Anime Ys series

[Tse Tse Fly]

When you get the ship in this do you have a bunch of options right away, or do they just unlock one location at a time as you finish the previous one?

Progression through game world areas is tied to main story. You can't go to a new area freely, first you must complete current area's part of main story. When you enter a new area, most of the content is locked until you complete some part of the main story related to this area, after that optional quests and other activities become available. To unlock other content you may need to recapture islands seized by the enemy (this is similar to "Ubisoft towers" that everyone seems to hate). Sometimes new content becomes available in areas you already visited. So it's more like Ys 8-9, which create an illusion of open-world, but aren't truly open-world.

By the way, were older Ys games actually open-world/non-linear? They had much less handholding (no quest markers etc), that's true, and some levels were more labyrinth-like, but order in which you must complete them was fixed iirc.

 

[Damned Registrations]

They weren't really non linear, but they had elements of that. It was more that they didn't artificially block you off from areas. When you fire up Ys1, you can fuck off all around the map right away. You still need to do the first dungeon before you can get the key to get the fruit to get the sword at the roda tree... but you can go straight to that tree if you want to explore around. And it wasn't a waste to explore around like that, because you could find permanent stat boosting herbs in areas you weren't meant to visit yet and stuff like that.

When I start up a game and can't leave town because 'there's monsters on the road' it really leaves a sour taste in my mouth. No shit there's monsters on the road, why the fuck do you think I want to leave the town? So many modern games make me feel like I'm on some guided tour.

 

[Elttharion]

Wtf

 

[Tse Tse Fly]

They should've made dlc of this kind for Ys 8, instead I'm doing a 3rd playthrough of the base game.

 

[Valestein]

Wtf

A new story? wtf? I wonder what exactly they mean by this...

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

A new story?

Probably a short bonus campaign like Tokyo Xanadu EX+

 

[I eat frozen vegetables]

Wtf

Insert white supremacy joke here.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Getting fatlus'd by falcom isnt on my bingo list this year, but here it is

 

[lametta]

I dont even..?

 

[Grampy_Bone]

This is how Japan milks a small fanbase. I guess it's better than LiVe sErviCE.

Ys X is a game that gets more fun as it goes on but it really takes awhile. The hand-holding, word-barf dialogue, and too-slow drip feed of new mechanics is Kiseki-ish.

I play Ys because they're NOT Trails games, dammit.

 

[Nutmeg]

I think it's an old PSP game no? It's just a SSB clone.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I dont even..?

Well there's something I didn't see coming.

 

[Valestein]

I dont even..?

Long overdue but good news. Adol's talkative in this from what i've heard.

 

[Rean]

Wtf

Good, maybe they recognized how X is the blandest game in the whole series and decided to do something about it.

 

[JC'sBarber]

Ys started declining after Origins IMO. The later 3D games lack the visceral feeling I get from other action RPGs, and from the preceding "trilogy" of Ys titles (Ark of Napishtim-Felghana-Origins). While I did enjoy VIII for the first half of the game, it began to get very repetitive and tiresome. That's the pattern these games have for me, and Ys X is no different so far. I thought I was gonna wait for Proud Nordics but I wager that game will see it's English release in 2026, and I might as well just play the original now so I can appreciate the differences later on.

 

[Tse Tse Fly]

I don't get what people find so special about Origin. I think it's actually one of the weakest entries. I played it after Ys1&2 and was disappointed - exploration got streamlined to the point of non-existence and the enhanced combat couldn't make up for it. The soundtrack is a clear downgrade from Ys1&2 too. It's not a bad game, but coming from Ys1&2 it's not what I expected. But at least bosses were creative somewhat. Napishtim was more in line with the original spirit of the series, though it had a slow start which almost turned me off.

 

[SilentMRG]

Grinding and grinding through The Ark of Napishtim broke everything for me, especially when I discovered there were points of no return. I was wondering... Who was the genius who decided on "points of no return" in grinding-oriented gameplay?! Either way the engine was good and The Oath in Felghana simplified all things making the gameplay enjoyable in all ways.

Origin was a copy and paste of Felghana's gameplay, it couldn't go wrong, and it didn't; the addition of three playable characters was a cool thing... I think Origin was the first to do that in the series.

The first and second Ys are the best of the entire series, the bump system was a good thing that should have been used in other Ys, or even in other franchises. Nowadays so much shit is replicated... And the goodness of the bump system was stuck in the first two Ys.

 

[JC'sBarber]

I don't get what people find so special about Origin. I think it's actually one of the weakest entries. I played it after Ys1&2 and was disappointed - exploration got streamlined to the point of non-existence and the enhanced combat couldn't make up for it. The soundtrack is a clear downgrade from Ys1&2 too. It's not a bad game, but coming from Ys1&2 it's not what I expected. But at least bosses were creative somewhat. Napishtim was more in line with the original spirit of the series, though it had a slow start which almost turned me off.

Origin is a tighter, focused experience compared to most others in the series. It's essentially a dungeon crawler, with no overworld to speak of. It's just pure action from start-to-finish, with a decent story and cast of characters. Compare that to recent entries, where the game starts with an hour-long intro that bogs you down with endless, repetitive dialogue.

The first and second Ys are the best of the entire series, the bump system was a good thing that should have been used in other Ys, or even in other franchises. Nowadays so much shit is replicated... And the goodness of the bump system was stuck in the first two Ys.

Not a take I hear often. I've tried playing the first Ys time and again, but could never stick with it. The dungeons are too maze-like and the grinding gets old after a while. I can see the merits of bump combat though, for one thing there is no button mashing involved.

 

[SilentMRG]

The grinding in the first two is very organic, I mean, you don't feel it as much and in some cases you don't even notice that you are grinding. The character's level rises quickly enough to not make combat boring. Now take all this... In Napishtim the opposite happens.

Bump system can be considered one of the most ingenious forms of combat in an action RPG. And I don't understand why the hell Nihon Falcom left this aside, I also don't understand why other companies didn't copy it. Hell... That "quick time events" crap was shoved into everything after the first God of War. Although it was Sega who created this boring and cheap system for Shenmue.