Useful video, thanks for posting. And nice job including the game's voiceover at the beginning so people know right away that yes, that is how you pronounce Ys.
I bought the Turbo CD add-on and Ys Book I and II in 1990. Watching the intro video, with the CD audio and full voice narration, was MIND-BLOWING. It was like nothing I'd experienced up to that point.
Where Ys all began. I mean, before the later game where it all began. And the remake where it all began before the beginning. If you enjoyed this video, there's currently another video about Ys 3, Wanderers and Oath, on the channel. And I'm working on an Ys 4 video.
Thank you so so much for this. In 1992 the turbo duo was released (a combination of the turbo TurboGrafx 16 and TurboGrafx CD by PC engine). Ys book 1 and 2 was included with the console! I was ten in my late father and I played through the whole thing as well as Ys book 3. A very cherished memory in my childhood and I appreciate your review.
I think this is your best video so far. Very watchable, relevant and entertaining information, nice editing of scenes and cuts of your explanations, great music (thanks to the games for sure but still) and good arguments for old gameplay systems working as intended within the confines of the games in which they exist.
A month ago, I tracked down a copy of Ys Book 1 & 2 after watching this video. I've now finished the Book 1, and starting Book 2. I just want to thank you for introducing me to this incredible game, Aboveup. I think I'm an Ys fan!
I always sorta just looked at the Ys games as "ehhh whatever", but seeing this made me want to start them. I already beat Ys 1 Chronicles+ and i'm on 2 now and I'm loving it.
Ys VI was the title that really pulled me into the series, and when I got a chance to play through I and II it was a really powerful experience, both from a gaming historical and RPG fan perspective, and I can't help but to feel you captured that same feeling I had when playing the games and put it in this video. Your hard work really shines in this title, and your scripting is easily your best yet. I really can't express how enjoyable this is to watch and never gets tiring during the thirty plus minute experience. This was genuinely a treat to watch, and I'm glad I finally got a chance to. Only real note I would make is that some of the song volume for the BG music tends to compete too much with your vocals. This is mainly noted in the first minute of the video, and not nearly as much for the rest. A smidge of touching up on that, and then it'd be perfect! Someone said on here that this is one of your best reviews, and I would entirely agree as everything else is just fantastic. Especially so with how much you touched upon, including the little detail on hotlines. Details like that really hit big with me. Also, covering Ys? Hot damn! It wasn't enough that you had to start covering SaGa, but now Falcom games? I can't contain this at all. There's just something about the 80s and early 90s that just really astounds me when it comes to Japanese video games. From Ys, to Tengai Makyou, the abundance of creativity and pushing both the technology and what a video game could be still blows my mind today. I think that's why the Turbografx CD/ PC-CD is easily one of my favorite consoles. Red Book Audio, and cutscenes with voice acting included? Dear gosh.
Interesting takes on the games. I'm surprised to hear the issues you had with Ys II, as I find most of the things you disliked about them to be marked improvements over Ys I -- the fireball is incredibly fun and fluid to use for me (especially in the Eternal/Complete/Chronicles update), Solomon Shrine is probably my favorite final dungeon of all time (the way everything connects together is like the overhead-view equivalent of a top-tier Metroidvania for me), and I find the bosses to be considerably more memorable and interesting to fight. I also think the bump system is quite a bit easier to work with in Ys II Chronicles, since diagonal attacks are literally flagged as guaranteed hits in the Chronicles version -- so if you turn on 8-directional movement and just always move diagonally, you will more or less NEVER take damage unless you get yourself backed into a corner somewhere. This makes grinding really easy, especially in places where enemies are worth disproportionately high amounts of experience (like the gate guards at Solomon Shrine, which give you INSANE amounts of experience each time you kill them). Also, while I agree the intro to the TurboGrafx-16 Ys 1 is more impressive for 1993 than the anime intro is for the modern era, I also can't help vastly preferring the anime intro if only for its absolutely unparalleled visuals, thanks to the fact that the intro was largely animated by Makoto Shinkai (the guy responsible for the recent runaway anime film hit Your Name, along with one of my favorite anime movies of all time, 5 Centimeters Per Second). Shinkai's ability to animate dynamically moving skylines in particular is pretty much without equal, and though this is an earlier work of his (for which he credited himself under the name Makoto Niitsu), you can absolutely see his talent every single time the sky is visible, as it's just awash with color and movement. I am kind of a Shinkai fanboy, though, so it stands to reason his involvement alone would be enough to make me prefer the modern intro. ;)
Its a shame the intro is heavily compressed on the steam release :( I also love Makoto work and I did not knwo about this! Makes me apericiate even more.
@@pedrozanon7245 I think that's as uncompressed as it gets, sadly, as I'm pretty sure we used the highest-quality version of the file Falcom still had available (I'm ex-XSEED, if you're confused by this statement!). But yeah, Makoto Shinkai worked at Falcom and designed the Ys I & II Eternal/Complete/Chronicles intros, as well as the intro to the PC version of Legend of Heroes V: Cagesong of the Ocean. I've not heard it confirmed if he worked on any other games for Falcom, but I assume he must have. It's worth noting, too, that Tenmon -- the music composer who works with Shinkai on most of his films -- was also employed at Falcom as part of Falcom Sound Team jdk at the time. It's evidently at Falcom that the two of them met! Shinkai would also go on to create intros to visual novels for adult VN company Minori after Falcom -- I know for certain he worked on Wind: A Breath of Heart and the "ef" games, though I think there were one or two others he worked on as well. If you watch the intros to those games, though, you can INSTANTLY tell they're his work!
@Wyrdwad thanks for the info! I remember reading its "works" part from the Wikipedia and i only remember his personal short films and commercials he worked on that list that were not featured films. I will definitely look out for his works on games. Also cool to know he Probraly met a composer he would later work on Falcom, which was great, since falcoms have so many amazing ones. Again, thanks for the whole lot of info! Also, really cool you worked at XSEES! Hope you are doing well now as well.
