Ys I & II Chronicles+

Very dated game but I actually love the bump combat! The only problem that I had with this game is the navigation. I literally would have no idea where to go and had to look up guides but super well worth it.

It's a very easy to learn RPGMaker-like pair of ARPG games which show their age in the level and boss designs. The combat is simple and the games aren't long enough for the faults to dampen your experience too much, but be aware that the dungeons get labyrinthine and a few bosses are just frustrating (mostly in the first game). Otherwise the combat is nice and fast since you automatically attack enemies by just running into them most of the time. The games do want you to grind a little bit as initially enemies in new areas (even at the start of the game) can quickly kill you if you aren't careful, but usually it's not more than 10-20 minutes worth at a time. Armor and weapons give a noticable bump in power as well. I would give this a more "maybe" review if that was an option, but ultimately they're quick, cheap, and simple games if you're interested in the gameplay or in the series in general and the downsides aren't egregious enough for me to really dislike the games. Also note that the playtime shown is from the first game, the second game takes about as much if not a tiny bit longer, depending on how lost you get in all the areas where everything looks the same.

Pretty lovely duo of games, I can see why they bundled them together. The first one was bit more hit and miss. You can grind to the max level in the first area and buy all the best equipment, and you can breeze through the whole thing very easily, except for the very annoying final boss. This made the game's combat a bit boring. Still has some interesting, if a bit confusing, exploration; the areas are a little bit hard to distinguish and there is no map. A lot of these issues were fixed in the second game; like enemies giving less experiencience the more you level up, magic mixing up things a bit, and more interesting bosses, although the final area drags on a bit too much and the levels were still a bit too maze-like. Maybe I should have played on higher difficulty. I think the games shine on presentation and narrative; for the former, the pixel art is amazing, both crispy and vibrant, looking like some of the best we could see in classic 2D games, and the character portraits are rendered in that nineties-early two thousands anime style that, together with the aforementioned graphics gives the whole game a nostalgic quality that is pretty enjoyable, and the soundtrack is p…

Growing up, I was always leery of JRPGs because so many of them were turn-based. I tried the early 8-bit Final Fantasy and Phantasy Star games, but try as I might, I just couldn't get into that style of combat. Ys always intrigued me because it breaks away from that mold entirely. While the unique "bump combat" system might be viewed as rudimentary or even goofy by some "serious" RPG gamers, I found it to be incredibly inviting, fast, and fun. It gives the game a much more active, action-adventure feel rather than a slow, menu-driven grind.The story is highly enjoyable, but like many games from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, there is absolutely no hand-holding. The dungeon layouts can be confusing, so a guide will more than likely be necessary in order to cross the finish line. It’s a relatively simple, short experience, so don't go in expecting a massive, 80-hour grind. Two final notes. First, the soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal. The music is so good that even my wife commented on how pleasant the soundtrack was while I was playing. Second, I completed my entire playthrough on the Steam Deck. The game ran flawlessly with zero issues, making it an incredibly fun and cozy game to …

I've been interested in the Ys series for a while now and finally decided to begin the series. I did not know what to expect, but let me say, unless you are also interested in the series as a whole, skip this game. (P.S. I played through the game on Nightmare Mode.) Ys 1 does a handful of interesting things, but none of them are very good. Let me start with the combat. You need to bump into enemies at off angles to hurt them. If they bump into you, then you take damage, and if you both bump head-on into each other, you both get hurt. It's so simple and very unique, but just not good. First of all, it feels awkward from start to finish. The game plays at what feels like two times the speed, so lining up these hits sometimes feels bad. Secondly, because of how the game works, enemies are always basic. They try to walk into you, so every enemy type just has different health, defense, and speed. Speaking of speed, the game is already fast enough, but later on in the game, you fight enemies that zoom across the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ screen. They will be on top of you before you have the chance to even think about lining up some hits. You have a ring that halves their speed, but that leads into my …

oldie but a goodie.... except for that ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ final fight.