Phantasy Star I, II, & IV - Q&A

[CaptainPlanet]

Oh, no, don't worry, I didn't plan on ruining any element to the classic continuity by the Palman's tampering with the physical remnants of Dark Falz. (I suppose I'll just stick with that name since it would probably be best just to pick one, and "Falz seems like more of a name than "Force" which seems more like an idea. As long as they're the same thing, then I suppose it would be fine to pick Falz over Force.) After Alisa III arrives toward the beginning of the first film (or so it will be changed to) Earth forces don't waste much time in attempting to board the worldship (in a non-hostile sense at first). They somehow discover physical traces of something new to them (Dark Falz) and take it back down to the surface with them and begin tampering with the 'D-Cells'. This is ordered by the leader of the Earthmen (the one I've been referring to as the 'Old Man' all this time). He leaves FiestCorp in charge of this project while the other company run by Klaudya is left in charge of project Mother Brain and constructing a new breed of soldiers to enforce the new order he has on the horizon (an army of CASTs. If I decide to go with the alternate timeline, then that technology will come from the Algolians in the far distant future. If not, then the CASTs and photon weapons will merely be a byproduct of human evolution on Earth, which is starting to seem much simpler the more I think about it, and not originating from the inhabitants of Algol in any way).

By the way, I'm still unclear on one thing. Is Alis' father's identity ever truly revealed? I know he was a king, but is it ever specific as to which one? If her father's identity was never revealed, I had plans to explore that element in the films as well.

[Drac_Mazoku]

Uh, well he was...the last king? What do you mean which one exactly ? What point of his identity do you want to explore?

[CaptainPlanet]

According to Fringes of Algo, Lashiec was the last king until he turned toward warshipping the Dark Force. Or is that incorrect? If Alis' father's exact identity is not established, I was going to establish it in the last film. While it's true that these films are told from the perspective of Earthborn heroes, I had also planned on giving a face and a name to Alis' father. So I'm guessing her father was... Aurel Landeel (Landale)? I think that's accurate, right?

Also, it says that whenever Lashiec became king, Alis was taken into hiding, handed off to Nero and his family in Camineet, but why? According to the same site, Lashiec was a good king for a time, or so it is assumed. What would be their motive for hiding her if Lashiec was not a threat? At the end of the final movie, I thought it would be cool for Lashiec to come storming through the king's court, taking out castle guards with little to no effort making his way toward the king using his powerful magic, usurping Alis' father for the throne, but now that seems inaccurate, so that idea is out.

On a side note, I found a very informative PSIV game walkthrough with constant narrative. I am now at the part where they are trying to rescue Demi from Zio's fort. Quite informative thusfar. I will continue watching throughout the night and possibly finish up tomorrow if I get the chance. If you are at all interested, the channel I'm watching it on is here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrGeewho...12/Dj6V1HLUjeE

Also, was the castle in the sky the home of King Landeel (Landale) as well? Also, is there ever any mention of Aurel's ancestors or any royalty previous to him by blood? Before I go sticking my finger into the Classic PS pie, I want to make sure I don't thrust anything too alien into the lore. Also, are there any prophecies surrounding royalty in the original PS lore? If not, then my plans for that will work well.

EDIT:

Also, the quote from the beginning of PSIV:

"The victor sacrificed the vanquished to the heavens. Four bells tolled. Four torches were lit. And the world continued for thousands of years..."

What is it referring to exactly?

EDIT 2:

Also, one more question, if I may. Is there ever any mention of the Newmans (Numans) having an uncertain lifespan, or is that purely an element from PSO?

[Drac_Mazoku]

About the whole "king" thing, I will juste quote you the entire section from the official Phantasy Star Compendium translation

AW 327 - The current king, Aures Landeel, suddenly dies. In place of the less-than-one-year-old successor, Princess Alisa, the next-in-line head priest and prime minister Reipard La Shiec is entrusted with political power. However, a lady of the court, with the misconception that King Aures's death was the result of a plot by La Shiec [doesn't sound like a misconception to me], hides Alisa with a friend.

AW 328 - La Shiec is installed as the provisional king. Alisa lives with Motabia's governor.

