(In addition to the usual updates, I've also included informational posts by Thuryl and Seiren, along with boss videos done by Sartak from the Purgatory PS4 hack. - meteor9)


PREVIOUS GAME LPs:

Thuryl's Phantasy Star 1
Thuryl's Phantasy Star 2
PaletteSwappedNinja's Phantasy Star 3.

RESOURCES:

*SPOILERS* Phantasy Star Compendium Translation *SPOILERS*

Phantasy Star IV Soundtrack .rar













The victor sacrificed the vanquished to the heavens.

Four bells tolled. Four torches were lit.

And the world continued for thousands of years...

(Introduction: Gamevee Viddler)




PHANTASY STAR IV
The End of the Millenium

Welcome to 1994! Sega still makes consoles, its first party software support mostly doesn't embarrass the hell out of it (I'm looking at you, PS3), and the last true Phantasy Star game has been released. And, if I remember right, I was playing my Super Nintendo and completely missed that this game even came out.

Hey, when you're eight it's hard to keep track of stuff.

Phantasy Star 4 comes hot on the heels of the abysmal Phantasy Star 3 and fixes everything it did wrong by pretty much ignoring that it ever existed. It's your typical Japanese RPG, honestly, but with more robots, space, and endearing characters. It may not be particularly groundbreaking, but it has to be experienced if only for the stand-out cast.

The game features the common turn-based battle system, but with the added bonus of Macros: Preset turn orders you can set up in the main menu. Sure, sounds like it's a lazy way of telling five people to attack with only two button presses, but the real beauty comes from setting up combination attacks.



Having characters using certain skills and techniques in a row may cause them to team up for a much more powerful attack. Foi + Tsu + Wat, for example,



creates Triblaster, which is rather strong for the time you can access it (those are pretty much the first attack spells you get with a party of Chaz, Alys, and Hahn).

Also somewhat of note; the menu has a Talk command that has the party talk amongst themselves. Mostly it's there so that you can pick up the game after seven years in Tibet and be able to tell where you are in the plot. It's cool, though, since it changes quite often depending on the situation. Also, whenever Chaz is alone, it changes to MUMBL on the menu, much to my amusement.

This is, what, the fifth time we've had one of these? (Fourth if you count the same person doing it twice, not passing where they were the first time, and somehow doing an even more boring job of it.)

This'll be different. PS4 is not a game to be undertaken lightly, nor is it a game to be left to rot. Probably not a game to wean one's LP teeth on either, but fuck, there'll be five updates ready before I even think of posting this, so rest assured that it's gonna go somewhere. It's a rather straightforward LP, although I'll be adding in some dialog because I can't help myself. Worry not, though, as I've italicized any dialogue not in the actual game.

I'll probably be updating mondays, wednesdays, and fridays, but that's in Crazy Australian Eastern time, so it'll appear to be earlier for most folks here. The final updates will happen when they happen!

So let's meet our characters thus far!

The Cast:



CHAZ ASHLEY

According to the Compendium, "A 16-year-old boy who has just been formally inducted as a Hunter. He had been a warehouse robber, but, three years ago, he was caught by (Alys); she then took him in and taught him all the skills, behavior, and manners he needed to become a Hunter." They don't seem to touch on the fact that he's a goofy knucklehead, but that's probably because half of the cast does so instead. He starts with twin daggers for some godawful reason, but once you get a sword on him he starts becoming a powerhouse. Adept at offensive magic and attack skills, Chaz is a shockingly competent main character by the end.



ALYS BRANGWIN

"Tear 'em to Pieces" Alys is what "Eight-stroke" was supposed to mean, according to the Compendium. The most lauded hunter in Aiedo's Hunters Guild, a strict mentor to the seemingly hopeless Chaz Ashley whom she took in three years earlier, and all-around badass. Specializes in Slicer combat and Skills, though she's been known to toss around a Technique or two.



HAHN MAHLAY

"Two years ago, he graduated from the biology department of Motavia Academy and became Professor Holt's assistant." Apparently the Compendium doesn't see fit to mention that Hahn has an almost fetishistic urge to point out every obvious fact that he can. Pretty weak, but also naturally learns instant-death abilities, which is surprisingly awesome for some dork with a pocket knife.



RUNE WALSH

Rune Walsh is the greatest goddamn motherfucka walking the planet, or at least his demeanor would have you believe so. In reality he's a smug jackass that can smite anyone that crosses him. So I guess that's not much different. He's pretty damn cool. The very definition of mage, Rune is a master of techs and magical skills, and has shitty strength and defense to balance it out.



GRYZ

Unlike the other fuzzy little blue guys on Motavia, Gryz is a big fuzzy blue guy. The "Motavian Mania" as far as the Compendium's translator can tell, Gryz is all about cleaving stuff in half with a giant goddamn axe. Unfortunately he's not all THAT powerful, and his skills mainly deal with making himself hit a little harder and an instant death strike that isn't too terribly reliable outside of farming slugs. He gets Sweeping eventually, which hits all enemies, but by then you'll have much better options as far as characters go. A shame, as Gryz is a pretty cool guy. I'd hang out with him.



