Xak 1 is now available on the Nintendo Switch in America, and I'm guessing Europe too. It's an emulated version of the PC-88 version and the ingame language is still Japanese, though the launcher is in English. Still a way to play it now in the West is nice. Still Great Job on the Video! :)
You know what's one of the interesting things about different versions of Xak I? One of the NPCs in Kemunu has a different gender depending on the version you're playing. He's Yugu in the PC-88, PC-98, PCE, and SFC versions, and she's Yui in the MSX2 and X68000 versions. It's the NPC that asks you to look for their lost sister/brother. Yugu looks for his sister, and Yui looks for her brother.
I have recently become ob-sessssed with learning about the PC88 library. PC88 paradise is.. so so informative, thank you for these videos!! Love e’m. Port comparisons, the unboxings, and real PC88 footage.. completely awesome. Can’t wait for the next video!
@@BasementBrothers If possible don't ever stop making videos man. This channel may be niche, but it's up there with the very best retro gaming channels in terms of sheer quality. I didn't even know anything about the Japanese PC scene a couple weeks ago before coming across your videos, and now I'm daydreaming of owning all of these awesome computers.
Lovely videos. Also, I love that you speak of the MSX2 versions: I grew with MSX1 and 2 (80s and 90s) and finding media in Europe that spoke about it and objectively was really difficult at the time.
Great video. I love the artwork in these old PC-88 games, especially the portraits. The scrolling is choppier than the console ports but the higher resolution gives so much more detail.
I found your channel six months to a year ago through Legend of Heroes stuff and I really enjoy the content here overall. It's so cool to see these obscure Japanese computer games. I also love the little bits of humor too. The Seinfeld soup bit is amazing. Anyhow I never really posted before because I didn't really know what to say. Nice work overall.
Pretty interesting and fun video. Always wanted to know about Xak and seeing it's a fun Ys clone makes it even more interesting. Sadly the PC-88 version doesn't have an english patch, maybe I'll try the MSX2 one.
Great video as always ! I usually dont have the patience to play through these old RPGs even if I own them but it’s great to get a play through like this so I can experience the game and understand what it’s about.
Oh yeah, one more thing about the SFC version of Xak I: You get 100 gold more from the mayor in the beginning, which means that you can enchant your sword from the get-go. Very useful!
If imitation is the sincerest from of flattery Nihon Falcom can pat themselves on the back. I was surprised how much Xak 1 and 2 mimiced YS Books 1 and 2. for the PCE port they even copied the format where both entries making one complete story ended up on on e disc and even the redone redbook audio mimics the PCE CD version of Ys 1 and 2 in style. The jump button is a welcome addition though. saves you from getting corner-bumped by enemies. I really did enjoy Xak 1 and 2 precisely because they are such well-made clones. Still have to play Xak 3 but from what I've seen that game really developed into something more unique and different.
I love the Ys series, and had mostly run out of Ys-style games to play until I saw this video. I gave the Super Famicom version of Xak a try, and had a total blast. It's got its flaws, but it was a great adventure overall. I'll need to look into playing the translated MSX2 version of Xak 2 to continue the story. Thank you for all your excellent videos!
Thanks Basement Brothers for covering these interesting games in such detail. I get excited whenever I see a new video is out. I think I'll play through the Super Famicom version as I don't read Japanese.
The soundtrack to this game is mad fire (especially the track Upsky of Fire Land, pun intended) and specifically judged each port using that song along lol. If someone could create an MSU1 hack for the SFC version to use MSX, PC88 or X68K ost would be awesome.
This seems like a fun little game :) I played through Ys Book I & II last year and loved them, so it's nice to have recommendations for something similar to check out. Thanks for the overview!
I really, really need to play this game! I own Xak, Xak II, and Fray for MSX (and Tower of Cabin, if that counts!), but the only one of them I've played through thus far is Fray, which I quite enjoyed (though I played through it on my MSX2+, before I acquired my MSX Turbo R and the Turbo R version of the game, and I can honestly say that that is NOT a fun way to play Fray! It seems fine at first, but by the end of the game, it becomes a laggy, stuttery mess that barely even holds itself together). But yeah, this review just makes me realize how much I've been missing out by letting this game and its sequel sit on my shelf all this time. I may have to bust it out soon!
Kind of sad to hear that about the MSX2 version of Fray. I know the Turbo R version is superior, but I am thinking about covering the MSX2 version on this channel after I do Xak 2. (Covering the MSX2 version is for sticking to my rule of playing the original version.) Anyway, hope I can manage to get through it.
@@BasementBrothers You'll be able to, for sure, just be prepared for some pain as you get to the final few stages. Inputs start to mean a lot less when it takes nearly a full second for there to be any on-screen response to them. ;) I beat the game that way, though, and I don't regret it, as it was overall pretty fun, quite funny, and very charming. I was particularly impressed with the writing, as few games manage to write humor in a way that doesn't feel forced -- particularly when they're trying to do anime-style cutesy humor. This is one of those rare occasions when I feel they succeeded with flying colors, as all the dialogue felt natural and snappy, and the characters were all really charming and likable. It's what kept me pushing forward through the slideshow as the game drew to a close. ;) Also, I think Fray actually takes place between Xak I and II, and I'm pretty sure it was released between the two as well, since Xak II has only a single version on MSX that supports the Turbo R's R800 processor natively for better performance, rather than requiring the purchase of a separate release. So if you're going in order, you might just want to do Fray next! But since Fray is technically a spin-off, it also makes sense to skip it for now. Heheh.