AW 329 - Motabia's governor sends Princess Alisa to the home of the subordinate of a trusted retainer, where she will be raised as a common citizen. In this house, there is a boy called Nero. Alisa takes to him, and they are raised as brother and sister.

AW 338 - Princess Alisa's foster parents die in an accident.

AW 341 - La Shiec learns the secret of the Algol Solar System's genesis. Forming a space-time gate, he comes into contact with the sealed-away spirit-life form. As a result, he summons the projected body of the Profound Darkness, Dark Force, and becomes its loyal servant. That same year, a reign of terror begins.

AW 342 - Nero, investigating the reason behind La Shiec's transformation, is caught and killed at and by the hands of the special police. Alisa carries out his final wishes; she gains the help of Myau, Tyrone, and Lutz, and overthrows La Shiec and Dark Force. That year, when the governor of Motabia is told the news, Queen Alisa Landeel I is placed on the throne.

Lashiec is thus just a provisional king, and was surely not evil then. It was because of a misconception it seems that Alis was hidden away. But if you want to know what Alis real father did during his life, then no, there's no specific info on the matter. Just that he was the last real king, and that he died. That's it. Lashiec surely didnt kill him back then.

Anyway, as for the Air Castle, all we know is that it was Lashiec stronghold...no one know if it was used by previous royalty before. Maybe so. Because here's another quote from the official timeline

BW 13 - The supreme ruler of Parma's Baya Malay region, Waizz Landeel [first name spelled out in roman letters], raises an army with the goal of uniting all lands under one ruler.

AW 1 - Waizz unites Parma. The first line of Parman kings ascends to the throne. The development of Parma continues.

You can see the only other mention of a previous Royal lineage. Waizz Landeel. He was ruler of the Baya Malay region, which is where the Air Castle was located. So one can assume that the castle may have been there before...but maybe he was not floating originally. Anyway, you also learn why Algol calendar works with BW and AW date. It means "Before Waizz" and "After Waizz"

As for Phantasy Star IV opening poem...I admit I never had any idea what it was referring to. Maybe something related to PSII or maybe not. I mean, in PSI we had 4 party members. In PSII we could fight mother brain and dark force with up to 4 party members, and finally in PSIV, when we learn the truth about Algol, we are just 4 persons in our group. Surely the number 4 must mean something about it. There's also 4 planets forming the seal on the Profound Darkness, and each of the planet have one main native race on it, meaning 4 mains race. Maybe it's just because it's the 4th game. Another good theory would be that it's about Algol Genesis. The defeat of the Profound Darkness by the Great Light, and is sealing by the Creation of 4 planets...in fact the more I try to search in my memory, the more I think I remember having heard once that it was indeed about Algol Genesis, so scratch my previous random theory (below poster seems to have the same memory as mine to prove it). In any case, I'm pretty bad at analyzing poem meaning, I'm better with hard cold fact.

The below text will contain some spoilers for PSIV

And finally, about Numan lifespan it's ok. Numan indeed had really short lifespan at first. Nei was the product of a mix with bio-monster and human cells (some say she had musk cat cells in her, thus the ear. Musk Cat is the name of the race of Myau from Phantasy Star. We also see them in PSII on deszolis, and on PSIV, again on Dezolis with what may or may not be a grown-up Myau or one of his direct descendant). In Phantasy Star II, Nei was growing up really fast. When Rolf/Eusis saved her, she was still just a child, but only a few month later, she was almost an adult. That explains also her leveling rate (she level up twice as fast as any other party member). Because of that, she's doomed to die young (even though she died way before that when Neifirst died), since the cells were instable inside her. After the death of NeiFirst and NeiSecond (our Nei), we thought that the experiement was over. BUT in the radio drama of Phantasy Star IV, we learn that the Nei experiment was still taking place on Motavia, hidden to the eyes of everyone. Another Nei had an adventure with a young Rudy/Chaz (before he got his memory of it erased). The last thing we know about this Nei is that she was going to the computer SEED to find a way to stop the fact that Numan lifespan was really short. The result of this Nei and SEED effort to find a cure to this genetic problem created Rika/Fal. Rika is the first Numan who will really have a long lifespan. In fact, in the compendium, we see a rough sketch of what the child of Chaz/Rudy and Rika/Fal would look like (an hybrid between Human and Numan), which mean that Rika will indeed live long enough to become a mother...too bad we will never see a game starring this hybrid child it would have been so cool

[Zorafim]

Well, I started posting a reply, but it seems that PSOW doesn't seem to like me much and logged me off. Let me try this again.

