Ys for PC

[BuckTwenty]

Reading through the "my first Ys" thread and a few others, I've noticed a lot of people here have played the PC versions of Ys.

I, as you may have surmised, never have. How do they control (with the mouse, keyboard, gamepad)? Do they have a bunch of weird fan created mods or anything? Would, for example, my American Windows Vista (I know, I know) laptop be able to run/install them relatively painlessly?

I suppose this thread could also be used to just talk about the PC versions in general as well.

[nunuu]

I, as you may have surmised, never have. How do they control (with the mouse, keyboard, gamepad)? Do they have a bunch of weird fan created mods or anything? Would, for example, my American Windows Vista (I know, I know) laptop be able to run/install them relatively painlessly?

I think the oldest PC version of Ys I didn't support the gamepad. I can't recall though since it's been years since I've played it (and too lazy to check the manual right now).

But indeed! You can use mouse + keyboard, keyboard only, or gamepad! :D And yes, it will run on US Windows but you'll see nothing but moon runes unless you install the East Asian language pack (and probably change the system language to display Japanese text) or have AppLocale. (Edit derp, I used Vista for a VERY short time so I'm not sure the additional language pack is required or if AppLocale works on it.)

Falcom has released Vista versions of their Ys games, I believe, so Win version compatibility in that sense shouldn't be an issue. If you choose to work with the XP ones then some tweaking might be needed to get them to run smoothly.

As for fan created mods ... Well, there have been certainly fan translations! I think all of them have English translations except Ys ETERNAL, Ys II ETERNAL, and Ys Origin. The ETERNALs have been succeeded by the Complete versions which have an English patch. But, as you may already know, Ys I & II Complete was re-released as Ys I & II Chronicles on the PSP and published by XSEED Games. :D

And last I've heard, the patch for Origin is still in the works~~

[BuckTwenty]

I think the oldest PC version of Ys I didn't support the gamepad. I can't recall though since it's been years since I've played it (and too lazy to check the manual right now).

But indeed! You can use mouse + keyboard, keyboard only, or gamepad! And yes, it will run on US Windows but you'll see nothing but moon runes unless you install the East Asian language pack (and probably change the system language to display Japanese text) or have AppLocale. (Edit derp, I used Vista for a VERY short time so I'm not sure the additional language pack is required or if AppLocale works on it.)

Falcom has released Vista versions of their Ys games, I believe, so Win version compatibility in that sense shouldn't be an issue. If you choose to work with the XP ones then some tweaking might be needed to get them to run smoothly.

Well that's good. I was worried I'd have to do some serious tweaking/troubleshooting to get the games to run.

As for fan created mods ... Well, there have been certainly fan translations! I think all of them have English translations except Ys ETERNAL, Ys II ETERNAL, and Ys Origin. The ETERNALs have been succeeded by the Complete versions which have an English patch. But, as you may already know, Ys I & II Complete was re-released as Ys I & II Chronicles on the PSP and published by XSEED Games.

Haha yeah. Picked up Ys 1 & II Chronicles just a few days ago. As soon as I wrap up SEVEN I'll be popping that one in for sure.

And last I've heard, the patch for Origin is still in the works~~

Is Origin any good? Not that it matters a whole ton for me, as I don't really have any desire of playing an Ys game not in English, but when it does come out... It might be the first one I import if I have the funds.

[Wyrdwad]

Ys Origin is QUITE good, and is... quite an outlier in the series, to be sure.

For one, it's the only Ys game where Adol is NOT the protagonist, since it takes place 700 years before Ys I.

Instead, you get to choose whether to play as Yunica Tovah or Hugo Fact (or, if you beat the game with both of them, a mysterious third character initially known only as "The Claw"). Yunica plays almost exactly like Adol from Oath in Felghana (except she wields axes instead of swords, and has a thunder ability instead of an earth ability, but they're functionally very similar), while Hugo plays like... the Vic Viper from Gradius. Seriously, he's like a human shmup avatar, complete with "options," and his special abilities are things like bubbles he can use to glide, or landmines. If I had to pick a character he most reminded me of gameplay-wise, it would be Mishera from Ys Seven -- but Hugo's a lot faster.

The thing that really makes Ys Origin unique, though, is its setting. The ENTIRE GAME takes place in Darm Tower. There are no towns, and there's no overworld. It's basically a linear arcade-style platformer, with bosses and cutscenes interspersed in the middle and at the end of each level -- with each "level" being a 3-4 floor chunk of the tower with a specific theme (the fire section, the water section, the desert section, the poisonous plant section, etc.). And it's fun to hypothesize what actually *happened* to all that fire, water, sand and poison in the 700 years between Ys Origin and Ys I... because seriously, what DID happen to it all?!

