So I recently got heavily into the Ys series. Like, seriously heavy. Like, I finished Ys: Oath in Felghana in two days, then finished Ys Origin in one day and then immediately started and finished with another character. I then bought every other game released in the series on pc and on psp. That's how fucking good they are.
The problem is, no one talks about them. I know Machocruz likes them and Ben used to enjoy them a while ago, but when I look up reviews of stuff like Memories of Celceta, none of the big sites touched it. It's such a shame, because this is one of the best Japanese Action RPG style series I've ever played.
This is even weirder given the series started in 1987 and has appeared on the NES, the SNES, the Sega Master System, PS2 and a myriad of other systems. That it's still going strong must mean it's popular in Japan, but just not here.
Now, I've bitched about how no one talks about these games enough, I should maybe talk about what these games are. Well, in the modern age there are essentially 3 types of Ys games. There are the Bump Combat style Ys (Ys Chronicles), the Monster Hunter/Kingdom Hearts style (Ys Seven, Memories of Celceta), and my personal favourite, the insane murder-a-thon/platformers with Zelda elements (Oath in Felghana, Ys VI, Origin).
The latter, as I said, is my favourite. This is for a few reasons. I personally love how fast paced the combat is and that you combo meter determines how much xp you get. If you hold max combo you double your xp gain, essentially meaning if you do well at the game you'll never have to grind. It encourages you to be fast and merciless and it's a hell of a lot of fun. I love that basic enemies are a breeze to blow through and basically exist to give you something to do in between the challenging and awesome bosses.
I also like the platforming elements and I find these games are generally the most charming. The stories are all pretty generic, but the characters themselves generally have some nice little details. But you're not here for the story. You're here to kick ass and listen to a fucking awesome soundtrack. Just listen to this shit:
Do you not just want to beat the fuck out of some monsters? Seriously, this is one of my favourite series of all time now, and I just want to scream its praise to the roof tops. I liked it so much I had to try other developer Falcom's stuff. So I bought Trails in the Sky even though I'm not a huge JRPG fan, and I think it essentially sold me on the merits of that genre.
Bottom line, Ys is awesome. Play it. Ys VIII is coming to the west next year and it looks awesome. Can't wait!
I played Oath and Origins, I think? I agree. They are pretty fantastic actually. They deserve more praise. I loved rolling across screens and killing all the things. Pretty fun time. I know alot of people love Persona 4 Golden as best thing ever on portable, but fuck, this is awesome too!
maybe cause no one can pronounce it? ha ha, no I enjoyed what i've played, and I wouldn't mind playing another. the stories are surprising, and the combat is fun. Great if u have a psp or vita.
They're on PC too, and the new one is coming to ps4.
Shoot, I talk about Ys all the time! I even wrote a blog about Ys Seven a few months ago. It's one of my top five favorite PSP games.
Also, I just wrote a review of a game called Gurumin 3D. It's made by the same folks who did the Ys titles: Falcom.
Nice! I think I missed it at the time, but nice blog. I'm just playing through Memories of Celceta now. Have you played Oath in Felghana or Origins? Thos are definitely my favourites at the moment. Do you have a favourite?
And yeah I got Gurumin on steam for $5 the other day. Don't know how I feel about it yet as the combat is a little slow and the platforming is a little floaty. I'll give it a bit more of a chance though.
Yeah I've played all those Ys games you mentioned. My favorite is still Ys Seven.
Played some Oath in Flelghana but my PSP has this issue where it interupts with a "do you want to go to the home" screen with the slightest jostle. Super annoying. I have Ys I&II Chronicles for PSP as well. I gotta figure out what's wrong with my PSP.
I had Ys: Memories of Celcete on Vita a while back and loved it. I got the special edition that had the extra items and soundtrack. The soundtrack is to me is one of the best things about that game, it just matched perfectly! Now sadly that was my only experiance with Ys but I wanna play more of the games.
Oh man, all of Ys soundtracks are awesome. If you still have your Vita then you can play Ys Seven and Oath in Felghana which in my opinion are a bit better than Celceta. Celceta is awesome, but I think the plot/characters of Seven are more engaging, and the combat in Oath is more fun, plus it has more Metroidvania-isms.
My personal favourite is Origin, but it's only on PC. It's pretty low spec though.