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A good majority of gamers out there won’t remember Ys as it was out prior to their own existence. It first reared its head on the PC-88, and found its way to the Turbografx-16 sometime shortly after. It was just as good as Phantasy Star, which was one of the better RPGs for that time. The game itself is a cross between PS and Zelda. You get a good amount of action, but with all the traditional RPG elements that you have come to love. This year Atlus brought out a Nintendo DS version of the first two books and combined them into one portable game called Legacy of Ys: Books I & II. The DS version captures everything good about the CD version of this game on the Turbografx. If you aren’t familiar with how the game works, let me break it down by individual outings.
Ys: Book I
The best thing about the first game is that you could see what Falcom (original developer) was shooting for when they produced it. Having already seen the likes of Zelda and Phantasy Star I & II, they saw what could be. You could have all the elements of a Zelda game where you can explore freely, see enemies and hack/slash your way through the game. It gives the players a chance on their own terms to kick the crap out of enemies. You can hit an enemy, retreat and then return as often as you would like (never leaving the screen, of course) to bring that sucker down. This is what gave you a great chance in Zelda and allowed for you to survive, as opposed to a traditional RPG which will randomly put you into a battle as you cross a territory. It’s so much easier to have it done that way. With that said, Zelda (despite what Steve might tell you or argue) never really allowed you to ‘level-up’ (only in hearts and weaponry) in a traditional RPG manner. Ys gives you the best of both worlds in that particular category.
The leveling system is a tad bit easy though. Within 5-7 hours of gameplay I had leveled up to the maximum level. Now, granted I have been playing RPGs since the Intellivsion, there is a certain linear leveling that you can figure out from the get-go with these types of games. So when I started Ys I didn’t go into the adventure until I had been insanely leveled up. I stood outside of the main village (forgot its name, sorry) and hacked and slashed at knights, wolves and tree monsters until I built up enough levels to move on to harder enemies. I didn’t start my main quest until I had hit around level 15, which is way more than I needed for the first big boss. The game allows you to go that far, though. The leveling is insanely easy and easy to keep track of as well (it’s on the bottom screen during the gameplay). With that said, I had pretty much built up my income as well, which allowed me to purchase about 75% of all the equipment before the second boss. By the time I ended the game, I had maxed my leveling completely out (at 24) and obtained everything I needed to finish the last boss with ease. While I do admit the leveling might be a bit gracious to the gamer, it made the game extremely fun when it came to kicking the hell out of bosses.
As for the DS controls, they were pretty useless compared to traditional methods. If you wanted to use the stylus it would work. Most of the time you’ll just want to use the d-pad and buttons, which I was fine with. I did like that you had all your inventory, your character information on the bottom screen. That is a huge plus because it doesn’t really take you away from your game, you just need to look down to check on things. If you want a more detailed view, you could still pull up the menu on the top screen. I just really appreciated this about the game and wished more companies would think that out loud and apply it to their games.
Leveling aside, the game itself is preserved beautifully on the DS. It comes with the CD cut-screens, which are decent (compared to today’s standards they’re complete crap, but decent for their time) and a full-CD soundtrack (which is also included on CD with the game — cool stuff!) all on one DS cartridge. Things that Falcom and Atlus did to touch up the game a bit included making the environments, like the dungeons and villages, 3D. It’s around the same route as Square took on the Final Fantasy titles, but not as extreme. Falcom kept intact what made this game special and kept so much intact that you will remember the game is the same as it was in the early 90s. Really excellent preservation, but with some improvements — that’s the best way to describe it.
Now are there any bad things about the first game? The enemies are extremely lame. Once you figure out how to fight (which only took me 10 minutes to remember it) you pretty much have sealed the deal not to die. I think after just about three deaths at the beginning, I might have died twice after that. The enemies are just incredibly easy and not challenging one bit. With that said, if you do enjoy being entertained by dominating enemies, then this is a perfect situation for you. I do enjoy this, but I know there are some hardcore people out there that need to be challenged and irritated to say a game is ‘good’. I don’t believe in that. Give me a solid story, fun gameplay and plenty of enemies and I’m home. Speaking objectively, I think that it could have been improved just slightly.
