Phantasy Star Thread

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Other pro tips:
- The Churches in the game will tell you how much more experience you need before a level up. You don’t even need to revive anybody, they give this service for free. Of course, you could always look up level numbers on the internet, but having a running calculator in the game itself is a great resource.
- Horde money. You should always be willing to pay when needed, of course, but save every penny when you can! There are some truly wallet crushing payouts for key items later into the game (starting around the point where the public access starships shut down and you need to find ways to build your own), so make sure to keep as much as you can on standby. Grinding is a way of life in this game, and it becomes therapeutic over time, so there’s no reason not to as you go through the game! Personally, I wasn’t often strapped for cash beyond the opening few hours because I took to heart early on that I wanted to fight as many enemies as possible, and rarely ran from any encounter unless said battle was truly a horrible idea.
- Enjoy the sights! This is a good looking retro game, so make sure to stop and smell the roses every now and again!

 

[Ikagura]

So, I love the game once the adventure gets going! The beginning however is a grind. Take your time raising Alis’ level up by battling Swarm (the weakest enemy in the game). There’s a patch of forest to train just outside the first city. Beware of Winged Eye enemies this early on, as they’ll wipe you out at low levels. This early grind is something I would consider to be a major turn away for newer, modern players, but it’s not uncommon for games of the era to start this way. And it’s worth it to make your way through, as it gives you time to become comfortable with items, running, resets out of unwinnable scenarios, and picking your battles wisely.

I still remember the struggle long ago when I first played the game on the GBA.

 

[CheesyExplosive]

doEs anyone play new genesis?

 

[Ikagura]

doEs anyone play new genesis?

I have barely played PSO2 JP (I'm thankful about the fan-made launcher)

Post automatically merged: Oct 15, 2025

The old video got removed for some reason but I like when they show which theme was used for which section in this medley

Longing For Ancient Times and Nostalgia In Solitude (Part 1&2) are also medleys. Shame we didn't have one for Phantasy Star IV (since Episode II had Phantasy Star II and Episode IV used Phantasy Star III's since it was set before Episode III).

Oh wait, the PSIV medley was in Portable 2 but only for one battle theme

Spoiler: Timestamps for each section

0:00 - 0:06 - Laughter /Organic Beat
0:07 - 0:24 - The End of the Millenium
0:35 - 1:11 - Dezolis Field 1
1:33 - 1:58 - The King of terrors
1:58 - 2:27 - Pain

 

[aquova]

Oh wait, the PSIV medley was in Portable 2 but only for one battle theme

This is sick. I love the PSIV theme, but hadn't heard of any remixes of it.

 

[Ikagura]

I still remember the struggle long ago when I first played the game on the GBA.

It's the same in Ys I when you first start the game (before you get your first sword), you can technically go to the Temple (albeit the inside inaccessible if you didn't talk to a NPC who would need an item you'd get from another if you get a proper equipment: sword, shield and armour) and that's why you are being dead easily against any enemies aside from the Oakrot (the most basic enemy of the game).

This is sick. I love the PSIV theme, but hadn't heard of any remixes of it.

Too bad that Universe and Portable ditched the "Part 1" tracks and battle transitions...

 

[FateLanegod]

When you start a local multiplayer game they should all be prepared because if someone quits the game it's everyone doing so.

I see… Would it be possible just to abandon one party member somewhere on town and then pick him up later let’s say, or will it affect progress like not being able to transit to another location?

 

[Ikagura]

I see… Would it be possible just to abandon one party member somewhere on town and then pick him up later let’s say, or will it affect progress like not being able to transit to another location?

No, you need all members to be in the teleporter, same with telepipes and boss teleporters.

Only Warp ones (which are only within the level) can be individually used. Remember that in multiplayer there are doors with 2-4 switches that need to be simultaneously used or else they'd block progression.

That's the biggest issue about the local coop while online play can allow each character to be in a separate level (although it's still better if everyone was in, say, Mines 1, instead of one in Forest 2, the other in Caves 3, one in town and the last in Ruins 1).

 

[Ikagura]

For some reasons I always had that horror game feeling when I see the Dreamcast version of the Caves in PSO

 

[Ikagura]

Is there a way to get a "clean" version of some of the game logos?

Like this one minus the title text

Or even Generations 1 (thankfully it shortly appears as the three planets logo before showing the name)

 

[Ikagura]

I really need to redo Portable 2 someday.

Reol Badia was like a Vol Opts on steroids.

