Game 543: Phantasy Star (1987)

  

"Why is she flying? Why is she in space? Why doesn't she need oxygen to breathe in space? How can she fly in space?" -- the types of questions that probably go through no one's head but mine.

           

Phantasy Star

Japan

SEGA Enterprises (developer and publisher)

Released 1987 for SEGA Master System in Japan; 1988 for the SEGA Master System in the United Kingdom and North America; 1994 for the SEGA Genesis in Japan

Date Started: 4 March 2025    

    

All right, fine. Let's do it. I've covered Dragon Warrior (1986), The Legend of Zelda (1986), and Final Fantasy (1987) already and noted their influences on both console and computer games. If I'm going to continue sampling console games, I might as well finish off the list of the foundational ones, starting with Phantasy Star and continuing with, I don't know, Fire Emblem (1990) and maybe . . . sorry, can't bring myself to say it yet. Give me credit for getting this far, at least.

     

This is only my second SEGA Master System game, but since its controller is essentially identical to the NES, there isn't much of a learning curve. The previous experience was with Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord (1986), which it seems to me anticipates many of the mechanics of Phantasy Star and might deserve some of the foundational credit that Phantasy Star gets both mechanically and narratively (it probably makes a difference that Miracle Warriors had a PC release first, while Phantasy Star was developed natively for the SMS). In any event, I covered the history of SEGA in that entry.

       

He can't really learn the lesson if he's dead.

       

Phantasy Star's backstory blends science fiction and fantasy elements. It takes place in a multi-planetary system called Algol, but it's not explicitly in the future of our universe, as evidenced by the dating: "Space Century 342." Civilization started on a planet called Palma and spread, after the discovery of space travel, to the planets Motavia and Dezoris. In the most recent era, this empire has been ruled democratically by King Lassic, but Lassic has lately fallen under the spell of the priests of a "new religion from another galaxy" who promise eternal life to anyone who joins. They gave Lassic a fearsome suit of armor, and soon after, he began to rule as a tyrant. The economy and social order have collapsed, and monsters stalk the worlds.

   

The main character, named Alis, is from Palma. In the opening scenes, she witnesses her brother, Nero, a resistance fighter, killed by Lassic's Robotcops (who look a lot like stormtroopers). With his dying breath, he hands her his short sword and suggests she seek out a fighter named Odin. "Maybe the two of you can stop Lassic." Alis swears to do exactly that.

      

That's the shortest short sword I've ever seen.

     

I can't think of a previous RPG with a canonically female protagonist, but please correct me if I'm overlooking something. My understanding is that SEGA employed an unusual number of women on the design team, including story writer Chieko Aoki. This is in some ways the origin of JRPG protagonists with defined names and backstories, although oddly this characteristic has not yet been present in most Japanese RPGs that I've sampled, save for the eroge ones like Knights of Xentar (1991) and Mad Paradox (1992). I generally prefer RPGs in which I can define the main character, but I've certainly played plenty of games with fixed PCs that I found enjoyable despite this preference.

    

The game begins in Alis's hometown, which consists of a couple of screens and a few houses, NPCs, and shops. This being a console game, and consoles of the era having primitive controllers, everything is done frustratingly with the directional pad and a couple of buttons. If there's a hell, I'm going to spend eternity scrolling through menus with a controller, constantly overshooting what I want to select, constantly hitting that button that cancels rather than the one that activates an option. I know it's silly to complain about literally the only interface that was even possible for console games of the period, but it's a big part of why I'm a computer RPG addict and not a console RPG addict.

     

The game begins outside Alis's little pod house.

     

I was less bothered by the graphics than I expected. You know from previous experience that I don't like anime and I don't like chibi, but while the game certainly has some influence from both, it's relatively mild. Alis and the NPCs in the game strike me as far more similar to the character icons in classic iconographic games like Ultima than the GCLMs of Zelda and so many of its descendants.

         

The music, on the other hand . . . Phantasy Star follows the era-normal convention of not allowing sound effects to be turned off independently of the music. Since the music is crude, repetitive, and cloying, I'm not hearing any sound effects, if there are any.

    

Alis starts with a short sword and leather armor but no money, so it'll be a while before I can afford anything sold in the town. There are three stores: a food store that sells cola and burgers; and an armory that sells different types of shields; and a "second-hand shop" that sells "flashes," "escapers," and "transers." "Flashes" turn out to be light sources for dungeons; I haven't experimented with the other two yet.

       

I guess food probably heals you. I never bought any.

       

Stepping to an NPC, or entering an NPC house, switches the perspective to a 3D background. These backgrounds flesh out the futuristic nature of the setting, with carefully-manicured trees and bushes sharing space with clean, rounded architecture. It doesn't really look as if society has collapsed. NPCs offer some tips:

   

• "In some dungeons, you will not get far without some sort of light." It turns out you can buy "flashes" at the second-hand store.

