Let's Play Phantasy Star!

[Amidus Drexel]

http://ltastudent.lodiusd.net/TSaetern/Images/phantasy-star-logo.jpg

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls; fellow gitp-ers: I have taken it upon myself the lofty and ambitious goal of playing through the entire Phantasy Star series again, and this time recording it all for you, lovely viewer/s (while I'm confident there'll be at least two, you never know), to watch! I may at some point include a poll for your input, especially if there's an important decision to be made in the game.

Disclaimer: I'll make some sort of effort not to spoil anything relating to the rest of the series until I've gotten past that point in the games, but you never know, I slip up occasionally. If you're really concerned about me ruining a surprise for you, the games came out 20 years ago (some of them more), and I'm probably not going to update terribly quickly - you've had plenty of time to play through them yourself, and if you start soonish, you can probably play through the first two games faster than I will anyway. :smalltongue:

Moar Disclaimorz: I've never done a Let's Play before, so any of you with helpful advice or suggestions to get the ball rolling in-game (and out-of-game) without boring y'all out of your minds (as I am quite entertained by wandering around and grinding for experience, but I doubt you are, for example), they're welcome. Suggest and advise away! I do intend to commit to something resembling an update schedule eventually, but that isn't likely at the moment.

So, without further ado, let's... play, shall we?

Phantasy Star Part 1 - Did Someone Say Exposition? (11:52) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWZo9D8f9Zs&feature=youtu.be)

Not your average 8-bit JRPG. The battle animations are pretty cool (although not as good as the ones in PSII or PSIV - or as bad as the ones in PSIII, for that matter), for what little you got to see of them; you can save pretty much anywhere; and it's most definitely NOT a medieval setting. The dungeons are first-person; and the plot is pretty solid so far (I WILL AVENGE YOU, BROTHER), if perhaps a bit sparse. We currently need to find a dude named Odin who almost definitely got turned to stone by Medusa, a compass, and a talking animal with medicine that's on a different planet (we'll be doing that last one first). Cool.

To be honest, though, if Nero had tried just a bit harder, he wouldn't have gotten his ass handed to him by the city guards, and Alis wouldn't be involved in this mess in the first place. Once you're at a level that taking on Lassic is feasible, they're pretty easy to kill. He seriously should've leveled more.

I'll try to cut down on the swearing, I swear.
--

One (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWZo9D8f9Zs&feature=youtu.be)

[LaZodiac]

Can't watch right away but hella hype for this.

[danzibr]

Love this series. Only played the original once, but played the hell out of the other 3 (IV in particular).

[Domochevsky]

Hm, the most pressing item of note: The volume needs to be about twice of what it is right now. I have to crank it all the way up for you to be audible right now. :smallsmile:

[Amidus Drexel]

Love this series. Only played the original once, but played the hell out of the other 3 (IV in particular).

Four really is the best. I've probably played three the most, just 'cause I've had the game for longer than I have the rest, but it's hard to beat four. I can't wait to get to that one in my play-throughs here. :smallbiggrin: :smallcool:


Hm, the most pressing item of note: The volume needs to be about twice of what it is right now. I have to crank it all the way up for you to be audible right now. :smallsmile:

Yeah, I had the volume down so I could hear myself talk over the music (as I talk kinda quietly most of the time). I've already recorded the next video, but I'll see about giving it a post-rec volume boost before I upload it. If that doesn't work well, I'll just have to talk louder on later videos. :smallamused:

[LaZodiac]

I'll second/third the voice comments, but eh that's something you'll learn as you go! Through the fire and the flames and all that!

Also holy crap this game looks rough. Like...I know it's probably really good, but it doesn't look like it's very well aged at all. Though it's interesting that we're playing as a lady as our apparent main character...for all the good it'll do considering this game is so old I dooon't think we'll get much dialogue from her.

[Coidzor]

Ahh, the one game of the Phantasy Star series that was both worth playing and I could never get my hands upon. Good on yer.

[Amidus Drexel]

I'll second/third the voice comments, but eh that's something you'll learn as you go! Through the fire and the flames and all that!

