It is absolutely incredibly how much new life an entry in a series can get if you really care about what you put out. Between Wanders and Oath, Ys has grown considerably as a series, and Falcom as developers. Hope you all enjoy.
I just played Ys III for the first time (TurboCD) and I loved it. Your complaints aren’t completely unwarranted, I just didn’t think any of those things detracted from the excellent experience, and were for the most part in line with what I had come to expect from 1 and 2 (also TurboCD). I’ll give the remake a try some day, it looks pretty cool, but I do think it’s a bummer that people suggest playing the remake instead of the original since they’re clearly completely different games that don’t replace each other.
I grew up with the Japanese Turbo CD(PC Engine) version. Sometime I think around 92 I borrowed it from a friend at school that had a PC engine. I hadn't played the first two games until a year later, but played this one and loved it. I think I didn't beat it in English until a few years later when my cousin gave me a copy. I've always enjoyed this version of the game, and I think the soundtrack makes a huge impact. The parallax doesn't really bother me, but I do wish someone would make a patch to update it. I'm pretty sure even as a 2.0 card game it could be updated. At least looking at how great Legend of Xanadu's side scrolling areas look with it's parallax, I think this game could do the same(if you haven't played it, look up Legend of Xanadu). Maybe it would have to be updated to a Super CD, I'm not sure. I think most of parallax in this game is using dynamic tiles and it's not updating/animating them fast enough. There's one or two scenes in the first two games that do the exact same thing, but it's not very noticeable. The Turbo version of Ninia Gaiden does the same thing but is by a different dev team. Once again, look up Falcoms Legend of Xanadu on the Turbo CD & watch the side scrolling parts to see how great Ys 3 could've looked. You could look up the second Legend of Xanadu but there's no side-scrolling scenes in it other than the boss fights. That said, enjoying three as much as I do and having grown up with it, I absolutely love Oath in Felghana. It's one of my very top games, up there with 8 and Dawn of Ys. Absolutely play that game when you get a chance, it's really well done in my opinion.
This was a challenging yet rewarding game. The bosses on the higher difficulties can really put you through the ringer, but it's never unfair and squeaking by with only a sliver of health feels so good.
One little hint to anyone playing Oath on PC after seeing this, you're going to want to go into your folders and make a shortcut for the DX9 version of the game, otherwise something about the jumping gets messed up and multiple jumps that are meant to be easily doable either become impossible or require a bit extra effort to pull off.
nice review man.. im remember that i didn't finish this game yet because i think im under level to fight bird boss.. but i think when you enter Ys 5 , you should start making a timeline for this game and the recton that falcom made in modern Ys title since Ys 4 "memories of celceta" from what im got from internet timeline is like this: The Old Timeline: Ys book I and II, > Ys Iv Dawn of Ys > Ys III Wanderer of Ys > Ys V Lost Keffin (and then the modern recton happened) The Falcom/Modern/Recton Timeline: Ys Origin > Ys I and II > Ys Oath of Felghana > Ys Memories of Celceta > Ys V (Remake?) > Ys 8 Lacrimosa of dana > Ys Ark of Naphitism >Ys 7 > Next Ys (maybe go to romun empire or afroca)... im support you and hoping maybe you can make a collaboration with happy console gamer.. and just reminder that adol title is change after Ys 4 from knight to adventure
So glad I watched your videos as it gave me even more encouragement to play this series after buying 1 and 2. Currently on 2 and it's a blast. I was told to go onto 6 after this so I am sure the ride will keep on rolling.
Incredible how far this series has come Ys 8 is a masterpice One of my favorite games of all time Oath was great too as was seven and celceta Cannot wait for ys 9
So as pascontentpascontent noted, Faxanadu wasn't actually developed by Falcom -- they simply licensed their Xanadu brand to Hudson, who developed a game on their behalf. The closest analogue to Ys III that *was* developed by Falcom from around the same time is Sorcerian, which... played almost exactly like Ys III, except you had a party of four characters instead of just Adol. And depending on their equipment, they'd rapid-fire magic rather than rapid-swinging their weapons. (Sorcerian is a pretty badass game, though, IMHO; but then, I also quite like the combat in Ys III, "warts and all," as I find it weirdly satisfying to be a virtual lawnmower.) The same gameplay system would then be used in future Falcom titles as well, including the Legend of Xanadu games and the Super Famicom version of Popful Mail. So apparently, I'm not the only person who liked that combat style! ;) To be fair, however, Faxanadu aside, there were two notable Falcom side-scrolling platformers released before Ys III and Sorcerian: Romancia and Drasle Family (a.k.a. Legacy of the Wizard). Romancia's combat was not great -- I'd say Ys III's is quite a bit better -- but Drasle Family's was pretty stellar, and to this day I consider Drasle Family/Legacy of the Wizard to be among Falcom's finest 8-bit titles (though I prefer the quality-of-life updates made in the MSX2 version over the NES version, even without scrolling). Drasle Family's combat also wouldn't have worked in a game like Ys III, however. It was very much custom-tailored for a game where every block, every monster, and every player character takes up exactly the same amount of space. Adapting that to work in Ys III would've been quite the chore, so it stands to reason they would've gone in a different direction altogether. I still wonder why Drasle Family's gameplay system was never reused, however. It had a lot of potential for adaptability to other games, it just... never got the chance to strut its stuff. Drasle Family is, to my knowledge, the ONLY game in Falcom's catalogue to use that particular gameplay system, period. It joins the ranks of games like Ys V and Xanadu Next as the rare exception where Falcom DIDN'T reuse their game engine anywhere else.
Interesting. I never got to play Drasle Family. It's one of the many things I still really need to look into properly. I've never played anything on the MSX, outside of those older Metal Gear games in MGS3. I'll definitely have to give that a try sometime in the near future.
If you do, you're in for one hell of a challenging game -- rare is the gamer who can beat Legacy of the Wizard/Drasle Family, in ANY of its incarnations, without either a very thorough walkthrough/map or save states (or both). I beat the game on NES and MSX2 at this point, but I did the former with save states and the latter with a walkthrough, so I technically cheated both times. Had a blast, though, and I don't think it would be exaggeration to call it possibly the best Metroidvania of the 8-bit generation, even including Metroid. (Though Goonies II does kind of give it a run for its money, in my book, but that might just be nostalgia speaking!) It was released in English on the NES as Legacy of the Wizard, so that's probably the easiest way to play it -- and most would say that that's the best version of the game, too, simply because it has scrolling (and its music, composed by Yuzo Koshiro, uses more channels than the MSX, so there's a bit more percussion -- though a few tracks were changed or shortened, so I still kind of prefer the MSX version of the music as well). The MSX2 version of the game also has some map changes (particularly in the daughter's section of the dungeon, which is almost 100% different), and a lot of the item placement was switched around to more logical locations, plus a ton more crown warps were added, one of which allows you to skip a whole chunk of the game if you're good enough. So lack of scrolling and loss of some percussion aside, the MSX2 version is almost undeniably the better game... but only by a little bit. As for the MSX itself, I've been addicted to the system for the last 3 years now. It's an acquired taste, but I find its library of games to be utterly fascinating, and it has probably the strongest and most active homebrew community of any 8-bit platform (there are a good 10-20 new MSX releases every year, without fail, and most of them are quite good!). It's an expensive prospect to get into, but if you really want to experience a whole other world of retro gaming, and you don't mind paying a good deal of money to do so, it's one I would wholeheartedly recommend.
