Let's Play Phantasie I for real!

DaveO · Jul 22, 2009

I was curious if anybody would like to do the honors and make a Codex writeup. If not, I can do it myself once I finish.

DaveO · Jul 24, 2009

I missed recording getting the last God Knife from Woodville. Training is slowing down thanks to the steep experience requirements. The Wizard and Monk both could only go up one level. I did give Luzur two additional levels, and am working along to the rest of the party. The priest still needs 15000 gold to go up a level, even at Olympia which looks to be the cheapest place for training.

DaveO · Jul 25, 2009

Our training before heading to the Bleeb dungeon was able to get our group to level 8-11. That Bleeb dungeon was more annoying than I remember. The logic puzzles are a break from the routine of bashing heads, but if you screw it up you have to do the dungeon all over(especially when answering the puzzles to get the rings). Fortunately, I was able to figure out the pools and puzzles but that place can seriously eliminate all logic for the player in frustration.

DaveO · Jul 26, 2009

The Dosnebian Temple is completed, but now I bogged myself down on that test of the rings in the God's Floating Castle. I know the order of the rings equipped on my characters need to be in a certain order to pass the test. Darn it, I'm so close to the end.

DaveO · Jul 26, 2009

Aha! I figured out the test of the rings. You have to go to the mystic in a town, and he says you have to be ready to visit the place. D'oh!

DaveO · Jul 28, 2009

Carlos' Bitch1 · Jul 28, 2009

DaveO said:
I was curious if anybody would like to do the honors and make a Codex writeup. If not, I can do it myself once I finish.

Probably best if you do it. The rest of us that played through this game probably last did it 20 plus years ago now. It is fresh in your mind.

The Gods castle brought back memories. I remember getting frustrated over the ring business as well, and those damn elemental rooms. Finding out how easy it was...:facepalm:

DaveO · Jul 29, 2009

I'll think of something in regards to the write-up. I don't think any attempts at humor would go over well, so I'll just stick to the story and the adventures. I'm going to be pushing for the next series of videos to be the finale.

DaveO · Jul 29, 2009

The experience for a creature kill is split between each member. Now I was able to kill a minor deity, but 190000 experience points split six ways only gains you 32000 experience each. That means it's not worth the time at higher levels. Trying to fight Zeus in Woodville is impossible since you'll lose characters before the fight begins. I'll try Zeus again in the Dosnebian temple, but if I had no spell points after fighting the minor deity it will be problematic to go after Zeus(especially since only Thrust attacks could reliably hit the minor deity). Still, the 1+ million experience points would be worth it if everyone survives. :twisted:

P.S. - Our group is trained up to maximum levels with the exception of Annie due to a shortage of gold.

Carlos' Bitch1 · Jul 29, 2009

DaveO said:
The experience for a creature kill is split between each member. Now I was able to kill a minor deity, but 190000 experience points split six ways only gains you 32000 experience each. That means it's not worth the time at higher levels. Trying to fight Zeus in Woodville is impossible since you'll lose characters before the fight begins. I'll try Zeus again in the Dosnebian temple, but if I had no spell points after fighting the minor deity it will be problematic to go after Zeus(especially since only Thrust attacks could reliably hit the minor deity). Still, the 1+ million experience points would be worth it if everyone survives. :twisted:

P.S. - Our group is trained up to maximum levels with the exception of Annie due to a shortage of gold.

Looks like somebody fell right back into the game :cool:

Many LP threads are people going through the motions, not bothering to try and get their levels to the max, get the best weapons, etc.

Did you play this when it first came out? Or is this something you stumbled upon later? I didn't actually play this until 1989, and only went after it once I had picked up number 3. I then went and tracked down 1 and 2. All these I bought for the C64.

DaveO · Jul 29, 2009

I played thru the game at least once on the Atari platform. For max levels, I meant for what we had experience for. This meant level 10-12 across the board for each character. You need a LOT of experience points to train up a level once you hit level 10, and I really don't want to do dungeons twice with the exception of Woodville.

Annie Mitsoda · Jul 29, 2009

WHAT? NO GOLD FOR TO TRAIN ANNIE? BUT I SMASH THINGS SO GOOD! :twisted:

Best of luck bitchin' up Zeus & co. That there will truly be a triumph.

DaveO · Jul 29, 2009

You can't touch Zeus without spells. I might have had a chance if the Monk could learn Fireflash 4, but he can only use up to level 3 of the spell. Once you're out of spell points, Zeus can take out the rest of the party. Oh well, at least I tried and the game designers made Zeus a difficult challenge. Onward to finish up the game in the final dungeon.