 

[Leon]

I really need to redo Portable 2 someday.

Reol Badia was like a Vol Opts on steroids.

Never played portable 2, kinda difficult to go back to it at this point for me.

Though at this point it's better to just go portable infnity now since it adds stuff.

 

[Ikagura]

Never played portable 2, kinda difficult to go back to it at this point for me.

I think it aged pretty decently. PSO is rougher to come back for newcommers but this one is the right middle point between PSU and PSO's gameplay.

Though at this point it's better to just go portable infnity now since it adds stuff.

My bad, I meant Portable 2 Infinity with the English Patch, upscaled resolution from PPSSPP and finally a cheat code to put the framerate at 60.

 

[Ikagura]

Shame that Sega hasn't made a home console/PC port for Portable 2. We got the supplementary material for Ambition of the Illuminus to compensate but it still had the original PSU gameplay (albeit with just attacks)

Stupid question but are people having issues handling the "rhythmical three attacks" in PSO? I kinda understand why they removed that constraint in PSU (while adding back the heavier attack in AotI, PSPo2 then PSO2).

 

[Ikagura]

Sega owns Atlus, Sega has made Phantasy Star 1 with first person dungeons.


Why the hell haven't they asked Atlus to make an Etrian Odyssey-esque Phantasy Star game?

By the way, there were exclusive spin-offs to Portable 2 called Eternal Hunters and Eternal Planets on mobile which had first person, turn based battles (which was the first time ever since Phantasy Star IV):

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Sega owns Atlus, Sega has made Phantasy Star 1 with first person dungeons.


Why the hell haven't they asked Atlus to make an Etrian Odyssey-esque Phantasy Star game?
View attachment 137093

By the way, there were exclusive spin-offs to Portable 2 called Eternal Hunters and Eternal Planets on mobile which had first person, turn based battles (which was the first time ever since Phantasy Star IV):
View attachment 137094 View attachment 137095

I seriously don’t know why they never returned to the “first person dungeon crawler” idea.

Suppose that was an early inclination of the later Sonic Team’s propensity to create a cool and unrefined idea… then completely scrap it without giving it a chance to be developed further

 

[Ikagura]

I seriously don’t know why they never returned to the “first person dungeon crawler” idea.

Phantasy Star IV almost had those back but apparently because of time constraint they dropped the idea.

Suppose that was an early inclination of the later Sonic Team’s propensity to create a cool and unrefined idea… then completely scrap it without giving it a chance to be developed further

PSIV is still good as much as they've scrapped many stuff from Phantasy Star CD.


On the other hand I feel like that PSO kinda went back to the "dungeon crawling" roots of the series since its primary inspiration was Diablo. They dropped turn based for real time action but the core layout of having rooms and hallways to connect them is still present.

PSU and PSO2 also had those to a lesser extent but I feel that dropping it entirely in NGS (aside from the specific dungeons) made it lose a part of its identity.

I hope that any new Phantasy Star game could add back some of those dungeons.

Post automatically merged: Dec 19, 2025

As seen in a different thread:

Phantasy Star II on the Master System!

 

[Ikagura]

I love those comparisons:

Sadly there was an even older video but it's either delisted or deleted.

 

[Ikagura]

It kinda feels sad that New Genesis is resorting to reuse bosses from PSO2 Classic to make us believe there's new content...

I liked that boss in the base game but I'd rather see new content being made. How will they justify its presence after a millennium?

On a more positive note: someone is making a boundary break like video about PSO (in PSOBB):

 

[Ikagura]

I know that they're both following a similar archetype but I always liked how the Formal (aka Alicia Baz) had the same kind of clothing as Grace from Shining Force III

Speaking of mages there's one scrapped character that was supposed to appear in PSO but ended up only in the Ura Ending credits

Spoiler: From Reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/PSO/comments/l4daxt/where_did_this_npc_come_fromlutz_pso_dreamcast/

Takao Miyoshi, the director for PSO, stated in an interview with Polygon last year that a character named "Rutsu" (aka Lutz) was originally planned to play a role in PSO's story. However, they did not end up having time to complete the cutscenes and there wasn't enough room for more characters in the game, so the idea was scrapped.

Polygon: Were there ever any more of the established character classes that were dropped because of time or development reasons?