I'll likely try the NES version first out of convenience and then try the MSX version later. Was looking up some footage after reading your first message earlier and it looked fun, so I'm looking forward to that. MSX looks like an interesting system in general, I only really knew about it because of the MG games, but that recent Game Sack video about the system got me interested in it, and people still working on older systems to get more out of a system's capabilities with better understanding of the limitations is always interesting to see, so new homebrew stuff sounds really cool.
If you do eventually try the MSX version, just make sure it's the MSX2 version -- there was an MSX1 version of the game as well, but it's nowhere near as good. (An interesting curiosity, though!) Also, if you ever get into MSX, hit me up, and I can turn you on to a few hidden gems. They're kind of my specialty. Heheh.
Ys 4 The Dawn of Ys would be the best of the PC Engine games, the music, graphics, the ability to walk in 8 directions, etc, everything was great, i still wonder why Falcom considered Mask of the Sun as the canon one, maybe because Sara didn't die in Book 1 & 2 and also appears in Dawn of Ys, (both made by Hudson), not to mention the ending, where apparently Adol and Lilia had a kid since he looks like Adol with his red hair and when the other kids leave the house, he stays with that woman, and this is more obvious in the english fan dub since her voice is exactly the same as Lilia's (if they are the same person), where as in the japanese one she sounds older.
Oh good gosh, any of the Taito Ys re-releases. What an absolute missed opportunity. With that said, I'm really glad to see you cover this game. I found Wanderers to be the most unique in terms of representing the evolution of the series. Both from the original releases, and from Oath in Felghana. There's just something about this point in time for both releases that really represent the change in direction for the series. Both for better and worse.
Agreed. For all my misgivings, Wanderers was a turning point. Last one by the lead dev and scenario writer that starter the series, and it started trying to do things that for RPG settings are a lot less standard. It's probably one of the main reasons it worked so much better when they revisited the game in Oath.
That's always been my perspective on why it worked so much better with Oath. Which really is quite fascinating when you look at how that then became Origin. Ys in general is just a remarkable series in terms of the evolution of the product over the series of games. Though, I think that'd be fair to say about really any Falcom game. Especially when you look at the changes made with Brandish, Sorcerian, and Dragon Slayer/The Legend of Heroes. Which speaking of, is there any interest in potentially covering other Falcom games? I'm sure you want to avoid just covering Nihon Falcom, but I was also curious if there was any interest in covering the original Brandish and the PSP remake, or the remade Dragon Slayer games on PSP as The Legend of Heroes since you've been doing comparisons between the brands. Either way though, I'm especially interested to see your thoughts on Ys IV. I personally find it to be the most unique in the series in terms of how it came about, the approaches other companies used, and the sub-sequential Falcom release years later and how it incorporated elements from them. Thank you for your hard work with this, Aboveup. You do some really tremendous work, and your thoughts are really interesting to hear as well.
18:18 Actually that's not wholly true. Ys Chronicles is based on Ys Complete (2001), which is based on the two Eternal games, which launched in 1998 (Ys I) and 2000 (Ys II). There's a pretty huge difference between Ys I Eternal and Ys I Complete, but Ys II just got a minor graphics and UI update. Chronicles didn't really change much from complete except make the graphics slightly prettier, fix compatibility bugs, and add a new English translation. And honestly, I'm surprised you disliked Wanderers so much. It's not a perfect game by any means but I thought it was fun. That said I think the PCE/TG16 version *is* worse than the PC-88 version (though not by much), which is a bit of a technical marvel for the platform and just feels better to play. Oath is undeniably better than any version of Wanderers though.
Yeah, I heard the parallax scrolling was actually way ahead of its time when it came out on the PC-88. I thought I'd enjoy Wanderers more too, because I did enjoy it when I originally played it, though that's over 15 years ago at this point.
Holy shit, this takes me back. I remember getting this as a gift from my parents as a kid for my SNES. I had never heard of the game and I wasn't that into it at first. Then I got deep into and fell in love with it, never finished it tho. I'm also glad the SNES didn't have the voice acting. It did stick a bug in me. So, whenever there's a new Ys release I check it out.
Yeah, the SNES version was my introduction too. Didn't see any games in the series for ages due to general JRPG releases in mainland Europe being rough. Then grabbed everything on Steam when they came out there.
@@Aboveup Sadly I only played the psp version, so I had a hard time walking through the island without teleport, but it was very fun overall (and damn, that item system made the final bosses hard af) Looking forward to Oath's combat, it looks pretty fun.
Faxanadu was made by Hudson, not Falcom. Also what's your favorite Ys if not this one? Considering the allusion to the bosses not being too great I'm assuming Origin? (it certainly is mine)
I started playing Ys when Nintendo released Ys Book I & II for Wii's Virtual Console. I didn't make it very far. Years later, I bought and played Ys Origin on Steam, and loved it, went through Ys I & II Chronicles (it feels nice to wrap up both halves of the storyline), and just this morning beat Oath in Felghana...and boy Wanderers From Ys looks disappointing.
I absolutely loved playing this one...Y's Arc of NEP..is also fun but this was amazing. I'm now playing Origins .all my experience has been on the PSP and VITA and that's how I like these games . I know they look great on PC but I don't care YS is my favorite series😍
Just went through this game, and oh boy the boss fights later on made me have nightmares. In fact I was so pissed off after the last boss that I didn't even bother speaking with the people in the village before leaving to see the ending. Loved a lot in this game, the sidequests, the dungeon design, searching around for gear and ore and just interacting with the ppl in Felghana felt really good. But hell did the bosses threw me off. I mean, probably because I jumped straight into hard contributed to it, still... Great video. Made me pick this game up. I'll try Ys VI next.
Just a minor correction: the PS2 remake does have screen scrolling, but it's later in the game. I have no clue why they didn't make the levels scroll in the early game.
