April Community Playthrough - Ys Books I & II

[bombatomba]

Finally got to pick up the game again after a week of downtime.  I only have four words to describe:

Spoiler (hover to show)

I hate mantis boss

[bombatomba]

Finally got to pick up the game again after a week of downtime.  I only have four words to describe:

Spoiler (hover to show)

I hate mantis boss

Nm.  Just beat him.  Leveled to 24 and figured it out while I was doing that.

I never want to hear the Darm Tower music again in my life.

I don't know.  I'm really starting to enjoy the ripping synth solos.

[bombatomba]

Finished Book 1.  Will hopefully start out Book 2 tonight or tomorrow.

[Addicted]

Finished! I'm glad these games were part of a RFGEN Playthrough.

[MaterialHandlerMike]

Just finished Book I. Immediately started Book II then saved, to take a small break.

[singlebanana]

Finished! I'm glad these games were part of a RFGEN Playthrough.

Thanks!  I'm really impressed with the participation this month and thought this was a good suggestion months ago. Congrats on finishing!

[Ikariniku]

I've been wanting to chime in for a while, but I keep tripping over my praise for Ys (Book) 1 on Famicom.  I could ramble on and on about how good a game Ys is, but it's already a known classic.  I've never played another version, much less one of the "definitive" ones, so I can't make comparisons.

What I can say is that I wish this game had come out in America.  I would much rather the hours I poured into Dragon Warrior be spent with Ys instead.  The games mostly stack up evenly in terms of graphics, music, and design.  What makes the difference to me is that I don't have to beat my head against the turn-based grinding wall.  While there is grinding in Ys, it is a joy because it involves skill.  How you hit an enemy is important, and it makes the difference between victory and defeat.  Much better than some random dice roll deep in the game's programming bowels.

I think Ys could have been a pivotal game for me in my youth if it had come out in America, and that's something I don't feel all that often as I play through old games.

One last note, there are a few things I want to call out specifically.  I like how your character sprite actually equips its sword and shield as you do.  That helped me figure out that I hadn't, in fact, equipped those things after buying them.  I also really like the designs of the enemy sprites.  There's a lot of detail and personality jammed into a small grid of pixels.

I'm super happy I jumped on board to give this a try.

[singlebanana]

What I can say is that I wish this game had come out in America.  I would much rather the hours I poured into Dragon Warrior be spent with Ys instead.  The games mostly stack up evenly in terms of graphics, music, and design.  What makes the difference to me is that I don't have to beat my head against the turn-based grinding wall.  While there is grinding in Ys, it is a joy because it involves skill.  How you hit an enemy is important, and it makes the difference between victory and defeat.  Much better than some random dice roll deep in the game's programming bowels.

While I agree that I would have loved to see this come to North America, I can't say that I would have rather played this game as opposed to pouring hours into Dragon Warrior.  I enjoy both of these games for different reasons and Dragon Warrior seems to be closer to the pen and paper D&D experiences that I was having around the time it came out.  I feel that even though you are bashing into enemies in Ys and it certainly is more skill-based, there is still an element of "dice rolling" in terms of how much damage you cause.  Perhaps I'm more of a traditionalist, but I enjoy using healing items and resting at inns/hospitals more than just standing their and letting my health increase.  It just seems a bit more "realistic," if that's possible. 

I think you bring up a great point about Ys in that it is definitely a game for the older, busier gamer or a younger, more impatient one.  You can play through it in a very short amount of time (I think each book is 6-8 hours), and there is very little grinding that you have to do.  I guess that's probably more preferable to some, but I can definitely appreciate both. 

[Addicted]

As nanners stated I see Dragon Warrior as more of a D & D campaign that focuses more on stats and numbers while Y's is more of a story centric action game with a small amount of  RPG elements. Both games are great for different reasons and I'm ready to start Ys III as soon as I can.

With Y's I found that as long as I hit the enemies (non bosses) off center I was able to make quick work of them.

[SirPsycho]

When I first started playing Ys II I kept getting lost once you go underground. Now that I've had a near year long break from it I keep getting lost in the cave.

[douglie007]

I am having a problem finding the statute for the Volume Fact and Iron ore underground.  I guess its time to find a map

[Disposed Hero]

I think you find the Volume Fact by going through the basement of one of the villager's houses.

[Addicted]

I'm working my way thought the DS version. I'm not liking it as much but it's still a fun game.

[singlebanana]

I think you find the Volume Fact by going through the basement of one of the villager's houses.

This is correct. You will need a certain item from the caves to "jingle" to access the basement.

[MetalFRO]

I'm behind the 8-ball, having just completed the boss in Rastin Mine and ready to make my way to Darm Tower.  HOLY COW is the "bat" boss hard!  There's such a minuscule window to hit him when he takes form, and it's so easy to take damage when he begins to separate again.  I think that battle took me some 25 or 30 tries