Ys: The Vanished Omen - Retroview

Review Breakdown
Battle System	9
Interface	9
Music & Sound	10
Originality	10
Story	2
Localization	N/A
Replay Value	4
Visuals	8
Difficulty	Medium
Completion Time	5-10 Hours
Overall
"You want a pYs of me?"

   Late in the 80s, Nihon Falcom began a little RPG series known as Ys (which rhymes with “geese”), which would span innumerable video game consoles and have several remakes; only the first few games in the series saw the light of day in America. Supposedly, the series began as a clone of Zelda, but as you’ll see, this game plays *nothing* like any of the titles in that series. Although the Sega Master System version of this game was released in America, this review is of the Famicom version (never released in the States), pretty much the same except for better overworld graphics yet lower quality stills.

   Anyway, the Ys games are action RPGs, so naturally, they feature real-time battle systems. Rather than being traditional hack-and-slash, however, the first title bears an innovative system of attacking your enemies. There is no attack button in this game, and rather than slashing your foes, you must charge into them either from the sides or from behind, since doing so directly, especially at low levels and with weak equipment, can really kill your character, unless he does so when the enemy is half a square up or down. If your strength and defense are too low, you won’t do any damage to your enemies, signifying the need for a higher level or better weapons and armor, the latter of higher priority since having a powerful weapon means nothing if your defenses are weak. While this system may sound a bit confusing, it can really make regular enemy battles go by quickly, especially if your levels and equipment are good enough, although boss battles require far more thought and skill.

   While Ys is a game where you will die *a lot*, the title thankfully allows you to save your game anywhere. Furthermore, while weapons and armor can seem at first to be quite expensive, money definitely won’t burden you during the latter parts of the game, and you most certainly can’t buy the best equipment in any store. There’s a traditional experience system, too, although your levels are capped at 24, which can burden you a little late into the title. In addition, you can only hold one Heal Potion at a time, so if you’re careless in boss fights, you’re screwed. As for everywhere else, there’s the Heal Ring, which gradually recovers your HP and can definitely serve you well in dungeons, although there are many points throughout the game where you don’t even need the tool for gradual recovery. Moreover, the dungeons are labyrinthine and challenging to explore, and don’t be surprised to find yourself lost for a good while.

   Moving on, Ys has excellent, catchy music, worthy of the Dragon Warriors (before the seventh one), where the composer certainly rises to the level of Kôichi Sugiyama (that series’ composer). The graphics, too, nearly rise to the 8-bit standards established by the first Phantasy Star, although the character stills you see in buildings are rather blotchy; still, everywhere else, the environments are simply gorgeous. A minor distraction, though, is that your character, rather than staying centered on the screen, must stray near the edges to scroll the screen, sometimes screwing you over a little when you accidentally bump into enemies, which also tend to hide under narrow arches or passageways in dungeons.

PolYsing the town.

   Next up, Ys is quite a short game that you could probably beat in a day. There aren’t any sidequests or mini-games, as was the case with most old RPGs, so replayability is naturally low, although its short time doesn’t totally bar you from going through again just for the heck of it.

   Finally, the story. It’s all mostly background, and is rather difficult to find throughout the title, especially given that you’re instantly forced into the game after starting a new game, playing a warrior named Adol Christian who must recover the six Books of Ys while finding many relics and defeating many foes along the way. It’s pretty much like most other classic RPGs, except that it’s totally devoid of any depth or explanation of the story. Heck, even Dragon Warrior had a lot more background, for Pete’s sake.

   Overall, the first Ys was an excellent start for the series, with short yet sweet and solid gameplay, one that I heavily recommend to anyone, and if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to find a Sega Master System and cartridge of the game. For the rest of us, there’s a complete translation available for the Famicom version.