Phantasy Star II Text Adventures

Phantasy Star II Text Adventures
Title Screen of Eusis's (Rolf's) Adventure
Developer(s)	Sega
Publisher(s)	Sega
Platform(s)	Sega Mega Drive Sega Mega-CD
Release date(s)	1990
Genre(s)	Text adventure Visual novel
Mode(s)	Single-player
Media/distribution	Download
System requirements Meganet modem

Phantasy Star II Text Adventures were a series of eight text adventure videogames available to users of Sega Meganet, a modem for the Sega Mega Drive in Japan, and later released as part of two compilations on the Sega Mega-CD. Each of the games takes place shortly before Phantasy Star II, documenting the backgrounds of its characters, and explaining what brings them to the town Paseo where they eventually team up to investigate the pervasive troubles of the Algol Solar System.

Gameplay

Like most text-based adventures, the Phantasy Star II Text Adventure games consist of exploration, NPC and environment interaction, inventory management, and occasional battles. Combat uses random dice rolls as a multiplier against the attack value of the character's equipped weapon.

Adventures

There are eight adventures in total, each with a different story and featuring a different character.

Eusis's Adventure

Rolf (Japanese: ユーシス (Yūshisu or Eusis)) is a government agent working out of the town of Paseo on Motavia, and the main character of Phantasy Star II. This text adventure describes Rolf's childhood as a young and talented, but conceited sword prodigy, detailing his rescue of a childhood friend, eventually leading up to his induction as an agent in duty of the government.

Nei's Adventure

This chapter features Nei (Japanese: ネイ, Nei) - a Numan created through an experiment to breed humans with biomonsters. After her escape from Neifirst, Nei has sought refuge at the home of an elderly couple, however, since Nei was not meant to exist, a bounty was placed on her. After being found by hunters, the home she belonged to was burnt down. Nei manages to flee to the nearby town of Paseo, where she wanders the streets looking for a place to stay. She has a few encounters with the hunter responsible for killing the people who took care of her, eventually leading up to her rescue by Rolf, who adopts her as a little sister.

Rudger's Adventure

This chapter features Rudolf "Rudo" Steiner (Japanese: ルドガー・スタイナー (Rudogā Steiner or Rudger Suteina)), who, after heading home while off-duty from the military, finds his wife and child killed, and his hometown devastated after the attack of a mole-like Biomonster. He sets out to hunt the monster down for revenge, leading to his eventual motivation in becoming a hunter dedicated to their extermination. It is implied through the events of this game, as well as his short guest appearance in that of Nei, that after deciding to become a hunter and having encountered Nei sometime afterward, he eventually gains word of Rolf's effort to seek the source of the Biomonster outbreak, resulting in him joining the group.

Anne's Adventure

Amy Sage (Japanese: アンヌ・サガ (Annu or Anne Saga)) has just finished her internship at the hospital in River Town, and has become a full-fledged doctor. Calm, yet strong-willed, she is dedicated in helping everyone who needs her medical aid. Her chapter follows her hunt after a dangerous Biomonster, giving the player some insight into why she became a doctor and decided to specialize in helping victims of Biomonster attacks.

Huey's Adventure

Hugh Thompson (Japanese: ヒューイ・リーン (Hyūi Lean or Huey Reane)) is a scholar in biology at Motavia University. He's called in by the University president to investigate an incident involving an energy-sapping plant creature roaming the campus, feeding itself on electricity and steadily growing larger in the process. After the creature spreads itself through the college's reactor over to the main energy center, threatening to deprive the entire town of Kvarts of its electricity, Hugh sets out to try and stop it. This adventure is what eventually drives Hugh to adapt his knowledge of anatomy to combat biomonsters, in the aid of Rolf in Phantasy Star II.

Amia's Adventure

The emergence of biomonsters was soon followed by a new class of warriors called hunters. Hunters devote themselves to protecting the people of Mota from attack.
Anna Zirski (Japanese: アーミア・アミルスキー (Āmia Amirusuki, Amia Amirski)), however, is a hunter of a different sort - one who hunts hunters, those who have gone rogue and become as much of a threat as the monsters themselves. This chapter details Anna's origin as a bounty hunter, and follows her chase for a wanted Motavian hacker. Her adventure in pursuit of this criminal leads her to find out about her target's remorseful past, inspiring her to renounce her bounty hunting career, and instead becoming a 'Counter Hunter' - choosing to focus her efforts on hunters that have gone truly bad, rather than dutifully arresting anyone with a bounty on their head.

Kinds's Adventure

Josh Kain (or Kain Ji An, Japanese: カインズ・ジ・アン Kainzu) is an 18 year old aspiring engineer who always loved machines, and had become quite knowledgeable in how electrical devices and robots function. He built many small devices, fixed appliances, and even learned to hack computers. However, due to being scatterbrained and clumsy, he would sometimes destroy the things he tried to fix. Eventually, after one particularly disastrous repair job, he gave up trying to be an engineer, deciding instead to put his "talent" for destroying things to good use. Thus he became a "wrecker". His job is to trash anything electronic. He starts off joining a gang of rebels out to destroy Mother Brain, before he eventually ends up teaming up with Rolf in Phantasy Star II towards that very end.

Shilka's Adventure

Shir Gold (Japanese: シルカ・レビニア (Shiruka Rebinia, Shilka Levinia)) – the only child of a wealthy family in Paseo, she belongs to the well-to-do of Motavia. Shir felt that becoming a thief would remedy the monotony of daily life. She enjoys the outside air, the cool night breeze, and hanging around on rooftops, giving her the nickname "Shir of the Wind". Her adventure takes place about two years before the events that take place in Phantasy Star II, and outlines one of her escapades as a thief, as she plans to steal a valuable painting entitled "Opa-Opa", which is on display in a hotel exhibit.

Development and Translation

Since the Meganet modem was not available worldwide, the games were restricted to a small audience. However, all of the eight have been translated to English by fans.