Questions about the series

[Sabi]

I am interested in getting into the Ys Series, but first, I have a few questions. First of all, is there a certain story between all the games? like should I play Ys orgins before Ys 1 and II and then Ys: The Oath in Felghana? Or can I really just play anyone in any order? Secondly, are there any more games in the series other than the 3 on steam? and if there are, how do they fit into the story? Next, does anyone know if these games are going on sale any time soon? I wouldn't want to waste money. Lastly, how good are these games really? worth all the money the series costs?

[DerXello]

1. The order is:
Ys Origin (700 years before the story of Adol)
Ys 1&2
Ys 3: Wanderers from Ys(Playstation 2, 2005) / Ys: The Oath in Felghana (PC Remake)
Ys 4: Mask of the Sun (Playstation 2, 2005) / Ys 4: The Dawn of Ys (old Pc Version, 1994) / Ys: Foliage Ocean in Celceta (Remake for Playstation VIta, 2012)
Ys 5: Kefin, The Lost City of Sand (Playstation 2, 2006)
Ys 6: The Ark of Mapishtim (PC, 2003 / Playstation 2, 2005 / PSP, 2006)
Ys Seven (PSP, 2012 , but xSeed Games is working on an EU Release of the PSP version)

Before Ys Seven was started the story after Ys 6 should be told in a Online MMORPG named Ys Online: The Call of Solum but was shut down while the Open Beta in EU (Jan. 2009 - Now. 2009). The Japan Version of the MMORPG was shuted down in early 2011.

The Problem is that the most Games are not released in EU/NA and if Wikipedia is right only Ys 6 is released in EU/NA.

I think Falcom will or is working on Remakes of the older Parts 5 and 6 and maybe on an 8 Part but i never played Ys 7 so i didnt know if the story will end there, but it doesnt seems like it.

I really really hope xSeed is going to release Ys 4,5 and 6 on Steam too, cause i love the Story and the Gameplay, BUT the problem is that until there are no PC Remakes in Japan or somewhere else there will be no posibility to put them on Steam.
We surely have to wait some months/years until we can expect some new Ys Games on Steam.

2. There IS an certain story between all the games listed and released.

3. Noone of us is working here so we can not know when there is a Sale on this games. But i think if there will be a Summer Sale again all 3 games should be on sale.
Ys: The Oath in Felghana was on Sale in Feb. 2013 i think.

After i played Ys Origin (and bought Ys 3 on Sale) some times i wanted to know how the Story goes on so i bought Ys 1&2 for the full price ;)

[Fastolph]

It seems also worth mentioning that if you want to skip Ys 1&2 for whatever reason (I did because I played it on DS and it wasn't really entertaining) but still want to know about the story, there's an (very old) Anime adaptation which covers those episodes.

But the Steam version seems much more playable that the DS one, so this shouldn't be an issue anymore.

[Sabi]

thanks man! I remember hearing about other games but I wasn't sure. another thing, so I can play The Oath in Felghana instead of Ys 3 and still get the same story? As you can see I really like to know about a games story and chronological order.

[Korzic]

Basically, yeah you can play YsF instead of Ys III for nearly the same story. YsF merely expands on it a little more, in order to better fit in with the series' over-arching plot line (which is still yet to be resolved, and will likely remain that way until the series comes to a close - not that it really matters, as each game's story is self-contained, with the exception of I & II).

And about the Ys I & II anime, I suppose you could watch it and get the general story idea from it, but there are some notable differences between it and the games (which I suppose fit the spirit of the story, but still).

[DerXello]

i watched the Anime of Ys1 and i think the Anime explains the story much better because the Game didn´t show whats behind the rescuted girl Feena (ok after i played Ys Origin its quite obvious who she is) but in Ys 1 you only rescure her and thats all.
In the Game you only searching for the 6 books and climb the tower, the Anime shows who the two girls Reah and Feena are so its ok if you watch the Anime and don´t play the game, you will still get the Story.

The differents between the Story and the Anime are that the Anime dont show all Bossfights and the Tower is way shorter but thats all.

I didn´t finish Ys2 yet and i didnt watched the Anime of Ys2 so i cant tell much about it.

[Korzic]

You're not meant to uncover Feena and Reah's purpose until Ys II (though it can probably be pieced together). That's just the way these two games were designed, two parts of one whole (though obviously, certain gameplay elements were added/changed in Ys II).

