LTTP: Ys - where to start?

[gct]

Nico87, I went through GP's proxy service, as I also needed to buy a different item. There isn't much threat to being outbid, there are lots of copies if you search for the title in katakana. I won mine as the only bidder, but then again I didn't really read the item description so there's still a chance I'm getting an empty cardboard box!

ganson, I think you'll like them. As others have already said, Oath is excellent. I'm about 3/4 of the way through, I haven't had this much fun in a long time. Less stressful than playing shmups but still with enough action to keep me entertained.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Just discovered that FALCOM actually named one of their games "Zwei II". No Zweihänder is going to beat that.

[ZOM]

Yeah, you know what's confusing? The first Zwei is actually written Zwei !!.

[professor ganson]

ganson, I think you'll like them. As others have already said, Oath is excellent. I'm about 3/4 of the way through, I haven't had this much fun in a long time. Less stressful than playing shmups but still with enough action to keep me entertained.

Nice to hear! My main concern is that the platforming will be frustrating. I'm a real wimp when it comes to the frustration of platformers. Anything tougher than Kirby, and I'm likely to pass.

[Nico87]

Some jumps might be tricky, specially if you want to explore stuff. I think I spent 20 minutes on jumping in one screen alone in Valenstein Castle. If I fail once, I just keep failing forever. If I've played for a few hours and come to a place with tricky jumping, I suck. Then I get annoyed and suck even more!

[ShmupSamurai]

Woohoo, Ys just has to my favorite action-rpg series of all time....nothing like plowing through a hallway like a roving semi-invincible wall, running over monsters left and right, all without a button!

The series IMHO

Ys I- the one that started it all..Twitch action, a floating kingdom, and badass music. Darm's Tower drove me nuts though.

[Nico87]

Yay, I won the auction in the link on page 2. Can't wait to plow through the artbook!

[Damocles]

Is grinding a major part of Felghana? The first few boss fights are taking a loooooong time.

[drunkninja24]

I don't recall grinding at all when I played through. The bosses do tend to have pretty high defense and a lot of health though.

[gct]

I had to grind at a few places, but never for more than 15 minutes at a time. 1 level can make a pretty big difference. I went from doing 2-3 damage per hit on the first boss to 50 or so. I don't know the exact numbers but it was an order of magnitude of difference.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Finished Ys II Complete on Hard. Zava was easily the toughest boss (seemed nearly as tough as Dark Fact until I'd learnt you can use celceta flowers during bossfights). The final boss, however, with Shield Magic and a celceta flower, went down at my first attempt. Don't grind after Zava even on Hard (the PC version) if you want it to pose any threat.
By a strange coincidence somebody just sent a link to this Breton tune to me. Didn't take me long to stumble upon the track named "Ys".

[EinhanderZwei]

Ys is like Star Trek - I'm damn sure that Ys III and afterwards are superior, but neither is as memorable as I+II
Felghana on PSP seemed pretty neat to me, but these stupid STUPID zombie maids made me put this game on hold... Hate that 'yeah, NTSC-U/PAL-E gamers, that's sooo Japanese!' bullshit (same goes for Castlevania: Blahblah Of Sorrow dilogy)

No offense for Japanese folks intended

[Sumez]

All those remakes look so amazing, I wish they weren't for PC, I just can't get into PC games. I love my PC Engine titles, but never got too far in Ys IV due to lack of understanding the Japanese language... (my Ys III is Japanese too, though, and I went through that)

[Obiwanshinobi]

All those remakes look so amazing, I wish they weren't for PC, I just can't get into PC games. I love my PC Engine titles, but never got too far in Ys IV due to lack of understanding the Japanese language... (my Ys III is Japanese too, though, and I went through that)

You can play the PC games with a joypad if that helps. You need a CRT to do them justice, though, as they are 640x480 only. Furthermore, those Eternal/Complete I&II remakes got ported to PS2 and PSP. There are fan translation patches for Complete I&II (PC) out there, as well as IV (with voiced lines untranslated and only for the PCE CD as IV for the SNES is a completely different game).