Takao Miyoshi: Not any of the playable character classes, but there were NPCs that were cut. When we decided to use the Phantasy Star lore, there was an enemy character called Rutsu. We were initially planning on including this character. I had envisioned a scenario where there’s a fossil in the lowest level of the game. That fossil is a spaceship with Dark Falz, an enemy character from Phantasy Star, sealed inside. The force that is keeping Dark Falz inside the spaceship is a witch called Rutsu, but her concentration and strength is weakening, and Dark Falz is beginning to break free from her grip. We had discussed all of this, but it was cut from the finished game.

Rutsu = Lutz

You can read the full interview below.

https://www.polygon.com/interviews/...director-diablo-cut-features-christmas-nights

So yeah, it's very very likely that that FOmar-looking character is what PSO's version of Lutz would have been. She's praying in front of the altar (aka the "spaceship" described above) to keep Falz contained. P.S. She's holding a Psycho Wand, which was the most powerful rod that Lutz could equip in Phantasy Star 1.

 

[Ikagura]

I find it interesting how both Phantasy Star Online and Sonic Adventure shared several thematic similarities (probably because they're from the same devs).

Such as a female secondary character that was central to the plot and was tied to an awakened powerful creature that could cause havoc and destruction (Tikal/Rico and Chaos/Dark Falz), traces of a relatively evolved ancient civilisation that have vanished because of it (The Echidna Tribe's ruins in Mystic Jungle and the people behind the Ruins/spaceship), the crossing paths from several characters (the six protagonists of SA1 and the 9 major NPCs that use the template class design) and probably how the differently coloured rings may reference the Chaos emeralds but I'm not entirely sure.

Then again Sonic Adventure 2 has some similarities with Burning Rangers, the spiritual predecessor to PSO with the girl that has an illness in a space colony that will soon crash the Earth.

 

[Zacek]

Phantasy Star Universe for PS2 was the world to me. I paid proudly every month my SEGA subscription, and I enjoyed both titles very, very much. Now I'm trying Phantasy Star on PC, and it looks good.

 

[Ikagura]

Phantasy Star Universe for PS2 was the world to me. I paid proudly every month my SEGA subscription, and I enjoyed both titles very, very much. Now I'm trying Phantasy Star on PC, and it looks good.

PSU on the Xbox 360 and PC are the better versions yet I'm confused about something:

Why Sega has decided to put PSU on the PS2 but not on the PS3 yet the original Xbox also had a port of PSO despite that it was more powerful than the PS2.

I guess that the PS2 being more sold (and the PS3 models from 2006 were backward compatible) while the X360 was easier to make games on was the reason.

Come to think of it, PSU could've theoretically gotten a Wii version (like how Sonic Unleashed SD and Sonic Riders Zero Gravity were both on the Wii and PS2 back then) but maybe the game size or how motion control was central to the hardware would've made it harder to properly make (imagine having to swing the wiimote to do Photon Arts... lol).

Maybe if I get motivated enough to redo PSU and AotI I'll do the PS2 version at the cost of wide screen and smooth framerate...

 

[Leon]

PSU on the Xbox 360 and PC are the better versions yet I'm confused about something:

Why Sega has decided to put PSU on the PS2 but not on the PS3 yet the original Xbox also had a port of PSO despite that it was more powerful than the PS2.

I guess that the PS2 being more sold (and the PS3 models from 2006 were backward compatible) while the X360 was easier to make games on was the reason.

Come to think of it, PSU could've theoretically gotten a Wii version (like how Sonic Unleashed SD and Sonic Riders Zero Gravity were both on the Wii and PS2 back then) but maybe the game size or how motion control was central to the hardware would've made it harder to properly make (imagine having to swing the wiimote to do Photon Arts... lol).

Maybe if I get motivated enough to redo PSU and AotI I'll do the PS2 version at the cost of wide screen and smooth framerate...

The reason psu never went to the ps3 is actually pretty simple, the system was supposedly hard as hell to develop for due to it's processor, this is also why most ps3 ports of sega games tended to be worse than their 360 versions, most notoriously sonic 06 and sonic unleashed.
Basically at the time the game was already pretty popular on ps2 and anyone who wanted a better version in japan just got it for pc and since the fanbase in the west for psu was much smaller than japan, sega decided a ps3 version wasn't worth it, considering how tough ps3 ports were, especially in the early days of the ps3.

 

[PSVitaForever]

I've played the psp titles in single player: Phantasy Star Portable 2 and then 1. I've also played the "2 Infinity" with the English patch but my favourite is still number 2!
Very cool action rpgs, I kept on using the big sword or the twin knives.