Also holy crap this game looks rough. Like...I know it's probably really good, but it doesn't look like it's very well aged at all. Though it's interesting that we're playing as a lady as our apparent main character...for all the good it'll do considering this game is so old I dooon't think we'll get much dialogue from her.

Ye Olde 8-Byt Graphyks. :smallcool: The overworld is pretty rough, yeah, though the cutscenes, battle animations, and first-person views are nothing short of spectacular, especially for the console and the time ('87 for the initial Japan release).

Yup! We have a female lead, and she is pretty damn awesome. While I think Alis does have the most lines out of any character in the game (besides maybe the governor of Motavia - he talks a lot), that's not really saying much. I think altogether she has a paragraph or two of dialogue. :smallamused:


Ahh, the one game of the Phantasy Star series that was both worth playing and I could never get my hands upon. Good on yer.

Yeah, master system cartridges (and hell, consoles) aren't exactly easy to find these days. At all. Hell, even genesis games are beyond a bit hard - it cost me $25 to pick up my PS4 cartridge a few years back, and I ran into it by chance while I was on vacation.

[LaZodiac]

Ye Olde 8-Byt Graphyks. :smallcool: The overworld is pretty rough, yeah, though the cutscenes, battle animations, and first-person views are nothing short of spectacular, especially for the console and the time ('87 for the initial Japan release).

Yup! We have a female lead, and she is pretty damn awesome. While I think Alis does have the most lines out of any character in the game (besides maybe the governor of Motavia - he talks a lot), that's not really saying much. I think altogether she has a paragraph or two of dialogue. :smallamused:



Yeah, master system cartridges (and hell, consoles) aren't exactly easy to find these days. At all. Hell, even genesis games are beyond a bit hard - it cost me $25 to pick up my PS4 cartridge a few years back, and I ran into it by chance while I was on vacation.

Honestly looking at the shading of the environment and stuff, this is a 16 bit game. Which is why I kind of overstated how...rough the game feels. Because like, Chrono Trigger is 16 bit and look at what it's done compared to this. Though I suppose that's not fair since it's on a Sega console and their system wasn't as best as it could be.

Also PS is probably an early system life title, while Chrono Trigger is late system life, so they knew less of how to work with it to MAKE good things.

[Amidus Drexel]

Honestly looking at the shading of the environment and stuff, this is a 16 bit game. Which is why I kind of overstated how...rough the game feels. Because like, Chrono Trigger is 16 bit and look at what it's done compared to this. Though I suppose that's not fair since it's on a Sega console and their system wasn't as best as it could be.

Also PS is probably an early system life title, while Chrono Trigger is late system life, so they knew less of how to work with it to MAKE good things.

Nah, this really is 8-bit (and late-life for the master system) - though your comment speaks to how much they managed to get from it - it's IMPRESSIVE. Compare with the first Final Fantasy on the NES (which was released at the same time) - the overworld graphics are about the same, but the scenery, cutscences, combat, and dungeons are on an entirely different level.

Phantasy Star 2 is early-life for the Genesis, and it shows - though the battle animations in 2 are probably the best in the series (you'll see when I get to it). Four is probably the best comparison to Chrono Trigger, graphics-wise - it's late-life for the console and the programmers were extremely good at getting things out of the Genesis by then.

Speaking of Crono Trigger, I should probably finish that game at some point. >.>

--
For those of you impatiently waiting for an update - expect one late tonight or tomorrow. Hopefully I can get the volume within more acceptable levels, but if not, I'll definitely have that fixed for the video after.

[Amidus Drexel]

New episode!

Phantasy Star Part Two - I Am Not A Crook >.> - (11:26) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av0NgtvpARk&feature=youtu.be)

After much grinding (which I've skipped), Alis achieves level 4, and learns a healing spell (called, appropriately, "Heal"). We visit a different planet, and I briefly get lost trying to find the guy who sells the mysterious talking animal. Bad jokes salt and pepper the video, as does my tired rambling.

