I keep playing these but I don't think I'll ever enjoy these games as much as Ys Origin where I think the formula was perfect. They're not bad games by any means but I think they always have just too much... bloat? Especially the more recent ones. Ys Origin was arcade style stages and bosses with minimal story and I really appreciated that. You're just a girl with an axe and you're gonna go beat up dumb villains and save the goddesses, that's it, go forth the game says. I felt it was incredibly solid. As far as Adol's games go, Ark of Napisthtim is the one I enjoyed the most and I really hated Ys 8. That game I felt was way too long with so much unnecessary side stuff it kept throwing at you. The base building aspect felt so tacked on, bare bones, and just a means to pad the game length. It's even worse considering all games are self contained and none of the characters except Dogi will ever reach any point of relevance or attachment because they'll be gone by the next game, so the game just rushes and throws in whatever kinda of backstory they can to each character. Adol never really "talks" so it's not like he has anything going for him either. I'm just complaining, but Ys 9 is more of the same, though at least it seems more contained. At the very least, combat is generally fun in every game especially at it's max difficulty.