Hmm. Interesting. I was under the impression that Fray came out a little after 2, but not sure where I got that idea. According to Wikipedia Xak 2 came out in Sep 1990 (PC-88), and for Fray it says just "1990". On MSX Fray definitely came out first, but if we're talking about the first version of Xak 2 (PC-88) then I'm not sure. But if it is the case that Fray actually came first then the graphic in my video has the games in the wrong order. At any rate they must have come out around the same time.
Even though idk Japanese language yet i did play it on my switch and i absolutely love this game so much! I appreciate d4enterprise for releasing it in the west. Hopefully oneday microcabin releases a english versions in a remake but i doubt it will happen sadly.
If we really got pedantic, both Xak and Ys might as well be Hydlide clones. Or Zelda clones, if you ask the average Anglosphere gamer! I get it, though. TH-cam incentivize clickbait video titles and thumbnails (no complaints about the latter here though). I've yet to cover Xak on my Pasokon Deacon channel and Twitter, largely because I want to do it justice. The game and its ensuing series became a watermark for ARPGs on J-PCs and something of a presence on the PC Engine CD. It also turned Micro Cabin from a respectable but somewhat overlooked adventure game studio into an xRPG house overnight. We'd have never gotten the likes of Illusion City, Elm Knight, Lucienne's Quest, and Riglord Saga without Xak doing as well as it did! The series definitely deserves a modern revisit, either via a classic remaster or a new entry from some intrepid developer(s). You can't quite see it in the first game, but the series did carve out an identity distinct from Ys and other competing series. I wouldn't be surprised if Falcom's own Legend of Xanadu games took some tropes directly from Xak, given the dominant high-fantasy feudal legends theming which wouldn't show up in Ys until later.
Wow this game got some pretty cool ideas, the doesn't like weapon twist and prisoner attacking the town to be specific, haven't seen something similar in any games I've played Nice vid btw
This is one of those games I've always been curious about, mostly due to the sub-titles. Its hard to hear names like "The Art of Visual Stage" and "The Eternal Recurrence" and not wonder what the heck was going on. Especially since this was the 80s and 90s when Japanese media was more interesting and not a neverending minefield of waifus like today. That said the name Xak always makes me think of Dr. Seuss on the Loose, which had a segment called The Zax.
@@BasementBrothers Yeah, I'm fairly new to your channel. Once I saw the light switch, I knew you must live in Japan somewhere. Then in another video you mentioned that you live in Tokyo.
Great episode! I love the Xak series and have beaten every single version of them. The PC-98 version, while very similar to the PC-88 one, does improve the gameplay greatly by adjusting the enemy behavior a little bit, so that you don't have to rely on pushing them against solid objects anymore (that version also removes making the play window smaller). My personal favorite versions of Xak I are the SFC and X68000 versions. Say what you will about the different attack system for the SFC version (where facing down has worse reach than any other direction, sadly), but it has all the little details from the PC originals, while adding extra details like roads for the overworld and a unique tile set for the tower. My least favorite version of Xak I (as well as Xak II) is the PC Engine version of Xak I-II. It lacks all those little details from PC originals, and as you said, is very buggy and missing music. It has cool anime cutscenes and decent redbook audio, though.
Oh yeah, I couldn't help but notice that you were playing the lesser English fan-translation of the MSX2 version. The English translation that everyone should look for is the one that used to be sold at WOOMB digital store back in 2006. It might be harder to find, though. It has a way better, fuller translation, with the only issue being renaming Fearless Town to Feares.
@@BasementBrothers WOOMB has stopped their service ages ago, so their translations are not available for sale anymore. Looks like their translations have spread around the Internet since I last looked, and are easy to find.
I played the Xak games on MSX sometime back. The shmup dragon boss was the bane of my existence. I think it might've been because I died in the first dungeon and restarted sometime before getting that book that's gives an attack and defense boost. Then wound up playing all the way without having that nice stat boost, thus making the game harder on myself... yeesh. At the same time, I wonder if Latok's stats even carries over to the dragon he rides. That wouldn't make any sense.
The dragon boss in Xak 1? It was super easy for me in the PC-88 version. Yeah, maybe it's because you didn't get the power up book. I don't know. Thanks for watching though.
I'm pretty sure I have at least one of the Amaranth games for FM Towns, but not sure about other systems. I should probably try to get the PC-98 ones. Thanks for watching!
