Easily the Worst Ys Game

[Necrofitz]

So I've been a fan of Ys for awhile now. My first Ys game was Ys 7 on the PSP, and I fell in love. It was fun, frantic, yet very skill based with fun characters, great music, and engrossing supporting elements.

Recently I beat Oath of Felghana after giving up back in the PSP days because I couldn't get the knack of jumping right after beating Ys 7, and I refused to crank the difficulty below normal. This time I found it well balanced and very much skill based once I got past the learning curve (see my achievement for dying 10 times on one boss). Grinding never felt explicitly necessary, and there was enough content to carry through a leisurely 8.5 hour first play through (at least of saved time, not counting unlucky deaths that caused an unholy amount of dungeon re-doing).

Having beaten Ys 1, Origins, part of Ys 2 (I got a bit tired of the bumper combat), as well as Memories of Celceta on my Vita and the aforementioned 7 and Oath of Felghana, I went into Ys VI expecting a fun, well polished, balanced adventure.

Instead this game is absolutely awful. There is zero balance, with game length fluffed by forcing grinding instead of providing enough game with good design for natural progression. The dungeons are boring, the mechanics are some bottom tier bullcrap, and the combat is the most unexciting and unvaried in the series since the days of bumper combat.

The story is sparsely told, with the achievements making it clear the adventure is not a long one, and half the relevant lore backstory is stashed on tablets hidden in dungeons, sometimes behind the absolutely failed mechanic of dash jumping just about guaranteeing only the most patient will actually get a complete story out of their time with the game.

I made it most of the way through the cave before deciding this, nearly 40 levels deep, giving the game a very fair shake, and I can only say that this is truly the lowpoint of the series. I'm leaving the game behind because I will never play a bad game simply because it comes from a series I otherwise adore.

Am I the only one who was seriously disappointed coming into this entry? I've played most of the Ys series now, mostly through enhanced ports or full on remakes, and I can safely say that VI needs some substantial touching up if it ever wants to lose the title of blacksheep of the Ys series.

[DDR]

VI was the first Ys game that used this engine, released years before Felghana. It is indeed widely considered as the least polished among those games.

[Mondae Sundae]

Originally posted by LuckyTrouble:

Am I the only one who was seriously disappointed coming into this entry?

For a long time, I never knew of Napishtim's greatest offence. This is because nearly all of my playthroughs (including the first) were on Nightmare difficulty, which does not have this issue.

It wasn't until I tried Normal [Standard] that I knew the frustration of the Zero-Damage Limiter, something not present on Hard or Nightmare or (to my knowledge) any other Ys on Steam.

Originally posted by LuckyTrouble:

Easily the Worst Ys Game

It's the worst Ys game on Steam. But it's not even close to the worst Ys game (unfortunately).

Originally posted by LuckyTrouble:

I went into Ys VI expecting a fun, well polished, balanced adventure.

I don't think anyone could have done a better job at balancing this game in its current state, which honestly feels a bit unfinished.

Originally posted by LuckyTrouble:

The dungeons are boring, the mechanics are some bottom tier bullcrap, and the combat is the most unexciting and unvaried in the series since the days of bumper combat.

The game is way too Swordplay-heavy during the first quarter. The fact that all of the main abilities are Swordplay-dependant doesn't help either.

That said, I actually found the gameplay mechanics to be quite fun and varied (once they were available and I knew how to use them). I also found them to be very unintuitive; Napishtim's manual is a galaxy far far away from being able to support this type of gameplay.

Originally posted by LuckyTrouble:

...half the relevant lore backstory is stashed on tablets hidden in dungeons, sometimes behind the absolutely failed mechanic of dash jumping just about guaranteeing only the most patient will actually get a complete story out of their time with the game.

All of the relevant lore is told through the story. And nearly all of it occurs after the Limewater Cave. The tabula do clarify a few things, but they basically tell the same lore from a different perspective.

In addition, ALL Tabula can be obtained without using the Dash Jump. In fact, 4 of the 5 are obtained using normal jumping and exploration.

Only 1 Tabula requires an ability (the Thunder Element of the Yellow Sword) in order to obtain it. Technically, this tabula can be obtained using the Dash Jump, but there's an invisible obstacle (revealed with an accessory) that makes doing so an excercise in obsessive preserverance.

Originally posted by LuckyTrouble:

...the absolutely failed mechanic of dash jumping...

The Dash Jump probably wouldn't be much of an issue if it was clear that the Thunder Element could be used to cross gaps (it can be used in leau of the Dash Jump in most cases).

Originally posted by LuckyTrouble:

...I can safely say that VI needs some substantial touching up...

I don't think this will ever happen unless Falcom is the one to do it. That said, I would love to see a truly refined version of Ys VI.

