Why I Love Ys

​One of my favorite blogs I’ve written was “Why I Love Falcom’s Trails Series” and I’ve always wanted to write a follow up. With Ys IX Monstrum Nox releasing this week in English, now seemed like an ideal time to finally finish and share this blog with you about why I love the Ys series. While the Trails series remains my favorite Falcom RPG series, the action RPG Ys series holds another fond place in my heart. Through this blog, I’ll explain the three major types of Ys games, discuss some of the common elements between them, and delve deeper into my favorite Ys games, Ys Origin and Ys VIII, which I think are two of the best entry points into the series.

The Ys series began with two PC games first released in 1987 and 1988. These first two Ys games, Ys I and Ys II, were originally envisioned as one game, which makes sense since Ys II picks up right after the conclusion of Ys I. These two games introduce the core mythology of the land of Ys and Adol Christin, the primary protagonist of the Ys series, and his best friend Dogi. Adol Christin is an Adventurer and every time he finds himself in a new land he records the details of his journey in a new journal. For the most part, the Ys series is framed as you reading Adol’s journals. In practice, each game sees Adol exploring and fighting his way through new lands while awesome rock music blares in the background.

Despite there being an overarching lore and Ys I and II being directly connected, you actually can largely play the Ys games in any order. In each game there are passing references to Adol’s past accomplishments to help you piece together a timeline and, more rarely, reoccurring characters, but these elements are always relatively minor in significance as the current adventure is always clearly the focus. I appreciate the impact of the light lore across games, because it really increases the accessibility of the series.

I’ll go further to say, I’d actually discourage you from trying to play the games in numbered order as the availability of the series is kind of all over the place especially in English and due to the presence of remakes that are radically different from their original forms. Aside from Ys V, which is not available in English, I’ve played every other Ys game in some form. In general, there are three types of Ys games, the Bump games, the Solo games, and the Party games. All three styles offer wildly different action RPG gameplay so for convenience let me list them below, with each section being in release order:

Bump – Ys I and II Chronicles
Solo – Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, Ys: The Oath In Felghana (a remake of Ys III), Ys Origin
Party – Ys Seven, Ys: Memories of Celceta (a remake of Ys IV), Ys VIII: The Lacrimosa of Dana, Ys IX: Monstrum Nox

As you’ll notice in both the Solo and Party Ys games list, the first game in each style of game is followed by a remake of an earlier Ys game. These remakes are not only massively improved over their original forms, but they also significantly evolve and advance the ideas introduced in the last mainline game. Ys VI for example, a Solo Ys game, features Adol directly attacking enemies with his sword, but you must regularly pull up his inventory screen to set items to keep his health up. The Oath In Felghana introduces pick up drops that compel you to always keep pressing forward to build and maintain buff multipliers. These drops further help keep you in the action as some directly restore health.

I’d like to dive into more detail now about each type of Ys game so you can have a greater sense of what these games actually are. Let’s start with the Bump games since they are the most primitive by far. As you might imagine from a series over 30 years old, the original games do not meet today’s standards for action games and even though you can best experience the first two games in the Ys I and II Chronicles collection, make no mistake the Bump games are solely for super fans like myself at this point. In the Bump games, Adol does not swing his sword by pressing a button, instead you literally have to bump into enemies in order for him to do so. Adol moves very quickly and you need to circle around enemies to hit them from the side or behind otherwise there is a very good chance they will swing back at you which is bad since Adol is fairly fragile.

In Ys II, the system becomes significantly more forgiving and more interesting since sliding diagonally into enemies is enough to always trigger a safe bump and Adol learns fire ball magic that eventually directly homes in on enemies. While the boss fights in the first game were all melee only, many of the bosses in Ys II are only vulnerable to fireballs, and thus the game shifts during boss fights into light bullet hell fights (an element that somewhat carries over into the Solo Ys games, especially so in Ys Origin). Despite the added complexity, some RPG and action game fans could find the Bump gameplay charmingly quaint, but it’s certainly not something most would want to return to. While Ys I is fairly breezy at roughly five hours long, Ys II can take you a good twelve hours and I’ll readily admit to using a guide for it since the levels are significantly larger and lack good landmarks. If you do decide to play these games you will see Adol’s altogether brief first meeting with Dogi and get to explore the land of Ys, but Ys Origin, the final Solo Ys game, works as another great introduction to the core lore so it’s not as clutch to play Ys I and II Chronicles as it might seem.

The next style of Ys game I’d like to discuss is the Solo Ys games, which are represented by Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, Ys: The Oath In Felghana, and Ys Origin. Like the Bump games, you are only controlling one character throughout your entire adventure, but this time you have direct control of your sword swings. These three games are all very short and sweet. Napishtim tasks you with exploring a set of islands, Felghana has you explore a small nation, and Origin simply tasks you with scaling a large tower filled with demons. The tightness of these worlds, Felghana and Origin especially, is refreshing compared to some of the vast, but often empty worlds of RPGs of today. This elegance extends to the light number of upgrades in each game and the lack of menu managing you have to do.

