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Active: 648 users

Ys Origin and Why You Should Play It

Blogs > Spazer
Post a Reply
Spazer
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Canada8031 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-14 23:24:19
January 30 2012 05:17 GMT
#1
[image loading]

Introduction

This game is hands down the best Action RPG I have ever played.

Published by Falcom in 2006, this game is part of their popular Ys series. If you've never heard of this game/series, it's honestly not too surprising - most of Falcom's works are only released in Japan, though some of them have been localized into English by other companies. Personally, I'd never even heard of Falcom until last summer, but their name actually hangs alongside the likes of Square and Enix as one of the most influential figures in the RPG genre.

In the case of Ys Origin, there is no official English release. However, the series is popular enough that it has a complete fan translation.

Story

There are three playable characters in YsO, each with their own storyline/route. The stories in the first two routes are nothing special. However, the third character's story in YsO is amazing. The story itself doesn't have any significant twists, but it is very, very well executed.

Chronologically, the story of YsO is a prequel to the first two entries in the Ys series (Ys I and II), but don't worry - you don't need any prior knowledge to understand what's going on.

Gameplay

This is the area in which YsO really shines.

Each of the three characters in this game has their own unique playstyle. Hugo is a mage, and thus uses ranged attacks. Yunica is a warrior, so her style is centered around melee and speed. And the third character, Thor, is pretty much a more extreme version of Yunica.

As you progress through the game you will find items that bestow grant your character spellcasting abilities. Each character has a total of three spells, and these spells are unique to that particular character. This helps keep all three playthroughs of the game a fresh experience.

The mobs of enemies you encounter in each level aren't particularly noteworthy, but it is worth mentioning that some of them are reasonably difficult to defeat. If you're not careful they can occassionally kill you outright. But the real reason you play a Ys game is for the boss battles.

Boss design in YsO ranges from good to spectacular. Most of the non-humanoid bosses were unique in concept and were pretty fun to fight.



Probably my favorite boss design in YsO


For me, the biggest draw of the boss battles was the difficulty. Most of them are difficult. And it's not "fake" difficulty either. Each boss has a variety of attacks they will execute, and usually, they aren't that great in number. It's pretty easy to recognize them as they come out. In addition, the game controls are very responsive. Thus, whenever you take damage, it is entirely your fault as the player. Heck, even the final boss' OHKO move is telegraphed far in advance and is entirely avoidable. Still, knowing what to do and actually executing it are two very different things. During my playthrough of the game, it sometimes took me dozens of retries before I was able to defeat a given boss, but the feeling of accomplishment I got at the end was well worth the effort.



Kishgal is an asshole


Oh yeah, and you can't heal during boss fights. The game doesn't even let you access the inventory screen during that time. Successfully killing bosses comes down to being able to dodge their attacks and counter during their short periods of vulnerability.

I feel obligated to mention how awesome Thor's playstyle is. He already starts out pretty fast and has sick dps, but his first spell essentially grants him a dash. This dash basically teleports him a short distance away in the direction he's facing, so it's very useful for dodging attacks. Dashing around the battlefield like a madman is incredibly satisfying.

Thor is also the only character to lack any sort of ranged attack. Even Yunica has a spell that gives her a pretty good ranged attack, but Thor has no such spell to fall back on. And since some bosses enjoy spamming projectiles and AoE attacks, this can make life difficult sometimes.

In short, Thor is a baller.



You know you're awesome when your name is Thor


Music

The music in YsO is top notch. Much of it is an interesting blend of violin and synth, but when it comes time to take it up a notch, you can usually count on the electric guitar kicking in.



It's probably best to let the music speak for itself


Visuals

Characters are represented ingame by cartoony looking sprites. The environments themselves are fairly well crafted. The best looking part of the game, however, has to be the special effects. Yunica's phoenix attack in particular is gorgeous.

There are one or two movies shown to you in the game, but they aren't really anything special.

