PSOld-school: Shiren...

[OnnaWren]

Shiren<Forren?

Paraphrased from "The Book of Hunters":

http://www.classicgaming.com/saturn/pso/Settei_386.gif

"The character called Searren386 (sic) is a battle robot who was introduced in Phantasy Star III: Successors of Time. Searren is a robot, borne of an ancient culture possessing extremely advanced science; as such, he differs from androids in that he lacks emotions. Programmed to obey orders only from Orakio's people, he assists the human heroes across all three generations."

Did not appear in PSO due to time constraints.

(thanx to Pioneer Alley (http://www.classicgaming.com/saturn/pso/A_Collect_Settei_B.html) for the pic and info)

This is a far different picture of the one known as Shiren than the one painted by the original PSIII character designer, Toyo Ozaki (unfortunately, her site seems to be down at the moment)...

Thoughts from other old-school PS players on this?

[EDIT: The title did not come out, so I retyped it at the top of the post]

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: OnnaWren on 2003-08-15 11:30 ]</font>

[_Sinue_]

I've never read the Book of Hunters, so I'm a bit confused. Benoilt and a few other members here insist that PSO has absolutely no storyline connection to previous Phantasy Star titles, as Sega stated so in a Famitsu Interview prior to PSO v.1's release.

However, your description states that he was removed from PSO due to time constraints.. which meant he was originally intended to a part of the game either as a model # player character or an actual definitive link to Phantasy Star III in the form of a NPC. I'd like to know just where he was planned to fit into the story.. as that could finally put to rest rumors of weither or not the Ruins are the Alissa III or if Ragol really is Earth.

Nice find

[OnnaWren]

I haven't read the Book of Hunters, either; I am confused as well. This seems to imply that the current Phantasy Star programmers see Shiren in a different light than the programmers of PSIII. If this Shiren had appeard after all in PSO, imagine the chaos that would have ensued?

Lutz/Noah, move the hell over! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

Sega's statements on PSO having "absolutely no connection" to previous PS games only refers to the finished product as it appeard on store shelves. As the Book shows, there are many things (other character classes, etc.) that were either shelved or scrapped prior to the game's release.

As for your thoughts on just where in the game he could appear (player character vs. storyline NPC), I tend to think that it was the latter. This would once and for all place PSO into the main PS continuity (although I think that there is enough there to form a definiteve timeline, based (along with other seemingly minor details) on the fact that the A(U)W calendar is still in use at this point).

[Valleo]

For me all this does is create more questions. Ok so theyre saying that they had planned to include Wren as an NPC? Well, was he going to be met on Ragol or was he going to be a fellow traveller on Pioneer 2? Because the former would indicate that the ruins are in fact part of the Alyssa 3, that Ragol is probably earth, and Wren is all thats left of the wayward Palman ship, while the latter would indicate that the people on the Pioneer's were indeed the distant descendants of the people from the Alyssa 3, again in search of a new home, and now theyve stubled on these ruins, which in that case I could only assume would mean that the ruins were a ship used to contain Falz, put on Ragol and sealed by espers after PS4. Gah.... I dunno....

[OnnaWren]

On 2003-08-15 12:20, Valleo wrote:
So they're saying that they had planned to include Wren as an NPC? Well, was he going to be met on Ragol or was he going to be a fellow traveler on Pioneer 2?


I tend to think the latter; wandering the Ruins would be the most likely place to randomly encounter him. Either that, or there would be a secret place off of the beaten track (eg the waterfall room in Ruins 1) where one could go to find him.


The former would indicate that the Ruins are in fact part of the Alyssa 3, that Ragol is probably Earth, and Wren is all that's left of the wayward Palman ship.


It doesn't have to necessarily have to be the Alisa III. Remember that there were "some tens of ships" to escape Algo, and up until the rise of Dark Falz during Orakio and Laya's time, the ships all traveled in close formation. As for Shiren, remember that he is only one of an entire line of 386-type Wren robots (see also Warren286, Siren386, and Browren486 from PSIV) in use from the time of PSII (but before the creation of Fuoren, who I believe is a prototype, or possibly the only one of his line produced before the Great Collapse). It doesn't necessarily have to be the same Wren386. (note: Then, Shiren and Siren are both Sirens. Interesting. Food for thought.)


