Game 11: Phantasy Star II (Genesis) - Bad Habits

Game 11

Title: Phantasy Star II
Year: 1990 (1989 JP)
Platform: Genesis
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Genre: RPG
Exploration - Top-down (w/ layering)
Combat - Turn-based (random order)



"I had the same dream. A nightmarish vision of a giant demon and a woman warrior locked in combat. I'm but an observer to this, unable to act in any way. The horror releases a flurry of blows, and I awake with a start. I am alone in my room, the early dawn showing through the window. I'm Kyle, an agent of Paseo, capital of Mota. Shaking off the dream, I rise for the day ahead. I've been called into the commander's office to report for a special assignment first thing this morning.

Static scenes show the introduction above

The commander confides in me that he is having reservations now about the trust we've placed in the hands of Mother Brain to plan and control our future. Born of the biosystems lab, many monsters have invaded the surrounding countryside. Controlled by Mother Brain, this should never have happened, but it has. We must recover a data recorder at the lab that will tell us how the monsters were created. I say 'we' because while preparing for the journey, Nei insisted on accompanying me. I took her in some months back; I'm not really sure where she came from, but she didn't deserve the scorn and ridicule every laid on her just because she's a halfbreed of humans and the bio monsters from the lab."

*Plop*

I forgot to mention the release of the Sega Genesis back in 1989, a full two year head start on the competition, it was hoping to out do Nintendo by offering arcade ports of many popular games. It was also competing with the TurboGrafx-16 at the time, and had a price point $10 lower at release in the US. It usually takes 2 - 3 years to see anything other than ports or first-party RPGs come to console, so we'll have to wait to pass judgement on the console. I do hope it offers more than the SMS (hint, it does).

(Source: Wikipedia)

Phantasy Star II is the first RPG on the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive to the rest of the world), and a direct sequel to Phantasy Star. Direct probably isn't the best word to use since it picks up the story some 1000 years later after the events of the first.

The Algo (shortened from Algol) Star System is now run by a giant computer named Mother Brain. (With both this game and Metroid mentioning Mother Brain, I wonder if this is a cultural reference of some kind.)

All of the planet names have been shortened as well. Alis' home planet of Palma is now Palm, the previously dry desert world of Motavia is now a lush fertile world called Mota thanks to the biolab, and finally, the icy and desolate Dezoris has become the mysterious and mostly unknown planet Dezo.

My first task was to name the lead character. Not giving it much thought, the first four letter name that came to mind was Kyle (default name is Rolf). The game offers the option of renaming each character as they join the party, except for Nei. I'm going to take full advantage of this, and name them all differently, to protect their true identity.

Before venturing too far, I explored Paseo and gathered as much information as I could from the library and townspeople. Not much was really of note, but the manual mentions any tidbit of info could prove helpful later on. I have a bad habit of not taking notes, and not mapping, especially when there's no grid. I really should correct this: map everything, note everything, and not worry about taking my time.

'Room', nice descriptive text

I noticed right away in the first combat that Nei didn't come with a weapon (actually I noticed in the equip menu, but figured she'd fight with fists... she doesn't). I'd definitely have to take care of that. Luckily Kyle had Foi, an offensive spell, that could take out an enemy with a single hit. I used this to get some extra cash (Mesetas again) to buy her a weapon. Our combined forces got us as far as the first town, Arima.

Arima had been hit hard by a band of scoundrels. Using dynamite, they blew open most of the houses, leaving them in heaps of rumble devoid of valuables. Once here, I headed back home to find Rudo (short for Rudolf) offering to join my cause. I renamed him Luke and accepted his offer.

I feel like if I ask "where is Shure?" that I'm starting a joke I don't want to get into...

The next couple hours were a blur of grinding through the first dungeon, finding the key item to get into the second dungeon, and a run in with bad luck. I realized that I hadn't saved for a good while at the exact same moment my party was wiped during the last fight before heading back to town. My save is about an hour into the evening, looking at my party, I did manage to save after purchasing a shotgun for Luke, which is where the tide in battles really started to turn. I've since learned I can dual wield hand weapons, so that's what I'll be doing for Nei and Kyle.

