Ys (video game)

From Free net encyclopedia

Ys (IPA: Template:IPA; Japanese: Template:Lang īsu) is a Japanese-origin computer role-playing game series, and Nihon Falcom's flagship franchise. It started on the NEC PC-8801 in 1987. It was later released to the MSX2, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, SNES, PC, PlayStation 2, and cellular phone. The title is often incorrectly spelled "Y's", which arises from a typographical error in the packaging of the English-language versions of the Sega Master System port of Ys I.

The Ys series chronicles the adventures of Adol Christin, a red-haired young man with a zest for adventure and an uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time. Gameplay always revolves around Adol, though his comrade, Dogi, is a frequent companion in the story. Adol is the only truly playable character in the series. Feena was a non-controllable companion in Ys Eternal, and Tarf was set up similarly in Ys II ETERNAL. Several characters follow Adol around briefly in Ys IV. The standard gameplay mechanisms only involve the control motion pad to fight, like pushing the enemy until dead. Those gameplay mechanisms were done away with by the game's fifth installment, Ys V: Kefin, The Lost City of Sand. Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim graphically departed from its predecessors, using three-dimensional graphics, but the gameplay is distinctly old-school in style. Ys: The Oath in Felghana is presented in the same graphical style as Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim.

Contents

[edit]

List of Ys games

NOTE: This list is highly incomplete!


NOTE: Ys: The Oath in Felghana is not technically a new game in the series, but is rather a heavily "re-imagined" remake of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, intended largely to make the game's events fit in better with the overarching plot threads introduced in later games. Therefore, Ys: The Oath in Felghana is considered canon, whereas the original Ys III: Wanderers from Ys is no longer considered canon.



  • Ys I and Ys II has been released together several times, namely:
    • 12/21/1989, PC Engine CD-ROM (Japan)
      • XX/XX/1990, Turbo Grafx CD-ROM (North American version of PC Engine game)
      • XX/XX/1992, as a pack-in game for TTi's TurboDuo console. This was a re-pressing of the TurboGrafx-CD version, but with new silk-screening on the CD-ROM (i.e. the TG-CD logo was replaced by the new "TurboDuo" logo, among other changes).
    • 06/28/2001, Ys I-II COMPLETE Limited Edition
    • 08/07/2003, PlayStation 2 (Ys ETERNAL STORY Limited Edition)
    • 08/07/2003, PlayStation 2 (Ys ETERNAL STORY)
    • 12/21/2005, Ys I-II COMPLETE Cheap Edition
[edit]

Series Chronology

According to the chronology of the fictional universe that the Ys series is set in, the correct order is:

  • Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished
  • Ys II: The Final Chapter
  • Ys IV: Mask of the Sun
  • Ys III: Wanderers from Ys
  • Ys V: Kefin, The Lost City of Sand
  • Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim

To clarify, at the beginning of Ys IV: Mask of the Sun, Adol and Dogi are returning to Minea for the first time since leaving after Ys II: The Final Chapter, and Dogi states "it's been two years since we left." The epilogue of the game depicts the events just before Adol and Dogi arrive in Felghana at the beginning of Ys: The Oath in Felghana. Also, at the beginning of Ys: The Oath in Felghana, the opening crawl states that three years have passed since Adol saved the land of Ys from the clutches of evil.

The PC Engine game; YsIV: The Dawn of Ys is not part of the Ys timeline.

[edit]

