Phantasy Star IV: The End of The Millennium - Story

Story

The long, long struggle of ancient times finally ended...

The victor sacrificed the vanquished to the heavens.

Four bells tolled. Four torches were lit.

And the world continued for thousands of years...

Phantasy Star IV takes place 1,000 years after the events of Phantasy Star II. It is the story of Chaz Ashley, a young bounty hunter, who, along with his friends and allies, unwittingly becomes the savior of the Algol solar system. The story begins on the planet Motavia, which has gone through dramatic climate changes since the end of Phantasy Star II. After an event called the Great Collapse, much of the once-thriving ecosystem had been reduced to desert, and life had become progressively more difficult for the planet's inhabitants. To make matters worse, there had been a marked increase in the numbers of the "biomonsters," a catch-all term for the strange and violent aberrations of Motavia's flora and fauna.

Keeping these creatures under control is the job of "hunters", and it is during an investigation into such an outbreak that the characters learn of the relationship between the biomonster problem and the planet's ecological crisis. The planet is in the process of returning to its original desert state as the climate and biosphere-controlling devices installed over a thousand years previous begin to fail. The reasons behind the malfunctions are clarified as the plot unfolds, relating directly to the events of Phantasy Star II.

Chaz and his allies connect the world's troubles to a cult leader called Zio, "The Black Magician," whose aims appear to be total annihilation, not only of Motavia, but of the whole Algol solar system. The heroes therefore decide to stop Zio in order to restore the computer systems maintaining Motavia. However, it soon becomes clear that Zio is merely the vanguard to a much larger, more dangerous enemy, long buried in the past. The secrets of the Algol star system are revealed as Chaz and company progress through the story, discovering both the nature of the threat to their worlds as well as the safeguards placed in a time long forgotten.