Saturday, October 5, 2013

Away game special: A phantasy of stars

Phantasy Star IV is a great game from my past. I originally played it with an emulator when those and roms were to be found in the shadiest corners of the internet. That was a solo playthrough, though.

This time around the game's being triple-teamed: two friends I've had since high school and I are playing it on the Wii's Virtual Console. Currently we're on our way to fight Zio and rescue the android named Demi.

Aside from now being aware of the ridiculousness of the games' abbreviations, it's quite a bit more drawn out than I remember. Also, there are a lot of towns for the early part of a JRPG.

I point out the panoply of towns because it gives the game's world a very realistic feel. Like the future before Lavos in Chrono Trigger, the array of towns makes it feel like the world is actually populated in a natural sort of way rather than for story or gameplay convenience.

Having so many towns around so early might not make sense in other games, but it's one aspect of Phantasy Star IV that remains fresh.

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