Preliminary: Yessss this definitely reminds me of the aesthetic and vibe of my beloved Ys I and II remake for PC Engine CD. I am playing the fan translation/English dub
Wait... I've been here before haha. Starting with Sara?! And essentially the same Look/vibe. Hmmm, as much as I love it, I was hoping for a fresh coat of paint etc for December 1993.. The music is great tho and the vibe too. And yessss I love that you can change Option of speed of movement and text, tho can change back if needed for a tough battle etc, and that the fella who made a great video for me to reference when lost or struggling wtih a boss for Ys I and II remake made one for this too!
Nice a horror film esque/Hellraiser-esque cutscene that also reminded me of Nausicaa. And omg yesssss the actual epic true beginning cutscene. Sooo anime and, well, Ys. It's what I was hoping for from Ys III and the canonical Ys IV. (Oh wait it turns out neither of the 1993 Ys IVs are canon anyway, and if anything, this was teh one considered canon. Perfect)
Early Game
Welp I did my first grind, to level 3, and it brought me back to the early Yses. I loved it. The music continues to be great. And even tho I wanted a new Look or something special with all these years, I also have to give credence to the fact this is still the PC Engine CD, which had been out for years at this point, and still rocked! I just hope the bosses don't prove too frustrating like in the other Ys IV (although that one's combat in general wasn't great... this one, I dunno, I guess I am just more used to this style since it's closer to the original Yses)
Well, it's a little goofier than I planned so far, rather than somber and dark. But sitll. Loving it. I feel good at this type of Ys game (the original type, indeed), because this first boss, the written guide I am referencing said the "enraged' phase/sped up part of it, it's impossible to avoid damage. But I feel that I know the Ys combat mechanics well enoguh that I managed to avoid almost all damage. Didn't even have to use an Herb. Usually the first boss of all Ys games is brutally hard, so either I got real good at this type of Ys, or that's just not the case in this one :-p
Ugh okay yea the 2nd boss is more what I expected. The Ys combat style is just not conducive for bosses imo, and really only reflect how much you've grinded/your equipment. Ugh yea this boss just sucks. Like I know what to do, but even at a decent lervel (6 or 7 can't recall exactly which) I am just doingh so little damage and it's so bland to have to run back and forth to do the damage. I guess my main beef is just that it's taking forever, and that my left thumb hurts from going back and forth to do the damage :-p
Oh lol woops turns out I could've upgraded my equipment, I had plenty of funds. So I should rescind most of what I said. Still, the bosses were never my favorite part of Ys, even with my beloved I & II remake.
Yesss 
When you forget to equip an Herb before starting the boss battle o.O I managed out of that third boss with exactly one hit possible left :-p
I love all the happy tunes and village tunes. Love the tune when the woman comes to heal you after you're injured from the bridge by Gadis. And now a beautiful screen 
When the video guide you check before the boss says "this turns out to be one of those really long boss fights" >.< Great. That's my least favorite part about these Yses--the bossfights and the way they often are built in a way to be long. But the music continues to be great! (Well, that boss battle didn't really turn out that bad imo, the tentaclce one in the sacred castle)
As silly as using a fan dub is, it does feel like I'm playing an anime. God I love teh Earth Village tune so much. The music is great in the quicksand desert too! And finally a straightforward training spot there, hallelujah. (And wow the jazzy music of the Snow Mountain too!)
I know I'm being repetitive, but again, the boss mechanics of only-being-vulnerable-briefly/precariously is not my rpeferred boss mechanic.
Wow I love returning to where the first Ys started! Memories brought back instantly, especially in the field! (And cuz I had played so many different versions trying to get the very original version to work properly). And ahhh the Mine 
Mid Game
I'm considering Darm Tower to be mid game. I've fully gotten back into the Ys world, the hook to the grinding and the gameplay and even thse last couple bosses (writing this after the, uh, lightning-shooting boss getting the Cleria Shield. The music, the gameplay, all of it. Sure, the Hydlide/Ys bump combat isn't perfect, but it's unique and works for me. I don't love the metal or combat music (tho they're still good for their time), but I absolutely LOVE the jazzy tunes and the cozy village tunes.
