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paralaxscroll
Jun 5, 2007, 05:08 PM
have a look at this (http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb70/parallaxscroll/phantasystar6pn.jpg).

This is from the editorial page (http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/8535/mayjune91046fp.jpg) of Mega Play magazine, May-June 1991.


a few things to keep in mind:

*Phantasy Star III had already been released in Japan in 1990 so it was already done.

* this is NOT Phantasy Star V because IV was being made and was far from being finished.

*Phantasy Star III was supposed to come out, in enhanced form, on SegaCD. maybe the picture is PSIII CD but I highly doubt that.

now here's where things get interesting (for the Phantasy Star Phan):

*A very different Phantasy Star IV, subtitled "The Return Of Alis" was supposedly in the making for both cartridge and SegaCD formats.

July 1992 GamePro magazine article (http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb70/parallaxscroll/mdcdpsivcs2.jpg?t=1181064881)



SegaBase web article on SegaCD (http://www.eidolons-inn.net/tiki-index.php?page=SegaBase+Sega+CD)


In terms of software, the biggest news by far was with the Phantasy Star RPG series - the closest thing Sega had to Square's Final Fantasy franchise - with two Mega CD titles announced as being in development. The more notable of the two was the all-new title The Return of Alis, which was to take place immediately after the events depicted in Phantasy Star 3 and tell the story of the fight against a revival of the intergalactic slave trade. This new installment in the saga would be 20 times the size of the earlier game and would incorporate both audio and anime clips.


Sega cancelled the planned Sega CD release of Phantasy Star 4, opting instead for a cartridge-based Genesis game that bore little resemblance to its original Sega CD concept.


* the early cinema scenes in EGM's first PSIV preview (http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb70/parallaxscroll/ps4preview3.jpg?t=1181080066) (Number 37 - August 1992) as well as the first-person dungeons (http://www.phantasy-star.net/art/compendium/3dps4.jpg) that were cut out, were both from PSIV: End of The Millenium, not the unreleased PSIV The Return of Alis. this is often the point of some confusion.....

.....Usually one mentions "an unreleased Phantasy Star" or
"Phantasy Star IV: The Return of Alis" people will think of, and mention those early unused cinemas & first-person dungeon image of PSIV: End of the Millenium, not realizing these are two totally different PSIV games --one that was never released at all (Return of Alis) the other was released but with things cut out (End of the Millenium).


As far as I know, there have been no pictures seen of the earlier 'Return of Alis', a concept for a PSIV game that was completely scrapped. The only possible (however unlikely) picture of PSIV: The Return of Alis is that unidentified screen in Mega Play.

That image in Mega Play is not absolutely for certain PSIV: The Return of Alis, it is only a possibility. It could very well be from a non-PS game--yet it looks so VERY PS-ish, does it not?



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: paralaxscroll on 2007-06-05 15:09 ]</font>


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: paralaxscroll on 2007-06-06 13:07 ]</font>

HUnewearl_Meira
Jun 5, 2007, 10:51 PM
As I recall, that screen shot turned out to be from part of the Ys series that never came to the US.

There was a Phantasy Star game that never saw the light of day, though. Phantasy Star II's plot originally had Noah/Lutz wake up from cryogenic sleep and decide to be a warrior. I understand that production even began on this game (consider how geographically similar PSII's Mota is to PSI's Palma), before the plot was scrapped, and the new plot written.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: HUnewearl_Meira on 2007-06-05 20:54 ]</font>

paralaxscroll
Jun 6, 2007, 03:16 PM
You might be confusing a mistake that either Mega Play or EGM (same people really) made in another issue.

In one of their previews they had a screen of Ys III (side scroller) which they called Phantasy Star 4.

The screen that I posted does not at all look like an Ys game. Yeah, I know, Ys IV: Mask of the Sun was canceled for SegaCD.
The main reason I don't think it was an Ys game is that in the Ys series there's only one characters you play, Adol, not a party of 4 or 5 characters as with PS II, PS III and PS IV.

I'm interested in that never-made follow-up to PSII.
Know anything else about it?



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: paralaxscroll on 2007-06-06 13:19 ]</font>

Saigan
Jul 15, 2007, 06:17 AM
Those screenshots are from a cancelled Ys game. Sorry- this was confirmed some time ago. I don't know anything about the PSII follow up. EotM seemed to follow it pretty well.

HUnewearl_Meira
Jul 17, 2007, 11:42 PM
It wasn't a follow-up to PSII. It was a different version of PSII entirely. Rebecca Capowski has a translation of the bit that talks about that in the book, The World of Phantasy Star, which can be found here (http://home.att.net/~RCgamusic/bizarps2.htm).

paralaxscroll
Jul 28, 2007, 12:30 PM
It wasn't a follow-up to PSII. It was a different version of PSII entirely. Rebecca Capowski has a translation of the bit that talks about that in the book, The World of Phantasy Star, which can be found here.

that's extremely interesting. though I think we're talking about two different things entirely. I might be wrong but here's what I am thinking: Phantasy Star II's devepment ended sometime in early 1989 since the Japanese release was March '89 on the Megadrive. so okay, there's was a different version of PSII in planning, or parts of PSII that never made it into the final game. that's something else entirely since we're talking about a game that was designed in the late 80s ('88-89') and this is PSII, not PSIV.

The different version of PSIV that never made it into production was most likely something completely seperate from the different version of PSII. since PSIV development started in 1990 or 1991, got previewed in magazines in 1992 and 1993, then the final PSIV was released December 1993 in Japan.

so I think the Phantasy Star team had different ideas and plans for BOTH PSII and PSIV.

Yeah, it's very possible that some of the things they wanted to include in PSII ended up in PSIV. Yet that's probably entirely seperate from the completely different PSIV that never saw the light of day.



Those screenshots are from a cancelled Ys game. Sorry- this was confirmed some time ago. I don't know anything about the PSII follow up. EotM seemed to follow it pretty well.

first of all, there is only ONE screenshot. the one in Mega Play, May/June 1991, editoral page, not screenshots. more importantly, I strongly believe you are confusing this with a genuine mistake that was made in Mega Play magazine in the Feb 1991 issue where they had a screenshot of Y's III but labeled it Phantasy Star 4.

lastly, can you show me something, where, what you are saying was "confirmed some time ago", because to me, nothing has been confirmed. can you show me at least some semi-credible message forum post, if not an interview or something?

I know Y's IV Mask of the Sun for SEGACD was canceled. but there were never any confirmed screenshots of that game. we never saw it. The picture in Mega Play May/June 1991 does not have the character Adol, it has a team of characters that look like they're from a Phantasy Star game.

I am not at all ripping anyone or trying to be critical, or flaming anyone, or anything like that. I just wanna get to the bottem of this mystery, and often times people remember something that has nothing to do with something else (in other cases, I do this myself).




<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: paralaxscroll on 2007-07-28 10:42 ]</font>

Saigan
Aug 8, 2007, 02:10 AM
You may be right about me confusing it with that mistake although I'm not sure. Unfortunately I can't quote my source simply because I read about it years ago and can't even remember from where. Sorry.