Phantasy Star: The End of the Millennium

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Phantasy Star: The End of the Millennium

Developer(s)	Sega AM7
Publisher(s)	Sega
Release date(s)	December 17, 1993 December 16, 1994 December 8, 1995
Genre(s)	RPG
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Kids to Adults (K-A)
Platform(s)	Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega Saturn in The Phantasy Star Collection, PlayStation 2 and PSP in The Sega Genesis Collection
Media	24-Mbit Sega Genesis Cartridge

Phantasy Star: The End of the Millennium (ファンタシースター千年紀の終りに, Fantashī Sutā Sennenki no Owari ni^?) (also called Phantasy Star IV) is a traditional console role-playing game released in 1993 for the Mega Drive/Genesis. It was ported as part of the Japan-exclusive Phantasy Star Collection for the Sega Saturn. Also, it was released in The Sega Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 2 and PSP. Part four of Sega's Phantasy Star series of games, Phantasy Star: The End of the Millennium combines anime-style artwork, interacting characters, in-depth storyline, interplanetary travel, and a major quest for the forces of good over evil.

1 Development history
2 Naming
3 Story
4 Gameplay
5 Characters
6 Remake project
7 Trivia
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] Development history

Originally, Phantasy Star IV was to have been designed for the Sega CD system, and would have been vastly different from its final incarnation. Features like 3-D dungeons (such as those featured in the first Phantasy Star), full motion video cutscenes, voice acting, and much more were planned. Unfortunately, poor sales and lack of support for the Sega CD platform caused a change of plans midway through development. Most of these features were scrapped from the final design, and the end result was a cartridge game that bore little resemblance to the original plans.

[edit] Naming

In Japan, the game was not given a number; in the American and European releases, the box names the game simply Phantasy Star IV, yet the title screen gives Phantasy Star: The End of the Millennium as the full title. At the time, this was seen by the gaming press as an attempt to make it perceived as closer to the widely-praised Phantasy Star II, rather than the less well-received Phantasy Star III — although there are many references to both titles during the story of the game.

[edit] Story

The long, long struggle of ancient times finally ended...

The victor sacrificed the vanquished to the heavens.

Four bells tolled. Four torches were lit.

And the world continued for thousands of years...

Phantasy Star: The End of the Millennium, which takes place in the year AW 2284 (1,000 years after the events of Phantasy Star II), is the final part of the series canon. It is the story of Chaz Ashley, a young bounty hunter, who along with his friends and allies, is unwittingly catapulted into the role of savior of the Algol solar system. The computer network which has worked to sustain Algol has gone into disarray, leading to a series of catastrophes throughout the system. An investigation of the problem leads Chaz and his allies into a confrontation with the dark wizard Zio, whose aim seems to be nothing less than total annihilation. Defeating Zio proves to only be the beginning, and amidst great tragedy and struggle, Chaz and the others must eventually fight against an evil from time uncounted to restore peace to Algol once and for all.

A screenshot from Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium.

[edit] Gameplay

Phantasy Star IV is an archetypal RPG in the spirit of the series, featuring the staples of exploration, NPC interaction, and turn-based combat. Building on its predecessors, it added a number of innovative features, such as pre-programmed battle sequences called "Macros," combination attacks between two or more characters, and manga-style panel illustrations for major scenes. Phantasy Star IV is also the first game in the series to have in-depth character interaction and development. Despite its few detractors, who mostly cite the considerable decrease in difficulty relative to the other games, it is the predominant favorite amongst fans of the series.

[edit] Characters

See Main Article: List of Phantasy Star IV characters

Chaz Ashley — main character of the game; a young bounty hunter and unlikely hero.
Alys Brangwin — top-ranked bounty hunter working out of the Hunters' Guild in Aiedo; mentor to Rudy.
Hahn Mahlay — a student at the Piata Academy investigating the whereabouts of his missing professor.
Rune Walsh — an enigmatic wizard; one of Algol's last "true Magic" users.
Gryz — a young Motavian warrior seeking revenge for the death of his parents.
Rika — a Numan girl created by the artificial intelligence, Seed, to carry on its will.
Demi — an Android girl created by Wren to oversee the Nurvus supercomputer.
Wren — an Android acting as custodian to Zelan, central hypercomputer of the Algol support system.
Raja — an easy-going Dezolisian priest known for his quirky sense of humor.
Kyra Tierney — an Esper girl working to determine the cause of widespread illnesses across Dezolis.

[edit] Remake project

The Sega Ages project planned a remake of this game for the Playstation 2 console, having revamped the first two games: Phantasy Star Generation 1 and Phantasy Star Generation 2. However, the Sega Ages website has recently confirmed that a compilation for the Playstation 2 featuring all 4 of the original games is in production, leaving the future of the previously announced remake in limbo.

[edit] Trivia

When they first meet, Su Raja mistakes Fal's long, Numan ears for horns. This is a mocking reference to the American cover of Phantasy Star II, in which Nei, another Numan character, had her ears drawn as horns.
In the final dungeon, you may run into the original Phantasy Star 's Dark Falz as an ordinary monster named Prophallus.
One of the young Musk Cats in Myau's cave brags about being able to get the top off of a bottle. In PS1, Myau joined the party partly because he needed help getting the top off of a bottle.
It is the only one of the original four Phantasy Star titles that was not translated to Portuguese by Tec Toy. Only in 2004 was a fan-made translation [1] done.
A now-known glitch in the game is that once your character has leveled up to level 99 in the game, the characters stats in the game decrease as opposed to increasing, which forced players to be cautious about leveling up their characters in the game. Upon the game's re-release on the Sega Mega Drive Collection, the compilation pokes fun at the glitch by warning players not to reach level 99 in the Hint section.
The cover art for the American and European releases was done by Boris Vallejo. Its depiction of the characters bears little resemblance to the in-game visuals.
The instruction manual for the American version states that there are 15 possible Combination Attacks. However, only 14 were ever discovered, and the manual is most probably wrong. Occasionally the "secret technique" Feeve[2] is mistaken for the "lost 15th combo."