Ys I & II Chronicles+ Reviews

[h3]Story: 6[/h3] [h3]Gameplay: 2[/h3] [h3]Overall: 4/10[/h3] Horrible "combat" with a middling quality main story, great NPC dialogue and interactions as always.

This was a bit of a bucket-list game for me. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure I would've enjoyed it as much without a guide, since the overall direction of the game is super vague.

Played after Persona 3 Reload and I thought it was a great palate cleanser. The push combat was interesting and the game has a great soundtrack (absolutely thrashing that guitar). Ys 1 definitely has that old school throw-your-controller-against-the-wall difficulty at times where things are pretty luck based. I'll admit, I never beat the final boss, which was going to take a persistence I just didn't have in me. I still like the game, though. A great intro to a series.

These two games are... perhaps not THE best (that, for my money, would be the Turbo CD version released back in 1989), but certainly the most modernized and accessible versions of the classics Ys I and II. The reason I enjoy these games so much is their unique action-RPG gameplay... you don't kill enemies by mindlessly whacking your sword at them, but rather by running into them, either off-center or at an angle. Attacking them head on will almost guarantee pain on Adol's end. A fair warning: these games are NOT like modern JRPGs. They don't hold your hand, and even on the Normal difficulty setting, the challenge is pretty brutal. You need to pay attention to the story, item descriptions, NPC dialogue, everything. Some enemies and bosses require special items or tactics, and sometimes it's not blatantly obvious where to go next... although the games aren't HUGE either, so sheer exploration and patience can usually solve that problem... and in fact, meticulous exploration is kinda necessary anyways. And while Ys I has a low level cap of 10 that you'll reach long before it's final boss, Ys II can be a bit on the grindy side at times. But it's all amazingly fun. The unique gameplay mechanics allow for an amazingly tight, well paced experience, and force you to think and act differently from typical action-RPGs. The graphics are a beautiful, charming anime style. And the soundtrack is legendary, composed by geniuses Yuzo Koshiro, Mieko Ishikawa, and Ryo Yonemitsu, and rearranged by Yukihiro Jindo for this particular release. They even give you multiple versions of the soundtrack and art styles to choose from! Go in with an open mind... and let the world of Ys immerse you in it. P.S. Here's hoping we eventually get the PC versions of Ys: Ark of Napishtim and Ys Seven! P. P. S. Also, Origin and Oath in Felghana are amazing too, and Origin in particular is intricately connected to the stories in Ys I and II. Definitely pick those up as well! :D