Try out my game: WHAT RPG

[xDamage]

direct download link (295,342 bytes):

http://www.hyakushiki.net/whatrc.zip

This is an NEC PC-Engine / TurboGrafx-16 ROM image, coded by me, with gameplay and story line based on the Phantasy Star series.

I'm releasing it a bit "early." Although the game can be played from start to finish (assuming no game-breaking bugs), it doesn't necessarily have everything that I planned to include. Because the game has been in development since early 1999, I wanted to put it out there, in case the world ends before I get around to working on it again.

Instructions: I started writing them, but haven't finished yet. The important thing to explain is the save system. On a normal PCE/TG16 there is no way to save the game, although if you do get killed you will respawn in the current area so the game can be continued. On a system with battery-backed RAM, you can save, but doing so will overwrite any existing data from other games. In an emulator you can save, but in some cases (Magic Engine) you need to save in the first slot, or else the emulator won't recognize that anything has been saved. Of course, emulators generally have a save state function anyway.

[BenoitRen]

Whoa, it's DamageX with his TurboGrafx 16 Phantasy Star RPG project! Talk about a blast from the past. Though I did notice that you were still working on it now and then while updating my webring.

I'll be sure to try out your game. I wonder if there's a PC Engine/TG16 emulator for the PSP.

[Tryphon]

I've played it (only 5 minutes unfortunately, I'm short of time recently). That's nice, I was so glad to feel the retro-feeling again.

Here's my 1st thoughts :

1) I was bothered by the fact that the button that triggers the menu is also the one which cancel it (as opposed to original controls)

2) the scrolling is not smooth, but I suppose you're aware of that (or is it my emulator ?) I suppose the fact that the Motavia map is splitteed in submaps comes from the fact you can't update the plane while scrolling ? I have no knowledge about PCE, had you coded it for MD I could have helped

3) the NPCs are slow

4) there's a graveyard in Arima, though it hasn't yet been destroyed (as in PS2, which explains the graveyard)

5) When text appear, NPC disappear (then again, I suppose it's a hardware limitation)

[xDamage]

2) the scrolling is not smooth

sounds like an emulator issue

[Missagh]

Whoa, it's DamageX with his TurboGrafx 16 Phantasy Star RPG project! Talk about a blast from the past. Though I did notice that you were still working on it now and then while updating my webring.

I'll be sure to try out your game. I wonder if there's a PC Engine/TG16 emulator for the PSP.

Wow! We need to add this to it's fan game page. I think I tried this out back about a decade ago haha

Very cool, going to give it a run this weekend!

[xDamage]

Bump.

Aside from Magic Engine, and TG-16 itself, the game appears to work fine in Ootake.

brief instructions: http://www.hyakushiki.net/what.txt
and just for kicks... an HES (soundtrack) file: http://www.hyakushiki.net/what.hes

[Oresama]

I just finished this one and thought I'd share my thoughts. To say I was an intrigued by the idea of a PS game on the PCE would be an understatement.

The good:

-It really looks and (on the surface) feels like it's a Phantasy Star game. The first thing I noticed when walking around is that it looked and felt like being in Phantasy Star 2 with the PS4 engine. It captures the ambiance of Phantasy Star in a way a lot of fan games don't.

-It's a little grindy in places, but I didn't mind in this case. It felt more like a 90s RPG atmosphere than an attempt to waste my time.

-The PS battle environment is recreated strikingly well. With one major exception, it could almost pass for a Sega creation.

-When the story began it felt like it could slide into the PS mythology.

-The music sounds authentic on the PCE chipset. Bravo.

-Despite using elements from PS1, PS2 and PS4 nothing feels particularly out of place, which was a pleasant surprise.

-Being able to swap out characters is nice, and there's just something about the character selection screen I found appealing.

-I had no issues whatsoever using Magic Engine 1.1.3.


The constructive criticism:

-Some of the dialog felt a little weak. With the hindsight of having gone through the whole game, some additional story details and a few editing choices could make the overall experience far more enjoyable. There's an unshakable feeling that something is missing.

-It's very short, and stops abruptly. The ending isn't very satisfying, and felt like it came out of nowhere. I was not expecting the final battle to be the final battle before I saw who it was. As longer fan games have been made I'd recommend pointing out to people that this is going to be less than 5 hours.

-Too many bosses pop out of boxes. It's fair to say it's a Phantasy Star thing, but feels like it happens too often.

-The ending isn't very satisfying. It's more like the end of chapter one than the end of the story.

-Along those lines - loose ends. For example, the people blocking your way looking for information on Lutz never getting the information leading to a further development in the story. Unless I managed to beat the game by skipping that somehow.

-It's not always clear where you are supposed to go. Not from a standpoint of the game not explaining what needs to be done, but from a standpoint of finding it. The cave entrances on Dezoris heading toward the Esper Mansion was difficult to see, and there is one point on Dezoris where you are supposed to walk through mountains to go the next screen when you can't walk over any of the other mountains.

-A new game+ feature would be a nice addition if the coding is feasible.

-Using the run (i.e. start) button to run away is not intuitive and goes against all RPG sensibilities. It sounds cute/interesting/different on paper, but did not work for me at all in execution.

Overall:

For fans of the REAL Phantasy Star games, the positives are strong enough and the game short enough to definitely recommend playing it once. Anyone reading PS Cave will get enough out of playing it to make that an easy call. Replay value is more questionable and will rely upon what you are looking to get out of a PS game.