Monday, July 18, 2022

Obscusion B-Side: The Histor-Ys of Adol Christin's First Adventure on Consoles

On June 21, 1987, Nihon Falcom released an action RPG called Ys: Ancient Ys Vanished for NEC's PC-88 line of home computers, followed throughout the year by ports to the Sharp X1, NEC's PC-98, Fujitsu FM-7, & the MSX2. Designed, programmed, & directed by Masaya Hashimoto (who would later co-found Quintet in 1989 with writer Tomoyoshi Miyazaki), Ys was advertised with the motto of "Now, the RPG is Entering an Age of Kindness." This was in reference to how notoriously difficult these types of games were at the time (like T&E Soft's Hydlide, Bullet-Proof Software's The Black Onyx, & Falcom's own Dragon Slayer & Xanadu), with the game being much easier & simpler to just get straight into & play, possibly even taking some influence from Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda on Famicom one year prior. Combined with excellent music composed by the duo of Mieko Ishikawa (who today is the managing director of Falcom's entire sound division) & some 19-year old part-timer named Yuzo Koshiro (plus his 16-year old sister Ayano doing some designs), Ys (pronounced like the world "ease") would be a sales success for Falcom, and while it may not be the company's biggest franchise 35 years later, it is by far their longest-running one, as The Legend of Heroes discarded its initial Dragon Slayer connection way back in 1994.

It's no surprise, then, that when Falcom started getting its games ported to home consoles the same year, with Dragon Slayer Jr.: Romancia on the Famicom, that Ys would be a perfect title for that market.


In terms of the plot to the original Ys, it's understandably basic. A young man with red hair named Adol Christin hears of monsters roaming about on the island of Esteria, home of a silver metal called Cleria, and a mysterious "Stormwall" surrounding the island that makes actually entering it nigh-impossible. Being the adventurous type, Adol decides to test that claim by entering Esteria by boat, only to wind up shipwrecked... Luckily, though, he still managed to enter Esteria, & eventually finds his way to the town of Minea. From there Adol finds out about the six Books of Ys, which tell of an ancient land that once was a part of Esteria, and he'll head to the nearby village of Zepik, Solomon Shrine (or "Salmon", in some Japanese romanizations), the Rastin Mine, & finally Darm Tower to recover the Books of Ys & figure out what happened to both Esteria & Ys itself. In the 35 years since Ys' original release on the PC-88, there have been seven different ports to video game consoles & handhelds, so let's take a look at all of them in chronological order & see what each one brought to the table. Three of them were simply Ys released on its own, three of them were double-packs with its sequel, 1988's Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished – The Final Chapter (which finishes the story & sees Adol head to Ys itself), and one of them is both individually sold & as part of a double-pack, at least in Japan. In the case of these double-packs, I'll be focusing primarily on Ys I, as the appeal of this game is in how enjoyably short it is (no more than 3-7 hours, depending on how much you know in advance), which makes comparing these ports easier to handle.


We start off with Ys for the Nintendo Famicom, released on August 26, 1988, roughly four months after the original PC-88 release of Ys II that April. Like any console ports of Falcom games at the time this was both ported & released by third parties, in this case developed by Advance Communication Company & published by Victor Musical Industries. However, Victor & ACC didn't simply port over the PC-88 original to the hottest console in Japan & call it a day. Instead, the Famicom version of Ys features a wide variety of changes, most notably in the layouts of the various locales Adol goes to. Right from the start in Minea, people familiar with how it's normally laid out will find themselves completely lost, as Minea now has little streams to cross over, & the locations of the various places you'll visit are mostly altered. Upon leaving Minea & entering the primary field "overworld" (in a sense), you'll quickly realize that it's grown by a large amount, now featuring small islands, much more forest, & some locations (most notably Rastin Mine) blocked off by small lakes; in fact, there's even a handful of statues that you'll need to teleport between in order to get to certain areas. Overall, this is the main idea behind the first console port of Ys: Expand out the adventure & make it almost a completely different one from the PC original, in some ways.