As far as the poem goes, I remember hearing it was supposed to be the tale of the Great Light vs the Profound Darkness. The light sealed the darkness in the heavens through the galactic seal. The light celebrated with bells and torches (maybe related to the holy torch kept in the cathedral in Dezolis?), and the darkness couldn't find a way out for thousands of years.
I think it might be important to note that the Great Light and Profound Darkness, in the japanese translation, were an ancient race having a civil war. When the light won the war, it banished the losing side into the dimensional seal, where their anger fused them into one dark being. In the english version, it was the simple tale of god vs devil. Take from that what you will.

As far as Dark Falz vs Dark Force, it's basically a translation issue. If I'm understanding correctly, the japanese name was them spelling Dark Force in their words. The issue we're having is just the issue you get with translating a phrase from english to japanese back to english without prior knowledge of the last step. Not to mention, I believe the english version of PSI didn't have enough space in the name to type out a full Dark Force, which I'm sure also contributed to the trouble. I think in all american releases of the next games, the translation stuck as Dark Force until PSO, where it's purposefully mistranslated.
As for which one you go with, I say it's up to you. I prefer Dark Force, since it refers to a nameless evil, and because I'm a stickler for original meanings. Dark Falz has become a prominent pet name though, and you're right that it better humanitises it.

If you're going in to D-cells, I suppose that will be fair game. The concept of the series in general is a simple "fantasy meets scifi". Doing science to pure darkness is an interesting concept. It is true that there's no mention of it in the genesis series though, or that the darkness that makes the demons of the game is even anything physical.

Now, it sounds like you're going to add newmans in? If so, I just want to explain a little peeve of mine. Newmans were originally conceived to be part of the genetic experiment scifi archetype, not the elf fantasy archetype. In other words, to quote PS2, a "human who is not human". It just pains me to see that they've become nothing more than space elves after PSO. If you're going to write them in, make sure to align them more with science, and less with magic.

[Drac_Mazoku]

Above poster is right about the Great Light VS Profound Darkness war. Due to mistranlation, what was supposed to be an entire race fighting another race become two supernatural entity in our translated version. Once again, I'll quote the translated timeline:

Several Hundred Million Years Ago - In an unspecified solar system, a civilization of spirit-life forms divides, and an interplanetary war breaks out.

2,000,000 Years Ago - The war is settled. As a result of the victorious side sealing the defeated side away, one fixed star and four planets are created, "Protectors of the Seal" are made on the four planets, and one kind of sentient life form is allocated to each.

300,000 Years Ago - The entire race of victors is wiped out. Except on the fourth planet, Ryucross, the beings of the other three planets, with the passing of each successive generation, begin to forget the mission of those made Protectors. Meanwhile, in their inter-dimensional prison, the sealed-away spirit-life forms transform into a wicked being, the accumulation of spirits of hatred and vengeance, and, at its core, a profound darkness is formed.

This is a point where I prefer the Great Light VS Profound Darkness of our version. Mostly because I like to believe that the Great Light indeed just left our system, without being "wiped out". Even Rieko Kodama like I said previously hinted the Great Light race as a possible source for a sequel, if it would have been made. Plus if the race of the losing side formed the Profound Darkness, the same thing could have happened to the winning side, forming the Great Light. So overall, we can come back to the same thing as in our translated version.

I think that you'll have a real headache if you try to go and and every mistranslation made through the course of the 4 games.

[CaptainPlanet]

The more this discussion continues, the more oriented I feel with the classic lore. Also, I have been doing nothing but research into the lore, as well as continuing my endeavor to watch the elaborate PSIV playthrough I started watching on YouTube last night. I am up to the part where the player reached the top of Garuberk tower, preparing to fight Dark Force again. Again, this whole venture has been very informative.