So I'll tell you what it was like. I was a teen and my only video games were NES, Atari, SNES, that kind of thing. When I first saw this my mind was totally blown, like you cannot even imagine. Imagine if the best thing you ever saw was SNES and that is impressive, but suddenly you are playing this game with real music and an amazing intro cinematic with amazing voice over. Never thought I'd ever see anything like that in my life, I was absolutely stunned. Talk about being overwhelmed. That is a HUGE jump in technology for someone to suddenly be exposed to.
Ive just find out your channel as i just finished Ys 3 on my psvita. It was my first game of the series and really love it!!! So i was looking for a retrospective or something until i find your channel and for the last 2hours i keep watching your videos! You did a great job you have my subscribe! :D
I had a TGFXCD back in the late ‘80s. This game was absolutely mind blowing when you first played it. And the voice actors were well known actors, at least in the voice acting world. Oppenheimer, Bell, and more. Even Thomas Hayden Church, who played sandman in the Spider-Man movies had a role in this. This was my introduction to rpgs. I still love this game to this day. The animations and music. It was also an early redbook audio. Which meant the music was stored as cd tracks, not music files. You could listen to TGFXCD discs in a normal cd player. Many other TGFXCD games lacked good voice acting, but Ys I and II had epic voice acting. As to the many many variations over the years, this game existed on almost every game system of that time. The TGFXCD version was the first sold as one complete game. The steam version you played was Ys Chronicles, which was the most recent “update”. Back in the mid ‘90s Ys I was updated with modern graphics and sound and gameplay. It was called Ys Eternal. By the time Ys II was updated, it was well beyond the Ys I update. Which forced them to reupdate Ys I to be more in line with II, calling it YS Eternal Complete. Later again, Ys Eternal Complete was ported again in the late 2000s iirc to the psp called Ys Chronicles. This was to Bri g the game more inline with how Ys VI and Ys Oath of Felghana gameplay and style. I wish they could do Chronicles with the original voice audio of Ys Book I and II. Anyway, great video. Love seeing this game still has love.
Great video! One thing of note I wanted to share after watching, is that you actually can see the area name/dungeon floor you're on in the TGFX/PC Engine version- by pressing a button in the options menu (or maybe on the status menu specifically? I forget.) You'll hear a sound effect if you hit the correct button (I forget which one, but theres only 4 so no biggie), and then whenever you enter a new area or go up or down a floor, you'll get a title card briefly telling you the area name or what floor you're on. To turn it off, do the same again and you'll hear a different sound effect this time. Cheers.
There is a small glitch for the Turbo Graphx first Book 2 where you max you level to 99999. There is an area after you use the evil bell where you can run into the wall and the horde of monsters will run into and you can hit them but they can't hit you. I use this to power up to max 99999 level. I have even use tape on control and walked away and came back two hours later and I was still killing monsters. If you are maximum experience to top level you can easily defeat Darm at the end. You basically take no damage as you get hit. If you one 999998 you will take normal damage.I think the programs added this in because to get to this level will take a long long time. With the glitch mentioned above its easier to do.
I played Ys I and II in 1990 and I was blown away by the music, voice acting and cutscenes. I hadn't seen anything like it at the time, which is why this game is burned into my memory. I was also very pleased with the remake though I miss the voice acting and prefer the original music.
I love over leveling in the Chronicles remake because it makes you feel like the Juggernaut slamming through enemies and they just explode. Its really satisfying for some reason.
Forever the greatest. The Master System port is actually pretty solid but nothing touches the turbo duo version for classic Y's 1-2. The PSP version is also great!
Some advice for if your save file gets permafucked by saving in the wrong place: the game has a debug option that can be accessed by entering a lengthy password. Punch that in and you’re able to warp anywhere, so you can quickly open the menu just as your file loads and change locations to somewhere safer. Had this happen to me at the beginning of Book 2 and I was about to put my fist through my screen before I found the work around. You can save and reset and the debug will go away so you don’t need to worry about it effecting the rest of the game.
Playing through Ys in release(ish) order starting with Ys 1 and 2 Chronicles. First of all, I had no idea there's a button tied to magic swapping in Ys 2. I menu'd it all game. I found the existence of magic single handedly made Ys 2 worse than the first because it maims combat flow. It takes longer to kill enemies with fire than bumping, while the boss windows demanding fire turned most of them into real grinds. I have other criticisms too but I'm glad you did this review. I wished I was on board for the story and pay off the way you were because narratively the game lost me and it took Ys Origin to draw me back in. I look forward to your review on that once I'm finished!
Man, I played the heck out of the TurboGraphix Ys; my brother was a retro game vendor though so when he sold the TurboGraphix, I was heartbroken. Nice to see the PC Chronicles port though; I was hilariously entertained by the way enemies explode into a ridiculous amount of gore and bones when you kill them like Brutalities in MK3 Ultimate XD
I'm actually a little surprised to see that someone reviewed the whole series, and that I missed this gem of a channel. I played the whole series about 4 or 5 years ago, myself, in preparation for Memories of Celceta's impending PC release that never happened... until after 8 got the series the attention it deserved. I was never a fan of bump combat, especially when I took my first few stabs at Book 1 on the fan-translated release of Ys Eternal in high school. When I revisited with Chronicles I beat Book 1 mostly with brute force, a bit of luck, and a determination to finally see Book 2. It wasn't very intuitive and often required far too much precision for a game that would kill you for making a mistake for a handful of frames, but I eventually started understanding and enjoying it. I still don't ever want it back. And man, that PC-E version looks gorgeous, but I don't think I could play it after Complete/Chronicles.
I really enjoyed this video! I really loved hearing about the differences for each version. It's amazing how different a game can feel depending on the version. I just finished Ys I on the PSP and I'm half way down with Ys II. This is one of those series that I've heard about, but I hadn't tried until now. I feel a little bad for waiting so long.
Just bought Ys 1 and 2 on steam today and am having a blast with 1 and messing around with bump combat. Hope you share your thoughts on maybe some other ys games in the future if that ever comes of interest to you.
Nice video. I've always been curious about Ys 1 & 2. I tried The Oath In Felghana a couple years back but it was a little too twitchy for my liking. I think I'm going to give the Chronicles version a try. Thanks, and I'm looking forward to your next review.
such a pitty about your experience. it's actually a great game. You just need to grind to level up. If you know the game rules it will be a blast. That's what YS about and I love that. Level up is important
Another thing g, you can see what floor you’re on in Darm Tower. It’s been years since I played this, but there is a menu option you can click and it will tell you. I think it’s the status one? Or something. Can’t remember.