Why do you keep calling it "Wanderers of the Ys"? Driving me crazy! Nice, thoughtful reviews though. I still love Ys 3 for TurboGrafx. Something about owning it when it was new, and being in love with the music and some of the special effects (the final tower climb did look pretty amazing!) .
if i remember correctly, in of the version of Oath in Felghana (either PC or PSP version, i can't remember which one) if you have a matching sets of equipment (matching sword, shield and armor) it will actually be reflected on your character visually instead of Adol's usual red suit and white armor
Great review! I also love Oath (even tho Origin is still my fav). By the way Ys 2 Chronicles is based off Ys Eternal and Ys Complete (which were made before Felghana) so it's almost the same magic system as this game
Hey Big Ys fan here. Love your videos, and you've motivated me to try ROmancing Saga Minstrel Song. I only ever played romancing saga and unlimited saga years ago and didn't like them at all and wrote the series off after that.
I couldn't get the PC-E version of this running back when I went to play, so I had to settle for the Genesis/MegaDrive port. It extended the enemy attack hitboxes to the point of out-ranging my attacks most of the time, and that issue was apparently even worse in the SNES port. I'm a bit upset that I could have had a far less painful experience for my classic run, but really I shouldn't care about having played a slightly worse version of a trash game with almost no redeeming qualities. And I never saw that meme-worthy review saying Oath is "nothing special when there's the likes of Recettear and Fortune Summoners." That's great.
I should finish Ys2 someday. I bought 1&2 for Steam and I got through #1 (the last boss is a major PITA though from what I recall) and I got like halfway through 2 and got sidetracked. I just finished Napishtim for the first time yesterday. I bought it for PS2 years ago, got up to the end dungeon and started grinding stuff but then I read that I missed a lot of missables (my major gripe about Ys games, is the GoneForevers that the game does NOT tell you about) and kinda didn't have the energy to start over to pick them up, and so I just let that game sit, bought it on Steam, but was discouraged when it was lacking the voice acting and optional dungeon... but finally finished it yesterday. Also started another Oath and SNES playthrough of 3... thinking sometime I should look up the other Ys games. I've never played 4, nor 7+.
I liked Ys III for the Turbografx CD more for its soundtrack than anything else because it has several of my favorite songs from the series. Neither the gameplay nor the voice acting was that great, and I didn't like the story as much as the first two games. They used famous voice actors in Ys I and II which is why the voices are a lot better than Ys III. It also didn't help that the voices would get drowned out by the music in Ys III. Oath in Felghana is a great improvement over the original in terms of gameplay and I like its music about the same as the original.
Eep. I think I might have missed that upgrade during my attempt at Oath in Felghana too. I remember getting creamed by that boss near the end of my play time. I might have to give it another go in the future. I bought Ys Chronicles based on your last video and I look forward to you continuing the series. Keep up the good work!
I don't give a crap how bad the actual gameplay is in the PC-Engine version, the soundtrack is fucking incredible, and my favorite of all time, that isn't by Nobuo Uematsu. I prefer it over the remake version even.
Not gonna lie, I've been wanting to try the ps2 version of Ys3. Is it possible to buy online? Note: I have played Ys3 on the snes and played Oath In Felghana and liked both (played the snes version as a child) so I'm not a newcomer to this game.
Ah finally the best one in the series, Wanderers. I guess next would be the only ones I haven't played since I just jumped on the chinese pc port of the remake
They both run on more or less the same plotline with their own spins is all I know and I think one starts with Adol leaving Esteria while the remake has him already in Celceta
Dawn of Ys is one of my favorite games in the entire series. I actually prefer it to Memories of Celceta, personally -- and I worked on Memories of Celceta! So shhhh! ;) (That said, my actual favorite game in the series is, in fact, Felghana. And second-favorite is probably Seven. Which would put Dawn of Ys as probably my third-favorite.)
Maybe one day I'll give those a spin to see how they go. As for me I'd probably say my favorite Ys game is Ark of Napishtim tho but the ones with Ys Seven's system are good too.
The Remake on the PSP, The Oath of Felghana is SoOoOo Fan-Fuckin'-Tastic as well as The Ark of Nepishtim on the PSP as well... Ys VII on PSP is even BETTER 2, Love It...!!!
This PC gamer review is unbelievable. I actually managed to beat the boss BEFORE getting the upgrade because i didn't see the torch right behind the chest.
I've only played Ys 8 on Switch, but it made me want to at least try the other games in the series if possible, as I don't own any Sony systems or a decent computer. As far as I'm aware, I'd only be able to play Ys 1/2 Chronicles on Android, which I'm ok with. I just wish I had a way to play 3-7 (And Origins) and eventually 9 when it releases (Hopefully it eventually gets ported to Switch like 8 did).
Ys Chronicles, VI, Oath and Origin aren't very demanding fo the system, as they're quite old by now, so I guess you can still play them on PC with a half-decent computer.
Genesis is about the same, but without the CD audio quality or voice acting. SNES is a much worse version. The studio handling that port was very incompetent and just botched all the stat curves. So the game becomes a much bigger grind.
Good review. I just blind picked this game SNES a few years ago and recently I got an English translation. I play it for two days now and it's ******* hard. The translation has a weird text font, just makes it hard to read... Maybe I need a P CD-i. And thanks, I didn't know there are quality CD-i games. I only heard about these bad Zelda spin-offs. Actually, this is the first Ys game I'm playing ever. I didn't even know what genre these series has, just dived blindly into Ys III and now I wanna get into it xD
Yes, and this is a PC Engine. A PC-based console architecture that had a CD add-on. A completely different system from the CD-I, and actually part of the console generation before it. It's still an 8-bit system.
It's the same as PCE CD one minus the CD quality music and the voice acting. It mostly has the reputation as the best because it was the most widely available decent version in the west but a lot of people are especially nostalgic about it because it was their introduction.
@@Aboveup just double-checked because I remembered hearing about the scrolling....WAAAAAAAAAAY better on Genesis. And the Genesis soundtrack may not compete with the PCE-CD version but I think it's quite good: th-cam.com/video/Q5J-IjYz8MA/w-d-xo.html Thanks for responding!
@@SeveredLegs Yeah, the only especially bad version is the SNES one by Tonkin House. Which was just an especially incompetent developer that never ended up making anything of actual worth. Their takes on Ys 3 and 4 are about the only remembered games of theirs, and they're the worst versions of those games. For old Ys 3, most of the other versions are very close to each other in how they look, sound, and play. Scrolling is the only main issue, which the 8-bit systems especially struggle with. (PCE is 8-bit no matter what western marketing tried to make people think) PC Engine was basically never made to compete with the Genesis or SNES, if anything, it was one of the main factors that made Nintendo decide to jump to 16-bit as it was eating their 8-bit market space up, and the system pretty much lasted until it was time for the 32-bit era. Hudsons takes on the Ys games were generally the most well-remember and received versions in Japan outside of the PC-98 original releases.
@@Aboveup Awesome info. PCE gets better and better the more I dive in. But I'd say the Genesis version might be the best version of 3 to start with. I might be picking up a PCE Duo RX soon, so maybe I'll do the PCE-CD version.
honestly, you can tell that Hashimoto and Miyazaki got a lot more interference from Falcom's management. Ys III is way more anime trope-y compared to the first two games, plus the changed gameplay to a more Metroidvania style. My guess is Falcom thought "well it works for Dragon Slayer, why not try it with Ys?" I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad game, but you can tell that Ys III was the last straw for them. it's no wonder they left Falcom to form Quintet after finishing this game.
