"Ys" series ranked
A simple ranking of all the Ys games I've played to date based on my personal enjoyment as well as a loose evaluation of various criteria such as gameplay, writing, graphics, and sound.
9 Games
.- beautifully designed protagonist
- intriguing narrative
- colorful setting
- memorable soundtrack
- solid cast
- intriguing narrative
- colorful setting
- memorable soundtrack
- solid cast
1
.- interesting lore about the series as a whole
- enjoyable adventure throughout
- enjoyable adventure throughout
2
.- excellent gameplay
- uniquely dark setting
- mysterious plot
- well-developed supporting cast
- too much dialogue at the cost of gameplay time
- uniquely dark setting
- mysterious plot
- well-developed supporting cast
- too much dialogue at the cost of gameplay time
3
.- three enjoyable playthroughs with different characters
- neat connection to the first two entries
- banger opening
- pure dungeon crawl
- neat connection to the first two entries
- banger opening
- pure dungeon crawl
4
.- straightforward adventure with good execution overall
5
.- expansive forest setting
- decent story
- decent story
6
.- difficult but satisfying gameplay
- particularly self-contained story
- particularly self-contained story
7
.- noticeable increase in scope and ambition
- improved combat with magic
- improved combat with magic
8
.- simple hero's journey with personality
- unique battle system
- very difficult boss fights
- unique battle system
- very difficult boss fights
9