Or, in the end, if the ship is the Alisa III, just remember that no one ending of PSIII takes precedence over the others, no matter how much we wish one did.


The latter would indicate that the people on the Pioneers were indeed the distant descendants of the people from the Alyssa 3, again in search of a new home, and now they've stumbled on these Ruins, which in that case I could only assume would mean that the Ruins were a ship used to contain Falz, put on Ragol and sealed by ESPers after PS4.


I don't believe that the ship is necessarily the Alisa III, as I have stated, but the people on board the Pioneers are definitely Algolian in origin (Androids, Numans, techniques, meseta, and the fact that Heathcliff Flowen refers to Dark Falz as their "heritage"- he must have been a bit of a historian as well as a soldier). As for the name of the homeworld, Coral, well, there is no proof that some Algolian refugees didn't originally settle on Coral, possibly finding it to be (or causing it to become) unstable before starting their "great migration" to Ragol.

But there is still much left to be uncovered about Ragol, the Coralians (Algolians)... hopefully, Episode III will shed a little more light on this.

[EDIT: grammatical redundancy]

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: OnnaWren on 2003-08-18 12:54 ]</font>

[Valleo]

They say that only 2 of the world ships survived the ensuing onslaught of Dark Force, after all the hundereds of worldships launched, so it could only be either the Alissa 3 or ... well I dont know the name of the other ship. Also, since Dark Force was imprisoned on the Alissa 3 by ,Orakio was it? I would assume that he had never been to the other ship (or he would have destroyed it). To tell the truth though, I dont think that the ruins are the Alissa 3 in any case.

Personally, I think that a (or many) Espers trapped away Dark Falz on a ship post PS4, and then took the ship to Ragol where they sealed him using the same technique used to seal the Profound Drakness, because at that point Elsydeon was broken and they had no other means to get rid of him. Also keep in mind that prior to PS4, the only being that knew about the planetary seal used as well in PSO, was the Great Light himself. Anyways....

[OnnaWren]

Ah. I should have stated the name of the other ship. Neo Palm. Although, I believe that the Neo Palm was destroyed by Siren in one of the branching PSIII storylines...

As for the "two ships" bit, I think that the worldship fleet broke up when ships started to disappear with no warning.

A thought I just had, though. What if Pioneer 2 is the Alisa III, as well as the Ruins? I've noticed that the dome of the Pioneer 2 could very well be a single dome from an Algolian worldship. The other six domes could be the Ruins... ah, I'm getting too far off-base with this.

*glances at the bottom theory* Are you a fan of Mike Ripplinger's (http://camineet.net)? >_<

[Valleo]

Ha ha... a fan? Well I wouldnt go that far. But from all the PS theories that Ive read (Mike Ripp, Joel Fagin, Neilast ect) I think I tend to agree with his the most. Or at the very least, they make the most sense to me. But it has been a while since Ive played the games, perhaps I should play them over again and re think which theories I adhere to?

[OnnaWren]

Please pardon me while I go a little further off-track...

Why adhere to a set of theories when you can rethink your own? They'd be just as valid, provided enough thought is put into them.

Hmmm... Joel Fagin. The name seems familiar- perhaps he came to prominence after my departure from mainline PS fandom back in 2000- the same time Neilast and others disappeared, as well. Coincidence? You be the judge. Link me? I'd like to know what he thinks. As for the other two, well, personal experience has taught me that just because one has an eye for details, it doesn't make them any less of an a**hole as a person. >:/

Believe me, the old "my way or the highway" schtick gets old after a while. Every theory has validity, for, until they are either confirmed or denied by SEGA, any can be right, and any can be wrong. It's all opinion, and it's all subjective.

And with that off my chest...

Anyone else? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Monomate]

On 2003-08-15 11:50, OnnaWren wrote:


Sega's statements on PSO having "absolutely no connection" to previous PS games only refers to the finished product as it appeard on store shelves. As the Book shows, there are many things (other character classes, etc.) that were either shelved or scrapped prior to the game's release.




there are a LOT of connections to the previous games in PSO...Nei's Claw, Rika's Claw, Dark Falz himself, the Prophets of Motav (Motavia...), Newmans, androids, stuff like that...

[Kupi]

They're talking about plot. Absolutely no connection to the plot; Algo/l might as well not exist in PSO. It's its own timeline.