Newsflash: Algol System Saved by 15 year old and her magical cat!
Man, Phantasy Star feels more like an eaely Turbografyx-16 game than a Master System game.
So...I just focused on Phantasy Star this week from Sunday onwards. I played a grand total of 15-17 hours, which is probably on the short side and there are reasons for that...
I bought the Sega Ages version on Switch several years ago and only played a few hours. I aimed to finish said version. It is still available for $7.99, having not been deslisted last year when Sega deslisted many of their older games from digital storefronts. The Switch version has some notable QoL improvements from the original. Most notable among those are 4x experience and meseta from battles and the encounter rate is significantly reduced (I would assume at least 1/2). The net effect is a somewhat faster farming/leveling experience. The other, as you can see from my screenshot, is an auto-mapping system which makes dungeons a much more pleasant experience and thus speeds things up significantly. You can also switch between PSG and FM soundtracks. It also includes multiple screen filters and scanning options. I'm using the CRT filter and it does a decent job of replicating the glow and softer lines. You can play in original mode and full screen I'd you want the most authentic experience, but I played in "Ages" mode with all of the QoL improvements.
Some of the FM tracks sound flatter than the PSG versions but the dungeon, Medusa's tower and final boss tracks are pure 🔥. The Motavia overlord track is also pretty great.
It's been great to go back and revisit this classic, but man is it rough (like all 8bit rpgs). I wonder how hard it could have been to include a bit more dialogue. Its very sparse. We're just so accustomed to modern games having well fleshed out stories and characters that these old games feel lacking. It's also kind of amazing how quickly bosses go down compared to even early 16 but games.
Regardless of any complaints, I really enjoyed the ride and was pleasantly suprised to find that I remembered more than I thought possible considering I've only played through it once back in late 92'or early 93'. Oh...and if you finish it, this game has a seriously impressive credits sequence for the hardware. As an old Sega-head it was awesome to see all the devs with their old nicknames instead of their real names in the credits.
Note: screenshot taken at the final boss room door showing Alis' lvl 27 stats and equipment. And, for those who aren't terribly familiar with this franchise, all 4 original games have an interconnected story despite occurring centuries or millenia apart.
I really hope some of you are able to finish this game and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed replaying it!