@@BasementBrothers After discover this series i was like " Hmm, This look like Xak clone and i want to know more about it, maybe that guy can help me" so thank you for answer my request
I was wondering a few things about the PC-88; sorry that they don't really pertain to this video specifically, but I didn't see a discord, twitter DMs, etc, so I couldn't think of any other place to ask these questions. - Are there any sites, collections, for high-quality pictures of PC-88 games running on the NEC CRT itself? There are plenty of raw screenshots from emulators or real hardware capture, but there don't seem to be a ton of pictures of the games running on the CRT itself. The ones that exist usually either seem to be too far away or too low quality to, say, see the actual slots on the CRT. - Furthermore, are there any comparisons between the early and later CRT models? I remember hearing the original PC88 CRTs worked somewhat differently (something about digital RGB on the early models vs analog RGB on the later models? Let me know if you have any idea what I'm talking about) - Finally, how does the blurring/antialiasing/etc work? I understand that PC88 games had those weird color choices and dithering patterns because the final image on the CRT would have the columns somewhat blended together, among other things, but I can't find an actual explanation as for how/why this happens, and exactly how the image winds up being modified. I assumed it was composite or something at first, but I understand now that the PC88 doesn't really use that, and uses RGB, which leaves me even more confused, as I'd assume RGB would be fairly sharp.
Thanks for watching. I'm not really the right person to ask about PC-88 CRT's, since I've never actually owned one. I've always used either certain VGA LCD monitors which are also compatible with the PC-88/98's signal, or an upscaler to HDMI (which is what I use now). Personally, I'm not really a huge CRT guy, and kind of like the look of old systems upscaled to HD. But everyone has their preferences and I know there are a lot of CRT fans out there. But yeah. We can definitely leave this comment up here in case anyone else wants to answer.
would be cool to see you do a deep dive of the dragon slayer series after you finish up the xak series. There's a lot of games in the series but some of them are absolute gems(faxanadu, sorcerian)
Hm, I wonder if the middle credits were supposed to emulate intro credits or even trying to be cinematic. "This is when the game TRULY begins!" Or something.
I love Ys games and games made by Falcom in general. This looks great. These Japanese NEC PC games interest me quite a bit. They came with loads of disks(better have a hard drive).
Are they making one? I only know about the PC-8001 Mini. But even if a PC-88 Mini gets made, I wouldn't really need one since I already have a real PC-88. Maybe it would be fun to take a look at in a video though.
[Neo-Alec] I heard turning the lights out and shouting "No soup for you!" three times into the mirror will summon the Soup Nazi. He'll be very annoyed with you too.
Omg this game looks awesome!! I only have Xak tower of Gazzel for the pc98, but your video hyped me to the top! By the way do you know the game "tower of cabin"? It's a Segagaga before Segagaga in the offices of Microcabin with cameos of all the microcabin games! ❤️
The cutesy pixie who asks you for help at the start of the game turns out to be ultra evil at the end? I don't want to spoil the game but it rhymes with . . . . . . . . Gravely Assault!
Agreed about the SNES version but the MSX version was much better IMO. Replacing the bump attack with a dinky sword really made the SNES version unfun.
Great job with overview of the first game! I had wanted to do a similar type of video way back in the day, with kind of a retrospective series covering each game. I literally got only as far as an intro video for it. lol (th-cam.com/video/Bu7TLV5T4PI/w-d-xo.html) Anyhow, I just never got around to it as life got busier and it's pretty doubtful that will happen now so I'm really excited to see other folks covering the series now. It's really an interesting series to get into with a lot of interesting and recurring characters. I think you said you had seen my tribute website for the Xak series, but there is definitely some good information there regarding how all of the characters are connected, so check it out if you decide to go deeper into the series. Some interesting points that I thought I'd mention: So as I remember it, Rune (the green haired warrior) was also a descendent of the God, Duel, which is why he's in the picture too as wanting to beat Badu. He's kind of a jerk and stays that way. Kind of like Protoman/Blues. He's perfectly "capable" of saving the world because of course he is.... but never does. The purple haired dude that told you the bridge is out after the first fort dungeon is the dad of the purple haired girl from the second game, Fell Bell. The Necromancer, boss of the underground tower ends up being a recurring minor villain in the series which gets more and more interesting as the games go on. The main bad guys from each of the numbered games are all Generals that serve an even bigger big bad. Their names are Zemu Badu, Zamu Gospel, and Zomu Dizae which is kinda fun to say.... Zemu, Zamu, Zomu. Lots of other fun easter eggs too in the series as well. I've always enjoyed the story behind why Fray gets into the picture as well and what her "true" goal is as a motivator too.
Thanks! I'm really glad to have your feedback! I'm literally experiencing these games for the very first time in order and actually haven't even played any version of Xak 2 yet! (I will start on Xak 2 for PC-88 soon and then load up my file of the PCE game to play the Xak 2 portion!) Those are interesting character connections, but what I really want to happen is for the pixie to come back as Badu! I still don't know what happens in the following games, so in my head canon I'm just gonna continue to assume that's what happens! :) The pixie is clearly evil! Thanks for watching!
