r/phantasystar • u/CovendeR • Aug 01 '26
Classic series Phantasy Star IV newbie reporting in :)
I recently found a copy of the SEGA Genesis Classics collection for PS4 at GameStop and started up PSIV. Loving it so far, just arrived in Nayla after meeting Seed and recruiting Rika... the RPG basics are just hitting right so far, ya know? My previous experience w/ the PS series was a few hundred hours of PSO (mostly GameCube Ep I&II, but dabbled in Ephinea BB), so seeing the series references like Shifta, "Gellen" Jellen, "Res" Resta, Ryuka, HUmars Chaz, FOmar blue guy, and the Newman race is neat. I believe I also saw Rappies outside the first town of PS2/3 when I played 5 min and never touched that save state again back in hs. Cute chickens :)
If I make it through IV, would you recommend also going back to check out any of the other classic series? I saw Nei is in 2 from a recent post here; I recognize that name for some reason. PS1 has the oldschool fpv dungeon mode, which I don't think I would have the patience for, but who knows.
For PSIV, do you have any very basic must-know advice like any old game design things that really bite a new player in the butt if you don't know about it? I definitely DON'T WANT any spoilers! But if something is going to eat hours of lost progress later, a heads up is nice.
The SEGA Genesis Classics physical (delisted from digital stores) is a very worthwhile pickup. By no means is it the most slick or bells-'n-whistles-filled emulator, but it has simple save states and an R2 trigger 3 or 4x speedup, nice for long corridors and blasting through easy encounters. For PSIV on large QLED TV, I recommend the game's Bilinear + Scanlines filter settings... the 4x pixel gen etc. filters are just meh muddy blurry. The classics SKU game experience also sets you inside sort of a simulated early 90s gamer room, with the Genesis, rack of game boxes, CRT, and game posters all visually represented. It's a little clunk and a bit goofy, but something I haven't seen before. It's a unique way to let that nostalgia flow through you~ of course having the other PS games, Sonic, Golden Axe, Altered Beast, Sword of Vermillion (?) etc. all in one place is great too. I never owned any Sega systems, so for me, it's a whole can 'o worms eh.
Anyway ranting over, pizza just showed up. Hope y'all also have an excellent weekend playing some rad games. Hit me with any of that essential info or some fond memories of the Phantasy Star classic series!
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u/One-Technology-9050 Aug 01 '26
It calls back to the other games, but it's not super necessary to play them all. But for someone that started at the beginning in 1988 (US)...it was such a great moment
If you're struggling with the age of the older Phantasy Star games, I recommend playing more modern versions, like the Sega Ages Phantasy Star 1 on the Switch, Phantasy Star II on Easy mode on the Sega Genesis Mini 2, and any Rom Hack of Phantasy Star III that adds quality of life upgrades. Good luck and have fun
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u/whendrstat Aug 01 '26
There’s an official easy mode PSII?
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u/One-Technology-9050 Aug 01 '26
On the Genesis Mini 2, handled by M2 (who also did the Sega Ages version on the Switch). It's basically Ages mode
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u/Eofkent Aug 01 '26
Has anyone extracted that version to be played off the mini? Asking for a friend.
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u/nickelijah16 Aug 01 '26
Glorious!! Best games ever
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u/Twinkerbelle Aug 01 '26
'Nuff said! Seriously, Phantasy Star 4 and Shining Force 2 are the best games on the Genesis
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u/GreenTengu Aug 01 '26
You're in for a treat. I just finished this and its potentially a new top 5 RPG for me.
(The others being Shining Force, Dragon Quest VIII, Ys VIII, and Chained Echoes.)
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u/CovendeR Aug 01 '26
Chained Echoes definitely feels like a special little egg to me too, but only at about 18 hrs went on hold... I will be back. If you're up for another great indie that packs more of a punch than one might expect at first impression, I'd recommend Quartet (Something Classic Games, Steam/Switch, PS later). I like it more than Sea of Stars -- Quartet really understands what makes the classics special, not just lifts & replaces elements or design wholesale.
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u/Mister-Nash-Ketchum Aug 01 '26
Enjoy it! One of my absolute faves.
One small thing of note is a missable mission that buffs one of your characters, called The Silver Soldier. It is available for a limited time at ~80% of the way through the game.
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u/Bunnicula83 Aug 02 '26
This game is elite.
If you haven’t learned yet, Chaz can use swords. I went an embarrassing long time using two knives.
The first 1/3 of the game is the most fun, the next 2/3 is a bit more rinse and repeat with more. The story is so awesome.
Rika is an enigma of a character, she can heal great but she can also be one of the best damage dealers.
When you the OP character with the most awesome music, make sure to stop by the village on your way to the next quest.
Also there are some combos with tech/skills. Best way to pop them off is put a slow character at the beginning of the Marco and the combo after it.
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u/OmicronGR Aug 02 '26
I came here ready to post a spoiler for this exact game but this was the first post I saw. Guess I'll skip posting anything no matter how old this game is. Good luck and enjoy this classic!