If you know of any can you list a few games for the Vita that play like Y's? I love these games the real time combat mixed with storyline is my cup of tea. I know there are some Japanese titles that have been translated into English so I'm hoping we will get lots more of these Japanese style RPGs to play on our PS Vitas.
The SNES version of Wanderers seemed much smoother than what I saw here. And I'm sure the fire dragon didn't get stuck when attacking him, but otherwise, it really didn't change much else from what all you said here.
Great review, but i'm not sure if you have heard this or not, I haven't read the comments but since you are now the second person to review this that has said the same thing *this might be a translation thing so I apologize if that is the case) but it isn't "Ys 3: The wanderers of the YS" it is Ys: 3 Wanderers from Ys." Again, might be a translation thing based on where you are from but the official translations are "Wanderers From Ys" not "Wanderers from the Ys." A minor nitpick but since it seemed to be more widespread I thought I would let you know. Do with it what you will. Thanks for the awesome review!
Bad as it is, Wanderers From Ys (SFC) was the first game that introduced me this series and converted me into its fan. Maybe because I was a kid back then and didn't know that there were better games out there lol Anyway, I'm glad I found that game. Also, how can you mentioned Felghana's soundtrack without mentioning Castle Walenstien? That's blasphemy!
I'm fairly new to the Ys series (my first game being Ys Memories of Celceta on ps4 and followed by Ys 8 and 9), so this may sound out of left field here. But FUCK the boss fights in this game. Now, I like everything else in this game. The music is standard Ys goodness, the characters are actually pretty fleshed out compared to what I expected, and it's really nice to see where my boy Dogi grew up. Not to mention the dungeons are super fun to explore. But the bosses? Holy fuck, where do I begin with these train wrecks? I may have been foolish to start on hard, but that is NO excuse for the absolute swine-flu that is these bullshit bosses! Ellefale? Sure, she has only two attacks to start off. But you best be psychic and know what direction they go! Guilen? Not too bad, if it wasn't for the bs tail check that makes him scurry back into the lava like a little bitch. Gyawala (or however you spell this fucker's name)? Probably the one boss I could tolerate, as the patterns was pretty easy to pin down. Gildias? Oh heck no. This guy is everything bad about ice bosses rolled into one hate snowball Death Faleon? If he didn’t have that stupid dash attack, I'd be sorta okay. But even then this junk pile is beyond salvation. Zirduros? ZIRDUROS?! I haven't even made it past this piece of magma-caliber garbage! It is, by a sizeable fucking margin, the WORST boss I have yet faced in any of the Ys games I have played. BS attacks with seemingly selective hit boxes, a weak area smaller than half a grape, ludicrous amounts of health...I could likely cut myself and feel less emotion than if I fought this shitheap
Im playing the SNES version at the moment which fortunately does not have the voice acting. But it seems to be the one version of the game that has its difficulty doubled. It is so hardcore that you need nerves of steel to beat it.
I really enjoy the Megadrive/Genesis version of Ys III, the music is vastly better than the SNES version, and there's a great cheat "code" to raise your xp levels to the max level. I think your being a bit too harsh on Ys III.
Cheats existing and trivializing an aspect of gameplay don't make the game better. In fact, them being a crutch you improve your session with makes the game worse in my eyes. Experience income is only a problem in the SNES version, which you might be able to tell, is not what I reviewed here.
I enjoy your reviews but I have to disagree with you on Ys III. Keep in mind it originally came out on slow Japanese computers like the MSX2 and PC-8801. it certainly isn't the best side scrolling action game but I think it's still enjoyable enough for a playthrough, even if it's on the SNES or Genesis. The music and cinemas make it interesting enough. Also, I loved the Taito PS2 remake. It looked great, played great and sounded pretty good too. The non-scrolling was odd but didn't really effect gameplay much. Oath in Felghana is still probably the best of them all.
My least fav of the ark games maybe. The story is more unique. But seems like a side story. The magic system is better than 6. The bosses are worst than origins, but easier. The base enemies are hard af. And they put some usually semi standard equipment out of the way. I still remember that the light from Ys 2, I did the hallway near the end without it because I only found it after. Same thing for the ice slides. Though maybe this one was my fault because the boots were in the area. But somehow I missed them. Still way better than celceta.
I finished Ys Oath in Felghana in like 3 days on normal and so far it feels like the hardest game yet, I'm playing in the order of the timeline so I've only played Chronicles and Celceta besides Oath, I'm playing Origin now since I don't want to play V and I didn't have it before I played Chronicles I&II Also on a separate note, did anyone else get a Lloyd from ToS vibe from the second Chester fight?, as in, he's literally spamming Demon Feng and Sonic Thrust?
It is absolutely incredibly how much new life an entry in a series can get if you really care about what you put out. Between Wanders and Oath, Ys has grown considerably as a series, and Falcom as developers. Hope you all enjoy.
I just played Ys III for the first time (TurboCD) and I loved it. Your complaints aren’t completely unwarranted, I just didn’t think any of those things detracted from the excellent experience, and were for the most part in line with what I had come to expect from 1 and 2 (also TurboCD).
I’ll give the remake a try some day, it looks pretty cool, but I do think it’s a bummer that people suggest playing the remake instead of the original since they’re clearly completely different games that don’t replace each other.
I grew up with the Japanese Turbo CD(PC Engine) version. Sometime I think around 92 I borrowed it from a friend at school that had a PC engine. I hadn't played the first two games until a year later, but played this one and loved it. I think I didn't beat it in English until a few years later when my cousin gave me a copy.
I've always enjoyed this version of the game, and I think the soundtrack makes a huge impact. The parallax doesn't really bother me, but I do wish someone would make a patch to update it. I'm pretty sure even as a 2.0 card game it could be updated.
At least looking at how great Legend of Xanadu's side scrolling areas look with it's parallax, I think this game could do the same(if you haven't played it, look up Legend of Xanadu). Maybe it would have to be updated to a Super CD, I'm not sure. I think most of parallax in this game is using dynamic tiles and it's not updating/animating them fast enough. There's one or two scenes in the first two games that do the exact same thing, but it's not very noticeable. The Turbo version of Ninia Gaiden does the same thing but is by a different dev team.
Once again, look up Falcoms Legend of Xanadu on the Turbo CD & watch the side scrolling parts to see how great Ys 3 could've looked. You could look up the second Legend of Xanadu but there's no side-scrolling scenes in it other than the boss fights.
That said, enjoying three as much as I do and having grown up with it, I absolutely love Oath in Felghana. It's one of my very top games, up there with 8 and Dawn of Ys. Absolutely play that game when you get a chance, it's really well done in my opinion.