If you couldn't tell, my second bad habit is not saving regularly when visiting towns. Unlike the first Phantasy Star, there's no save anywhere system. Granted the port I'm playing offers save states, but I'm not going to take advantage of them. I'm forcing myself to only save in towns with the memory bank (save point). It was a hard lesson to learn, but 2 hours lost will hopefully teach me to save at every opportunity.

This seemed like a battle I could win. In two rounds I'm facing the title screen

One other change of note is the lack of first person dungeons. The technology that was so praised in Phantasy Star on the SMS was dropped for Phantasy Star II (and possibly the rest of the series). Battles are also now in a slightly third person over the shoulder perspective from the party. I'll get more into combat in a future post, but there are quite a number of changes to the system.

Even though the world seems small--and so far there's no mention of traveling between planets--I have hope things will open up. There are after all more party members that will join my merry company than can fight in the four person expedition. I can only guess they decide to move in with me because that's where party management occurs.

Session Time: 3h10m (Total Time: 3h10m)

Extra Edition:

Since having written up the above, I decided to put the time in to get back to about where I was last night. It only took an hour to make the same game progress, although I'm short a couple of levels, and some extra gold. I've had a much easier time thanks to dual wielding bars on Nei and knives on Kyle. I hope my previous encounter with the Blasters was a fluke, and I can find a way to up my defenses or something before facing them again.

I also want to mention that there was a hint book, and maps that came with the original game. It's hard to tell what originally came with the game and what didn't though from the online resources I've found, so I won't be using any maps. The fact that they call it a hint book dissuades me from using it, so I'll refrain from either resource. The manual is my only reference material.

Session Time: 1h12m (Total Time: 4h22m)

Below the Cut: Wonder Boy in Monster World (Genesis)

(Source: Wikipedia)

Wonder Boy in Monster World - Rating(8 RPP)
1) 1 - Character Advancement: practice/experience based advancement, stat or level increases, multiple classes or characters, customize characters
2) 1 - Combat: character stats used for combat, additional combat options, turn based
3) 2 - Items and Equipment: store to buy and sell, equipment decisions, item decisions
4) 2 - Story: main story at the forefront; world full of hints and lore; descriptions for objects, people, and places
5) 1 - Exploration: open world from the beginning, visited locations remain open
6) 1 - Quests and Puzzles: side quests not related to the main quest, puzzles and riddles to solve

Wonder Boy in Monster World, strangely the only Wonder Boy found on the SeedyGamer's list, is an action platformer where precise jumping, waving a sword, and dodging are necessary skills. It could be accurately compared to Faxanadu, except for the one difference that drops it below the 10 point threshold: no character development through experience or practice. Instead, the abilities and stats are built into equipment upgrades and life containers. It's fun being able to run and jump around while swinging a sword, and I'd probably play the game if I could get a compilation of Wonder Boy games, but I can't honestly include it among other RPGs.

I believe there are also limited puzzles, quests, exploration, and world lore built into the game. If I'm wrong on this, then it may be enough to get it back on the list, so let me know if this isn't completely accurate. The series lasted through a number of games, 5 - 7 at least, so if there are other Wonder Boy games I should check out, then let me know that as well.

Below the Cut: Golden Axe Warrior (SMS)

(Source: Neoseeker)

Golden Axe Warrior - Rating(8 RPP)
1) 1 - Character Advancement: practice/experience based advancement, stat or level increases, multiple classes or characters, customize characters
2) 1 - Combat: character stats used for combat, additional combat options, turn based
3) 1 - Items and Equipment: store to buy and sell, equipment decisions, item decisions
4) 2 - Story: main story at the forefront; world full of hints and lore; descriptions for objects, people, and places
5) 2 - Exploration: open world from the beginning, visited locations remain open
6) 1 - Quests and Puzzles: side quests not related to the main quest, puzzles and riddles to solve

Golden Axe Warrior is yet another Zelda clone. There's a deeper story here than the first Zelda game (at least there are NPCs to talk to), but not as much inventory management due to having only a single action button. I didn't play very long, so I didn't confirm there are puzzles, but if it's anything like a Zelda game then it should.

If I've missed anything, let me know so I can add it in. For now I think I can safely say the game isn't going to reach 10 points.