Conclusion

If you're into Action RPGs and enjoy a challenge, I really suggest you try this game out. It is honestly one of the best games I've played recently. In fact, I liked it so much that I'm currently playing Ys I and II to get the continuation of the story (these two games have aged pretty badly, by the way). My current goal is to get to Ys: The Oath in Felghana so I can fight this guy:



Things get scarier when he's at half health


Have fun!

Edit: In the event that you're actually reading this blog months after I first wrote it, Ys Origin and Oath in Felghana are now both for sale on Steam.

*****
Liquipedia
seRapH
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States9756 Posts
January 30 2012 05:20 GMT
#2
Man, I tried to install this game like a year ago but I could never figure out how to get it going. Might give it another shot, since I've only heard good things about this game.
boomer hands
Southlight
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
United States11767 Posts
January 30 2012 05:29 GMT
#3
I can't wait for LoH6SC to get ported so you can finally get over that brutal cliffhanger and understand why it has such a huge fanbase hahah.
oraoraoraoraoraoraoraora
Spazer
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Canada8031 Posts
January 30 2012 05:34 GMT
#4
If you're having issues installing the game, there's instructions on some forums, such as this guide here.

Basically you need to install the original game first (you'll need to change your unicode language to Japanese, or use Applocale). If your version of the game is 1.0, then you need to install the Extra Disc. This raises your version number to 1.1. Installing any further bugfix patches is optional.

After that, you just have to run the English patch, direct it to the yso_win installation folder, and you're done.
Liquipedia
Manifesto7
Profile Blog Joined November 2002
Osaka27148 Posts
January 30 2012 05:45 GMT
#5
Looks great, thanks for the recommendation.
ModeratorGodfather
moopie
Profile Joined July 2009
12605 Posts
January 30 2012 05:47 GMT
#6
Looks ragnarok-ish. Will check it out, thanks.
I'm going to sleep, let me get some of that carpet.
Golgotha
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Korea (South)8418 Posts
January 30 2012 06:04 GMT
#7
this is why i love tl. so many people sharing hidden gems that i would not have found on my own. thank you for sharing.
Fishgle
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
United States2174 Posts
January 30 2012 06:20 GMT
#8
the Ys series has always been so great
aka ChillyGonzalo / GnozL
gds
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
Iceland1391 Posts
January 30 2012 06:21 GMT
#9
Seems interesting, where can i buy it?
Spazer
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Canada8031 Posts
January 30 2012 06:25 GMT
#10
JP Amazon will have it. Groupon was giving out free copies of the game before too. I don't know if they're still doing that.
Liquipedia
Funnytoss
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
Taiwan1471 Posts
January 30 2012 06:56 GMT
#11
If you're looking for other great games from Falcom, I'd recommend the Vantage Master series. You can play Vantage Master 2 for free by getting it from the official Falcom site, though there's no translation of the storyline. They re-released VM1 for the PSP with updated 3d graphics and it's a blast to play. The music is some of the best I've ever seen in a game.
AIV_Funnytoss and sGs.Funnytoss on iCCup
Southlight
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
United States11767 Posts
January 30 2012 15:14 GMT
#12
Falcom music is always great... probably because I think a significant (more than half?) amount of their revenue comes from their music, hahah. Legend of Heroes > VM but I think only one LoH is translated to English :[
oraoraoraoraoraoraoraora
atmuh
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States246 Posts
January 30 2012 15:26 GMT
#13
this is a good post
Alms
Profile Joined April 2011
United States18 Posts
January 30 2012 18:20 GMT
#14
I dread playing this particular title on Nightmare mode. I just don't want to, but I have to...Beat it on hard with Thor and it's like, "Do I really wanna go nuts and beat this on Nightmare?" Got halfway through Felghana on Nightmare. Then the ice dragon boss just wipes me so good. Anyway, Awesome game series, and this particular version in engine form is pretty good.
Vae Victis.
BajaBlood
Profile Joined August 2009
United States205 Posts
January 30 2012 23:44 GMT
#15
Wow, this looks really appealing. Too busy tonight to play it (but not too busy to browse TL apparently...), but I'll definitely check it out sometime soon.

Thanks for sharing - doubt I'd have heard about this otherwise!
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