This also applies to gaining experience & leveling up, as the Famicom port changes that, as well. In most versions of Ys I, gaining a single level might take a little bit of time at first, but doing so results in a notably large increase in your stats (HP, strength, & defense). Because of this, when you come across a boss that you can't seem to do any damage to (or do very little damage), that just means that you usually only need one more level in order to properly advance (&, along the way, you'll likely earn enough gold to buy the next class of equipment). For example, defeating the first boss (Jenocres) usually only requires being at Level 3 or 4, at a minimum, but in the Famicom version each level up gives you much smaller stat increases (literally just +10 Max HP, +5 Strength, & +2 Defense per level!), so even being at Level 5 you wind up doing no damage at all to that same boss; at least the Jenocres fight is interestingly different. Where most versions of Ys max out at Level 10, this version goes well beyond that. The end result is a super grindy game, though this version certainly has no problem tossing upwards of 5-6 enemies at you at once, even early on. Easily the biggest flaw, though, is that the screen doesn't scroll until you're too close to the edge of the screen for comfort, which can result in enemies appearing suddenly & leaving you little time to react; this is admittedly common to other versions of Ys, but just it feels more cheap here. In fact, even HP regeneration is slow as molasses in this port, with a literal 1 HP/sec regen rate, so when at your max health of 255 it takes over 4 minutes to fully heal from almost nothing!

Overall, Ys on the Famicom is a truly unique take on the game with its altered maps & added content, and the general gameplay is still there & unchanged, so there's still fun to be had. The visuals are solid, while the music transfers over well to the console's sound chip, and there's also a bunch of new music exclusive to this version, which is also really good. However, the extremely slow movement, glacial stat increases with each level that results in more grinding than usual, & the screen scrolling problem result in this being more of a novelty today, than an actual preferred way to experience the game, in my opinion. It's not what I'd consider the "worst" version, but it definitely isn't one that I'd recommend, on the whole. The later Famicom ports of Ys II & III would both be straightforward adaptations of those respective games, making this first port all the more interesting in its changes. While this port only ever saw release in Japan, there is an English fan translation out there, so those curious can still give it a go in English.


A few months after the Famicom port, specifically October 15, 1988, the second console port of Ys would see release in Japan, this time on one of the Famicom's competitors at the time, the Sega Mark III. Developed by Sega itself, which was a common thing that the company would do at this time for third-party properties on its consoles (even as far as into the first few years of the Mega Drive/Genesis), this port of Ys would actually wind up being the very first version to see release outside of Japan, as on March of 1989 Sega would release an English version on the Master System in both North America & Europe, while Tec Toy would release it in Brazil, all under the title Y's: The Vanished Omens; yes, they did indeed add an apostrophe to the title. Later in 1989 Ys would also see English release on MS-DOS computers & the Apple IIGS, very obscure versions of the game, but that was by way of Brøderbund & Kyodai, with development by Distinctive Software, a short-lived studio co-founded by a 17-year old Don Mattrick... Yes, the same man who nearly killed the Xbox One's chances at selling in 2013, before it even came out.

But let's get back to the Master System, shall we? In comparison to the notably altered Famicom port, Sega went with a much more straightforward port, basing itself more or less directly on the PC-88 original (though some dungeon maps are flipped horizontally), which makes sense as both used some form of the Z80A, NEC's version of Zilog's iconic 8-bit microprocessor, likely making for easier porting. In that regard, the end result does play a bit slower than most people would prefer the original Ys to play, especially when compared to later versions, and when combined with lower EXP gains by defeating enemies it results in a version that has maybe a little too much grinding for levels, at points. Those people, though, obviously never played the Famicom version, as the Master System version has better (& more accurate) stat upgrades with each level. However, there's no denying that it's still Ys, and that results in it remaining a fun game to play, & arguably still one of the best RPGs on the console, right up there with something like the original Phantasy Star. Personally, I'd say that this port's biggest flaw is in how empty the HUD at the bottom of the screen is, showing only the health meters for Adol & his current foe. Normally, your current HP, EXP, & Gold should also be shown, making it easy to see your immediate stats, but on the Master System you have to constantly open up the menu to see how you're doing with those, which is unfortunate. Also, while the Japanese Mark III version includes support for FM music, the international Master System version removes that support, one of the few to actually do so, so you're left with just the PSG music; personally, I'm not exactly a fan of the console's FM output, so I really like the PSG sound. Finally, for whatever reason, the English version of this port also features all manner of name changes, most notably "Aron" instead of Adol & "Dulk Dekt" instead of Dark Fact; Kyodai's DOS & Apple IIGS ports also have their own changes, like "Arick" & "Malificus".

Overall, Y's: The Vanished Omens may not exactly be one of the best console ports of the game, & some of that might be due to Sega adhering too much to the original version, but the original game's quality still shines through & it's a must-own for Master System fans & collectors.