Annie Mitsoda · Jul 29, 2009

Didja get the minor deity? If you killed him, I think the end boss should be no trouble at all.

Dude is a BASTARD, though.

DaveO · Jul 30, 2009

Yes, I killed one of the minor deities. I did not record it since I just wanted to see if it could be done. The only upside to killing minor deities is that they have 60000 gold which would be 10000 gold each. That would be enough to get Annie her final few levels. The party I have is not quite high enough to have a reasonable chance against Zeus. I think killing Zeus can be done, but you need as much offensive firepower as possible.

1eyedking · Jul 30, 2009

Still banal and boring.

DaveO · Aug 2, 2009

And so the Dark Lord meets his demise. The best way to handle that finale dungeon is to take the exit and come back. You can save at Pelnor since it's closest, and head back. You'll have to try your luck against the Dark Lord, although I highly recommend Confusion 4 so he can't cast spells. I tried Binding 3, but it's really ineffective against his melee attacks. Fireflash for the win, and a nice screen of Zeus congratulating the party.

P.S. - Destroy all the stuff in the Black Lord's room since that's where he gets a lot of his power from. All that's left is a journal/walkthru. Thanks to everybody for coming along on the ride. :D

Luzur · Aug 2, 2009

and if i remember correctly you have to sit on his throne too.

or was that before you face him?

DaveO · Aug 2, 2009

Sitting on the Dark Lord's throne just deals damage to your party. You don't want to destroy the wand since doing so will have an explosive backlash, and it may kill some party members. There is no 'alternate' ending like in SSI's Wizard's Crown where you could join Tarmon.

DaveO · Aug 3, 2009

The final dungeon is done with three videos. The final tally was 59 videos with a total game time under ten hours to complete. If you have a free weekend, you can use my videos and Andrew Schultz's walkthru on Gamefaqs to guide you thru.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHlgTSbl ... annel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yLvYUef ... annel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuth-pv2 ... annel_page

DaveO · Aug 5, 2009

Codex Let's Plays with hundreds of screen shots are not my style. There are already the 59 videos you have as a reference. The below is meant to supplement a walkthru.

Phantasie I overview

Phantasie I was created by Strategic Simulations Incorporated. SSI had an emphasis and
impact on the early RPG market. The more memorable contributions included tactical combat, creature and character resistances, memorable dungeons, and tough boss fights. Phantasie I has a lot of Lord of the Rings references, as well as one of the most diverse race selections available. The non-random races you can use include Halflings, Elves, Humans, Gnomes, and Dwarves. Random races include Gnolls, Trolls, Minotaurs, Lizardmen, Kobolds, Goblins, Sprites, Ogres, Orcs, and Pixies.

A Phantasie party may consist of up to six adventurers. Experience points and gold are split by the number of party members. Party composition and profession are entirely up to the player, but random races can only choose Fighter or Thief. I'll go over the professions I picked for my party, as well as alternatives.

Fighter - Minotaur is the best choice if you don't want to drop a character for the
Dosnebian Temple. Good alternatives are Gnolls and Trolls. Fighters should be given just one share for experience and gold.

Thief - Halflings, Sprites, Pixies, and maybe Gnomes are good choices for a Thief. You're
more interested in developing the trap and find item skills for a Thief, so Kobolds and
Goblins may be poor choices. The Thief can attack ANY monster rank, so they're definitely
worth having in my opinion. Thieves should receive one share for experience and gold.

Monk - This character choice is a good alternative to the Thief. The pros are that they have much better utility than a Thief, but a con is that they won't have as highly developed trap and find item skills. Monks have the added pro of obtaining the Transportation spell sooner than a Wizard. A must-have character choice in my opinion. Monks should get two shares for experience and gold.

Ranger - They'll need good intelligence scores if you want to use their healing. This could
be substituted with a second Priest since Rangers don't offer much besides improved combat capabilities. Rangers should receive two shares for experience and gold.

Priest - A healer is definitely essential to a party. A bit of a con is that the healing
spells are so random that you'll likely exhaust spell points keeping your party in prime
condition. A pro is that they can learn the Confusion spells, which is very important
against spell casters. Priests should get two shares for experience and gold.

Wizard - The best offensive spellcaster in the game for a party. A con to the Wizard is that it takes time to develop spellcasting capabilities and spells can fizzle against monsters, but the pro is that he'll be valuable as a boss/monster killer once he has Fireflash 3 or above and Mindblast/Flamebolt 3 or above. Wizards need the most experience to advance to higher levels, so give them three shares for experience and gold.

