Did you expect...

So, anyone who has played Phantasy Star IV will remember what happened to Alys. She was struck with Zio's Black Energy Wave, became ill, and passed away to be buried outside Krup, Hahn's hometown. Later on Dezoris, we see other people also made ill by the Black Energy Wave. Like Raja, they're confined to bed and treated by the Espers. One town was abandoned because those that died from the illness rose again as zombies.

So, given this link between the BEW and zombies, were you expecting the party to be called back to Krup, resulting in an encounter with a zombie version of Alys?

I, for one, was expecting that might happen, especially after Seth showed up so close to Krup. I even went to check on the grave and town a few times. It would have made for a very different kind of Hunter's Guild mission.

No, I wasn't expecting that kind of thing. It wouldn't have surprised me, but I wasn't expecting such a twist to happen.

One can argue, btw, about the exact cause for the zombification of the plague victims. The game mentions the dead rise as zombies, but the zombie scare in Reshel immediately stops after the Garuberk Tower goes down, so I wonder if in order for a plague victim to rise as a zombie, dying from the plague isn't enough...the dead body has to remain in "contaminated territory" (the Reshel/Meese area) in order to sustain its undead existence...which explains why Alys did not rise as an undead. She might have done so if she had been buried in the Piata/Mile area...at least until Chaz and co defeated P-Darky.

From a storytelling POV, zombifying Alys might not have been a very good idea, due to the effect it would have on Chaz. When she died, he sunk into a depression that took him some time to get out of, which is part of the developing plotline. Having her die again would interrupt Chaz' character growth arc we see in the current game and the scene we'd expect to see after defeating zombie-Alys would probably be more or less a duplicate of the first funeral/aftermatch scene...decreasing the emotional impact of both. The trial in the Anger Tower that's currently in the game solves this issue by confronting Chaz with his demons, showing the player he's still having difficulty coping, but also mentioning that "Alys" is an illusion this time, thus not having a trite aftermath to deal with after Chaz strikes Alys down.

I did indeed. When the last group of Hunter's Guild missions popped up, I completely expected one to be relating to a 'undead attack on Krup' or the like. Still, I guess in retrospect, the whole point of the undead in Reshel was that the BEW was so strong with Dark Force itself in close proximity that it was actually able to reanimate the dead. Zio, as a minion merely imbued with a small portion of DF's power wouldn't be able to achieve such a feat (though, reciprocally, Raja sure seemed to last a long time compared to Alys).

-Corey

PSP wrote:

(though, reciprocally, Raja sure seemed to last a long time compared to Alys).

-Corey

You have to remember though Raja just got sick.. Most likely from the aura being emited from the tower and the snowstorm. Alys was struck with a straight physical blow so its understandable that she couldn't last as long.. Its amazing that she lasted as long as she did.

I think a zombified version of Alys woulda been weird for the game, cuz as someone else said it woulda probably killed Chaz's character development.. On another note, myabe a Ressurection woulda been more in store... like say there was one last cloning lab left and one last weird old creepy lady living secluded somewhere below the waves of Motavia.. Chaz coulda had some kinda blood sample of hers somewhere, most likely from her clothes and thus the ressurection could have been made... But thats just me >.>

Kaloes wrote:

You have to remember though Raja just got sick.. Most likely from the aura being emited from the tower and the snowstorm. Alys was struck with a straight physical blow so its understandable that she couldn't last as long.. Its amazing that she lasted as long as she did.

Perhaps, but figuring that Zio was merely conjuring a weak manifestation of Dark Force, I'd approximate his 'direct hit' version to be about the same (maybe weaker than, even) as the BEW emanating from the Garuberk Tower. After all, the Profound Darkness' BEW is able to kill the inhabitants of Mile in fairly short order with a similar emanation of the BEW coming from The Edge. The real question is, how did Rudy/Chaz and company manage to not come down with any signs of illness (sure, the 'Rings of the Stars' protected them from PD's power, but the other Dark Force incarnations...they were just damned lucky I suppose ;p).

-Corey

I agree with Kaloes. Alys was a very well-loved (and still is) character. Putting the player up against her as a zombie probably would have killed Shorty's development like Kaloes said, not to mention terribly distressing to some (like me, ).

Her soul deserves rest. Light knows, she deserves it, sad as it is. 'sigh'

And yeah, I wished the BEW coming from the Edge did kill Shorty and Co. Some parts of that game just don't make sense, it's tailored to fit the development of main character's so-called 'growth'. Never mind what happened in the earlier parts of the game, no. So long as Shorty and Co can emerge victorious and have that sickeningly happy ending. Talk about drama.

That's just my thoughts, though.

I'd love to hear what part of the game does not make sense.

Are you really suggesting that the game would have been a better game if the player's party walks into the final dungeon, then promptly dies on the spot from severe BEW-poisoning followed by a "The end....sucker!!!!"? I'm probably misinterpreting things, or...

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Perhaps, but figuring that Zio was merely conjuring a weak manifestation of Dark Force, I'd approximate his 'direct hit' version to be about the same (maybe weaker than, even) as the BEW emanating from the Garuberk Tower.

I think it's the opposite. To pull an analogy, Zio's BEW was like a wave of toxic waste being shot at something...physical constitution ceased to be a factor due to the sheer concentration of energy in the assault. The wave emanating from the Garuberk Tower was more like polluted air...potentially deadly, but people with a hardy constitution and resistence could avoid becoming ill for some time while being in the contaminated area due to the black energy concentration being much lower.

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After all, the Profound Darkness' BEW is able to kill the inhabitants of Mile in fairly short order with a similar emanation of the BEW coming from The Edge.

That's simply because the black energy concentration in the wave coming from the hole south of Mile was many times higher than the wave coming from the Garuberk Tower. Instead of polluted air, think highly toxic air. The dose makes a big difference.

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The real question is, how did Rudy/Chaz and company manage to not come down with any signs of illness (sure, the 'Rings of the Stars' protected them from PD's power, but the other Dark Force incarnations...they were just damned lucky I suppose ;p).

For the same reason there were still people on their feet in Meese. Some people are more resilient than others.

No, I didn't even think about Alys coming back as a zombie, really. There were no other zombies on Motavia, so the thought never occurred to me. :D

And I dislike the Chaz hate. :( *glomps Chaz plushie!!*

Yeah, i was looking for a zombie. Would have been fun.