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If you've been following this blog at all then you're probably aware of the Together Retro game club that I follow that's curated by the folks over at
http://www.racketboy.com. The game for March was the original
Phantasy Star, a game that I never got the chance to play prior. Thankfully a cart containing the first three games of the series was released for the GBA in 2002. Though I did have a Sega Master System years ago, I didn't adopt it until around the time that the Genesis was released and toy stores threw Master Systems into a bargain bin. Unfortunately,
Phantasy Star was never one of the games that found its way into the same bins. I do remember trying
Phantasy Star II on the Genesis for a short time, but the entire series was one that I was always aware of -- and mildly interested in -- but just never found myself curious enough to give it a go. And I had no idea just what I was missing out on.
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What immediately became apparent to me was that
Phantasy Star was a game that was far ahead of its time, bearing in mind that its contemporaries were
Final Fantasy and
Dragon Warrior on the NES. Of course those two titles tend to epitomize what we think of as 8-bit RPG classics -- and they're the first two RPG's I ever played myself -- they actually come off as quite shallow in comparison to
Phantasy Star.
The game begins with our main character, Alis as she slowly ventures out from one little town and grinds (for at least an hour!) until she can venture to the next. Pretty basic stuff. But over time you will pick up three more varied characters to add to your party and explore not only the planet that you started out on -- but two others as well!
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Indeed the world of
Phantasy Star soon becomes amazingly large and complex. There are deserts and tundras; robots and slimes; hovercrafts and landrovers! There's elements of
Star Wars,
Dune, and Greek Mythology. It was truly a game that was ambitious in its scope in every department -- be it the story, visuals, or music.
Unfortunately, one such ambition also leads to the games one true detriment -- its absolutely brutal-to-navigate 3D dungeons. My understanding is that upon its initial release in 1988, the Master System cartridge of
Phantasy Star sold for $80. To put that it into perspective, it cost nearly as much as the Master System itself. I suppose that perhaps the 3D dungeons were a way to force the player to stretch a lot more gameplay out of the already enormous game, forcing you to eventually resort to making your own maps (or if you're playing it today instead of 1988 simply finding some online, which is exactly what I resorted to midway through my own playthrough). Of course as frustrating as the dungeons may be, they are certainly interesting and well... ballsy for a game of its time.
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After spending the month grinding, and exploring and cussing my way through
Phantasy Star, I can firmly say that the series has gained a new fan.