@@BasementBrothers Oh that's cool, that's pretty much how I did it too. Xak II has an "older" translation out there for the MSX version and the game over is a bit slower than the first game, but still worth playing through. Fray in Magical Adventure also has a translation for the MSX version (and slightly different levels and a different last boss in the PC-Engine CD version of the game). Technically that would be the next game chronologically as it's all about Fray learning how to become useful as a mage so that she can assist Latok in finding his missing father. She thinks that if she can not only repay him for helping her, but also help help find his Dad, that will endear her to Latok and they'll live happily ever after. She shows up at the very end of Xak II (just barely catching up with Latok) just as Latok hops on a boat similar to what Adol does after each adventure which is all kind of comical knowing what she went through just to see him again and he's basically just like "Oh it's you again... Well, see ya!" After Xak II, the next game would be a spin-off called Tower of Gazzel (Also has a translation for the MSX version) and it's a pretty good one, think how the entire game of Ys Origin took place in one tower location and that's basically Gazzel. That leads straight into Xak III which is also pretty decent and it pretty much ends the series on that one and brings all of the games and lore together. Kind of hoping they do something similar with Old Adol on his last adventure at the age of 63.
@@BasementBrothers Good theory but I went to school with a Zack (I think he spelled it with a k?) who pretty emphatically claimed to NOT be a Lego maniac. Daily. For however long it took kids to forget that song and stop singing it at him en masse every day in the lunchroom... Which was quite a while.
Played the SNES version first a few years ago and unfortunately, I don't think it's good. Replacing the bump attack with a sword really makes the game suck (similar to what I've heard of Lagoon in its conversion from the x68000 to the SNES.) I played through the MSX games a few months ago and it was much better than the experience I had with the SNES one. This is made even weirder when you consider that it was made by Sunsoft.
@@BasementBrothers but yes, great video! I think I actually finally beat Xak I on MSX just before you put this out. I remember being a little shocked when you said you beat the late game shooter stage in one try as it gave me a lot of trouble, at least with the MSX version.
It was made by the same people as Blaster Master? Cool. Didn't know that. The "Tokai Engineering" name is displayed really prominent on Xak though, so I thought that might be why it seems kind of low quality for Sunsoft. Guess not.
i don't understand why Japenese companies in the 80s or 90s didn't hire somebody who had lived in let's say the USA to check the translations. Plenty of Japanese students abroad
Xak 1 is now available on the Nintendo Switch in America, and I'm guessing Europe too. It's an emulated version of the PC-88 version and the ingame language is still Japanese, though the launcher is in English. Still a way to play it now in the West is nice. Still Great Job on the Video! :)
Just finished it today and it's definitely a game I'd replay every now and then. The soundtrack is so good!
You know what's one of the interesting things about different versions of Xak I? One of the NPCs in Kemunu has a different gender depending on the version you're playing. He's Yugu in the PC-88, PC-98, PCE, and SFC versions, and she's Yui in the MSX2 and X68000 versions. It's the NPC that asks you to look for their lost sister/brother. Yugu looks for his sister, and Yui looks for her brother.
I have recently become ob-sessssed with learning about the PC88 library. PC88 paradise is.. so so informative, thank you for these videos!! Love e’m. Port comparisons, the unboxings, and real PC88 footage.. completely awesome. Can’t wait for the next video!
Comments like this make me want to keep making videos. Thanks so much for watching!
@@BasementBrothers If possible don't ever stop making videos man. This channel may be niche, but it's up there with the very best retro gaming channels in terms of sheer quality.
I didn't even know anything about the Japanese PC scene a couple weeks ago before coming across your videos, and now I'm daydreaming of owning all of these awesome computers.
Your channel deserves more recognition, just look how much work you put in one video. I apreciate your work, keep it up
Lovely videos. Also, I love that you speak of the MSX2 versions:
I grew with MSX1 and 2 (80s and 90s) and finding media in Europe that spoke about it and objectively was really difficult at the time.
It's weird because it was relatively successful apparently, but you're right it's hardly mentioned in magazines of the time
It just occurred to me how much Soul Blazer was an homage to games like this and Ys.
Great video. I love the artwork in these old PC-88 games, especially the portraits. The scrolling is choppier than the console ports but the higher resolution gives so much more detail.
I found your channel six months to a year ago through Legend of Heroes stuff and I really enjoy the content here overall. It's so cool to see these obscure Japanese computer games. I also love the little bits of humor too. The Seinfeld soup bit is amazing. Anyhow I never really posted before because I didn't really know what to say. Nice work overall.
Pretty interesting and fun video. Always wanted to know about Xak and seeing it's a fun Ys clone makes it even more interesting. Sadly the PC-88 version doesn't have an english patch, maybe I'll try the MSX2 one.
Great video as always ! I usually dont have the patience to play through these old RPGs even if I own them but it’s great to get a play through like this so I can experience the game and understand what it’s about.
Oh yeah, one more thing about the SFC version of Xak I: You get 100 gold more from the mayor in the beginning, which means that you can enchant your sword from the get-go. Very useful!
your videos make me nostalgic for a console I never had
I really hope Xak 1&2 will get translated for the PCE someday. Oh, and Sark from Tron.
Well this is freaking awesome. Time to get hooked on Xak, thanks Brothers!!!
