Starting the Phantasy Star series

[+jeremiahjt]

Finished with my meseta grinding for Piata's stores.  I got Shir up to level 13 and everybody has the best equipment money can buy up to this point in the game.

 

I am not sure Shir is worth anything.  I had seen she would steal stuff, but I was still taken aback when she disappeared on me.  Finally found her back at Rolf's home in Paseo with a stolen Moon Dew, which is nice.  In battle she seems to be the most worthless party member.  The Laser Knife is the most powerful weapon she can use in the entire game and she does hardly any damage with it.  I suppose I could give her a second and get rid of the Mirror Emel, but I am not sure if it is worth it.  I did just learn about the Visiphone and she is the only one that can get it, so I will be using her for that.

 

Uzo Island was not too bad to traverse, but Climate Control is a whole other ballgame.  If I did not have access to a map I am not sure I would continue.  Although the very first time I went inside I chose random stairs and made it to Neifirst immediately, but I like to pick up all the treasure chests so I had to back track.

 

I eventually made it back to Neifirst with Rudo and Hugh in my party.  Hugh learned the Vol technique which is devastating so I took him along.  Nei fought by herself and was killed without putting up too much of a fight.  I had heard that the main character in the game died, so I was not too surprised since I figured it would not be Rolf.  My other three party members then took on Neifirst and got wiped out.  I tried Vol twice and it did not work either time. Great.  I might have to bring Amy along just to continuously heal Rolf and Rudo.

[ChildOfCv]

I've found that almost every character does better with a weapon in each hand, even Rolf and Rudo, at least for the first half of the game.  You can buy laser knives at Zema, which is probably the best knife you can get at the moment.

[+jeremiahjt]

1 hour ago, ChildOfCv said:

I've found that almost every character does better with a weapon in each hand, even Rolf and Rudo, at least for the first half of the game.  You can buy laser knives at Zema, which is probably the best knife you can get at the moment.

Both Rolf and Rudo are using weapons that use both hands right now.

[+jeremiahjt]

I got the Visiphone and it is nice to have. Why they did not make saving anywhere a part of the game like the first Phantasy Star is beyond me. Then they made the Visiphone a secret instead of making it part of the natural progression of the game.

 

I defeated Neifirst with Rudo and Hugh. I bought a ton of Trimates. Hugh was actually the only one that survived the fight. Up to this point I had not resurrected anybody because that Clone Lab worker is freaky, but I did not want to have to redo the fight so I now have two clones in my party.

 

The robots are very different than the Biomonsters. One thing I noticed is that the robots give a lot more experience than the Biomonsters did.

 

I finished the Control Tower and honestly if I had not seen the map for the Control Tower I do not know if I would have figured out to go there on my own. The Control Tower map is also ridiculous. There is no reason for that many stairs. I did figure out how to get the door to the cards open myself. I knew the music you learn in Oputa had to have a purpose.

 

On to the dams. Looks like the Red Dam should be first. Wasn't there an NPC who mentioned the dam order earlier in the game?

[+Ryan Witmer]

On 6/18/2021 at 9:27 AM, jeremiahjt said:

I am not sure Shir is worth anything.

I'm a huge advocate for Shir.  She's the only other character that learns the travel techniques Hinas and Ryuka, which leaves Rolf free to blast away with his awesome attack techs like Nafoi and Natsu.  She's also fast, really fast.  This comes in handy later when you can give her some nice unlimited use items.  She'll almost always go first in each round of combat so you can expect those items to fire early.  She can also pick off weakened enemies before they get a chance to attack again.  I love Shir.

 

On 6/18/2021 at 11:41 AM, jeremiahjt said:

On to the dams. Looks like the Red Dam should be first. Wasn't there an NPC who mentioned the dam order earlier in the game?

The librarian in the Central Tower in Paseo tells you this.  Red is first, green is last, I can't remember the order on the other two.

[+jeremiahjt]

Well I finished releasing all the dams which saved Motavia, I mean Mota.  I was then captured and sent to prison.  I had seen that there was armor called Prison Clothes, so I knew I would end up in prison eventually, I just did not know when.  The prison satellite I was on, Giara, fell out of orbit onto to Palma, I mean Palm.  It destroyed the entire planet!  Alis's and Nero's home planet! And Odin's, Myau's, and Noah's gone.  I was wondering why I had never seen any maps for Palma while looking for maps. Now I know why.

 

Now on to Dezoris, I mean Dezo.  One thing I realized recently is that I do not know who the main bad guy is (please do not spoil it either).  Whoever took control of Mother Brain has stayed well hidden so far and I have not accidently seen their name either.  I wonder if it will be related to Dark Falz/Dark Force (again please do not spoil).  Well I am sure I will find out on Dezoris as I do know that there is only one more space dungeon and I am sure I will know who I am going to go kill before I go do it.

