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View Full Version : Wow, PSI is... Brutal.



Seth Astra
Jun 3, 2010, 01:37 AM
Just the first little portion was increadibly difficult. I didn't know where to go at first, and once I got an idea, I had to do some brutal grinding just so I could survive. Plus, I didn't find the place where you can get healed for free untill after I completed a large amount of grinding. Not to mention, going the wrong way can put you too far in over your head. However, the game is classic RPG goodness, and I love it for that. Nothing beats an old-fashioned RPG.

Drac_Mazoku
Jun 3, 2010, 08:41 AM
Having finished the game multiples times, I feel that the "survival grinding" is only for the beginning of the game. After leaving Parma, I was just fighting what I was encountering and made it just fine. Later on, the difficulty is more about not getting lost in the mazes :)

Seth Astra
Jun 3, 2010, 11:24 AM
It's annoying that the characters that join just can't stand up to Alis. They should have started at higher levels, especially that cat, since he also has very little equipment selection. Also, does it become easier to figure out "what the heck do I do now?" later on?

Drac_Mazoku
Jun 3, 2010, 12:13 PM
It bothers at first about the character level when you get them (even more Noah/Lutz which you get even more later on), but at tone point they easily catch up, and I think the leveling rate is different because of that. Even if you recruit him last, Noah will be the first to normally reach LV30 (max level), anyway in most of my playthrough.

And no, it gets harder as you go along to figure out everything. At the beginning, I guess the only confusing part is how to get the passport. Later on, there will be a lot of items to found and to use at a very specific spot. I personally think that using a FAQ/Guide to finish an old school RPG kill the fun of it, because most of the fun in 8bits RPG is found by exploring and trying to figure out what to do (else the game will be really short). But I guess that sometimes if it become too hard to figure out what to do, an online guide could be an option (that I don't like, but some people just can't stand to play old-school RPG anymore...maybe it'S not your case, but I saw numerous report of people getting through the game with a guide, which I find a little bit sad).

Powder Keg
Jun 6, 2010, 12:56 AM
I've personally never had a problem with grinding, but with a slow system compared to what most of us are used to, it gets brutal...I feel the same way about Phantasy Star II....both were re-made but in Japan only.

Cynara
Jul 8, 2010, 08:38 AM
I agree, both Phantasy Star I and II can be somehow hard and confusing at the beginning. Although, for me the most challenging thing in the first PS games always was to find the way to the next city. Sense of direction, hm.

I remember when I first played PSI I thought it would be a good idea to level up a bit, so I walked into the little woodpiece under the first city. Got killed by an Owl Bear in my very first fight. Then I thought it would be better to level up in the field, got killed by two Scorpions. Finally (at least I saved that time) I encountered two Scorpions again, tried to run but.... surprisingly... it didn't worked.
Fine, this is not really the games fault, more the stupidity of a bloody amature - but it is somehow discouraging at first.^^;

But I think the longer you play it, the more divinity it gets. It definately is a georgeous game, worth the trouble, and as you said - nothing beats an old-fashioned RPG.

PrinceBrightstar
Jul 14, 2010, 11:38 PM
Easiest way to level up in PS1 is to start just outside the walls east of town. Don't go into the forest. Just stay in the grassland outside the walls. After that get your party together and grind fishman until whatever level you're comfortable with to proceed further into the game after returning to Palma.

Seth Astra
Jul 15, 2010, 12:57 AM
I'm past that point now, thankfully. However, at first I could only grind the swarm enemies, anything else wiped me out. One thing that's kinda a fail on my part, is that I didn't know about the woman in the first town who healed you for free. I thought you had to just use the hospital and items. Dang, that really slowed down upgrading my weapons and armor. Now I'm just in the rut of "what the heck do I do now?". Specifically, what do I do to get into the governer's mansion (or whatever it's called) on the seccond planet. Also, I ended up digging my way through enemies tougher than what I should be fighting, into the depths of that cave that's north from the first city of the seccond planet, only to be turned away by some jerk with blue hair. Waste. Of. Time.

TsubasaJ
Oct 7, 2010, 04:07 PM
Just keep at it. The early RPGs always had this crazy hard difficulity curve in the beginning. Personally I wouldn't leave the first town until I was something like lvl 10 or higher. (Terrible Dragon Warrior/Quest 1 flashbacks...made me a bit grind happy.)

Seth Astra
Oct 7, 2010, 06:42 PM
I've... Gotten way past the brutal part... *Points at when this thread was started.*

Drac_Mazoku
Oct 8, 2010, 08:15 AM
Indeed. The first PS is really brutal at the very beginning. The rest of the game, while not a walk in the park compared to modern RPG, does not require extreme grinding at all.

This task is reserved for PSII. Now that's a game hard from start to finish, where you'll grind all the way through.

SquashDemon
Oct 9, 2010, 07:16 AM
Once Alis Learns Rope the Whole boss fight thing seems more like a formality.

MEDUSA IS TIED UP

ODIN ATTACKS

MYAU ATTACKS

NOAH CASTS WIND

MEDUSA CANNOT MOVE

ODIN ATTACKS

ALIS ATTACKS

MYAU ATTACKS

NOAH CAST WIND

MEDUSA REMOVES THE BINDINGS

MEDUSA IS TIED UP

Yeah...I was kinda expecting at least SOMETHING to block that spell...but no. It just... doesn't.

Seth Astra
Oct 9, 2010, 08:32 AM
Huh. Then I'm DEFINITELY not using that spell. No OP boss nukers for me.

