Is the entire game on rails?

[Mr Fantastic]

There's no free exploration of dungeons or anything like that?

[Kargor]

Yes, the dungeons are pretty much linear.

I don't really see how else it could work, though.

[Jupiter3927]

Falcom makes all of their ARPG's like this.
There's always one dungeon the player needs to clear to advance the plot to unlock more dungeons.
A few side-dungeons might exist but they're completely optional.

There's free exploration of the city though.
There's also usually a hidden quest somewhere to clear too...
Some minigames will give special rewards upon completion.
It's possible to clear the game on the hardest difficulty completely ignoring the extra stuff though so don't worry too much about it.

[Rev]

If you want some free open world-like map then there is none.

You will get access to free dungeon exploration around end of Chapter 2 if I remember correctly, so you can later re-enter any dungeon and replay them as you want and how many times you want with any character you want to use. There are also additional optional dungeons a bit later (with some of them available only in NG+).

[Mr Fantastic]

Originally posted by Jupiter3927:

Falcom makes all of their ARPG's like this.
There's always one dungeon the player needs to clear to advance the plot to unlock more dungeons.
A few side-dungeons might exist but they're completely optional.

There's free exploration of the city though.
There's also usually a hidden quest somewhere to clear too...
Some minigames will give special rewards upon completion.
It's possible to clear the game on the hardest difficulty completely ignoring the extra stuff though so don't worry too much about it.

Ys games are nothing like that, especially the new ones, you can explore all you want and often you have to backtrack to find all items, enemies, etc.

The new ys 8, 9 and 10 are what a modern final fantasy should strive for, really amazing works of art.

[Entelechia]

well yes and no. you can go back to dungeons in ys but you can't explore all you want. the areas you can visit are gated by chapter. in that sense, it's exactly the same as this game. you can revisit old dungeons anytime but later ones are gated. the only thing missing is areas connecting those dungeons, which are usually more busywork than anything substantial in ys tbh, I just warp around when I need to go somewhere.

[Mr Fantastic]

Originally posted by Andvari:

well yes and no. you can go back to dungeons in ys but you can't explore all you want. the areas you can visit are gated by chapter. in that sense, it's exactly the same as this game. you can revisit old dungeons anytime but later ones are gated. the only thing missing is areas connecting those dungeons, which are usually more busywork than anything substantial in ys tbh, I just warp around when I need to go somewhere.

My dude all YS are basically open world, it's nothing like this.

You can explore all you want and go back to dungeons or explore the overworld. Here's you're on rails, you go to dungeons only when the game wants and for a limited time. You can't even repeat it.

It's like comparing caviar to stale moldy bread.

[Kargor]

Originally posted by Mr Fantastic:

My dude all YS are basically open world, it's nothing like this.

Maybe there are different "Ys" games, but the few I know open up as you go along. And since it's been a bit of mixed experience, it will probably take some time for me to play more of those.

You can explore all you want and go back to dungeons or explore the overworld. Here's you're on rails, you go to dungeons only when the game wants and for a limited time. You can't even repeat it.

Maybe you should try the game before complaining?

Same as the Ys I know, you can redo previous Eclipses as much as you want. There will be no boss at the end, though -- instead, there will be a "slot machine" for the items specific to that Eclipse. I believe there's a specific game mode to redo bosses, but since I would never want to redo a boss anyway, I never paid attention to such things.

[Mr Fantastic]

Originally posted by Kargor:

Originally posted by Mr Fantastic:

My dude all YS are basically open world, it's nothing like this.

Maybe there are different "Ys" games, but the few I know open up as you go along. And since it's been a bit of mixed experience, it will probably take some time for me to play more of those.

You can explore all you want and go back to dungeons or explore the overworld. Here's you're on rails, you go to dungeons only when the game wants and for a limited time. You can't even repeat it.

Maybe you should try the game before complaining?

Same as the Ys I know, you can redo previous Eclipses as much as you want. There will be no boss at the end, though -- instead, there will be a "slot machine" for the items specific to that Eclipse. I believe there's a specific game mode to redo bosses, but since I would never want to redo a boss anyway, I never paid attention to such things.

I got this game because it shares the name with xanadu next, but the gameplay is nothing like it.

I played for 3h and 90% of that was in town speaking to people, the few dungeons I had were really barebones in terms or rpg mechanics. So I did try the game, and what I was offered was very low quality. Good thing I got the game for less than 2 euros.

[Entelechia]

Originally posted by Kargor:

Originally posted by Mr Fantastic:

My dude all YS are basically open world, it's nothing like this.

Maybe there are different "Ys" games, but the few I know open up as you go along. And since it's been a bit of mixed experience, it will probably take some time for me to play more of those.

I have played all Falcom-developed Ys, including the very old ones. There is no open world Ys, the guy is mistaking having corridors connecting multiple areas as 'open world' it seems. Some are a bit more freer letting you go in later dungeons but it's an illusion since you can't complete said dungeons before getting key items that are locked behind story/going in the correct order.

[Mr Fantastic]

Originally posted by Andvari:

Originally posted by Kargor:

Maybe there are different "Ys" games, but the few I know open up as you go along. And since it's been a bit of mixed experience, it will probably take some time for me to play more of those.