 

Edit: I just remembered Noah was on Motavia, not Palma. So was Myau, but only because he was sold to someone from there.

[+Ryan Witmer]

I really wish I had been able to play these games in sequence and seen the destruction of Palma with no foreknowledge of it.  It gets mentioned in 3 and 4, so I already knew by the time I finally got to play 2.

[+jeremiahjt]

2 hours ago, Ryan Witmer said:

I really wish I had been able to play these games in sequence and seen the destruction of Palma with no foreknowledge of it.  It gets mentioned in 3 and 4, so I already knew by the time I finally got to play 2.

I was completely taken off guard by that.  I thought it was weird that I apparently was never going to go there as part of the story, but I did not think it was because it would be destroyed.  I wish the game would have went to the planet before it was destroyed so you could get a chance to see what it was like.  I was curious what it was like since Motavia had turned into a planet like Palma.

[7800Knight]

Kain is useless up until after defeating Neifirst and all your enemies on Motavia change into robots.

 

When you leave for Dezolis, Rolf and Rudo are must-haves as is Amy for healing.  The fourth slot I would either put Anna or Kain, the latter still being useful as you'll encounter plenty of machine enemies on Dezo and in the final dungeon.

[+jeremiahjt]

19 minutes ago, 7800Knight said:

Kain is useless up until after defeating Neifirst and all your enemies on Motavia change into robots.

 

When you leave for Dezolis, Rolf and Rudo are must-haves as is Amy for healing.  The fourth slot I would either put Anna or Kain, the latter still being useful as you'll encounter plenty of machine enemies on Dezo and in the final dungeon.

I do not know why, but I am committed to Hugh. So I will leave for Dezoris with Rudo, Hugh, and Anna.

[7800Knight]

Go for it.  Hugh's techniques can still be handy against the monsters on Dezolis, both on the planet itself as well as the dungeons you hit.

[+Ryan Witmer]

I think Rudo + Anna + Amy is the "default" end-game party and probably the best overall.  I enjoy other combinations, but it's really hard to pass up on Rudo's damage and Amy's healing.

 

The first time I played I also went in 100% on Hugh and it worked out fine.  I probably get the least use out of Kain just because I can't remember what any of his techs do.

[ChildOfCv]

1 hour ago, Ryan Witmer said:

I think Rudo + Anna + Amy is the "default" end-game party and probably the best overall.  I enjoy other combinations, but it's really hard to pass up on Rudo's damage and Amy's healing.

Don't forget Anna's AOE attacks

[7800Knight]

11 hours ago, Ryan Witmer said:

I think Rudo + Anna + Amy is the "default" end-game party and probably the best overall.  I enjoy other combinations, but it's really hard to pass up on Rudo's damage and Amy's healing.

 

The first time I played I also went in 100% on Hugh and it worked out fine.  I probably get the least use out of Kain just because I can't remember what any of his techs do.

Agreed.  Rolf, Rudo, Anna and Amy were the party I beat the game with.  You can't drop Rolf, the main character; both Rudo and Anna are heavy hitters and get Nei weapons; and the high difficulty makes Amy's healing a must!

 

Hugh can be good if you are willing to put time and effort into him.  His techniques against Biomonsters can work well on Dezolis monsters - Rimit, Doran, Gen, Sagen, Shiza, Vol and Savol.  Plus his other techniques like Res, Foi, Zan and Gra round out his abilities.  As for equipment, Hugh should be given a Laconian Mace, the Nei Shield and the Laconian Chest.

[+jeremiahjt]

I walked around Dezoris a bit. The Skure dungeon is kind of annoying for getting around the planet. I was pleased to see that Hugh's Bio-monster techniques work on the Dezorian monsters.

 

I thought I was sitting pretty with 150,000 meseta. After the second town I was broke again after buying all this new Laconian gear.

[+Ryan Witmer]

Skure is still the only top-down perspective dungeon I've ever had to make a map of.  There are actually worse ones later in the game, but I didn't map those myself, I just looked them up.

[7800Knight]

When I bought PSII in a shopping mall in Long Island, NY ages ago, my copy came with a hint book and it was worth its weight in gold!

 

The hint book not only tons of maps but tips too.  For Dezoris, the guide recommended Rolf, Rudo, Anna and Kain.  I preferred Amy because I needed her healing techniques; she learned NaSar which was a must-have for the final bosses. 

 

That same guide warned not to take Shir the thief to Dezolis.  If she stole from any of the shops, you had to fly back to Motavia.  Yet Shir has her fans.  Some say if you give her the Laconian Dagger and build her up, she can be effective in battle.

 

I remember my brother and I also owned a Sega Genesis strategy guide with tips for a bunch of games including PSII and PSIII.  That guide had strategies mainly for the bosses of PSII.  For Neifirst, it was recommended to have Rudo attacking, Amy healing and for Rolf - use NaFoi, attack with Laser Knife and then heal with Trimate.  That worked well for me.  I would equip Rolf with two knives/daggers, one in each hand, until getting the Sword of Ang at the dams.