"think back to your worst nightmare" *beyond 2 souls interview* holy shit lol
Why though?
The Ys series could always use more attention! It's great to see someone talking about all the games in-depth
This was a challenging yet rewarding game. The bosses on the higher difficulties can really put you through the ringer, but it's never unfair and squeaking by with only a sliver of health feels so good.
Faxanadu wasn't made by Falcom, it was made by Hudson, hence the Bee
One little hint to anyone playing Oath on PC after seeing this, you're going to want to go into your folders and make a shortcut for the DX9 version of the game, otherwise something about the jumping gets messed up and multiple jumps that are meant to be easily doable either become impossible or require a bit extra effort to pull off.
nice review man..
im remember that i didn't finish this game yet because i think im under level to fight bird boss..
but i think when you enter Ys 5 , you should start making a timeline for this game and the recton that falcom made in modern Ys title since Ys 4 "memories of celceta"
from what im got from internet timeline is like this:
The Old Timeline:
Ys book I and II, > Ys Iv Dawn of Ys > Ys III Wanderer of Ys > Ys V Lost Keffin (and then the modern recton happened)
The Falcom/Modern/Recton Timeline:
Ys Origin > Ys I and II > Ys Oath of Felghana > Ys Memories of Celceta > Ys V (Remake?) > Ys 8 Lacrimosa of dana > Ys Ark of Naphitism >Ys 7 > Next Ys (maybe go to romun empire or afroca)...
im support you and hoping maybe you can make a collaboration with happy console gamer..
and just reminder that adol title is change after Ys 4 from knight to adventure
So glad I watched your videos as it gave me even more encouragement to play this series after buying 1 and 2. Currently on 2 and it's a blast. I was told to go onto 6 after this so I am sure the ride will keep on rolling.
Glad you're enjoying it!
Incredible how far this series has come
Ys 8 is a masterpice
One of my favorite games of all time
Oath was great too as was seven and celceta
Cannot wait for ys 9
So as pascontentpascontent noted, Faxanadu wasn't actually developed by Falcom -- they simply licensed their Xanadu brand to Hudson, who developed a game on their behalf. The closest analogue to Ys III that *was* developed by Falcom from around the same time is Sorcerian, which... played almost exactly like Ys III, except you had a party of four characters instead of just Adol. And depending on their equipment, they'd rapid-fire magic rather than rapid-swinging their weapons. (Sorcerian is a pretty badass game, though, IMHO; but then, I also quite like the combat in Ys III, "warts and all," as I find it weirdly satisfying to be a virtual lawnmower.)
The same gameplay system would then be used in future Falcom titles as well, including the Legend of Xanadu games and the Super Famicom version of Popful Mail. So apparently, I'm not the only person who liked that combat style! ;)
To be fair, however, Faxanadu aside, there were two notable Falcom side-scrolling platformers released before Ys III and Sorcerian: Romancia and Drasle Family (a.k.a. Legacy of the Wizard). Romancia's combat was not great -- I'd say Ys III's is quite a bit better -- but Drasle Family's was pretty stellar, and to this day I consider Drasle Family/Legacy of the Wizard to be among Falcom's finest 8-bit titles (though I prefer the quality-of-life updates made in the MSX2 version over the NES version, even without scrolling).
Drasle Family's combat also wouldn't have worked in a game like Ys III, however. It was very much custom-tailored for a game where every block, every monster, and every player character takes up exactly the same amount of space. Adapting that to work in Ys III would've been quite the chore, so it stands to reason they would've gone in a different direction altogether.
I still wonder why Drasle Family's gameplay system was never reused, however. It had a lot of potential for adaptability to other games, it just... never got the chance to strut its stuff. Drasle Family is, to my knowledge, the ONLY game in Falcom's catalogue to use that particular gameplay system, period. It joins the ranks of games like Ys V and Xanadu Next as the rare exception where Falcom DIDN'T reuse their game engine anywhere else.
Interesting. I never got to play Drasle Family. It's one of the many things I still really need to look into properly. I've never played anything on the MSX, outside of those older Metal Gear games in MGS3. I'll definitely have to give that a try sometime in the near future.
If you do, you're in for one hell of a challenging game -- rare is the gamer who can beat Legacy of the Wizard/Drasle Family, in ANY of its incarnations, without either a very thorough walkthrough/map or save states (or both). I beat the game on NES and MSX2 at this point, but I did the former with save states and the latter with a walkthrough, so I technically cheated both times. Had a blast, though, and I don't think it would be exaggeration to call it possibly the best Metroidvania of the 8-bit generation, even including Metroid. (Though Goonies II does kind of give it a run for its money, in my book, but that might just be nostalgia speaking!)
It was released in English on the NES as Legacy of the Wizard, so that's probably the easiest way to play it -- and most would say that that's the best version of the game, too, simply because it has scrolling (and its music, composed by Yuzo Koshiro, uses more channels than the MSX, so there's a bit more percussion -- though a few tracks were changed or shortened, so I still kind of prefer the MSX version of the music as well). The MSX2 version of the game also has some map changes (particularly in the daughter's section of the dungeon, which is almost 100% different), and a lot of the item placement was switched around to more logical locations, plus a ton more crown warps were added, one of which allows you to skip a whole chunk of the game if you're good enough. So lack of scrolling and loss of some percussion aside, the MSX2 version is almost undeniably the better game... but only by a little bit.
As for the MSX itself, I've been addicted to the system for the last 3 years now. It's an acquired taste, but I find its library of games to be utterly fascinating, and it has probably the strongest and most active homebrew community of any 8-bit platform (there are a good 10-20 new MSX releases every year, without fail, and most of them are quite good!). It's an expensive prospect to get into, but if you really want to experience a whole other world of retro gaming, and you don't mind paying a good deal of money to do so, it's one I would wholeheartedly recommend.
I'll likely try the NES version first out of convenience and then try the MSX version later. Was looking up some footage after reading your first message earlier and it looked fun, so I'm looking forward to that. MSX looks like an interesting system in general, I only really knew about it because of the MG games, but that recent Game Sack video about the system got me interested in it, and people still working on older systems to get more out of a system's capabilities with better understanding of the limitations is always interesting to see, so new homebrew stuff sounds really cool.
If you do eventually try the MSX version, just make sure it's the MSX2 version -- there was an MSX1 version of the game as well, but it's nowhere near as good. (An interesting curiosity, though!)
Also, if you ever get into MSX, hit me up, and I can turn you on to a few hidden gems. They're kind of my specialty. Heheh.
Ys 4 The Dawn of Ys would be the best of the PC Engine games, the music, graphics, the ability to walk in 8 directions, etc, everything was great, i still wonder why Falcom considered Mask of the Sun as the canon one, maybe because Sara didn't die in Book 1 & 2 and also appears in Dawn of Ys, (both made by Hudson), not to mention the ending, where apparently Adol and Lilia had a kid since he looks like Adol with his red hair and when the other kids leave the house, he stays with that woman, and this is more obvious in the english fan dub since her voice is exactly the same as Lilia's (if they are the same person), where as in the japanese one she sounds older.