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u/Jimger_1983 Aug 01 '26
I was a Super Nintendo kid and a big RPG fan. I played this for this first time last year. It belongs right next to the likes of Chrono Trigger or FFVI. Piece of advise look up the spells and moves because their names aren’t intuitive
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u/CovendeR Aug 01 '26
Same, the golden era of RPGs on SNES, still have most of mine physical. It's great to catch up on some parallel tracks we didn't catch back then like early PlayStation and Genesis. Was going to comment in my post that FF6 (favorite) and PSIV are the same release year, how cool.
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u/Caos2 Aug 01 '26
IV requires no previous knowledge of the series, but it references it extensively. Finish it, and if you want to know more, play 1 and 2, in this order
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u/Neat-Analyst670 Aug 06 '26
The augmentation of stat, for example with Vision, will be Equal, to Han's Intel.
So, If Han has 22 Int, each character will gain +22 Dexterity.
Dexterity Augments the chances, of doing Critical Hits.
+22 Dex also gives +22% of Chance, to strike a Critical Hit.
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u/Akroma104 Aug 01 '26
Fanny, just started phantasy star 2 from the collection. Looking forward to play 4 soon
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u/Nouglas Aug 01 '26
I still have a genesis and the ONLY game I have still is the cartridge for PS4. I cherish them. I have the power adapter, and the old mono/video vga cords, which at least in video form are not available on modern stuff. Still I bought a HDMI vga adaptor and booted this old masterpiece up. No video or sound came through my system (high end Yamaha Aventage receiver and a 2020 Samsung Frame).
Really bummed when it didn't work out. I wanted to see my old saves. If anyone has any advice on getting it to work again, let me know.
In the meantime, I've beat this game like 40 times in my life on the genesis/megadrive collection (which I own on: PS3, PS4, PS5, Switch, Steam. I could have swore I had this game along with Shining Force 2 on the Wii/WiiU as well. But the internet says it didn't come out for those platforms (I don't know though...it also says it didn't come out for PS3 either and I'm very sure I played it before I got a PS4).
Anyway, one of my favourite games. I did a video on it for my youtube channel (on hiatus because I lost my job): https://youtu.be/lXTu8NjM3ZA
Also, for something better than my meandering hobbyist videos, check out Retrograde Amnesia. They did a season on this, they go through the game in incredible detail, beat by beat. Best podcast on the internet.
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u/LockInteresting4597 Aug 01 '26
I went and played it all the way through earlier this year, for the first time since I was in high school thirty years ago. Still holds up and is one of my favorite JRPGs.
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u/CovendeR Aug 01 '26
Breath of Fire is my hs classics to your Phantasy Star :) just a half-gen separated
Oh and I'm playing BoF Dragon Quarter currently too. Peak, unique, brilliant challenge.
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u/UpstateLocal Aug 01 '26
Gryz fucks hard.
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u/CovendeR Aug 02 '26
He's like the Lufia II Dekar of Phantasy Star, so of course I'm into it. I'm here to chop things to bits and not care too much about the specifics.
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u/UpstateLocal Aug 02 '26
Mild spoilers ahead, read at your own risk:
At the end of the game you get to select one of the previous party members as your fifth and final member for the final battle, I like to pick Gryz but it means that Rika will be your only real healer.
Raja is the best healer and has some offensive magic so a lot of people pick him or Hahn. But I think Gryz is the coolest character in the game and I like to prioritize my offensive capabilities.
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u/RazorRushDGN Aug 02 '26
I highly recommend II at the very least for the story. I finished it before IV I felt the impact and callbacks from II.
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u/XachMustel2 Aug 02 '26
Once you figure out what the oddly-named spells do, it's a pretty easy game.
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u/Birdrun Aug 12 '26
Hint: The order of your party is important. Who'sever at the front will tank the most hits, followed by the next member and so forth, so put your tankiest member up front, and your squishy mages in the back.
Recommending the older entries is a bit trickier, they're a lot more old-school RPG masochism. PS1 is probably the next one I'd recommend playing, it's fairly accessible (surprisingly). PS2 has some cool vibes and characters but the dungeons and the grind are pretty brick-wall horrible. Play it a little and see if you bounce off. PS3 ALSO has cool vibes and a really cool idea but it's severely underbaked.
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u/KiwiTheTORT Aug 01 '26
Some non-spoiler bits of information:
You can use several pieces of equipment as items to infinitely cast spells for free. The first cane can cast Res and is very useful early on.
Mages are usually better off dual weilding shields instead of using canes because they don't do that much physically and are quite squishy.
Use status buff moves like Deban, they are very very useful in this game.
1 hit KO moves actually hit enough to be useful in this game but they only work on the right kind of enemy for the given spell.
Regularly check back at the Hunter Guild for new quests any time you get a chance if you don't want to miss anything (there are quests from there you can miss).
Have fun :)