The next console port of Ys would come out in Japan a year after the Sega Mark III version, on December 21, 1989, but differed in a very big way. You see, December 4, 1988 had seen the release of the PC-Engine CD-ROM² (pronounced "Rom-Rom"), an add-on for NEC & Hudson Soft's PC-Engine console that allowed games to be developed for & sold on a CD-ROM, which had only finally received a universal system standard earlier that same year. Because of the sheer difference in storage space the CD-ROM allowed for (~700 MB vs. the HuCard's max of just 1 MB [2.5 MB for Street Fighter II']), this meant that it was possible to not only include Ys but also Ys II, plus even more, resulting in Ys III, the first ever double-pack release that allowed players to go through the entire story as a single, complete adventure. Developed by Alfa System & published by Hudson, this double-pack would then see English release in North America on the TurboGrafx-CD as Ys Book I & II on May 23, 1990, making this the first ever English release of Ys II; Europe & Australia, sadly, would have to wait until the Wii Virtual Console re-release in 2008. In terms of gameplay, the experience requirements & stat increases are more along the lines of the Famicom version (nowhere near as stingy, however), though here it makes sense, since they carry over across both halves of the story; in fact, you just stop getting experience & stat increases after a point in the Ys I portion, for balance. However, while this is related to the console's name outside of Japan, the gameplay speed of Ys Book I & II can be best described as "Turbo", as Adol's movement speed is more along the lines of a power walk, because he moves very fast in this version. This results in a very brisk gameplay loop, which in turn makes for an excellent version of Ys to play for newcomers; even HP regeneration when standing still on the field (or wearing the Heal Ring) is very fast in this version.

However, what truly makes this version of the game such an iconic one, to this very day, comes in the presentation of it all. The biggest addition of all would arguably be voice work heard throughout the game, starting with an original introductory sequence upon booting that explains some of the lore regarding Ys itself, namely the Black Pearl that plays a big role in Ys II's plot, and it's all narrated vocally. Not just that, but certain moments in the plot feature voice work as well, and while this is heard more during Ys II's portion of the overall plot, Ys I's portion still sees it used for scenes like Adol finding Feena locked up in Solomon Shrine, Adol meeting Luta Gemma in Darm Tower, & the final boss encounter with Dark Fact. Not just that, but the English dub cast for Ys Book I & II features the likes of Alan Oppenheimer (Darm & Intro Narration), Jim Cummings (Dalles), Michael Bell (Dark Fact), Debi Derryberry (Feena), & Louise Vallance (Reah), resulting in it not just being a remarkably good English video game dub for its time (Remember, this was 1990!), but one that still holds up outstandingly well, all these decades later. In comparison, Hudson would cheapen out for Ys III's dub on Turbo-CD by going with Frontier Enterprises, and it showed. Finally, no talk of Ys Book I & II would be complete without bringing up the arranged soundtrack by Ryo Yonemitsu, who took Yuzo Koshiro & Mieko Ishikawa's already excellent score & made it arguably even better, with many still feeling that Yonemitsu's take remains the best overall version, to this day; if nothing else, it truly showed what was capable using Red Book audio for a video game soundtrack.

With a faster gameplay speed than prior ports, somewhat upgraded visuals, actual voice overs in places (& an English dub that was at least decade ahead of its time!), & arguably the best arrangement of the entire musical score, Ys Book I & II on the TurboGrafx-CD is often cited as the best overall version of the first two games in the series, & still recommended to newcomers to this very day. That said, it isn't exactly an easy version to get a hold of & play today, at least legally, as the Wii Virtual Console release (which is how I first got into the Ys Series, myself) has become unavailable after the Wii Shop Channel's closure in 2019, the TurboGrafx-16/PC-Engine Mini from 2020 (which includes both the Japanese & English versions of Ys Book I & II) is now out-of-print, & the original disc release is a coveted one for collectors of the console, in & of itself. Still, if you ever get the chance to play it, definitely do so.


Following Ys Book I & II, attention was put more towards new entries in the Ys Series, namely the two versions of Ys IV for the PC-Engine CD & Super Famicom in 1993 (neither of which were developed by Falcom & would be superseded by Ys: Memories of Celceta in 2012) & 1995's Ys V for the Super Famicom, which would actually wind up being the last new Ys game for roughly eight years (& remains the only entry without any official release outside of Japan). However, only two years later did anyone in Japan have to wait for something Ys related, as on November 6, 1997 Victor/JVC released Falcom Classics for the Sega Saturn, a collection containing remakes of Dragon Slayer, Xanadu, & Ys. This would be followed up in 1998 with Falcom Classics II, which contained remakes of Ys II & 1986's Taiyou no Shinden: Asteka II (better known abroad as Tombs & Treasure on the NES), & then a double-pack of both collections in 1999. While Falcom's iconic Sound Team jdk is credited for the music, the remakes in either Falcom Classics collection don't seem to have been done in-house at Falcom, and at least for Ys there'd be good reason for that, which we'll get to in a bit.

