Ys IV: Mask of the Sun (1993)

Preliminary: Nice! There's a fan translation of the original version, so no need for any headaches to access this one. Ys III was disappointing, tho I didn't get to play its original version and in the context of its release, so kinda unfair to judge too harshly. I'm just hoping this one is more to my liking, because I loved the PC Engine CD re-release of Ys I and II! I'm a bit worried cuz this was for Super Famicom/SNES, whose power pales in comparison to PC Engine CD etc and the videos/music I loved about the Ys I and II remake. We shall see!

Now this is the perspective and music and vibe I was looking forward to from future Yses. It really hasn't upgraded much since the old Yses, which is a bit absurd for late 93, but digging the beginning of this.

Early Game

I love that they kept the aesthetic, screen border, etc. of the earlier PC Yses. And it's got the good ol fast movement which is all too rare in JRPGs. Oh and I always loved how straightforward Yses were: one character, clear progression of equipment (tho sometimes with some caveats), and grind-to-leve.

The music continues to be excellent. The Look is pretty standard/meh for late 1993 but fitting enough, and nice colors. The flow of the game is quite taut so far, which is fine with me, btu I could see people seeing it as too linear.

Welp finally got some combat / a grind. And I loved it. Brought me right back to the earlier Yses, so that's probyl why I tolerate it. For their time, the Ys/Hydlide bump fighting was appropriate, and it feels nice to return to it even in late 93 imo. Better than the poorly implemented fighting in Ys III or some of the clunky action-adventure Zelda imitators.

Loved looking out from the top of the first area, I think I'm in in this one for the long haul

As always, Poison in JRPGs is annoying. But is what it is. And some of these later enemies bring out the frustrating side of bump combat, I'm still having fun tho.

Ok yea this first boss is highlighting the combat's weakness. The very limited availability of when you're ablet o do damage is really annoying, and brings out the weak aiming and mechancis of the bump combat in this. Ahhh, this will at least get a 3 star for the Feel and Look and Sound, but... disappointed with how the Play is going.

Look: 7.5/10

Sound: 8.5/10

Play: 7/10

Feel: 7.5/10

Attachment: 7/10 I'd likely return to Ys I and II remake.

Overall: 7.5/10

Completion: To first boss, the Minotaur. Annoyed with knowing when it's vulnerable vs will do damage to me

Playtime: ~1h 10m

Ys is a series where I feel like an outsider peering in. I'm not sure I'd describe it as a "niche" series by the standards of the folks on here, but every time I tell someone I'm a fan of these games, I always remember how many games from the series I haven't played. It's a good problem to have.

In my effort to rectify that, I decided I needed to give bump combat, which was a staple of some of the earlier Ys games, a fair shake. Ys IV: Mask of the Sun happened to be the game I chose to do this with. It's an arguably outdated system, one that allows the player to fight every boss with a controller in one hand and a Gansett in the other, but I was pleasantly surprised by how easily I picked it up. That wasn't the only pleasant surprise to come out of this game either. Compared to its successor Ys V, Ys IV is a much more engaging (not to mention challenging) experience.

The plot is enjoyable, the world is colorful, the music is fantastic, and the bosses especially are a highlight. It misses in some places, mostly where you'd expect for an old-school RPG. Grinding, confusing dungeon layouts, wasting time looking for the next plot trigger, things like this that prevent the game from fully holding up in the modern age. That being said, I'm happy to say that Ys IV soundly beat my expectations coming in.

Would I recommend it to everyone? Absolutely not. Bump combat, for good reason, serves as too high a barrier for entry. However, for those that have played and loved the more popular SNES RPGs and are looking for a little spice to their video gaming repertoire, you might want to give Ys IV a shot.

Ys 4, for SNES

Rating: 8.2/10; Great

Ys 4 is an action rpg played from a top down perspective. Combat is performed by running into enemies and doing contact damage, but it is a bit more nuanced than just that. Flanking does the most damage while attacking head on does either very low damage or none at all while you take damage. Which happens depends on your stats compared to the enemies; mostly level though I am not sure if your shield plays a role beyond higher defense stat. The standard way to attack is to run at enemies slightly off center so that your sword touches them, a lot like jousting. You have to keep moving to do damage which leads to silly looking combat. Enemies usually die in seconds if you hit properly but they can kill you just as fast. So while the combat looks silly it is tense and dangerous; even more so given the high respawn rate of enemies.

To compensate for the difficulty of combat you are able to regenerate health and mana while standing still in most field style battle areas and some safe areas in dungeons. You can also find and purchase restorative items, though you can only carry 1 of each at a time; this makes them highly valuable and forces you to play it safe. There are some tight spots you can get into with normal enemies though the bosses are where you will need those items. Bosses often have bullet hell style attacks with heavy focus on learning patterns to avoid the hits, which hit hard. You should expect to have to make a trial run or more against each boss to learn how to win without being flattened. There is large emphasis on xp grinding on normal enemies and to farm gold for replacement items. This is taken to the extreme because some bosses have minimum required levels for you to be in order to even be able to damage them; the worst part of the game.

Equipment and items are represented in your inventory by beautiful icons, though the character's appearance never changes. You are not able to sell or discard equipment and there are some tactical advantages to using weaker gear. Specifically, magic is tied to specific swords and comes in form of a useful heal and a variety of simple damage projectiles. The game does not indicate whether armor and shields have elemental resistances. The world is largely open and you will find an item to allow fast travel to previously visited areas. There is no overworld like a typical Jrpg. The beginning of the game is a bit disappointing because you are introduced to friends and the love interest of the protagonist without any background. I guess it is assumed that players will play the previous games first to have already known these people. More importantly though, you start the game as a level 1 newb with no equipment at all despite playing as the same character in all Ys games. He must have been having a VERY good time with that love interest. No wonder she does not want him to leave.

Most, if not all, characters are very well designed and presented. From generic townsfolk to the villains to the other heroes (who would be party members if this was a traditional Jrpg instead of a solo experience). The story is also very good with quite a lot of character interactions and personality despite the game's short length. Though the combat mechanics are unusual, the only thing that really holds the game back is the hard level gating for some of the bosses, forcing you to grind instead of possibly scraping by on skill alone.

Beat the game. I had trouble figuring out how to attack; doing it with contact damage was weird and the entire jousting style of battle was weird. I bought the 1st sword but skipped shield and armor to grind money for the 2nd tier. Got wrecked by the 1st boss and then bought the 2nd sword. Once I found the thunder set I skipped buying any gear for the rest of the game.

I found the combat to be decisive in that I would either kill enemies in seconds or die myself in seconds. Most bosses were very hard until I got to the sorceress Vami. I had to check a walkthrough to find out I was so under leveled that I literally could not damage her. So I had to grind some levels (went from 23 to 27). Same thing happened for the next boss, so more grinding until level 30. That boss was the most difficult in the game and I ended up using an elixir and mana medicine to use magic attacks with the best sword and got him to half hp. The final boss was actually quite easy and I knew from the walkthrough not to use the best gear. It is kind of hinted at just before the final battle but I wonder how many people would think to downgrade equipment.

Great game with awesome music. My only complaint is the hard level gating for those bosses.