Often released as a bundle with its immediate sequel, Ys I really is just one half of a bigger whole. However, since it still works as its own standalone game, I decided to review them separately. As the first Ys game I ever played, there was an initial sense of confusion as I tried to figure out the somewhat archaic combat system and lack of explicit guidance. Thankfully, once it clicked, I enjoyed my short time with it and made me eager to check out the rest of the series.

Story: Adol Christin is a young, wandering adventurer who happens to come across the town of Minea, in the land of Esteria. Here, he meets a fortuneteller named Sara, who informs him of a terrible evil that he must ultimately bring an end to (nothing new, amirite?). In order to do this, he must find the six Books of Ys; text which contains the history of the ancient land of Ys and the knowledge needed to bring an end to the dark forces at bay.

Despite containing a simple plot, it’s still impressive to note how it exceeds expectations for a game released in 1987. In the same year that The Legend of Zelda released for the NES in North America, Falcom was creating an ambitious duology that not only contains plenty of dialogue, but also fairly interesting lore in the way of solid worldbuilding, interesting NPC conversations, and a fairly detailed and expansive backstory for the main hero in the original game’s manual; a backstory containing locale and event descriptions that would continue to be referenced in future games to this day.

Gameplay: This was the biggest roadblock upon starting the game. The infamous “bump” combat is a weird system that, although easy to understand, is incredibly awkward to execute for a first-time player and takes a bit of getting used to. But once I did, I was making mincemeat of enemies left and right. The bump combat simply involves running into enemies at an off angle in order to minimize damage received and increase damage taken. There is no attack button involved for this. The main limitation to this is the lack of variety. Even during bosses, it’s mainly a matter of learning its attack pattern and just bumping into their weak spot when possible. Still, the game is short, which helps a bit with its inevitable redundancy. Not to mention, the boss designs are damn cool and the fights themselves are still fun and challenging.

As with any RPG, you level up after gaining enough experience points. And trust me, if you feel like you are doing next to no damage to a boss, then you have to grind. Because here’s the thing: The level cap is 10. That’s right, you can only reach level 10 in this game, which means that each level gives you quite the significant boost to strength and defense. With each new area, enemies give a lot more EXP, so grinding isn’t much of a problem in this game, as it’s fairly quick.

Apart from this, there’s also a shop where you can buy better equipment, as is typical for the genre.
Through this short journey, NPC’s will give you hints on certain items you must find and use in order to make progress. None of these are usually too cryptic but, backtracking and traversing some of the maze-like dungeons can be a bit of a chore unless you look up a map. The final dungeon is especially huge and can be a bit of pain. And um… if I can just vent for a second…: WHAT WERE THEY THINKING WITH THAT FINAL BOSS? All I can say is, prepare your butthole.

Music: Um… yeah… There is no reason for the music to be this good. Honestly, all the Ys games I’ve played have had great soundtracks, but it’s especially impressive to hear these tracks from a game released 35 years ago. Granted, with this being a remaster, the soundtrack has been re-recorded and remixed, but even after listening to the original soundtrack, it’s amazing to hear the foundation of a wonderfully melodic and haunting track list that perfectly captures the sense of adventure. Not much else to say here. The music is fantastic.

Ys is a series that usually flies under the radar of many RPG fans, and even with the recent success of VIII and IX, many would still be hard pressed to return to the series’ roots. I believe it’s well worth it, though. Ys I (and II) may not be a perfect experience, and it is admittedly not for everyone, but with its short playtime and classic Falcom charm, it just begs to be given a chance and experienced.

Final Score: Light 7/10

Reviewed on Mar 27, 2022


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