Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium (1995) [Genesis] critique

Imagination is a powerful thing. It leads us to wonder, to dream and create. It can guide our dreams or realize our nightmares. The wonderful thing about gaming is that it has the ability to do both. I don’t remember the city I was in, the friends I was hanging out with or even the year. But I can, all these years later, pinpoint the exact moment my love for gaming and RPGs started. Simple pixels that talented people transformed into a vibrant world full of wonder that inspired an obsession that has spanned over 30 years of gaming.

While my introduction to the series came with Phantasy Star 2, the pivotal game for me was always Phantasy Star 4. Every gamer has a bar in their mind that new games must measure up to. That mentality is formed in us all at some point. For some it’s the first time you smash a goomba, for others it’s watching the declaration of the Warriors of Light. For me it was the day Chaz and Alys graced my screen. I had played Phantasy Star 2 before but as I picked up the sequel at Blockbuster, my little gamer mind was blown. I saw a futuristic college, space, magic, monsters, and aliens. Battles with strange alien creatures with shotgun blasts, laser swords, metal claws and magic leaping off the screen – and I knew at that moment I had found something special.

A traditional turn-based RPG, all encounters, outside of bosses, are random battles. You move through the various maps battling hordes of monsters desperately trying to survive. This is not a game for the faint of heart. Incredibly limited resources, inventory space and relentless enemies made for a difficult experience. Playing this alongside other mainstream RPGs from the time really emphasizes this. Beyond the mechanics, Phantasy Star 4 did things that many future games would become popularized for. The strength of friendship, perseverance, coping with loss and the death of those close to you. Themes familiar to anyone that’s played an RPG before but for its age here it really came as a shock. There is no warning, no build up, major events hit with a suddenness that makes it feel real. Here, as in reality, life and death just happen. There’s not always a warning, and even rarer a happy ending. You don’t get the opportunity to dwell on it as life must go on.

The game opens with Alys, a famous monster hunter, and her protégé Chaz, arriving at an academy that is facing bio-mutant attacks. You are joined by Han, a researcher at the academy, and venture off to find the source of the problem. The game moves at a brisk pace. We’re quickly introduced to a colorful cast of characters and our antagonist Zio. I don’t want to go too deep into the story as it’d be incredibly easy to spoil things, and even for a game that is 30 years old I believe people should absolutely go in blind. There are many elements in this game that I genuinely believe are handled better here than any even modern games have managed.

Perhaps the biggest strength of PS4 is the cast of characters. Alys is one of the coolest protagonists you’ll encounter. She’s strong, confident, feminine and an absolute beast in combat. Her reputation as a legendary hunter is quickly proven to be well-earned. She’s harsh on Chaz but her teasing and coaching never come off as cruel or demeaning. She sees the talent and potential the boy has and as such pushes him to get every ounce of that potential out. Chaz, Rune, Rika, and others that fill out the roster are well-developed and grow naturally as the game progresses. There are no self-insert characters here. Everyone has a unique personality and perspective on the mission at hand. Characters come and go with regularity, but it never feels forced. Their actions are logical and absolutely make sense in the grand scheme of things.

If there must be a negative, it’s one that has plagued the Phantasy Star series all along, and that is the weird naming structure for abilities. Some, like fire ability Foi, are easy enough to sort out. But other abilities, like Deban, sounds like it’s a debuff but is actually a defense boost, while Doran is an agility debuff. There are no in-game tooltips, and if you aren’t familiar with the series and the abilities it’s easy to get confused as to what each one does.

The 8-bit Review

Narrative: 9/10

The story and characters  to me are perhaps the games greatest strength as it starts fast and rarely slows down. We follow Chaz and his mentor Alys as they investigate a bio mutant outbreak at the Motavian Academy. From this simple start the story expands to cover the entire planet with everything from the hunters guild, secret underground machine storages, dust bowl towns and even religious cults. Early on we’re introduced to our antagonist the magician Zio. Realizing the threat he poses Alys, Chaz and crew set off to stop the madman. This is where my childhood took a hit. Through this point in the game Alys has shielded Chaz. She’s strong, capable and absolutely earns her reputation as one of the top hunters. Yet in our initial confrontation with Zio she jumps to protect Chaz from an attack and is struck with something not even Rika’s strongest heals can help with. The party retreats and puts Alys to recover while we seek a cure which we find with Runes help. Triumphantly we return to Hans’ home to find we are too late. Alys the strength of the game, the character I had thought to be the protagonist to that point, gives a heartfelt goodbye, hands off mentorship of Chaz to Rune, and passes away. There was no build up, no warning, no Alys going off alone. She’s strong and surrounded by her allies, the strongest she knows and she falls in all the same.