[EinhanderZwei]

All those remakes look so amazing, I wish they weren't for PC, I just can't get into PC games. I love my PC Engine titles, but never got too far in Ys IV due to lack of understanding the Japanese language... (my Ys III is Japanese too, though, and I went through that)

Here's the list of ports (excluding the original platforms and modern PC versions!) that I've compiled, hope that helps:

Ys I & II - PSP (grab this one if available), DS, mobile phones, PS2 (only in Japanese!), Saturn (only in Japanese as well), Sharp X68000 (Japanese), PCE CD, SMS, Famicom (Japanese, but there's a fan patch), MSX2 (Japanese), MS DOS (Ys II Special, only in Korean)

Ys III - PSP, PS2 (Jap), PCE CD, SNES, Genesis, Famicom (Jap), Sharp X68000 (Jap), MSX2 (Jap)

Ys IV - PS2 (Jap), mobile phones, PCE CD (Jap)

Ys V - PS2 (Jap), Super Famicom (Jap)

Ys VI - PSP, PS2 (better grab this one)

Ys Seven - PSP exclusive

IV for the SNES is a completely different game

Moving forwards, all three versions (SNES, PS2 and PCE CD) are basically different games, with PS2 version considered the worst

[Sumez]

Thanks for the list einhander.
I didn't know there was a Saturn version of 1+2 - is it similar to any of the other versions?
And how does the PSP version compare to the 2001 remake (which is pure awesome hi-res 2D goodness!!) - is it another remake entirely? I just ordered three of the four PSP games to add to my Ys collection.

I don't know if I'd consider that PC/PSP version of Ys 3 a "remake", since the original versions are platform games. Really looking forward to playing it though!


There are two versions of Ys V on SNES too - regular and the "expert" release.
It really bothers me that none of the Ys4 or Ys5 games were released in English, which leaves a gap in the plot.

[Sumez]

Ys VI - PSP, PS2 (better grab this one)

You think the PS2 version is superior to the PSP one?

[EinhanderZwei]

I didn't know there was a Saturn version of 1+2 - is it similar to any of the other versions?

Haven't played it, but judging from the screenshots it's not based on any other versions and is remade from scratch

And how does the PSP version compare to the 2001 remake (which is pure awesome hi-res 2D goodness!!) - is it another remake entirely? I just ordered three of the four PSP games to add to my Ys collection.

The changes are cosmetic - the biggest one is slightly increased difficulty in PSP version (Dark Fact and most of the Ys II bosses are pretty stubborn to die)

It really bothers me that none of the Ys4 or Ys5 games were released in English, which leaves a gap in the plot.

SNES version of Ys IV was. Also, there's a fan patch for PCE CD version. Speaking of Ys V, it's not really connected to other installments in terms of storyline (unlike IV!)

Ys VI - PSP, PS2 (better grab this one)

You think the PS2 version is superior to the PSP one?

Haven't tried it myself honestly, but ALL the reviews I've read say that PSP version is inferior

[Sumez]

Huh, there's an English version of Ys 4 for SNES? Why have I never heard of this?

[EinhanderZwei]

Huh, there's an English version of Ys 4 for SNES? Why have I never heard of this?

My bad. It's not an official English version, but a fan patch

[ZOM]

...with PS2 version considered the worst

It's pure garbage. Taito really destroyed the opportunity. Same goes for PS2 version of Ushinawareta suna no miyako kefin. Their Ys III attempt on the other hand has nice graphics and is "playable". Too bad that it feels like Valium compared to other versions & YsF. -_-

Ys VI - PSP, PS2 (better grab this one)

You think the PS2 version is superior to the PSP one?

The only thing the PSP version has over the PS2 is the 2D character sprite. The game itself is almost unplayable due to severe slowdowns. Also, the PC version is already a bit a "boring" entry, game-mechanics wise. The PS2 makes it a bit more boring due to some bastardizing, now count the PSP version as the bottom of this chain. PC version for the win.


EDIT: Merged doublepost

[apple arcade]

Somehow i never played a Ys game, and most people seem to agree that it's a pretty awesome series.
Something something Zelda something RPG something something.
So where do i start?

Ark of Napishtim. Simply best in the series and it will give you a taste as to what Y's is all about.

