Since I am a huge fan of the classic PS games (it's my favorite game series of all time), I was surprised a while back to read in EGM about 2 Game Gear exclusives that never got a US release. The games are Phantasy Star Gaiden and Phantasy Star Adventure. Years later, and the games got dumped and fan-translated, so I recently took it upon myself to give them a try.
Phantasy Star Adventure
First up, I gave Adventure a try. It's an oldskool J-Adventure game, similar to Portopia, Shadowgate, Princess Tomato In The Salad Kingdom, and other titles. You travel between different areas on a map, interacting via menu - Talk/Use Item/Look/Take/Move. You can look at objects in your inventory, and check out a map of the world (there's something like 30 screens in it, and is mostly linear, so it's not too difficult to find your way around).
Story-wise, the game has very little to do with the actual PS series. The game takes place on a town in Dezoris, called Carsonville, and your character is from Paseo on Motavia. Aside from the character designs, the planet names, and a futuristic environment with androids and such, there's not much at all that ties this into the rest of the PS series.
The game starts out with your character, an agent from Paseo (like Rolf of PS2 fame), receiving a letter from his scientist friend, Dr. Miller. Apparently, he has created an invention called the Enhancer, capable of boosting humans to godly power levels. Of course, somebody kidnaps the doctor and steals the invention, presumably for evil. So it's up to you, with the aid of a few other NPCs (like Lucero, the loner who lives in a cabin in the woods, and Miller's android companion Layla), to solve this mystery.
The puzzles and character interactions are the meat-and-potatoes of this game. Several of the puzzles are clever and can be tricky.
. But there aren't many puzzles. In fact, the game is EXTREMELY short and can be played from beginning to end in about 40 minutes.
Occasionally, there are battles in the game. The battles are nothing strategically complex, with very little penalty for losing.
Based on the weapon you have equipped, you will roll n number of dice. And the sum of the dice is the amount of damage you do... Then the enemy goes and the same thing happens. This occurs until you either win or lose the battle. No spells to use, no items aside from a generic healing item, and like 3 weapons in the game.
The translation is rather well-written, it's nothing mindblowing but games of this genre rely more on story than most others. Even though I also purchased the original GG cart for collection's sakes, I played the emulated version.
I think if you are even slightly interested, it's worth taking the time out to play this game. It's nothing special, but the fact that it's so short and can be beaten on an extended lunchbreak, works in its favor. Since I'm a fan of J-ADV games (in fact, playing this has given me a bit of inspiration to develop my own J-ADV for Xbox Live Indies), I'd have loved to see a more fleshed-out game with more puzzles, more interesting storytelling, and more PS tie-ins.
Phantasy Star Gaiden
This game is much more of a traditional RPG than Adventure, but unfortunately, it's not very good. How bad is it? It's probably one of the worst RPGs I've ever played through! Compared to Defenders of Oasis (another Game Gear turn-based RPG of the same vintage), which is actually quite good, this is an embarrassment.
The game stars Mina, an orphan child raised by the elder of Tedo, and her friend Alec. The plot is pretty simplistic, basically Mina has been prophecized to defeat the evil Cablon, so she needs to go around, recruit companions, grind like hell, and
.
Anyways, back to the gameplay. You travel the world, recruit companions, and get into battles EVERY SINGLE STEP. Battles are anywhere from 3 of your own party members (Mina, Alec, and a revolving party member) versus 1 or 2 enemies. The turn order always goes, your 3 characters first, then the enemies. Missing is frequent in the game, and your characters will do extremely random damage (one round they might do 4 damage, another round they might do 36... and that is with a high level and the best weapon in the game equipped!). Some spells, when they actually do hit, are much more effective at defeating opponents. And speaking about spells, every character has access to every spell (along with weapon and armor), provided they are at a certain level. Spells are purchased at specific shops in town.
Battles are CONSTANT. Like, I am not kidding. Every step or 2 is a random encounter! It's infuriating, especially in the way you constantly keep missing enemies or giving them low damage. Luckily, running is a cinch, and aside from boss battles, you can run from anything with ease. The best strategy is usually to grind around the towns for a bit (yes, there's lots of grinding in the game, especially since weapons and spells are expensive for most of the game) and then head into the dungeons to loot, running away from every battle.
The world map is fairly small, there's about 6 or 7 dungeons, and the only one with any sort of complexity is Cablon's castle at the end. Most are one-floor in size and without any of the traps or sprawling layouts the other classic PS games are known for. The game is pretty linear, although there are times when villagers don't point you where to go. And a few of the puzzles
are easily missed
. As soon as you go into a new area, the difficulty level of the enemies ramps up considerably. So you'll be grinding from the moment you leave Tedo village, to the end of the game. Of course, there are new party members to beat, and even a vehicle or two to collect.
Graphics are a mixed bag. Traveling around the villages and the overworld, the tiles look like a 7 year old drew them in MS Paint. Although monster graphics and the occasional anime portrait/cutscene look decent. Not nearly as detailed or consistent as Defenders of Oasis.
Music... is mostly beeps and bloops. The melodies are short and loop very quickly, but that's OK because you'll be interrupted quickly when you get into a battle. Once again, crap compared to Oasis' AWESOME soundtrack.
The fan translators didn't do a very good job with this one. Quite a number of plot details were either glossed over or changed outright, supposedly. The Wikipedia article gives a much better idea of the characters and story.
If I could say something positive about the game, it's that it definitely has more in common with the original PS series than Adventure. There are several references and cameos in the game, mostly from PS1.
-----
Next up, the telemodem J-ADV games based on Phantasy Star 2. I think a decent chunk of these have been translated to English, even.