Finally got around to watching this, best video of yours I've seen, really good. Definitely makes me more interested in giving these games a try, even if I really don't like the sound of maze dungeons (I was just struggling with one of the tits dungeons the other day). Which version of music in chronicles do you think is best? Also doing these videos looks really fun, I'd love to try my hand at it someday even if I only do a video or two a year.
Of the 3 OSTs in Chronicles, I like the Chronicles one best. Though I replay 1 from time to time and switch it up just for fun. I think Falcom knew people like replying the games, because there's dumb ornaments you can stick to the HUD as if it's a car dashboard too. If it had the Turbo CD OST though, I'd likely swap to that one more often. It has a lot of my favorite versions of the songs.
I enjoy both games (Turbografx versions) but I must admit the final dungeons of both games really killed my interest for another playthrough. I wandered around lost for how long I'm not sure but even with a guide I found them difficult. The final boss is also a bit cheap, but with that said I've never fallen in love with 8-bit characters like I did in Books 1&2. I really love the lore of the games and I can't wait to play Origins once it comes out on Switch. Also, that Dana reference hurt...
this is a good review man.. and yes, Ys is quite a underated game... i can say Ys is a simple rpg with grand story.. Ys 8 also like that.. simple outline like, adol in another new mess/adventure
As to your Dana the displaced comment, Ys chronicles was released just three years before Ys viii lacrimosa of Dana. And some of the story changes in chronicles as well as oath in felghana had to do with overall story elements that had been done in the franchise since 1, 2, and 3 were released so long ago. There are three versions of Ys IV, due to them being made by different studios. Ys IV mask of the sun s was released in the US on SNES, while Ys VI dawn of Ys was only on the super cd in Japan. For years mask of the sun was the official canon story. Until years later when memories of celceta was released and became the official story, tying it again to the other story elements they had created. I don’t know IV or V very well. But Ys VI established some story line elements that caused the story cha he’s in chronicles, oath, and memories. Such as feena and lair being members of a magical race that created magic, and someone tried to recreate those experiments and failed, which lead to the creation of “demons” such as the final bosses of 2 and 3. The story line is deep. Not kingdom hearts deep. But pretty deep.
I found myself using bump combat more than fireballs in Ys 2 Chronicles. Adol can hurt enemies by approaching them diagonally. Even if they're facing straight, Adol's attacks have greater proirity than the enemies attacks if he approaches them diagonally. Plus, Adol's attacks cancel the enemies charge and they deal more damage than the fire balls, and later on there's enemies that are immune to the fireball. Bump combat is the preferred method of combat since it's so much more effective than spamming fireballs and it deals more damage. Lastly, the game having 8-way movement actually makes aiming fireballs harder. For normal encounters, the fireballs kinda suck compared to bump combat until you get the Falcon Statue near the end of the game. Even so, the Falcon Statue + Fireball combination is really only useful against one boss as the last two bosses in Ys 2 are strong against fire ball. But even then, bump combat is better than fireballs since it can be used with Time Stop magic. Bump Combat + Time Stop even makes the guards outside of Solomon Shrine really easy to beat. The fireballs are really only good during boss fights or tight corridors where bump combat would be risky. Overall, bump combat is way more stronger in Ys 2 Chronicles than it is in Ys 1 Chronicles. And Fireball is damn near useless against normal enemies once you get Time Stop.
I know this video is like 4 years old but I beg to differ. The Turbo CD version is a great place to start! I just played through Ys I, having never played any of the series before, and I absolutely dug it. Can’t wait to continue through Ys II
I played this on the turboduo when it came out. I got a turboduo on Christmas, and I still have my ys and original turboduo. The game was mind-blowing for its time. At the time it took a while to actually beat ys 1 and 2 because there was no guide. I recommend not using a guide and Play the game like we did years ago. It will feel more rewarding
How in God's name did you beat the two demon heads boss on the PC version? I'm playing on PS Vita (the psp version) and I cannot beat them for the life of me. I am playing on hard but jeez I can't seem to find a chance to hit him without getting hit myself... And I'm scared of the last boss after this video...
weird, i always looked at that ys game from the turbo grafx and i thought to myself, that must be a really hardcore rpg, turns out, it went easier on me than any other dragon quest or final fantasy i tried to get into, great series to discover years later
I really liked these 2 games, combat was simple but fun, bosses challenging & rewarding. Last boss in book 2 was super hard tho (well I did play on hard, but still) I also enjoyed the old school type of story.
Hey great review! Glad to see folks revisiting this fantastic game. Just wanted to point out that the heal ring mechanics do serve a purpose vs healing outdoors in that you can only equip one ring at a time. If they did not require you to go in and change it, you could run it for free while also using the shield ring or the like - you get the idea. It's strategic. But i get what you are saying about the sometimes tedious nature of it. And yes, we were blown away back in 1990 by this voices, and most of all the music! There was nothing like it at the time, especially with the guitar solos and such - mind blowing!
I heard that if you force V Sync on in the pc port of chronicles to 60 fps, for some reason, dark fact won't throw too many projectiles in your direction, it also doesn't help that my pc uses a gtx 1070. In short, V Sync on = the same amount of projectiles like in the psp version, and a easier game in general. V Sync off = HELL.
Falcom really stepped up their music quality over the years. The only company I know who takes a soundtrack composed by Yuzo Koshiro and then just straight-up improves on it.
I wish Tehsnakerer would have pointed towards you earlier. In Winter sale of steam I was wondering what "ys" is and why there are so many games and where should I start and what the fuck is this. You did a great job of explaining why to play this game. I hope installements of the game are getting better or as this good ( for its time). Maybe I'll give it a go then. Having a new game series to follow and adore is something I miss in my gaming life D: most of the game series I like went a path I didn't like (for instance Final Fantasy, Starcraft 2 story, Civs AI, DoW3..)
Hey Aboveup. I love your video but I wanted to make a correction. I know this video is 2 years old and you may not care at this point. In your video at around 10:45 you mention there's nothing to tell you which floor you're on. I wanted to let you know if you go to the status page and hit the select button, it makes a noise and now when you enter the floors or go to a new floor it tells you where you are. Cheers and loved the video!
