Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

So, rather recently, a romhacker named Fauntleroy created an improvement hack for Phantasy Star III (called Phantasy Star III General Improvement) to try to mitigate at least some of the flaws in the game and just generally teak things to provide a smoother experience.

The main gameplay changes include things like rearranging the contents of shops and chests as well as giving new party members better starting equipment in order to cut down on backtracking, and even improving weaker characters and some equipment overall to keep things on an even keel. He has also reintroduced enemies that were in the game data but were dummied out of the final release. There are also a bunch of other, more aesthetic changes, like bringing enemy and technique names back in like with the rest of the series (Gires has been renamed to Sar, for example). He has also added a bunch of NPCs to populate all of the empty houses and they all have something to say, and the script has been expanded to add player character responses to NPC dialogue. In fact the entire English script has been somewhat rejiggered, but mainly towards an eye of filling in holes in the original English script and is generally done with a much more deft hand than Numan Revolution.

So, it still feels like it was localized in the '90s, but better '90s, not early '90s.

As I finish each generation, I'll leave my notes here.

First Generation

-New opening crawl! And better written! And actually ties it back to the previous games!

-Knives are quite improved. Which is good, because you don't start with enough cash to buy the first Sword right off.
-Mieu starts with two claws this time. And she and Wren are properly called Androids.
-"I've never stolen anything!" Suuuuure, Lyle.
-It's way more worth it to go out of your way for chests- Mieu's first claw upgrades are found in a couple.
-Wren actually has armor and a gun when you get him this time.
-Miun's crazy talk is much longer this time. But I'm always up for some prime prophetic babbling.
-Apparently this time Lyle tried to order Wren to fix the weather, but Wren disobeyed for obvious reasons, so he decided to lure Rhys out there to get Wren to do his job.
-"I am programmed to be polite." Makes me wonder what Wren would be like if he had a choice.
-The weather station has been renamed to Climatrol. It's also still the best grinding spot in Generation 1.
-The reason Lena is in Shushoran Castle this time is because she tried to chase down Lyle to get the Sapphire back, so he knocked her out and dumped her back home so she wouldn't pester him.
-Rhys actually remembers that Lena is his fiancee on his own this time. It took him a minute, though.
-Shushoran Castle gets pretty populated after you gutpunch Lyle. Plenty to talk about.
-Lena has up to date equipment. She may need a second knife, but that's fine, because knives are good now.
-King Cille doesn't call Rhys a spy, but instead puts his life on the line to keep Rhys from marrying Maia, daring him to kill an old man in front of his only daughter.

-King Cille articulates Rhys's choice in a much better way- As the people of Cille would never tolerate a distant king and he'd never allow his daughter to go to a land where people would think of her as a monster, if Rhys wanted to marry Maia he would have to stay in Cille. But if he couldn't bear to abandon his homeland, he would have to leave this country and go back to Landen to find someone else to marry.

So, I'm taking Lena's/Nial's route next. And I'll let you know when I've done Gen 2.

Second Generation- Nial's Quest

-Most of the dialogue here has mainly been expanded- this quest is simple enough that there aren't really any outstanding holes or questions.
-The king has deep regrets about being talked into kidnapping Alair.
-Alair skedaddles from the dungeon using the secret Ryuka technique. GIMME
-Instead of having hilariously unoriginal parents this time, Laya is now a title rather than name, really, like Darth Traya or Dread Pirate Roberts.
-Lune is a bit more murder happy this time, but you can beat sense into him.

-Lune more clearly articulates why you have to marry a Layan. Instead of "Laya and Alair have the hots for you now!" it's more along the lines of "We were woken up early, and Dark Force isn't due to return for some time. When we confront him, we must now do so as one people in over to overcome him, so think carefully about your choice."

I've just taken a look at the page about this hack on Romhacking.net ! Seems to be a very interesting hack ! But with all your explanations in addition, it's very great ! I need to download it and try it ! And I'll do next week !
Thank you so much, dear R-90-2 !

Third Generation

This generation's new script does a lot of heavy lifting, because it has to connect the third game with the second and fourth.

-I actually forgot to use the Laya Pendant/Aeroprism in the previous generation so I did this time- Laya and Orakio were led astray by Dark Force like in the original, but in this telling, it was through a method we've seen before. Spoiler space for those who don't want to know ahead of time:

Sister, Orakio and I went to war because we were led astray by the influence of Dark Force, who had taken the form of an advisor named Seth...

-In this version the names of the domes are actually corruptions of the original names- Landen Dome was originally Landale Dome, for example (and hey, it is the Alisia III). Also, five of the domes were based on Palm, while Frigida and Aridia were based on Dezo and Mota.