[+jeremiahjt]

So I think 7800Knight may have some spoilers about the final boss in his post, but I stopped reading before I saw any names beyond Neifirst.

 

Right now I am grinding for meseta around Zosa. I have got the best weapons and armor for Rolf, Rudo, Hugh, and Anna that is available in either Aukba or Zosa. I am now trying to get the best headgear and footgear available in Zosa, I have already done this in Aukba. It is pretty slow going right now.

 

Speaking of armor, I am using RPGClassics for my equipment guide and I have found that it is wrong about Hugh. The shrine says Hugh should be able to equip both Crystal Chest and Laconian Chest, but I cannot equip him with either.

 

On to more grinding.

[7800Knight]

I didn't spoil want to spoil the final boss(es) or the game's ending.  You'll have to find out on your own about those.

 

Just be ready!  Level up as much as you can, get the best equipment you can for your characters and be ready for one hell of a fight.

[NE146]

47 minutes ago, 7800Knight said:

I didn't spoil want to spoil the final boss(es) or the game's ending.  You'll have to find out on your own about those.

Hmmm.. granted, the last time I played through and finished PS2 was literally 1990, but I recall thinking the ending was A) Not making much sense/confusing (like a lot of people show up?) and 2) Not all that great / unsatisfying for such a long game.

 

Or maybe I missed something that my then-21 year old head didn't quite grasp. ?

[+jeremiahjt]

1 hour ago, 7800Knight said:

I didn't spoil want to spoil the final boss(es) or the game's ending.  You'll have to find out on your own about those.

 

Just be ready!  Level up as much as you can, get the best equipment you can for your characters and be ready for one hell of a fight.

Okay, I read through your post and it does not have any spoilers. But this last post let me know there are multiple final bosses.

[+jeremiahjt]

I made it to Ryuon and found more equipment to buy. Some Dezorians talk about the Clone Lab's grandmother. Are all the Clone Lab workers clones and the original's grandmother is living on Dezoris?

 

I got tired of just grinding for meseta, so I went through the Crevice dungeon and made it to the Esper Mansion. I had read that Noah was in Phantasy Star II with his original Japanese name of Lutz, so I was not surprised. I probably would have figured out they were one in the same going in blind, but it would have been confusing.

 

Noah said I need to find the Nei weapons and equipment. Are these made from Nei's body? If so that is creepy.

 

I guess having the Aero Prism in your inventory lets you see the Dezorian dungeons. I think I will get some better Laconian equipment before I tackle these dungeons, but I may become impatient again.

[ChildOfCv]

1 hour ago, jeremiahjt said:

Noah said I need to find the Nei weapons and equipment. Are these made from Nei's body? If so that is creepy.

?

Well, you did fight Neifirst, so it's likely there are other Nei references than just the mysterious Aerith-wannabe.

 

The Nei weapons are scattered in all the remaining towers that you'll have to locate once you get a specific item that reveals them (they're cloaked at first).

[+Ryan Witmer]

4 hours ago, jeremiahjt said:

Noah said I need to find the Nei weapons and equipment. Are these made from Nei's body? If so that is creepy.

I'm in the middle of playing the Sega Ages remake of the first Phantasy Star in English for the first time.  It has a lot more dialogue and story references, and I was surprised to see the Motavians mention a goddess named Nei.

 

I'm going to be playing through the remake of 2, again for the first time in English, and I'll be interested to see how much more this gets fleshed out.  I suspect a lot of the story for 2 was lost in translation.

[+jeremiahjt]

I replaced Anna with Kain. I had the idea to build Kain, Amy, and Shir all up, but decided not to after seeing how long it took to build Kain up. I have Kain and Hugh attack almost every round with their Storm Gear, which honestly any of the characters could manage that. I have decided that the men will be my final group. Part of the reason is because Hugh and Kain are both specialists with techniques that are unique to them.

 

Speaking of techniques, Hugh learned Gra at level 27. What a useful technique at this stage of the game.

 

I have finished the four dungeons and have gathered all of the goddess Nei items. My next stop is Esper Mansion and to see Noah again.

 

I still do not know who is behind Mother Brain's actions, but here are my guesses.

 

1. Nobody-Like all artificial intelligences eventually do, she became evil all on her own.

 

2. Darkfalz-It came back (or maybe never left) to exact revenge on the people that defeated it.

 

3. Noah-The reason Noah is the last Esper left is because Noah had all the rest killed. The reason he saved Rolf is because he wanted to be the one to end Alis's line. Or possibly because part of him is still good and that part took over during the accident. Also possible Darkfalz corrupted Noah like it did to the Motavian governor in Paseo.

 

4. Rolf's commander-He is the only NPC you have really interacted with outside of Noah.