Characters

  • Adol Christin: The red-haired swordsman who is the protagonist of the Ys series. He was born in a small village near Promarock. His first adventure begins when he departs for Esteria from that port town. He has an uncanny knack for being at or arriving to the right place at the right time. He also has the curious habit of falling into the sea, and washing up on beaches, being rescued and nursed back to health by each game's female lead.
  • Dogi: Adol's best friend. He is taller than Adol and has blue hair. A former thief who worked as part of Goban's Robin Hood-esque group. His most outstanding trait is his incredible strength (and a consequent penchant for knocking down walls with his bare hands to break Adol out of prison), which is offset by his kind heart, deep loyalty, and frequently goofy demeanor.
  • Feena: Appears in the first two installments of the Ys series and in the PC Engine version of Ys IV. One of the two Goddesses of Ys and in love with Adol.
  • Reah (sometimes romanized as "Leah" or "Lair"): Appears in the first two installments of the Ys series and in the PC Engine version of Ys IV. The second Goddess.
  • Sarah Toba: A fortune teller who plays a critical role in Ys 1. Her fate changes depending on which version of the game you play. She reappears in Dawn of Ys but not in any other game.
  • Goban Toba: Leader of the thief's guild, and protector of the door to Darm Tower in Ys I. He is also Sarah's cousin.
  • Slaghf: Appears in Ys 1, and is the leader of the militia in Port Barbado. He finds Adol washed up on the shore. Slaghf is also the son of Buldo, the village elder.
  • Luther Gemma: A descendant of the Priest Gemma and a man prone to sleepwalking. He first appears in Ys I but reappears in II and IV.
  • Raba: An old historian first encountered exploring Darm Tower in Ys I. He appears again in Ys VI, studying the ancient civilization of the Canaan Islands. He also mentions studying the ancient ruins of Celceta.
  • Jevah Toba: Aunt of Sarah and mother of Goban, plays a crucial role in Ys I as the translator of the Books of Ys for Adol. Also takes care of Feena before she recovers her memory.
  • Dark Fact: A fallen descendant of one of the Priests of Ys and holder of the final Book, he is the final antagonist of Ys I.
  • Lilia: A girl who finds Adol when he arrives at the lost land of Ys in Ys II and brings him back to Lance Village. She plays a reasonably major role in the remainder of the game. She also appears in both versions of Ys IV. She is very much in love with Adol and in the non-canonical Dawn of Ys the two actually get married.
  • Dalles: An evil wizard and servant of Darm, he causes Adol a great deal of trouble before he finally dies. In the OVA he appears in the events of Ys I as well.
  • Darm: A demonic creature born from the corruption of the Black Pearl.
  • Chester Stoddart: The 'White Knight', older brother of Elena and an antagonist in Oath in Felghana. He is a descendant of Genos and his actions conceal a hidden motive.
  • Elena Stoddart: Chester Stoddart's younger sister. She was raised by Chester, and plays a major role in Oath in Felghana.
  • Edgar: Mayor and elder of the town of Redmont in Ys 3.
  • Lord McGuire: Known in some versions as Lord McGaya. He is the lord of Valestein Castle in the land of Felghana in Ys III. His misguided actions play a major role in the events of that game. Oath in Felghana changes his character into a Romun overseer, one of many ways the game tied Ys III more closely into the story of the other games.
  • Galbalan: A monster who terrorized Felghana in the distant past before being sealed up by Genos. He is later reawakened only to be stopped by Adol and Chester. Oath in Felghana ties this monster into the plot of Ark of Napishtim and has Galbalan's dialogue mention 'The Black Ark'.
  • Karna: A female fighter from Celceta who befriends Adol and helps him out from time to time. In Dawn of Ys she actually fights alongside you for a while.
  • Leeza: Appears in Ys IV, and lives in Celceta. Cares deeply for Eldeel and wants to know why he has become evil.
  • Lemnos: A young man from Karna's village, transformed into a monster by Bammy. After Adol defeats him, he returns to normal.
  • Duren: An information broker (in other words, a spy) who you first meet in a Romun prison.
  • Bammy: One of the three elite Romun mages sent to Celceta to seek the power of the ancient city. She has a habit of transforming people into monsters.
  • Gadis: Another Romun elite, a giant of a man who wields a massive axe.
  • Guruda: Leader of the Romun elite in Celceta. Adol's dark opposite, he wields both sword and magic with skill.
  • Eldeel: Last of an ancient race of winged humanoids. Formerly a kind creature, by the time of Ys IV he has become evil.
  • Niena: A girl from Sandoria (also spelled Xandria) and a key element to the story of Ys V.
  • Effey
  • Stein
  • Foresta
  • Massea
  • Stoker
  • Terra: First appeared in Ys V, showing up with the Ibur Gang to cause trouble, and later appeared in Ys VI three years older with a crush on Adol. As an item of note, she is the first character to appear in more than one game whose first appearance was NOT in Ys I or II.
  • Alga
  • Ladoc: Terra's father and captain of a pirate ship. He takes Adol and Dogi to Canaan in Ys VI.
  • Ord: Chief of the Rhedan Tribe. Initially distrustful of Eresians, he comes to accept them after Adol repeatedly demonstrates his goodness. He gives Adol the first of the three Emelas swords.
  • Isha: The younger sister of Olha and one of the lead females in Ys VI. Has the gift of foresight and the power of the Rhedan priestesses who safeguard Alma. Captured by Ernst near the end, but saved by Adol.
  • Olha: The older sister of Isha and another lead female in Ys VI. Current priestess of the Rheda who live in the Canaan Islands. She was captured by the Romun empire for her powers, but was saved by Adol.
  • Geis: Appears in Ys VI as a dark-haired, intimidating mercenary. The younger brother of Ernst and a descendant of the humans who stole from the gods. Tries to protect the Canaan islands from the Ark of Napishtim (a entity that controls the world's weather and keeps the surrounding currents intact), but fails. Like Adol he is a wanderer, though he is 'not too proud' to work as a mercenary to earn money.
  • Ernst: The older brother of Geis and main villain in Ys VI. A corrupt Romun commander who tried to force the island's inhabitants into slavery. He also tried to control the Ark of Napishtim, a weather controlling device deep under the Canaan Islands. Has three fairies to do his bidding: Jue Brilante, Xisa Livart, and Sera Erricil. He is the wielder of the stolen sword Almarion.
[edit]

