simple clothes, then you search in a chest and find armor to put on. It reminds me of breath of fire for the stile and cameraview. The battles are isometric, I remember you attack by throwing your sword into the enemies. They fight goes like this: you and the enemy start standing in the corner of the screen and then go walking forward to each other and attacking throwing stuff or magic. You have lots of companions.
Great review!! I started palying this game a couple years back, I never followed, but I certainly want to
I love this game.
great music too!
Man....this looks great. Never even heard of it. Gotta find a way to play it. Thanks for the great content btw. Love your videos
I would have been very into this as a kid. Great review!
Nice another game to add to my snes mini great review btw looks like a true snes hidden gem!
Great game
I don't have the same standards of game lengths as you so this game seems just fine to me.
Love your vids man, keep it up.
Cool, just downloaded this now. :)
Ah, back when you didn't thank me for watching and so on and so forth.
Good times.
I remember going pretty far the first time I played this but I can't remember if I finished it. I didn't know a fix for the password system had been released since then, time to play this again I guess.
Love it .. bought the super famicon original.. and somehow beat it.. ha!
Thanks for clueing me in.. cheers!
I always liked this game, nice review.
Now i gotta doqnload this and put it on every device i own tbat has a snes emulator.
Best typo ever. I'm going to say doqnload instead of download from this day forth. I mean no disrespect at all.
Stoopid touchscreen pgones.lol
It should’ve released in the West back then, there’s not a ton of text. I think it could have found a decent audience, it’s very well made.
This looks like fun! It has a Diablo look to it.
Looks like a lot of fun. I may just try it one day.
Nice review! I like the way this looks. I'm going to have to pick it up. $40 English repro on ebay
Back in the Day Gamer Damn, that's WAY cheaper than I thought it'd be
Zelda plus an arcade style beat em' up? Sounds good.
I never knew that HAL developed this game. I really like the opening track. The sense of urgency in the chords, and the 7/8 (?) time signature really make it unique. Good stuff. Here's another example of game music composers use odd time signatures -- the 5/4 in ua-cam.com/video/HS8iO3xPGPA/v-deo.html.
Watching this video makes me wonder about the possibility of gameshark'ing it so that one could play as the alternate follower instead..
This game looks great! How did I miss this it's not evn a garbage rpg
Still use ZSNES on my Linux laptop and its still the best.
It is pretty cool to fight with a dragon.
Suuuuh..nesdrunk!
Reminds me a lot of "Beyond Oasis " for the geny/mega drive.
Game looks fucking good!
Dude everytime I got here I get to know even more cool games than I expected to find, and all of these goes directly to my Snes mini, by any chance do you know how to make Clock Tower to run on that? I'd really appreciate the assistance.
It works on the Mini. You need to change the Preset ID of the ROM from hakchi and should work fine.
Clock Tower I mean
it ran fine for me it should say it'll run it through retroarch
It also runs perfectly well on Canoe (built-in emulator). Just need to change the Preset ID of ROM
Sweet another hidden rpg to explore :-D
This one looks like it would have been a lot of fun in my youth. Maybe not deep enough now.
looks fun
looks awesome
This looks like 7th Saga reimagined as an adventure game!
I always saw this game as a prequel to Diablo
Thx
I remember emulating this one a looooong time ago. I liked it, but somehow I forgot about it and never beat it. I should give it another try.
This seems like a nice little gem, why did the Snes seem to get all the good top down adventure games. As far as I know Gen only has Beyond Oasis lol? Landstalker sorta kind of counts I guess, maybe Light Crusader too? But in this genre overall I'd say the Snes wins.
Thumb for referring to HAL as the Kirby-guys, as opposed to that other series they are famous for.
The music is very similar to Kirby's.
A few hours sounds ideal to me. I can't be bothered with 60 hours games anymore, or even 40 or 20 hours games. I just want to get in, have some fun and be done in a few hours. Sometimes maybe I'd like to play a certain deep RPG for say 10-20 hours, but anything over that feels like a slog imo. So, yeah, this game sounds about ideal to me. :D
The only thing I don't like is the little interaction blocks that let you dash and jump to different areas of the level. I think the designers could have been a little more creative with how they implemented those rather than making them look like clear "gamey" interaction blocks stuck in the middle of otherwise a convincing fantasy RPG world.
Anybody able to get this working on their everdrive? I spent some time on it but can't get it to work yet
Its a shame we haven't seen more PC Engine RPGs.
“So yeah” x 2
“But yeah” x 1
TurboGraphx Drunk!
Hey drunk, where's the part 8 of the chrono trigger playtrough bro? Nice video thou
Remember when HAL did more than just Kirby and Smash Bros?
This looks like "Brain Lord" on SNES.
Good morning
Ur thoughts on chrono trigger coming to the PC with 2 new features ?
They repurposed the iOS version. Lazy and pointless. You're 9999x better off playing the DS version.
SNES drunk i see thanks
SNES drunk rocks
Oooh I wanna play thiiis