Retro Game of the Month December 2017: Phantasy Star IV (Genesis)

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Ryanz

<Banned>
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Question about running from fights. Can you just keep running from a fight if your chars are in trouble HP/MP wise? I tried it once and from what I gathered is that you can run from a battle a couple times but than when you get into a fight the monsters start preempting you and hitting you right away. Was this just coincidence, or is this how it works in the game?
 

McCheese

SW: Sean, CW: Crone, GW: Wizardhawk
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I put several more hours into this last night. The more I play it, the more I'm enjoying it. I think I'm finally getting used to it and how it is different as compared to most SNES rpgs (read: Final Fantasy).

I'm really enjoying the world and story. I love that they are going all in with space travel, satellites, etc. I'm used to more steampunk-esque technology like Chrono Trigger, so this mix of medieval fantasy and super sci-fi is really cool to experience. The humor is fantastic, and like others have said, the comic book cut scenes are really enjoyable.

The combat is growing on me. It's nothing special, but for some reason it's very satisfying. I fucking love that BOOSH sound effect when your characters score a critical hit.

I don't think I'll ever get used to the dogshit interface, though. Doing anything outside of combat, whether it be using an item, using a tech, or buying/selling stuff, it's always an exercise in frustration.

I've found myself grinding to get money to buy the best gear available.
 
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Gavinmad

Mr. Poopybutthole
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I put several more hours into this last night. The more I play it, the more I'm enjoying it. I think I'm finally getting used to it and how it is different as compared to most SNES rpgs (read: Final Fantasy).

I'm really enjoying the world and story. I love that they are going all in with space travel, satellites, etc. I'm used to more steampunk-esque technology like Chrono Trigger, so this mix of medieval fantasy and super sci-fi is really cool to experience. The humor is fantastic, and like others have said, the comic book cut scenes are really enjoyable.

Well yeah, in a manner of speaking the setting is post-apocalyptic. The Algo system used to be an interplanetary civilization until the events of PS2.
 

Lunis

Blackwing Lair Raider
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I forgot how fast the battles can go in PS IV... I was playing Breath of Fire 1 a few months ago and the battles were as slow as molasses.

Also, for next months game I nominate Romancing SaGa 2, it comes out on Steam next week.

 

Noodleface

A Mod Real Quick
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Well yeah, in a manner of speaking the setting is post-apocalyptic. The Algo system used to be an interplanetary civilization until the events of PS2.
I originally was going to put PS2 as my choice but someone said PS4 first so I said fuck it. I think ps2 has an amazing story plus Nei :/

I knew loss at a young age
 

MusicForFish

Ultra Maga Instinct
<Prior Amod>
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I just found my old discs for this game.
Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven

Might and Magic 6: The Mandate of Heaven Download (1998 Role playing Game)
I suggest this for next months.
latest

Spent many months playing this game.
I picked up Everquest right after getting bored with this, having no fucking clue what I was getting myself into.
Fashion_totemic_ogre_male.jpg
 

Szlia

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Making some progress in PS IV. Early on I had the game froze twice, probably because old cartridge + old console = dodgy connection, but had no issue since. Also there is a script of the main quest on GameFAQs, so I can play in japanese and go back to read what I played through to be sure I did not missunderstood too much what is going on!

As others pointed out, the cut scenes are very nice and give a lot of substance to the adventure. It's interesting to see how Final Fantasy went the way of SD characters and a kind of 2D puppeteering for its cut scenes, while Phantasy Star (at least in this episode) chose a totally different route which also works very well. The story is not exactly mind blowing so far, but it has its moments (the talks on the balcony), the fantasy / sci-fi mix is pleasant and there is also a healthy dose of comedy with the banter between the characters.

Earlier in the thread we saw a joke that was left oddly translated because it played on the level of politeness, but I got a chuckle out of this one that for some reason was not translated:

5FZ9NG4.jpg


'Naninaninaninani?' is basically 'Whatwhatwhatwhat?' :D
 
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Szlia

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Enemy damage is so strange in this game. It feels all your average trash mob has abilities that can 2 or 3 shot your characters. It does not really make the game hard or anything, it just mean you have to heal up after every - single - fight... it's a bit tedious. Let's just say I grinded some levels near one of these instant heal-all tile just to not have to deal with the constant menuing!
 