And I am in agreement that the rich backstory behind the Newmans has been sadly downplayed over the years, and that does disappoint me. However, rest assured, that I held true to their sci-fi roots and that there is nothing 'magical' about them, even in the first draft of the script for Phantasy Star Prime 1. In the new script I will be writing however, it's beginning to shape up to look something like this:

The Earth government has been continuously trying to hail the Alisa III in orbit, though little to no response has been established (probably due to the Algolians' own safety concerns). Eventually, the Earth government begins to forcibly establish physical contact with the Alisa III by taking shuttles to the worldship above and infiltrating it (kind of like in the movie District 9). Through these means, though not necessarily in the same trip, three things are procured. A Newman female, a Musk Cat (if it is even possible for them to exist aboard the Alisa III... Is it?), and a small sample of D-Cells. Naturally, the Earthmen acquire these things out of their classic thirst for knowledge and power. After learning all they can from the Newman female and the Musk Cat (and the genetic link between the two), the Earthmen eventually manage to crack the security matrix that harbors all the Alisa III's vital information (such as the coordinates to the Algol System!). After the events of Phantasy Star Prime 1, where Dark Falz is scientifically engineered to his full power and begins to wreak havoc upon the masses (and is stopped by three Earthborn heroes, Neon (nickname), Michael, and Epsilon), This man (referenced yet again):



In all his corporate influence, manages to convince the Earth government that the continued existence of the Alisa III would be a threat to Earth security and convinces them to blow the Alisa III out of orbit (I know, it's a very morbid end for the poor refugee ship, but then again, would you really expect anything different from human nature?)

Anyway, I feel as if I've been getting off track with my main point, which was originally the Newmans. In the new script, the likely course for the Newman background would be that they took the research they were conducting with the Newman female and the Musk Cat and began experimenting with ways to create an artificial breed of human that could live for hundreds, or even a thousand years. However, they run into the same problem that most other Newmans run into, the uncertain lifespan factor. Naturally, this isn't good enough for the Earthlings, so they begin researching ways to overcome this obstacle. In the original script, they developed a 'Newman (a contraction of "New Human" in the script, a contorted name given strictly by the Earthlings) Serum' that, when synthesized with raw genetic material that perfectly complimented the serum in every way (a rare find indeed), would create the prime Newman specimen, capable of living for hundreds, maybe even a thousand years. The only remotely 'magical' property of the Newmans in the films is their natural genetic fortitude for using Techniques, though that doesn't mean that everyone who is a Newman in the movies will use Techniques.

There was, however, going to be a second serum created by FiestCorp utilizing their new research into Techniques (again, thanks to the arrival of the Alisa III and its inhabitants). If injected into a human host, it would enable them to have the mental capacity to use Techniques. Now, in order to appease the Phantasy Star demographic as a whole, both old and new, the only artistic liberty I had planned on taking (because it was empty canvas space) was taking heavy influences of technology from PSO and PSU and reiterating them as hardware created strictly by Earthlings' technological evolution and nothing more (no direct tie-ins with PSO or PSU since they are different universes). NanoTransformers, photon weapons, Technique Discs (which are only compatible with a human/Newman who has been injected with the Technique serum, in which case, upon touching the disk, it would sort of evaporate into a bright green ether, which is then absorbed into the user), CASTs, and even Photon Arts (though rare in this world), all concoctions of the Earthlings. Would that step on any toes of classic or new fans do you think? It seems like a safe route, but I just want to be sure.

Also, not to give away too much, but for the second film, we had a grand plan for a villain that was human science gone too far. A Human/Newman/CAST tribrid!

Also, another thing I had implemented since the first draft of the script for Phantasy Star Prime 1 was the concept of the 'Ultimate Photon Art,' like the Phantasy Star equivalent of the combo attacks from Chrono Trigger, though upon watching the walkthrough of PSIV, I see it's already been done. No matter though, that just means more consistency!

Also, with this new story format revolving around the Alisa III, I will most likely be discarding the alternate timeline scenario and keeping it to this simple structure.

