In this final installment of the famous Phantasy Star series, the protagonist, while out on a routine assignment, uncovers evidence pointing to a sinister threat to the entire solar system. One thing leads to another and he and the rest of his party eventually find themselves fighting the root of all evil.
Even if killing the root of all evil would end everyone's problems, the team decides to take a few side jobs. As a result, they become even stronger and do things that would be impossible in a regular speedrun

Game objectives

  • Emulator used: Gens 11a
  • Completion of all sidequests
  • Speed/entertainement tradeoffs
  • Aim at fastest completion
  • Use death to save time
  • Manipulation of luck
  • Use of a glitch
  • Secondary goal : show as many combination attacks as possible

Comments

Yet another submission of Phantasy Star IV. However, compared to the "blast from the past run", this one has clearer objectives. This run completes all sidequests available, which are defined as going out of the regular speedrun route in order to:
  • get money of the prospect thereof (hunters' guild)
  • get a strong weapon/shield (like the silver tusk and the laser barrier), a strong spell (megid) or an upgrade (for the robots)
  • fight a boss
  • get the necessary experience to do the Destruction macro (fighting inside the Vahal fort and against Prophallus)

Indepth explanation of the run

(It only includes what is different from the speedrun or some questions people might ask regarding the course of action)
  • I stop by Miles in order to warp later for a sidequest (also, warping there seems shorter than walking out of the spaceport to go to the Edge)
  • I didn't stop in Nalya (which is closer to Vahal Fort than Zema) as it was about 100 frames longer to stop there. And I didn't visit the wreckage, as it was only dialogue about the destruction of Palma
  • I stopped in Aiedo (where the Hunters guild is) and bought the shortcake right away for a later sidequest
  • On my way to the Ladea Tower, I stopped in Monsen to complete the Plate System sidequest. In there, I got Demi her upgrade (phonomizer), a better gun (less out of the way than the one inside Nurvus) and the laser barrier for Rune (this way, I didn't have to shop for the silver shield in Tyler)
  • I also stopped in Termi to buy a few things to be used for later sidequests
  • Before fighting inside the spaceship, I created an extra macro (with eliminate), as 2 bosses to come are weak to it
  • Inside Kuran, I give Wren one of his upgrades (hyper jammer)
  • After getting the ice digger, I visit Myst Valley, to get Rika's Silver tusk, given by Myau from Phantasy Star I. In fact, the weapon is so strong against evil that I might redo the speedrun and get it...
  • I also visit Dezolis' climate tower, where I fight another Gy-Laguiah (the silver tusk let me kill him in one less round than the blast from the pas run) and d-elm-ars, who's susceptible to eliminate
  • Before getting to the Air Castle, I stop by the weapon plant to get another upgrade for Wren (burst rockets)
  • The fight against Xe-la-Thoul was extremely lucky and short (4400 frames). The silver tusk helped, but also blizzard.
  • So was the fight against Lashiec. I only needed two rounds of healing, and shooting star (foi spells+burst rocket) took a good chunk of HP (and the silver tusk too, of course). I tried using two star-dew, and it makes close to impossible manipulation to get Kyra to die (unless I take out a shield and put it back, which means extra manipulation)
  • The team is so strong that I didn't need a healing macro against DF II
  • Before going to the Soldier's temple, I completed the Hunters' guild missions. The missing dog is always in the same spot in Monsen, I gave the dying boy the alis-sword I bought in Termi (and stopped on the way to Torinco in Uzo for a later sidequest), the sandworm is very easy to kill especially with nawat, in the missing boy quest the mother can be manipulated to walk towards the entrance and Fract ooze is easy to kill, the missing student can also be manipulated to walk towards me; she is healed by the perolymate I bought in Termi, the evil bird had a devastating earthquake attack that was hard to manipulate (and his attacks were often critical), in Zema I was able to fight ahead of the Servants but not of the dominators (who are too quick). However, I was able to kill them with Circuit Breaker (tandle+hyper jammer); I also got Wren's best gun, his last upgrade (positron bolt) and fought a mnonster to boost Rune's experience a little, and the missing girls mission was just done to complete the guild.
  • The fight against Prophallus rose Rune to level 35 (where he gets Legeon) and Chaz to level 17 (where he gets enough MPs to cast Megid, but also 5 crosscuts, enough to match Rune's effess in order to create Grand Cross)
  • In the Anger Tower, I had to get Chaz the guard mail (easier to access here), as he still had his primitive leather gear. And Alys had to be manipulated not to hit critically
  • The fight agains PD was one of the unluckiest I ever manipulated. the 2nd form just wouldn't attack "properly". So I had to extend the fight a little with Demi's phonomizer. However, I was able to finish with Destruction (deban+megid+legeon+positron bolt, in that order) (I also used Silent wave, airslash+phonomizer)
Suggested screenshots: 159 289 (Myau), 327 862 (the crotch attack), 380 840 (Prophallus, aka Dark Falz), 380 994 (Prophallus attacking) or 414 009 (the destruction attack)

feos: Accepting and publishing.


Joined: 2/1/2012
Posts: 5
Thanks again for this awesome run. Though on youtube, I think we would love to see some annotations you'd like to make, I mean it would be great to see your explanations like "in this part I open this chest to find a laser barrier so that I don't have to buy it later" or "this move makes me save 300 frames". or anything you'd like to tell, like in a DVD bonus the director's comment. Have a good day anyway and good luck if you want to improve your run with the silver tusk.
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Everyone who liked this submission, please revise the below and post whether that goal is worthy, and whether it deserves a separate branch: #3560: janus's Genesis Phantasy Star IV "Blast from the Past" in 1:59:10.18
Warning: When making decisions, I try to collect as much data as possible before actually deciding. I try to abstract away and see the principles behind real world events and people's opinions. I try to generalize them and turn into something clear and reusable. I hate depending on unpredictable and having to make lottery guesses. Any problem can be solved by systems thinking and acting.