NeonaPulsar
Oct 10, 2010, 12:55 AM
PSI ?

Isn't that the new PS game coming soon? You have it seth?

Seth Astra
Oct 10, 2010, 01:01 AM
No, PSI as in the roman numeral for 1. As in, the first PS game ever made. And your thinking of PSP2i.

pso_crash
Oct 11, 2010, 03:56 PM
It drove me nuts trying to find with very little indication of where to go. I guess SEGA had a hint book and a phone number players could call to get help through the game. My kiddo erased my save some point after I defeated some boss dragon late in the game and I can't be bothered to start over. I am currently working through PS2 when I have extra time and I like the story more than the first.

chaoelite
Oct 12, 2010, 07:06 PM
It's annoying that the characters that join just can't stand up to Alis. They should have started at higher levels, especially that cat, since he also has very little equipment selection. Also, does it become easier to figure out "what the heck do I do now?" later on?

You will love Myau when you get the trap spell and hes limited on items but when you get the best ones i think hes close to par with Alis imo from what i remember

Seth Astra
Oct 12, 2010, 07:11 PM
Anyone realize that I am farther in than I was a few months back when I started this thread?

Saffran
Oct 18, 2010, 03:16 PM
You should actually have cleared the game a couple of months ago already. But I guess talking about the old grindfest is fun.
(Funnily enough, I felt PS3 was a chore as far as grinding go - I guess we all have different pain treshold)

Seth Astra
Oct 18, 2010, 06:06 PM
I've picked up other games since then.

jaws1475
Nov 7, 2010, 06:33 PM
Easiest way to level up in PS1 is to start just outside the walls east of town. Don't go into the forest. Just stay in the grassland outside the walls. After that get your party together and grind fishman until whatever level you're comfortable with to proceed further into the game after returning to Palma.

that same thing i did in the game

voodlar
Jul 29, 2013, 10:00 AM
It bothers at first about the character level when you get them (even more Noah/Lutz which you get even more later on), but at tone point they easily catch up, and I think the leveling rate is different because of that. Even if you recruit him last, Noah will be the first to normally reach LV30 (max level), anyway in most of my playthrough.

And no, it gets harder as you go along to figure out everything. At the beginning, I guess the only confusing part is how to get the passport. Later on, there will be a lot of items to found and to use at a very specific spot. I personally think that using a FAQ/Guide to finish an old school RPG kill the fun of it, because most of the fun in 8bits RPG is found by exploring and trying to figure out what to do (else the game will be really short). But I guess that sometimes if it become too hard to figure out what to do, an online guide could be an option (that I don't like, but some people just can't stand to play old-school RPG anymore...maybe it'S not your case, but I saw numerous report of people getting through the game with a guide, which I find a little bit sad).

I just got PSI now (2013). I've played PS2,3,&4 many times. It would've blown my mind in 1988 but I still find that I like it. A worthy predecessor indeed! But since time has progressed as it has (and I got older): I started to play blind for a while and then decided I absolutely wanted to use the walkthrough / maps online.

I can't stomach 3-D mazes - ugh! (Walls all look the same, too easy to get spun and lost during frequent fighting.) --- didn't finish Eye of the Beholder due to this
Tile mapping for secret walls? - double ugh!
Buying secrets with no apparent hint that you need to do this (sometimes more than once for it to work) to find out where you should head for? - triple ugh!

This is just my opinion and it's biased cause of my crappy memory. I actually agree that this (faq's etc.) could kill a gaming experience but it didn't for me. I am still enjoying it.

I did complete the Shining in the Darkness game (3D dungeons) many years ago - no hintbooks. Never again.

Bragatyr
Aug 3, 2013, 06:56 PM
Yeah, I totally agree, the first one can feel completely brutal at times. The brutality does kind of make it more awesome in a way, though. It seems more imposing or something, in a way that most modern RPGs don't.

Maelfyn
Apr 7, 2015, 09:18 PM
I love the PS series, but I tried PS1 and had no idea what to do. I didn't get anywhere and it definitely was not intuitive (to me at least). Perhaps I'll give it another chance and really push myself to get through it!

Zorafim
Apr 9, 2015, 12:49 PM
You really need a guide for the first three games. Or at the very least, maps. There's no way to navigate the levels in PSI without a map, and the game itself suggests that you draw a map for yourself as you play (I think?).
PSII, I believe, came with maps. And if you explore by yourself, you will get crushed. So it's better to know the best route to something, and how to best get back to where you were.

Even with a map in the first game, alot is guide dang it. People and places you've already been to will give you new things if someone else mentions them. Figuring it out yourself would take a very long time, and may not be worth it.

By the way, there's a fan translation for Phantasy Star Generations out now, if you prefer more character development. It really expands on the story, and is overall more fun than the original, if you're willing to try it. Surprisingly though, the game became even more guide dang it, because stuff that may have always been there will now be gone unless you trigger an event.

fighgunners
May 6, 2015, 07:59 AM
Besides the dungeons, the first game has really good conveyance, Phantasy Star II not so much, and Phantasy Star III even less so. The harder part about them is that you really have to grind near max level to progress around endgame. Only a few parts of Phantasy Star I really didn't tell you what to do like [spoiler-box] having to buy secrets continuously[/spoiler-box]; the rest was really just talk to every NPC to figure out what to do.

kawaiikiwi
May 7, 2015, 12:23 AM
Yeah I found them really tough.. but they're good games

StreetFighter2242
Jan 5, 2018, 03:05 AM
Man it it sounds way harder than i remember.
But then again it's been awhile.