Ys II - "What's All Ys, Then?"

Japanese role-playing games - or JRPGs to their friends - are perhaps one of the most inaccessible genres to the uninitiated. The most common crime they commit is enforced grinding, as players have to circle a patch of tall grass or forest or "world map", fighting the same creatures over and over until characters in their party are sufficiently levelled up to take on a boss. Then there's the minute-to-minute tedium of the gameplay, which even in the more complex JRPGs often boils down to selecting "attack" from a menu every time. And of course there's the time investment, which can stretch to 50, 100, even 200 hours or more - this becomes a more crucial metric the more your age and the size of your Steam library goes up.

Behind these off-putting elements - some of which it could be argued are central to the experience of playing a JRPG - there can be a lot of value, depending on the quality of the game in question. Persona 4 Golden is my personal Best Game Ever, and I could ramble on for quite some time about a fair few Final Fantasy's. It makes me feel a bit sad that the above issues could (very reasonably) put someone off ever delving into the genre.

If there was ever an entry-point, a catalyst for more interest in games that many find so impenetrable, I believe it is Ys Chronicles. This Steam bundle contains the first two games of a long-running series that has seen endless rereleases, remakes and enhanced reimaginings. I finished them in a total of 18 hours. There are no random encounters. The combat is real-time and could not be played while sleeping. Grinding is almost entirely unnecessary. What's more, Ys and Ys II are exceptional games and they do far more than just stand the test of time. They're easily some of the best 2D games I've ever played, and I want to let you know why you should check them out.

Let's confront the elephant in this review: I'm reviewing the second Ys game, not the first. Given how strongly I feel about it, I probably should have written something when I played and beat Ys two years ago, but I didn't. Rather than attempt to review them both here, which would probably be a mite long-winded, let's just say right now that pretty much everything I say about Ys II goes for Ys I. They're largely similar games: in my opinion, the slight changes made for the sequel grant it superior status, but the factors that make it outstanding are all present in the original. Both games are worth your time.

Nondescript JRPG village, check.

Not to belabour that point, but the story in Ys II leads directly on from the events of the first game. In fact, if Wikipedia is to be believed, both games were originally planned as a single narrative. To summarise Ys I in a few words: a red-haired guy with a sword, name of Adol Christin, is a stranger in a foreign land, and his quest is to save a beautiful anime lady, and later the world, from the clutches of evil demons. In Ys II, the same dude turns up in a different foreign land, and his quest is to save a different beautiful anime lady, and... I think you get it. I've simplified the plot details a touch in aid of the hilarious point I just made - this isn't literally a retelling of the first game, but it ticks a lot of the same boxes. It's pretty standard Japanese fantasy, and compared to, say, Chrono Trigger and various Final Fantasy games, it's a good one of those that carves its own little niche. Ultimately though, the story is perhaps the weakest string to this game's bow; it does the job, but it's a little predictable.

Fire level, check.

Let's get to the good stuff. Right next to "story" on that bow would be "dialogue". One thing that continually came to mind while playing Ys was that the localisation team deserves a medal for its work. There is not a smidge of awkward or accidentally humorous translation present in Ys. What's more, the dialogue is often genuinely funny - as with most JRPGs, a decent chunk of the game is spent just talking to NPCs, and the quality of the script makes those moments engaging and worthwhile. The characters might be as cliché as the story, but the way they're written conveys a sense of self-awareness, which helps liven up with a bit of comedy what might otherwise have been a very straight-faced fantasy tale. As mentioned earlier, there have been many versions of these games - the original 80s PC game is barely recognizable compared to the game I played. From what I can gather, Ys Chronicles is most closely related to a late 90s enhanced remake for Windows and the Sega Saturn. No matter the standards of translation in earlier versions, in this one they're top notch. At one point I actually spotted a line that referenced something Fat Bastard said in an Austin Powers movie, so there's really no debating the era of its translation or its sky-high brilliance.

Ice level, check.
Head-butting a goat, check.

