Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand / Ys V Expert
Ys V Title Screen for the Super Famicom
In 1995, Falcom released Ys V on the Super Famicom and looking at it, it was easy to mistake it as any other 16-bit RPG for the console.
Square's Final Fantasy VI (III in the States) had just come out in '94, and Chrono Trigger had also come out in March of '95. 16-bit RPGs on the SNES had a distinct look to them, no doubt helped by the popularity of two of Square's biggest titles. Secret of Mana had also been released two years prior to Ys V in '93.
Adol faces a very unwelcome greeting.
It would, however, act as a precursor to the gameplay mechanics that would return with Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim. The top down action was back, but “bump combat” would never return.
Players now had to use a button to attack and defend with Adol's shield, similar to the system used in Ys III, but not quite as fast. Adol could also jump up to onto ledges and regenerating health was still a staple as long as he could stand still without getting killed. It was a different approach, but one that would eventually become wildly popular...after quite a bit of polish, such as dropping the need to actually 'use' the shield.
Saying that the system was a little rough is also a matter of how much you either like or hate its gameplay after trying it.
In taking Adol out to grind up outside the first town, slash combat felt slower in comparison to the fighting speed inherent within Ys III and the no-nonsense bumping of Ys IV: Mask of the Sun. But it had one or two things going for it.
Targeting for sword strikes in Ys V felt more deliberate – you have to aim your shots more at the enemy – requiring a little tactical maneuvering as its bump combat had necessitated to get the best angles. It also featured an interesting experience mechanic split between your melee weapon and magic, that the skill you used more often would earn points and eventually improve.
Adol stops in at the local bar
But when taken in comparison to a title such as Secret of Mana whose own sword-based combat felt as if it opened more doors than restricted you into a particular system, it felt as if it was much easier on the player in dealing with. It was also quick. had the benefit of multiple weapons, party members, and a rudimentary AI behavior system to guide their actions. And that was two years before Ys V came onto the scene.
The magic system, once you get it at a certain point in the story, wasn't that fun. Adol can equip magic and to use it, the player has to hold down the R button to charge it up and then can unleash it with the attack button. After doing so, the charge starts to deplete unless you hold down the R button again to cast it again. It's useful as a ranged option to have, but in terms of damage, it's not all that impressive once you arm Adol with decent equipment.
There is also a trading system that was developed for the game. Enemies will drop different types of gemstones that you can trade for cash at different towns and villages and not everyone offers the same rates, leaving it to the player to run about and gobble up gems from killing monsters and then locating their favorite trader.
From a technical perspective, Ys V could appear to be behind the times and still could be fun if you stuck with it, but it was clearly out of its league against similar peers on the SNES if you decided to compare it from that perspective. And it was, as other fans have pointed out, far easier to play through with bosses that didn't quite prove as controller-smashingly hard as the least of Ys' earlier terrors. But at least the music was nice to listen to. The bar music at the start of the game isn't bad and the port tune sounds reminiscent of Nobuo Uematsu's work with Final Fantasy.
Storywise, I'm not too sure myself what was going on since there was no English translation, official or fansubbed, made available for it, although the initial scrolling text is in English to provide a little background. From what else I've been able to scrape together from other sources on the 'net, Adol finds himself on the continent of Afroca where he's drawn into a plot concerning the long lost city of Kefin. Others are busy seeking its ancient legacy as well and Adol eventually finds himself not only fighting the ancient things that still lurk beneath the sands, but the forces that seek Kefin's secrets which apparently include a 500 year old spirit and a girl shut inside a giant crystal.
But one thing that was clear was that fans were unhappy with it. The weak difficulty was one factor and a surprising turn for a series often known for its ruthless bosses. Falcom then released a tougher version of the same game, Ys V Expert, a mere few months later in '96. It's amazing to think that because the game had met with such a harsh reception from fans that Falcom would re-issue the same game with only a slightly higher difficulty, and this was when cartridges were still in vogue in the pre-DLC era for consoles.
Nothing else was really changed other than the fact that monsters hit far harder than they did before, but was it worth buying what was basically the same game twice? I can only guess that some thought it was worth it enough to do so because Falcom is still around.
Ys V for the PS2
Taito would release a PS2 version of the game in 2006 with an entirely new opening, updated graphics, and voice actors. Gameplay resembles that of Ys VI (which came out in 2003) with an isometric, third person view centered on Adol's super-deformed sprite. It doesn't look too bad, but then again, looks can be deceiving.
It's still an Ys title and it's not horribly done (depending on which version you play), but it doesn't quite stand out as much as it could have, either, after seeing what Falcom had treated its fans to before.
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