I live for this channel. Never stop.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
This channel is a total gem
If imitation is the sincerest from of flattery Nihon Falcom can pat themselves on the back. I was surprised how much Xak 1 and 2 mimiced YS Books 1 and 2. for the PCE port they even copied the format where both entries making one complete story ended up on on e disc and even the redone redbook audio mimics the PCE CD version of Ys 1 and 2 in style. The jump button is a welcome addition though. saves you from getting corner-bumped by enemies. I really did enjoy Xak 1 and 2 precisely because they are such well-made clones. Still have to play Xak 3 but from what I've seen that game really developed into something more unique and different.
I love the Ys series, and had mostly run out of Ys-style games to play until I saw this video. I gave the Super Famicom version of Xak a try, and had a total blast. It's got its flaws, but it was a great adventure overall. I'll need to look into playing the translated MSX2 version of Xak 2 to continue the story. Thank you for all your excellent videos!
Most applicable use of No Soup For You that I have seen. Great video!
Thanks Basement Brothers for covering these interesting games in such detail. I get excited whenever I see a new video is out. I think I'll play through the Super Famicom version as I don't read Japanese.
This is obscure hardware I love being covered because it is unknown to me. Keep it up!
I appreciate your basement brothers opening.
The soundtrack to this game is mad fire (especially the track Upsky of Fire Land, pun intended) and specifically judged each port using that song along lol. If someone could create an MSU1 hack for the SFC version to use MSX, PC88 or X68K ost would be awesome.
This seems like a fun little game :) I played through Ys Book I & II last year and loved them, so it's nice to have recommendations for something similar to check out. Thanks for the overview!
If its pronounced Xark, could they have been trying to make it sound like Zork? That was ported to a ton of Japanese computers. Especially Zork II.
LOL, interesting idea. In Japanese Xak is pronounced "SAAKU" which is more like "Sark" and Zork is "ZOOKU", so they are a little bit similar.
@@BasementBrothers It's a theory, but they could be going for Mom Brands: The RPG :D
I just discovered this channel and I'm already fascinated by the PC-88! Japanese home computers are a real blank spot in my gaming knowledge.
I watched this episode yesterday, and I've had the word "deeple" stuck in my head since. Good video!
I really, really need to play this game! I own Xak, Xak II, and Fray for MSX (and Tower of Cabin, if that counts!), but the only one of them I've played through thus far is Fray, which I quite enjoyed (though I played through it on my MSX2+, before I acquired my MSX Turbo R and the Turbo R version of the game, and I can honestly say that that is NOT a fun way to play Fray! It seems fine at first, but by the end of the game, it becomes a laggy, stuttery mess that barely even holds itself together).
But yeah, this review just makes me realize how much I've been missing out by letting this game and its sequel sit on my shelf all this time. I may have to bust it out soon!
Kind of sad to hear that about the MSX2 version of Fray. I know the Turbo R version is superior, but I am thinking about covering the MSX2 version on this channel after I do Xak 2. (Covering the MSX2 version is for sticking to my rule of playing the original version.) Anyway, hope I can manage to get through it.
@@BasementBrothers You'll be able to, for sure, just be prepared for some pain as you get to the final few stages. Inputs start to mean a lot less when it takes nearly a full second for there to be any on-screen response to them. ;)
I beat the game that way, though, and I don't regret it, as it was overall pretty fun, quite funny, and very charming. I was particularly impressed with the writing, as few games manage to write humor in a way that doesn't feel forced -- particularly when they're trying to do anime-style cutesy humor. This is one of those rare occasions when I feel they succeeded with flying colors, as all the dialogue felt natural and snappy, and the characters were all really charming and likable. It's what kept me pushing forward through the slideshow as the game drew to a close. ;)
Also, I think Fray actually takes place between Xak I and II, and I'm pretty sure it was released between the two as well, since Xak II has only a single version on MSX that supports the Turbo R's R800 processor natively for better performance, rather than requiring the purchase of a separate release. So if you're going in order, you might just want to do Fray next! But since Fray is technically a spin-off, it also makes sense to skip it for now. Heheh.
Hmm. Interesting. I was under the impression that Fray came out a little after 2, but not sure where I got that idea. According to Wikipedia Xak 2 came out in Sep 1990 (PC-88), and for Fray it says just "1990". On MSX Fray definitely came out first, but if we're talking about the first version of Xak 2 (PC-88) then I'm not sure. But if it is the case that Fray actually came first then the graphic in my video has the games in the wrong order. At any rate they must have come out around the same time.
Even though idk Japanese language yet i did play it on my switch and i absolutely love this game so much! I appreciate d4enterprise for releasing it in the west. Hopefully oneday microcabin releases a english versions in a remake but i doubt it will happen sadly.
Thank God I found your channel!!! Excellent video and material! Subscribing now!
If we really got pedantic, both Xak and Ys might as well be Hydlide clones. Or Zelda clones, if you ask the average Anglosphere gamer! I get it, though. TH-cam incentivize clickbait video titles and thumbnails (no complaints about the latter here though).
I've yet to cover Xak on my Pasokon Deacon channel and Twitter, largely because I want to do it justice. The game and its ensuing series became a watermark for ARPGs on J-PCs and something of a presence on the PC Engine CD. It also turned Micro Cabin from a respectable but somewhat overlooked adventure game studio into an xRPG house overnight. We'd have never gotten the likes of Illusion City, Elm Knight, Lucienne's Quest, and Riglord Saga without Xak doing as well as it did!