I have played all Falcom-developed Ys, including the very old ones. There is no open world Ys, the guy is mistaking having corridors connecting multiple areas as 'open world' it seems. Some are a bit more freer letting you go in later dungeons but it's an illusion since you can't complete said dungeons before getting key items that are locked behind story/going in the correct order.

So any game that doesn't give you access to the whole game from the start cannot be open world? What kind of logic is that?

Open world basically means you can go back to previous levels all you want and the entire game connected, instead of being level based. Can you use google before posting this kind of wrong ideas?

[Kargor]

Originally posted by Mr Fantastic:

So any game that doesn't give you access to the whole game from the start cannot be open world? What kind of logic is that?

Open world basically means you can go back to previous levels all you want and the entire game connected, instead of being level based. Can you use google before posting this kind of wrong ideas?

There's this and that. Yes, there are games that let you go whereever you want right from the start; you might be seeing enemies with red names or skulls in front of their name to suggest they might be a bit too high level for you, but you can still go there. This is the type of "open world" that I despise, because it usually means you don't know where you should be going.

Most games have the sensible structure where you can only go to places that you've been to already, and maybe the one new place that the story asks you to go next. Tokyo Xanadu is no exception.

In fact, TX is even a nice game when it comes to replaying levels -- you don't have to go to the physical location where the gate is; you just select it from your menu. Other games might have some kind of fast travel, but those are often designed to annoy the player because they aren't always placed where they should be.

I have even complained about games that did not do it like that -- "Deus Ex Human Revolution" comes to mind. I started it, and dropped it quickly with the idea to go back some day, guide in hand. Hasn't happened yet, though. Why is that? Because once you complete a level, it's gone -- including all the upgrades and other stuff that was hidden there. So, instead of being able to just play a level once for the story, and then come back later to check out every corner, you'd have to completely explore the entire level right away. And there's also plenty of "no returns" inside the level, which you also can't tell in advance.

So yes, I do expect to be able to go back to places. Unless it's Bastion -- they solved the problem in a different way: when a level was completed, it was gone. However, anything you didn't find (and they didn't go out of their way to hide stuff; levels were similar to TX in the sense that they were pretty linear, with only short detours) was put into a "Lost&Found" store for purchase, so it wasn't lost.

[Valk]

Originally posted by Mr Fantastic:

Originally posted by Andvari:

I have played all Falcom-developed Ys, including the very old ones. There is no open world Ys, the guy is mistaking having corridors connecting multiple areas as 'open world' it seems. Some are a bit more freer letting you go in later dungeons but it's an illusion since you can't complete said dungeons before getting key items that are locked behind story/going in the correct order.

So any game that doesn't give you access to the whole game from the start cannot be open world? What kind of logic is that?

Open world basically means you can go back to previous levels all you want and the entire game connected, instead of being level based. Can you use google before posting this kind of wrong ideas?

Originally posted by Mr Fantastic:

Originally posted by Andvari:

I have played all Falcom-developed Ys, including the very old ones. There is no open world Ys, the guy is mistaking having corridors connecting multiple areas as 'open world' it seems. Some are a bit more freer letting you go in later dungeons but it's an illusion since you can't complete said dungeons before getting key items that are locked behind story/going in the correct order.

So any game that doesn't give you access to the whole game from the start cannot be open world? What kind of logic is that?

Open world basically means you can go back to previous levels all you want and the entire game connected, instead of being level based. Can you use google before posting this kind of wrong ideas?

Open world is kinda in the name... Open world. An open world game is not level based, and as such you can eliminate every Ys game from the list bar 9 (and probably 10), and even then, I don't think that people would even remotely call 9 an open world in the traditional sense. Open world generally means a specific type of game world, where you have a ton of side content in said big world, such as resource gathering, challenges, and collectibles.
I feel like the difference you were originally looking for was ARPG vs Dungeon Crawler, and not "open world vs on rails". Yeah there's overlap between the two, but if they overlap it is usually called a "dungeon crawler" first, and arpg second, whereas the ones like Ys that have a more consistent world are typically just called an ARPG

[Jakob Fel]

Late reply, I know, but I just wanted to say that the game works very well with its design. I normally prefer RPGs that are more open world with some sandbox elements (or at least minigames), but regardless of that, this is one of my favorite RPGs ever. It's a great game to chill with, it offers skill challenge in the combat but without being a Soulsborne level of challenge and any side content feels like a quick distraction between story. So yeah, that's to say that if you're considering this game but are hung up on the open world aspect, I wouldn't worry. Unless you absolutely HAVE to have an open world (try FFXV for that), you definitely should give this game a try. It was my first true jump into JRPGs and I've been really loving the genre since, all because of this one underappreciated masterpiece.

[Valk]

Originally posted by Zeruca:

Avoiding the fanboys fighting right now but….
I’m in Chapter 3 right now and there is almost zero player choice or exploration. I’m watching cutscene after cutscene for 3+ hours and the dungeons are all linear paths with the occasional locked door but the switch is a couple feet away.
The only time I was told I could look around was before the main character had to go to his part time job but all there was were a couple of text boxes and a shop to restock items you don’t need.

That's pretty normal for a dungeon crawler tho