Geography

Unlike most games of its kind, the world of Ys is actually a fictionalized version of Earth, with countries being given alternate names, listed as follows:

There are some places without direct geographical counterparts, but their equivalent locations are as follows:

  • Altago: A city on the northernmost tip of what would be Tunisia (most likely Carthage).
  • Canaan: An archipelago of three islands out to the west, which serves as an analogue to the Bermuda Triangle. It is where Ys VI takes place.
  • Celceta: A land at the northern border between Ispani and Gria. Its map location places it most likely close to San Sebastian in Spain. This is where both iterations of Ys IV take place.
  • Xandria: A city in what would be Egypt (most likely Alexandria). It and its surroundings are the location of the events in Ys V. Sometimes written as 'Sandria'.
  • Promalock: A port town on the northern coast of Gria. The maps are not identical, but it is probably meant to be geographically close to where La Rochelle is.
  • Esteria: A small island out to the northwest of Promalock. The Japanese spelling is Esterior. It is the location of Ys itself (once it returs to earth), and is where the first game take place.
  • Ys: A land floating above the clouds, it once was part of Esteria and at the conclusion of Ys II it returns there.
  • Ediz: A city on the southernmost tip of Ispani (most likely Cadiz). The only involvement that this location has had in the games, is that it is the Ediz ports where Adol and Dogi were when the Romun soldiers came looking for them, just before they were taken into hiding by Ladoc and Terra (Ys VI).
  • Barecia: Most likely the equivalent of Barcelona, but it is in Gria rather than Ispani, since the border between the two is not the same as the real-world borders. Like Ediz, it has not been mentioned in a game, but is on the world map.
  • Steldum: A city on the north coast of Garman. Geographically, it is probably the equivalent of Hamburg. It has also not yet been mentioned in-game.

Many locations on the map are according to the Romun Empire. Many of the names according to the Romun on the map for the games are, in fact, much closer to those spelled on the maps charted by those from our Ancient Rome.

[edit]

Release Notes

Image:Ys1com1.gif The Ys series has its roots in the Japanese computer system, the PC-8801. Each of the first three games was released on that platform firss. Ports of the games to other platforms have usually been handled by various other licensee companies, such as Hudson Soft, Tonkin House and Konami, to name a few.

When it came time for the fourth game in the series, there were only two versions released, and Falcom licensed both versions out, the Super Famicom version to Tonkin House (who had handled the port for YsIII), and the PC Engine version to Hudson (who had ported all three previous games to that platform). They allowed Hudson to take considerable liberties with the game, though, and as a result, the two games are very different. They share the same setting, cast and much of the basic plot, but the actual structure of the story plays out in a completely different manner, as do the game's levels themselves.

Image:Ys2com1.gif

The Super Famicom version, titled Mask of the Sun, is the official continuation of the series. The PC Engine version is called The Dawn of Ys and takes several different turns, plot-wise, including some significant inconsistencies with the canonical storyline. For this reason, The Dawn of Ys is essentially an "alternate universe" take on the events in Celceta. A PS2 remake of Mask of the Sun was released in May 2005.