RIKA

The concentrated awesome found in Birth Valley. Rika is strong, fast, AND is an excellent healer. Only one year old due to her crazy advanced Numan biology, Rika is still rather intelligent when it comes to book smarts. When it comes to people, though, she has a habit of being painfully honest about stuff; this goes well with Chaz's buffoonery. She focuses mainly on healing techs and attack skills, and is quite good with both. My favorite character, to be honest, as I am a sad little nerd.



DEMI

This robotic munchkin is responsible for maintaning one of the largest ecosystem managing systems in all of Algo. Quite a feat for such a bubbly little appliance. As an android, Demi comes with self-healing skills, as well as the ability to heal her meatbag friends. She can also instantly kill any robotic enemy with Spark. She learns no techniques, but she can install new skills on the off chance that you find any. She'll auto-revive after combat and regains health by walking, in exchange for healing techs and items not working on her. Has a large defense rating and a tendency to get a little too excited about vehicles. Also, when walking, her little legs have to move twice as fast as everyone else's and it's really funny to watch.



WREN

Demi's creator, Rika's tutor, and the watchful eye over the entire Algo star system. Wren is a pretty important guy, so luckily he was built like a goddamn tank. His skills are almost entirely attack based, and shares all of Demi's self-restoring and Spark-using android tendencies. Quite robotic for the guy that programmed Demi's hyper AI, Wren is nonetheless a worthy addition to any party.



SU RAJA

A beloved Dezorian priest, Raja is very friendly and outgoing, but has a ghastly sense of humor that only Rika seems to appreciate. Being a priest, he has absolutely amazing healing powers, including Miracle which can even heal androids, and Ataraxia, the only TP restoring action in the entire game. He's a wrinkly green keeper.



KYRA TIERNEY

Blue-haired Esper number 2, Kyra isn't quite as good in the magic department as Rune, but she's a hell of a lot better at taking and dishing out hits. A slicer-user with the rather un-esperly tendency to actually go out and try to help people on her own accord, Kyra's pretty cool to have around. Her Medice skill is apparently the most potent healing ability in the game, though it only heals one person at a time.



SETH

Seth is a guy with a mustache and thinks Chaz is pretty neat-o. He's also packing a full load of darkness-based skills. Also, he still has a mustache.



Alright, enough of that. Let's get this show on the road!

Table of Contents

• PART ONE: MOTAVIA ACADEMY: FULFILLING ALL YOUR EXPOSITORY BACKSTORY NEEDS!
• PART TWO: I THINK THE PRINCIPAL MAY HAVE WET HIMSELF
• PART THREE: SCENIC ZEMA AND THE INFRAGGABLE KRUP
• PART FOUR: FLAELING AROUND AND AXING QUESTIONS
• PART FIVE: REMATCHES AND A LACK OF PANTS: THE BIRTH VALLEY STORY
• PART SIX: NO, SERIOUSLY. I'M NEVER GONNA LEAVE PS3 ALONE.
• PART SEVEN: WORMING OUR WAY HOME
• PART EIGHT: GRINDING AND FROTHING
• PART NINE: ZIO'S FORT, ZIO'S FORT, AND ZIO'S FORT.
• PART TEN: LOGICAL PROGRESSION
• PART ELEVEN: TECTONICS AND PSIONICS
• BONUS UPDATE: WHAT, ME, MISS SOMETHING?
• PART TWELVE: HITTING THE FAN
• PART THIRTEEN: WHO THE HELL NAMES THEIR KID TINKERBELL? I MEAN HONESTLY.
• PART FOURTEEN: RAIDING ZIO, TAKE TWO.
• PART FIFTEEN: EXTRANEOUS BULLSHIT
• PART SIXTEEN: WE'RE SERIOUSLY GOING INTO SPACE THIS TIME, I SWEAR.
• PART SEVENTEEN: ICE TO SEE YOU! HA HA!
• PART EIGHTEEN: KURAN KURAN, AND POSSIBLY OTHER BAD PUNS.
• PART NINETEEN: KITTIES! OH, AND I GUESS MORE KILLER ROBOTS.
• PART TWENTY: OKAY, SO, NO WEAPONS PLANT THIS TIME
• PART TWENTY-ONE: NOTHING IS EVER STRAIGHTFORWARD IN A LINEAR RPG
• PART TWENTY-TWO: THE (LACK OF) AIR CASTLE
• PART TWENTY-THREE: BEEF CONSTRUCTION
• PART TWENTY-FOUR: COMPLETE LOSS OF FOCUS
• PART TWENTY-FIVE: RAPPIES, ROBOTS, AND ROGUE AI
• PART TWENTY-SIX: I DON'T SEE THIS 'ON-TIME' SHIT HAPPENING EVER AGAIN
• PART TWENTY-SEVEN: TWO AND A HALF TOWERS
• PART TWENTY-EIGHT: THIS SWORD TOTALLY EXISTED BEFORE, WE SWEAR!
• PART TWENTY-NINE: THE FINALE
• PART THIRTY: THE FINALE, PART 2
• BONUS UPDATE TWO: SUPER FINAL BONUS