PSO/ PS links guide

[grandadmiral2]

I've been looking at the info here for a while, used it to help me on quests and stuff, and now I figured i'll give a little something back. I've been a big phan (lame pun intended) of the original Phantasy Star series for a while now. I've played all the games, and beaten all of them but II and IV. (And I did beat PS III with all endings).
So I figured if you people would care to put up this thing, I wan to make a guide to all the references in PSO I & II to the old PS games. You'll be suprised at some of the things i've found looking for these for myself. Like......
The symbol on the statues that unlock the door to the ruins is actually the symbol of the Espers, a group of magic wielders in te old PS games. Makes you wonder who the "ancients" really were huh?
The rare items in PSO, "NEI'S CLAW", and "ESYDLION" (sp) are actually from the old PS series. "ESYDLION is the only sword that can truly slay a Drak Force, and NEI'S CLAW is a claw infused with the power of Nei, a character from PS II.
There's a lot more stuff i've found...including a ton of musical references in PSO songs. If you're interested in a guide like this, i'll start writing it, and if you know of any references feel free to post them, I by no means know them all.

[Junon]

Welcome to the boards.

The guide sounds good, ive heard quite a few people talking about the similarities between the PS Online series and the old PS series, some of the stuff is quite interesting! If you wanna make a guide, go for it :]

[grandadmiral2]

I've started it. If anyone wants to see how it is coming along just say so and i'll post it up on this topic.

[Proj3ct_Zer0]

Sounds great . I'd love to read it as I've never played any of the old Phantasy Star series.

[grandadmiral2]

Originally posted by Proj3ct_Zer0
Sounds great . I'd love to read it as I've never played any of the old Phantasy Star series.

You should like it then, it's going to have the storylines for all the games too. It's coming along pretty good, but don't expect it too be a killer-long guide....there's a reason why some say PSO is Phantasy Star only in name.

[Beat X500]

could I take a look plz, I am interested to see the similarities

[grandadmiral2]

Sure. I have completed the section for the original PS, and I have the story for PS II up too, along with the basic framework and stuff.

Phantasy Star Online Episodes I, II, & III
Phantasy Star Series References Guide
By grandadmiral2

Version # 0.05

Last Updated Thursday, January 29, 2004 at 9:43 PM

Index of References
I - Phantasy Star References
II - Phantasy Star II References
III - Phantasy Star III References
IV - Phantasy Star : The End of the Millennium References
V - PSO References In Other Games
VI - Other Game References in PSO
VII - Problems with the PS / PSO connection
VIII - Where Can I get my Grimy Hands on These Games?
IX - Special Thanks and Contact Me Refere - er - Section


DISCLAIMER:
This guide ( all but the where to buy part) is basically one huge spoiler for virtually every US Phantasy Star game ever. It DOES contain the entire storyline for all the games, so don’t read it if you want to play these games without spoilers someday. It also takes the official English translation of the game as sacred, and I don’t care how bad the translation is, it’s what we have. And it will NOT include connections to Phantasy Star Adventure, Phantasy Star II Prequel Games, and Phantasy Star Gaiden. One, because those games were never released in the US, and two, because they do not have one single reference in PSO as far as I know.
DISCLAIMER OVER

ACRONIMS USED
PS - Phantasy Star
PS II - Phantasy Star II
PS III: GOD - Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
PS IV - Phantasy Star: The End of the Millennium

Part I - Phantasy Star References
PS was an incredible game for its time, and is still fun to play today. The long , 3-D dungeons are both a help and a hurt to this game, players either love ‘em or hate ‘em.
The story is kinda thin in this game, but it is there. Basically, you play as Alis Landale, a young girl who’s brother, Nero, is killed while investigating the evil doings of the formerly Good King Lassic. She sets out on a quest for vengeance; and eventually, with the help of Odin, the axe-man, Myau, the - um - cat, and Noah, the Esper, she succeeds.
References from the original are few and far between in PSO. No matter how hard you search, there are just a few to be found. Here are all of them I’ve seen so far.

1 - Meseta
The concept of Meseta originated in this game. Fortunately it is much easier to find Meseta in PSO than it ever was in the old PS. One of the more challenging things was being able to afford all the expensive items there were to buy!

2 - Remember finding that bakery in PSO…underground? Seems strange doesn’t it? Not as strange as randomly exploring a dungeon on PS and suddenly meeting a lady at a counter selling cupcakes for 1,000 meseta! That’s true, the whole underground bakery is a joke reference to the original PS!

3 - Laconium weapons and armor also originated in this game. Although Laconium items are scarce in PSO, there are a few. In this game, all the best equipment was made of Laconium.