Now, for the story itself this is the one thing that will sell you on the game. Long ago, in a galaxy far away, developers actually based their games off of competent storylines. Imagine that, right? Outside of Nintendo and a few Sony first-party titles, you’re going to scarcely find anything that has a story you can wrap your thoughts around. When Ys came out way back in the day, it and Phantasy Star were the only two RPGs that truly moved me when it came to story. I wanted to play these games each day because I wanted the story to continue. I wanted my plot points to keep going, my characters to develop and everything to be coherent. Yes, even at the age 13 I demanded this. Ys gives you a beautiful tale about a lost soul at sea named Adol, who finds himself in a strange land that use to be beautiful. Thanks to a catastrophe years ago, which no one recalls, the land has never been the same. It doesn’t prosper, it only gets worse with monsters and unexplained weather events. This type of storyline drives the game. It forces you to explore and become part of the game, this in itself is invaluable.
Anyway, not to give too much away, the first Ys tale is fantastic, even though it’s incredibly easy. It’s worth your effort and time.
Ys: Book II
So, we talked about story, right? Well, Ys: Book II leaves off exactly where Ys: Book I left our main character, Adol. This is the final chapter (or so it seems) for our main character who is finally ready to rid the land of Esteria (and Ys) from evil. I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s worth the trip through it.
They certainly upped the ante in this game, as it’s not so easy to level now and it’s very restrictive if you don’t. Unlike the first game where you could do damage to an enemy at their lowest level, this time around it’s much different as it is taking more of a Zelda type stance. If you don’t have the level, you can’t do damage to powerful enemies, you’ll find that out on the first set of bosses. Other than that, what you get is more of the same. The enemies repeat, you have plenty of chances to sit there and level up constantly (it took me nearly 45 minutes to level up to 12), which means that you’ll be ready to take on the world in no time whatsoever. As sad and lowly as this sounds, the game is still damn fun, as it maintains everything that made the first one good.
As for the graphics, they’ve improved. Unlike the first game, when you add equipment or something to your person, it now reflects off your character. And speaking of which, each character model is a bit more refined and detailed this time around, as are the levels/environments. There’s a bit more depth to them. The enemies are also more detailed, more animated and a helluva lot smarter (as they want to come after you only after they see you). They seemed to do what Sega’s Phantasy Star team decided was necessary when they went from Phantasy Star to Phantasy Star II. They looked at all the things that made the series great, maintained those then looked at everything that needed to be improved and improved upon them. Falcom did one helluva job improving between the first and second of Ys. Even the cut scenes seem more refined than the first, telling a beautiful story through gorgeous animation (and it does look sharper than the first game).
Are there any downers to this one? I have one big complaint: loading time. This is something I thought cartridges were suppose to exclude compared to optical disc (isn’t that what Nintendo claimed?), but sure enough when you’re in Lance Village for the first time, the game divides the village into two parts. Every time you step on the imaginary line the screen goes to black for two seconds and then comes back to the other part of the village. I know two seconds doesn’t seem like a lifetime, but constantly do this and see how annoying it is. Also, I wouldn’t have to go back and forth in Lance Village if they had put up symbols for the armory, health place, etc. like they did in the first game. Why take those out? Anyway, loading time annoyed me to no end, but it’s very forgivable.
Now, you want to ask yourself, is this worth $34.99? In my heart of hearts, it’s a no brainer. Yes, it is worth it not only to experience a revamped classic (with nice remix music, btw), but to respect the foundation in which future RPGs were built from. Sure it’s not as fancy as Final Fantasy 12, but it still will get you interested and in the mood for traditional/non-traditional RPGs. Again, it’s worth every dime to own this classic set of games.