The series definitely deserves a modern revisit, either via a classic remaster or a new entry from some intrepid developer(s). You can't quite see it in the first game, but the series did carve out an identity distinct from Ys and other competing series. I wouldn't be surprised if Falcom's own Legend of Xanadu games took some tropes directly from Xak, given the dominant high-fantasy feudal legends theming which wouldn't show up in Ys until later.
I can definitely see the argument about the Hydlide clones.
Wow this game got some pretty cool ideas, the doesn't like weapon twist and prisoner attacking the town to be specific, haven't seen something similar in any games I've played
Nice vid btw
This is one of those games I've always been curious about, mostly due to the sub-titles. Its hard to hear names like "The Art of Visual Stage" and "The Eternal Recurrence" and not wonder what the heck was going on. Especially since this was the 80s and 90s when Japanese media was more interesting and not a neverending minefield of waifus like today.
That said the name Xak always makes me think of Dr. Seuss on the Loose, which had a segment called The Zax.
Xак - одна из любимых игр для моего NEC PC-88 MA
Groovy!
I watch this series for the disk reading noises, really
I just saw the light switch on your wall in the background in this video. You live in Japan too. I'm a Gunma goon myself.
The light switch gave it away?
@@BasementBrothers Yeah, I'm fairly new to your channel. Once I saw the light switch, I knew you must live in Japan somewhere. Then in another video you mentioned that you live in Tokyo.
Time for some XAK retrospective for PC88?
Nice video as always.
I love the soundtrack to this game! The X68000 and MSX2 versions especially are really great.
Great episode! I love the Xak series and have beaten every single version of them. The PC-98 version, while very similar to the PC-88 one, does improve the gameplay greatly by adjusting the enemy behavior a little bit, so that you don't have to rely on pushing them against solid objects anymore (that version also removes making the play window smaller).
My personal favorite versions of Xak I are the SFC and X68000 versions. Say what you will about the different attack system for the SFC version (where facing down has worse reach than any other direction, sadly), but it has all the little details from the PC originals, while adding extra details like roads for the overworld and a unique tile set for the tower.
My least favorite version of Xak I (as well as Xak II) is the PC Engine version of Xak I-II. It lacks all those little details from PC originals, and as you said, is very buggy and missing music. It has cool anime cutscenes and decent redbook audio, though.
Oh yeah, I couldn't help but notice that you were playing the lesser English fan-translation of the MSX2 version. The English translation that everyone should look for is the one that used to be sold at WOOMB digital store back in 2006. It might be harder to find, though. It has a way better, fuller translation, with the only issue being renaming Fearless Town to Feares.
Cool, but it sounds like that "WOOMB" translation may not be free.
@@BasementBrothers WOOMB has stopped their service ages ago, so their translations are not available for sale anymore. Looks like their translations have spread around the Internet since I last looked, and are easy to find.
One of the big draws of Ys for me is the killer soundtrack.
Xak's soundtrack is quite good too! Thanks for watching.
Good music indeed! And I really like the character art of the first version.
Man this episode is gold, so mamy references and of course seinfield
I love Xak. 3 is so beautiful and brutal. The Eternal Recurrence
When I first played through this game I also thought ディープル was some kind of abbreviation for Deep Purple
while the PC88 has so many nice unknown RPG games in the west, I think I prefer the PC-engine version for the smoother scrolling.
I played the Xak games on MSX sometime back. The shmup dragon boss was the bane of my existence. I think it might've been because I died in the first dungeon and restarted sometime before getting that book that's gives an attack and defense boost. Then wound up playing all the way without having that nice stat boost, thus making the game harder on myself... yeesh. At the same time, I wonder if Latok's stats even carries over to the dragon he rides. That wouldn't make any sense.
The dragon boss in Xak 1? It was super easy for me in the PC-88 version. Yeah, maybe it's because you didn't get the power up book. I don't know. Thanks for watching though.
I played through the SNES port of this game and really liked it. are there any plans for videos on parts 2 and 3, or the Fray games?
I've been wanting to make the Xak II video ever since, but other projects keep coming up. Hopefully soon!
@@BasementBrothers awesome, can't wait to see it! I'm a big fan of the Ys series, and this one grew on me too
Another great video.
PC 8801 really was a RPG power house on par with the Famicom/NES.
Do you intend to cover the infamous Dragon Knight series?
Dragon Knight I doubt I will ever cover to be honest. Sorry. I've played some of them but never got into it.
i just discover a rpg series name "Amaranth" on pc-98, which pretty much look like Xak, Did you have it on your collection ?
I'm pretty sure I have at least one of the Amaranth games for FM Towns, but not sure about other systems. I should probably try to get the PC-98 ones. Thanks for watching!
@@BasementBrothers After discover this series i was like " Hmm, This look like Xak clone and i want to know more about it, maybe that guy can help me" so thank you for answer my request
I was wondering a few things about the PC-88; sorry that they don't really pertain to this video specifically, but I didn't see a discord, twitter DMs, etc, so I couldn't think of any other place to ask these questions.
