The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
[Ys]: Adol Made a Thread
Shady3011
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Let's talk about the Ys games. If you haven't heard, Ys: Memories of Celceta is coming to North America this Fall on the Vita courtesy of Xseed. On top of that, Ys I & II Chronicles+ is being released on Steam in 2 weeks (February 14). This is just a place holder for the OP as this series needs more love around here.
0
Posts
Best game int he series. That it's now fully available in english - text, voice, and even manual and packaging - is the icing on the cake.
And not being available in English is the nastiest icing ever. edit: nvm, apparently it IS in English now!
Ys Seven is pretty awesome, btw. Definitely getting Celceta when it hits.
they're on EVERYTHING
PC-88, PC-98, Windows, DOS, NES, MSX, Sega Master System, Turbo Grafx 16, PSP, PS2, etc.
Fantastic game. You should give it another go.
Eh, this hasn't really been a requirement since the 8-bit days. You could attack head-on starting with the Turbo Grafx port.
I wonder if he never bought his armor and weapon if he was that defenseless.
Er, NOW available in english, not "not" lol
I don't have a whole hell of a lot of exposure to this series. Just Oath in Felghana and its original form of Wanderers from Ys on the Sega Genesis. And then I later got to try the SNES version. Pro tip: The Genesis version is superior in every way, especially with the music (it is factually more complex and tracks run for longer; the SNES music is shorter loops).
The way the attack system works is that it's a dice roll with an initiative boost. Attacking from behind gives you the highest initiative, attacking from the side gives you a medium initiative, and attacking head-on gives you no initiative. Enemies can gain an initiative from attacking you from behind, but not by the side. That's why attacking from a diagonal is such a preferred attack - it makes it so that you can gain an initiative without worry about the enemy getting one back.
Early ports had balance issues, where that boost made a huge difference, but, again, since the game was rebalanced with the TG16 port, that doesn't matter as much. You'll always be able to defeat enemies of a lower level than you, because, due to the law of averages, you'll deal more damage head on in a fair fight than they will deal to you in any given situation. Thus, if you are properly armored and at a high enough level, it's impossible to die with a head on attack. Rather, where diagonals have their place now, is when you're attacking enemies of a higher level or an equal level.
If you grind properly, this is never a problem.
No wait, it's 4, right?
Genesis mine dungeon:
Remake version:
Genesis pre-dungeon:
Remake version:
It's not a remake of any of them. It's the new, official Ys IV. There were 2 other versions of Ys IV prior: Dawn of Ys (the one I mentioned above) on the PC Engine Duo,and Mask of the Sun on the Super Famicom. Neither were made by falcom, but Dawn of Ys was made by the team that made the remake of Ys I & II and Ys III, headed by Hudson. Falcolm was making an official Ys IV for the megadrive, but it was cancelled.
All 3 games take place in Celceta, but they have wildly different stories despite vaguely similar events and casts. Prior to Foliage Ocean in Celceta, Mask of the Sun was the official canon (over the superior Dawn of Ys), but the new one takes the official canon.
@TheSonicRetard Oh, awesome. I think I knew some of that, but didn't have the whole story. Well that's cool then, I'm really looking forward to Celceta.
I was actually planning on making a Ys thread with an extensive OP, but Celceta's NA release announcement made me pull the trigger earlier than I would have liked. I chalk it up mostly to wanting to play the other Ys games I haven't played (IV, V, Ark of Napishtim, Origins) before I wrote about them. If people would like to contribute to the OP, be my guest.
Man, just be thankful you didn't play the original versions of part 3. Those were an exercise in awfulness. I was still lured into playing it a lot though because it was very different as far as games I played in the 90's goes. Even despite having a Sega Channel (which is how I became aware of it in the first place).
I typically believe Ys I & II have the best soundtracks in the series, and that's the general consensus. They were scored by the legendary Yuzo Koshiro, best known as the author of the Streets of Rage and Act Raiser music (among numerous other fantastic soundtracks). They have that wailing synth sound he's known for:
The Turbo CD version of Ys III also has an incredible soundtrack, but it's not by Yuzo Koshiro I don't think. The other games have similar soundtracks, but I feel like they're more generic.
Ys IV in general is my favorite entry in the series - Ys I & II as one game is a close second - but I adore Ys IV. Specifically Dawn of Ys, which I feel is the best in the series. I can't wait to see how Celceta measures up. I've played every other game in the Ys series.
The Turbo CD version of Ys III is the best version (ignoring the PS2 side-scrolling remake). The problem is that people try to play it like Zelda or Wonderboy... that's not how you play it. You play it like Ys. It actually plays remarkably similar to Ys I & II and Ys IV when you play it properly. In reality, you shouldn't be doing much jumping, the trick is to get enemies to come to you and just hold the attack button down. It's been so long that I can't remember if you'll continuously slash in the Genesis version, but you do in the Turbo CD version.
