Thanks. That's too bad. I would have thought it'd be addressed if it has that sort of hacking community.
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SEGA AGES (Switch) |OT| To be this good on the go takes AGES! (Alex Kidd and Gain Ground are out in NA and EU on March 28th)
- Thread starter Hero of Legend
- Start date
Continuing where I left off in Phantasy Star, I decided to visit the Palmanian colony of Skure on Dezoris first just to see how far I could get. Which wasn't all that far at first, because one of the mountain caves hides White Dragons who have high attack power and nearly wiped me out. I had to hobble out of the cave and use Fly to regain my strength. Since I made some good meseta on Dezoris before I had to quit I picked up another Laser Shield back on Palma since Fly and the Transfer item take you to the last church you visited, even clear across another planet. Fortunately your ship follows you back but you still have to be careful, as the online manual states it's possible to trap yourself warping off-world like that during certain events and lose the ability to progress.
Skure too had some new equipment that I couldn't afford yet so I went back to Dezoris and fought some more. Even managed to fend off that bothersome White Dragon and reach the other side of the mountain where the native Dezorians live. There you can buy the Ice Digger but at 12k meseta it's too rich for my blood. There was also another cave and a building to explore but decided to cut my trip short, went back to Skure and flew to Motavia instead.
Skure too had some new equipment that I couldn't afford yet so I went back to Dezoris and fought some more. Even managed to fend off that bothersome White Dragon and reach the other side of the mountain where the native Dezorians live. There you can buy the Ice Digger but at 12k meseta it's too rich for my blood. There was also another cave and a building to explore but decided to cut my trip short, went back to Skure and flew to Motavia instead.
I bought Phantasy Star. It's better than in expected and the optimizations for the Sega Ages version are welcome. Good game.
Beat the last boss last night in Ages, it's really a great version and I hope M2 will do the same treatment to the other 3 games (although 4 doesn't need much improvements since it's so good).
I'm still trying to complete the bestiary, does anybody know where you encounter the squid and manta-ray (club and exterminator iirc) monsters?
I'm still trying to complete the bestiary, does anybody know where you encounter the squid and manta-ray (club and exterminator iirc) monsters?
I found some Clubs on the shore near Scion Cave on Motavia.
I'm playing in Ages Mode right now and feel like it might be pretty hard to complete the bestiary on that mode due to the lower encounter rate. I probably haven't seen half the monsters and I'm doing stuff on Dezoris.
You can actually load your saves in either mode so I can just search for the monsters in original mode while using my ages save.
EDIT: Discovered this only a few minutes ago.
Whoops, I meant Palma! Sorry about that, and thanks for the tip!
Most people would probably say no, I guess.
Puyo Tsu in particular is the classic Puyo game that hardcore fans most love, but if you're a casual player the older versions probably aren't going to be that appealing or necessary.
A ton of competitive Japanese Puyo players still play Puyo Puyo Tsu in arcades. I'm going to get it to practice 4-way inputs in the random chance I ever end up in Japan. (Modern SEGA puyo games use 8 way inputs that make playing faster a lot easier.)
I think the hardcore Japanese fans will really like this Switch release. They loved the Wii VC port back in the day (which also had online play) (awful online play).
I think the hardcore Japanese fans will really like this Switch release. They loved the Wii VC port back in the day (which also had online play) (awful online play).
They probably could've just skipped the original and done Tsu. I'd like to see Sun and maybe ~n given a rerelease some day too.
Hopefully M2 actually localizes them this time rather than just releasing in Japanese like on Virtual Console or 3D Classics. I know AC Puyo 1 already has an english version at least.
Hopefully M2 actually localizes them this time rather than just releasing in Japanese like on Virtual Console or 3D Classics. I know AC Puyo 1 already has an english version at least.
I'm happy that Phantasy Star's reception has been good so far, it seems like a nice update that makes a dated game appealing. Is there any possibility for a Sega Ages release of Phantasy Star 2? That's something I would totally buy.
There's definitely a possibility. They've said nothing is off the table really.
Almost finished the game and yeah, it's a really nice port. The new balancing in ages mode is pretty great and reduces drastically the amount of grinding needed. It makes me think of the mobile ports of older Dragon Quest games, these games really benefit from this kind of breezy pacing.
