Ancient Ys Vanished (Ys I and II)

Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished Omen on the Master System

When Nihon Falcom put together Ys I, they probably didn't know just how far Adol Christin's adventures would take him and everyone that followed them.

Both Ys I & II introduced us to Adol the Red, otherwise known as Adol Christin; the always-in-trouble protagonist that would survive countless adventures, gigantic bosses, and dark dungeons from one end of his world to the next.

As Atlus recounts his history in Legacy of Ys' manual, as a child, he hears the story of Ys, a legendary kingdom renowned for the prosperity of its people, the wisdom of its six priests, and the benevolence of the twin goddesses that watched over it. But, a great cataclysm strikes the fantastic civilization, the nature of which had been lost to time, and Ys disappeared into legend. It would inspire the young man to travel the world and at the age of 16, he set out to discover for himself if there were any truth to the stories.

Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished Omen NES screen

During one of these travels, he overhears the the story of Esteria, an island renowned for its silver exports that had suddenly become cut off from the mainland thanks to a mysterious storm. Curious to see the island for himself, he would brave the rough seas only to wash up on Esteria's shores barely alive...but no less ready to take on his first real adventure.

Ys I covers the first half of the story to the game and Ys II finishes it, although both were initially released almost a year apart. Ys I also focused more on combat while Ys II would introduce the first elements of the magic system that would become part of the series which would also go through as many tweaks as its base gameplay. It also felt much larger than the first game which comes off as more of a warm up to what this would bring to the table.

Ys I (Wii Virtual Console port)

The game is played from a top down perspective and the basic interface required the player only to bump into enemies in order to attack them. Unlike its closest contemprorary on the Famicom (the NES in the West), Nintendo's Legend of Zelda, players didn't need to actually "use" a sword to beat enemies with because of the demolition derby that Adol would play with his enemies instead.

Was it weird? For me, yes it was. It felt counterintuitive to feel like a linebacker or a hockey player in having to check my enemies when being like Errol Flynn made more sense especially after playing the series' later titles. But, after tinkering with it for a bit more, it grew on me. In its own strange way, it worked better than I had first thought it would.

There was no button to press to swing a sword or stomp on foes. Though it sounds easy, there's actually some strategy involved – hitting enemies head on was a sure way to get killed quickly early in the game. Maneuvering behind foes or “bumping” them from the sides or from angles would yield the best results. Against bosses using unique attack styles, jousting in between thrown bolts of magic for that hit and then running back out again required a steady set of fingers and a decent amount of patience.

Adol did have regenerating health outside of dungeons while standing still, although he could rely on items to restore it when he was in an area that restricted it such as during a boss fight. Even then, he was extremely limited by how many of each item he could actually carry. Magic introduced with Ys II and added a new dimension to his attacks, especially in dealing with the bosses in the game. As for the music, the legendary Yuzo Koshiro's talents would be responsible for the original tracks that would later be embellished and improved with their remakes.

The first game in the series debuted in 1987 on NEC's PC-8801 (more commonly known as the PC-88) in Japan and was ported to a variety of systems including the Sega Master System which would also lead to a North American release, giant clamshell case and all.

It's sequel would come out a year later, although it would grace the North America as part of the Ys I & II compilation for the TG-16 CD in 1990 which, thanks to the new medium, features a bombastic introductory sequence with enhanced music...music which was actually not arranged by Yuzo Koshiro, but by Ryo Yonemitsu who is himself a legend. According to Sega-16, it has been Falcom's practice to credit the sound programmers versus the composers, so as a result, it's listed as the work of Falcom Sound Team JDK.

Since the first game's debut in 1987, both would lend themselves to what will later become a Nihon Falcom tradition with the series: the remake. And not just one remake. Both of these would become part and parcel to multi-remakes over the next twenty or so years. Obsessive perfectionists? Or simply fanservice taken to another level?

As the hardware improved, so did the production values. In 1998, Ys Eternal, a remake of Ys I, was released in Japan for PCs and took advantage of the hardware with sharper graphics, a greater palette of colors, better music, and a lavish introductory sequence. Although the core gameplay remained the same along with the number of dungeons, the presentation gave the series a major facelift. In 2000, Ys II would be released as Ys II Eternal with the same changes.

Legacy of Ys: Book II on the Nintendo DS

Both games would again be re-released as Ys I & II Complete for Japanese PCs in 2001 with a few more visual tweaks such as brightening touches to the anime artwork for each character, more details added to the store graphics, and a few more enhancements turning it into what some might call the definitive remake of both games. It should also be noted that anime director, Makoto Shinkai, had also been working with Falcom until 2000 and influences of his artistic style can be seen within the cinematic introductions created for the Eternal editions and carried over into the Complete compilation.

Ys Eternal Story, which is both Ys I and II, was based on the work done for the PC version of Complete and released only for the PS2 in Japan in 2001.

Later releases, such as the Legacy of Ys: Books I & II for the Nintendo DS and Ys I & II Chronicles for the PSP, would be largely based on the work applied to the PC Complete versions. However, according to Atlus, the Nintendo DS release of Legacy boasts a slightly expanded and revised story over that found in the TG-16 release.

The use of the DS' stylus was also added in, although I wished that you could use the D-pad instead to steer Adol around. You can, but in doing so, you have to get Adol to manually attack his enemies with a little button mashing which is ironic for a mode that calls itself "Normal". It's understandable at this point why this mode was offered: Atlus didn't want to frustrate newcomers to the series that might not quite "get" the original method.

The other mode, which uses the stylus, is much closer to the original's bump combat as you used it to drag Adol into his foes. It wasn't perfect and could be a bit cumbersome to deal with, but it managed to get the job done. It would have been nice if the D-pad could have been used instead, but at least Atlus' port had wisely kept the bump combat an option instead of removing it entirely because of a fear that it might alienate players.

Additional links:

• Jeff Davis, Gaming Intelligence Agency's Ys I & II Retrospective (mirror)
• Official Atlus site for Legacy of Ys Books I & II
  

Legacy of Ys: Book I on the Nintendo DS