...aaaaannnndddd....the villainous Cablon has been defeated. That’s it for Phantasy Star Gaiden, a very poorly designed DQ clone I recommend only to people who enjoy mindless level grinding and running away from a gauntlet of late-game random encounters. Seriously, this game is just a slave to the grind. You literally cannot harm certain enemies, regardless of your equipment and statistics, until you are a certain level. Moreover, as you gain levels, less powerful enemies provide you with less experience...but just as much money. (I had the most powerful equipment and all of the spells pretty early in the game, meaning I was grinding solely to gain levels and move to the next grinding zone on the map.) Magic - which should be called techniques, because this is a Phantasy Star game - is completely worthless; so the only way to win battles is by attacking. Buffs and debuts don’t work at all, and any spell of any value costs so many magic points that may be cast only once before you have to return to an inn. The encounter rate is also insanely high, and it is not uncommon to have three random encounters while progressing only three spaces on the map. (After he’s defeated, it’s revealed tat the villainous Cablon was filling the world with monsters. I thought, “Good work, Cablon. You succeeded wildly.”)
The translation’s also a bit silly. The most powerful spell in the game is titled “Adol”, which is also one of the translator’s nickname. (Ys fan, I guess...) The translators also changed the story a bit to suit their preference, and you can read about that on HG101 if you’re interested. (I call them “translators,” not “fan translators,” because I honestly cannot imagine anyone being a fan of this game.)
Up next...more Japan-only Phantasy Star games? Shadow Tower Abyss? Something else?