Returned to Motavia but instead of the familiar Paseo I had to park right next to a small village called Uzo. There's a Light Saber for sale here which is a good upgrade for Alis but turns out you can get a free one a little later so I would eventually be rewarded by not immediately splurging. Directly south and slight west I bumped into Casba town but seeing as it's completely surrounded by rocks and a small lake the only way to reach it is through Casba cave nearby. I was warned by the Uzo citizenry that the cave was full of dragons and sure enough, I found both a Red Dragon (that drops the aforementioned Light Saber freebie) and a tougher Black Dragon that drops the Amber Eye key item. I forget what exactly this does but apparently it'll come into use eventually.
In Casba the only item of worth is the Land Rover for sale at a reasonable 5400 meseta. Since I found the hidden 5k meseta chest in the cave this a no-brainer purchase. With the Land Rover my team can steamroll over the Antlion dens that blockade certain portions of Motavia. I now have free reign to go just about anywhere on the planet but it's also easy to lose my way since landmarks are sparse. The map is actually rather small and you'll eventually wrap around to the other end quickly by only going one direction. The townspeople mention a poisonous marsh nearby and a hidden flute somewhere back in Gothic. Before that however, I stumbled onto a new cave tucked away in the mountains south of a big lake and decided to investigate. It's a pretty fair size dungeon and contained a lot of chests w/ misc. items and some old equipment for my mage. At the end of it I bumped into 'Noah's' mentor who decides to challenge him to a one-on-one duel, unfortunately his magic was mostly depleted so I had a hard time of it. Winning gets you the Frade Mantle, the strongest armor that Noah can equip.
With a bunch of meseta in my pockets from all the fighting I decided to look up Paseo and see if I can purchase those expensive Diamond Armors I was teased about earlier, but I was still short a couple thousand. Also I tried to access the spaceport and the guards confiscated my passport. :(
EDIT:
I had to consult a faq for this next part since I couldn't remember how to find the Hovercraft on Motavia. Turns out you don't, but the clue you need to get it requires you to talk to a specific person in Uzo. When he asks if you know what a Hovercraft is, you're supposed to say YES to trigger the flag. He'll then detail where to find it. I don't remember talking to the guy before so no wonder I was lost. With that I went back to Palma and got the flute in Gothic's little dead-end alley and walked to Bortevo to scan some garbage and get the Hovercraft. With it you can access two new areas on Palma: Drasgow in the south east of the map where I will be able to buy the Gas Shield, and a lone tower on an island west of Bortevo. I ignored the tower for now and left for Motavia with my prize. I could now journey into the poison marsh and enter the town of Sopia. For a modest donation the elder will point out the location of the Mirror Shield. And that basically wraps up Motavia.
With the Mirror Shield on 'Odin' we can finally challenge Medusa's Tower back on Palma. It would take several trips between the tower and Gothic to heal before I managed to explore most of the dungeon due to the toughness of the enemies there, especially the Marauder/Reaper enemies who can use THUN to damage my whole party. Not only that, but there were quite a number of trapped chests that sapped my strength and terrible rewards besides a few 'Burgers'. Eventually I'd reach the top and fight Medusa at the top of my game, and without her ability to petrify my party we made short work of her and claimed the Laconian Axe for 'Odin'.
After buying some Diamond Armors for Alis and 'Odin', I was finally ready to check out that island tower.
In Casba the only item of worth is the Land Rover for sale at a reasonable 5400 meseta. Since I found the hidden 5k meseta chest in the cave this a no-brainer purchase. With the Land Rover my team can steamroll over the Antlion dens that blockade certain portions of Motavia. I now have free reign to go just about anywhere on the planet but it's also easy to lose my way since landmarks are sparse. The map is actually rather small and you'll eventually wrap around to the other end quickly by only going one direction. The townspeople mention a poisonous marsh nearby and a hidden flute somewhere back in Gothic. Before that however, I stumbled onto a new cave tucked away in the mountains south of a big lake and decided to investigate. It's a pretty fair size dungeon and contained a lot of chests w/ misc. items and some old equipment for my mage. At the end of it I bumped into 'Noah's' mentor who decides to challenge him to a one-on-one duel, unfortunately his magic was mostly depleted so I had a hard time of it. Winning gets you the Frade Mantle, the strongest armor that Noah can equip.
