Figured I'd set aside a space to discuss Ys Origin, since one of the things I've been noticing since yesterday's announcement is that people who aren't familiar with this game tend to know virtually nothing at all about it.
And that cannot stand!
So I'm going to start by covering a few of the basics, and let you guys ask questions or contribute further information from there.
For starters, Ys Origin is NOT a remake of Ys I & II. It's a prequel to the whole series. May seem obvious to some... but I've encountered a few people who seem to be under the impression that it's just another version of Ys I & II, so I wanted to be very clear that it's not. It's an original title -- an Ys 0, if you will.
The basic game engine it uses is the same as Ys: The Oath in Felghana (and Ys: The Ark of Napishtim before that), but further balanced and improved. Since the game takes place 700 years before Ys I, you're obviously not controlling Adol this time (though he is available to play, in both his Napishtim and Felghana forms, via an optional "arena mode"), but rather one of three playable characters chosen at the start of the game. Yunica Tovah is a descendant of Priest Tovah, one of the Six Priests of Ys who played a prominent role in Ys I & II's story (and likewise, she's an ancestor to Ys I's Jeba Tovah); Hugo Fact is a descendant of Priest Fact (and likewise an ancestor to Ys I's Dark Fact); and the third playable character is a mysterious figure who's initially known simply as "The Claw."
Yunica plays most similarly to Adol in Felghana, but wields an axe rather than a sword. She also has a lightning ability instead of Adol's earth ability, though her wind and fire skills are both largely the same (albeit more well-balanced -- the wind skill isn't quite as overpowered as it was in Felghana, whereas the fire skill is significantly MORE powerful).
Hugo plays most similarly to Mishera in Ys Seven, shooting bolts of magic at enemies. He has Gradius-like "options" that hover at his shoulders, known as the "Eyes of Fact," which kind of help make playing as him feel somewhat like you're playing an Ys shmup, or an Ys/Contra hybrid.His wind ability puts a protective shield around him which also serves to make him float after jumping; his lightning ability allows him to drop trap mines that explode on a timed delay; and his fire ability turns his options into spinning fireballs of death. Hugo also gets MORE options/Eyes of Fact when he boosts.
And finally, The Claw plays... a little bit like Elk from Ys Seven, but significantly more badass.
Ys Origin also adds a special ability to the mix called "Burst," which is kind of like double-boost in Felghana PSP, but much more destructive.
The setting of Ys Origin is quite unique compared to other titles in the series. There's no overworld this time, and no towns. The entire game takes place inside Darm Tower -- but Darm Tower is a lot different than it was in Ys I. This time around, it's split into various "tiers," each of which is themed. There's a water tier, a fire tier, a desert tier, etc. Although each tier contains hidden areas and has certain limited exploration elements to it, the game is overall a lot more linear than other Ys titles, and virtually every tier contains both a miniboss somewhere in the middle and a big boss at the very end. As such, the game feels a bit more "arcade-y" than other Ys games, and reminds me a bit of an old-school Castlevania title. If Ys Seven is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Oath in Felghana is Super Metroid, then Ys Origin is kind of like Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. (:
Story and characters play a BIG role in Ys Origin -- much more so than in any other Ys game, I'd say. The story is deep and involving, and the cast of characters is enormous and extremely well-developed. Fans of the Goddesses from Ys I & II in particular have a lot to look forward to, as they're very much at the center of Ys Origin's story -- and Reah, especially, gets quite a lot of much-needed development (in Ys I & II, it seemed like Feena stole the show, but here, Reah definitely gets the spotlight).
The story also changes quite a bit depending on which character you play as. At first, you're only able to pick Yunica or Hugo, but after beating the game with both, you're able to play as The Claw and see the "true" ending. Surprisingly, Ys Origin's three different storylines, while similar, are mutually exclusive -- the game's got a bit of a "Rashomon" vibe in this sense, where rather than three sides of the same story, you get three different interpretations of the same story, perhaps representing how each character remembered it happening.
The basic premise of the story, in its simplest terms, is as follows:
The land of Ys was being invaded by demons, so everyone evacuated to Bagyu Ba'dead, near the Shrine of Solomon, and the Goddesses and Priests worked to raise that area into the sky. The demons built a tower to try and climb up into the heavens in pursuit, but stopped before the construction was finished.
Some time passed. One day, the two Goddesses were found missing, and presumed to have ventured back down to the surface for reasons unknown. And worst of all, they'd taken the Black Pearl with them -- the source of magic, and also the source of evil. The Six Priests convened, and formed a search party of knights and sorcerers to be magicked down to the surface, in hopes of finding the Goddesses before anything happened to them or the Pearl.
As the search party descended, however, a beam of magic fired from the summit of the tower interrupted the spell, scattering all the knights and sorcerers. Yunica, a knight, and Hugo, a sorcerer, both happened to land near a Roda Tree (Yunica by the elder, Hugo by the younger), and learned by speaking with their respective trees that the Goddesses had ventured into the tower just a short while ago.
And so, the search began. Arriving independently at Darm Tower, Yunica and Hugo both began climbing it, searching floor by floor for any sign of Feena, Reah or the Black Pearl, and attempting to piece together the mystery of why they'd come back to the surface in the first place.
...Whew, this is getting pretty long now! But before I post this massive write-up, here's a little taste of some of the music that awaits you in Ys Origin. Because, as per usual... the soundtrack to this game is outstanding, with "Silent Desert" standing tall as one of its most beloved tracks:
The main boss theme, "Scars of the Divine Wing," is also quite popular amongst Ys fans:
And finally, here be the game's highly-celebrated opening theme, "Genesis Beyond the Beginning" -- along with the opening itself:
Enjoy, and I hope you're all greatly looking forward to playing this unique Ys title in a few months.
-Tom
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. Who knows, Falcom has done surprises in the past.
I blame other expenses for not playing it until now.
Originally Posted by Chaosblade