As I mentioned earlier, Felghana introduced item drops to the Solo Ys formula that keeps you focused on the battles at hand. Origin further reinforces this by having an EXP multiplier that you can grow and maintain with every hit against enemies. Of course, these systems wouldn’t mean anything if the actual sword play wasn’t engaging and thankfully it’s rock solid. Every quick hit has satisfying impact and there is good strategy at play when you choose to dodge by jumping and then stunning foes with a downward thrust. Each game has its own quirks to mix up the combat, whether it’s the three different swords in Ys VI, the magic accessories in Felghana, and the magic abilities you swap between in Origin. Ys Origin, which I’ll delve into later, actually has three different characters who each play radically differently from each other, one of which is uniquely a purely ranged warrior. All three games feature some light platforming to mix up the action as well as classic dungeon traps like spikes to avoid.

The final type of Ys games are the Party Ys games, represented by Ys Seven, Ys: Memories of Celceta, Ys VIII: The Lacrimosa of Dana, and Ys IX: Monstrum Nox (which I haven’t played yet at the time of this writing). In these games, Adol is joined by two other characters in battle that are pulled from your growing party. Each character has one of three damage types, slash, pierce, and strike, and you’ll constantly swap between characters midbattle to exploit enemy weaknesses. The party games also feature a dedicated dodge button and a unique magic/ability system. Each character can bring four of their special attacks into battle, each mapped to a face button, and by using them, each move gains experience and dramatically levels up in range, effects, and damage. There is an interesting push/pull dynamic in place to manage your special attacks in battle as you quickly restore MP by using normal attacks.

As you might expect, one of the biggest differences here is a much greater emphasis on story. While the larger stories aren’t as compelling as other RPGs like the other Ys games (Ys VIII and hopefully IX being exceptions), the characters in your party are fun to be around and they usually have small fun arcs that find their place in the greater story. Celceta and VIII each feature light Metroidvania / Zelda elements which pair super well with an emphasis on mapping the uncharted lands Adol is exploring. Again, these Metroidvania / Zelda elements are super light, but it’s fun finding items in dungeons and knowing you can head back into the greater world to open up and explore new areas.

​That essentially covers what Ys is, but to really get at why I love the franchise so much, I’d like to cover in more detail my two favorite games in the series: Ys Origin and Ys VIII. Let’s start with Ys Origin, the second Ys game I played that’s available on PC, PS4, Vita, Xbox One, and Switch. Ys Origin is set hundreds of years before the main series begins so it understandably does not feature Adol Christin as the protagonist. Instead, Ys Origin features three playable characters that each must climb the same demon infested tower. The two characters available to choose from the start are Yunica and Hugo. They are part of a search party from the land of Ys to locate the missing twin goddesses and the Black Pearl that have protected Ys and granted its people access to magical powers. Yunica wields an axe and at first closely resembles Adol in combat while Hugo is armed with a staff and floating artifacts that help him rapidly shoot magical energy balls at everything that opposes him.

Of the two, Yunica is by far my favorite. Unlike Adol who is a silent protagonist, Yunica has a strong personality and a lot to prove to her companions as her father was a legendary hero who sacrificed himself to save all of Ys. Her arc is straightforward, but it is handled confidently and the big moments have impact. Yunica’s combat style is immediately approachable and engaging, but mastering it so you can maintain a perfect flow of demolishing demon hordes and maintaining your EXP multiplier is what makes it so truly satisfying.

​Every element of the game is in perfect sync to deliver a tight, rich experience. Like Felghana before it, Origin’s combat is silky smooth and always encourages you to dive straight into the heart of battle and to always keep pushing forward. Making use of special moves, which you do frequently thanks to a rapidly recharging meter, and jumping to dodge is crucial to interrupt enemy attacks and maintain your momentum. I mentioned this earlier in my blog, but not only is pushing forward satisfying in itself, all the drops in combat reward you for doing so through restoring health and granting multipliers to attack and defense stats as well as to money drops and experience gained. While the core gameplay loop is my favorite part of the game, I also really enjoy the frequent tough boss fights in Ys Origin. All the boss fights put your skills and dexterity to the test whether they are against human opponents or colossal monsters as they frequently feature bullet hell elements and multiple phases.

​One other element that strongly contributes to Ys Origin’s particular flavor, is the premise of the game itself. Ys Origin begins at the base of a demonic tower that is a stronghold for the demonic forces attempting to invade Ys and while the characters may not expect at the start to have to scale the full tower, you as the player know you inevitably will. The tower is the full extent of the game and lends Ys Origin a very intimate feel. The tower is loaded with classic dungeon traps like spikes and disappearing platforms that you have to time your approach and platforming skills to successfully navigate. You very rarely have to backtrack far throughout the tower and each time you do it is painless thanks to fast travel points you liberate as you scale the tower. If you do play Origin with the other characters or on higher difficulties, the layout of the tower never changes so you’ll become very familiar with its layout. Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention each section of the tower has its own fantastic rock music theme accompanying it which sets the triumphant tone of your journey appropriately.