With a bunch of meseta in my pockets from all the fighting I decided to look up Paseo and see if I can purchase those expensive Diamond Armors I was teased about earlier, but I was still short a couple thousand. Also I tried to access the spaceport and the guards confiscated my passport. :(
EDIT:
I had to consult a faq for this next part since I couldn't remember how to find the Hovercraft on Motavia. Turns out you don't, but the clue you need to get it requires you to talk to a specific person in Uzo. When he asks if you know what a Hovercraft is, you're supposed to say YES to trigger the flag. He'll then detail where to find it. I don't remember talking to the guy before so no wonder I was lost. With that I went back to Palma and got the flute in Gothic's little dead-end alley and walked to Bortevo to scan some garbage and get the Hovercraft. With it you can access two new areas on Palma: Drasgow in the south east of the map where I will be able to buy the Gas Shield, and a lone tower on an island west of Bortevo. I ignored the tower for now and left for Motavia with my prize. I could now journey into the poison marsh and enter the town of Sopia. For a modest donation the elder will point out the location of the Mirror Shield. And that basically wraps up Motavia.
With the Mirror Shield on 'Odin' we can finally challenge Medusa's Tower back on Palma. It would take several trips between the tower and Gothic to heal before I managed to explore most of the dungeon due to the toughness of the enemies there, especially the Marauder/Reaper enemies who can use THUN to damage my whole party. Not only that, but there were quite a number of trapped chests that sapped my strength and terrible rewards besides a few 'Burgers'. Eventually I'd reach the top and fight Medusa at the top of my game, and without her ability to petrify my party we made short work of her and claimed the Laconian Axe for 'Odin'.
After buying some Diamond Armors for Alis and 'Odin', I was finally ready to check out that island tower.
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Just beat Phantasy Star. This was the first time I've played Phantasy Star 1. It's been a long time coming. I really enjoyed it a lot. I love 80s JRPGs and this was no exception.
I'm currently at 97% completion in the Monster bestiary. Could anyone help me with the last two? I'm missing the monster right below Were Bat/above Fishman and I'm missing the monster below Androcop (I think these are Big Club and Tentacle but I don't know where they are). On a related note, is the Executor a really rare enemy? I only ever found him once and it was after already pretty thoroughly exploring an area. Lastly, do all monsters that you can talk to say the same pool of messages? There are more monsters that you can talk to than I realized.
I'm currently at 97% completion in the Monster bestiary. Could anyone help me with the last two? I'm missing the monster right below Were Bat/above Fishman and I'm missing the monster below Androcop (I think these are Big Club and Tentacle but I don't know where they are). On a related note, is the Executor a really rare enemy? I only ever found him once and it was after already pretty thoroughly exploring an area. Lastly, do all monsters that you can talk to say the same pool of messages? There are more monsters that you can talk to than I realized.
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Yeah, I prefer overall FM OST over PSG OST.
PSG has some good tunes especially when they are more upbeat but the high pitches in other ones are grating.
FM soundtrack sound close to Mega Drive which is fantastic coming from a "8 bit" console.
Also, double xp and double meseta per battle. Characters can walk 3x faster.
I started the game on Saturday afternoon and I'm nearly finished with it by Sunday night. That's how awesome the improvement made the game.
How likely is it that Golden Axe Arcade will be part of SEGA AGES at some point? I don't want to be disappointed with the laggy Genesis Collection emulator.. :x
well sunk a bunch of hours into phantasy star. fun and simple, but think i'll stop. the 3d motion must have been damn impressive in the mid 80s since i was still impressed today!
My hunch is that it'd be the Mega Drive version, if at all--the home port has more content and the arcade version is troublesome to re-release in Japan due to ratings issues (there's a bloody decapitation in one of the attract scenes and the Japanese ratings system hates those).
Fought the lone Red Dragon inside Palma's mysterious island tower and claimed the Laconian Sword for Alis, her strongest weapon. After cleaning out the rest of the dungeon, it was time to say goodbye to Palma for a while and continue my investigations of Dezoris. Since my pockets were bulging with meseta I went and bought the Ice Digger, then headed west and north to a lone building. Guaron Morgue, I believe. Don't even remember what's in here.
The Western release on the Wii VC Arcade release had that decapitation scene removed.
I would be filled with joy on either one of those. Let the waiting game begin.
I'll purchase the Capcom beat 'm up collection in the mean time, since i've heard less horror stories on the input lag, and it's 13 euros on the Norwegian eShop during the sale till Jan 3rd.
Rammed through the rest of Dezoris in one go. Found the Laconian Armor for Odin within Guaron Morgue (pretty sneaky, having to disarm the pit trap to reach it), went through another cave in the west and raided the so-called Corona Tower on the other side. At the top a Dezorisian traded their supposedly holy artifact, the Eclipse Torch, for my Amber Eye. Good deal. And in one other cave even further west, I searched around and found the Laconian Shield for Alis. But not before being tricked by another Dezorisian and getting trapped on a floor with no exits.
