Phinal Phantasy Star 48

Congradulations Alys, you can go to the next stage now.
.....Whatever.

Developer: SegaSoft Publisher: RockeT CanyoN Productions Genre: Role Playing Players: 1 Memory Blocks: 1-15 Discs: 4 Analog: Yes Dual Shock: No ESRB: Teen (Contains Parappa Refs.) Difficulty: Intermediate

When I first heard about this game, I thought that combining two games into a crossover usually destroys it. But in this case I was completely wrong. This game clearly combined all the good things about Final Fantasy 8, Phantasy Star 4, and Cosmo Canyon humor without the crap. (Though Cosmo Canyon humor doesn't contain crap.) (i.e. Cactuar, Yuffie, Selphie)

Gameplay--The gameplay for this game was great. No longer were the characters' magic restricted, because magic had been abandoned in the PS series since the first. The characters use techniques like they always have. Also the characters now junction with Pokemon, who give them Techs, MAD SKILLZ, and acts as summons varying from Pikafoo' (the electric Mr.T referance) to Mr. Coffee (the steaming cup of coffee Pokemon.) The limits still aren't that good, except when using the Aura Tech, then they occur just about every turn. Plus that annoying Triple Triad Card game has been replaced with PaRappa Duels. You can challenge NPC's to PaRappa Duels and suddenly all the dialouge during the duel becomes badly translated, where you rap and get a rating (bad, good, cool) due to your MAD SKILLZ with a rap, the rap itself, and performance. Whoever has the highest rating wins. When you win you gain points that raise MAD SKILLZ, and learn new raps. As you traverse to different areas in the game you encounter new rules, like Um Jammer Lammy style (play a guitar as opposed to rapping), and Mix (rap and play guitar). Just watch out for the random rule, because you'll have to play a random rap with no rehearsale.

Graphics--When it came to the graphics in this game, they certainly didn't use Phantasy Star 4's graphics. The graphics are utterly beautiful, and the normal gameplay fluidly runs into FMVs. Some of these FMVs consist of the parade held in Wutai in honor of Black Magician Zio, the ROCKSLIDE graduation ball, and Alys escaping from Kalm during the ROCKSLIDE field exam.

Music--During normal gameplay, the music is quiet mediocre, but when the game shifts to a PaRappa duel the music becomes classic. The music play varies from PaRappa, Um Jammer Lammy, Jimi Hendrix, Cute Animals Characters, Useless RPG Characters, and Lenny Kravitz. Its the greatest!

Storyline-- The game mainly focuses on the prominate student named Alys Bragwin and her partner Vampire Hunter D enrolled in RockeT CanyoN. The CanyoNs started by Headmaster Cid Highwind trains cadets to become members of the mercenary group, ROCKSLIDE. Throughout the world there are only three CanyoNs: Wu-tai CanyoN, RockeT CanyoN, and Cosmo CanyoN. Alys' biggest rival Kyra is the only other Slasher specialist in RockeT CanyoN, but she doesn't make it into ROCKSLIDE due to making a stupid mistake during the field exam along with her super annoying friends Chaz and Demi. Alys later meets up with Celes, an exchange cadet from Cosmo CanyoN, CAM, the Captain of RockeT CanyoN, Mr.T, the leader of a generic resistance force in North Corel, and Agent1469, a mute snipper who works for Wu-tai CanyoN. All six characters band together to stop the evil Wu-tain army lead by Black Magician Zio and the vile Madame Dictator Kisargi. At times, Alys is known to fall into a "dreamlike" state where she encounters the Wu-tain Wizard Rune and his friends Rika and Gryz. What destiny awaits these two characters? At what point does the story between the two cross? Who is Rune...?

Fun Factor--Its Yuffie-bashin', PaRappa reffin', MAD SKILLZ usin', Daravonese speakin', hyna tippin' fun! There's plenty of mini-games that's sole purpose are to take up time, like PaRappa Duels, helping CAM find where he parked Mr.T's van, and robbing vending machines.

Overall Satisfaction--

Highs: Jimi Hendrix (he's very high), storyline, PaRappa Duels, and robbing vending machines.
Lows: Yuffie
Score: 10