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Ys Seven - Dogi is a brawler / Chronicles bumping into stores

harvestharvest By birthright,a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
Ys Seven is unsearchable on the forum, and I couldn't find a thread so here's a new one!

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Ys Seven was released for the PSP in mid-August 2010 in North America, and almost a year ago in Japan.

From Wikipedia:
Ys Seven (イースVII) is a Japanese Action RPG developed and published by the Nihon Falcom Corporation and the seventh installment in the Ys video game series. It was released in Japan during 2009 for the Sony PlayStation Portable and was released by Xseed Games in North America on August 17, 2010.

Dogi and Adol reach the Capital of Altago in an attempt to find more adventure. While exploring the town, they get into trouble trying to save two sisters who were being harassed by the local Dragoons. They are thrown into the cells but thanks to their reputation as adventurers, they get a request from the king to help him investigate some strange earthquakes going on lately, as his men have not been able to find anything. On their way, they find out the Five Dragons are awakening once again to prevent a great evil, lending their power to Adol to help stop it.

Some of the characters:

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Adol "The Red," a famous swordsman and adventurer.

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Dogi, Adol's buddy, a huge punching machine. Seriously look at how huge he is.

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Tia, flower girl, lives in Old Town.

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Maya, Tia's younger, mute sister.

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Raud, asshole deluxe, bad cop, a commander of the Dragon Knights.

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Scias, good cop, another Dragon Knights commander, from Old Town.

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Kiemarl, King of Altago. Seems like a good guy. Mysterious illness.

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Ursa, executioner at the coliseum. Appears to wear only belts.

The story is pretty serious business, as it usually is with Adol. Somehow he always manages to get roped into saving everyone from the ultimate evil, and he always wins. There's a lot of text and after six hours I've yet to hear anything voiced. You can skip the text by mashing O but you can't skip the in-engine cinematic cut scenes. Various characters will join Adol and Dogi on their adventure, bringing different attack styles, special attacks, and party buffs to the group.

Combat is fluid and fast-paced, and with up to two companions in tow, plays a lot like Secret of Mana (but faster). Since it's an Ys game you don't have the luxury of just mashing attack, because you'll die if that's all you do. You've got to take care to dodge special attacks and use the right weapon for the job. Early on you learn that some enemies are vulnerable to cutting attacks, and others to fists. Tap O to switch characters when you find an enemy that's not taking damage from your currently-controlled character.

Bosses are awesome. Huge guys, usually with a smallish weak point and thousands of HP. You win by using a lot of dodging, pattern recognition, and endurance.

The music is really great. It's usually guitar + violin and feels at once epic and rocking. I really liked the music in Ark of Napishtim and this game's soundtrack is easily as good.

Each weapon has a special attack you can learn from it, a'la Final Fantasy 9. Skills are powered by SP that you gain from attacking enemies, and especially from using your charge attack (hold X to charge). You bind the special attack to R + a face button, and using the skill levels it up. Once you've 'learned' the skill you can use it without the weapon being equipped. Leveling up skills by using them also makes them more powerful. Some are really handy like Dogi's starting three-hit combo, and some are not so handy like Adol's leap attack, which is easy to miss with.

Controls are straightforward. You play with the analog nub or d-pad, and face buttons do most of the work. Most of the controls can be defined by the user in the options menu. I found making the dash/dodge button be O instead of [] to be a good change. One command covered in the manual but not in the game is the Flash Guard, a defensive move done by tapping L+R together (hit R first though, otherwise you'll use up your limit break move).

Visually the game works very well. Everything is clear, except occasionally the font. It's probably one of the best-looking PSP games. The characters and monsters are stylish and easily-identifiable on screen. The menus are concise and informative.

Have some more screenshots:

altago.png
Approaching Altago by ship.

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Dragon Knights' patrol ship.

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Altago Palace.

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Equipment screen.

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Crafting materials.

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Fighting in the starting area. Here you can see the blue SP gauge filling up, the drops from enemies, and the combo info.

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Gathering iron ore and spring water. You need these materials and dozens more to craft all kinds of stuff.

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These are the widgets you're looking for.

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First boss.

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Pretty big, and look at how many HP he has.

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Some enemies can briefly be stunned.

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Limit break-style attack. Consumes the yellow bar at the bottom right.

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I don't know why but this turtle is explosive.

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harvest on
«13456

Posts

  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I'm about 14 hours in and just did the first dungeon after the halfway point and I'm loving this game. Learn the flash guard by the way. There were a couple attacks in the last fight I did that I couldn't dodge. I had to block them, because the enemy was just chasing me too hard. Like I should've been able to dash away but the enemy was so huge it would still hit me.

    Also because this quest is bullshit and even I missed it, let's just make this clear right away. To get quest 7, go to the bar in Altago AFTER you get permission to go to Segram. This is the only missable quest in the whole game that works this way. Quests 1-6 and 8-12 can all be failed if you don't do them before the halfway point and 13-20 are before finishing the game. 7 is the only one that you can fail before any of those points.