So Dark Fakk is the final devil of the game who probably used to be an angel has fallen angels turn into demons in the corrupted. Meaning as a former angel.
About the Ys 2 ending, isn't it sad that Feena and Reah don't get what they want for being goddesses?, Reah couldn't stay with Toal in Origin and Feena couldn't stay with Adol because in both cases duty called.
I return more often to Ys 1 solely because I hate Solomon Palace so much. I enjoy the rest of Ys 2 more than Ys 1, but I just hate that one final maze.
I kind to disagree with your points about the introduction of magic breaks Ys II's game play. I remember when I played it back-to-back between I and II, II felt more engaging comparing to I because of the magic system. I think someone else already said and I do agree with him that magic feels fluid and add a lots of depth to the game and I enjoyed it a lot. Also, I never had problem navigating the dungeon in Ys II even when I didn't use any walkthrough. I think it might be because I'm an old schooler who played lots of kind of this game back in NES era and already used to it. I mean, Ys II dungeons are still much more easier to navigate than the first Metroid or Castlvania II maps by far. Aside from that, I'm agreed wholeheartedly about your review. I'm really glad to see Ys getting more recognition these days.
Yeah, my headphones died in the middle of editing this video. With the shitty replacement ones, I almost didn't hear the music while balancing audio levels. On a more decent set, it's overpowering compared to voice. Should've waited until I had my replacement headphones ready.
Funny thing; when I first played through I and II chronicles on the PSP emulator, I didn't have to rely nearly as much on magic for anything outside of bosses. And with the notice when enemeies are about to attack, they were alot easier to damage and avoid when compared to 1
Huh, I actually almost never used the fireball in Ys 2 except for when it was required for a boss fight, I just found the bump combat to be more fun to use after completing Ys 1, though I do think the magic was well integrated into the combat system.
I'm a new Ys fan and I completely disagree that the PC Engine versions of Ys 1 & 2 are bad for a first impression. Maybe if you are the kind of person that gets upset whenever you encounter any challenge at all then avoid them, but if you've enjoyed any 80s RPGs then Ys 1 and 2 on PC Engine are amazing starting places. I agree that the focus on fire magic as your primary combat ability in Ys 2 definitely took away from the spirit of the combat set up in 1 although I still think it made it feel more distant than simply an expansion of Ys 1. Regarding the dungeons, I really enjoyed their labyrinthine design. For me, wandering around Solomon's Shrine and eventually finding my way was the fun of the experience. It's a feature not a bug and it was pretty common for games of the time. If I were to use a map then it would remove all sense of wonder and adventure.
There’s a fan theories that the trail series, Ys , Trail of Nayuto, and Tokyo Xanadu and other similar games, made by falcon. Are in the same universe, but are on different planets like thousands of years ago humanity colonized the entire universe. And humans lived in peace for probably a couple hundred years, until 1000 years ago war broke out between the Angels and other artificial lifeforms created by humanity. Which destroyed the history of pretty much humanity. And the surviving humans have completely forgotten about their ancestors , except for the artificial angels, some of them, Survived obviously. And we’re worship like Gods like the two angels, that are in the game and the rest of their kind are artificial angels created by humans they went rogue and turn down the creators. But overtime human started worship them God it’s because well they look like angels , And seems some of these angels ruled over humanity for a while until another war broke out between the Angels and humans. This is mostly just a theory.
God the last dungeon was more of a chore rather than actual fun. There's no way a normal human being to remember where's everything in that place without maps.
Yeah i'm surprised after all these years, people still don't know to hit select on the status page to turn on location names when loading to different area's.
Finished Chronicles right now and I totaly disagree about battle system. I only use magic on bosses tho maybe cus I played on easy (also on psp). So I like second game alot more.
You actually don't have to use fire that much. The combat in 2 changes so it's easier to hit.. You can hit the enemy from an angle while being centered continuously(or any part of the enemy really). The enemy won't be able to hit you at all. Fire is useful if you're low on health or underpowered or in a corridor you can't angle in. And mandatory on almost all bosses. It's also just still a really good game with only like one really BS moment. And like two smaller BS moments.
Useful video, thanks for posting. And nice job including the game's voiceover at the beginning so people know right away that yes, that is how you pronounce Ys.
Hey Drunk
@@Pain_PiesNotice me, Senpai.
I bought the Turbo CD add-on and Ys Book I and II in 1990. Watching the intro video, with the CD audio and full voice narration, was MIND-BLOWING. It was like nothing I'd experienced up to that point.
Where Ys all began. I mean, before the later game where it all began. And the remake where it all began before the beginning. If you enjoyed this video, there's currently another video about Ys 3, Wanderers and Oath, on the channel. And I'm working on an Ys 4 video.
Thank you so so much for this. In 1992 the turbo duo was released (a combination of the turbo TurboGrafx 16 and TurboGrafx CD by PC engine). Ys book 1 and 2 was included with the console! I was ten in my late father and I played through the whole thing as well as Ys book 3. A very cherished memory in my childhood and I appreciate your review.
I think this is your best video so far. Very watchable, relevant and entertaining information, nice editing of scenes and cuts of your explanations, great music (thanks to the games for sure but still) and good arguments for old gameplay systems working as intended within the confines of the games in which they exist.
Thank you!
A month ago, I tracked down a copy of Ys Book 1 & 2 after watching this video. I've now finished the Book 1, and starting Book 2. I just want to thank you for introducing me to this incredible game, Aboveup. I think I'm an Ys fan!
I always sorta just looked at the Ys games as "ehhh whatever", but seeing this made me want to start them. I already beat Ys 1 Chronicles+ and i'm on 2 now and I'm loving it.
Nice, glad to hear you're enjoying them.
I got my TurboGrafx 16 mini today and I can't wait to play this again
Ys VI was the title that really pulled me into the series, and when I got a chance to play through I and II it was a really powerful experience, both from a gaming historical and RPG fan perspective, and I can't help but to feel you captured that same feeling I had when playing the games and put it in this video. Your hard work really shines in this title, and your scripting is easily your best yet. I really can't express how enjoyable this is to watch and never gets tiring during the thirty plus minute experience. This was genuinely a treat to watch, and I'm glad I finally got a chance to.