[ladynadiad]

One thing not mentioned yet, Ys Seven does have a NA release on PSP, just don't think anyone released it in EU yet (though I remember Xseed saying something about possibly PSN only in EU sometime back, don't know if anything came of that). But since PSP is region free, the NA version can always be imported, you might try a site like Play Asia that will ship pretty much anywhere and does have the NA versions of games as well. I know shipping gets pricey for you guys, but better than nothing if you can't get it otherwise.

Also, Xseed does plan to release the Ys 4 remake, it's going to be Ys: Memories of Celceta, though I don't know about any EU releases there, but it's due out in fall and can already be preordered.

[DerXello]

But will they release the Ys4 Remake for PC or only an Playstation VIta Version?

[Whoofasa]

Uhhh, Ys: Origin, Ys I and II Chronicles, Ys The Oath in Felghana, Ys VI The Ark of Naphistim and Ys Seven have all been released in Europe on either Steam or PSN/PSP.

[ladynadiad]

Originally posted by DerXello:

But will they release the Ys4 Remake for PC or only an Playstation VIta Version?

It only has a Vita version. Falcom no longer makes PC games and Xseed doesn't have the resources to port a game from one system to another. Tom has very much stated that the only Ys games they can bring to Steam are ones that have a PC version.

[Scorned Beef]

I'd start with Ys 1 & II Chronicles. It was good on PSP, and if you're interested in learning about the series from the beginning that's a good place to start. There's something satisfying about the bump combat system since you don't just have to spam the attack button like int he later games. I'm sure some people don't dig the bump style though.

[Whoofasa]

Originally posted by ladynadiad:

Originally posted by DerXello:

But will they release the Ys4 Remake for PC or only an Playstation VIta Version?

It only has a Vita version. Falcom no longer makes PC games and Xseed doesn't have the resources to port a game from one system to another. Tom has very much stated that the only Ys games they can bring to Steam are ones that have a PC version.

I want them to hurry with Ark Of Naphistim. I know that there are ways to make the Japanese version English but I can't seem to bother doing it. The Ps2 version has never been released (it's rubbish anyway) in Europe and the PSP one is a whole different disaster.

[ladynadiad]

Originally posted by vinyl:

Originally posted by ladynadiad:

It only has a Vita version. Falcom no longer makes PC games and Xseed doesn't have the resources to port a game from one system to another. Tom has very much stated that the only Ys games they can bring to Steam are ones that have a PC version.

I want them to hurry with Ark Of Naphistim. I know that there are ways to make the Japanese version English but I can't seem to bother doing it. The Ps2 version has never been released (it's rubbish anyway) in Europe and the PSP one is a whole different disaster.

The PS2 version is actually not rubbish at all. The only real issue is the CG video instead of the anime (which can be changed back with some cheats) and the models instead of sprites for the people, which isn't really a huge deal. They also added voice acting and most of the voice acting is pretty good. The overall game is not much different from the PC version though. No lagging, the controls are smooth, it's overall a good port and Konami did a good job with the translation. I have no issue with it and if we can't get the PC version, I'd recommend getting the PS2 version if possible.

Rubbish would be Namco's butchering of the Legend of Heroes games they brought over, and even those have some things that are done well.

[MP83]

Originally posted by vinyl:

I want them to hurry with Ark of Napishtim. I know that there are ways to make the Japanese version English but I can't seem to bother doing it. The PS2 version has never been released (it's rubbish anyway) in Europe and the PSP one is a whole different disaster.

Actually, the PS2 version has been released in Europe, as well, but it's worse than the North American release in one sense, at least -- there's no ways to enable Japanese voices.

[Aifread]

Sorry if this is a little late, but there is a discrepancy in the timeline provided by DerXello. Ys IV actually takes place between Ys II and Ys III. Oath in Felghana and Memories of Celceta don't use the original numbers in their titles is because it would cause too much confusion among newer fans.

In any case, I'd recommend playing Ys IV (or familiarizing yourself with it) before playing V and VI because pretty much everything traces back to a certain something introduced in IV. You should also know that VI and Felghana reference each other and that Seven features returning characters from VI, which in turn features returning characters from V. You could probably play I & II (as a unit) and Origin in either order and appreciate the references.

Check out the thread below if you're curious, but know that it contains major spoilers for pretty much every Ys game:
http://seldane.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=ysgeneral&thread=6157&page=1