I'd like to briefly discuss the character attributes.
Strength - Important to wield weapons. This statistic multiplied by two and adding dexterity determines the weapons you can use. The strength value by itself determines shields and armor you can have.

Dexterity - Trolls will have the hardest time getting decent dexterity since the maximum
they can have is 15. Dexterity complements strength, so make sure you have good scores with both.

Intelligence - Important for learning and casting spells. Not a huge priority to have a good
score if you're a Fighter or Thief.

Constitution - Determines hit points at character creation and hit points achieved when
training to higher levels. Hit points are a bit random, but I'd not accept anything below 15
hit points for Fighters, 9 or 8 points for Thieves, 7 points for Wizards, 10 or 9 points for
priests, and 12 points or higher for Monks/Rangers.

Charisma - Determines costs to train a character. This is an important attribute, so any
value below the middle of maximum should have a character reroll. In retrospect, I should
have followed my own advice but I was more interested in playing thru the game.

Luck - This statistic is random, and it probably affects spell resistance, trap avoidance,
monster hits and damage to party members.

Rolling the party and exploiting Woodville
If a character's (Strength*2) + Dexterity is 54 or higher, they can use God Knives. They're the best weapons in the game you can obtain without randomization. I'd go for half of the party or higher being able to use these weapons. Doing Woodville multiple times for individual God Knives is worth the effort and will net some good experience for each run. Woodville is one of two places where you can try your party against minor deities. If you have a gold shortage, you can try your party against them but I'd recommend multiple characters that have Fireflash 3 or 4.

Training - Hit point increases are quite random, so save before paying for training. The
same holds true for spells. You may need a hex editor to increase hit points more than one.

The party I went with and completed the game consisted of:
Anniemal - Minotaur fighter. One of three characters that was rolled with the capability of
wielding the best weapon in the game. See Annie smash!
Stats: Str - 20, Int - 3, Dex - 14, Cons - 19, Cha - 6, Luck - 13

DaveO - Dwarf Ranger. Second character that could use the best weapon in the game. Created as a backup to the Priest.
Stats: Str - 19, Int - 14, Dex - 17, Cons - 19, Cha - 6, Luck - 9

Luigi - Dwarf Monk. Third character that could handle the best weapon. Our Wizard alternate and Transportation character.
Stats: Str - 20, Int - 17, Dex - 17, Cons - 16, Cha - 15, Luck - 13

Sheek - Human Priest. Unlike D&D, SSI gave Priests in Phantasie the ability to use edged
weapons.
Stats: Str - 15, Int - 14, Dex - 18, Cons - 17, Cha - 3, Luck - 9

Luzur - Sprite Thief. Almost had enough points to use the God Knife, but magic pools did not boost his Strength or Dexterity values.
Stats: Str - 14, Int - 18, Dex - 22, Cons - 13, Cha - 5, Luck - 8

Azira - Elven Wizard. Can use more than daggers thanks to SSI.
Stats: Str - 11, Int - 19, Dex - 19, Cons - 16, Cha - 17, Luck - 10

The group starts out in the town of Pelnor. There are a total of 12 towns, although you will need Transportation to reach two of them. I spent a LOT of time around Greenville in order to exploit the Woodville dungeon. Pelnor does not have much of notice in the Armory. There is a scroll that we could buy that gives a party some information about the first dungeon. Unfortunately, gold is at a premium early to be used for training so I pass on buying the scroll and head straight for the dungeon.

Dungeon #1 - Dwarven Dungeon
Location - Close to Pelnor(northwest)
Difficulty - 2

Overview - The largest problem will be how weak everybody in the party is. Nobody has
attacks besides Thrust, and Orcs tend to hit for at least one damage point. The biggest
danger factor are Rangers, but you should not encounter them often. If you do encounter them, I'd advise running if your party has low levels.

Dungeon #2 - Cathedral
Location - Closest to Greenville(east)
Difficulty - 2

Overview - If you went thru the first dungeon significantly, you should have a few new
weapons to use. The downside for doing this dungeon before the Lizard Men caves is that you won't be able to get the Earth Rune unless you have the Fire Rune. Only one dungeon is 'active' at a time, so you can always head back to a dungeon if you can't complete it. You could likely get by doing the first two dungeons with a level 1 party.

Dungeon #3 - Lizard Men Caves
Location - Close to Greenville(south)
Difficulty - 4

Overview - Getting the Fire Rune is the primary challenge here. I'd recommend training your party before heading into this place. Fire Elementals guarding the Fire Rune have 77 hit points, so spell and weapon offense is important against them. There are some good weapons on the northest corner of the dungeon, but you'll need to find the secret passage to reach it.