Only real note I would make is that some of the song volume for the BG music tends to compete too much with your vocals. This is mainly noted in the first minute of the video, and not nearly as much for the rest. A smidge of touching up on that, and then it'd be perfect! Someone said on here that this is one of your best reviews, and I would entirely agree as everything else is just fantastic. Especially so with how much you touched upon, including the little detail on hotlines. Details like that really hit big with me.
Also, covering Ys? Hot damn! It wasn't enough that you had to start covering SaGa, but now Falcom games? I can't contain this at all. There's just something about the 80s and early 90s that just really astounds me when it comes to Japanese video games. From Ys, to Tengai Makyou, the abundance of creativity and pushing both the technology and what a video game could be still blows my mind today. I think that's why the Turbografx CD/ PC-CD is easily one of my favorite consoles. Red Book Audio, and cutscenes with voice acting included? Dear gosh.
I was lucky enough to experience this game in second grade and let me tell you it was mind blowing it was some of the best memories of my childhood
I just finished Ys chronicles and I just wanted to thank you for convincing me to do it :)
Your video got recommended to me! Glad that youtube told me about your good video.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Interesting takes on the games. I'm surprised to hear the issues you had with Ys II, as I find most of the things you disliked about them to be marked improvements over Ys I -- the fireball is incredibly fun and fluid to use for me (especially in the Eternal/Complete/Chronicles update), Solomon Shrine is probably my favorite final dungeon of all time (the way everything connects together is like the overhead-view equivalent of a top-tier Metroidvania for me), and I find the bosses to be considerably more memorable and interesting to fight. I also think the bump system is quite a bit easier to work with in Ys II Chronicles, since diagonal attacks are literally flagged as guaranteed hits in the Chronicles version -- so if you turn on 8-directional movement and just always move diagonally, you will more or less NEVER take damage unless you get yourself backed into a corner somewhere. This makes grinding really easy, especially in places where enemies are worth disproportionately high amounts of experience (like the gate guards at Solomon Shrine, which give you INSANE amounts of experience each time you kill them).
Also, while I agree the intro to the TurboGrafx-16 Ys 1 is more impressive for 1993 than the anime intro is for the modern era, I also can't help vastly preferring the anime intro if only for its absolutely unparalleled visuals, thanks to the fact that the intro was largely animated by Makoto Shinkai (the guy responsible for the recent runaway anime film hit Your Name, along with one of my favorite anime movies of all time, 5 Centimeters Per Second). Shinkai's ability to animate dynamically moving skylines in particular is pretty much without equal, and though this is an earlier work of his (for which he credited himself under the name Makoto Niitsu), you can absolutely see his talent every single time the sky is visible, as it's just awash with color and movement.
I am kind of a Shinkai fanboy, though, so it stands to reason his involvement alone would be enough to make me prefer the modern intro. ;)
Its a shame the intro is heavily compressed on the steam release :(
I also love Makoto work and I did not knwo about this! Makes me apericiate even more.
@@pedrozanon7245 I think that's as uncompressed as it gets, sadly, as I'm pretty sure we used the highest-quality version of the file Falcom still had available (I'm ex-XSEED, if you're confused by this statement!).
But yeah, Makoto Shinkai worked at Falcom and designed the Ys I & II Eternal/Complete/Chronicles intros, as well as the intro to the PC version of Legend of Heroes V: Cagesong of the Ocean. I've not heard it confirmed if he worked on any other games for Falcom, but I assume he must have. It's worth noting, too, that Tenmon -- the music composer who works with Shinkai on most of his films -- was also employed at Falcom as part of Falcom Sound Team jdk at the time. It's evidently at Falcom that the two of them met!
Shinkai would also go on to create intros to visual novels for adult VN company Minori after Falcom -- I know for certain he worked on Wind: A Breath of Heart and the "ef" games, though I think there were one or two others he worked on as well. If you watch the intros to those games, though, you can INSTANTLY tell they're his work!
@Wyrdwad thanks for the info! I remember reading its "works" part from the Wikipedia and i only remember his personal short films and commercials he worked on that list that were not featured films.
I will definitely look out for his works on games. Also cool to know he Probraly met a composer he would later work on Falcom, which was great, since falcoms have so many amazing ones.
Again, thanks for the whole lot of info!
Also, really cool you worked at XSEES! Hope you are doing well now as well.
9:16 Lair sounds almost exactly like Claire from the original RE2.
So I'll tell you what it was like. I was a teen and my only video games were NES, Atari, SNES, that kind of thing. When I first saw this my mind was totally blown, like you cannot even imagine. Imagine if the best thing you ever saw was SNES and that is impressive, but suddenly you are playing this game with real music and an amazing intro cinematic with amazing voice over. Never thought I'd ever see anything like that in my life, I was absolutely stunned. Talk about being overwhelmed. That is a HUGE jump in technology for someone to suddenly be exposed to.
Ive just find out your channel as i just finished Ys 3 on my psvita. It was my first game of the series and really love it!!! So i was looking for a retrospective or something until i find your channel and for the last 2hours i keep watching your videos! You did a great job you have my subscribe! :D
Just gotta say I love this channel. You always seem to find my favorite games to review!
I had a TGFXCD back in the late ‘80s. This game was absolutely mind blowing when you first played it. And the voice actors were well known actors, at least in the voice acting world. Oppenheimer, Bell, and more. Even Thomas Hayden Church, who played sandman in the Spider-Man movies had a role in this.
This was my introduction to rpgs. I still love this game to this day. The animations and music. It was also an early redbook audio. Which meant the music was stored as cd tracks, not music files. You could listen to TGFXCD discs in a normal cd player.
Many other TGFXCD games lacked good voice acting, but Ys I and II had epic voice acting.
As to the many many variations over the years, this game existed on almost every game system of that time. The TGFXCD version was the first sold as one complete game.
The steam version you played was Ys Chronicles, which was the most recent “update”.
Back in the mid ‘90s Ys I was updated with modern graphics and sound and gameplay. It was called Ys Eternal. By the time Ys II was updated, it was well beyond the Ys I update. Which forced them to reupdate Ys I to be more in line with II, calling it YS Eternal Complete.