I think the Turbo CD version of Ys III has my favorite graphics of the old games, too. They look similar to Ys I & II and IV despite the change in perspective, but they seem incredibly detailed. The faked parallax actually sucks, but every now and then you'll come across a screen where it looks like they poured a ton of time into the details. Everything will align up perfectly and get framed in just the right perspective. The one scene that stands out the most comes early on in Ys III in the cave when you descend to the lower level - one of the first floors you come across has the background open up into a wide underground lake with a huge waterfall behind you. It's gorgeous for the hardware.
They just take a bit of time to click. The new games actually don't play that different from the old games, attack button aside. I played the series in order, beginning with Ys I & II on my Turbo CD when I first got it. BUT, I had played Zelda (including LTTP) and Wonderboy (including Monster World II and Monster World III) prior, so it's not like I didn't have other, AAA quality action games to compare it to. It really is it's own series, nothing else is quite like it (Xak and Hydlide would probably the closest comparisons).
I love that the series is finally popular in the west, but it's a shame that people don't go back and try the old games. They're some of the best classic games out there, especially the turbo duo versions and the complete remakes.
So what's missing?
IV, V, VI?
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
7 is unfortunately a PSP only affair, but I'd love to see a PC version.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Ys Origin is Ys 0
Ys Chronicles is Ys I & II
Ys: The Oath in Felghana is Ys III
Ys Foliage Ocean in Celceta is Ys IV
Ys: The Ark of Napishtim is Ys VI
Ys Seven is, of course, Ys 7
there is no port of Ys V to any other system besides the SNES. It is the worst game in the series, not counting Ys Strategy
Ys is a PC series primarily, which is odd for a japanese action-rpg series. The only game not available on PC is Ys V, and, like Oath in Felghana and Foligage Ocean in Celceta, it'll likely get remade next.
Ys 7 was released for windows in China mid last year. And, per usual for Ys games, a fan translation patch is in the works. Keep in mind that, until Ark of Napishtim, Ys fans relied almost primarily on fan translations. It's kinda funny to see Ys Chronicles coming to steam... because I have Ys I & II Complete, boxed, imported from japan. I've played the exact same games on the very same PC I'm buying Chronicles on years ago.
I didn't actually purchase any Ys games until The Ark of Napishtim on PS2. The game was OK, but the English voice acting seriously hampered my enjoyment of it and I actually took a lengthy break (more than 5 years) before finally jumping back into my saved game and finishing the series. Not long after I got a PSP on sale and all the Ys games I could find. And then I rebought Oath in Felghana on Steam as well as Ys Origin. Fantastic games.
My Backloggery
The other games merely take the star, Adol, to other locations and worlds and have him fighting similarly epic, but unconnected villains and forces. There is definitely a chronology - Oath in Felghana will reference Ys I & II for example, but you don't need to have played the other games to get into Ys III, Ys V, Ys VI, or Ys 7.
Nobody needs to play Ys strategy. It's an awful game.
To make the end of battle is my favorite song in the series, too. It comes at such a climactic and epic moment in the game, too, that it makes it stand out even more. You touched on the cinematics of the series, and that's one of the staples for Ys. No matter which version of the game you play, no matter what system it's on, it always has jaw-dropping-for-the-hardware cinematic cut scenes. The above scene I posted from the intro to Ys II set to To make the end of battle from Ys Chronicles?
Turbo Grafx CD version
MSX version
Famicom version
PC-88 version
and so forth. One of my favorite cutscenes from the whole series comes from Ys IV on the Turbo Duo:
That's from the fully dubbed translated version, so people can compare how well done the dub is to the old games.
When it launches, give Chronicles a go. It's pretty different from the above two (no attack button, for example - you attack by walking into enemies) but it's a classic action-RPG.
I'm so psyched that XSeed is starting on more Ys localizations; I almost want to invest in a Vita just for Memories of Celceta. That reminds me I should probably hunt down a copy of SEVEN soon all things considered.
I think you're under selling the great work Team jdk does. Ys Seven has one track that is used at the perfect moment. It is seriously underused.
I can't wait for that one.
My Backloggery
They need to do something with the search; if you type in Ys it now shows Chronicles (didn't this morning, might have just put it up), but doesn't show Oath or Origins.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
origins was really good though, yunica is so much better than adol with the redesigned specials and the bosses were great. the only two stand out bosses in oath were the last two, and a few of them were cheap hard with absurd homing attacks or counter attacks.