[Sumez]

Really? I skipped Napishtim because it was getting terrible reviews everywhere, despite my love for the Ys series.
Personally I started with Ys 3, I guess it was more accessible being a platformer, without completing it I went back and just took on the series in order from 1+2 (which is typically released as one game, since the totally awesome PC Engine version)

[BulletMagnet]

Napishtim was actually the first one I tried (not "by choice", really, it was just the first one I noticed and decided to give a shot), and it ended up being my "gateway Ys"...I've played a couple of others since, though I'm obviously not a series connoisseur or anything so I can't say too much in terms of "where it belongs" in the hierarchy, but for what it was (running around and slashing things with cheese metal in the background) I enjoyed it.

[dunpeal2064]

A quick question. How is the SNES version of Ys 3 compared to the turbo version. I already have 3 on the snes, but I am playing through book 2 on the turbo at the moment?

Oh, and PSP isn't an option for me.

[ZOM]

Ys III on the SNES isn't a bad option, it's just that it's a bit different look-wise and its BGM rendition is one of the weakest versions. The turbo version has the trump card that is being on CD for awesome audio and a bunch of cutscenes not found in other versions. The (imho)downside to this though is that it comes with voice acting, bad voice acting.

YMMV but, personally, I found the Mega Drive version to be the best console version; the BGM is damn good, the gameplay somehow feels more "tight" than its TGCD and SNES counterparts and the prologue draws more interest, since there's quite a bit of text and it's written more from a storyteller's point of view, as opposed to say the SNES version's flashy-effects-intro that fails to give the same amount of background infos the MD version gives to the player.
As for difficulty level, IIRC the SNES one wasn't as challenging as the MD version, can't really say, since it seemed that all versions of this game are challenging enough to not get boring.

If the Genny isn't an option, I'd recommend the TGCD version because the music does a lot in this game. Or heck, just play both, TGCD & SNES and decide which one you like more

[dunpeal2064]

Ys III on the SNES isn't a bad option, it's just that it's a bit different look-wise and its BGM rendition is one of the weakest versions. The turbo version has the trump card that is being on CD for awesome audio and a bunch of cutscenes not found in other versions. The (imho)downside to this though is that it comes with voice acting, bad voice acting.

YMMV but, personally, I found the Mega Drive version to be the best console version; the BGM is damn good, the gameplay somehow feels more "tight" than its TGCD and SNES counterparts and the prologue draws more interest, since there's quite a bit of text and it's written more from a storyteller's point of view, as opposed to say the SNES version's flashy-effects-intro that fails to give the same amount of background infos the MD version gives to the player.
As for difficulty level, IIRC the SNES one wasn't as challenging as the MD version, can't really say, since it seemed that all versions of this game are challenging enough to not get boring.

If the Genny isn't an option, I'd recommend the TGCD version because the music does a lot in this game. Or heck, just play both, TGCD & SNES and decide which one you like more

I actually didn't know there was a genny version, I am guessing it is a bit more affordable than the tgcd version. I may just snag that one and compare with the snes version.

Thanks! I am really really liking Ys 2 right now, and I can't wait to play more.

[ZOM]

^If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend to grab Ys IV: Dawn of Ys -> rip -> patch it with nightwolve's english translation -> burn to disc and play on your Turbo. It's such a good game and highly recommended to anyone that liked Ys II the most. (or you could just emulate the thing, but it's really a great game to play on the real thing)

[dunpeal2064]

^If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend to grab Ys IV: Dawn of Ys -> rip -> patch it with nightwolve's english translation -> burn to disc and play on your Turbo. It's such a good game and highly recommended to anyone that liked Ys II the most. (or you could just emulate the thing, but it's really a great game to play on the real thing)

I will have to ebay that and see how much it goes for. I cant get into a game if I dl it.

Thanks for all the help, Im so new to this series, but loving it so far

[Sumez]

Ys IV (both PCE and SNES games) is pretty cheap on eBay still.

As for Ys 3, I think SNES is easily the prettiest version, and the "Parallax" scrolling is not a barf-inducing as the PCE and MegaDrive versions. I don't think the sound is bad on the SNES version either. PCE is the only one I completed though, and it sort of feels like the "real" version of the game.