- Are there any sites, collections, for high-quality pictures of PC-88 games running on the NEC CRT itself? There are plenty of raw screenshots from emulators or real hardware capture, but there don't seem to be a ton of pictures of the games running on the CRT itself. The ones that exist usually either seem to be too far away or too low quality to, say, see the actual slots on the CRT.
- Furthermore, are there any comparisons between the early and later CRT models? I remember hearing the original PC88 CRTs worked somewhat differently (something about digital RGB on the early models vs analog RGB on the later models? Let me know if you have any idea what I'm talking about)
- Finally, how does the blurring/antialiasing/etc work? I understand that PC88 games had those weird color choices and dithering patterns because the final image on the CRT would have the columns somewhat blended together, among other things, but I can't find an actual explanation as for how/why this happens, and exactly how the image winds up being modified. I assumed it was composite or something at first, but I understand now that the PC88 doesn't really use that, and uses RGB, which leaves me even more confused, as I'd assume RGB would be fairly sharp.
Thanks for watching. I'm not really the right person to ask about PC-88 CRT's, since I've never actually owned one. I've always used either certain VGA LCD monitors which are also compatible with the PC-88/98's signal, or an upscaler to HDMI (which is what I use now). Personally, I'm not really a huge CRT guy, and kind of like the look of old systems upscaled to HD. But everyone has their preferences and I know there are a lot of CRT fans out there.
But yeah. We can definitely leave this comment up here in case anyone else wants to answer.
would be cool to see you do a deep dive of the dragon slayer series after you finish up the xak series. There's a lot of games in the series but some of them are absolute gems(faxanadu, sorcerian)
Hm, I wonder if the middle credits were supposed to emulate intro credits or even trying to be cinematic.
"This is when the game TRULY begins!" Or something.
I mean FF1 for the NES, had a weird mid-way credits scene too... Also some 90s movies did it, like they'd have really detailed opening credits...
This game looks really fun, I wanna try!
I love Ys games and games made by Falcom in general. This looks great. These Japanese NEC PC games interest me quite a bit. They came with loads of disks(better have a hard drive).
Since you mentioned you live in a tiny Tokyo apartment, are you going to buy the PC-88 mini?
Are they making one? I only know about the PC-8001 Mini. But even if a PC-88 Mini gets made, I wouldn't really need one since I already have a real PC-88. Maybe it would be fun to take a look at in a video though.
The Original PC8801 up to MK II SR and later had 64KB RAM, 48KB VRAM.
ありがとうございます！私は来月、JLPT N3を受ける予定です。いつか、日本語で動画を作ってくれると嬉しいです。
ありがとうございます！JLPT、頑張ってください！
日本語の動画を作る予定はありませんが、「スレイヤーズ」の動画だけは僕が作った日本語字幕があります。
It's wild that so many of these Japanese PC RPGs have never made it out of Japan, even the influential ones like most of the Dragon Slayer games.
As a PC-E Super CD fan I would love to try the super fami version
Do it!
if you say No to the soup guy 3 times, he'll give you a gauntlet!
Really?
@@BasementBrothers yeah, not sure what it does cause I didn't quite notice a stat change but I'm guessing strength up
[Neo-Alec] I heard turning the lights out and shouting "No soup for you!" three times into the mirror will summon the Soup Nazi. He'll be very annoyed with you too.
@@BasementBrothers haha no, but for real, he'll give you some ornate gauntlet. Didn't figure it out myself until I read it on a guide
[Mr. Jakes] The gauntlet in Xak temporarily raises your attack power. It's also sold in some of the shops.
Omg this game looks awesome!!
I only have Xak tower of Gazzel for the pc98, but your video hyped me to the top!
By the way do you know the game "tower of cabin"? It's a Segagaga before Segagaga in the offices of Microcabin with cameos of all the microcabin games! ❤️
Yeah, I've seen videos of Tower of Cabin but never played it. Would you say it's worth playing?
Man Xak is so cool
This is a good station
deeppool?
Great Stuff!
XakはYsを越えようとするあまり当たり判定や表示が重い。特にXak2はジャンプ中の体や剣や魔法の高さを当たり判定に反映させている。
The cutesy pixie who asks you for help at the start of the game turns out to be ultra evil at the end? I don't want to spoil the game but it rhymes with
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Gravely Assault!
@7:35 How do you expect people to read those Kanji!? haha
I do that kind of editing a lot. Just pointing out where the option is located. Don't know what else to show on screen really. Thanks for watching!
Only played the SNES one and found it average. Probably worth a play for Ys and Lagoon fans though.
Agreed about the SNES version but the MSX version was much better IMO. Replacing the bump attack with a dinky sword really made the SNES version unfun.
Great job with overview of the first game! I had wanted to do a similar type of video way back in the day, with kind of a retrospective series covering each game. I literally got only as far as an intro video for it. lol (th-cam.com/video/Bu7TLV5T4PI/w-d-xo.html) Anyhow, I just never got around to it as life got busier and it's pretty doubtful that will happen now so I'm really excited to see other folks covering the series now. It's really an interesting series to get into with a lot of interesting and recurring characters. I think you said you had seen my tribute website for the Xak series, but there is definitely some good information there regarding how all of the characters are connected, so check it out if you decide to go deeper into the series.