Dungeon #4 - Woodville
Location - West of Greenville
Difficulty - Varies from 5 to 8

Overview - You'll probably be going thru this dungeon multiple times to obtain the God
Knives. Demons and Spirits are in your way to reach this weapon. Spirits can only be hit
with damage spells. You can pick fights at the bar in Woodville if you want. Insult the
giants and you'll be fighting against at least one. Attacking the Elves will pit your Party
against Lords. Lords are far easier than the giants, so it's your call on whether it's worth
the risk. You could head down the dark alley to try on Dragons, but that's NOT a good idea for a low level party. Under no circumstances should you use the wrong number combinations since it will kill multiple party members(even at high levels), and anyone who survives will have to fight Zeus. You could attack a minor deity here, but this a challenge a high level party is better suited for.

Dungeon #5 - Lord Wood's Castle
Location - Near Halflingor(south)
Difficulty - 5

Overview - If you don't want to repeat this dungeon, you need to have visited all three of the magic pools. The pools are located south of Pineville, northeast of Phantasia, and
southwest of Trollport. I'd recommend using the Transport spell to minimize travel
time(especially since Phantasia can ONLY be reached using Transport). Your characters should have a good Swimming skill score to minimize damage. There are a few tricks to this place, but nothing you should not be able to handle if you've explored the place. Watch out around the southwest corner since there is only one way to successfully traverse the traps. This reminds me of the first Indiana Jones movie where he gets the golden statue, so don't make a wrong step!

Dungeon #6 - J.R. Trolkin's Castle
Location - Northwest of Dragonor
Difficulty - Varies from 4 to 5

Overview - The biggest frustration will be the one-way doors here. J.R. Trolkin's a pretty
easy boss in my opinion, but it's best to head for him early. This will be your first
opportunity besides the town of Phantasia to acquire magic rings.

Dungeon #7 - Bleebs
Location - East of Northford
Difficulty - 3 or 4 if you know the logic puzzle answers. Otherwise, being forced to do this
dungeon multiple times if you get the answers wrong earns a frustrating 10.

Overview - This place truly tests your dedication to finish the game. The logic puzzles are
not as easy to solve as they may seem. A little tip I can give you is that red pools
activate green ones. If entering a green pool just gets you wet, try some red pools. Let's
look over some of the statements to explain about the logic puzzles.
A RED BLEEB SAYS, "GREEN BLEEBS ALWAYS LIE." - False since Green bleebs can sometimes lie.
A BLUE BLEEB SAYS, "GREEN BLEEBS TELL LIES AND TRUTHS." - True since we can use other statements to verify this.
A BLUE BLEEB SAYS, "ALWAYS LISTEN TO RED BLEEBS BUT DON'T TRUST
THEM." - True again since Red bleebs always lie, but the information can be valuable.
A GREEN BLEEB SAYS, "RED BLEEBS SOMETIMES LIE." - False. Red Bleebs always lie.
A GREEN BLEEB SAYS, "BLUE BLEEBS TELL LIES AND TRUTHS." False - Blue Bleebs always tell the truth.
A BLUE BLEEB SAYS, "BLUE POOLS ARE HARMFUL." - True. You can verify this by entering any blue pool.
A RED BLEEB SAYS, "RED POOLS SOMETIMES TELEPLORT." - False. Red pools NEVER teleport.
A GREEN BLEEB SAYS, "GREEN POOLS TELEPORT." - True and false. Green pools teleport if activated by red pools.
Now let's use the reasoning behind logic puzzle #1: IN THE ROOM AHEAD YOU CAN HEAR, BUT NOT SEE, TWO BLEEBS OF DIFFERENT COLORS.
THE FIRST BLEEB SAYS, "PUSH THE BUTTON WITH MY COLOR, WHICH IS RED."
THE SECOND BLEEB SAYS, "IF I WERE RED I WOULD TELL YOU TO PUSH THE
BLUE BUTTON."
Thru the process of elimination, we can determine the first bleeb. Red bleebs always lie, so they'd never tell you to push their own colored button. Blue bleebs always tell the truth, so it can't be a blue bleeb. The only choice left is a green bleeb.
For the second bleeb, it can only be red or blue so let's use some more logic to determine
its color. Red would tell you to push blue or green. If blue is making a statement, then
it's false. Remember, red would tell you to push blue or green. Two possible wrong answers must mean it's a red bleeb. Thanks to the red bleeb's statement, we can now rule out pushing the red and blue buttons.
Logic puzzle #2 - A REB BLEEB SAYS - 'WHAT KIND OF BLEEBS SOMETIMES LIE AND SOMETIMES DON'T.'
This one's easy, we've already determined that green bleeb are moderates between lying and telling the truth.
Logic puzzle #3 - A green bleeb says - 'If two bleebs of the same color disagree then they
are...'
Possible answers: Green/Blue, Red, Blue, Red/Green
Let's eliminate the answers one by one. Green/Blue - Greens may tell the truth or lie, but
blues always tell the truth so this can't be a correct answer.
Red - We know that reds always lie, so this answer is true UNLESS we're talking about just two possible answers. Then both reds will agree, so this is not the best answer to the
puzzle.
Blue - Blues always tell the truth, so there could be no possible way for a disagreement to
occur. Definitely an incorrect answer.
Red/Green - Given our reasoning about Red, and knowing that greens could lie or tell the
truth reveals this to be the best possible answer.
Logic puzzle #4 - A green bleeb says 'What kind of bleeb would never say that I sometimes lie'?
Possible answers: Red/Blue, Red, Blue/Green, Green, Blue
Right off the bat, we can take out three answers as wrong. Red/Blue - Blues always tell the truth, so we can eliminate any answer that has them.
Red - Remember, they always lie so they'd never say that Green bleebs would sometimes lie.
Green - Greens could says greens sometimes lie, so this answer is eliminated.