As she was my favorite character, I can still remember my reaction. I shared the character’s feelings. Anger, sadness, confusion, simple pixels elicited such strong emotions I felt Chaz’s rage and in that moment I also felt Rune’s growing pride for the young hunter. What stood out to me was how real it felt. Chaz’s grief and feeling like it was his fault. Rika, in her limited understanding of people, trying to find the words to cheer up her friend. Rune, while grieving his friend, still managing to pass on wisdom to Chaz all while knowing the time to mourn would come later, Zio must be stopped. There’s a reality in this situation. We all face death in our lives, some cope with humor, others cry, some try to find logic in the moment. These characters show the gamut in just a few brief moments of still shots, moments that have stayed with me nearly 30 years later. Death wasn’t something new to Phantasy Star but the moment was handled with great care.

Like the characters, we get a short moment to grieve before we are put back to action. Alys’ passing is abrupt, like in real life, we have to move on. There’s still a battle to be waged. It’s also here that the story shifts to a more interplanetary level as Zio reveals that Dark Force, the ultimate antagonist of the prior three games, has returned and our mission had only just started. But in the moment the universe could wait Zio had to pay. I vividly remember screaming in joy when Zio finally fell to my sword. Our victory is short lived as we set out, leaving the planet, to find answers on how to fight Dark Force and finish this tale once and for all.

The strong writing continues in the cast of characters, which fluctuates slightly but each one is a stand out. They have their strengths and weaknesses both in battle and in personality. Chaz starts out cocky but unsure of his strength, but grows strong and confident as he overcomes his failures real or perceived. Rika develops from a being with childlike innocence, which she never truly loses, but learns what it means to love and protect those she cares about.

The story spans multiple planets, several space stations. It brings us a colorful cast of humans, Numans, androids, a goofy lizardman looking priest in Raja, the beastly looking Motovian Gryz and others. All have unique perspectives and reasons why they come or go from our party. But out of the gates the story jumps into high gear, we’re introduced to Zio within the first few moments of the game and it doesn’t stop until the heart pumping finale.

Wrapping up a story four thousand years in the making is a high bar to set. That itself is impressive but Phantasy Star 4’s story is great as a stand-alone title, traversing the planets, looking into what systems are causing havoc for the different people, aiding, losing, and reconnecting with friends along the way.

Themes: 9/10

The game touches on several different themes. From grief and finding your way through the struggles that life throws at you to growing into your true destiny so you can step up to face the ultimate evil. Far from a unique theme, its the handling that makes it work so well. Each character through their own arc is shown coping with loss of loved ones, personal failure, and facing overwhelming challenges. Chaz  starts off over confident, desperately wanting to prove himself. But by the end he matures and comes to find his ultimate role in the greater battle. Rune understands his destiny from the onset, conducting himself with a hilarious mix of wisdom and arrogance as he doesn’t believe Chaz is ready for what’s to come. Meanwhile Rika is simply trying to help her friends and find her place in the world. This is shown during a few cutscenes where characters will react and Rika is still young and unsure how to process what’s happening. While each battle, victory, defeat, death and separation from friends hits the cast hard, the game does an excellent job of showing how these characters take these challenges and push forward. It’s easy to see yourself in these fanciful characters. Whether it’s Rika trying to find the light in each situation, Chaz searching for strength, Rune trying to take on the task of teaching Chaz leadership, these are all things we encounter in life that are represented here.

Visuals: 9/10

A beautiful game to look at. Even on the Sega Genesis Phantasy Star 4 is vibrant and colorful getting the absolute most out of every pixel. Every animation jumps off the screen. The introduction of combo attacks and the macro system allowing you to pull these off with regularity makes for a fun and visually pleasing game. This coupled with the stunning comic strip style cutscenes that still look as good as most anything scene today has caused this to age incredibly well.