Later again, Ys Eternal Complete was ported again in the late 2000s iirc to the psp called Ys Chronicles. This was to Bri g the game more inline with how Ys VI and Ys Oath of Felghana gameplay and style.
I wish they could do Chronicles with the original voice audio of Ys Book I and II.
Anyway, great video. Love seeing this game still has love.
This was a great and fun game back then because it was cutting edge. ME and my friends played it over and over.
Great video! One thing of note I wanted to share after watching, is that you actually can see the area name/dungeon floor you're on in the TGFX/PC Engine version- by pressing a button in the options menu (or maybe on the status menu specifically? I forget.) You'll hear a sound effect if you hit the correct button (I forget which one, but theres only 4 so no biggie), and then whenever you enter a new area or go up or down a floor, you'll get a title card briefly telling you the area name or what floor you're on. To turn it off, do the same again and you'll hear a different sound effect this time. Cheers.
There is a small glitch for the Turbo Graphx first Book 2 where you max you level to 99999. There is an area after you use the evil bell where you can run into the wall and the horde of monsters will run into and you can hit them but they can't hit you. I use this to power up to max 99999 level. I have even use tape on control and walked away and came back two hours later and I was still killing monsters. If you are maximum experience to top level you can easily defeat Darm at the end. You basically take no damage as you get hit. If you one 999998 you will take normal damage.I think the programs added this in because to get to this level will take a long long time. With the glitch mentioned above its easier to do.
I played Ys I and II in 1990 and I was blown away by the music, voice acting and cutscenes. I hadn't seen anything like it at the time, which is why this game is burned into my memory.
I was also very pleased with the remake though I miss the voice acting and prefer the original music.
I love over leveling in the Chronicles remake because it makes you feel like the Juggernaut slamming through enemies and they just explode. Its really satisfying for some reason.
Very good video and highly appreciate for posting. Ys book is my favorite rpg of all time.
Forever the greatest. The Master System port is actually pretty solid but nothing touches the turbo duo version for classic Y's 1-2. The PSP version is also great!
Some advice for if your save file gets permafucked by saving in the wrong place: the game has a debug option that can be accessed by entering a lengthy password. Punch that in and you’re able to warp anywhere, so you can quickly open the menu just as your file loads and change locations to somewhere safer. Had this happen to me at the beginning of Book 2 and I was about to put my fist through my screen before I found the work around. You can save and reset and the debug will go away so you don’t need to worry about it effecting the rest of the game.
Fun Trivia: Dark Fact is dubbed by Michael Bell, the same voice actor of Raziel from "Legacy of Kain" series.
Hold a sec. How is that possible that that version has dubbing and that newer prettier apparently has only intro dubbed :O
@@osrictemper4225 Forgot to mention, this trivia it's for the PC engine CD version.
Playing through Ys in release(ish) order starting with Ys 1 and 2 Chronicles.
First of all, I had no idea there's a button tied to magic swapping in Ys 2. I menu'd it all game.
I found the existence of magic single handedly made Ys 2 worse than the first because it maims combat flow. It takes longer to kill enemies with fire than bumping, while the boss windows demanding fire turned most of them into real grinds.
I have other criticisms too but I'm glad you did this review. I wished I was on board for the story and pay off the way you were because narratively the game lost me and it took Ys Origin to draw me back in. I look forward to your review on that once I'm finished!
Theme of Adol is kickass.
Change my mind.
Man, I played the heck out of the TurboGraphix Ys; my brother was a retro game vendor though so when he sold the TurboGraphix, I was heartbroken. Nice to see the PC Chronicles port though; I was hilariously entertained by the way enemies explode into a ridiculous amount of gore and bones when you kill them like Brutalities in MK3 Ultimate XD
i like look of the new games, but music on PCE version is king.
I'm actually a little surprised to see that someone reviewed the whole series, and that I missed this gem of a channel. I played the whole series about 4 or 5 years ago, myself, in preparation for Memories of Celceta's impending PC release that never happened... until after 8 got the series the attention it deserved.
I was never a fan of bump combat, especially when I took my first few stabs at Book 1 on the fan-translated release of Ys Eternal in high school. When I revisited with Chronicles I beat Book 1 mostly with brute force, a bit of luck, and a determination to finally see Book 2. It wasn't very intuitive and often required far too much precision for a game that would kill you for making a mistake for a handful of frames, but I eventually started understanding and enjoying it. I still don't ever want it back.
And man, that PC-E version looks gorgeous, but I don't think I could play it after Complete/Chronicles.
I really enjoyed this video! I really loved hearing about the differences for each version. It's amazing how different a game can feel depending on the version.
I just finished Ys I on the PSP and I'm half way down with Ys II. This is one of those series that I've heard about, but I hadn't tried until now. I feel a little bad for waiting so long.
Awesome review! I can't wait for part two!
Hey! Was looking to get into the series for a series review of my own! Wonderful video!
Just bought Ys 1 and 2 on steam today and am having a blast with 1 and messing around with bump combat. Hope you share your thoughts on maybe some other ys games in the future if that ever comes of interest to you.
btw I'm pretty sure makoto shinkai animated the remake cutscenes
Nice video. I loved Ys Book 1. I tried giving Book 2 a shot but it ended up giving me a headache so ill have to try it again at some point.
Nice video. I've always been curious about Ys 1 & 2. I tried The Oath In Felghana a couple years back but it was a little too twitchy for my liking. I think I'm going to give the Chronicles version a try. Thanks, and I'm looking forward to your next review.
such a pitty about your experience. it's actually a great game. You just need to grind to level up. If you know the game rules it will be a blast. That's what YS about and I love that. Level up is important
I loved the Sega Master System version of Ys 1 the vanished omen. Never had a Turbografx here in Sweden.
Wow I remember seeing this on computer chronicles
Another thing g, you can see what floor you’re on in Darm Tower. It’s been years since I played this, but there is a menu option you can click and it will tell you. I think it’s the status one? Or something. Can’t remember.