Part II - Phantasy Star II References
Phantasy Star II is considered the high point of the series. The 80’s anime style feel and deep, grim storyline are still incredible today, and were unheard of in 1989. It is also an incredibly difficult game. It is so hard, in fact, the original Genesis version came with a full strategy guide and map that declared the extreme difficulty in a small text block!
PS II starts out with Rolf, a young man who works as an agent in Paseo, the capital of Mota (This is the same as Motavia). He is sent on a quest by his superiors to find out what is wrong with Mother Brain, a giant computer that controls almost every aspect of life in the Algo star system. When he tries to leave, his adopted half-biomonster sister, Nei (The first Newman!!!), won’t let him leave without her. And so they set off to find out what is wrong with Mother Brain. Eventually, they travel to Dezo (same as Dezolris). One of the big shockers is when the planet of Palma is destroyed! As if to make things worse, on of the main characters, Nei, dies as well. A third big shocker is when you learn that Rolf is actually Rolf Landale, a direct descendant of Alis Landale! Eventually, you defeat Dark Force (same as Dark Falz), the thing that corrupted Mother Brain, and learn who actually made Mother Brain and brought it to Algo………Earthmen! That’s right, men from the now - destroyed planet of Earth made Mother Brain to conquer the people of Algo. Fortunately, you were able to stop them in time, and Algo (or all that’s left of it) is saved.
PS II references abound in PSO. I’d say that this game probably influenced PSO the most, but PS IV probably holds that actual title.

1 - Who can tell me who the first hunter was? No, it’s not in PSO. The first hunter is from PS II! Rudo is a man whose family was killed by biomonsters. He then became a professional monster hunter. On the strength screen it say’s he’s a “Hunter”.

2 - Nei and Neifirst, the first Neuman. Although she was not given the name “Neuman” in this game, Nei and Neifirst were the first PS character to have the trademark long ears and distinctive look. Too bad they both wind up dead. THAT does a lot for the continuity…..until you play PS IV.

Part VI - PSO In Other Games

PSO has left its mark on a few other games out there, mostly Sonic Team games. Here are all I could find of them.

Game - Sonic Adventure 2 : Battle
System - Nintendo Gamecube
Reference - Some of the billboards on this game in the level City Escape feature a couple of PSO characters and the logo.

Reference 2 - In Rouge the Bat’s final level, look for some small green and blue containers. That’s right….they are item capsules from PSO! Too bad you can’t open them and have Rouge running around with a double buster…..that would be too much fun for a Sonic Adventure game!

Game - Sonic Pinball Party
System - Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Reference - There are two music tracks from PSO in this game. They are played when you play the Samba de Amigo minigame.

Reference 2 - Let the main screen sit there for a while. Eventually the character portraits in the bottom two sides of the screen will become Ash and Sue from PSO! After them, Blant and the generic Newman/Female/Force will appear also.

Part VII - Problems with the PS - PSO Connection

There are a few problems with the connections. The major one being that the people in PSO are from a world known as “Coral.” “Coral” is not mentioned in the Phantasy Star series at any point. It could be that this planet is actually Alisland from Phantasy Star Gaiden, but in the American version storyline there are only three known planets that can support human life at the time of PSO: Earth, Mota, and Dezo. I am hoping that PSO III will address this issue and strengthen the ties between PS and PSO.

Part VIII - Where to get these games
I’m assuming you don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on the original games and systems tom play these games. Surprisingly, there are a number of ways to get a copy of at least one of these games into your hands, cheap. Here are all the ways to get these old games, without spending literally thousands of dollars for the originals.

1 - Phantasy Star
As far as I know, there is only one way to buy a version of Phantasy Star, and that is on the GBA game “Phantasy Star Collection (PSC).” The version is not a perfect port (the screen is smaller and there is a slight saving glitch), but it is easily just as good as the original.

2 - Phantasy Star II
There are three cheap ways to get PS II. The best is to buy Sega Smash Pack Vol. 1 for the PC. This is a perfect port of the original Genesis version. The second best is to buy the PSC, which has a good version also. The only issue with the GBA version is the smaller screen and the slightly dumbed down musical quality. The third is the worst way, but still a good way to get the game. PS II was also included on the Sega Smash Pack for the Dreamcast. This version has some slight slowdown issues, and the musical quality is REALLY bad compared to the original.

3 - Phantasy Star III
There is only one version of PS III available at the time. It is the third game on the PSC for the Game Boy Advance. This is a very faithful port of the game, no problems at all.

4 - PS IV
Unfortunately, there are no re-releases of PS IV available to my knowledge. This is ironic since it is technically the best game in the series.

I know it's not much now, but it shouldn't take me long to work out the stories and i'll soon have an almost finished version to put up as a guide.

[Proj3ct_Zer0]

Wow, quite interesting. I might try get hold of Phantasy Star Collections for the GBA. That has a few old PS's on it, might try them out

[grandadmiral2]

Originally posted by Proj3ct_Zer0
Wow, quite interesting. I might try get hold of Phantasy Star Collections for the GBA. That has a few old PS's on it, might try them out

Yeah, PSC is great...just watch out for the save bug in the first one. As long as you don't save when the music loop starts, you're fine. I was ticked about that game too, they left of "The end of the Millenium"! That was like, the best one man! Oh well, here's hoping for another GBA port.
\EDIT: BTW, I updated the guide today.

[grandadmiral2]

*Bump*
I am almost finished, sry for being gone for so long.