And so it’s come to this – a whole series worth of build-up leading to the final entry in the classic RPG series: Phantasy Star IV! Lessons were learned from past games, design mentalities were formed, an identity was created, and it was time to take all of that to the next level in order to make the best Sega Genesis RPG possible. Dare I say, one of the better RPGs in the entirety of Sega’s catalog! Yeah guys, this game’s banging, and it’s high time I explain to you all how and why it’s my favorite out of all four games. This series was a hell of a ride, going all the way from the 8-bit Master System to Sega’s 16-bit champion, but we’re here and we’re finishing strong! I hope you enjoy my review, and join me in honoring a game that put into perspective just how much I ended up caring about the science fantasy spectacle that was Phantasy Star!!
Shoutouts to both Nio and Sol as always for the thumbnail work. Those two are the best of the best, and deserve some love!
Nio (Art): https://twitter.com/NiOARTsss
Sol (Graphic Design): https://twitter.com/TalesOfSolgilou
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/zaffrerevo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZaffreRevo
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zaffrerevo
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/zaffrerevo
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MUSIC CREDITS
(in order of appearance)
Algol Star System (Complete Sound Collection)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUQrIJaXKiM&t=2s
Behind the Circuit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4YpDMV2jEw&t=22s
Her Last Breath (Complete Sound Collection)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXlDlxe30WQ
The End of the Millennium
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCeRRtvmSlg&t=16s
Behind the Circuit (Complete Sound Collection)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fwWzpbGdyw&t=17s
Machine Center
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YkqDEttklE&t=26s
Motavia Field
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwzWYuM18mg&t=18s
Organic Beat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cgv8StxeaY&t=22s
Tower
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29FjdeM2BGs&t=21s
Laughter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao2LP75E7ac
Organic Beat (Complete Sound Collection)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upxScioMzuc&t=54s
Fight Medley (Complete Sound Collection)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBg6CTNwqJE&t=116s
Metallic Madness (Past) – Sonic CD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziTN-VI_tEk&t=7s
Pause Menu – Mario Strikers Charged
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOhMmVeNd0M&t=5s
Dungeon Arrange 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQDSa19Mec4&t=3s
Dungeon Arrange 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsfP3qWrSF0&t=27s
Land Master (Complete Sound Collection)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg–zdCw0kU&t=2s
Phantasy Star 1 Dungeon Medley (Complete Sound Collection)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgBf4prb2n0
Credits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGrTg1nJHr8&t=36s
source
You love to see it.
So excited to have gone on this nostalgic journey with you and excited for this video your videos are always a great way to unwind after work or when gaming. . Keep up the great content and keep up the awesomeness!!
P.s. we're all super proud of you buddy
Proud of you Zaffre 😉 for seeing this through to the end. was interesting to see all about this series I very rarely looked into and heard about
Finally caught one of these close to release! I'm so angry that this game looks the most interesting because I have to play at least two other games before it but at least it'll be satisfying to see the progression of story and gameplay come to a head with this one. Great video Zaffre, loved that small heartfelt speech at the end 😀
Also yes I'm proud of you good job
Very happy to see you being happy with the game.
It was truly a fine piece then and I agree is still plenty enjoyable now, I actually see many people starting on twitch and I often end up sticking with them as they discover the game.
So many great mecanics have been introduced in this game, there is a second layer of pleasure just in understanding and replaying the game with good knowledge and improved strats that makes you feel powerfull at even low levels.
Battle speed is great, music awesome, art fantastic, I am still attached to the game now more than ever and would have loved to dive again in a sequel to those game to enjoy a solo RPG with cameos or call backs to PS 1.2.3 and 4 lore that kept getting richer through the serie.
Thx for your well crafted video
This young man has been really cooking these past few months
It's great to hear this series nailed an ending that so often can elude even great stories. 🙂 It's a shame companies have such a hard time remembering how valuable just learning from your last couple of games is worth. The RPG trope of amnesia always gets to them. XD
The online games are most likely best to play in order of release as the gameplay steps up over time, though one of the in-between steps from Universe to PSO2, Phantasy Star Nova, was a Japan-exclusive made by Tri-Ace (speaking of which, Star Ocean 6 was GREAT. 🙂 )
The story of Phantasy Star Online is expressed mainly through the single player Hunter's Guild missions and through data pods from the Hunter Red Ring Rico scattered throughout the stages, relaying her thoughts and experiences investigating Ragol's mysterious disaster. However, you may want to check a guide for one thing: there's a hidden side mission in the guild quests that involves saying some specific things and fighting a secret boss that gets you a pretty kickass weapon anyone can use. Because of the game's difficulty being level-linked, you can complete both episodes at a relatively low level. Higher level play involves just repeating those stages and getting better stuff from them. Episode III is a weird game, but it does have a story that's pretty detailed and its strategic rules are pretty fun to mess with.
PSO2, depending on the version may come together with NGS. It depends on the client you use. Some let you run separate downloads. Its story is accessed through a counter as well, like PSO, but is WAY less passive. Couldn't guess at what you'll think of it, but honestly? I unironically love the first 3 episodes, which comprise the Oracle Storyline (though I mentioned that back on the discord some time ago when I got to see the anime version of the Oracle storyline.)