    Gilder on
  • shadowaneshadowane Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I love this game so much. I'm about 22 hours in I think at the last fight. I was considering trying to finish this one quest, but I'm not sure I feel like grinding for all the materials it needs.

    shadowane on
  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I had just got to Segram when my save got corrupted, so I guess this is my chance to get quest 7 :D

    harvest on
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  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    This is one of the few new games (non-port, non-remake) on the PSP that make me feel like I need to buy a PSP. Thing is, my only other experience with the Ys series is Ys 3 on the Sega Genesis.

    Henroid on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    That's considered the worst game in the series, and is nothing like the rest.
    (I still liked it)


    Give this a read.

    http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/ys/ys.htm

    cj iwakura on
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  • blaze_zeroblaze_zero Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I'm thinking about getting this pretty soon.

    blaze_zero on
  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    harvest wrote: »
    I had just got to Segram when my save got corrupted, so I guess this is my chance to get quest 7 :D

    It's really easy as well, once you get the quest you can't not complete it. The reward is pretty lame though. It's just that now I have one quest that says failed and it's so stupid because it wasn't my fault. I had already talked to everybody in town, it's just I did it before I got the letter. That's bullshit, the guy should've been there as soon as I found out I needed to go to Segram.

    Gilder on
  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I just tried it out on Nightmare and holy balls it's tough. I'm going back to my Normal save. The first boss was doing his gravity pull thing AND spinning all over the place at the same time.

    harvest on
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  • ihdihd Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Ys is fucking sweet - great to see a thread pop up. Haven't had a chance to pick up Seven yet but I think after reading all this I'm gonna have to. :)

    ihd on
  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    harvest wrote: »
    I just tried it out on Nightmare and holy balls it's tough. I'm going back to my Normal save. The first boss was doing his gravity pull thing AND spinning all over the place at the same time.

    Is it mostly more attacks, or do they do considerably more damage? Because I think if they do more damage I could maybe do hard, but not nightmare. I'm not good enough at flash guarding for that.

    Oh yeah, could someone tell me the name of the boss song for the first boss after the "halfway point"? Because it is so metal and kickin rad that I need to hear it again.

    Gilder on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    cj iwakura wrote: »
    That's considered the worst game in the series, and is nothing like the rest.
    (I still liked it)


    Give this a read.

    http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/ys/ys.htm

    Quickly (not quickly) on Ys 3: I got the PC remake (Oath in Felghana) imported and fan-translated (I can't read Japanese), and it's fucking INCREDIBLE compared to the original (or well, the Sega Genesis version; which is superior to the SNES version because of the music being more full). If I had to guess, they made it play like the games do now or for a while? It's definitely much more actiony and platformy and back to the top-down kind of look. The story is much better too. The ring stuff was replaced with three bracelets that do three specific attacks which is better. My favorite part of it though is (no surprise) the music. Oh my God the music treatment is so fucking good in the remake.

    As for the link, good lord, the first two games have been on like every freaking video game format. Maybe I should play 'em on my DS! (Should I?)

    ... and on the remake of Ys 3 some more, the fan-translation bugs me for a couple reasons. First, Dogi apparently curses a lot and I'm not convinced he's actually like that (unless he is because hey, what do I know). Second, the font used for the translation is Comic Sans and I don't know how to change it.

    Henroid on
  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I'll tell you how to change it. You buy it on PSP in a few months. 8-)

    Also I don't think Ys 1 and 2 on DS are very good? I think they had some strange issues. It's coming out on PSP as well though, so I think that's going to be the best version.

    Gilder on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Is it the Ys 3 remake being ported over, or is it another shot at remaking Ys 3? Because multiple remakes seems to be this series' thing, from what I read above. :P

    In any case, that's another thing I can add to the list of, "Okay, the PSP is mostly good for ports / remakes."

    Henroid on
  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    It's a port of Oath, so it's the first time I think that the US is getting an official release of it.

    Gilder on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I think a PSP will be in my relatively near future, and all these Ys games are pretty much going to be my jumping off point.

    Henroid on
  • DelzhandDelzhand Hard to miss. Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I've got to read up on the series history sometime. All I know is that Oath in Felghana and Ark of Napishtim are both fantastic games, and I <3 the speed/fluidity of the combat and the challenge level. I didn't realize this was out.

    Delzhand on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    The best versions of Ys are on the virtual console: the Turbo Duo version(Book 1 & 2).

    The PSP version would be a close second. The DS one is supposed to be pretty mediocre.

    cj iwakura on
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  • RenzoRenzo Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    About 4-5 hours into Ys Seven. Just beat the third boss. Really digging it.

    Renzo on
  • Black_HeartBlack_Heart Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    *sigh*
    I sold my PSP months ago because of financial troubles.

    I've been trying to save up money and telling myself I don't need a PSP since I already have a DS, PS3, 360, Wii, and a good gaming PC and there is plenty else out there to play.

    But god dammit.... Ys 7 and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep are going to force me to buy another PSP and grab them.