Some interesting points that I thought I'd mention:
So as I remember it, Rune (the green haired warrior) was also a descendent of the God, Duel, which is why he's in the picture too as wanting to beat Badu. He's kind of a jerk and stays that way. Kind of like Protoman/Blues. He's perfectly "capable" of saving the world because of course he is.... but never does. The purple haired dude that told you the bridge is out after the first fort dungeon is the dad of the purple haired girl from the second game, Fell Bell. The Necromancer, boss of the underground tower ends up being a recurring minor villain in the series which gets more and more interesting as the games go on. The main bad guys from each of the numbered games are all Generals that serve an even bigger big bad. Their names are Zemu Badu, Zamu Gospel, and Zomu Dizae which is kinda fun to say.... Zemu, Zamu, Zomu. Lots of other fun easter eggs too in the series as well. I've always enjoyed the story behind why Fray gets into the picture as well and what her "true" goal is as a motivator too.
Thanks! I'm really glad to have your feedback! I'm literally experiencing these games for the very first time in order and actually haven't even played any version of Xak 2 yet! (I will start on Xak 2 for PC-88 soon and then load up my file of the PCE game to play the Xak 2 portion!) Those are interesting character connections, but what I really want to happen is for the pixie to come back as Badu! I still don't know what happens in the following games, so in my head canon I'm just gonna continue to assume that's what happens! :) The pixie is clearly evil!
Thanks for watching!
@@BasementBrothers Oh that's cool, that's pretty much how I did it too. Xak II has an "older" translation out there for the MSX version and the game over is a bit slower than the first game, but still worth playing through. Fray in Magical Adventure also has a translation for the MSX version (and slightly different levels and a different last boss in the PC-Engine CD version of the game). Technically that would be the next game chronologically as it's all about Fray learning how to become useful as a mage so that she can assist Latok in finding his missing father. She thinks that if she can not only repay him for helping her, but also help help find his Dad, that will endear her to Latok and they'll live happily ever after. She shows up at the very end of Xak II (just barely catching up with Latok) just as Latok hops on a boat similar to what Adol does after each adventure which is all kind of comical knowing what she went through just to see him again and he's basically just like "Oh it's you again... Well, see ya!" After Xak II, the next game would be a spin-off called Tower of Gazzel (Also has a translation for the MSX version) and it's a pretty good one, think how the entire game of Ys Origin took place in one tower location and that's basically Gazzel. That leads straight into Xak III which is also pretty decent and it pretty much ends the series on that one and brings all of the games and lore together. Kind of hoping they do something similar with Old Adol on his last adventure at the age of 63.
The Eternal Recurrence
I love listening to a robot attempt to speak Engrish
the music sounds like Phantasy Star II
Too bad it does not use the MK II SR graphics...
I'm not sure what you mean. Mk II SR is an old PC-88 model, and the minimal model to run this game.
I just played it on MSX2 translated. The controller is a nightmare, feel sorry for dose that had to suffer the pain playing it. Looks nice but nah.
Who's Zach anyway?
A lego maniac?
@@BasementBrothers Good theory but I went to school with a Zack (I think he spelled it with a k?) who pretty emphatically claimed to NOT be a Lego maniac. Daily. For however long it took kids to forget that song and stop singing it at him en masse every day in the lunchroom... Which was quite a while.
This changes everything...
Played the SNES version first a few years ago and unfortunately, I don't think it's good. Replacing the bump attack with a sword really makes the game suck (similar to what I've heard of Lagoon in its conversion from the x68000 to the SNES.) I played through the MSX games a few months ago and it was much better than the experience I had with the SNES one. This is made even weirder when you consider that it was made by Sunsoft.
It wasn't really programmed by Sunsoft themselves, that might be why. Some people seem to like the SNES version fine, though. Thanks for watching!
@@BasementBrothers isn’t tokai engineering basically sunsoft internal?
Yep Blaster Master and Journey to Silius are credited to Tokai Engineering.
@@BasementBrothers but yes, great video! I think I actually finally beat Xak I on MSX just before you put this out. I remember being a little shocked when you said you beat the late game shooter stage in one try as it gave me a lot of trouble, at least with the MSX version.
It was made by the same people as Blaster Master? Cool. Didn't know that. The "Tokai Engineering" name is displayed really prominent on Xak though, so I thought that might be why it seems kind of low quality for Sunsoft. Guess not.
LAIFU MANTO
(life cape)
Life Mantle
Actually Xak is pronounced Chak, Cha like in Charmander.
Bobby Inlet
kimochi
427 Josephine Rapid
i don't understand why Japenese companies in the 80s or 90s didn't hire somebody who had lived in let's say the USA to check the translations. Plenty of Japanese students abroad
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I don't think your name should be BASEMENT, I don't think that's proper and I don't appreciate that kind of humor. Thanks for the video!
...what? What's improper about the word "basement"?