History VideoGame / PhantasyStarIII

* {{Prelap}}: As in Videogame/PhantasyStarII Dark Force is contained inside a chest. The sound effect of the chest opening echoes for several moments, and the screen fades into the final battle. The echoing of the chest opening sound becomes the backbeat of the final boss theme.

* DiscOneNuke: The city of Cille at the end of Rhys' campaign sells endgame-caliber equipment. The lack of worthwhile {{Money Spider}}s in any of the three worlds you visit means that most players would have to grind obsessively to afford them, but if you put the work in, Mieu and Wren could be outfitted with most of their best gear before even learning Rhys will have a grandchild, and their ability to take items across generations means your protagonist could always start with an amazing sword as well.

* EarlyGameHell: The earliest part of the game involves Rhys travelling alone with minimal equipment. At level 1, even the most basic {{Mook}} can make short work of him. It's only when Mieu and Wren join the party that the game's difficulty curve settles down.

* EarlyGameHell: The earliest part of the game involves Rhys travelling alone with minimal equipment. At level 1, even the most basic {Mook} can make short work of him. It's only when Mieu and Wren join the party that the game's difficulty curve settles down.

** [[spoiler: Alair and Sari both remain single. Thea and Maia are never seen again. Lena marries someone else (producing Sari). Laya returns to stasis if you marry Alair, but later joins the third-generation party (or if you exploit an oversight by giving Laya's Bow to one of the cyborgs before completing the second generation, you don't need to get her at all... meaning she remains in stasis ''forever''). So yes, the one rejected tends to not get much of a HappyEnding.]]

** [[spoiler: Alair and Sari both remain single. Thea and Maia are never seen again. Lena marries someone else (producing Sari), and in all likelihood dies in Lune's attacks. Laya returns to stasis if you marry Alair, but later joins the third-generation party (or if you exploit an oversight by giving Laya's Bow to one of the cyborgs before completing the second generation, you don't need to get her at all... meaning she remains in stasis ''forever''). So yes, the one rejected tends to not get much of a HappyEnding.]]

** Sean's ending is identical to Crys's, except the ship avoids a black hole instead of a sun before heading towards the planet.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: You better believe it. The most egregious would be the famous use of a color best described as "electric laser limeade" as the hair color of ''five'' different characters[[note]]Lune, Alair, both versions of Kara, and Aron[[/note]].

** In Sean's ending the ship encounters another generation ship with identical design and receives a friendly hail.

* MultipleEndings: Has four third-generation protagonists.

* BatmanGambit: Apparently everything you did in the first generation was part of a set up [[spoiler: by the people of Lashute. They wanted to restart the war, but this was impossible because of the ceasefire imposed by Orakio and Laya. They could have their second-in-commands restart the war, but both had been banished to the Alisa III's satellites, which were beyond the reach of any spaceships they had. Therefore they needed someone to bring them back into position using the satellite control system; so they kidnapped the Princess of Crille and placed her on a beach in Landen; which was a neighbor to Satera, whose royal family held the Moonstone, one of the keys necessary to make the satellite control system operate. Maia, the princess of Cille, was the cousin of Lyle, the prince of Shushoran whose royal family happened to have the Moon Tear, the other key needed to work the satellite control system. Then Lyle kidnapped Maia back and returned her to Cille, which just happened to be separated from Shushoran by a narrow strait which would turn into a land bridge if influenced by the two moons, if they were back in their original positions. Note that Lyle could have, at any time, turned into a dragon and flew the party to Cille, but instead they went with pretty much the most complicated solution of all, which is what the people of Lashute wanted. Wouldn't it have been easier for them to just kidnap Lena and Lyle (or blackmail them) and have them bring the satellites back for them?]]

* TimeTravel: [[spoiler:One of the endings.]]

* UntoUsASonAndDaughterAreBorn: Adan and Gwyn.
* UnwinnableByDesign: Do ''not'', under any circumstances, use an Escapipe to escape the castle dungeon at the beginning of the game. [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything The game will outright tell you that you need to reset now.]] Mercifully, this is right at the beginning of the game. It also counts as UnwinnableByInsanity, since the only way to get an Escapipe at this point is by selling all of your starting equipment.

''Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom'' [[FakeOutOpening seems to be a radical departure]] from the first two ''PhantasyStar'' games at first; it doesn't even take place in the Algol system (although for good reason). It begins with the story of Rhys, a young prince of the Orakians, who is preparing to marry Maia, a girl from the rival Layans. When Maia is kidnapped, it sets events in motion that span generations. ''PSIII'' starts off as a classic MedievalEuropeanFantasy, but the appearances of androids and obviously high-tech "caves" quickly clue them in to the fact that things are not as they seem. The game features a unique twist: at the end of Rhys' adventure, he is given a choice of [[LoveTriangle two girls to marry]]. Depending on his choice, the game then ''continues'' through the eyes of the resulting child. This child's own story will then play out, again with a choice of whom to marry. This final child will play out the final act of the story.

* AfterTheEnd: [[spoiler: The game takes place on one of the spaceships that escaped [[EarthShatteringKaboom the destruction of Palm]] in PhantasyStarII. Unfortunately, the escape was mired by a [[GreatOffscreenWar cataclysmic war]] between the leaders of the ship that resulted in a FeudalFuture.]]

* StableTimeLoop: One ending shows how Dark Force [[spoiler:could have gone back in time to corrupt Earth, which may have lead to the Earthmen becoming the secret antagonists of ''PhantasyStarII'', and causing the events that resulted in Dark Force hitching a ride to Earth]].

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: You can escape your prison cell at the beginning with an escapipe. You appear before the king, who tells you that ''would'' have been a good idea, except you've [[OffTheRails derailed the plot]] and need to reset the game now.

* FacialMarkings: Laya has a bright red dot in the middle of her forehead. Adan and Gwyn inherent smaller ones.

'''PhantasyStarIII: Generations of Doom''' [[FakeOutOpening seems to be a radical departure]] from the first two ''PhantasyStar'' games at first; it doesn't even take place in the Algol system (although for good reason). It begins with the story of Rhys, a young prince of the Orakians, who is preparing to marry Maia, a girl from the rival Layans. When Maia is kidnapped, it sets events in motion that span generations. ''PSIII'' starts off as a classic MedievalEuropeanFantasy, but the appearances of androids and obviously high-tech "caves" quickly clue them in to the fact that things are not as they seem. The game features a unique twist: at the end of Rhys' adventure, he is given a choice of [[LoveTriangle two girls to marry]]. Depending on his choice, the game then ''continues'' through the eyes of the resulting child. This child's own story will then play out, again with a choice of whom to marry. This final child will play out the final act of the story.

* [[spoiler: AfterTheEnd: The game takes place on one of the spaceships that escaped [[EarthShatteringKaboom the destruction of Palm]] in PhantasyStarII. Unfortunately, the escape was mired by a [[GreatOffscreenWar cataclysmic war]] between the leaders of the ship that resulted in a FeudalFuture.]]

* [[spoiler:TimeTravel: one of the endings.]]

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: You better believe it. The most egregious would be the famous use of a color best described as "electric laser limeade" as the hair color of ''five'' different characters.

* UnwinnableByDesign: Do ''not'', under any circumstances, use an Escapipe to escape the castle dungeon at the beginning of the game. [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything The game will outright tell you that you need to reset now.]] Mercifully, this is right at the beginning of the game.

* ChestMonster: [[spoiler:Dark Force is hiding in one.]]