And we meet Myau! Myau's probably the coolest of the party members you pick up (what's cooler than a talking cat?). He learns the better defense spells, and he's quite a powerful fighter - and there's an optional dungeon where you can get him a significant weapon upgrade relatively early in the game - one that I'll probably stop in and get, honestly. Chances are I'll end up in that cave when I'm looking for the one with cake, anyway. :smallamused:

Next episode, we'll figure out if I picked the right cave (because holy balls, there are a lot of them).

--
I believe that ought to be loud enough for you all to hear - and perhaps a bit TOO loud, as the audio clips once or twice in the course of the video. I'll be a little more careful when I'm fixing that later, but I'm not going to wait for this one to write to a .wav again.

My current plan with combat is to show you the fights where I run into new enemies, but otherwise skip them (and skip any grinding that I have to do) - do you guys care about seeing all the different monsters in the game, or would you rather I just got on with the plot?

Eventually, maybe I'll stop rambling. (in the videos and in these posts). :smalltongue:

[danzibr]

New episode!

Phantasy Star Part Two - I Am Not A Crook >.> - (11:26) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av0NgtvpARk&feature=youtu.be)

After much grinding (which I've skipped), Alis achieves level 4, and learns a healing spell (called, appropriately, "Heal"). We visit a different planet, and I briefly get lost trying to find the guy who sells the mysterious talking animal. Bad jokes salt and pepper the video, as does my tired rambling.

And we meet Myau! Myau's probably the coolest of the party members you pick up (what's cooler than a talking cat?). He learns the better defense spells, and he's quite a powerful fighter - and there's an optional dungeon where you can get him a significant weapon upgrade relatively early in the game - one that I'll probably stop in and get, honestly. Chances are I'll end up in that cave when I'm looking for the one with cake, anyway. :smallamused:

Next episode, we'll figure out if I picked the right cave (because holy balls, there are a lot of them).

--
I believe that ought to be loud enough for you all to hear - and perhaps a bit TOO loud, as the audio clips once or twice in the course of the video. I'll be a little more careful when I'm fixing that later, but I'm not going to wait for this one to write to a .wav again.

My current plan with combat is to show you the fights where I run into new enemies, but otherwise skip them (and skip any grinding that I have to do) - do you guys care about seeing all the different monsters in the game, or would you rather I just got on with the plot?

Eventually, maybe I'll stop rambling. (in the videos and in these posts). :smalltongue:
To be fair, Myau's one of the coolest characters in any game.

[LaZodiac]

Cat girls in video games, oh man. Though in this case, for more cat then girl.

[Amidus Drexel]

To be fair, Myau's one of the coolest characters in any game.

Fact. :smallcool:

--
Moar videos?

Phantasy Star, Part Three - The Stoned Man (12:23) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuizR5Gp-QM)

And so we find Odin! And with the exception of the governor's talking, we're already finished with most of the dialogue in the game! :smallbiggrin: Odin's pretty cool, and he can use almost every weapon in the game. I'm going to be buying him guns for the moment, though, as they do fixed damage, never miss, and hit every monster. Later, when there his options become equally useful (likely after I've gotten the Laconian axe from Medusa, as I'm not sure if it'll happen before that), I'll let you guys decide what I equip him with. As I mentioned in the video, he gets to be less useful near the end of the game for anything other than a meatshield, as he doesn't learn magic - but right now he's an extremely helpful fighter. If he manages to catch up to Alis in levels, he might even have the most HP in the party for a while too.

I make a few mistakes in the video that are resolved off-camera, like forgetting to grab the dungeon key back in the warehouse next to Alis' home in Camineet, and forgetting to go and collect all the chests in the cave we find Odin in, but whatever. You missed me getting in a few fights and finding a chest with 20 mesetas.

[LaZodiac]

Ooooodin!

I like to imagine the axe he was looking for was actually a guitar. He seems metal enough for it.

So what I'm gathering from combat is that you only fight one enemy, but each enemy can wreck your day, right?

[Amidus Drexel]

Ooooodin!

I like to imagine the axe he was looking for was actually a guitar. He seems metal enough for it.

