QCF: Ys Origin

 

The Ys Saga has never really gotten a lot of press in North America, especially with Squaresoft and Enix and later Square-Enix dominating the RPG world for nearly the entire time that Japanese RPGs were popular. In Japan though, Ys has been an extremely popular series on PCs since the first installment showed up on the PC-8801 in 1987. And it's no small wonder, given Ys' super-streamlined game play, enjoyable story with likeable characters and often-hardcore difficulty.

The Adventures of Adol Christian has been a long and cherished one, despite its decidedly niche status. Starting out in North America on the TurboGrafx-16, the series has yet to disappoint me. Fast forward to the present and wouldn't you know it, Ys is still going pretty strong, with Ys Origin, the very latest North American offering in this criminally under-appreciated series, released on Steam from XSEED games. But what's this? No Adol? No exotic vistas? No puzzling riddles or any of the iconic Books of Ys? Well to understand why, you have to understand exactly what Ys Origin is all about. Ys Origin is technically the seventh title in the series, originally released in 2006 on Windows PC in Japan as a prequel to the entire Ys mythos, set 700 years before the events of Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished.

 

But despite the change of face, this is definitely an Ys game, through and through. For those that have played Ys: The Oath in Felghana on either the PSP or via the recent Steam incarnation, you'll be right at home here. But even new players will be able to attack this game and feel like a bad ass while the do it. 

Just like in Oath, Origin is delightfully streamlined, nixing the need to equip curative items and buffs by simply making all stat boosts and healing drops from enemies. This keeps the action flowing at all times, and guarantees that there's never a dull moment. Even the game engine is snappy and moves at a fine clip with no real graphical flaws to speak of. Even low spec PC laptops can handle this game handily. 

 

Speaking of flow, I initially felt that the game taking place exclusively in the Tower of Darm might be a detriment, but in fact, the game progression is smooth and reminiscent of Tatarus in Persona 3; players purify statues of the Goddess which allows for speedy transit between floors quickly and efficiently. These statues are also used to increase the player's stats using collected SP, including faster recover times and increased movement speed.

As far as presentation goes, Ys Origin definitely follows in its predecessors' footsteps, despite its lack of familiar faces. Ys Origin focuses on the adventures of Yunica Tovah, Hugo Fact and later, Thor Fact in the Tower of Darm. Each of these characters are there for different reasons, and the story progression is different for each as a result. This lends itself to a legitimate form of replay value, especially since Thor needs to be unlocked. The achievements definitely help. The visuals are clean and clear, with great 2D sprite work and some impressive 3D bosses. Add to that a very strong soundtrack, and the presentation is a winner.

But Ys Origins isn't without its problems. At under four hours, each play through is incredibly short. The overall difficulty also lends itself to this; completing the game on the Normal Setting should be no problem at all. There is still the option to play the game on Nightmare mode though.

There are also going to be times where the control will be a bit too slippery to do what you want to do efficiently. I used a USB Saturn pad to play this game, and while it worked well for most of the game, there were a few instances where the movement wasn't quite precise enough to consistently attack particular enemies or a certain boss' weak spot on a few occasions. 

One more tiny gripe: While the soundtrack is very strong, one piece borders on pr0n-esque while another is lifted directy from the first Ys game. Again, otherwise excellent.

In closing, Ys Origin is a fun, solid experience that keeps the player engaged and streamlines the Action RPG experience like the best Ys titles have for decades. But is is worth $20.00? In short, yes. Origin adds a lot to the Ys mythos and serves as a real change of pace that the series almost needed. There's a lot of replay with the alternate characters, and additional modes and difficulties add to an already good package. Hopefully we'll see Adol again in a future installment, but until then, Ys Origin fills the need for more Ys very well. 

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Four out of Five Hadokens