​That essentially covers Ys Origin, so let’s shift gears to talk about my favorite Ys game, Ys VIII, which is available on PS4, Vita, PC, and Switch. While I have both the PS4 and Switch versions of Ys VIII, I’ve only played the PS4 version which is the better performing console version. As you can see from the screenshots, Ys VIII is a wildly different game than Ys Origin, as it is the first Ys game to take place in a full 3D environment and features a behind the shoulder camera instead of the traditional top-down view of the action of other Ys games. Ys VIII is also a Party Ys game which means Adol is accompanied by other characters on his journey and you’ll need to swap between them during combat in order to succeed. 

Like Ys Origin, Ys VIII’s premise is very strong and is a guiding force for what the game is. At the start, Adol is working on a cruise ship called the Lombardia alongside his best friend Dogi which eventually comes under attack by a giant sea monster. Adol finds himself stranded on the deserted Island of Seiren and quickly comes to realize it is mysteriously infested with vicious dinosaurs. Adol begins searching for other castaways and together they establish a village that serves as their base of operations for surviving and exploring the island. It becomes apparent very quickly that the dinosaur threat isn’t the only mystery of the island and the castaways led by Adol will have to work together to conquer all the obstacles standing between them and their ultimate goal to build a boat and escape. Over the course of the journey, five more characters join Adol in actively exploring the island and I enjoyed spending time with them and unraveling the many mysteries of the island together.

​Multiple game systems all gel together very well under the base premise. The primary activity is exploring every inch of the island and here classic Ys action gameplay reigns. With your party of three you slay countless monsters that block your path as awesome rock music roars in the background. Like the other Party Ys games, special attacks can be used with high frequency as they are tied to a gauge that is easily and rapidly refilled by mixing in normal attacks. Special attacks level up with use and not only deal more damage, but also expand in range and effects. A very appreciated amount of depth in combat comes from two bonuses conferred from perfectly dodging and perfectly parrying enemy attacks. Executing a Flash Move (perfect dodge) slows down time and allows you to freely get more hits in (like in Bayonetta) while executing a Flash Guard (perfect parrying) offers a short window of constant critical damage. Amazingly, both of the effects from Flash Move and Flash Guard can stack at once to deal immense damage. The fundamentals of combat are thus rock solid and offer exciting bonuses for those who master it. Even better each of the six characters play differently and my favorite is the deuteragonist, Dana. In the flashbacks to the past, Dana is the only playable character which calls back to the Solo Ys games and she can swap between three different combat stances/weapons to effectively tackle foes. My favorite move of hers though is shared between the past and present where she enters an enhanced state at the cost of a constantly draining SP gauge to just utterly decimate enemies.

​Beyond the thrill of combat, it’s fun and satisfying to explore the Island of Seiren as there are plenty of rewards to discover including new tools that help you reach new locations sort of like a Metroidvania or Zelda game. In addition to solving the many mysteries of the island, one of the primary objectives is locating your fellow castaways and amusingly many of them come to take up distinct roles back at camp like opening a new shop or running the farm. Others are useful when it comes time to defend your camp from monsters. The villagers directly fight monsters on a second front from the area your team defends and grant powerful buffs to your team as they begin to triumph. I mentioned shopping earlier and one of the interesting features of Ys VIII is that there is no currency in the game considering the setting. Instead, all of the monster drops and collectibles you find on the island can be traded back at camp for items, weapon upgrades, and other services. All of these systems thus feed back into each other as you want to thoroughly explore the island to expand the town and shopping options which of course further opens up your exploration possibilities and makes it easier to triumph. One final activity I want to give a quick shoutout to is fishing which is delightfully given a dedicated button on the controller for whenever you see a body of water teaming with fish and want to take a break from the action.

Overall, I think what I appreciate the most about the Ys series in general is its focus on delivering tight adventures with fast paced action combat. The story of each game is usually not a huge focus, but that’s fine as the action drives the excitement and makes every adventure approachable. The awesome rock music always sets the mood and tempo of the adventure and elevates the gameplay as a result. I think Ys Origin and Ys VIII are must plays, but really overall the quality of all the games is consistently good. I’m always going to be looking forward to new adventures with Adol as long as Falcom maintains the foundations of what makes the series fun.

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I hope you enjoyed reading my latest blog! I’m curious what your experience with the Ys series is so please let me know on Twitter @JustinMikos. Also feel free to reach out if you have any other questions about the series! It’s one of my favorites so I’d love to help more people discover and enjoy Ys. Until next time!