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Lunis

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The damage spike from regular mobs from one area to the next is very high in this game. The 2 things I do which seems to work is:

- Put 2 shields on your main caster like Rune instead of a useless rod
- Clear an entire dungeon, get all treasure boxes and ~25-30 battles. Use escape spell + heal & save. Then just retrace the main path to the boss running from every battle.
 
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Siliconemelons

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Moving along slowly, fairly good, I do like the game- I just still cannot get over the names of spells and skills being totally random.
 
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Szlia

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- Put 2 shields on your main caster like Rune instead of a useless rod
- Clear an entire dungeon, get all treasure boxes and ~25-30 battles. Use escape spell + heal & save. Then just retrace the main path to the boss running from every battle.

That's more or less what I am doing except I don't run from battle. We are the heroes: we fight! :)

Siliconemelons Siliconemelons I think the spell names in english are severely hampered by the character limit (also equipment etc). In japanese it's a little better, with many spells having english names that sorta make sense (like heal is restore - resuta - with a prefix for strength or multiple target, the rez is rebirther - ribâsâ - etc). It gets a little trickier when things get compressed or truncated (anti is anti-poison, remupasu is remove paralysis), but there are still a bunch that have names that are hard to connect with the effect (shifter - shifuta - is an atk boost? Ok...) or that make no sense at all (the tp is ryûkâ... what?). The spell list is in the manual though... Take that ROM players! :p
 
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Lunis

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You really only need to cast Saner + Barrier for each boss battle. Rimpa cures paralysis and Arows wakes a character from sleep. Every other non damage/healing spell is pretty worthless.
 

Szlia

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Correct me if I am wrong, but in Final Fantasy, at least from IV onward (so the 16-bit ones), there were save points in dungeons. And in Dragon Quest, if you died, you were sent back to the latest church you went to and lost all (or half?) of the money you were carrying with you (but keeping xp, items and the cash you had in the bank). Phantasy Star IV decides to go for worst of both worlds: there is no save point in dungeons and when you die it resets the game (it literally does: you get the Sega logo and all). It's ok in most places because dungeons are not very big, so, as mentioned before, exploring them thoroughly in several trips is no big deal, but then comes the Air Castle...

By the game's standards, the thing is giganormous and at some point you wonder if you want to push through or port out to save but have to redo the whole thing again (the Dark Soul design to have shortcuts get progressively unlocked is kinda present, but it splits the dungeon in two and the first part is super big on its own). I pushed through and survived, but I would have been supremely pissed if I died! Obviously this tension is lost when you play on emulator with save states and all, but I am not sure that's a very good tension to have in your game, especially when you consider we are not talking about a 5 min chunk of gameplay here, it's more like 30min, maybe even north of that.
 

Melvin

Blackwing Lair Raider
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Enemy damage is so strange in this game. It feels all your average trash mob has abilities that can 2 or 3 shot your characters. It does not really make the game hard or anything, it just mean you have to heal up after every - single - fight... it's a bit tedious. Let's just say I grinded some levels near one of these instant heal-all tile just to not have to deal with the constant menuing!

What Lunis said is good advice, but I personally prefer to fight my way through the second time too. This game is a lot easier if you're inclined to grind a bit. The early part of the game is easy enough as long as you buy all of the available weapons and armors as you get to new towns. Just a few levels will make a noticeable difference.

Then eventually after Kyra joins your party, any time is a good time to grind out an extra ten levels, or whatever difficulty setting you prefer. The healing spot in the midpoint of the Air Castle is a super chill place to grind. Sandworms near Termi are fun too, just don't go crazy with them early on in the game before you unlock all the chars. At the very last stage of the game, you get to chose your favorite of the earlier party members, and they all gain exp while you grind. The one exception to this is Seth, who you should strip naked and kill as soon as possible.

See When does EXP sharing (for characters who leave your party) stop? - Phantasy Star IV Message Board for Genesis - GameFAQs for a few more nerdy details.
 
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McCheese

SW: Sean, CW: Crone, GW: Wizardhawk
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I was in the basement of Zio's fort, working my way towards the Nurvus center. I take a step, a cut scene starts, and Zio appears and begins battle without giving me any option of escaping. He seems immune to all my attacks and insta-kills my guys in a single attack. Earlier in the game a similar situation occurred, but you were meant to fail and it went to a cut scene before your whole party died. When all my guys were whiffing on him I figured that was going to happen again. Nope. Game over. Lost all my progress in that dungeon, and I had explored the majority of it and gotten several levels.

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