    Black_Heart on
  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I killed the 3rd boss. These guys are all epic encounters, and unique enough to stay interesting. Really enjoying everything, except that I have to split my time between this and Valkyria Chronicles 2 :P

    harvest on
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  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Last night I beat quest 20. God, fuck that Titano. He's not even hard, just super boring. You can only hit him in two spots and he has two really easy to dodge attacks that hit for 1100+. The problem is he has way too much health so he's not really fun to battle. He just takes forever.

    Gilder on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    One man's easy battle is another man's "fuck this game," Gilder. I'm sure someone will have a problem with it eventually! :P

    How's the music in this game by the way? What kind of music is it exactly?

    Henroid on
  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    No that Titano actually is really easy. He just hits like a truck. He's so easy to dodge though. You just can't get cocky because you might stick around too long and get tail swiped and lose a bunch of health.

    The music I don't know how to describe, but once shit gets real in the story it starts to get into awesome rock music to pump you up. The first time they do it is against that one boss and I have to find that song because it was so rockin.

    Gilder on
  • BartholamueBartholamue Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I know I shouldn't have bought the LE, but it was just too dang hard to resist.

    Bartholamue on
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  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Found the song. I'm going to put it in a spoiler, because it may be too rockin to handle and also it shows a character that could be a spoiler if you're familiar with previous Ys titles. So you probably shouldn't watch the video unless you've at least been to the third altar.

    Gilder on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Totally going to load it up on my dialup! Be back in a half hour! <_<

    Henroid on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Holy shit, that song does kick ass. Is rock music of that sort a typical theme throughout the series (guessing because of Ys 3 and its soundtrack being very rock n' roll, even on the Genesis)? Because RPGs (action or otherwise) need more soundtracks heavily built around that. And I'd be inspired even more to play through the entire series.

    Henroid on
  • ihdihd Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Henroid wrote: »
    Holy shit, that song does kick ass. Is rock music of that sort a typical theme throughout the series (guessing because of Ys 3 and its soundtrack being very rock n' roll, even on the Genesis)? Because RPGs (action or otherwise) need more soundtracks heavily built around that. And I'd be inspired even more to play through the entire series.

    Falcom tend to alternate between synth, symphonic and rock. Though even if a game's not appropriate to rock out to, the jdk band will invariably do a rock arrangement of its themes.

    Ys 2 theme, To Make the End of Battle
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-V0fOvAv_0

    JDK Band arrangement of To Make the End of Battle
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJGldJ3WDRw

    edit: And then you get crazy Japanese people with violins.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpxuorDR_RE

    ihd on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I haven't watched those yet but that last video, it appears to be someone wearing a gas mask while playing the violin. I think I approve by default.

    Henroid on
  • ihdihd Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    It's a Scream mask! He actually put out an album of his renditions a few months ago.

    ihd on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Oh, in the still image it looks like a gas mask to me. Okay yeah I should probably load these up and listen to them now!

    Henroid on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Ys 1 & 2 on the Turbo Duo had some absolutely phenomenal music.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTW91hJyjoQ

    ^Wait for the guitar solo. Mind blowing stuff.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDm9LaJeN9w

    cj iwakura on
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  • DelzhandDelzhand Hard to miss. Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    o hey i herd we were talking about ys music

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M20w2-X_C10

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FKEUo4Q_Bw

    You know, one of the things I love about Ys is that the bosses aren't gimmick bosses like most Legend of Zelda bosses. Just knowing what to do doesn't make it vastly easier - you've got to pound on them with everything you've got, and dodge like your life depends on it.

    Delzhand on
  • Gaming-FreakGaming-Freak Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    My only beef with the Ys series is they never explain why Adol starts back at level 1 with the weakest weapon and no magic at the beginning of each game.

    Gaming-Freak on
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  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Same reason why it happens to Samus; he's just that badass.

    Henroid on
  • ihdihd Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I thought the reason was because he always gets shipwrecked. ;)

    ihd on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I'm waiting on Ys Seven. Oath in Felghana is Day. One.

    cj iwakura on
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  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Part of Oath's awesomeness comes from seeing the leaps it's taken from the original Ys 3. As discussed I lack perspective on the series as a whole so I don't know how Oath measures up to 2 or 4, 5, 6, and definitely 7.

    Henroid on
  • DelzhandDelzhand Hard to miss. Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Oath in Felghana is such a good game. I missed the different swords from Napishtim, but all the other elements (especially item management) are handled much better.

    I know I'm buying 7 (does it have a subtitle? Is this a remake of Mask of the Sun? Could I find answers to these questions and more by checking Wikipedia myself?), but I can't decide if I want to buy it as a dl title or see if I can find it at Best Buy or Gamestop. Best Buy is unlikely to have the collector's edition, but I'm not sure if I want to go that route anyway. I suppose if I get it from the PSP store I can be playing it inside of an hour, but I'd have to delete Jeanne d'Arc from my memory card to make space...

    Delzhand on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Seven is supposed to vastly improve on Oath's gameplay, but it set the standard.

    cj iwakura on
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