• "I'm Nekise. One hears lots of stories, you know, but some say that a fighter named Odin lives in a town called Scion. Also, I have a Laconian pot given by Nero. That would be helpful to you in your task." I guess maybe the game does take place in our future if people are still trading Laconian pottery.

     

An outdoor NPC . . .

      

• "If you want to make a deal, you should head for the port town." 

• "You need a dungeon key to open locked doors."

       

. . . and an indoor one.

      

• "The Camineet Residential Area is under martial law." I guess that's where I am.

• "There is a spaceport to the west of Camineet."

• "I'm Suelo. I know how you must feel, dear, no one can stop you from doing what you know you must do. But if you should ever be wounded in battle, come here to rest." I end up taking advantage of her offer a lot, as the only other way to heal is to pay for it at temples.

             

Two universes collide.

      

There's a temple, where I can pay for healing and resurrection (when I have companions). The manual spoils who your companions are going to be. I'm apparently destined to find Odin, an "esper wizard" named Noah from Motavia, and a cat named—groan—"Myau."

   

Finally, one of the buildings opens into a small dungeon with no enemies (and no need for a light source), but I do find a treasure chest with 50 "mesetas," the world's form of currency. This is quite a haul, since the character starts with no money and earns only a couple mesetas per battle. I buy a "flash" and a leather shield with the money.

    

It's nice to know that iron-banded wooden treasure chests will still be around in the future.

     

Robotcops block access to what looks like some sort of transport tube, so I take a different exit and find myself on an overworld map. I'm not sure what I'm seeing at first, but it turns out to be three locations connected by some kind of conveyor belt transport: the Camineet Residential Area, the Parolit Residential Area, and the spaceport. Walking under the platforms allows me to enter the first two but not the third.

      

The entire area is surrounded by a wall, and the moment I step outside the wall, I'm attacked by a scorpion. Enemies are not visible in the exploration window; you're just suddenly taken to combat at random intervals. Combat is turn-based and, like Final Fantasy, inspired by Dragon Warrior (which was in turn inspired by Wizardry). Each round, Alis can attack, cast a spell (not at first; she has no magic until later levels), use an item, try to talk to the enemy, or run. I attack it round after round until it's dead, but by then, I've lost half of my hit points. He delivers 4 experience points and 13 mesetas.

      

The starting area is in a walled compound.

      

Through experience, I find that the area inside the wall is safe except for a little forest, where every time I enter, I'm attacked by enemies that are way too tough for me, including owl bears (despite the name, they are just eyeballs with wings) and multiple scorpions at once. On the grass, I'm safe inside the walls and I face easier enemies outside the walls, including "sworms," which just appear to be giant bees.

     

How did this make sense to anyone?

     

The Parolit Residential Area has the same shops and services as Camineet, but the armory sells weapons rather than shields. The cheapest is an iron sword at 75 mesetas, so that'll take a little while.

    

NPCs say:

• "This is the Parolit Residential Area."

• "The Forest is a dangerous place."

       

As I've learned.

      

• "Medusa has been reborn and lives in a cave to the south. If you see her, you will be turned to stone."

• "To the east lies a port town called Scion."

• "There is an underground passage to the Gothic Forest somewhere to the west of Parolit." I assume this means on the island to the west of Parolit, as I searched for and could not find an underground passage on this island.

    

Again, Robotcops block access to the transport to the spaceport, but at least these guards tell me what I need to pass: something called a Roadpass. 

     

She'll only come out at night.

     

I head out to explore the rest of the world, but I can only last a couple of combats before I need to return to Camineet to heal. Thus, much sooner than I expected, I settle in for a period of grinding near the city. In about 20 minutes, I've defeated enough sworms and scorpions to rise to Level 3 and afford my first weapon upgrade to an iron sword. At this point, I'm strong enough to take on the more difficult forest enemies, like owl bears, or to face a couple of sworms or scorpions at a time. When you face multiple enemies, the game decides randomly which one you attack. I'd rather I had the ability to target a specific enemy.

    

My statistics at Level 4.

     

At Level 4, I get my first spell, "HEAL," and 4 magic points to cast it. This is enough for two castings. Leveling also comes with increases in maximum hit points and your "attack" and "defense" scores. Feeling stronger, I start to expand my explorations a bit. The game comes with a map of Palma; it shows that the land is divided into three islands. Camineet and Parolit are on the eastern one. There's a cave and some kind of settlement to my south, another cave and settlement to my east, and what looks like a compound to my northeast.

     

The map of the starting island.

