Her Last Breath: How Phantasy Star IV is a story about living after loss
It should go without saying that this article will have spoilers, but here's a warning right at the top should you need it. The Phantasy Star series, to me, were games I would start, but never really play. I took popular opinion of the Phantasy Star series being "SEGA's not-as-good Final Fantasy," as gospel and as such never gave it the time of day. That is, until a couple years ago when NerdJosh , known mostly for his prowess in a wide range of fighting games, shared a pivotal scene from Phantasy Star IV; the death of Alys. Without any context, I felt moved. And from that moment marked Phantasy Star IV as a game I needed to get around to if just to understand the context of that scene. Alys the Hunter From the beginning of the game, Alys is in your party and protects you, the player, from having to deal with a lot of the nuances of Phantasy Star's combat. She's strong, starting several levels higher than the rest of your party, has a wide va