Dungeon #8 - Dosnebian Temple
Location - East of Splitwater
Difficulty - Varies from 5 to 10

Overview - This is the only place where we can legitimately attack Zeus without taking any damage before the battle. Zeus can only be hit with spells, and has 666 hit points. A level 14-15 party across the board may be able to defeat Zeus. This dungeon also requires a Minotaur in your party, so unless you want one of your characters losing experience shares I hope you've created one for your party. The spellcasters are the primary threat, but Confusion 3 or 4 spells should make the threat more manageable.

Dungeon #9 - God's Floating Castle
Location - South of Olympia(a 'hidden' town)
Difficulty - 1

Overview - You just need a Mystic score from a town to say you're ready to visit the gods to pass the test of the rings. The combat test and the others are ludicrously easy. Pray to Zeus to get the God rune. If you feel like fighting him, try it out in the Dosnebian Temple.

Dungeon #10 - Black Lord's Fortress
Location - South of Pelnor(swimming is the quickest way to get there)
Difficulty - 8

Overview - You're going to be making multiple trips to this place, but it's not a huge deal
since Pelnor is quite close. I'd make one run to do the minimum to reach the Dark Lord and
take the trip back to Pelnor to save. Your second trip can be either mop up or going after
the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord will likely take a few tries to eliminate, but Confusion 4 and
Fireflash should help. Just cross your fingers that your spell casters don't get fizzles,
and you should have victory. As a side note, I found fighting minor deities easier.

Carlos' Bitch1 · Aug 5, 2009

Well done! I enjoyed watching the videos even if they looked different to the game I played long ago.

So, what is next? Wizards Crown? Phantasie 2? Or are you retiring for a short break?

DaveO · Aug 5, 2009

If I did Wizard's Crown, it'd be mostly for the dungeons and on the Atari version. If I do Wizard's Crown, then Eternal Dagger is a given. That was an RPG I played thru a LOT of times. I liked the strategic and tactical elements, especially for some fights. I still remember the demon bear Arcturus from Eternal Dagger to this day. If there's enough demand, I could start a LP of both WC/ED. I am a bit tempted now, but I just started on a LP of Savage Empire. Balancing three LP projects at the same time with limits on my free time would be tricky. I sidelined my Star Wars: X-Wing LP due to Phantasie.

Luzur · Aug 5, 2009

do Wizards Crown, it has been years since i loaded that game up on the C64.

never got far either, only to the Academy if im not mistaken.

DaveO · Aug 6, 2009

I just don't trust the Apple versions I got to play Phantasie II. The ROM I tried for Phantasie I is cracked, so there's no telling how that affects the game.

I may eventually do Phantasie III on the IBM with the party I played Phantasie I with. But two of you have already requested Wizard's Crown. So who wants in on the 8 character party I would use for both WC and ED?

Let's Play Phantasie I for real!

Erudite

Erudite

Erudite

Erudite

Erudite

Erudite

Arcane

Erudite

Erudite

Arcane

Erudite

Digimancy Entertainment

Erudite

Digimancy Entertainment

Erudite

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Erudite

Good Sir

Erudite

Erudite

Erudite

Arcane

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Good Sir

Erudite