Oh good gosh, any of the Taito Ys re-releases. What an absolute missed opportunity. With that said, I'm really glad to see you cover this game. I found Wanderers to be the most unique in terms of representing the evolution of the series. Both from the original releases, and from Oath in Felghana. There's just something about this point in time for both releases that really represent the change in direction for the series. Both for better and worse.
Agreed. For all my misgivings, Wanderers was a turning point. Last one by the lead dev and scenario writer that starter the series, and it started trying to do things that for RPG settings are a lot less standard. It's probably one of the main reasons it worked so much better when they revisited the game in Oath.
That's always been my perspective on why it worked so much better with Oath. Which really is quite fascinating when you look at how that then became Origin. Ys in general is just a remarkable series in terms of the evolution of the product over the series of games. Though, I think that'd be fair to say about really any Falcom game. Especially when you look at the changes made with Brandish, Sorcerian, and Dragon Slayer/The Legend of Heroes.
Which speaking of, is there any interest in potentially covering other Falcom games? I'm sure you want to avoid just covering Nihon Falcom, but I was also curious if there was any interest in covering the original Brandish and the PSP remake, or the remade Dragon Slayer games on PSP as The Legend of Heroes since you've been doing comparisons between the brands.
Either way though, I'm especially interested to see your thoughts on Ys IV. I personally find it to be the most unique in the series in terms of how it came about, the approaches other companies used, and the sub-sequential Falcom release years later and how it incorporated elements from them.
Thank you for your hard work with this, Aboveup. You do some really tremendous work, and your thoughts are really interesting to hear as well.
7:54 I’m sorry what
Yes.
Wow. What a thorough review. I really enjoyed it. Thanks I just subscribed.
I was looking up Vince McMahon and I got this recommended video, well done TH-cam.
There is not a day I see Beyond Dead references where it doesn't make me laugh audibly every single time.
Hope you're looking forward to the inevitable wave of it thanks to PS+ giving Beyond Two Souls away for free.
18:18 Actually that's not wholly true. Ys Chronicles is based on Ys Complete (2001), which is based on the two Eternal games, which launched in 1998 (Ys I) and 2000 (Ys II). There's a pretty huge difference between Ys I Eternal and Ys I Complete, but Ys II just got a minor graphics and UI update. Chronicles didn't really change much from complete except make the graphics slightly prettier, fix compatibility bugs, and add a new English translation.
And honestly, I'm surprised you disliked Wanderers so much. It's not a perfect game by any means but I thought it was fun. That said I think the PCE/TG16 version *is* worse than the PC-88 version (though not by much), which is a bit of a technical marvel for the platform and just feels better to play. Oath is undeniably better than any version of Wanderers though.
Yeah, I heard the parallax scrolling was actually way ahead of its time when it came out on the PC-88. I thought I'd enjoy Wanderers more too, because I did enjoy it when I originally played it, though that's over 15 years ago at this point.
Holy shit, this takes me back. I remember getting this as a gift from my parents as a kid for my SNES. I had never heard of the game and I wasn't that into it at first. Then I got deep into and fell in love with it, never finished it tho. I'm also glad the SNES didn't have the voice acting.
It did stick a bug in me. So, whenever there's a new Ys release I check it out.
Yeah, the SNES version was my introduction too. Didn't see any games in the series for ages due to general JRPG releases in mainland Europe being rough. Then grabbed everything on Steam when they came out there.
Thanks! Now I will always refer to my favorite Famicom game as Donkey Donkey Picnic. :)
This was my introduction to the series and oh my god was it awesome.
Can't wait to play Oath in Felgana
I liked the style of Ark of Napishtim
You're in for a treat! It's a big step forward from Ark, and I quite like Ark too. Origin's an even bigger leap after that.
@@Aboveup Sadly I only played the psp version, so I had a hard time walking through the island without teleport, but it was very fun overall (and damn, that item system made the final bosses hard af)
Looking forward to Oath's combat, it looks pretty fun.
Faxanadu was made by Hudson, not Falcom. Also what's your favorite Ys if not this one? Considering the allusion to the bosses not being too great I'm assuming Origin? (it certainly is mine)
Yeah, Origin is by far my favorite.
I started playing Ys when Nintendo released Ys Book I & II for Wii's Virtual Console. I didn't make it very far. Years later, I bought and played Ys Origin on Steam, and loved it, went through Ys I & II Chronicles (it feels nice to wrap up both halves of the storyline), and just this morning beat Oath in Felghana...and boy Wanderers From Ys looks disappointing.
I absolutely loved playing this one...Y's Arc of NEP..is also fun but this was amazing. I'm now playing Origins .all my experience has been on the PSP and VITA and that's how I like these games . I know they look great on PC but I don't care YS is my favorite series😍
2:17 that part of the video makes me laugh!
Amazing review ❤️
Consegui ver essa ótima análise através da tradução. Obrigado
Awesome review!!!!
Just went through this game, and oh boy the boss fights later on made me have nightmares. In fact I was so pissed off after the last boss that I didn't even bother speaking with the people in the village before leaving to see the ending. Loved a lot in this game, the sidequests, the dungeon design, searching around for gear and ore and just interacting with the ppl in Felghana felt really good. But hell did the bosses threw me off. I mean, probably because I jumped straight into hard contributed to it, still...
Great video. Made me pick this game up. I'll try Ys VI next.
I love the cover art completely non-ironically.
Just a minor correction: the PS2 remake does have screen scrolling, but it's later in the game. I have no clue why they didn't make the levels scroll in the early game.
Why do you keep calling it "Wanderers of the Ys"? Driving me crazy!
Nice, thoughtful reviews though. I still love Ys 3 for TurboGrafx. Something about owning it when it was new, and being in love with the music and some of the special effects (the final tower climb did look pretty amazing!) .
awsome review just beat ys oath in felghana gonna do ys 5 now
if i remember correctly, in of the version of Oath in Felghana (either PC or PSP version, i can't remember which one) if you have a matching sets of equipment (matching sword, shield and armor) it will actually be reflected on your character visually instead of Adol's usual red suit and white armor
I think that's in all versions of Oath.
Great review! I also love Oath (even tho Origin is still my fav).
By the way Ys 2 Chronicles is based off Ys Eternal and Ys Complete (which were made before Felghana) so it's almost the same magic system as this game
Yeah, I got the date wrong. Oh well.
No problems ^^
Oath in Felghana is amazing.
Where did that clip of american Adol at 2:26 came from? Looks hilarious
Hey Big Ys fan here. Love your videos, and you've motivated me to try ROmancing Saga Minstrel Song. I only ever played romancing saga and unlimited saga years ago and didn't like them at all and wrote the series off after that.