After healing, it was time to use the Ice Digger. Unfortunately there's no way to know what walls can be crushed just by looking so I had to press up against everything before I found the right ones. In a new cave I found the Aero Prism being guarded by a Titan enemy, who went down easily enough. Next I found the Laerma Tree in the secluded Altiplano Plateau and used the Torch to unfreeze it and pick one of its nuts. Which Alis immediately dropped into the Laconian Pot. And now I have (almost) everything I need to finally take on Lassic, so it was off to Palma for the final battle.
After healing, it was time to use the Ice Digger. Unfortunately there's no way to know what walls can be crushed just by looking so I had to press up against everything before I found the right ones. In a new cave I found the Aero Prism being guarded by a Titan enemy, who went down easily enough. Next I found the Laerma Tree in the secluded Altiplano Plateau and used the Torch to unfreeze it and pick one of its nuts. Which Alis immediately dropped into the Laconian Pot. And now I have (almost) everything I need to finally take on Lassic, so it was off to Palma for the final battle.
Those traps are kind of trivial when you have automapping to help you, but man, did they get you completely lost back in the day ^_^
The QOL changes in the Ages version are really amazing. I'm very happy to see so many newcomers beating the game and enjoying it!
Like how the credit's sequence has a minimap on its own and that it has Alex Kidd icons representing the staff credits on the walls.
Really great port overall. Compared to the first Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, I got to say this is a way more compelling first entry JRPG romp. I know the series only gets better with each numbered game. Hopefully we'll see more Sega Ages Phantasy Star ports in the future.
Also, I'm still amazed at how Alis is like one of the earliest female protagonists in video games but you almost never see her acknowledged whenever the discourse of early female representation in games is brought up.
Really great port overall. Compared to the first Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, I got to say this is a way more compelling first entry JRPG romp. I know the series only gets better with each numbered game. Hopefully we'll see more Sega Ages Phantasy Star ports in the future.
Also, I'm still amazed at how Alis is like one of the earliest female protagonists in video games but you almost never see her acknowledged whenever the discourse of early female representation in games is brought up.
The western version never had that scene, IIRC.
It did come out on the Japanese Wii VC as well but even so, I think it's probably not a high-priority pick.
Cool, cool. I've never played an 8 bit JRPG I think but these QOL improvements have me curious. Might pick it up in the future.
Picked up Phantasy Star and i'm in love. I've managed to miss this entire series which is incredible.
Back on Palma after rest and checkpointing at Camineet's church I headed for the only area that I wasn't able to access yet: Baya Malay. First you have to get past the prison, which requires Noah to know the OPEN spell to unlock a magically-sealed door. But since everyone was at level 26 by this point that wasn't going to be an issue. Inside were what I assumed to be fugitives of the state who had long since given up fighting against Lassic's tyranny. Pressing on, one of those Robotcops asked for my Roadpass. Suddenly the same Roadpass that had given me access to all of Palma was deemed fake and I was sent to my own prison cell, though apparently Palmanian police are too dim-wired to confiscate weapons and equipment, I was out of there in a blink of the eye. The bot again asked for my Roadpass, and I proceeded to spit in his face (metaphorically). One quick battle later, and I was out. Once through another short cave and some more of those molten tarpits I reached Bala Malay Tower at the top of the hill. I decided to see how far I could get, and managed to both reach the top of the tower and find the Mystical Key (replaces the OPEN spell) but I was severely weakened and decided not to push my luck so I EXITed out to heal. Also I hadn't filled in all of my auto-map yet so clearly there was more of the tower I needed to see.
There's a GA character cycled in the Sega Ages startup sequence so the property is at least on M2's minds.
I could see both the arcade original and RODA both making it. Not the MD port or sequels though. Probably not the Duel either, when M2 gets to Saturn there'll be bigger fish to fry.
Yeah, to this day I still consider PS the GOAT for me. I still own my original Physical copy that I bought on the day it came out. I had a friend that ran a booth at a local swap meet and he always got games early. I remember going to his booth hoping he would have it but he only got Miracle Warriors and he got PS a week later. PS at the time won a lot of best RPG/Best Graphics awards back then.
I am 98% sure my wife got me a Switch for Xmas and the first thing I am doing other than set up is downloading this game. Can't wait!
