Before Aerith, there was Nei.
Unmarked spoilers are ahead, per Spoilers Off rule.
- Teim and Darum's deaths are tragic. Teim is an innocent girl who was kidnapped by criminals who blew up most of their town with dynamite and Darum is her loving father who turned to a life of crime to get the random money to save her. When Rolf and Co show up and save her she veils herself for safety and they go to confront Darum. She is then killed on the spot by Darum after refusing to pay him and then he blows himself up along with her body so horribly there is no DNA left for cloning. Also Nightmare Fuel.
- Nei's death. Quite possibly one of the earliest examples of a Player Punch in gaming. Made even more tragic is that despite Rolf’s best efforts he cannot save her. Reviving her with a Moon Dew when the party fights Neifirst won’t save Nei — her life is tied to Neifirst, so when Neifirst dies Nei dies. The same thing happens if Nei is able to defeat Neifirst all by herself. And later Rolf rushes back to Paseo to clone Nei, only to find that the center is unable to do so. All he can do is bury her and continue on with his quest.
- While escaping from Gaila, the party hears an explosion and checks a control console, learning that the satellite's orbit has been adjusted so it's on a crash course with Parma. The Japanese version makes it clear that the whole party was killed in this explosion (the translation only implies it), and it destroys the planet entirely. The surviving Parmanians are now trapped on non-native soil, which has serious repercussions in Phantasy Star IV.
- The fact that the events of this game turns Phantasy Star I into an All for Nothing quest. Alis, Lutz, Odin, and Myau fought so hard to free Algol from tyranny and usher in a period of peace — only for everything that they worked hard for to go to waste. Within 1,000 years of their adventure Algol becomes enslaved once again — this time by Mother Brain — which most of the population literally cannot live without. And even though Lutz had entered cryostasis to aid in the battle against Dark Force, by the time he wakes up Palma (Alis’s home world) is gone, Motavia is terraformed but utterly dependent upon Mother Brain, and Dezoris (the planet he resides) has been decimated by excessive mining.
