Is this the first game in this series? Controller support?

[ZugzwangGroo]

Hell all! I would like to play the games in order, and was wondering what it was:) Also, would a wireless 360 controller work for this game?:) Thanks in afvance,
Groo

[Jigramunt]

I can only help you about the controller thing seeing as how i don't know the chronological order of the game.I used the 360 controlle and it works perfect,actually it's highly recommended over keyboard

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

This game is first in setting order -- it takes place about 700 years before the events of Ys I.

In release date order, it is rather recent -- Ys I came out back in the 1980s, but Ys O (one could say Ys 0, haha), came out only a few years ago.

[Scorned Beef]

This is a prequel to Ys 1&2 Chronicles. I'd recommend starting with Ys: The Oath in Felghana (which is a remake of Ys III) or Ys 1 & 2 Chronicles. Although 1 & 2 use the old 'bump' combat system where you walk into enemies at the right angle to attack. It's more fun than it sounds, but the story in Origin is directly related only to the story in Ys 1 & 2. After that the games are relatively episodic for the most part.

Origin relies somewhat on fanboy/girl factor as the characters in it are not the main characters from the numbered Ys titles. They are ancestors of characters in Ys 1 & 2.

If you want to play the games in release order then go with the 1 & 2 Chronicles because that's where the series really started. They are nice remakes of the original games, but they are retro top down games. If that turns you off then Oath in Felghana is a great place to start.

The xbox 360 controller works fine, although you have to set the bindings yourself. There are no tooltips in game for controller buttons.

[Aifread]

While each game in the series can be enjoyed on its own, there are a number of connections between them that you might miss if you haven't played other games in the series before. Here are the games in chronological order and the other games that they reference without spoilers:

Ys Origin has obvious connections to Ys I & II. There are so many that you'd be missing out on a lot of the enjoyment of Origin if you never played I & II. It also has a nod to Ys VI.
[EDIT] It's a bit more than a nod to Ys VI. Knowledge of Ys IV also helps a lot.

Ys I & II (the same game, really). This is where it all started and if you want to enjoy the story of the series you can't go wrong by starting here. Just note that many modern gamers dislike the puzzle elements and old-school combat system.

Ys IV/Ys: Memories of Celceta. Originally taking place immediately after the events of Ys II, this is where a lot of backstory comes into play that relates to Ys V and VI.

Ys III/Ys: The Oath in Felghana. Ys III was originally a sidestory (thus the name, "Wanderers from Ys"), so there isn't much connection to the rest of the series. Felghana added a connection to Ys VI, tying it in to the rest of the series. This is the game I recommend starting with, as the connection to the series is minimal and the combat isn't as dated as I & II.

Ys V. Not a lot of people have played this game, myself included. From what I understand, it relies somewhat on things that are explained in Ys IV.

Ys VI. Holy cow, this game has a lot of references to the rest of the series. It's the first entry after a long hiatus and it pretty much ties the whole series together (particularly Ys III/Felghana). Characters from Ys I and Ys V make a return, and you can just give up understanding any of the big bad's final speech if you're not familiar with Ys IV.

Ys Seven. This game takes place a mere six months after the events of Ys VI, but even so it doesn't contain a whole lot of content that would make a newcomer lost. As far as I know, only one character from Ys VI returns. Another good starting point.

The long and short of it is I would recommend Felghana to get you into the series, since it is one of the best and doesn't require much background knowledge of the rest of the series. Seven is another option. If either of those catches your interest, try Ys I & II and then Origin. I can only recommend VI for the story after you've played IV/Celceta. V is generally seen as the black sheep of the series for gameplay issues and is the next on the chopping block for Falcom to remake.

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

FYI if you're dying to play Ys V, a fan-translation patch of the SNES version finally came out recently. (I have not tried it so I don't know how good it is.)