Phantasy Star is a series of console role-playing video games and other supplementary media created by Sega. The series debuted in 1987 on the Master System with Phantasy Star, and continues into the present with Phantasy Star Online 2 and other extensions of the Phantasy Star Online sub-series. Each of the games in the series features a science fantasy setting featuring a cross-genre combination of magic and technology. The first four games in the series are set in or related to the fictional planetary system of Algol, and are single-player turn-based role-playing games. Later games in the series are chiefly action role-playing games, and some contain massively multiplayer online game elements. There are currently four distinct Phantasy Star subseries, each set in its own universe. Cameos or nods to other subseries may appear, and some concepts and terminology are shared across them, similarly to Suikoden, Breath of Fire, Dragon Quest, and Final Fantasy.
Original series
The original series takes place in the Algol Solar System, which consists of four planets: Palma, a fertile agricultural world; Motavia, a desert planet; Dezoris, an ice planet; and the mysterious Rykros, whose elongated orbit brings it within visible range only once every thousand years. Players travel to all four planets throughout the series, interacting with each unique set of inhabitants and discovering the secrets to the solar system's genesis, which is irrevocably tied to an ancient conflict.
Phantasy Star was the first installment of the series, released for the Master System in Japan on December 20, 1987, and then in the United States and Europe in 1988. It introduced players to the planets, races, and lore of the series. The game follows the adventures of Alis Landale, a young woman from Palma. After Alis's brother Nero is killed by the formerly benevolent government of King Lassic, Alis embarks upon a quest for revenge. She is joined in her rebellion by a muskcat named Myau, a warrior named Odin, and a wizard named Noah. Together, the group defeats Lassic, but discover that he was only being controlled by the malevolent entity Darkfalz. Alis and her companions defeat Darkfalz and restore peace to Algol. It is then revealed that Alis was the lost princess to Algol's monarchy, and is given the option to accept her birthright. Phantasy Star II, released in March 1989, marked the series' transition to the Sega Genesis. It benefited from an upgrade in graphics and in the scope of its quest, as it's more than twice the size of its predecessor. It tells the story of Rolf, a government agent from the town of Paseo on Motavia. In this new setting, 1,000 years after Phantasy Star, Motavia is no longer a desert world, but has been mostly converted into one lush with vegetation and animal life, thanks to a system-wide computer network known as Mother Brain. However, malfunctions throughout the network are resulting in all sorts of catastrophes, from climate change to the appearance of mutant plant and animal life called biomonsters. Rolf changes from an agent of the government to a rebel fated to end Mother Brain's reign over the system. He is joined by a colorful cast of characters, all of whom have their own stakes in the conflict. Beset by the biomonsters at first and government-deployed robots afterward, Rolf and his allies eventually must fight both Dark Force, the enemy from 1,000 years ago, and the Mother Brain. Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom, released for the Mega Drive in 1990 and on the Genesis in 1991, was a departure from the previous games in that the different worlds were no longer the different planets of the Algol system. The game revolves around two feuding factions, the Orakians and the Layans, who have been engaged in bitter conflict since their founders disappeared 1,000 years earlier; the factions assume their founders were bitter enemies who fought each other. Unique to Phantasy Star III was a storyline that spanned three generations, starting with Rhys, an Orakian, and continues through two more generations, with the player controlling Rhys's son and grandchildren. At the end of each generation, the player determines the next main character by choosing which of the women encountered during the adventure the characters will marry. Rhys and his children eventually discover the true nature of the world and the conflict - that the seven 'worlds' were actually subsections of the colony ship Alisa III sent into deep space after the destruction of Palm. Somehow Dark Force was able to accompany the fleeing colonists and work to turn them against each other; Rhys' grandchild or grandchildren defeat Dark Force to restore peace to Alisa III. Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium was released for the Mega Drive in Japan in November 1993, in the United States in February 1995, and in Europe in December 1995. Building on its predecessors, it added a number of new features, such as pre-programmable combat maneuvers called "Macros", combination attacks between two or more characters and manga-style panel illustrations for major cutscenes. It was also the first game in the series to have in-depth character interaction and development. Taking place 1,000 years after Phantasy Star II, Phantasy Star IV returns to the Algol Solar System, which has been in a precipitous decline after the destruction of Mother Brain, an event known as the Great Collapse. The people struggle to survive against an unforgiving climate and a resurgence of biomonsters. Among them are Chaz Ashley and his mentor Alys Brangwin, hunters who make a living performing various tasks for clients: from protecting citizens from monster attacks to investigating strange events. As seemingly random occurrences all tie back into the system-wide crisis, Chaz and the allies he meets during his quest must fulfill the series promise of fighting back the re-emergence of darkness. However, in this, the end of the original series, players will not only face off against the incarnation of evil, but also rescue Algol once and for all from a bleak fate.
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