PSO2, in short, is another universe. It's an entirely different realization of how the Profound Darkness, Dark Falz entities and the Great Light came to exist. NGS is 1000 years after the ending of Ep.6 and as for how it connects, well we literally just found that out a few days ago when Chapter 5 released. Until then, really nothing had been happening and I really want them to look back at this and realize people DO love it when they try to tell a story. 😀
i'm proud of you bby <3
(This is also one of my favourite games and you did a great job talking about it. Great vid!)
Phantasy Star 4 is my favorite Phantasy Star games. I just wish Alice Returns was going to be a thing.
…I can’t believe I never realized until just now that this series is connected to PSO.
I… I feel so dumb.
Damn, even though I played I to IV at the end of last year, I want to replay IV now!
I am glad you had a blast with that series 😄
It's nice to have a series concluded out of its own free will. I have all of these games on my Switch & PS3 & once I've cleared by big games & JRPGs I may jump on board to the Phantasy Star series.
Also yes I'm proud of you good job <3
Over half an year ago, I randomly stumbled across a YouTube comment under a Shining Force 2 (another Sega Genesis game) video. I don't remember the exact wording, but this comment mentioned the Phantasy Star series, which I knew nothing about at this point in time. So I became curious and looked this series up online. Phantasy Star 1 looked too old, Phantasy Star 2 too grindy and Phantasy Star 3 was simply unappealing to me. So I've decided to play the supposedly best game in this series, Phantasy Star 4.
Phantasy Star 4 seemed like such an odd game to me. I couldn't quite put my finger onto it, but something seemed off about this title. Hunters slaying monsters in a deserted post-apocalyptic sci-fi-fantasy world? A black wizard facturing a cult around him? Spaceships and androids? Just what was going on with this game?
The only 16-bit-RPGs I had played were Super Mario RPG and the first part of Breath of Fire 2. I was also not familar with the Sega Genesis. So Phantasy Star 4 was pretty much unfamiliar territory for me. Still, over time I warmed up to this title: The characters were memorable, the story was good, the battle system okay and Phantasy Star 4 as a whole was pretty good. Not the best RPG I had ever played, but certainly a memorable experience. And I don't think I'll ever forget the summer evening, where I finally finished this video game. The final boss fight was a struggle and took forever to beat, but hey I did it. I truly beat this random RPG, which I only started out of a whim. And I'm glad to have invested my time in Phantasy Star 4, I'm so glad I did. And to be honest, this video game has stuck with me ever since. Maybe I've developed some weird overobsession with an RPG, which is much older than I am, but it just goes to show how memorable Phantasy Star 4 really is. I love the character design and the continuity of this game. And don't get even started on the music! I absolutely adore the soundtrack of this videogame. Phantasy Star 4 has one of my favorite video game soundtracks in general. I actively have to stop myself to not listening to it everytime I ride the bus.
You know, normally I wouldn't be glad about a series ending on a high note. It's always a shame seeing a franchise getting abandoned by its developers, when it is at its peak.
But Phantasy Star 4 is different. It took everything great about its predecessors and rank it up to eleven. And now, after having played all the games in the classical Phantasy Star series, I couldn't be happier about the end of the Phantasy Star series.
Thank you
to the original staff, Sega for re-releasing their Genesis games like crazy, Zaffre Revelution for making these great retrospectives and every classical Phantasy Star who helps in not letting this series fade into obscurity.
Now if you'll excuse me, I still have to finish Breath of Fire 2.
Until then,
-Fyala
So at no point do we ever get to dungeon-crawl through a battleship during a fleet battle, or astral-project ourselves across the stars, or get trapped in a landmaster as its drives itself to the enemy stronghold, or arm space pirates to convince people to join your cult of darkness for safety, take over a certain MMO to distribute pro-Earthmen propaganda, rediscover your favorite YA novel "Terror Former" and make its plot a reality, hunt down dark forces to absorb their power so you can transform into a universe-swallowing black hole, sink the royal palace into lava during a blizzard-hurricane and carve a trail of destruction across the galaxy only to have all your plans ruined by overpowered parents. Dunno it just seems like more could be done with this setting. hrm? A plot for a sequel? ok
Not a century has passed and already history repeats itself. Motavia is ruled by the genocidal Arugoru Empire under the leadership of King Lashiec. They are determined to prevent the return of The Profound Darkess by destroying all references to anything it might have interacted with. Their society is one of order; their tech scifi hardness in ignorance of a setting that has actual magic. The only opposition is one Princess Alis whose quest begins with her execution and a connection to a dark force that holds her body intact at 0 hp
Elsewhere in a remote star system known only as "Sol" a dozen colonies are kept isolated by the sinister Cult of Terra. From the gardeners of Venus and elementalists of Mercury to the Belter pirates and industrialists of Titan each colony offers a different technology base and weapon to use against Lashiec. All the galaxy needs is a hero to unite them – or a villain so terrifying they have no choice but to unite
Oh so the party is handled like tve first 3 Tales of's, with a clear main group and a few loveable extras that can come and go, that's cool. But yeah I'm glad this game is a high note of a finale. I've been playing 1 on switch (and have the other 3 on steam, dabbled a bit with 2 a few months ago) so now im excited to get to 4