Nihon Falcom Ranked: Ys series + thoughts
Since a few others have been making tier lists for games they've played from Falcom's seminal ARPG series, why not try my own? I played my first Ys game (Chronicles+) back in 2015 and have been a fan ever since. Not enough to play the most recent two games yet, I suppose, but Ys got me into Falcom at large and I'm sure VIII will lure me in sometime soon. Just gotta unlatch myself from playing Brandish and Xanadu games first. :^]
You'll find my brief justification for each ranking below, with games sorted most favorite to least. Scroll further down this box for some disclaimers and a changelog.
Note: I've tied Oath and Origin at #1, give or take a day when I prefer one over the other. Both games are among the very best Falcom's ever made, which makes their lows more noticeable once you've replayed them after trying the rest of the catalog. It's bonkers how close they are in quality of design and presentation, plus they each have strong replay incentives (Oath's excellent harder modes, Origin's arena and route-based story). Oath's only in the first slot because it's got less overall attention/discourse on Backloggd.
Changelog:
Feb. 9 2023: Initial list of 9 series entries.
You'll find my brief justification for each ranking below, with games sorted most favorite to least. Scroll further down this box for some disclaimers and a changelog.
Note: I've tied Oath and Origin at #1, give or take a day when I prefer one over the other. Both games are among the very best Falcom's ever made, which makes their lows more noticeable once you've replayed them after trying the rest of the catalog. It's bonkers how close they are in quality of design and presentation, plus they each have strong replay incentives (Oath's excellent harder modes, Origin's arena and route-based story). Oath's only in the first slot because it's got less overall attention/discourse on Backloggd.
Changelog:
Feb. 9 2023: Initial list of 9 series entries.
9 Games
Oath's biggest advantages are dungeon complexity, more experimental boss fights, a better fleshed-out hub area, and an entirely Jindo-arranged soundtrack. It falters via some boss jank, less polished combat/mechanics, a few itchy skill spikes, and mixed-quality voice acting on versions featuring it. Favorite boss = Galbalan, favorite moment = Genos Island, and least favorite part = Gyalva, the bridge boss.
Origin's advantages come from improved combat, better pacing within routes, a more interesting overall story, the beefy arena extras, and more satisfying endings (not by much since leaving Redmont in Oath is nearly as impactful). It falters next to Oath in difficulty balance, avoiding repetition (due to the route system), more standardized boss fights, simpler dungeons, and a love-or-hate upgrade system. Favorite boss: Dalles, favorite moment: Tower Annex on Hugo & Toal paths, least favorite part: Khonsclard (mainly with Hugo).
While I or II Chronicles have their standalone issues, they make for an amazing classic experience together. Yes, there's jank with things like Vagullion or relying too hard on fire magic, but I'm more a fan of oft hated bits like Solomon Shrine than others. Now, I wish this version still had the secret developer room from Ys Eternal, and maybe that can get modded in one day. This has some competition with Ys Books I & II (PC Engine CD) for the role of most iconic remake, yet I think Falcom's long since surpassed Hudson's take overall.
Hudson Soft made the best Ys IV, no question. It's very fanfic-y at times and could have used more playtesting for a few areas and bosses, but this pushes the bump-system paradigm as far as possible for its era. I'd definitely like to replay this on stream at some point, especially with the aces English fan dub. A superb finale for Falcom and Hudson's PCE CD efforts.
5
I suspect Ys VIII will leap a slot or two above Seven once I play it, but this first party-style game is surprisingly good. You don't appreciate the quality of its boss fights, dungeon designs, and world-building until after playing through the sometimes more ambitious, often more clearly rushed Celceta. I think Seven's got one of the less appreciated Ys soundtracks today, too.
As important and eminently playable as the first modern 3D Ys game is, there's a lot of jank getting in the way here. Thank the Eldeen that it's got my favorite overall mix of plot, lore, and NPCs in the mid-2000s trilogy. And the soundtrack's very unique thanks to Wataru Ishibashi's nostalgic but densely arranged throwback musical score. XSEED's PC version makes a lot of key improvements, from better warping to a mode curbing item abuse.
I'm rating the PC-88 original here, which remains one of Falcom's most focused action games. It pushes the otherwise underpowered hardware to the point that even impressive NES games in 1989 struggled to keep up. Game balance is a bit wonky, but way more bearable than in any other port. This game unshackled the series from the initial Esteria narrative, codified the musical style, and toyed with ideas/mechanics later games would improve upon.
Far from a bad game, even within the Ys series, but it's such a disappointment to me. I really wanted this to at least match Seven, if not surpass that and Dawn, but there's too many ill-conceived bosses, mediocre dungeons, and story fluff w/o substance. Things that should be cool and menacing like the Darklings' village just feel quaint. And the final dungeon & bosses feels comically rushed. (Let alone an ending shorter than Ys VI's, which was very quick already!) I might like this more after a PC replay, but this feels like it got the short shrift while Falcom finished the first Trails of Cold Steel.
Pleasantly mid, unpleasantly incomplete. Ys V's novelization includes most of what Falcom had initially planned for their big SNES series debut, from multiple ancient civilizations to a more challenging endgame. They cut out Dogi for crying out loud! What we're left with are the bones of a potentially amazing adventure, plus a polarizing soundtrack and bafflingly unusable magic system. The game's difficulty balance couldn't be more broken thanks to easy boss fights and even more plentiful healing item spam. This needs a remake more than we need Ys X, IMHO.
PasokonDeacon
1 year ago