Best jrpgs that defined whole series.
I couldn't get the PC-E version of this running back when I went to play, so I had to settle for the Genesis/MegaDrive port. It extended the enemy attack hitboxes to the point of out-ranging my attacks most of the time, and that issue was apparently even worse in the SNES port. I'm a bit upset that I could have had a far less painful experience for my classic run, but really I shouldn't care about having played a slightly worse version of a trash game with almost no redeeming qualities.
And I never saw that meme-worthy review saying Oath is "nothing special when there's the likes of Recettear and Fortune Summoners." That's great.
I should finish Ys2 someday. I bought 1&2 for Steam and I got through #1 (the last boss is a major PITA though from what I recall) and I got like halfway through 2 and got sidetracked. I just finished Napishtim for the first time yesterday. I bought it for PS2 years ago, got up to the end dungeon and started grinding stuff but then I read that I missed a lot of missables (my major gripe about Ys games, is the GoneForevers that the game does NOT tell you about) and kinda didn't have the energy to start over to pick them up, and so I just let that game sit, bought it on Steam, but was discouraged when it was lacking the voice acting and optional dungeon... but finally finished it yesterday. Also started another Oath and SNES playthrough of 3... thinking sometime I should look up the other Ys games. I've never played 4, nor 7+.
I liked Ys III for the Turbografx CD more for its soundtrack than anything else because it has several of my favorite songs from the series. Neither the gameplay nor the voice acting was that great, and I didn't like the story as much as the first two games. They used famous voice actors in Ys I and II which is why the voices are a lot better than Ys III. It also didn't help that the voices would get drowned out by the music in Ys III.
Oath in Felghana is a great improvement over the original in terms of gameplay and I like its music about the same as the original.
_"Wanderers from THE Ys"_
_The Legend of The Zelda_
Germany and Europe were radically changed by "a Doll Hitler."
Eep. I think I might have missed that upgrade during my attempt at Oath in Felghana too. I remember getting creamed by that boss near the end of my play time. I might have to give it another go in the future. I bought Ys Chronicles based on your last video and I look forward to you continuing the series. Keep up the good work!
I remember playing this game as a teenager when it first came out in Japan. The only thing I enjoyed was the music.
I'd kill for an ys collection on switch
Not a full collection but there are 4 more Ys games on ps4 vita. Ys 1 and 2 chronicles, oath in felghana, 7 and memories of celceta
@@somanymods I know but I dont have a ps4
@@Joseph928100 not ps4, ps vita. I'm sure switch will get them eventually
@@somanymods ports are likely a collection would be sublime
Where did the "American Genesis Ys 3 Adol" scene at 2:27 come from?
Falcom Gakuen.
@@Aboveup it's absolutely beautiful. Thank you for introducing me to this silly romp
2:36 are my eyes okay? the backgrounds are glitchy!
I don't give a crap how bad the actual gameplay is in the PC-Engine version, the soundtrack is fucking incredible, and my favorite of all time, that isn't by Nobuo Uematsu. I prefer it over the remake version even.
It’s always cool to see a remake of a game that wasn’t all that great be legitimately good.
Those are my favorite kind of remakes. Anyone can remake a good game and make it good. Remake a mediocre game and make it great takes skill.
Not gonna lie, I've been wanting to try the ps2 version of Ys3. Is it possible to buy online?
Note: I have played Ys3 on the snes and played Oath In Felghana and liked both (played the snes version as a child) so I'm not a newcomer to this game.
Ah finally the best one in the series, Wanderers. I guess next would be the only ones I haven't played since I just jumped on the chinese pc port of the remake
Next are the two old versions of 4 yeah. I heard they're alright.
They both run on more or less the same plotline with their own spins is all I know and I think one starts with Adol leaving Esteria while the remake has him already in Celceta
Dawn of Ys is one of my favorite games in the entire series. I actually prefer it to Memories of Celceta, personally -- and I worked on Memories of Celceta! So shhhh! ;)
(That said, my actual favorite game in the series is, in fact, Felghana. And second-favorite is probably Seven. Which would put Dawn of Ys as probably my third-favorite.)
Maybe one day I'll give those a spin to see how they go. As for me I'd probably say my favorite Ys game is Ark of Napishtim tho but the ones with Ys Seven's system are good too.
The Remake on the PSP, The Oath of Felghana is SoOoOo Fan-Fuckin'-Tastic as well as The Ark of Nepishtim on the PSP as well... Ys VII on PSP is even BETTER 2, Love It...!!!
This PC gamer review is unbelievable. I actually managed to beat the boss BEFORE getting the upgrade because i didn't see the torch right behind the chest.
I've only played Ys 8 on Switch, but it made me want to at least try the other games in the series if possible, as I don't own any Sony systems or a decent computer. As far as I'm aware, I'd only be able to play Ys 1/2 Chronicles on Android, which I'm ok with. I just wish I had a way to play 3-7 (And Origins) and eventually 9 when it releases (Hopefully it eventually gets ported to Switch like 8 did).
Ys Chronicles, VI, Oath and Origin aren't very demanding fo the system, as they're quite old by now, so I guess you can still play them on PC with a half-decent computer.
is the original wanderes of ys worth it on the other platforms (famicom, snes, genesis, etc)?
Genesis is about the same, but without the CD audio quality or voice acting. SNES is a much worse version. The studio handling that port was very incompetent and just botched all the stat curves. So the game becomes a much bigger grind.
Good review. I just blind picked this game SNES a few years ago and recently I got an English translation. I play it for two days now and it's ******* hard. The translation has a weird text font, just makes it hard to read... Maybe I need a P CD-i.
And thanks, I didn't know there are quality CD-i games. I only heard about these bad Zelda spin-offs.
Actually, this is the first Ys game I'm playing ever. I didn't even know what genre these series has, just dived blindly into Ys III and now I wanna get into it xD
PC Engine isn't CD-I. They're very different systems.
Aboveup
P CD-i = Phillips CD-i
Yes, and this is a PC Engine. A PC-based console architecture that had a CD add-on. A completely different system from the CD-I, and actually part of the console generation before it. It's still an 8-bit system.
I hear the SEGA Genesis version of this is actually the best, at least as far as the old ones.
It's the same as PCE CD one minus the CD quality music and the voice acting. It mostly has the reputation as the best because it was the most widely available decent version in the west but a lot of people are especially nostalgic about it because it was their introduction.
@@Aboveup just double-checked because I remembered hearing about the scrolling....WAAAAAAAAAAY better on Genesis. And the Genesis soundtrack may not compete with the PCE-CD version but I think it's quite good: th-cam.com/video/Q5J-IjYz8MA/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for responding!
