Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom

From The Cutting Room Floor

Phantasy Star III is the third game in the futuristic Phantasy Star RPG series, and is quite a deviation from the first two. It features a unique "Generation" system, in which characters get married, have children, and their children continue on the adventure. Unfortunately, production was rushed, and it shows.

Inaccessible Tunnels

This crude map displays all the connecting tunnels. Blue = Accessible, Red = Permanently Sealed

The Alisa III features seven distinct "biospheres", each with its own overworld map, arranged in a hexagon formation. These biospheres are all interconnected to adjacent ones via a series of tunnels, many of which are sealed off by default, and can only be opened if you're carrying a specific jewel. With the exception of the central "hub", Aridia (which borders all six of the others), each biosphere contains exactly three tunnels to its neighbors.

Due to the nature of the game and its branching paths, it's entirely possible that some of these tunnels will end up unexplored over the course of the game... however, there are six such tunnels that can never be entered, at any point, and under any circumstances. These are as follows:

• Aquatica/Draconia
• Elysium/Frigidia
• Aridia/Elysium
• Aridia/Terminus
• Draconia/Terminus
• Frigidia/Terminus

As you may notice, this means that none of Terminus' three tunnels are accessible. There's good enough reason for this in-game (it's basically a world of pure evil), but not so much for the others. It's possible to modify event flags in a save state, in which the caves can be "entered", but the item listed as breaking the seal on each of them is a Monomate (obviously a default value), and you're teleported directly to the other side, as it appears no interiors were ever created.

This doesn't really have a significant effect in-game, as by the time the latter biospheres become relevant, you'll have access to the Layan Temples (which serve the same purpose, and more directly so), but it's nevertheless curious, and suggests that the game may have been planned to feature far more branching paths than it ended up having.

Unused Items

There are several unused items hidden away in the game. Whether they were left out intentionally or by accident is anyone's guess.

• Royal Knife - The strongest knife-type weapon in the game, with an attack power of 76. No characters in the third generation are dedicated knife-users, and it would have been far too expensive for second generation teams, which is probably why this ended up being left out.
• Royal Claw - 92 attack power. This weapon for Mieu is just outclassed by the Planar Claw and the Miun/Nei Claw. There's really no period of time where this would have been especially helpful.
• Ceramic Staff - 58 attack power. A rather unassuming mid-level staff probably intended to be available in the second generation, along Nial's path.
• Royal Slicer - 50 attack power. A high-end slicer-type weapon, rendered rather unnecessary due to the availability of Planar Slicers and the Lune/Nei Slicer.
• Laconian Bow - 95 attack power. This would have been helpful in the second generation, along Nial's path, but in the third generation, where money is plentiful, the Royal Bow would have made this quickly obsolete.
• Royal Cape - 26 defense. The best cape in the game, and undoubtedly intended for the end of the second generation along Nial's path, as nobody in the third generation can equip capes, period.
• Royal Helmet - With a defense power of 19, this would have been the strongest helmet in the game for the main character. There's no particularly good reason this was left out; it was probably done so by accident.
• Royal Ribbon - 38 defense. This is Mieu's best headgear, and like the Royal Helmet, was almost certainly an accidental exclusion.
• Ceramic Bandana - 5 defense. Sounds rather... cumbersome. This would've benefitted Ryan, but Ayn's group would've had no use for it.
• Steel Bandana - 10 defense. Another unused bandana probably meant for the second generation.
• Laconian Shield - 63 defense. Few enough players use shields in Phantasy Star III, and there are better ones available for those that do. Not a significant loss.
• Snow - This is mixed in with the jewels. Given this, it was most likely intended to open one of the inaccessible caves mentioned above.

Unused Shops

Two sets of shop data exist that do not appear to match any of the in-game stores.

