LTTP: Ys - where to start?

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Jockel
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LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by Jockel »

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?
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BIL
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by BIL »

I was in the same position a couple years ago. Ys I & II Complete (Windows updates of the first two games) are good oldschool action-RPG fun, with some very nice 2D art. The "ram into enemies" combat takes a bit of adjustment, but gets really addictive once you're confidently splattering monsters left and right (you need to smack 'em just off-center - it's quite forgiving). Makes even levelling up quite addictive. You move really fast, as do the enemies, so it's quite fun just to charge about outflanking and whacking them.

Ys: The Oath In Felghana (Ys III remake) is really damn good, and a lot more sophisticated gameplay-wise (platforming, much bigger moveset, way more developed bosses). All three play really tightly; bosses get pretty frantic even on default levels. There are English translation patches for all three online, as well as a patch that replaces Ys I & II's music with the superior PC Engine CD soundtracks.

Haven't played anything newer or older (besides the MD Ys III - don't bother). Been meaning to try out Ys IV (PCE CD) sometime, now that it's been translation patched, but I kind of got my fill from the above three for now. If you only play one of those, play Felghana, but I recommend the first two if you like simpler action RPGs.

The above three actually don't play much like Zelda, besides the overhead 2D view. Little in the way of puzzles and generally quicker-paced, with more emphasis on battling monsters in tight corridors, killing tough bosses and overall twitch action.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by Zaarock »

BIL wrote:Ys: The Oath In Felghana (Ys III remake) is really damn good, and a lot more sophisticated gameplay-wise (platforming, much bigger moveset, way more developed bosses). All three play really tightly; bosses get pretty frantic even on default levels. There are English translation patches for all three online, as well as a patch that replaces Ys I & II's music with the superior PC Engine CD soundtracks.
Ys Origin (prequel to the series) plays very much like oath in felghana but has multiple characters with their own levels and higher system requirements. Seems like some fan translation patches for it are almost done so that's something to look forward to.

Felghana and Origin are barely RPGs, it's much more centered on gameplay and as linear as it gets.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by BIL »

Oh yeah, Origin looks very cool; I might've tried it out after Felghana, but my PC only just about ran the latter at full speed. Glad to hear the patch is coming along, last time I checked its progress was way back in 2008.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by ZOM »

BIL wrote:... Been meaning to try out Ys IV (PCE CD) sometime...
DO. IT.

Back on topic, I'd say the Ys Book I & II are a great start to get into the series and experience the roots of the "bash system" (ok, no, that would be DragonSlayer, but you know what I mean), but with newer tilesets and kickass redbook audio. The voice-acting is worth a mention too at this point since, in my honest opinion, I haven't heard anything better that's from 1991 in a videogame - even the English track kills most from that time period.
I'm always quick to raise a brow if something falcom isn't done by falcom, but Hudson did always a great job with falcom's license.

That said, starting with Oath in Felghana and working backwards isn't wrong either, since Felghana is closer to your "modern" action game and a load of fun and, additionally to what BIL already mentioned, there's even sorta enemy-chaining sytem in place that affects the exp multiplier(and others)... - although, when going back it would be a good idea to remember that those were PC-8801 times, or you might enjoy the previous games less than they deserve.
One thing to note is, I'd say its important to play Ys IV *after* playing I & II, since it's pretty much presented as a direct sequel.

As for Ys I & II complete, it's beatiful. Really, lots of details for a straightforward tileset action-rpg, but damn those backgrounds were breathtaking the first time I played Ys eternal. Coupled with the ability to patch the game with the PCE's redbook, I'd say this THE definite version for Ys I & II.

Things to just keep away from: Basically everything you'll find on the PS2, with the exception of digicube's Ys I & II ports, is garbage: Ark of Napishtim got raped by Konami Shanghai and Taito's Ys IV and V "remakes" are almost unplayable - they're sluggish, they look silly, and have flaws on a technical level too, like collision issues and whatnot.

Ys V Ushinawareta Suna no Miyako Kefin: Black Sheep... hater's gonna hate, I genuinley like that game even though I know that because of my very limited Kanji-knowledge I'm missing a seemingly interesting classic "eternal love story". I just have the feeling that if this game was available in english we'd get a lot less people bashing it and get actually interestedin it. It looks to me that the hate basically stems from this: Download rom -> look at typical SNES JRPG graphics -> look at ring-menu -> Adol jumps like an idiot -> I don't understand shit what's going on -> game must be garbage.

@Ys Origin - great game, awesome bossfights, badass music. Playing it with Fact is like run-n'-gunnning in shock troopers 8)
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by BIL »

Haha, this is turning into my "Ys - where to continue?" thread. :lol: Actually I just got a printer, so that'd let me keep a script handy to understand the voiced cutscenes in Ys IV.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by Edwards80 »

I'm currently playing through y's book 1&2 on the Wii Virtual Console. Not usually big on RPG's but this one is good fun.