-The colony ships had already been built before Dark Force made its move against Palm- they just escaped when certain people realized that Dark Force was on the move.

-This telling uses the PSIV version that many of the ships that escaped Palm landed on Mota and Dezo, while others escaped into space.

-This script also uses the English timeline of the series, so this game takes place at around the same time as Phnatasy Star IV. "If there was a protector 1,000 years ago, they were unable to save Palm..." Way to do Rolf dirty, old man.

-Hidden Musk Cat!

-The costs of the equipment in New Mota has been greatly reduced. The cost curve of weapons and armor is generally flatter as a whole than in the original, so affording the equipment is much less of a problem. You're still not going to beat Dark Force in this game without a strategy, anyway.

-Many more NPCs in Lashute this time, and visiting them before triggering the endgame produces even more dialogue, with them offering the return of the knowledge of how to cheat death and the return of other lost knowledge, of only you'd set them free from Terminus.

-Rulakir is now more explicitly kept alive through the will of Dark Force. "The king you see here seems to be a corpse, until he opens his eyes... Waves of dark energy wash over you. WREN: "I think we should go."

-Terminus was locked off because the people there had fallen under the power of Dark Force, and Landen was locked up because that's where Dark Force was being kept.

-Dark Force taunts you at greater length after you free him, including things about how you've undone the work of all your ancestors and made their sacrifices futile. Also, the vast release of dark energy caused by freeing Dark Force is what confers Megid on Aron/whatever hero you have.

-Miun's breakdown is far less controlled this time around. I like that Miun's mental state more decrepit in this version- it lends more to the idea that she's just been wandering in a circle in the desert for a thousand years.

-Siren takes the fact that he was manipulated by Dark Force much less well than he did in the original- he basically self-terminates while asking forgiveness for Orakio for destroying Cille and Shushoran.

-The Sages on Sage Isle are now Espers, and Grantz has been properly renamed to Ryuka.

-Pretty much everything about Skyhaven is still the same, the dialogue is just lengthier and more detailed.

-Lashute is firmly Dark Force country, filled with people mocking you for how easily your predecessors were manipulted and joyous over the coming destruction of all that lives. Others compare Rulakir to a certain other mad sky-dwelling king of many worlds, and belittling the heroes as too feeble to ever hope to attempt Alis's feat.

-Rulakir is way further gone in this version than the original, demanding, among other things to know why you'd be so cruel as to condemn the people of the Alisia III to face the suffering of life.

-There are no more chests in the final dungeon except for the one containing Dark Force. He's pretty much the same.

The rest of the changes will be in spoiler space for those who don't want to know ahead of time.

After defeating Dark Force:
-Aron unleashes Megid not specifically to destroy Lashute, but to try (and fail) to destroy Dark Force for good. Destroying Lashute is just a byproduct.

Aron's ending has been a source of speculation for the longest time as to whether the Alisia III brought Dark Force to Earth and caused the events of Phantasy Star II. Well, Fauntleroy isn't about to discard one of the longest-running fan theories of the entire history of the franchise.

GREETINGS ALIEN SPACECRAFT
THIS IS THE UNITED NATIONS DEEP SPACE RESEARCH PROJECT NOAH
WELCOME TO EARTH
PLEASE RESPOND

Overall Impressions

No one in this world knows the tale of the brave girl who slew the mad king, or the free-thinking young man who saved his world by making a terrible choice.

I've basically only played a very small part of this hack, and haven't nearly explored every nook and cranny. However, the work that has gone into this hack is mind-boggling- the script is at the very least 4-5 times larger. It's a bit easier than vanilla Phantasy Star III, but still doesn't hesitate to bludgeon the foolhardy, and it has been very well re-scripted.

I would recommend giving this one a go, if you haven't already and are itching for a reason to replay the game.

Thank you again for all your hard work about all those texts concerning this hack, dear R-90-2 !!! Amazing work ! And true, this improvement hack seems to be great ! Must install it and try it ASAP !

Wow, this actually sounds really good. I can't say that I'll have the time to play it for myself anytime soon, but if you go back and do any of the other characters' quests, I'll definitely be looking forward to your updates!

As an aside, I know a bunch of different people have been talking about some sort of PSIII remake for YEARS. Good for this Fauntleroy, whoever he/she may be, for finally getting up and just doing something about it. This was probably the easiest way to go*, but it sounds like there was a lot of effort put into fleshing out the script, tying it in to the other games, and adding in some extras along the way.

*Not a criticism at all.

Yes ! This Fauntleroy guy/girl seems to have made a tremendous job about all thos improvements for this fantastic game ! Congratulations to him/her !!