Finally got around to watching this, best video of yours I've seen, really good. Definitely makes me more interested in giving these games a try, even if I really don't like the sound of maze dungeons (I was just struggling with one of the tits dungeons the other day). Which version of music in chronicles do you think is best?
Also doing these videos looks really fun, I'd love to try my hand at it someday even if I only do a video or two a year.
Of the 3 OSTs in Chronicles, I like the Chronicles one best. Though I replay 1 from time to time and switch it up just for fun. I think Falcom knew people like replying the games, because there's dumb ornaments you can stick to the HUD as if it's a car dashboard too.
If it had the Turbo CD OST though, I'd likely swap to that one more often. It has a lot of my favorite versions of the songs.
Excellent channel :)
I enjoy both games (Turbografx versions) but I must admit the final dungeons of both games really killed my interest for another playthrough. I wandered around lost for how long I'm not sure but even with a guide I found them difficult. The final boss is also a bit cheap, but with that said I've never fallen in love with 8-bit characters like I did in Books 1&2. I really love the lore of the games and I can't wait to play Origins once it comes out on Switch. Also, that Dana reference hurt...
what is the name of the song that plays at 12:56? I've heard it somewhere before, but with guitars I think, please and thank you
To Make the End of Battle. It's the song for the cutscene you see at that point in the video.
You know your shit. You've got yourself a subscriber.
thanks for the video
Honestly I love bump combat
Great video
this is a good review man..
and yes, Ys is quite a underated game...
i can say Ys is a simple rpg with grand story..
Ys 8 also like that..
simple outline like, adol in another new mess/adventure
Oh yeah, 3 is definitely like that. It knows how to handle scope very well, more than most games.
As to your Dana the displaced comment, Ys chronicles was released just three years before Ys viii lacrimosa of Dana.
And some of the story changes in chronicles as well as oath in felghana had to do with overall story elements that had been done in the franchise since 1, 2, and 3 were released so long ago.
There are three versions of Ys IV, due to them being made by different studios. Ys IV mask of the sun s was released in the US on SNES, while Ys VI dawn of Ys was only on the super cd in Japan. For years mask of the sun was the official canon story. Until years later when memories of celceta was released and became the official story, tying it again to the other story elements they had created.
I don’t know IV or V very well. But Ys VI established some story line elements that caused the story cha he’s in chronicles, oath, and memories. Such as feena and lair being members of a magical race that created magic, and someone tried to recreate those experiments and failed, which lead to the creation of “demons” such as the final bosses of 2 and 3.
The story line is deep. Not kingdom hearts deep. But pretty deep.
And having looked through your videos, I realize you already talked about Ys IV.
How did you play the Turbografx version?
A lot of people love Zelda and Link, my love is to Ys and Adol.
you delete some videos? 0:05 i can't find some of those
I found myself using bump combat more than fireballs in Ys 2 Chronicles. Adol can hurt enemies by approaching them diagonally. Even if they're facing straight, Adol's attacks have greater proirity than the enemies attacks if he approaches them diagonally. Plus, Adol's attacks cancel the enemies charge and they deal more damage than the fire balls, and later on there's enemies that are immune to the fireball. Bump combat is the preferred method of combat since it's so much more effective than spamming fireballs and it deals more damage. Lastly, the game having 8-way movement actually makes aiming fireballs harder.
For normal encounters, the fireballs kinda suck compared to bump combat until you get the Falcon Statue near the end of the game. Even so, the Falcon Statue + Fireball combination is really only useful against one boss as the last two bosses in Ys 2 are strong against fire ball. But even then, bump combat is better than fireballs since it can be used with Time Stop magic. Bump Combat + Time Stop even makes the guards outside of Solomon Shrine really easy to beat. The fireballs are really only good during boss fights or tight corridors where bump combat would be risky.
Overall, bump combat is way more stronger in Ys 2 Chronicles than it is in Ys 1 Chronicles. And Fireball is damn near useless against normal enemies once you get Time Stop.
Excelente review. I want to start with the serie and i'm not sure if start with the Turbografx CD or PSP version.
I know this video is like 4 years old but I beg to differ. The Turbo CD version is a great place to start! I just played through Ys I, having never played any of the series before, and I absolutely dug it. Can’t wait to continue through Ys II
So we defeated Dark Fakk teleported by ancient technology to Ys the Floating and Kingdom, floating city.
I played this on the turboduo when it came out. I got a turboduo on Christmas, and I still have my ys and original turboduo. The game was mind-blowing for its time. At the time it took a while to actually beat ys 1 and 2 because there was no guide. I recommend not using a guide and Play the game like we did years ago. It will feel more rewarding
How in God's name did you beat the two demon heads boss on the PC version? I'm playing on PS Vita (the psp version) and I cannot beat them for the life of me. I am playing on hard but jeez I can't seem to find a chance to hit him without getting hit myself... And I'm scared of the last boss after this video...
Kinda like the turbografx cutscene visuals more than chronicles
I'd love to play the TurboGrafx CD version. Is the TurboGrafx Mini the only legal way to play this version of the game?
Palace of destruction in the background sometimes c:
weird, i always looked at that ys game from the turbo grafx and i thought to myself, that must be a really hardcore rpg, turns out, it went easier on me than any other dragon quest or final fantasy i tried to get into, great series to discover years later
I really liked these 2 games, combat was simple but fun, bosses challenging & rewarding. Last boss in book 2 was super hard tho (well I did play on hard, but still)
I also enjoyed the old school type of story.
Slowly getting into Ys.
Liking it so far.
Still fuck bump combat.
Hey great review! Glad to see folks revisiting this fantastic game. Just wanted to point out that the heal ring mechanics do serve a purpose vs healing outdoors in that you can only equip one ring at a time. If they did not require you to go in and change it, you could run it for free while also using the shield ring or the like - you get the idea. It's strategic. But i get what you are saying about the sometimes tedious nature of it. And yes, we were blown away back in 1990 by this voices, and most of all the music! There was nothing like it at the time, especially with the guitar solos and such - mind blowing!
I heard that if you force V Sync on in the pc port of chronicles to 60 fps, for some reason, dark fact won't throw too many projectiles in your direction, it also doesn't help that my pc uses a gtx 1070.
In short, V Sync on = the same amount of projectiles like in the psp version, and a easier game in general.
