Ys - Celceta, Sea of Trees (Ys IV) announced for Vita

[Wyrdwad]

Yeah, I'm going to disagree with you, Chaosblade -- as far as I'm concerned, the in-game art for the Ys IV Vita characters (and Nayuta characters, for that matter) is a return to form for Falcom, as I've not been too fond of the art styles used in their last few games prior to those. In all honesty, I think the in-game Ys IV Vita art is their best Ys art since Felghana in 2005. Origin's art just felt too flat and samey to me, and Seven's was good, but a bit too "wavey" for my tastes -- not enough straight or perfectly curved lines, and not enough symmetry. Same thing with Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki.

The calendar art is good, but the in-game art is significantly better IMHO.

I'm not sure if Ys IV Vita is going to have jumping or not, but I suspect it will. I just hope it also has configurable controls, as Nayuta no Kiseki does not -- you're stuck with what you've got at the start.

-Tom

[Shizuka]

Have you gotten your Nayuta copy, Tom? How is the game?

[AweOfShe]

BTW, love your Carna avatar and banner. The new redesign makes her look downright hot, or at least as hot as an anime character can look.

I definitely fell in love with the redesign. Tends to happen every time I get into an Ys game though. No matter what the role a Falcom heroine plays, their designs always end up very classy.

[Wyrdwad]

Have you gotten your Nayuta copy, Tom? How is the game?

I have, and I've put about 10 hours into it so far.

My first impressions... actually weren't very good. The writing has a lot of really blatant unnecessary exposition and a few pretty glaring plot holes, and Nayuta is just about the blandest main character ever. In addition, you're constantly being interrupted by lengthy cutscenes that really break the flow of gameplay, there are loads of unnecessary tutorials, there's a weird visual filter that covers the screen with some kind of mesh (presumably to make it look less pixilated, but it's very distracting until you get used to it)... and as mentioned, there's no way to reassign buttons, so you're stuck with O = attack, square = magic, like it or not.

I kept at it, though, because when I *was* able to play an actual stage (which felt like it took FOREVER to get to!), it was super-fun. And as time went on, the quality of the writing improved significantly, the story got more interesting, the ratio of gameplay to cutscene balanced out a lot better and the gameplay itself just got steadily more awesome.

At present, I've passed the "This is disappointing" stage, and entered the "Now that's more like it!" stage. The game feels like a proper successor to Gurumin and Zwei II, with a lot of Ys Seven influences as well. I still have a few complaints with it, and I feel Zwei II did a better job overall with this same formula... and I still don't care for Nayuta as a protagonist... but the platforming in this game is extraordinarily satisfying, the controls are fluid as can be (once you get used to using O for attack and square for magic, anyway), the level designs are absolutely perfect and the game's set pieces and soundtrack are top-notch all the way around (I've already decided that this is the best soundtrack in the whole Kiseki series!).

All in all, it has its flaws (especially during the first few hours), and the story is surprisingly tame and cliched for a game that was touted as being a "story ARPG"... but in the end, I'm really enjoying it. I think anyone who played and enjoyed Gurumin, Zwei II and/or Ys Seven would absolutely enjoy Nayuta no Kiseki, without question. Just get through the slump in the beginning, and you'll be addicted in no time.

(As an aside, though, I can't see how this game relates to any other Kiseki title *at all* so far. It really does feel more like Zwei III or Gurumin II than a Kiseki game. The only references to the main series that I've encountered so far are mira as a form of currency, and selge as a unit of measurement. Literally, that's it!)

-Tom

[Peytral]

(As an aside, though, I can't see how this game relates to any other Kiseki title *at all* so far. It really does feel more like Zwei III or Gurumin II than a Kiseki game. The only references to the main series that I've encountered so far are mira as a form of currency, and selge as a unit of measurement. Literally, that's it!)

Just wait until you hear a certain track in the game.

Also, IMO, the in-game art for Seven was really mediocre. I just couldn't bring myself to care for it that much. It was so bland.

[Wyrdwad]

Yeah, I'm with you. Seems most people really, really liked it... and I thought it was a step up from Ys Origin's art, and different enough from Trails' to be intriguing... but overall, I just found it kind of meh.

-Tom

[Chaosblade]

Seven's was okay, I didn't really find it great like some people. I don't remember much of the character art from Ark, but I remember it being alright. I didn't really care for Origin's. Oath was better than all of those, and the artwork in Chronicles from Complete was good too.

I don't know what it is about the art from Celceta that doesn't mesh well with me. I guess it's the shaded "modern anime" look. I'm not into anime in the first place, but I think the older artwork when it was drawn or done with cells or whatever (I don't know anything about this stuff!) looks a lot better most of the time.

[in before avatar comment/quote]

[Wyrdwad]

Heh. I've always maintained that Ys V's art is my favorite in the series, and I stand by that:



Felghana and Napishtim are tied for second, I'd say. With the new Ys IV Vita tying with the old Ys IV art in a very, VERY close third... then Complete, then Chronicles.

And... all the other art from the series is stuff I'm pretty indifferent toward. Except Ys Origin's, which I really don't like very much outside of the main characters.

-Tom

[Adrian-kun]

...you're constantly being interrupted by lengthy cutscenes that really break the flow of gameplay, there are loads of unnecessary tutorials...

-Tom

Some people see that as a positive aspect. That's how RPGs are meant to be anyway. Most of them start out slowly and awkwardly only to become something precious by the time the credits roll

...once you get used to using O for attack and square for magic, anyway...

-Tom

That's how it is with ALL Japanese games made for Sony's consoles. O is the primary button for interaction just as the A button is the primary button for all Nintendo games.
I still have no idea why Sony is actively forcing Western developers to change the button layout. It should be noted that Final Fantasy VII uses the O button for confirmation. Sure, you're also allowed to change that if you so desire.

[Chaosblade]

I just think uncustomizable control schemes are terrible in general. I don't care if I'm fine with the default, that's something that you should always be able to change.

And O for attack + Square for magic does sound pretty terrible if you're going to use magic very often. Especially if it has chargeable magic like the Ys games, that would require some kind of reverse-claw grip to charge magic while attacking.