Audio: 8/10

For a game with a midi soundtrack, it’s fast and frenetic. Yet the music is paced perfectly with the scenario/theme. Battle themes are bombastic, boss music is dark and foreboding , every thud from Gryz’s ax, to the slashes from Rika’s claws, the brief charging sound as rune prepares his magic. The audio presentation is very well done. Much as I love it there is no opera scene here that you’ll be humming to yourself 30 years later but I still believe for its time the audio is great.

Gameplay: 9/10

A straightforward turn-based RPG, Phantasy Star 4 doesn’t reinvent the wheel. The macro system provides a semi auto battle set up that speeds battles along. There are some legitimate issues with the lack of thumbnails and spells/abilities having weird names that don’t always line up with what you’d think they do. But still the fun of Wren launching rockets into the sky while Rune conjures a tornado to create a fiery vortex of death will never not be cool. That said some dungeons can be long and the stress of trying to stay alive/balance your resources can be a downer some. I however found it to be a welcome challenge. Compared to other RPGs of this era Phantasy Star can be on the more difficult end. Dungeons are sprawling mazes of hallways and elevators, encounters are frequent and enemies can be punishing. But that makes the victory all that sweeter.

Uniqueness: 9/10

Released a full year before other classics even began pre-production, Phantasy Star 4 has elements that I still don’t think have been matched. A fantastic cast of characters, art style, cut scenes, traveling to multiple planets and space stations. The game is a true epic. This is also one of the first games I remember having combo attacks. These are not spelled out and must be discovered by trial and error but when they fire off it really is a spectacle. These paired with the macro system, another unique addition, which made pulling them off more easier made combat a visual treat but also moved the fights along at a brisk pace. Another unique element is the fact that Phantasy Star 4 wraps up a story that began in 1987. The story stands wonderfully as it’s own stand alone tale but there are references and direct links to the preceding three games.

Replayability: 6/10

As there is only a single ending and no real hidden quests that are easily missed, the replay value here is entirely up to the player. For me being able to see these characters is like going to my high school reunion. It’s great to see Rune’s snarky nature, the big brother teasing he has with Chaz, Rika’s innocence, Raja’s quirky nature and all others. Reminiscing over this wonderful story and to be reminded why this gem has stayed as one of my favorite games for 30 years. There’s a charm to the cutscenes and combat that has aged very well. That said, while this is a fun world to spend time in with wonderful characters there’s little reason to replay it beyond a personal desire to revisit. While that reason is high for me, it is entirely dependent upon the player.

Personal: 10/10

Preference is a tricky thing as every game is going to land differently for different people. I’ve always believed that Phantasy Star should stand right alongside other major RPG franchises, but the decision to stop with 4 before moving to the MMOs removed the game from the major spotlight. That said, personally, Phantasy Star 4 is an absolute masterpiece. It’s a game I have and will continue to revisit frequently. It’s a large world filled with fantastic characters, creative enemies, and a well laid out narrative that has stuck with me for over 30 years. As a child I’d played games before and after, where characters had passed. I mourned Nei, I sat dumbstruck at Palom and Porom’s sacrifice, and was furious with myself when I learned I could have waited for Shadow. But none of those touched Alys’ sacrifice and the subsequent fall out. The rush to find a way to save her only to fail. The moment I stood triumphant as the villains that robbed me of my favorite character fell will always stick with me. In gaming the first character we’re introduced to seems to usually be the protagonist.

This game changed me to constantly expect the unexpected, that even strong characters can die, to never breathe a sigh of relief until I was out of the dungeon, cutscenes were complete and my file was saved. It flipped the script so well that I’ve forever been paranoid that my favorite character would die. When young me couldn’t find Locke in the world of Ruin I just assumed he had gotten Alys’d and I begrudgingly moved on. This paired with zipping from Motovia to the icy Dezolis, and the space stations in between, fueled my imagination. I spent many a night dreaming of crossing space with an old android, a snarky wizard and a spunky kid with a big sword. As an old gamer I’m incredibly grateful to these pixel Picassos who took 16-bit pixels and spun them into a lifetime of wonder for me. If you have not played this game before I cannot recommend it enough.

Aggregated Score: 8.6