This is my first Ys game. I reviewed it back in 2012 or so, but reviewed it before I finished the game which just didn't feel right to me. After seven years I finally went back and finished it, so now I'm taking another crack at reviewing it. It's an old game, so did it hold up after all this time?

Putting it simply: Yes. It's good. The combat is fast and satisfying; the combo system encourages you to be as aggressive as possible to earn the most XP. The game very rarely slows down to force you through any long boring segments (except for the unskippable cutscenes). The RPG elements are light and almost seem like they don't affect anything at certain points, but leveling up a few times and breezing through earlier parts of the game where you previously struggled feels really satisfying.

Come for the gameplay, stay for the music. There really are some nice jams in this game, especially in the mines and outside Redmont. It's a mix-mash of classical music, techno, and metal that sounds bizarre on paper, but actually ends up being really catchy. None of the songs in the game ever felt annoying, and I even found myself humming a few tunes when I wasn't playing the game.

It has its downsides, but they're not even that bad. The story is basically only there to move the game along and the level design is painfully simple and linear. Bosses have massive difficulty spikes compared to the rest of the game, but even then, they aren't unbeatable. I think the difficulty spikes are fine though, they're exist to remind you to actually focus instead of just mindlessly slashing through the rest of the game.

One issue worth knowing isn't with the game itself, but with the port. It's a good port, gives plenty of options for resolution, controls, etc. But since the game is so old, it may be slightly incompatible with newer versions of Windows. At times, the graphics bugged out really badly and I couldn't continue playing, but I was able to circumvent this by playing the game in DirectX 8 mode instead which worked just fine and didn't have an issue with for the rest of the game.

Overall, it's a good game. It's still worth playing today if you want a break from other games in the ARPG genre or haven't played the other Ys games. If the sequels are even remotely comparable to this one, then I'm sure they'll be just as good if not better.

This is my first Ys game. I reviewed it back in 2012 or so, but reviewed it before I finished the game which just didn't feel right to me. After seven years I finally went back and finished it, so now I'm taking another crack at reviewing it. It's an old game, so did it hold up after all this time? Putting it simply: Yes. It's good. The combat is fast and satisfying; the combo system encourages you to be as aggressive as possible to earn the most XP. The game very rarely slows down to force you through any long boring segments (except for the unskippable cutscenes). The RPG elements are light and almost seem like they don't affect anything at certain points, but leveling up a few times and breezing through earlier parts of the game where you previously struggled feels really satisfying. Come for the gameplay, stay for the music. There really are some nice jams in this game, especially in the mines and outside Redmont. It's a mix-mash of classical music, techno, and metal that sounds bizarre on paper, but actually ends up being really catchy. None of the songs in the game ever felt annoying, and I even found myself humming a few tunes when I wasn't playing the game. It has its downsides, but they're not even that bad. The story is basically only there to move the game along and the level design is painfully simple and linear. Bosses have massive difficulty spikes compared to the rest of the game, but even then, they aren't unbeatable. I think the difficulty spikes are fine though, they're exist to remind you to actually focus instead of just mindlessly slashing through the rest of the game. One issue worth knowing isn't with the game itself, but with the port. It's a good port, gives plenty of options for resolution, controls, etc. But since the game is so old, it may be slightly incompatible with newer versions of Windows. At times, the graphics bugged out really badly and I couldn't continue playing, but I was able to circumvent this by playing the game in DirectX 8 mode instead which worked just fine and didn't have an issue with for the rest of the game. Overall, it's a good game. It's still worth playing today if you want a break from other games in the ARPG genre or haven't played the other Ys games. If the sequels are even remotely comparable to this one, then I'm sure they'll be just as good if not better.