It's time I explained the combat in Ys. Aside from talking to passers-by, this is the main activity in the game and it is, to my knowledge, unique in its design. There is no battle screen transition, no turn-based strategy - Adol's tactic is simply to charge straight into an enemy and butt heads with them like a billy goat. From a classic "sort-of-top-down" perspective, Adol holds his sword out in front of him, and attacks enemies by running into them, bouncing back a step, rinse and repeat. A head-on attack will cause damage to Adol, so the player's objective is to hit the enemy off-centre, or (in Ys II) diagonally. If you think that sounds a bit comical, you'd be right. It's also easy to pick up and, most importantly, fast-paced. Bizarrely, it's quite reminiscent of DOOM - Adol runs through the environment very quickly, giving this feeling of just barely being in control of him while he stabs and bounces off monsters. The RPG mechanics are relatively basic - health, attack and defence stats increase as you level up, and before you know it a demon that took ten seconds to defeat is cut into giblets instantly. That's right - whenever Adol kills a bad guy they burst into several pieces. This main method of combat is very satisfying if not overly challenging - in fact, it's a bit of a premonition of the power fantasy so prevalent in AAA games that came along after (this version of!) Ys.

DOOM reference, check.

Adol also has a magical fire attack, although it isn't really necessary for run-of-the-mill enemies. Most bosses, however, do not obey the billy goat laws of the universe and will damage Adol if he runs into them. Spitting fire at them is the only way forward, and these encounters occasionally resemble bullet hell shooters. One or two boss fights can be especially difficult to get through, the frustration of which admittedly punctures my argument that this is an accessible entrance into the world of JRPGs. I will counter simply with this: finally defeating the tougher bosses in Ys is almost indescribably euphoric. Also, for the most part they don't take too long once you know the trick to each fight; there is no shame in using another magic power known as "Google".

While we're on the topic of magic, it's used for more than just violence in Ys II, and one of the most intriguing spells is known as "Alter". Once acquired, this allows Adol to transform into a cute, joey-kangaroo type of creature that can speak to enemies, as if they were just another villager with a mundane life story they're so desperate to tell. This plays a significant part in how impressive the script is: every enemy also has a line of dialogue, and some of the best lines are delivered by monsters. The further you get into the game, the darker this insight into your enemies becomes, with demons saying, "Adol has been on a rampage recently" or, "Watch out - a lot of my friends died here recently." This is not just a fun side attraction, either - in several places the only way to advance the story is to chat with your enemies. It's wonderfully macabre and self-aware, as well as yet another inventive tweak to the JRPG formula, and it really makes this game stand out.

If you've read any of my blog posts before, you may have picked up on the fact that I really appreciate good music in games. I can't emphasise this enough: the music in Ys transforms a remarkable experience into an outstanding one. Your mileage may differ based on how highly you regard power ballads, but try some of these on for size:

Sweet music, check.

Check.

CHECK.

These songs stuck in my brain long after I stopped playing, and I never got tired of them. Combined with some glorious 2D art, it makes for a very enjoyable audiovisual time.

There are few criticisms I can honestly think of for Ys II. The aforementioned boss difficulty might put off some players, but it's a "tough but fair" challenge - you have a better chance with each attempt, because it is skill-based, not random. Certain levels are quite labyrinthine, which some may find disagreeable. But the movement speed, the ease with which you can dispatch enemies, and the great music reduces the frustration of backtracking, and the game is short enough that you most likely won't spend too much time in one environment,

Can this game turn a JRPG-sceptic into a JRPG-believer? Hard to say. But I am confident that such a person would have a great time in the land of Ys, and even more happy, of course, to recommend this to someone familiar with the likes of Final Fantasy. The gameplay is unique, quick-footed, and inherently fun. The music is to die for. The story is... a little on the nose, but nevertheless has some strong moments and a willingness to poke fun at the "good and evil" dichotomy of its fantasy world. These games have been around a long time, and undergone some massive changes over the years; the story of Ys's evolution would make an interesting story itself. But they're not just a noteworthy chapter of gaming history - these are truly excellent games and they are absolutely worthy of your time.

Final Score: 10/10