When Falcom released Ys V, it came out on only a single platform: the Super Famicom. As a late-generation 16-bit title, it made impressive use of color and the console's sound chip, but it received a lukewarm reception from critics and fans alike, partially due to the liberties it took with the gameplay (namely, giving Adol a jump and making him swing his sword. It was also extremely easy. In response to this, Falcom soon put out Ys V Expert, which was exactly what it claimed: a much harder version of the game. A PS2 remake of Ys V by Taito was released March 30, 2006 in Japan.

After this, the series sat dormant for eight years, during which time, Falcom abandoned console development altogether, choosing instead to focus on the Microsoft Windows platform. Out of nowhere, they announced a new game in the series, entitled Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, which was released on September 27th, 2003. It took what Ys V had done and refined it, turning it into a very fast-paced action-RPG, which was generally well-received.

In early 2005, a new title in the series was announced, this one titled Ys: The Oath in Felghana, which is a top-to-bottom "re-imagining" of Ys III, covering the same plot as the original, but expanding on it greatly. In spite of how much has changed, it is not "Ys VII." It was released on June 30th, 2005.

A spinoff game called Ys Strategy was released on March 16, 2006 in Japan. Unlike the rest of the series, this game is a real-time strategy game instead of an action-RPG.

[edit]

English Releases

For a very long time, only the first three Ys games were available in North America:

  • Ys: Ancient Ys Vanished - (Sega Master System, AppleIIGS and DOS versions)
  • Ys Book I & II - (Turbo Grafx-16 CD-ROM, a single release combining the first two games in the series);
  • Ys III: Wanderers From Ys - (Sega Genesis, SNES, and Turbo Grafx-16 CD-ROM versions);

...but the original PC-8801, PC-9801, X1 and MSX2 versions remain exclusive to Japan.

  • Ys COMPLETE and YsII COMPLETE for Windows PCs have been fully hacked and translated by NightWolve and Deuce.
  • Ys IV: Mask of the Sun for the Super Famicom has been fully translated by the Aeon Genesis Translation Project. A script revision is forthcoming.
  • Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys for the PC Engine has a 100% text translation patch completed by NightWolve and Deuce. A dub for the voices was being worked on, but all progress on it has halted indefinitely.
  • Ys V: Kefin, The Lost City of Sand is also being worked on by Aeon Genesis, but progress is stalled, pending a full script dump.

Konami released Ys VI: Ark of Napishtim on PS2 and PSP worldwide (and dropped the "VI" from the title in the process). This marked the first official English release of a game in the series in over twelve years.

At one point, NEC Interchannel proposed bringing Digicube's Ys ETERNAL STORY to North America, but the idea was rejected by Sony, commonly thought to be because of their prevailing attitude toward the viability of 2D games in the North American market; but as more small profile 2D games have been released in the PS2's lifespan the decision was more likely due to numerous technical issues with the port itself including: long load-times (even for a PS2 game), frequent lock-ups, resolution flickering during menu or screen transitions and an abnormally large save file, clocking in at 1MB (1/8th of a memory card) whereas most, and much more complex RPGs average 100-200KB is size. Many of these problems are associated with the game being quickly ported and released as Digicube was partially going out of business.

[edit]

Animation

The Ys series has an eleven episode OVA series split into two parts. The first is a retelling of Ys I while the second covers the events of Ys II. The series changes a few events from the games but is a relatively good adaptation of the games. The OVA has been released in English in single discs and in a compilation boxset titled Ys Legacy.

[edit]

Ys' Music and Impact

Ys, especially Ys Book I and II in its various incarnations and remakes, are known throughout the industry for its groundbreaking melodic soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro, Mieko Ishikawa and Hideya Nagata, who were among the first video game musicians to move beyond blips and bleeps to create movie-like memorable soundtracks in video games. The composers' work has been remixed for each subsequent re-release of Ys I and II, but most memorably was remixed by Japanese computer musician Ryo Yonemitsu for Hudsonsoft's Ys I and II, and Ys III: Wanderers from Ys releases for the PC Engine CD-ROM. Combining Yuzo's composition and Ryo's arragement abilities, this arrangement found itself introducing video gamers, for the first time, to video game soundtracks that can stand on their own as full orchestral pieces of music. Consequently, the Ys series is seen in the video game music industry as groundbreaking, as demonstrated by a never-ending series of music CDs based on the series' music, with almost infinite variations on its themes. Even Final Fantasy does not have as many musical CDs in circulation over time.

[edit]

External links

fr:Ys (jeu vidéo)

Retrieved from "http://www.netipedia.com/index.php/Ys_%28video_game%29"