Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

I have read almost everything that was written above and... Why !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why do this with two of the most wonderful characters throughout the game =S I'm outraged! Characters like Chaz and Rika, for me personally, by functional interaction are (these two in the team have all the most necessary Skill and Tech) ...And, if it is a remake of why so many changes? You could just create a separate game, Prehistory about Alys, how and why she became a hunter and other)))) (sorry for my engl)

dimon-in-hell wrote:I have read almost everything that was written above and... Why !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why do this with two of the most wonderful characters throughout the game =S I'm outraged! Characters like Chaz and Rika, for me personally, by functional interaction are (these two in the team have all the most necessary Skill and Tech) ...And, if it is a remake of why so many changes? You could just create a separate game, Prehistory about Alys, how and why she became a hunter and other)))) (sorry for my engl)

That is my eventual aim, to make a prequel to this whole game, but it's shelved for the time being. I simply don't have the time to make two games at once. I really dislike Shorty and Rika, they didn't do anything for me, apart from being a bunch of cliches (sword-swinging hero, cute sidekick) as well as blatant rip-offs from Rolf and Nei in PS2. Even Chaz's character portrait (status pic) looks as though it was taken from Rolf's! I admit that even Alys and Hahn were based off Anna and Hugh respectively, but they're not as obvious as Shorty and Rika. For one, their character portraits are different. ^^ I'm ranting, I admit it, but this is the 21st century and I can now voice what I've been meaning to say for a very, very long time....

PS4 is basically rehashing all the ideas from PS2 and there's no creativity and no originality.

The game's storyline was it's weakest point, I'm afraid, and in this day and age, I simply can't allow that anymore. It's been done to death already, and I'm having a hard time recreating the game by introducing new ideas but at the same time, holding on to the series' legacy. Which involves a bunch of cliches... You have to bear in mind that I'm introducing this game to a new audience as well, not just the PS fans.

Well, enough of that now. I have some nice ideas, but haven't gotten down to putting it on paper yet.

- I'm thinking of re-introducing the Skure spaceport and Nei dungeons (along with the Nei items)
in the game. I'll take out the Elsydeon and replace it with the Nei Sword. ( the former is far too common in today's RPGs, magic/light-based element weapon that can defeat the ultimate evil...
- The storyline will undergo some drastic changes. I'm trying to eliminate the cliches... When you have an adult, female protagonist, one simply can't make the story as predictable as the original PS4's. While working on my creative writing skills.

Some screencaps.







So that's it for now. Yell at me for all you want, flame me for everything I'm worth, but I really have no choice. No one wants a rehash of a "classic".

Sounds pretty interesting so far, particularly the re-introduction of the Nei items, seeing how you're also trying to re-write the plot a bit. I personally don't mind the change. While I would have been content with a rehash, a slightly more original take will do nicely.

It'll be nice to see, though I'm curious about how you'll go about with the Nei items if you introduce them all, meaning if you need to collect them all and such. Plus considering Lutz is tagging along with you by then rather than finding him later like in PS II, it'll be interesting to see how that pans out.

Anyhoo, that's to say if it even goes ahead! I'm loving the new screenshots too. Keep going at it.

I'm all for adding Skure! It's one of my favorite parts of PSII. Sure, it's a lot of walking around, but it's full of meseta and musk cats!!

OK, in all seriousness, Skure is one of the more fun areas of PSII. The PSII Dezo dungeons were cool and kind of scary, but they might be hard to incorporate into a game centering on PSIV characters. Well, maybe not... Guaron was also in PSI, and as a matter of continuity it would have been nice for Guaron to be in PSIV, too. Sure, it's a few millennia old at that point, but this is Dezolis we're talking about. The cold temperatures would be great for preserving things as long as there aren't many freeze/thaw cycles.

Anyway, if you do decide to incorporate the Nei items, are you going to give any explanation how they got back to Dezolis? Just curious, since the details of Rolf & Crew officially remain a mystery (at the beginning of PSIV it mentions four torches were lit, or something like that, but that could be for anything and PSII had seven characters at the end, anyway).

Also, I wouldn't say Chaz is a blatant ripoff of Rolf. There are a lot of similarities, but Rolf is either 21 or turns 21 during his mission and Chaz is still a teenager. Chaz is still kind of a greenhorn at the beginning of the game, whereas Rolf has been on his own for at least two years prior to the start of his mission. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I do see a bit of a maturity difference (meaning, a big part of PSIV is Chaz's coming-of-age-ness, which wasn't a part of PSII. The big lesson for Rolf--and pretty much everyone else--is the incredible eye-opening experience of finding out your entire star system is run by people who wish to ultimately destroy you. Damn, what a reality, huh?). Plus, the blond hair and mutton chop sideburns were a step in the wrong direction appearance-wise, but then I don't think Rolf's looks can be topped. I'm a little biased in that department.

Lyla2284 wrote:I really dislike Shorty and Rika, they didn't do anything for me, apart from being a bunch of cliches (sword-swinging hero, cute sidekick) as well as blatant rip-offs from Rolf and Nei in PS2.

You didn't start saying you disliked Rika until I said she was cute, I noticed.

in the game. I'll take out the Elsydeon and replace it with the Nei Sword. ( the former is far too common in today's RPGs, magic/light-based element weapon that can defeat the ultimate evil...

There was a story-point to the Elsydeon, Chaz "being-the-chosen-one-to-wield-it" aside. If replaced with the Nei Sword, then the explanation should be interesting since, like Tanith said, Rolf and everyone else's whereabouts aren't known (I presume them dead).