The music is excellent too.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by maxlords »

Most of it all is covered above but to be honest I REALLY enjoyed Ys Ark of Napishtim for PS2. Thought it was absolutely great. I do love Ys Book I and II of course and I just got Ys Oath in Felghana and Ys 7 for PSP, though I hear 7 is only so so.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by JoshF »

Felghana and Origin are barely RPGs, it's much more centered on gameplay and as linear as it gets.
Right JRPGs are supposed to be no gameplay and all linearity.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by E. Randy Dupre »

Ys Seven on the PSP is fantastic. The only other Ys game I've played right to the end is the shitty DS version of I, so I'm in more or less the same boat as you, Jockel, and can safely say that Seven is definitely newcomer-friendly. There's a minor character who's apparently a regular in the series and whose origins aren't explained, but the manual that comes with thee game is uncommonly thorough in explaining the world and characters - Xseed have done a bang-up job with the localisation.

Of course, this all rather depends on whether or not you've got a PSP to play it on.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by undamned »

maxlords wrote:I REALLY enjoyed Ys Ark of Napishtim for PS2
As big of an Ys fan as I am, I found the PS2 version a bit soulless. I've discussed this w/ folks who've played both the PS2 and PC version and they say that the PC version didn't seem this way. I'll have to throw it on the ol' Ys Box and see for myself.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by drunkninja24 »

E. Randy Dupre wrote:Ys Seven on the PSP is fantastic. The only other Ys game I've played right to the end is the shitty DS version of I, so I'm in more or less the same boat as you, Jockel, and can safely say that Seven is definitely newcomer-friendly. There's a minor character who's apparently a regular in the series and whose origins aren't explained, but the manual that comes with thee game is uncommonly thorough in explaining the world and characters - Xseed have done a bang-up job with the localisation.

Of course, this all rather depends on whether or not you've got a PSP to play it on.
Oath in Felghana just came out on PSP as well, definitely one of the, if not the best in the series, so check that out too.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

Ys I&II Complete is indeed very accessible and, being chronologically a retelling of the series origins, seems like a good place to start. Controls well with a mouse and an analogue stick alike, sounds good and looks good (on a CRT). That said, with a mouse at the bat boss I hit the wall, switched to a joypad (cheap USB pad with decent analogue sticks), defeated said boss and moved on. On the difficulty level harder than default.
Overall it's like Zelda on speed - not as charming and ingenious, but fast paced and quite entertaining.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by maxlords »

E. Randy Dupre wrote:Ys Seven on the PSP is fantastic.
Which I'd agree with....except for the absolutely INSANE boss difficulty. WTF is up with that btw?
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by drunkninja24 »

maxlords wrote:
E. Randy Dupre wrote:Ys Seven on the PSP is fantastic.
Which I'd agree with....except for the absolutely INSANE boss difficulty. WTF is up with that btw?
I never found the bosses too hard...some of them just take a while to beat, but once you have their patterns down, they're pretty simple.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by maxlords »

I'm stuck on the one in that cave...3rd or 4th one. Can't even do any damage to him hardly!
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by BulletMagnet »

undamned wrote:
maxlords wrote:I REALLY enjoyed Ys Ark of Napishtim for PS2
As big of an Ys fan as I am, I found the PS2 version a bit soulless. I've discussed this w/ folks who've played both the PS2 and PC version and they say that the PC version didn't seem this way.
It's not the optimal version, but for anyone (in my neck of the woods, at least) who can't/won't go the import and/or translation patch route, it's by far the easiest to get ahold of, and for the most part plays well; I'd hardly call it a "disaster" for anyone except staunch purists. In any event it's better than the PSP port, which is more "faithful" to the PC original but runs terribly - thankfully Seven and Felghana are good on there, and I'm looking forward to the 1+2 remake in January.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by kozo »

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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by ZOM »

BIL wrote:Haha, this is turning into my "Ys - where to continue?" thread. :lol: Actually I just got a printer, so that'd let me keep a script handy to understand the voiced cutscenes in Ys IV.
:mrgreen:
Love that game, there's some very hilariously cheesy stuff found in it. SO much better then Tonkin House's super famicom version.
BTW, the printed voice-events translation works a treat with this game. I'm relieved they didn't go with the intended fan-subbing. hehe
undamned wrote:
maxlords wrote:I REALLY enjoyed Ys Ark of Napishtim for PS2
As big of an Ys fan as I am, I found the PS2 version a bit soulless. I've discussed this w/ folks who've played both the PS2 and PC version and they say that the PC version didn't seem this way. I'll have to throw it on the ol' Ys Box and see for myself.
-ud
Yeah, three words: Fuck Konami Shanghai.

I'm not gonna start my insane rant about that now, but I'm sure that anyone that played the PC version first agrees that they could've done a much better job.
As for checking the PC version "after" playing the PS2 version, you might find that many, overreacted somewhat(ok, a lot), but I really can't forget how disappointed I got when the English PS2 version finally hit stores - it's one of those occurences where you'll notice the missing stuff much more when going from good to worse, than noticing the additions when going from bad to better. If that makes sense.