Farewell 80s; Hello 90s

It's a bit unfortunate that none of the games of the oldest consoles provided any qualifying RPGs. Many of them had potential--combined it would make an awesome game--yet I think it was the storage size of these games that held them back. If you're looking for an RPG experience, you can use the scale's rating to determine which might most appeal to you. I tried to give more elaborate descriptions of the games towards the end for those looking for that.

Moving on, we have come to the year 1990. Some well known games are finally making more of an appearance. I'm sure many of you need no introduction to at least Final Fantasy not to mention Wizardry, and we also have three sequels (Dragon Warrior II, Phantasy Star II, and Ultima IV) to three already well known series.

It's looking like a promising year in gaming. We've already seen The Immortal cut a short time ago, so this is the last call to any that wants to argue that point. I think most have voiced their opinion though.

Here's the full list of RPGs for 1990:

Dungeon Magic: Sword of the Elements
Phantasy Star II
Little Ninja Brothers
Final Fantasy
Super Hydlide
Crystalis
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
Destiny of an Emperor
Final Fantasy Legend
Swords and Serpents
Dragon Warrior II
Double Dungeons
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar

Out of these I've played Dungeon Magic, Final Fantasy, Crystalis, Wizardry (on PC), Final Fantasy Legend, Dragon Warrior II, and Double Dungeons. All except for Double Dungeons was many years ago though, so I remember next to nothing. I played Double Dungeons just last year when I was trying to get this project going the first time, but I had neither the same focus on the blog nor a reliance on using my own knowledge (I used pre-made maps). This time I'll play it straight, and spend the time to make my own maps.

I've heard that Super Hydlide can be quite the challenge. I'm excited to play through all of these games though, even Swords and Serpents, which has the infamous feature of needing 5 passwords (1 for each character, and 1 for the game). I've popped in Dungeon Magic, and found that the battery back-up save is still working. It amazes me this battery is still be working after 22 years. Hopefully I can say the same for the other cartridges as I get to them.

This year I have three games with a month in the release dates I couldn't find:

Dungeon Magic: Sword of the Elements
Little Ninja Brothers
Super Hydlide

To break things up a little, and hopefully avoid two bad games in a row, I've moved Super Hydlide to between Final Fantasy and Crystalis, and Little Ninja Brothers comes after Phantasy Star II. I know very little of Little Ninja Brothers, but I can see it going either way. If anyone has better release dates, I'll move the games around to fit those.


Now, on to Dungeon Magic! (After I cut a few more games...)

Below the Cut: DragonStomper (Atari 2600)

(Source: MobyGames)

DragonStomper - Rating(9 RPP)
1) 1 - Character Advancement: practice/experience based advancement, stat or level increases, multiple classes or characters, customize characters
2) 3 - Combat: character stats used for combat, additional combat options, turn based
3) 3 - Items and Equipment: store to buy and sell, equipment decisions, item decisions
4) 1 - Story: main story at the forefront; world full of hints and lore; descriptions for objects, people, and places
5) 1 - Exploration: open world from the beginning, visited locations remain open
6) 0 - Quests and Puzzles: side quests not related to the main quest, puzzles and riddles to solve

So, I took a long hard look at the game, played it for about an hour, and have decided to call it as I see it, not an RPG. This game has a lot going for it, with many innovations for a game so early.

First and foremost, there are multiple ways to deal with the obstacles you come across. The very first being a bridge guard that asks to see your ID before he'll let you cross. Now, you could fetch the papers from the glowing castle across the map (probably the easiest to do), or you could kill the guard and walk past his rotting corpse. It's no easy task though, so you might be better off trying to bribe him instead. The only other obstacle is the dragon, which the manual suggests as having two ways to complete. Either you can stomp the dragon (kill him), or you can find a way to take his amulet, which breaks the enchantment.

In actuality, I was looking for more ways to give points to the game. Stat increases aren't permanent, and vary wildly when using items. I often wondered if all the items just reduced my dex when one finally raised it to 26. Supposedly the stats are used in combat, so I went with that as well. In the second area, the village, there are three stores that will buy and sell items. It's hard to tell what's worth it though since the manual doesn't list any of these or their uses.