No one wants a rehash of a "classic".

I do. =\

Well, seeing as I have an adult female protaganist, I can't exactly follow PS4's original storyline verbatim (word for word). This is the 21st century, after all, and many people are tired of cliches, magic swords and 'chosen heroes'. Every time I see an RMXP game with that in, I am immediately turned off. There's no originality, no creativity. Add that to the fact that most of the heroes are barely out of there teens. Those games are generally slammed by the public. A game developer has to look past all of these pitfalls.

http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html
There's a grand total of 192 RPG cliches in this list... I'm trying to avoid them like the plague, but I have to keep some of them, if only to hold onto the PS series' legacy.

Now for those of you who have finished PS2, could you perhaps give me a theory or two on what happened to the Nei weapons? Your feedback will be greatly appreciated. One wonders how they ended up in PS3...

Some more screencaps:


Just a tester showing all chars at level 40. Took me an age to enter their stats manually. Rika is a perfect example of a character that starts off strong, but becomes weaker throughout the game.


Meh...


An example of a mini-cutscene in the game.

Beta testers, be on the look-out for a demo release by this weekend!
Btw, Tsu, I've always disliked Rika, not just because you mentioned she was 'cute'. And stop pointing out my character dislikes. Nobody else has a problem with it. I hate Chaz, and that's all there is to it. If the idiot had just dodged the damned Black Wave, Alys would have never been hit. He certainly was fast enough. So I blame him and not Zio or DF. I actually felt sorry for the former...

A question that regards the above... Why did Zio target Chaz and not Alys? I mean, it was apparent that she was the party leader at that point. Of course, if Zio had originally targeted Alys, she would have just dodged the attack like any other and there would be no so-called 'tragedy', therefore, no emotional response to kill Zio. Yes, the mentor must always die so the student can avenge his/her death. Another damned cliche..

Lyla2284 wrote:Now for those of you who have finished PS2, could you perhaps give me a theory or two on what happened to the Nei weapons? Your feedback will be greatly appreciated. One wonders how they ended up in PS3...

Well let's see. With PS III, I always figured the Nei weapons there were just really old weapons used by Laya, Orakio, etc. way back that basically get enchanted with power to beat Dark Force.

As for PS II, I'm not sure where I saw this, but it's possible Rolf and the others return to Dezoris and go their separate ways and such, leaving the Nei weapons with Lutz. Considering how the remaining party members get sent to the Noah in the end, it's possible they can just go back. Even if not, the Neisword would do it. Furthermore, I'd heard that Rolf goes back to Esper mansion and becomes an Esper. I suppose with him still being seen as a criminal and Lutz having saved his life years ago before sending him on his merry quest, I doubt he'd exactly be turned away.

So basically, the Nei weapons in PS II and PS III are not the same ones. The whereabouts of the Nei weapons after PS II are unknown, (which would work in your favour should you go and re-introduce them) but considering this is a game after all I doubt the developers were too concerned about ditching the Nei weapons in favour of Elsyedon. As I said, it's a loose end that could be tied up as anyone desires.

Whoa, getting a little heated here over personal opinions. :/

I've seen that list of RPG cliches, Lyla. I will say I'm glad you're attempting to avoid them, but also glad that some are part of the PS legacy (especially the chosen heroes thing) and some you just can't avoid. Still, avoiding cliches is a .

Also, posting that list gave me a thread idea, but alas, I must wait until after work to post it.

dimon-in-hell wrote:

Lyla2284 wrote:That is my eventual aim, to make a prequel to this whole game, but it's shelved for the time being. I simply don't have the time to make two games at once. I really dislike Shorty and Rika, they didn't do anything for me, apart from being a bunch of cliches (sword-swinging hero, cute sidekick) as well as blatant rip-offs from Rolf and Nei in PS2. Even Chaz's character portrait (status pic) looks as though it was taken from Rolf's! I admit that even Alys and Hahn were based off Anna and Hugh respectively, but they're not as obvious as Shorty and Rika. For one, their character portraits are different. ^^ I'm ranting, I admit it, but this is the 21st century and I can now voice what I've been meaning to say for a very, very long time....

PS4 is basically rehashing all the ideas from PS2 and there's no creativity and no originality.

The game's storyline was it's weakest point, I'm afraid, and in this day and age, I simply can't allow that anymore. It's been done to death already, and I'm having a hard time recreating the game by introducing new ideas but at the same time, holding on to the series' legacy. Which involves a bunch of cliches... You have to bear in mind that I'm introducing this game to a new audience as well, not just the PS fans.

Thanks, now I understand your idea. I wish you luck in your realzatsii. Just once again beg your pardon for having hacked your old demo. Due to this, I finally fulfill my dream. You draw great sprites Chibi ))))))))))))

Xander wrote:So basically, the Nei weapons in PS II and PS III are not the same ones.

This. The PSIII Nei weapons were only weapons, whereas some of the Nei items in PSII included armor. It was only the name that was carried on as far as continuity goes.

My personal theory is that at least some of Rolf's party survived the battle with the earthmen aboard Noah and returned to Dezolis. I wouldn't be overly concerned about the exact weapons returning unless you really want to tie PSII in with your game, but for simplicity's sake you could go the PSIII route and make new Nei weapons that would fit with the current heroes (axe, sword, vulcan, staff, etc.). Another good tie in between PSII and PSIV would be to explain what those "four torches" are for. Four lost heroes? Which ones died? That leaves three of the remaining PSII characters; which ones survived? Why are their histories seemingly lost?