Ys Seven (2009)

Beat on Normal on loan from my coworker right after Felgana and Naphsteim. The game was instantly unusual in the series with the full cast of party members, making it more like a traditional Jrpg. I found the rock, paper, scissors combat to be odd given that Adol can kill everything by himself in the previous games, but it was an interesting mechanic. I finished at level 51 and used Dogi and Aisha for my party. I especially liked controlling her for her ranged attacks. I barely used the other characters, as my style is to only focus on enough to fill up a single battle team. And then came the final boss where every character had to be used. Oh shit I totally neglected the other characters. Good thing benchwarmers still get xp and that Dogi and Aisha were on different teams. I barely scraped by the final boss but I think I did manage on my first try. I wish more rpgs had design to force use of every party member like this, kind of like the final dungeon in FF6. Though it would have been nice if this game gave me a warning that I might want to make sure that every character, not just the main party, was properly equipped and ready to fight. This entire game was considerably easier than the other Ys games and put more emphasis on enemy tells and player dodging.

I enjoyed the game and could see getting it to play again on higher difficultly and max out all the characters. I did not care for the whole gathering materials and farming for rare stuff. My notes from the time say I gave it 7 but I will bump it up to 8/10.

It is complete! What an epic end boss. Using ALL of your playable characters in 4 separate stages was absolutely insane. Barely scraped by on my third attempt, and this was only on Normal mode! Why don't more games actually do this sort of thing? The last time I fought an end boss (or series of end bosses) that were this challenging and required absolute mental focus was Xenoblade Chronicles.

This was my final Ys game that I had yet to play, and I'm feeling like I've got a void in my life now where the next Ys title to play would have filled. I only got into Ys about 4 years ago, but I've played through every one at this point, not including the SNES games, which honestly I'm not terribly interested in, but overall it's been an incredible journey in this most excellent and criminally underrated series.

Highly recommend for those with a PSP to grab this most excellent title. Those worried about time commitments need not worry - the Ys games (with the exception of VIII which took me a good 40 hours) are generally 25 hours or less. This game took me roughly 25 according to the in-game counter and that's only because I did a bunch of side quests as well.

What a great series. Ys rules!

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate has been wearing on me a bit, I find there's a huge gap between HR 3 and 4, so I need a little break, and this game is filling the void perfectly.

Something about the Ys games just grab me and don't let go. To date, I haven't been this enthralled by a game series since certain ones in the Legend of Zelda franchise! These days I don't spend any time binge-gaming, typically my sessions max out around an hour or so, but I played this straight through an hour and a half bus ride to work today and it went by in the blink of an eye.

Super heavy Memories of Celceta vibes from Seven as well. Not as cinematic as Ys VIII (currently sitting as my third favorite JRPG of all time) is the only main difference so far, but the boss battles are just as satisfying (if not more so) than the Origins/Ark/Oath engine games. Fast paced and frantic, in the best way.

Question - are there any other games out there similar to Ys, whatsoever? Fast paced action RPGs with this type of combat? I swear, it took me 30 damn years to discover this series and I'm dreading finishing Seven because it's truly the last in what is the only series that scratches a certain itch. If there is anything even remotely similar, please, do tell!

One of the very few games in this incredible series I have never played, I finally am giving it a go!

So far I'm loving it - it feels just like Memories of Celceta (first Ys game I ever played and one of my favorites). Nothing beats the fast paced gameplay, epic music, and boss battles of the Ys series for me in the JRPG world of endless dialogue and slow combat. Can't wait to get into it more, and it feels amazing on the PSP, one of my most criminally underplayed consoles!

Does anyone else not like the gameplay in the more modern Ys games? I started with Napishtim and I love both that and Origins, and (mostly) Felghana because the gameplay is challenging and requires me to always be aware of my environment and learn enemy patterns - if I'm careless or button mash, I will get hit and die quickly.

But in this game, just a couple areas in so far admittedly, there isn't any of that depth so far. I can button mash my way through the areas. I don't have to worry about being hit - it doesn't happen. Every enemy is the same, just run up to them, hit them, they die. No need to learn patterns or anything. And the party system isn't really adding anything strategically - my party members just run around and hit things and I don't have to care about them. Adds a lot of noise and flashiness, but no depth. Skills also feel pretty unimportant, I haven't found a lot of tactical advantage from considering my usage of them.

Am I doing something wrong...? Do other people see it differently than I do? Is my experience and perception not the norm? I haven't played 4 or 8 yet either.