Ys I & II Chronicles (2009)

Il mio primo gioco di Ys è stato lacrimosa of dana...

Ma alla fine dopo averlo completato in NIGHTMARE, mi sono chiesto... Perchè non giocare tutte le serie di YS, in versione NIGHTMARE? Dopotutto questo gioco merita davvero tanto, sia per la sua storia, sia per la sua difficoltà, sia per il suo gameplay, sono davvero felice di averlo scoperto <3.

I never thought this would be the second Ys game I played, but it is! And I'm happy to report that the game hold up quite well and I couldn't be happier.

Some games age better than others. It's a fact of life. This game, being one of, if not the oldest, action RPGs I was a little hesitant going in, but I shouldn't have been!

Wonderful graphics with fun gameplay and a vibrant little world. While the world doesn't stretch in and on like they can now, it still felt like a great size. Not to big and not to small for the time spent there.

I love the story here too. Now, there isn't much of one, but what is here is great. And this game does what I love most and leaves some things to your imagination so you can sort of formulate an idea of your own with certain things. Brilliant.

I only have minor complaints about this game.. There are a few things I just don't think I would have been able to do without a guide. Where to use a couple of items. Now I would like to think I could figure a few out, but there was one in particular that I feel like I would have never got. And a couple of frustrating bosses that were just over the top annoying. Especially the final boss. That guy was ridiculous.

Overall I had a great time and can't wait to play more Ys! I think I'm going to end up going through every one of the games now and Falcom is definitely secured as one of my favorite developers ever at this point.

Let's go Adol, time for more adventures, bud.

Note: this is just a review of Ys Book 1

**Ys Book 2 review below ** 👇

Wow! After I finished Book 1 I wasn't sure what to expect with book 2, but it was everything I wanted and more from a sequel!

The Adol adventures are turning into some of my favorite adventures. To think that this game was made so long ago (1989) and still holds up so wonderfully today is a testament to how great the game is. The lore of this world is already something that I am loving. There is thought and care put into even the NPC's. Dialogue that is more meaningful than even stuff that comes out today. It gives life to the world and the characters in a way that makes it even more special.

Book 2 is a lot like Trails in the Sky SC. And what I mean by that is that it is intrinsically connected to the first game. While there are small things at the beginning of the game to point this out, it isn't until the end of the game that it all comes together as one big sweeping story and I understand why these games come bundled together. And the ending did not disappoint in any way. These are some special games.

I didn't have nearly as many complaints about ridiculous bosses in this game. It seems Falcom had found their footing a little for this second game. Things felt a lot more balanced and fair. There was one boss that was irritating, but it was nowhere near the atrocity that was the final boss in Book 1.

On top of a lot of Quality of Life improvements in the one too that just makes this game feel so much more polished.

This game was fantastic. I think I would give it 4.5 ⭐ for this second game. I cannot wait to continue my Ys adventure.

I played the version that was released for the iPhone. This was actually the first game I played on my Backbone One, a controller that you can use to turn your phone into a true gaming handheld. It worked quite well and I've been using it more than I use Switch lately. This really opens up some great opportunities for enjoying cheap app games.

The game itself was sort of strange. It's a two-part game, the two stories not seemingly connected by anything other than the protagonist and the demonic nature of the enemies. The combat was kind of goofy; you just run straight into enemies and basically bounce against them until they die. You very rarely face any danger of dying from the main enemies but some of the bosses were very difficult. In particular, Zava and the giant head guy were extremely difficult and I reloaded and retired dozens of times for both. Ultimately, the game was hard enough to challenge me but beatable, which is all I can ask.

The music was also a kind of weird melange that seemed very different from most games from the era and genre, in my experience. Depending on where you were, the music would skip from muzak to generic hair metal to Spanish guitar to J-Pop. At times, I found it catchy and other times it seemed cringey.

It was short and had no bugs. I don't think I would ever play it again and wasn't interested enough to try and follow the series but we'll see.

Story (3.5/5) | Characters (3/5) | World (3.5/5) | Gameplay (3.5/5) | Visuals (3.5/5) | Music (4.5/5) = 71% overall score

The Ys series is the grandfather of the action JRPG genre and this entry (both 1 and 2 combined) is a great start if you've never experienced the series. The story of the game is interesting and unlocking the mystery of Ys and what evil has brought back monsters is interesting, but not the highlight of this game. My favorite dungeon by far was the Tower of Darm in Ys 1, it literally takes up half of the first game.

The gameplay of this action JRPG isn't changed much from its ancestor. You bump into enemies, trying to aim for their side or their back, to attack them. It takes some getting used to, but eventually, you'll be running around weaving between enemies. It can be frustrating when you mess up and a monster rams into you multiple times, taking a ton of HP. I ended up playing on Easy because harder difficulties just give bosses and enemies bigger HP pools, which is frustrating.

The graphics of this remake are well done and better their it's original by far, but still pretty basic. However, the music by far is the best part of the game as the Falcom Sound Team jdk is a master at their work and makes amazing music for every part of the game. Just check out the tracks below for some examples.

Time to Complete: Ys 1: 7.5 hours Ys 2: 12.5 hours

Favorite Chill Track: Tender People

Favorite Action Track: Palace of Destruction