Upon booting this version of Ys you have two choices: "Saturn Mode" & "Original Mode". In all honesty, the only real difference I could notice between the two is that Saturn Mode allows Adol to run by holding B & move diagonally, while Original Mode only allows walking & four-directional movement, i.e. the way it always had been. In all honesty, the addition of running & diagonal movement results in the Saturn remake being a much more hectic & kinetic game than before, though running is disabled for all boss fights, likely for balancing purposes. As for gameplay, I'd put it around the Turbo-CD version in terms of game speed overall, with the walk being slightly slower & the run being a little faster. Visually, the game is a marked upgrade from what came before, though admittedly nothing that makes it one of the better examples of what the Saturn was capable of, as it was a 2D powerhouse for its time. However, there is a nice visual flourish in that each weapon & armor set gives Adol visibly different looks, which is really cool to see & actually never implemented in future versions. Also, this looks to be the first version of Ys I & II to add images of the Twin Goddesses to the HUD, an aesthetic which would carry over to most later versions of the game. In terms of the music, it's a solid enough rendition of Koshiro & Ishikawa's score, if admittedly nothing special on its own. There is no voice work to be heard here, though Ys II's remake over on Falcom Classics II does rectify that, and even includes a trio of Ys I bits with voice work as a bonus to watch.

In a lot of ways, the Falcom Classics version of Ys on the Saturn can feel like a bit of a "budget" remake, but in terms of gameplay & overall feel it's honestly not too far off from the Turbo-CD version. The lack of voice work & comparatively simpler soundtrack arrangement does result in Hudson & Alfa System's effort being the overall superior product, but what Victor/JVC did is still a lot of fun, and well worth being a part of any Saturn owner's collection.


Just five months after the release of Falcom Classics, yet another version of Ys saw release in Japan. However, unlike any of the prior ports & remakes we've covered already, this one was actually made in-house at Falcom, and would essentially become the basis for how most people can play Adol's original adventure to this day. Released for Windows PCs on April 4, 1998, Ys Eternal was a remake in the truest sense of the word, providing new graphics & audio (though you could still select the original PC-88 soundtrack), improved gameplay (including proper 8-way movement & running), & a slightly more fleshed out story, including a new prologue section in Esteria's port town of Barbado (which was only ever mentioned in the manual, previously), among many other minor additions & changes. It even had a new animated OP sequence done by a young Falcom employee named Makoto Shinkai; I feel like I've heard that name before... Anyway, this would be followed up by Ys II Eternal in 2000 (plus Falcom Classics II in between the two Eternal releases, hence why I feel those Saturn remakes weren't done by Falcom), which featured a lot of the same additions & upgrades being added to the sequel, including a Shinkai-animated OP. Naturally, these two remakes would then get bundled together as Ys I・II Complete in 2001, which finally brings us to our next console version of Ys I.

Released on August 7, 2003 for the PlayStation 2, Ys I & II: Eternal Story comes by way of publisher DigiCube (best known for publishing SquareSoft's celebrated Ultimania series of strategy guides) & developer MichaelSoft (which would go on to develop the Wizardry Xth duology for PS2, the second of which would later be reworked into the first Class of Heroes game), with this actually being DigiCube's final video game release, before declaring bankruptcy later that December. The PS2 port allows for three options at the title screen: The ability to play Ys Eternal or Ys II Eternal individually, or to play them "together" as Ys I & II Eternal Story. Individually they're essentially straight console ports of their respective PC originals, while Eternal Story does things like readjusting EXP gains & level requirements so that Adol slowly powers up over the course of both stories, similar to what Ys Book I & II did on Turbo-CD; Level 2 needs only 10 EXP in Eternal Story, for example, where it needs 100 EXP in Ys I Eternal. To be perfectly honest, it's not really worth going into the gameplay of this PS2 version, as it more or less plays almost exactly like a later version I'll get to at the end, but the Eternal version of Ys I (& II) is a great mix of the old standard of gameplay that was established back in 1987 with more modern concessions.

