Download Phantasy Star II Easy Mode ROM Hack

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|         Phantasy Star II (GEN): 'Easy Mode' Patch          |
|                        Version 1.0                         |
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** what it does **

As you may or may not be aware, in 2008, Sega released volume 32 of its Sega
Ages series on the PlayStation 2, the Phantasy Star Complete Collection.  As
the name implies, it was a collection of basically every single main-line entry
in the Phantasy Star series from the pre-online era.  Despite the fact that the
compilation was released only in Japan, the four games it included that had
received US releases (namely, PS 1-4) could be played either in English or in
Japanese, at the player's option, though a Japanese PS2 was still required.

The version of Phantasy Star II included in the Complete Collection included
an "easy mode" option.  When toggled, it would multiply the EXP and Meseta
received at the end of battles by four.

And that is exactly what this patch does: multiply all enemies' EXP and meseta
rewards by 4.  Nothing else is changed; enemy damage, item prices, item stats,
and character stats are all otherwise identical to the original game.

It would be nice if I could make a patch to rebalance the cast, but I lack
the technical knowledge, really, plus I'm also probably not the best judge of
what would be appropriately balanced.

** known issues **

None, really.

It's worth noting that multiplying gains by 5 wouldn't be feasible - the most
EXP a single enemy can give is 65535, and a single enemy in the game (KINGLAVA)
would exceed that if multiplied by 5.  (KINGLAVA gives 13944 EXP in the normal
game, and 55776 with this patch.)  

** why? **

In a few words: because I wanted to stream Phantasy Star II, but without making
viewers sit through thirty hours of grinding in a 1980s RPG, which would rule
out my cartridge - NES Final Fantasy was bad enough.  And I lack a Japanese PS2
also.

** how to use **

Apply the ps2_easy.ips patch to an otherwise unedited Phantasy Star II ROM.

The patch was created using the Phantasy Star II (UE) (REV02) [!] ROM as
reported by GoodGEN.  It may or may not work with other revisions of Phantasy
Star II's English release, but you would likely have to fix the ROM checksum
manually if it does work with other revisions.  It definitely WILL NOT work 
with the Japanese version of Phantasy Star II, as its monster data is placed
differently.

** disclaimer **

Phantasy Star and Sega are trademarks of Sega Corporation.
Please do not distribute the patch file without this readme.
Please do not distribute ROMs pre-patched with this patch.

- Reiska, 1/6/2011 @ 7:48 AM