Ys III has somewhat of an identity crisis; it's following in the footsteps of Zelda by making their second instalment (if we count 1 and 2 as one combined game, as originally intended) a 2D side scroller, and trying to squash the system from 1 and 2 into this new setting. However, the execution leaves a lot to be desired.
To the games credit, the presentation is on point. Graphics are pleasant (though suffer from a bit of a lack of vibrancy) with some very nice parallax scrolling, and the music is about the level you'd come to expect from Falcom's sound team: kick-ass. And considering this is a port, it converts to the Mega Drive's sound chip surprisingly well, far better than the SNES ports music did. The translation is a bit spotty, with odd wording and weird typos, but it's still cohesive.
As for the gameplay...it's now a side scrolling hack n' slash dungeon crawler. No overworld, just a friendly town and a map leading to the various dungeons you unlock throughout the story (of which there are only about 5 areas, some containing multiple dungeons). The sword-swishing isn't great early on, as your effective range is so short that enemies can actually reach and hurt you between attacks, even if you hold the button down. This improves as you upgrade gear, but as with 1 and 2, the earlygame is brutal. You can easily die just trying to grind to level 2, and you'll need to.
That's the critical flaw for me, actually: the difficulty spikes. Early on, you'll be mincemeat if you're not at least level 3, which requires a lot of tedious grinding of the same 2 basic enemies. As the game goes on, it becomes a pattern: Enter dungeon, get beaten up immediately, cautiously grind until the next level, get through dungeon ok, reach boss, get destroyed, grind again to next level, try boss again, kick boss' ass. Repeat. The sheer difference in difficulty for most boss fights with just a single level of difference feels poorly balanced.
There's also a ring system thrown in, where you can obtain several rings through your adventure and equip them for certain effects. In the older games these would just be passive bonuses and stayed at that, but now they consume a meter called ring power. Ring power can go up to 255, and goes up by a measly *1 point for each enemy killed. Each ring drains ring power at a rate of at least* 1 per second, so you can only use these sparingly for tough sections or bosses. While interesting in theory, it's just not given enough room to develop beyond just using the power ring for bosses, the healing ring for when you're about to die and already used your herb (Adol can carry 5 entire sets of armor but not more than one damn herb), and the time ring for BS enemy patterns in the endgame.
It's also a short experience, clocking in at just 6 hours - perhaps merciful, as a good portion of that is grinding. The story is nothing to write home about and in my opinion, doesn't come close to the heights of the first two games' stories and lore, which this almost completely ignores in favour of essentially starting anew.
Despite my criticisms, it remains fairly playable, and the excellent music will help alleviate some of the boredom of grinding. It's not the worst action RPG around, but it sure isn't a gem.
To the games credit, the presentation is on point. Graphics are pleasant (though suffer from a bit of a lack of vibrancy) with some very nice parallax scrolling, and the music is about the level you'd come to expect from Falcom's sound team: kick-ass. And considering this is a port, it converts to the Mega Drive's sound chip surprisingly well, far better than the SNES ports music did. The translation is a bit spotty, with odd wording and weird typos, but it's still cohesive.
As for the gameplay...it's now a side scrolling hack n' slash dungeon crawler. No overworld, just a friendly town and a map leading to the various dungeons you unlock throughout the story (of which there are only about 5 areas, some containing multiple dungeons). The sword-swishing isn't great early on, as your effective range is so short that enemies can actually reach and hurt you between attacks, even if you hold the button down. This improves as you upgrade gear, but as with 1 and 2, the earlygame is brutal. You can easily die just trying to grind to level 2, and you'll need to.
That's the critical flaw for me, actually: the difficulty spikes. Early on, you'll be mincemeat if you're not at least level 3, which requires a lot of tedious grinding of the same 2 basic enemies. As the game goes on, it becomes a pattern: Enter dungeon, get beaten up immediately, cautiously grind until the next level, get through dungeon ok, reach boss, get destroyed, grind again to next level, try boss again, kick boss' ass. Repeat. The sheer difference in difficulty for most boss fights with just a single level of difference feels poorly balanced.
There's also a ring system thrown in, where you can obtain several rings through your adventure and equip them for certain effects. In the older games these would just be passive bonuses and stayed at that, but now they consume a meter called ring power. Ring power can go up to 255, and goes up by a measly *1 point for each enemy killed. Each ring drains ring power at a rate of at least* 1 per second, so you can only use these sparingly for tough sections or bosses. While interesting in theory, it's just not given enough room to develop beyond just using the power ring for bosses, the healing ring for when you're about to die and already used your herb (Adol can carry 5 entire sets of armor but not more than one damn herb), and the time ring for BS enemy patterns in the endgame.
It's also a short experience, clocking in at just 6 hours - perhaps merciful, as a good portion of that is grinding. The story is nothing to write home about and in my opinion, doesn't come close to the heights of the first two games' stories and lore, which this almost completely ignores in favour of essentially starting anew.
Despite my criticisms, it remains fairly playable, and the excellent music will help alleviate some of the boredom of grinding. It's not the worst action RPG around, but it sure isn't a gem.