The main story is there, and you get a reminder of your true purpose in town. Unfortunately, the game is so short that I don't know how much this counts. There are three screens, the first is the wilderness, and after the town we get to the dragon's cave. Actually, there's a fourth screen, which is the dragon.

The length of the game gets to me; if planned out right you could probably be beat in about 5 - 10 minutes depending on luck. In the meantime, you'll be beating your head against the wall mapping out the traps in the dragon's cave, and trying to find a way to recruit all the warriors to act as fodder. Good luck to anyone that wants to give this a try, and let me know if there's some facet of this gem I'm missing.

Randomness was getting to me, and without a strong foundation of knowledge, I don't know how anyone could get through this game. Building up that foundation requires playing through the game multiple times, and eventually going through many trial and error tests with the various items available for purchase. The amount of work involved doesn't seem worth the effort. I'd rather move on at this point and bid farewell to the past. This game came closest to meeting the criteria I set forth, so maybe it's enough for others to consider. If you're one to look at the edge cases, I strongly suggest checking this one out.

Below the Cut: Crypts of Chaos (Atari 2600)

(Source: Encyclopedia Gamia)

Crypts of Chaos - Rating(3 RPP)
1) 0 - Character Advancement: practice/experience based advancement, stat or level increases, multiple classes or characters, customize characters
2) 1 - Combat: character stats used for combat, additional combat options, turn based
3) 0 - Items and Equipment: store to buy and sell, equipment decisions, item decisions
4) 0 - Story: main story at the forefront; world full of hints and lore; descriptions for objects, people, and places
5) 2 - Exploration: open world from the beginning, visited locations remain open
6) 0 - Quests and Puzzles: side quests not related to the main quest, puzzles and riddles to solve

I can see why Crypts of Chaos was suggested. It offers a varied dungeon crawling experience with multiple floors to explore. My first experience was that the only thing I could do was go back and forth in a long hallway fighting random monsters.

It's good to have found the instruction manual now to discover there are intersection I can turn down, treasure to be found, and a way to escape for a high score. Weapons have limited uses based on how powerful they are (except for the sword), and game difficulty determines how many I get and also how deep the dungeon is. The game misses out on including character stats, levels, inventory, and a deeper world of interaction. There's some resemblance to other first-person RPGs that we'll see very soon.

It doesn't look like any of these older games are going to fit. If nothing else, I've enjoyed playing through these older games to see what they were like. I was hoping to play through one them for the blog, but I've found all these early games are too limited by what they can offer. I'm taking a long hard look at Dragonstomper this week. I might just play it anyway, I haven't decided yet.

Below the Cut: Gateway to Apshai (Colecovision)

(Source: Mobygames)

Gateway to Apshai - Rating(7 RPP)
1) 1 - Character Advancement: practice/experience based advancement, stat or level increases, multiple classes or characters, customize characters
2) 3 - Combat: character stats used for combat, additional combat options, turn based
3) 2 - Items and Equipment: store to buy and sell, equipment decisions, item decisions
4) 0 - Story: main story at the forefront; world full of hints and lore; descriptions for objects, people, and places
5) 1 - Exploration: open world from the beginning, visited locations remain open
6) 0 - Quests and Puzzles: side quests not related to the main quest, puzzles and riddles to solve






Gateway to Apshai is an interesting take on the dungeon crawler. It's an action adventure that puts when to move on to the next floor into the player's hand. There's a timer ticking, so you'll have to move on eventually, but if you move too quickly, you'll find yourself over  powered quickly by powerful monsters.

This is another game that resembles rogue-likes, but it lacks character levels. It has stats for the character, but I never saw them go up at all; I can only imagine there are items to increase stats. Once again, the narrow focus of the game really puts this into a hybrid that doesn't quite get it far enough into the RPG genre for my taste. Like Tower of Doom, it's fun and has some promise to eat away the hours, but I can't bring myself to include it here.

The couple times I've played haven't seen me get past the second level. I suspect I was missing some of the controls, but I had a hard time hitting anything with the little sword. Also, the enemies seemed to be moving quicker than they should be, but it could have been a setting I needed to change.