     

I loop counter-clockwise around the starting compound and soon learn that I want to stay the hell away from the water; otherwise, I get attacked by "fishmen" who wipe away half my hit points in one blow.

    

I reach the cave to the south and use my "flash" to light it up. Dungeon exploration is in tiles, although it does a movement animation between them that suggests continuous movement. This dungeon is a bit larger than the first, with several random encounters with "wing eyes" and green slimes. I suddenly remember the warnings about Medusa, but I don't encounter one.

       

Or maybe it's a "great slime." The game likes to abbreviate things when it has plenty of room.

     

I do find a man who has been turned to stone. I have no way to help him yet. 

         

He was apparently in the act of punching Medusa.

     

Back outside the cave, I head south. There is indeed some kind of village in the woods, but I can't make it through the woods to it. Every time I try, the game tells me "the path in the woods is unclear." I guess I need some other help. By the time I return to the compound, I have enough money for my next upgrade, to a "tit. sword," which I hope stands for "titanium." 

     

No idea on "CRC." Clerical? Circular? Cricket?

      

I make my way to the port town of Scion to the northeast. Here, I find:

   

• An armory selling armor. I don't quite have enough for the "light suit," but I add it to my list. 

• A second-hand shop selling flashes, transers, and "secrets." I don't know what that last item is, but I have enough for it. When I try to buy it, though, the clerk just tells me, "I don't know who told you that. You had best forget it."

     

Nobody told me anything. It's right there in your menu!

       

• NPC: "You need a compass to pass through the Eppi Forest." That must be the impenetrable woods I encountered earlier. 

• NPC: "I recently found a talking beast in the cave where medusa lives." Weird. I didn't. "I sold him for a good price to the merchant from Paseo." Ah. I wonder if this is the Myau who's destined to become my companion, which means that the statue is likely Odin.

• NPC: "Odin set off to kill Medusa. He went with an animal that can speak! The animal had a bottle of medicine hanging from its neck. But I don't know what that is for." That confirms it, I guess. The medicine will probably restore his flesh. That means I have to go to Paseo, wherever that is, and find this animal.

• NPCs: "A cave called Iala can be found on the peninsula to the south of Scion"; "A cave called Naula lies on the north coast of Baya Malay"; and "There is a hill called Baya Malay to the north of this town, but none of us dare approach it."

      

I later find Iala.

      

• NPC: "They say there are Motavian living on Motavia and Dezoriann on Dezoris. I'd sure like a chance to talk to someone." That has to be the most useless NPC statement since, "Ugh. Me tough." in Ultima II.

• NPC: "A door locked with magic can only be opened with magic."

     

My next stop is the cave Iala, but the moment I get inside, I encounter a locked door. The moment I get out, a couple of beasts called "goldlens," which look just like owl bears, which look just like wing eyes, kill me. On a reload, I win a few battles and return to Scion to buy a light suit. 

        

Not getting past that.

      

The compound north of Scion is surrounded by a stone wall with one entry, but it also leads to a locked door. Same with a cave on the far north of the island. I have no idea how to get to the other two islands, so at this point, I'm a bit stuck. 

    

I need:

      

• To find Paseo, wherever that is, to find Myau, to find the potion, to restore Odin. Paseo doesn't seem to be on this island, as I've explored the whole thing.

• A compass to get through the Eppi Forest.

• A Roadpass to get to the spaceport.

• A key or way to unlock doors to get through the other dungeons.

• Some way to cross the water to the other islands.

       

To make sure I haven't missed anything, I make another loop of the island and its towns, reaching Level 6 in the process. My new spells are "BYE" (ensures you can flee combat) and "CHAT," which has something to do with talking to enemies, but I don't know how it differs from the "Talk" option on the combat screen.

     

This sounds like the beginning of a ballad.

       

I check out the "escaper" and "transer" from the shop. The escaper is yet another way to flee combat, and the transer automatically takes Alis home in Camineet. Neither helps with my current predicament.

    

On the extreme parts of the island, enemies become a lot harder. There are giant tarantulas, vampires, and "evildead" that I can't defeat. Fortunately, it's easy to avoid these places. I find that at my current level, I can now kill one fishman but not two.

         

Groovy.

      

Unfortunately, I don't find anything new, so I leave it to my commenters to tell me what I'm missing. I'm not sure whether it's something mechanical (e.g., a menu option or button combination I'm not seeing that will open those doors or get me across the rivers between continents) or plot-related.

       

Is there an easy way over the water?

      

Phantasy Star isn't quite what I expected, but neither do I find it terribly compelling. I agree that it has a better plot and perhaps better inventory and combat than most console RPGs and quasi-RPGs of the period, but I wouldn't put it on par with Final Fantasy. Still, I'm just getting started, so we'll see how I feel at the end.

   

Time so far: 2 hours