Okay, I started a new game. I also chose Sean as my third gen character, so that's going to take a while to sort out because of his awkward starting position, but here's what I've got so far, after doing some more exploration:

First Generation

-There's actually someone who explains why you can't use your boat to get to Cille- they'd see it a mile away and blow it up, so you can only sneak in by land.

-Lyle is much more of a chatterbox when you talk to the NPCs of Shushoran, or Layans in general.


Second Generation (Ayn)

-More hints are dropped as to Lyle's true identity at the start.

-In the original script, Lyle was wounded just fighting some rando robots, but in this version he tried to take on Siren and that... Didn't go well, so Siren was able to capture Thea.

-The first visit to Draconia isn't much different than the original, just with more text.

-Big changes to Landen in general. While the original script didn't mention anything about Lune, the new script has the war with Lune going on at the same time as your fight against Siren. Landen and Satera are also united in this script through a marriage between Lena and Rhys's half brother.

-Sari's boss fight has been moved out of Landen Dungeon and she now occupies the throne in Landen Castle. After all, she is the queen.

-MUCH longer conversation with Sari this time. She attacks you because she believes that you're in league with Lune, who in this script is responsible for the death of Lena, so Ayn isn't able to talk her down- she accuses Ayn of wnating to use Satellite as a staging ground for fur further attacks on Landen-Satera. After beating her, Ayn is able to get her to cool down. In this version of the script, she reveals that she was approached by Siren, who offered to defend Landen against Lune's attacks in exchange for Sari pledging allegiance to his war against the Layans.

-In this script, Lyle explains that he thought he was being the big hero by rescuing Maia from Landen, but pretty much had instant regrets, so helping Rhys was an act of contrition.

-The old man in the Techna Castle dungeon explains that the androids have always known the truth about the Alisia III, but chose to let people forget so they could escape the wounds of the past. Also, in this script, the Power Topaz is actually a power source for the spacecraft that takes you to Azura rather than a token of worthiness.

-Much longer conversation with Siren this time. He claims he was imprisoned by Orakio even though he did his best to follow his master's wishes by attempting to destroy the Layans. He escapes by jumping off of the catwalk you fight him on and disappearing into the depths of Azura.

This also includes some things I forgot to mention last time, also.

Third Gen (Sean)-

-In this script, Azura is destroyed by a Positron Bolt weapon, which, as you'll recall in PSIV, is a weapon used for attacking space fortresses. Also, Sean and androids aren't the only survivors this time.

-Also, in this script, Lune was fought to a stalemate by Sari and exhausted his forces after destroying Satera.

-The old man in Divisia clarifies that there used to be a rebel group, but they left the sub parts behind when they disbanded- in the original script it says that the Layan rebels were still around, when they were very obviously not.

-In Mystoke, one of the women mentions that the castle only opens for the Laya in the new script.

-Warrior-Kara has a much different personality in the new script- rather than scoffing at her father for being too weak to fight and stealing his Lunearang, she explains that because the war with Landen dragged on, she lived her life as a warrior. But now that it's over, she doesn't know what to do next, but if you guys are taking on Dark Force, she'll be happy to come fight for a better cause. And you don't pass up the opportunity to fight alongside Laya.

-Also, the attack power of Lune's Slicer has been improved- it's more powerful than the Laconian slicer this time.

-While the original script was rather vague on who Rulakir was other than Orakio's brother, in the new script, a couple of people drop hints that Rulakir was the captain of the Alisia III.

-On that note, the new script in New Mota says that Laya was a spiritual leader as well as an ecological specialist who designed the environments, climate control, and biosystems on board the ship, while Orakio was a robotics and systems engineer responsible for maintaining the ship's engine and power systems.

-Sean's Ending has undergone some revisions:
In this version, the Neo Palm didn't come to assist against Dark Force, but rather because it was searching for any remaining ships to spread the word that they had located the planet that they were originally supposed to be heading toward, and are happy to have found another ship- and they want to hear all about what has been going on since they last met.

And, a couple of general things:

-Some treasure chests have been moved around. Some dungeons have more chests, while some have less. All chests in the final dungeon have been removed (except for the one with Dark Force).

-Characters have had their technique groups adjusted: Laya has access to all four Tech groups, and anyone who has Techs seems to have at least two groups. This is kinda similar to what Fauntleroy did with his Phantasy Star II gameplay hack, where all characters that had the basic level of a technique could recieve all levels of a technique, plus other characters that aren't Rudo (especially Nei) got an expanded tech selection.

I think that's all I'm going to do for now, but this is a fully recommended hack.

At last, I've started the game ! Just the beginning but it seems to be a great and wonderful hack...like you just decribed it for us, dear R-90-2 !