[Sly Boots]

Ys VI the worst!? If you really think that, then you never played the Ys-Games from Tonkin House on the SNES/Super Famicom (Ys III: Wanderers from Ys and Ys IV: Mask of the Sun), these games are super grindy and partially broken.
For me Ark of Napishtim is actually the second (or third) best Ys-Game I played so far. Only Ys I & II Chronicles + was better for me. Admittely this comes a bit from nostalgia, since it was my first Ys-game (played it on the PS2 back in the day). The PS2-Version is better than the Steam-Version though, because you get bonus dungeons, voiceacting and an intro which actually makes sense.

[DustyCookies]

I don't agree at all, i'd rank this up there with oath. Oath's combat and boss fights are much better but Ark has a better world and encourages exploration. Ark is more similar to 1 and 2 while Oath brings more modern gameplay to the series, both are good games.

[Doomlord]

Someone never played Wanderers, or Kefin, or Legacy of Ys, or Ys Strategy. Ark may be flawed but it's far from the worst Ys game out there.

[Keytee Tamira]

Listen up, Author of the Topic.

Since when it is YOU who decided what is right and what is wrong?
Since when you can decide what is good and what is bad?

So, even if this is a bad game (A thought which never crossed my mind. To me it was the same as all other Ys games... i lack rank processing)
Why is it a bad thing in playing it?

What is so wrong in playing this game?


MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION THAT YOU ARE BOUND TO ANSWER.
What were you trying to achieve by making this post?

YOU WANTED TO MAKE FANS OF THIS GAME SALTY, OR WHAT?


I mean, if people don't like this game... they don't like this game. PERIOD.
They don't need YOUR confirmation, YER MAJESTY, to think that their preferences are valid.

And those who like this game will just get angry at you.


I dislike your kind. Thinking of yourselves to be important enough to make opinions...
OPINIONS OF THOSE SPINELESS WORMS THAT NEVER SEEN LIFE DON'T MATTER.
Just because you sit your arse on internet and read about life, doesn't mean that you know what life is. To know life... you must first experience HELL. Etiher HELL OF WAR either HELL OF SOCIAL STAIRS.
I never experienced HELL, so i decided to NEVER criticize anything.

[Saralene]

Originally posted by Keytee Tamira:

Listen up, Author of the Topic.

(snip)

Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa. That's a LOT more vitriol than anyone else in this thread was slinging. Chill out. Try to calm down. People are allowed to have opinions.

[Doomlord]

Originally posted by Keytee Tamira:

words

LMAO, should've gone with the navy seal pasta instead XD That would have been even better.

Let OP have his sh*tty opinions, they won't stop anyone from enjoying Ark.

[Mondae Sundae]

Napishtim is the only Ys (on Steam) where I felt that some of my deaths were due to unfair game design. A serious flaw, and far from Napishtim's only serious flaw. LuckyTrouble's base opinion is not wrong.

Regardless, I love Napishtim for its strengths, which I feel overshadow those flaws.


That said, I found the Zero-Damage-Limiter of Normal difficulty almost as painful as playing Mask of the Sun. If Normal had been my first playthrough, my opinion of Napishtim may not have been so positive.

[Mofuji]

Nah, the worst is Legacy of Ys for the DS.

[KatoBytes]

Why not just post this as a review of the game?

[Meredy]

Originally posted by Keytee Tamira:

Listen up, Author of the Topic.
wall of word

And who are you to not only impose your views on others and prevent them to expressing theirs.
A lot of what you say can be sent back at you...
That or you are just flaming which is worse and a bit pitifull.

@KatoBytes: This is more an opinion than a review. Op seems to understand that which is great... There are too much reviewers that tends to mistake the two, and I'm not talking about "aha these game sucks" reviews here
That said there is review material here

[remisot]

I agree with you, OP, the game's not bad and may be for now the worst aivable on PC gameplaywise. Other stuff like music and graphics are good.

[Lambdadelta]

Originally posted by Mondae Sundae:

For a long time, I never knew of Napishtim's greatest offence. This is because nearly all of my playthroughs (including the first) were on Nightmare difficulty, which does not have this issue.

It wasn't until I tried Normal [Standard] that I knew the frustration of the Zero-Damage Limiter, something not present on Hard or Nightmare or (to my knowledge) any other Ys on Steam.

Forgive me for how late this is, but could you please tell me more about this mechanic? I also have only played this game on nightmare, so I was unaware of its existence and I'm not sure what it does. I tried looking it up, but I can't find another place that refers to it as Zero-Damage Limiter. While I do like this game, I do believe it is one of the weaker entries in the series and many others seem to agree. I'm trying to fully understand what leads people to this conclusion though, as I've not spent enough time with Ark in particular to know everything about it unlike Oath or Origin. I hadn't heard of this mechanic anywhere until now and it really sounds like a big deal, especially for newer players.

[Meredy]

Well to put it simply if there is too much difference between your strength and the monster's then you are not considered strong enough to hurt the monster. It didn't bother me much. Sure it's an artificial way to prevent you to enter place you shouldn't be allowed at this point of the game.

Since they almost don't use the zelda system that permits to limit the place you visit "by gadgets" they chose that instead. Whether it is bad or not is up to debate.