Ys I & II: Eternal Story is by all means a good version of the game to play, but because of how ubiquitous this Falcom-developed remake would go on to become, it's really a bit redundant today, and is mainly for hardcore fans that just love to own multiple versions of Ys games (*slowly raises hand*); there is a little bit of truly unique content, but it all just relates to what's essentially a Gallery Mode. Also of note, though, is that there actually was an intention to bring this PS2 version over to North America by NEC Interchannel during its short-lived revival in North America, which also saw English releases of Culdcept Second on the PS2 & Tuber Slider on the GameCube. However, SCEA turned it down due to its on-again-off-again anti-2D policy, i.e. it didn't look "good enough" visually for them, similar to when Agetec wanted to release Shadow Tower Abyss. Instead, Ys wouldn't return to North America until Konami released Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim on the PS2 in 2005, & on the PSP in 2006.


We have one last truly unique version of Ys I to look at, though it's not the last console version of the game. On March 20, 2008, publisher Interchannel-Holon (the former NEC Interchannel, following Index Corporation's purchase from NEC in 2004) teamed with developer Dreams to release the first two Ys games on the Nintendo DS. However, in an admittedly bizarre concept (especially 20 years after the original PC-88 releases), these were originally sold as individual releases in Japan, Ys DS & Ys II DS, with a "Special Box" release bundling them together coming out a month later. When Atlus USA licensed these games for North American release on April 24, 2009 as Legacy of Ys: Books I & II, however, they were simply collected onto a single DS cart, though still treated as individual games to be selected upon booting; sorry, but no "one giant adventure option", as on Turbo-CD or even PS2. Visually, while the sprite work is more or less taken straight from the Eternal PC remakes, all of the environments are now rendered using 3D polygons, resulting in an admittedly unique looking version of Ys, all things considered. Dreams also added in a brand new exclusive dungeon, Vageux-Vardette, which sees Adol head into the giant crater where the land of Ys once stood in Esteria, after finishing the Shrine of Solomon, which in turn gives a little extra run time to what's always been a rather short game. Finally, the DS' dual-screen format allows all of the stats to be put on its own screen at all times, including a handy map, which is really cool.

Unfortunately, I personally hesitate to really recommend Ys DS to people for one main reason, & this also applies to Ys II DS, as well: The combat. You see, Ys I, II, & IV all utilize what it now known as the "Bump System", in which you attack foes simply by running into them with Adol, with the trick being to bump into them from an off-center angle or from behind, so that the enemy can't hurt Adol at the same time. While it is an admittedly bizarre combat system for newcomers at first, it's a streamlined take on how games like The Tower of Druaga & Hydlide handled combat before Ys, removing the need to into an "Offense" state & resulting in gameplay that never really slows down, & it also makes grinding feel like less of a chore, as you're constantly hunting for enemies to kill in quick succession. The DS game, however, replaces the Bump System with an actual attack button, which in turn completely changes the way combat works in this game &, in my opinion, robs it of the simple & straightforward joy it once had. Now, to be fair, the Bump System is technically still available, but only if you use the stylus by making gameplay appear on the bottom touch screen; they literally held the optimal combat style hostage behind a touch screen. However, using the touch screen for combat is more or less as awkward as it sounds, while the attack button system is one you do get used to, but never truly feels right.

In the end, Ys DS is my personal least favorite "console" version of the game to play, and that's pretty much exclusively due to the change in combat. The added environment is a neat little addition, the "2D on 3D" visual style gives it a unique charm, & the arrangement of the music is solid enough, but actually playing it becomes a problem, so I personally just can't recommend it, not when there are just so many other versions out there to play. Much like the Famicom version, Ys DS is really more of a novelty for hardcore fans of the series.

Uhh, Fact, you've got your hair caught on your... horns.

Finally, we have our last "console" release of Ys I, which in & of itself is pretty much the version that all currently-available releases of the first two games are based on. On July 16, 2009, Japan saw the release of Ys I & II Chronicles for the PSP, with a straight PC port released in Japan later that December. XSEED, as part of its major push for the Ys Series at the time, would then release this double-pack in North America on February 22, 2011 (& the following day later in Europe). On February 14, 2013 XSEED would then release Ys I & II Chronicles+ for PC via Steam (& later via other storefronts), which essentially fuses Ys I & II Complete & Ys I & II Chronicles together, creating the ultimate version with all manner of customizable options, especially when compared to Chronicles' PC version in Japan, which was literally just the PSP original ported over directly. While the PSP original utilizes the widescreen display to show everything on screen with the HUD overlayed on top, XSEED's Chronicles+ for PC uses the decorative border from Eternal/Complete to create a 4:3 image, though specific cutscenes play in 16:9, and while full-screen makes sense for the smaller resolution PSP screen, the decorative border on PC just feels "right", in my opinion. Finally, in terms of presentation, you now have three music options: The PC-88 Original from 1987 (complete with some tracks originally unused now being used in spots, like the second half of Darm Tower), the Complete OST from 2001 (which I can only best describe as "MIDI on Steroids" at points), & a brand new Chronicles arrangement originally made for the PSP version, which focuses mostly on real instruments, with a heavy focus on electric guitar. There's also an "artwork" option between "Complete" & "Chronicles", but this just changes the art seen when speaking to certain characters.