That said, looking back, if we consider the original-intro and other stuff you can apparently restore from the "cheat-menu", and also considering that having Adol's original sprite in the PS2 version would've resulted in an unfitting-prerendered-filtered mess anyway... The complaints that remain are just a few that are also found in your typical bad port.
Of course there were also some silly complaints, like the ones about omitting the gore. But seriously, It's just so freaking charming having chibi-Adol create a mess and get his feet wet in blood stains! :D

kozo wrote:Also worth checking out is the new I & II Chronicles (PSP, PC) soundtrack. Super high production values - much better than most of Ys Seven's OST. It's also full of little musical nods to the obscure Falcom CDs released over the past 2 decades.
Oi Jinza! :P
Love what they've done there. Especially the "harder" tracks like Overdrive and man, Termination soo awesome. 8)
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by Jonathan Ingram »

Play them in this order:

- Ys I&II Eternal/Complete(PC version with English patch; PS2 version(JP only); also coming to the PSP soon)
- Ys: The Oath in Felghana(PC version with English patch; also on PSP)
- Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim(PC version with English patch; also on PS2 and PSP)
- Ys Origin(PC version; no English patch yet)
- Ys VII(only on PSP)

There are also two Ys IV games(one for the SNES and the other for the PC-Engine CD) and Ys V for the SNES. Taito also released a few remakes on the PS2, namely Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, Ys IV: Mask of the Sun - A New Theory, Ys V: Lost Kefin, but they aren`t as good as Falcom games.

And I guess I`ll just use this thread as an opportunity to recommend Xanadu Next. It`s a 2005 RPG/Adventure from Falcom with Metroid-esque level structure, Diablo-inspired gameplay and Vagrant Story-like atmosphere. It`s seriously better than anything Falcom has ever produced, Ys including.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by kozo »

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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by E. Randy Dupre »

maxlords wrote:I'm stuck on the one in that cave...3rd or 4th one. Can't even do any damage to him hardly!
Like drunkninja, I've not found the bosses in Seven all that difficult. Tricky, yeah, but that's mainly due to their having insanely huge health bars. Which is the one you're talking about? And are you making sure to synthesise the best possible equipment at all times?
Jonathan Ingram wrote: - Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim(PC version with English patch; also on PS2 and PSP)
I'd steer well clear of the PSP version of Napishtim. It's seriously shoddy work - the loading times are terrible and the amount of slowdown is ludicrous, considering how little it's asking of the hardware. It was the first Ys game I tried and it's only due to other people telling me how bad it was in comparison to both the PC original and the other games in the series that I bothered giving Ys Seven a chance.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by drauch »

kozo wrote:
Jonathan Ingram wrote:Xanadu Next...It`s seriously better than anything Falcom has ever produced, Ys including.
Just wanted to agree with this recommendation. It is the best game Falcom has created in nearly every aspect. I long for another title in Falcom's darker vein, but they don't really do that anymore.
Is this game only on the Ngage?
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by BrianC »

drauch wrote:
kozo wrote:
Jonathan Ingram wrote:Xanadu Next...It`s seriously better than anything Falcom has ever produced, Ys including.
Just wanted to agree with this recommendation. It is the best game Falcom has created in nearly every aspect. I long for another title in Falcom's darker vein, but they don't really do that anymore.
Is this game only on the Ngage?
No, it's for Japanese PC as well. I heard the Ngage one is a cut down version and vastly inferior.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by drauch »

Okay, thanks for clearing that up. I was gonna say, I thought my question would be a rather foolish one, and also found it odd that two people owned Ngages :wink: That's what I get for believing Wikipedia...

Is there an English translation of Xanadu Next for PC?
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by drauch »

Decided to not be lazy and looked it up myself. Saw that the English translation is in the works, and looks near finished(?)

This does look like the best Falcom game, ever, I agree. I love me some Diablo and Ys, so this is right down my alley. :D
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by ZOM »

<3 Xanadu Next. Going with wood sword in hand & Yakuza outfit through the optional dungeon is the definition of masochism.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by Jonathan Ingram »

Is there an English translation of Xanadu Next for PC?
It`s supposedly being worked on, but I don`t know how close it is to being finished. The game is very import friendly, anyway. Plus, there`s a walkthrough on Gamefaqs.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by undamned »

Jonathan Ingram wrote:The game is very import friendly, anyway. Plus, there`s a walkthrough on Gamefaqs.
This. I only needed the walkthru for a few minor details. I was able to figure out about 98% of the game without having JP reading skills.
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Re: LTTP: Ys - where to start?

Post by Drum »

I dled Ys Book I & II on VC and I had a blast with it. I prefer that graphic style over the PC remake.

Jesus, they sure like remaking these games, huh?
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