Back into Bala Malay tower, my automap shows only one path I hadn't explored thoroughly yet. At the end I find the Soothsayer who barrages me with questions and upon answering them correctly I get... a crystal. Apparently it grants protection against Lassic. I proceed back to the top of the tower and use the Aero-Prism at last to reveal Lassic's floating castle in the sky. Afterwards I fed the Laerma nuts to Myau which transformed him (her?) into a giant winged beast to take us to the castle. Along the way we're challenged by a Gold Dragon whose capable of healing itself, but we wore it down to nothing eventually. Unfortunately Myau's new form doesn't grant any kind of bonuses in battle, a crying shame.
We land on Lassic's front lawn and rush to the castle. The corridors within are rather right to the point and isn't anywhere as complex as Bala Malay, but it is really really long with the occasional dead ends and fraught with battles. Halfway through I'm confronted by Shadow, a new-ish enemy that looks like Dr. Mad but calls itself Lassic's shadow. I take it out and continue on my way, but by now by health reserves are getting low so I'm forced to use up some of the 'burgers' in my inventory to avoid using up Myau's MP. Eventually I make it to the final door so I save the game and grit my teeth (as I did for every door I came to in this dungeon). Lassic greets me inside and asks if I really intend to attack "an old man".
oh yeah
Lassic likes to spam THUN repeatedly and it tends to take out Myau and Odin quickly. Alis and Noah last a little longer but Wind and Fire spam eventually leads to just Alis trading blows (when you can actually hit him) until Lassic goes down. But then I come to realize that I need to return to Motavia of my own volition using FLY or a Transfer to get off of Lassic's rock but lacked both. Oops! I reloaded my save and beat Lassic again, this time making sure to keep Alis' MP from being totally depleted. I was able to get out and immediately traveled to Paseo to meet with the Governor. I healed while I was there and then after entering the manor I found myself trapped in a new dungeon with no governor in sight. After dropping several levels and journeying inward I met the true form of the nightmare that tormented Alis back during my first visit: Dark Falz.
So I beat his ass.
Mission accomplished, the now un-possessed Governor drops the bombshell: Alis' lineage is that of the true Algolian monarchy and offers to make her the new Queen. You're actually given the choice (I chose YAS QUEEN) and then the game ends. Good end I think.
Well, that's Phantasy Star. Good game. I'm happy to be able to play and finish it again in this new form.
We land on Lassic's front lawn and rush to the castle. The corridors within are rather right to the point and isn't anywhere as complex as Bala Malay, but it is really really long with the occasional dead ends and fraught with battles. Halfway through I'm confronted by Shadow, a new-ish enemy that looks like Dr. Mad but calls itself Lassic's shadow. I take it out and continue on my way, but by now by health reserves are getting low so I'm forced to use up some of the 'burgers' in my inventory to avoid using up Myau's MP. Eventually I make it to the final door so I save the game and grit my teeth (as I did for every door I came to in this dungeon). Lassic greets me inside and asks if I really intend to attack "an old man".
oh yeah
Lassic likes to spam THUN repeatedly and it tends to take out Myau and Odin quickly. Alis and Noah last a little longer but Wind and Fire spam eventually leads to just Alis trading blows (when you can actually hit him) until Lassic goes down. But then I come to realize that I need to return to Motavia of my own volition using FLY or a Transfer to get off of Lassic's rock but lacked both. Oops! I reloaded my save and beat Lassic again, this time making sure to keep Alis' MP from being totally depleted. I was able to get out and immediately traveled to Paseo to meet with the Governor. I healed while I was there and then after entering the manor I found myself trapped in a new dungeon with no governor in sight. After dropping several levels and journeying inward I met the true form of the nightmare that tormented Alis back during my first visit: Dark Falz.
So I beat his ass.
Mission accomplished, the now un-possessed Governor drops the bombshell: Alis' lineage is that of the true Algolian monarchy and offers to make her the new Queen. You're actually given the choice (I chose YAS QUEEN) and then the game ends. Good end I think.
Well, that's Phantasy Star. Good game. I'm happy to be able to play and finish it again in this new form.
Finished Phantasy Star last night, a game I first started back in 89. I played the crap out of it on the SMS and was on the ice world when I lent it to my friend who then had it stolen during a party. I never got back to it until the Switch release, good god the improvements were spectacular and made it a very enjoyable experienace. Please let them do the same with PS2!
OP
OP
Can't wait to give Gain Ground a try. I've never played it before but have been loving these Ages releases, so I'll buy it for sure.