Weapon Shop

• Laconian Knife
• Laconian Claw
• Laconian Sword
• Force Bow
• Pulse Cannon

Armor Shop

• Planar Armor
• Royal Robe
• Royal Vest
• Royal Boots
• Royal Fiblira

Unused Enemies

Missing Enemy Group Members

All enemies are stored in groups of three sharing the same graphics but different palettes, but not all members of those groups are used.

Disker

Part of the "Disk" enemy group. Slightly stronger than a Flopper, but weaker than a Carder. Probably meant for the first generation or early in Ayn's path, as it gives only slightly more experience and meseta than a Flopper.

Guardbot

The mid-level "attack bot"-type enemy. Stats-wise it's stronger than an AgriBot, but only slightly, and gives a much better exp. and meseta reward. Probably meant for somewhere along Ayn's path.

Gryphon

The strongest "Harpy"-type monster, and a significant step up from a Griffin in every regard. This would have fit in nicely in any of the Terminus tunnels, had they been used.

Imp

The weakest imp-type, but far too advanced in terms of stats and reward for a first generation foe. Likely intended for another cut tunnel, presumably along Nial's path.

Jumpliz

The strongest lizard warrior-type. It's rather unremarkable all around, and was probably intended to be used late in Nial's path, or early in the third generation.

Sheik

Sandwiched between the "Emir" and "Caliph" swordsmen. Not much to say here, as it's not very different stats-wise from an Emir.

Skeleton

A tough enemy with high HP, decent stats, and... an unfortunately poor reward. Possibly intended for a sealed cave somewhere in the early third generation?

Spectre

Lower HP than a Skeleton, but higher stats and a better reward. Probably intended for a Terminus tunnel. This is the only monster group to have two enemies cut from it, leaving only the Wraith used in-game.

Unused Enemy Group

In addition to the above enemies, an entire group of enemies was not used: Twistbot, Swivlbot, and Rotabot. Interestingly, in the Game Boy Advance port, they can be seen in Mystoke Castle.

Unused Boss (Kara)

Data exists in the ROM among the other bosses for Kara, interestingly listed between Lune and Siren among the bosses of the second generation. All of the data for this boss is still present, including animations, showing the "Warrior" Kara seen in the final's Sean and Crys generations. These graphics are also present in the GBA port.

It's difficult to see where this boss fight would have gone. In terms of stats, she is roughly comparable to the second-generation miniboss Sari, and by the third generation her stats would have been closer to that of common enemies.

Oddities

Escapipe Sequence Breaking

Start up a new game. Before doing anything else, head to the nearest shop, sell all your clothing, and buy an Escapipe. Play the game normally until Rhys is thrown into the dungeon. Now, instead of opening the chests to advance the storyline, use the Escapipe. You'll be teleported out of your cell and back to the entrance of the dungeon...which throws the game's normal event progression out of whack, preventing you from advancing any further. You can not interact with the usually-inaccessible NPCs in the hall, and Maia will be placed back in Rhys' room, also rendered mute as her event will not trigger again. Fortunately, the developers realized someone might try to pull off this trick and gave the king a helpful error message, as seen in the above screenshot.

The development team may have caught that one, but it isn't the only opportunity to shatter the plot with an Escapipe. At the start of Generation 2 (Lena path), you can use an Escapipe in your throne room to return to the Cille Castle dungeon from the end of Generation 1. All the random encounters are replaced with Chirpers, for some odd reason. King Cille's back, and will gladly accept a rematch. Beat him again, and you'll get the marriage options as if you just beat Generation 2!

Be careful, though! You'll have to select the second option, otherwise you'll miss out on a plot-specific item that the game normally assumes you have, rendering Generation 3 unwinnable!

Version Differences

Regional Differences

In the Japanese version, in battle the ground scrolls as well as the clouds. In the American version, only the clouds scroll.

Virtual Console

The Virtual Console version of the game includes a plaintext ASM patch - complete with developer comments in Japanese - that is applied to the game in real-time. The patch fixes a bug that would cause garbage sprites to appear on the SEGA logo screen after a game-over, and removes the cross in the Nurse's portrait.