So what I'm gathering from combat is that you only fight one enemy, but each enemy can wreck your day, right?

Hahaha, it very may well be. Certainly, it's some kind of heavy metal. :smallamused:

Well, you can fight multiple enemies (up to a maximum of 8, I believe), but it only ever shows one sprite, and you only fight one kind of creature at a time. And yeah, you can (easily) run into things that are well beyond your ability, sometimes just by walking too far - much like the werebats near Eppi are probably a little too strong for us at this level (at least until we've upgraded our weapons and armor).

Phantasy Star is notorious for it being relatively easy to walk into the wrong area, get into a fight you can't easily run away from, and then die to monsters far more powerful than your party. I might walk over by the ocean and show you some of that in the next video, if I remember to (though we're getting to the point where we might be able to take a handful of fishmen or a single octopus - but probably not more than that).

[Amidus Drexel]

And after a long break over the holidays (read: about a week), I return!

Phantasy Star Part Four - The Absolute Worst Store Location (10:05) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke2eS_tZWPc)

Why yes, that IS an inconvenient place for a cake shop. You had better be sorry, crazy dessert merchant. But thanks for the discount, 'cause I know I didn't have 1000 mesetas. We exit the cave of Naula with a ridiculously expensive cake, and experience our first character death! At least these dungeons are still short.

The resurrection will be performed at the beginning of the next video, and then we go to see the governator governor of Motavia! For reasons.

Yes, I said 14 minutes at the end of the video, but that was before I cut out all the boring unnecessary fights.

[LaZodiac]

Jeez, death seems needlessly harsh in this game. Also, dungeon store!

[Amidus Drexel]

Jeez, death seems needlessly harsh in this game. Also, dungeon store!

Yeah, with the (occasionally) ridiculous encounter rate, it can be like that sometimes. This game's probably the worst in the series in that regard, because of the rarity of rez spells (only one party member learns it) and the exorbitant cost of getting higher-level characters rezzed near the end of the game (especially if, say, the one who learns the rez spell dies).

[Teddy]

And after a long break over the holidays (read: about a week), I return!

Phantasy Star Part Four - The Absolute Worst Store Location (10:05) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke2eS_tZWPc)

Why yes, that IS an inconvenient place for a cake shop. You had better be sorry, crazy dessert merchant. But thanks for the discount, 'cause I know I didn't have 1000 mesetas. We exit the cave of Naula with a ridiculously expensive cake, and experience our first character death! At least these dungeons are still short.

The resurrection will be performed at the beginning of the next video, and then we go to see the governator governor of Motavia! For reasons.

Hehehe... http://i.imgur.com/rcxULF7.png

Also, what do you say when you buy the cake? That he only charges you "to an 'e'"? A warped "twenty"? Something else entirely? http://i.imgur.com/kavzNLd.png


Yes, I said 14 minutes at the end of the video, but that was before I cut out all the boring unnecessary fights.

Actually, I like it when you at least show the enemies before cutting the video (as you did toward the second half of the video). Otherwise I get so frustratingly curious about what you're encountering. http://i.imgur.com/ZRHtTJs.png

[Amidus Drexel]

Hehehe... http://i.imgur.com/rcxULF7.png

Also, what do you say when you buy the cake? That he only charges you "to an 'e'"? A warped "twenty"? Something else entirely? http://i.imgur.com/kavzNLd.png

Actually, I like it when you at least show the enemies before cutting the video (as you did toward the second half of the video). Otherwise I get so frustratingly curious about what you're encountering. http://i.imgur.com/ZRHtTJs.png

"He only charges 280." Man, that is kinda hard to hear. Sorry for mumbling. :smallredface:

When in doubt, it's something that's going to kill a party member or two. :smallbiggrin:

--
New video will be up prooooobably most definitely not later tonight. I've been busy finishing up Chrono Trigger and Lunar 2 for the past few days. >.>

We'll shoot for tomorrow. >.>

[Amidus Drexel]

Another video!

