Game 1: Phantasy Star (SMS) - Do It Because I Tell You

As I started up the game and reviewed my notes last night, I realized there's no clear direction to get to the end of the game. I felt lost. True, I did have a list of things I've been told I can do, visit, or get, but I did't know why I needed them. Here's my list:

• Get the Amber Eye from the Casba dragon [x]
• Find the Hovercraft in Bortevo[x]
• Buy the Land Rover for 5200 mesetas [x]
• Find the four Laconian items (Sword [x], Shield, Armor, Axe)
• Find a way to cross the poison swamp [x]
• Find the Frad Fiber Mantle [x]
• Buy the Glove for 3300 mesetas [x]
• Buy a Laser Shield for 4800 mesetas
• Buy Silver Fangs for 1600 mesetas [x]
• Buy Diamond Armor for 15000 mesetas
• Find a way into Baya Malay [x]
• Explore Dezoris, and reach the Altiplano plateau to find the Laerma trees
• Kill Medusa
• Find Lassic
• Find the Ice Digger

Those marked with an [x] I completed last night; however, it all felt kind of hollow. Getting the Hovercraft and Land Rover were obvious choices as they would open up more areas. Better equipment would follow from more fighting as I explored, so I wasn't going out of my way for that. But, I wasn't sure how any of this led to Lassic, and had to take it on faith that following the hints would lead to him.

Rocking the Cas... what? Too obvious?

I got the Amber Eye from the dragon near Casba because someone told me about it. I have no clue what it does, or what it's used for. The Hovercraft was simple enough to find, and I only hoped it would lead to places unexplored, but couldn't be sure since I had never heard of anything existing beyond the shores I could see. Why am I trying to climb Baya Malay... because it's there.

Who? Ah, I guess I'll figure it out...

So, I explore to mask the grind for equipment, entering random dungeons to find what I find. I learned of a monk named Tajim in a cave to the south of the town in the poison swamp. Who is he? What does he do? Why should I seek him out? I don't know, but the last person I was pointed to in a dungeon joined my party, so why not seek him out. Turns out he had the Frad Mantle I was told about previously. I'm kind of jumping out of order, but at some point I noticed I had some cash again and go off to buy the Silver Fangs (much better than the iron ones). I also buy the Glove... oh the Glove... I bet you can't guess what it's used for.

It turns out it is equipped into the "shield" slot, or I guess the alt. armor slot. I purchase one, try it on Alis... not able to equip, try it on Odin... not able to equip, try it on Myau... equipped; really?! The cat puts on the glove... okay. That's fine. I'm glad Myau has more armor. However, I now have a problem. There's no option to take off equipment, and I never tried it on Noah. He doesn't have the alt. armor slot filled either, so I buy another Glove. Try it on Noah... not able to equip. Truly aggravating that I couldn't take the Glove off Myau to learn that Noah couldn't use it, so I was forced to buy another one, now useless. I'm sticking to the rule that I don't reload unless I'm wiped, so I sucked up the loss and moved forward.

Am I the only one that thinks Mittens would make more sense?

I continue to explore: find a temple on an island that happens to hold the Laconian sword, find a town in the middle of the ocean that sells me a Poison Shield for the swamp gas, learn the spell Open to open the door in Baya Malay where I learn Lassic is stationed. Finally I know where to go for Lassic. I also know where to get the Laconian Shield (theoretically) and Axe (with Medusa). I tried to get through the ice fields, but there are some caves to explore that I didn't have enough HP/MP to get through.

I was thrown a bit of a curve ball the other night when a friend on chat suggested there were walls that weren't really walls. Secret passages in dungeons... I think on how many dungeons I had already gone through. I had not heard of this, nor seen any, so I thought maybe he was pulling my leg after I searched one dungeon for a bit. Well, it turns out that the only way to learn about this is by talking to monsters, which I started doing more often to avoid fights with random dragons. Also, this was confirmed when I was thrown in "jail" while exploring Baya Malay. It turns out that some of the walls I pass by are actually doors if only I turn to face them directly. I wonder how many I may have missed. How long it would take to thoroughly explore every dungeon? Are the rewards truly worth it? I'm thinking no, but the completionist in me is curious.

Secret door! (Trust me, it is.)

So, what next? My plan is to kill Medusa (Odin has waited long enough for his redemption), get a Laser Shield, search for the Laconian Shield (might do the shields before Medusa), finish exploring Dezoris and reach the Laerma trees on the Altiplano plateau , find the Ice Digger, figure out where the Laconian Armor is, and then kill Lassic. If all goes well, then I might be able to finish this game up tomorrow night.