[Drac_Mazoku]

I will tell a few things right away. Newman and Musk Cat does not exist inside the Alisa III. The people inside are 100% Palman (wheter they are Orakio or Laya descendant, it just means part of them had esper power I guess). Orakian control cyborg, and Layan controls monsters (though in Phantasy Star world, monsters may actually be old bio-creation, who knows...). Though we can argue that the Nei name appear in Phantasy Star III, as a word of power now, when the Alisa III left Parma, Neifirst and Neisecond just died few days ago, so I don't think they have any meaning about Numan inside the Alisa III. And well, I still need to see any Musk Cat inside the Alisa III too. Anyway, the point is, we can live with the "D-Cells" but bringing Musk Cat and Numan discovery inside Alisa III is a little bit far fetched. Though it's your script, if you find a good way to explain why, it might pass, I guess...but really, the importance of Numan is really inside the Algol Star System. Phantasy Star III cut any link it may have with Numan research. It's a tale about Parman trying to survive inside a spaceship. I don't see how you could bring them in your story, you may have to take some liberties to achieve your goal there if you want to recreate the Newman research on earth through Alisa III (like, I don't know, hidden laboratory inside the Alisa III with many pods containing Nei test subject, for safe keeping...though even then, it would not make sense because everything was created on Motavia, not Parma)..

Anyway, as for the ultimate technique, well, you'll learn that it's always Megid (except for the first Phantasy Star). Granted PSO and PSU brought down the importance of Megid in their series, in the classic Saga, it has more meaning. In PSII, it the last technic learned by Rolf of ultimate destruction (kill everything on screen, and cut your own party member HP in half), in PSIII it's the technic the hero of the 3rd generation will learn that will cause the destruction of the evil city of Lashute. And in PSIV, it's once again the ultimate technic of destruction, having an entire side dungeon and little side story dedicated to its learning (I hope the guy on youtube that you're watching his video will put it in there too, it's worth watching).

Yeah I know, everything become really confusing...even me never went so deep down in the analysis of the classic saga, I need to bring back all my past memories and sources on the subject at every posts, some being buried really deep

[CaptainPlanet]

I just finished watching the entire playthrough for PSIV (and yes, he did obtain Megid, though it kind of seems required for the story's progression. He never showed Megid alone though, just the combo macro, Destruct). I feel I learned a lot. One of the parts of the lore that really caught my attention, and I know you mentioned it before, was the Great Light having left the galaxy long ago and nobody knows where it went or why.

That may be an interesting thing to explore in the films. But which concept rubs you the right way? Let's say the Great Light traveled to the Milky Way long ago, after it sealed away the Profound Darkness. Do you think it could have possibly began another inner struggle, beginning the cycle of good vs evil all over again, and thus creating another seal within the Milky Way, or even *gasp* using the Sol System itself as a new seal, created eons ago?? Seems very interesting! This would obviously give birth to another Profound Darkness and Dark Force. After all, how can light exist purely without darkness?

Or maybe, in an entirely different scenario, it would make sense if the Great Light came to this galaxy in an attempt to purify the cosmos. Perhapse, while treking the Milky Way, it discovered the corruption of the human race and made it a point to wipe it from existence, thus satisfying its own desire for 'purity?' Maybe from this perspective, a story could be told similar to the classics, but rather than fighting the Profound Darkness and Dark Force, fighting the polar opposites (aka the Great Light and ????). This all seems like it would be interesting to explore. What do you think?

[Drac_Mazoku]

No, Megid is not mandatory to finish the game. Though it's not really hard to find, so there's no reason to skip it. It's just that after the Profound Darkness appear on Motavia, well some people may go straight there, forgetting to go back to Rykros, and thus could miss it for the final battle.

And yes, the "Great Light" location after Algol genesis was always the part I would have liked to explore the most in a fan-fiction, as also stated previously. From there, everything is mystery, so I don't think you can contradict the cannon. Just be sure to build it well enough that it does not feel forced.

But I wonder, what will you do about the "numan" presence I talked about in my previous topic. Really, the more I read myself, the more I realize you'll have real difficulty not using some artistic liberties to go through this project. I hope you don't take all my post way too hard. I'm just really happy to be able to talk that much about the classic saga.