Sooo... this is a long shot, but has anybody else played through these games? If not, well I'd recommend you stick to PS1, 2 and 4. Or Defenders of Oasis if you want to put your Game Gear through its paces.
BTW, I will go back and edit the post with some pics later... most are blocked at work :lol
Phantasy Star Adventure
First up, I gave Adventure a try. It's an oldskool J-Adventure game, similar to Portopia, Shadowgate, Princess Tomato In The Salad Kingdom, and other titles. You travel between different areas on a map, interacting via menu - Talk/Use Item/Look/Take/Move. You can look at objects in your inventory, and check out a map of the world (there's something like 30 screens in it, and is mostly linear, so it's not too difficult to find your way around).
Story-wise, the game has very little to do with the actual PS series. The game takes place on a town in Dezoris, called Carsonville, and your character is from Paseo on Motavia. Aside from the character designs, the planet names, and a futuristic environment with androids and such, there's not much at all that ties this into the rest of the PS series.
The game starts out with your character, an agent from Paseo (like Rolf of PS2 fame), receiving a letter from his scientist friend, Dr. Miller. Apparently, he has created an invention called the Enhancer, capable of boosting humans to godly power levels. Of course, somebody kidnaps the doctor and steals the invention, presumably for evil. So it's up to you, with the aid of a few other NPCs (like Lucero, the loner who lives in a cabin in the woods, and Miller's android companion Layla), to solve this mystery.
The puzzles and character interactions are the meat-and-potatoes of this game. Several of the puzzles are clever and can be tricky.
I like one, where you are playing as Lucero and are trying to help the original character escape from prison... you have to drop a key down a hole above the prison, and then control resumes to the original player
Occasionally, there are battles in the game. The battles are nothing strategically complex, with very little penalty for losing.
Of course, in one part of the game you HAVE to lose to advance the story.
The translation is rather well-written, it's nothing mindblowing but games of this genre rely more on story than most others. Even though I also purchased the original GG cart for collection's sakes, I played the emulated version.
I think if you are even slightly interested, it's worth taking the time out to play this game. It's nothing special, but the fact that it's so short and can be beaten on an extended lunchbreak, works in its favor. Since I'm a fan of J-ADV games (in fact, playing this has given me a bit of inspiration to develop my own J-ADV for Xbox Live Indies), I'd have loved to see a more fleshed-out game with more puzzles, more interesting storytelling, and more PS tie-ins.
Phantasy Star Gaiden
This game is much more of a traditional RPG than Adventure, but unfortunately, it's not very good. How bad is it? It's probably one of the worst RPGs I've ever played through! Compared to Defenders of Oasis (another Game Gear turn-based RPG of the same vintage), which is actually quite good, this is an embarrassment.
The game stars Mina, an orphan child raised by the elder of Tedo, and her friend Alec. The plot is pretty simplistic, basically Mina has been prophecized to defeat the evil Cablon, so she needs to go around, recruit companions, grind like hell, and
revive Alis of PS1 fame, whom you later find out you are a clone/daughter of
Anyways, back to the gameplay. You travel the world, recruit companions, and get into battles EVERY SINGLE STEP. Battles are anywhere from 3 of your own party members (Mina, Alec, and a revolving party member) versus 1 or 2 enemies. The turn order always goes, your 3 characters first, then the enemies. Missing is frequent in the game, and your characters will do extremely random damage (one round they might do 4 damage, another round they might do 36... and that is with a high level and the best weapon in the game equipped!). Some spells, when they actually do hit, are much more effective at defeating opponents. And speaking about spells, every character has access to every spell (along with weapon and armor), provided they are at a certain level. Spells are purchased at specific shops in town.
Battles are CONSTANT. Like, I am not kidding. Every step or 2 is a random encounter! It's infuriating, especially in the way you constantly keep missing enemies or giving them low damage. Luckily, running is a cinch, and aside from boss battles, you can run from anything with ease. The best strategy is usually to grind around the towns for a bit (yes, there's lots of grinding in the game, especially since weapons and spells are expensive for most of the game) and then head into the dungeons to loot, running away from every battle.
The world map is fairly small, there's about 6 or 7 dungeons, and the only one with any sort of complexity is Cablon's castle at the end. Most are one-floor in size and without any of the traps or sprawling layouts the other classic PS games are known for. The game is pretty linear, although there are times when villagers don't point you where to go. And a few of the puzzles
i.e. using a special Orb before battling Cablon, and how to turn the sluice gate to dam the river
MAKE SURE TO GET YOUR FORTUNE READ!
Graphics are a mixed bag. Traveling around the villages and the overworld, the tiles look like a 7 year old drew them in MS Paint. Although monster graphics and the occasional anime portrait/cutscene look decent. Not nearly as detailed or consistent as Defenders of Oasis.
Music... is mostly beeps and bloops. The melodies are short and loop very quickly, but that's OK because you'll be interrupted quickly when you get into a battle. Once again, crap compared to Oasis' AWESOME soundtrack.
The fan translators didn't do a very good job with this one. Quite a number of plot details were either glossed over or changed outright, supposedly. The Wikipedia article gives a much better idea of the characters and story.
If I could say something positive about the game, it's that it definitely has more in common with the original PS series than Adventure. There are several references and cameos in the game, mostly from PS1.
Laconian equipment, Alis
-----
Next up, the telemodem J-ADV games based on Phantasy Star 2. I think a decent chunk of these have been translated to English, even.
Sooo... this is a long shot, but has anybody else played through these games? If not, well I'd recommend you stick to PS1, 2 and 4. Or Defenders of Oasis if you want to put your Game Gear through its paces.
BTW, I will go back and edit the post with some pics later... most are blocked at work :lol