I always loved MC Escher, and did a project on his work as a teen, so I like the Escher-inspired maze/area even tho I usually don't like confusing navigation :-p
A lingering issue I have with the game, like in my beloved I & II, is that you can't access your equipment/items during boss battles. Fine, but that's lame when certain bosses require that you use Fire magic and whatnot. Let me change to it if so! No need not to. And that brings up a general thing about this: I absolutely lvoe it, am absolutely hooked, and it will easily get a 5 star. But whether it should be another Favorite Favorite of mine, when in many ways it feels like an extension upon Books I & II, without really updating for 93, is questionable. I can't deny how much I love it, but there weren't any QoL or improvements that they had years to consider. And after all, the PC Engine CD technological improvements were a big part of what made Books I & II remake so special.
End Game
Welp, I'm considering after the Gold City rises as end game. I mean I was supposed to stop gaming tonight and watch a movie but I coulnd't stop. So that says something. Something about this gameplay hooks me like with Books I and II.
Great music for the epic build up to the final area as the Spirits upgrade your Mask of Eyes
Yesss the final form 
I love how early JRPGs always have the chaos/beyond-darkness-as-evil true enemy type archetype, something as a kid I always thoguht I thought of on my own but probly just from playing various RPGs :-p Welp, I used my Elixir, and I can't have healing items equipped and it's the last form. Gonna have to be careful in this final form. Really freaky and cool sounds for this final form, truly epic and evil, and incredbily damaging! I know I always say this about games, btu very Nausicaa esque with the mangled form and the destructive beam 
Lol! If you try to screenshot the cool beam, because it must be just quick succession of colors as the animation, it just appears as a bland MS Paint paintbrush stroke of one color, but I promise it looks really epic and evil in the game as it flashes through many colors! 
Yesss beautiful endinh start 
And for good measure they made sure to have twilight colors, my favorite for endings! 
Yessss they even did the sunrise itself, tho it was too fast for me to screenshot, as ambient music played. And, pictured below, the utter anime of it all 
Very cute sequence showing characters, instead of the usual way of just showing areas you've been they have full body anime versions of them and have honest good references/jokes about the game. Nice. Oh God why am I tearing up. Maybe cuz I have to add yet another game to my Favorites shelf despite its flaws and lack of notable improvements from its predecessor :-p
Omg stop! It's like they build this whole ending around my taste lol, ugh it got sad I threatened to only give it a 5 star and is making sure I put it on the Favorite shelf 
Omg omg and I qont spoil the very ending of the ending, but I'll just note my absolute love for cozy, dark, window-lights-only, miniature Christmas village-esque vibes and it absolutely delivered with this little post-ending sequence with the music, the Look, and the concept it made chills down my whole body thinking of the 90s family film aesthetic 
This is the single most perfect retro game ending screen I can imagine, literally a combination of my favorite potential aesthetics they could have chosen. I am floored. I notice others online have noted the excellence of the ending, perhaps not for my weird niche specific taste in aesthetics, but just for the quality of it, the thoroughness of it without being longwinded or tedious, and the excellent music/Look. Wow 
(I mean I suppose the twilight colors for endings go back to even the Atari, so I'm sure I'm not alone in looking forward to that. There's something especially poignant about it when on a retro device. Something I can't quite name or pinpoint.
Look: 9/10 Mostly thanks to the return of the UI I so love, the great anime sequence Looks, and most of all, the phenomenal ending. Otherwise, I would've wanted/expected more improvements since 1989 to 1993, but it can be forgiven: why change what was amazing? It just of course didn't have as amazing of an impact when first booting it up. Gosh, I remember when I first booted up I & II, the utter excitement to feel like I was seeing borderline-PS1 quality graphics for the first tiem in this chronology project.
Sound: 9.5/10 Never wanted to mute it, several great cozy ones, and absolutely phenomenal ending ones. This likely could grow to a 10 on future replays.
Play: 9.5/10 Sure, it has its flaws, but I was hooked start to finish for what, at least a week? Can't remember life before starting this! Lol
Feel: 10/10 Was going to give this a 9 or 9.5 since I wanted some changes since 1989, but I never stopped being hooked, the music never stopped being great, and the ending absolutely floored me.
Attachment: 9/10 Further solidified Ys as an important series for me.
Overall: 9.4/10
Completion: Main Story
Playtime: ~10 hours