V Sync off = HELL.
what About the DS version?
That Chronicles OST sounds Guilty Gear as fuck which is enough for me to want to play it now.
Falcom really stepped up their music quality over the years. The only company I know who takes a soundtrack composed by Yuzo Koshiro and then just straight-up improves on it.
I wish Tehsnakerer would have pointed towards you earlier. In Winter sale of steam I was wondering what "ys" is and why there are so many games and where should I start and what the fuck is this.
You did a great job of explaining why to play this game. I hope installements of the game are getting better or as this good ( for its time). Maybe I'll give it a go then. Having a new game series to follow and adore is something I miss in my gaming life D: most of the game series I like went a path I didn't like (for instance Final Fantasy, Starcraft 2 story, Civs AI, DoW3..)
subbed nice video
Can I ask, which emulator you use?
Mednafen.
What is that bump combat anime clip from?
Falcom Gakuen
I played the turbo gfx version as a kid and spent my whole life arguing that it's The Best
I enjoyed it on the PSP
Hey Aboveup. I love your video but I wanted to make a correction. I know this video is 2 years old and you may not care at this point. In your video at around 10:45 you mention there's nothing to tell you which floor you're on. I wanted to let you know if you go to the status page and hit the select button, it makes a noise and now when you enter the floors or go to a new floor it tells you where you are. Cheers and loved the video!
So Dark Fakk is the final devil of the game who probably used to be an angel has fallen angels turn into demons in the corrupted. Meaning as a former angel.
Looking forward to the review of the best game in the series of course that is Wanderers from Ys for the SNES
Good vids
About the Ys 2 ending, isn't it sad that Feena and Reah don't get what they want for being goddesses?, Reah couldn't stay with Toal in Origin and Feena couldn't stay with Adol because in both cases duty called.
I return more often to Ys 1 solely because I hate Solomon Palace so much. I enjoy the rest of Ys 2 more than Ys 1, but I just hate that one final maze.
I kind to disagree with your points about the introduction of magic breaks Ys II's game play. I remember when I played it back-to-back between I and II, II felt more engaging comparing to I because of the magic system. I think someone else already said and I do agree with him that magic feels fluid and add a lots of depth to the game and I enjoyed it a lot.
Also, I never had problem navigating the dungeon in Ys II even when I didn't use any walkthrough. I think it might be because I'm an old schooler who played lots of kind of this game back in NES era and already used to it. I mean, Ys II dungeons are still much more easier to navigate than the first Metroid or Castlvania II maps by far.
Aside from that, I'm agreed wholeheartedly about your review. I'm really glad to see Ys getting more recognition these days.
dude, turn your voice track volume up
Yeah, my headphones died in the middle of editing this video. With the shitty replacement ones, I almost didn't hear the music while balancing audio levels. On a more decent set, it's overpowering compared to voice. Should've waited until I had my replacement headphones ready.
Shit dude, been there. Good luck, though.
The cutscene of Adol going to Ys is way cooler on the Chronicles version of this game. Thank god they released it on PC.
"BigDongDaddyDom"
Funny thing; when I first played through I and II chronicles on the PSP emulator, I didn't have to rely nearly as much on magic for anything outside of bosses. And with the notice when enemeies are about to attack, they were alot easier to damage and avoid when compared to 1
Huh, I actually almost never used the fireball in Ys 2 except for when it was required for a boss fight, I just found the bump combat to be more fun to use after completing Ys 1, though I do think the magic was well integrated into the combat system.
I'm a new Ys fan and I completely disagree that the PC Engine versions of Ys 1 & 2 are bad for a first impression. Maybe if you are the kind of person that gets upset whenever you encounter any challenge at all then avoid them, but if you've enjoyed any 80s RPGs then Ys 1 and 2 on PC Engine are amazing starting places.
I agree that the focus on fire magic as your primary combat ability in Ys 2 definitely took away from the spirit of the combat set up in 1 although I still think it made it feel more distant than simply an expansion of Ys 1.
Regarding the dungeons, I really enjoyed their labyrinthine design. For me, wandering around Solomon's Shrine and eventually finding my way was the fun of the experience. It's a feature not a bug and it was pretty common for games of the time. If I were to use a map then it would remove all sense of wonder and adventure.
I could never get use to the bump combat in the game.... So I just grinded til I 1 shot things and just ran through the game literally
The PC version isn’t so much a port of a PSP remake, as it is a port of the PSP port of the PC remakes.
There’s a fan theories that the trail series, Ys , Trail of Nayuto, and Tokyo Xanadu and other similar games, made by falcon. Are in the same universe, but are on different planets like thousands of years ago humanity colonized the entire universe.
And humans lived in peace for probably a couple hundred years, until 1000 years ago war broke out between the Angels and other artificial lifeforms created by humanity. Which destroyed the history of pretty much humanity.
And the surviving humans have completely forgotten about their ancestors , except for the artificial angels, some of them, Survived obviously. And we’re worship like Gods like the two angels, that are in the game and the rest of their kind are artificial angels created by humans they went rogue and turn down the creators.
But overtime human started worship them God it’s because well they look like angels , And seems some of these angels ruled over humanity for a while until another war broke out between the Angels and humans. This is mostly just a theory.
God the last dungeon was more of a chore rather than actual fun. There's no way a normal human being to remember where's everything in that place without maps.
You don't need to save, your "status" shows what floor you are on
Yeah i'm surprised after all these years, people still don't know to hit select on the status page to turn on location names when loading to different area's.
Finished Chronicles right now and I totaly disagree about battle system. I only use magic on bosses tho maybe cus I played on easy (also on psp). So I like second game alot more.
9:57,... Uuugghhh. Sorry this shit doesn't work, would rather prefer just text.
"adol get off a boat" well this sounds wrong
Right? And with his memories still intact.
You actually don't have to use fire that much. The combat in 2 changes so it's easier to hit.. You can hit the enemy from an angle while being centered continuously(or any part of the enemy really). The enemy won't be able to hit you at all.
Fire is useful if you're low on health or underpowered or in a corridor you can't angle in.
And mandatory on almost all bosses.
It's also just still a really good game with only like one really BS moment. And like two smaller BS moments.
you sound like derek buck