Phantasy Star IV

Phantasy Star IV closed the saga with its most complete and accessible chapter. Manga-style cutscenes — illustrated panels telling the story like a comic — were unique in the RPG landscape. The Macro system let you pre-program party actions and discover devastating combos (certain combined attacks created special techniques). Chaz, Alys, Rune and a memorable cast traversed the Algo system in an adventure connecting all previous chapters. An important character's mid-game death was a genuine shock. Sega proved JRPGs weren't Square and Nintendo's monopoly.