Because of its linear structure, I like to say that Oath in Felghana is to the Symphony of the Night-era Castlevania games as Ys Origin is to the old-school Castlevania games. Creepy vibe, great platforming, insane bosses, and awesome level designs abound.

The bosses are particularly notable, and even people who dislike the game tend to consider them among the best in the entire series:



See what I mean? (:

Despite the game's linearity, too, it probably has the most fleshed-out story and the most well-developed characters of any Ys game -- and having three different protagonists gives it a unique bit of replay value, as each of them experience the story slightly differently (it's got a bit of a Rashomon vibe that way).

Good game, overall.

EDIT: While I'm posting videos, I might as well share the opening, since everyone knows Ys series opening movies kick serious bacon!



Not my favorite opening in terms of visuals, but the opening theme song -- Genesis Beyond the Beginning -- has earned its place in the echelon of top-tier JDK Band tracks and become a real fan favorite.

-Tom

[brightsuzaku]

You mentioned Vic Viper from Gradius. You mentioned that Hugo Fact is like a SHMUP AVATAR.

At least he's already on 5 Speed Ups, because that's the only thing I can complain about bare-bones Vic Viper.

Either way, you're making me drooool. And that is a AWESOME boss fight. AafbjdakDsssshhhh~

[BuckTwenty]

Well then I suppose I'm a true Ys fan because now I'm lamenting the lack of one of the titles (Ys Origin) in English. :P

Seriously, thanks though. The game looks fantastic... Sure would be nice if Falcom would port it to an American console. Since the game apparently plays a lot like Oath in Felghana (according to Wikipedia, anyway), I wonder if they'd port it to the PSP?

I suppose I should look into importing this. I've never imported a PC game before... Guess there's a first time for everything!

[Wyrdwad]

Falcom actually makes it (kind of) easy, as they allow for overseas importing directly from their own online shop -- though it's all kind of shady, in that it has to be done through email. Still, I've done it over a dozen times before, and never had any problem. The worst part is the shipping, which is insanely expensive -- but if you buy a whole hell of a lot of stuff in one go, it becomes proportionally less of an issue.

I'll be happy to give you the necessary info, if you're interested in trying this. Though we're hoping to undertake a Falcom PC project sooner or later, so who knows? Maybe Ys Origin will be looming somewhere in our future. (:

(Actually, I'm a bit more partial to Xanadu Next, Zwei II and Dinosaur: Resurrection, as PC-exclusive Falcom titles go -- but I sure wouldn't say no to working on Ys Origin, either!)

-Tom

[BuckTwenty]

Email, huh? That does seem shady... But I am interested. I will keep your offer in mind and when funds become available (recently purchased all three PSP Ys games, you see - a bit low on cash at the moment haha), I'll send you a PM, if that's okay.

And I don't even know anything about any of Falcom's other series. I mean, I have Faxanadu, but haven't really played it. But that's for another thread altogether :P

[Wyrdwad]

Interestingly, Faxanadu isn't really a Falcom game... not ENTIRELY, anyway. It was developed by Hudson, who licensed the Xanadu name from Falcom and created the "Famicom Xanadu" = Faxanadu. Like every other Hudson-developed Falcom product, though, it has a LOT of that "Falcom feel" to it -- of all the third party companies who've ever worked on Falcom's stuff, Hudson definitely "got" them the best, as games like Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys prove.

Anyway, we ARE drifting off-topic here... but if you ever do play and enjoy Faxanadu, I'd recommend also checking out Xanadu Next. While Xanadu Next is more of a "proper" Xanadu game, having been developed by Falcom themselves, it actually looks and feels a lot like you might expect from a modern 3D take on Faxanadu, more than anything else. It's probably my favorite of Falcom's PC releases (and Nunuu's LEAST favorite, famously!), and the one I'm most pushing to work on if we ever do make the jump to Falcom's PC catalogue, as not only do I consider it a fantastic game, I also think it has a lot of marketability here due to its heavily western-inspired visuals, graphical fidelity, dark undertones, deep gameplay and -- of course -- the Faxanadu connection. (:

-Tom

[BuckTwenty]

I Googled Xanadu Next and saw it was released for the N-Gage. wtf?!

Anyway to get back to the topic... I don't really know how this stuff works for you guys, but let's say you did get to make the jump to Falcom's PC catalog - does that mean you'd be releasing PC games then? Or do you have the manpower to do a port to a console? I'm really naive when it comes to this stuff.