@@SeveredLegs Yeah, the only especially bad version is the SNES one by Tonkin House. Which was just an especially incompetent developer that never ended up making anything of actual worth. Their takes on Ys 3 and 4 are about the only remembered games of theirs, and they're the worst versions of those games.
For old Ys 3, most of the other versions are very close to each other in how they look, sound, and play. Scrolling is the only main issue, which the 8-bit systems especially struggle with. (PCE is 8-bit no matter what western marketing tried to make people think) PC Engine was basically never made to compete with the Genesis or SNES, if anything, it was one of the main factors that made Nintendo decide to jump to 16-bit as it was eating their 8-bit market space up, and the system pretty much lasted until it was time for the 32-bit era. Hudsons takes on the Ys games were generally the most well-remember and received versions in Japan outside of the PC-98 original releases.
@@Aboveup Awesome info. PCE gets better and better the more I dive in. But I'd say the Genesis version might be the best version of 3 to start with. I might be picking up a PCE Duo RX soon, so maybe I'll do the PCE-CD version.
honestly, you can tell that Hashimoto and Miyazaki got a lot more interference from Falcom's management. Ys III is way more anime trope-y compared to the first two games, plus the changed gameplay to a more Metroidvania style. My guess is Falcom thought "well it works for Dragon Slayer, why not try it with Ys?" I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad game, but you can tell that Ys III was the last straw for them. it's no wonder they left Falcom to form Quintet after finishing this game.
If you know of any can you list a few games for the Vita that play like Y's?
I love these games the real time combat mixed with storyline is my cup of tea. I know there are some Japanese titles that have been translated into English so I'm hoping we will get lots more of these Japanese style RPGs to play on our PS Vitas.
The SNES version of Wanderers seemed much smoother than what I saw here. And I'm sure the fire dragon didn't get stuck when attacking him, but otherwise, it really didn't change much else from what all you said here.
Disappointed with your intro for Oath in Felghana, no blasting guitar shredding blowing us out of our socks.
Great review, but i'm not sure if you have heard this or not, I haven't read the comments but since you are now the second person to review this that has said the same thing *this might be a translation thing so I apologize if that is the case) but it isn't "Ys 3: The wanderers of the YS" it is Ys: 3 Wanderers from Ys." Again, might be a translation thing based on where you are from but the official translations are "Wanderers From Ys" not "Wanderers from the Ys." A minor nitpick but since it seemed to be more widespread I thought I would let you know. Do with it what you will. Thanks for the awesome review!
wow I just notice Ys franchises have been remaking again and again. not just once. that's a lot.
Bad as it is, Wanderers From Ys (SFC) was the first game that introduced me this series and converted me into its fan. Maybe because I was a kid back then and didn't know that there were better games out there lol Anyway, I'm glad I found that game.
Also, how can you mentioned Felghana's soundtrack without mentioning Castle Walenstien? That's blasphemy!
They put voice acting at the Steam Version these months.
I'm fairly new to the Ys series (my first game being Ys Memories of Celceta on ps4 and followed by Ys 8 and 9), so this may sound out of left field here. But FUCK the boss fights in this game.
Now, I like everything else in this game. The music is standard Ys goodness, the characters are actually pretty fleshed out compared to what I expected, and it's really nice to see where my boy Dogi grew up. Not to mention the dungeons are super fun to explore.
But the bosses? Holy fuck, where do I begin with these train wrecks? I may have been foolish to start on hard, but that is NO excuse for the absolute swine-flu that is these bullshit bosses!
Ellefale? Sure, she has only two attacks to start off. But you best be psychic and know what direction they go!
Guilen? Not too bad, if it wasn't for the bs tail check that makes him scurry back into the lava like a little bitch.
Gyawala (or however you spell this fucker's name)? Probably the one boss I could tolerate, as the patterns was pretty easy to pin down.
Gildias? Oh heck no. This guy is everything bad about ice bosses rolled into one hate snowball
Death Faleon? If he didn’t have that stupid dash attack, I'd be sorta okay. But even then this junk pile is beyond salvation.
Zirduros? ZIRDUROS?! I haven't even made it past this piece of magma-caliber garbage! It is, by a sizeable fucking margin, the WORST boss I have yet faced in any of the Ys games I have played. BS attacks with seemingly selective hit boxes, a weak area smaller than half a grape, ludicrous amounts of health...I could likely cut myself and feel less emotion than if I fought this shitheap
Im playing the SNES version at the moment which fortunately does not have the voice acting. But it seems to be the one version of the game that has its difficulty doubled. It is so hardcore that you need nerves of steel to beat it.
OI MATE YOU FORGOT TO SHILL FOR GOG
Steam version had the DRM patched out, and Humble version can be bought without any DRM. This is the case with most of the series.
wait, is there an upgrade for the fireball?
The Tonkinhouse Ys III SFC port for me is worse than their Ys IV Mask of the Sun SFC
I really enjoy the Megadrive/Genesis version of Ys III, the music is vastly better than the SNES version, and there's a great cheat "code" to raise your xp levels to the max level. I think your being a bit too harsh on Ys III.
Cheats existing and trivializing an aspect of gameplay don't make the game better. In fact, them being a crutch you improve your session with makes the game worse in my eyes. Experience income is only a problem in the SNES version, which you might be able to tell, is not what I reviewed here.
I enjoy your reviews but I have to disagree with you on Ys III. Keep in mind it originally came out on slow Japanese computers like the MSX2 and PC-8801. it certainly isn't the best side scrolling action game but I think it's still enjoyable enough for a playthrough, even if it's on the SNES or Genesis. The music and cinemas make it interesting enough. Also, I loved the Taito PS2 remake. It looked great, played great and sounded pretty good too. The non-scrolling was odd but didn't really effect gameplay much. Oath in Felghana is still probably the best of them all.
My least fav of the ark games maybe. The story is more unique. But seems like a side story.
The magic system is better than 6.
The bosses are worst than origins, but easier. The base enemies are hard af.
And they put some usually semi standard equipment out of the way.
I still remember that the light from Ys 2, I did the hallway near the end without it because I only found it after.
Same thing for the ice slides. Though maybe this one was my fault because the boots were in the area. But somehow I missed them.
Still way better than celceta.
I finished Ys Oath in Felghana in like 3 days on normal and so far it feels like the hardest game yet, I'm playing in the order of the timeline so I've only played Chronicles and Celceta besides Oath, I'm playing Origin now since I don't want to play V and I didn't have it before I played Chronicles I&II
Also on a separate note, did anyone else get a Lloyd from ToS vibe from the second Chester fight?, as in, he's literally spamming Demon Feng and Sonic Thrust?
I really loved the genesis version of this
Are you being to harsh on Ys 3, yes , yes you are.
Level 5 games rule all of them came out way underrated.
I always pronounced it as ‘Y’ ‘S’ (just said the two letters).
GeneralSirDouglasMcA
That's definitely not right lol.
I always pronounce it as "yes", but with the "e" said very quickly.