Phantasy Star Part Five - Amidus Can't Into First-Person Mazes (14:19) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MT2CyFaZpA)

Seriously, I spent a solid 10 minutes wandering around just looking for the second floor, much less actually finding where Noah/Lutz is once I got there.

Not really a whole lot to say about this one. We've gotten all the characters, so the amount of actual dialogue in the game is about to go waaaay down. If I remember correctly, it's also going to become a bit more open-ended soon (after we finish doing all the stuff for Dr. Luveno), so I may be asking y'all for input as to what things I should go get first.

--
Seeing as we're playing a fairly lethal game (series) - and people keep dying - I'm going to have a competition between our characters and see who dies the least and who manages to get themselves killed the most. :smallamused:

My bets are on Alis and Noah, respectively.

Phantasy Star
Alis: 0
Myau: 2
Odin: 0
Noah: 0
Party wipes: 0

[LaZodiac]

...there is no way that Saccubus thing is really a succubus. Wow, that's one ugly face thing.

DUN-GEON CRAW-LING. Wow, this looks...really rough to get through.

Also god dangit cat, stop dying.

[Amidus Drexel]

...there is no way that Saccubus thing is really a succubus. Wow, that's one ugly face thing.

DUN-GEON CRAW-LING. Wow, this looks...really rough to get through.

Also god dangit cat, stop dying.

I would say that they meant succubus as an eater of dreams, but honestly it's probably just a bad translation. I wonder what it could mean~

It's honestly not that bad - I just get lost easily in first-person mazes. Some of the later dungeons are bad! Hell, we haven't even fallen down a pit trap yet. :smallbiggrin:

Hopefully this is the last time for a good while. We're about to get to the point where Noah starts dying because he's low-level, though. :smallcool:

--
Actually, it just occurred to me that we have a choice of things to do now! There's an (entirely) optional dungeon where we can get Myau a weapon upgrade. SO - should I go find Dr. Luveno first, or should I go dungeon-crawling and get Myau some sweet new gear? YOU DECIDE (http://strawpoll.me/3369049)

[Amidus Drexel]

This project is on indefinite but likely short-term hiatus while I get myself readjusted to attending class and working and so forth. With any luck, I'll be back with this in around week or two.

Sorry for keeping (all like, five of you) waiting! :smallfrown:

>.>

[LaZodiac]

Sorry for keeping (all like, five of you) waiting! :smallfrown:

>.>

Only I'm allowed to make those jokes!

But yeah, good luck Amidus!

[Amidus Drexel]

Alright, I'm back! Time for a short sidequest!

Let's Play Phantasy Star Part Six - The Most Anti-Climactic Boss Fight Ever (9:23) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP6wcGTIHB4)

In which I attempt to start doing these again, and am immediately trolled by the encounter rate. At least I didn't get lost in the dungeon this time.

I believe you've now also seen some of the game's "scripted" fights - that is, non-random encounters. There were a few hiding underneath some of the chests I picked up, (and obviously the skeleton fight was). Important to note that, in this case, while the fights themselves aren't random, the number of enemies are. I could've easily been fighting a half-dozen skeletons instead, which would've actually been something of a challenge.

But perhaps the game was feeling nice after so thoroughly frustrating me at the beginning of the video. :smallamused:

My only regret was not showing y'all the pit that drops you down in some odd place on the bottom floor. Oh well, I can always show you how pit traps work some other time (I might sneak it into the beginning of the next video, if I remember). :smallamused:
And my god, my laptop's fan is loud.

Tune in next time, when we finally get back to the plot!

--
Speaking of next time (and further next times), I'm going to try to commit to a once/week schedule, probably updating on Sundays when I've got the spare time to record.

[LaZodiac]

Wow, that's...a lot of encounters. The Barbarians seem pretty tough too.

At least the dungeon wasn't that bad :smallwink:

[Teddy]

Phew, finally got to watching the last video. I must say that the dungeon architects in this world really like doing pointless corridors and staircases. And I really don't get the point of putting multiple locked doors in the room when the same key fits them all... http://i.imgur.com/ZRHtTJs.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/rcxULF7.png