As for the gameplay, this is more or less the same experience as it was on Windows PCs back in 1998, but that's certainly not a bad thing. This "modern" take on Ys I, in a lot of ways, feels like a culmination of the various changes & additions seen throughout this history. You have 8-way movement with running & a generally snappier game speed (you can even hot swap equippable rings with the touch of a [shoulder] button), a slightly modified Bump System which arguably makes it feel a little more "loose" than before (but otherwise is still as fun), & environments are either made larger in general or are simply split up into multiple "screens" now. In particular, the main field area of Ys I is greatly expanded, with treasure chests to find, & changes where certain areas & entrances are; however, it's still relatively familiar to the old map, unlike the Famicom version. Then there are the expanded story bits, as I mentioned before. The stuff with Barbado really doesn't amount to much since you have no need to ever return to it once you leave (outside it re-visiting later on to get the Talwar, instead of simply buying it like before), but now you gets bits like escorting Feena out of Solomon Shrine when you find her locked up in its depths, having to go up Minea's rampart in order to deliver the Silver Harmonica to Reah, needing to listen to Reah play the Harmonica before speaking to the Roda Trees (& actually needing to eat the Roda Fruit beforehand), and so on. While you can still do the same old sequence breaking by heading into Rastin Mine early after getting the Treasure Box Key & getting powerful gear in advance, the changes/expansions made to the overall flow does result in this version of Ys feeling like a slightly more cohesive adventure than it ever had before 1998.

In the end, Ys Chronicles(+) is an excellent version of Adol's original adventure, one that tells its basic story with just a little bit more detail & grandeur, which is appreciated. At the same time, though, part of the appeal of the very first Ys game is that it's such a brisk game to play through after you take your time the first time through, so Chronicles can also sometimes feel like it takes longer than older versions, though that could just be a personal feeling. Regardless, this is the version that's the easiest to actually buy & play today, and it's still full recommended, in that regard.


I will admit that I mostly judged that last version off of the PC version than on the PSP, but that's mainly because they are more or less the same, outside of some minor technical differences to account for the PSP being a handheld. However, I also think it is fair to finish up more with Ys Chronicles+ specifically, because it's more than likely that any future console ports of Ys I that may ever happen in the future would simply be conversions of this most recent PC rendition, & Falcom has indicated that it is looking into releasing more of its older catalog to stuff like the Switch. Out of these seven console ports of the original Ys, I would say that the two best releases would have to be Ys Book I & II on the Turbo-CD & Ys I & II Chronicles(+), with the former being the best rendition of the PC-88 original in terms of overall experience, while the latter is a wonderful & more expansive remake that fleshes things out just enough; Falcom Classics' remake on the Saturn would then be a close third place. The Famicom, Master System, & DS versions have their own unique quirks, for better or worse, while the PS2 version is pretty much made redundant by Chronicles, outside of the bonus stuff related to the gallery. Regardless, however, there's good reason why the original Ys went on the become the foundation for Nihon Falcom's longest-running franchise, and even 35 years later remains an outstanding & addictive action RPG, in its own right. How you wish to experience it is up to you.

Ys: Ancient Ys Vanished © 1987 Nihon Falcom
Ys (Famicom) © 1987,88 Nihon Falcom © 1988 Victor Musical Industries, Inc.
Y's: The Vanished Omens © 1987 Falcom, Reprogrammed Game © 1988 Sega
Ys Book I & II © 1989 Konami © 1987, 1988 Falcom
Falcom Classics © 1997 Victor Company of Japan, Ltd. © 1997 Nihon Falcom Co.
Ys I & II Eternal Story © 2001 Nihon Falcom Corporation © 2003 DigiCube
Legacy of Ys: Books I & II © Interchannel, Inc. © Nihon Falcom Corporation
Ys I & II Chronicles © 2009 Nihon Falcom Corporation
Ys I & II Chronicles+ © 1988-2013 Nihon Falcom Corporation

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