All Canon Ys Series Games + Guide
If you want a full-length JRPG with modern gameplay, start with VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana or IX: Monstrum Nox.
If you like platforming a lot and prefer shorter playthoughs, start with Origin (personal recommendation) or Oath in Felghana (people tend to recommend this one better, but I hard disagree!).
If you are curious about retro games and unique ways of gameplay, start with I & II Chronicles.
Some extra pointers:
- You can play them in any order, really. Play the ones most interesting to you first! If you liked them decently, you enjoyed one or two good games. If you loved them, you have a meaty series ahead of you to discover!
- It's a good idea to play Origin and Chronicles back to back, in any order.
- If you REALLY fell in love with the series right on the first game, whichever it was, might as well try to play the rest of the series in chronological order! It's really not necessary at all, it's just a neat little thing you can do, or at least try to!
- Ys V is very skippable, as it will likely be remade at some point like III (Felghana) and IV (Celceta).
- If you play everything and STILL want more, you can play the originals (non-canon) entries I mentioned above. I personally recommend the Turbografx versions (For all Ys I through IV. And you can play V then too I guess, SNES only. You will need English patches for IV and V. Ys IV has two very different versions, Dawn of Ys and Mask of the Sun, for Turbografx and SNES respectivelly. I recommend to play the former first).
If you like platforming a lot and prefer shorter playthoughs, start with Origin (personal recommendation) or Oath in Felghana (people tend to recommend this one better, but I hard disagree!).
If you are curious about retro games and unique ways of gameplay, start with I & II Chronicles.
Some extra pointers:
- You can play them in any order, really. Play the ones most interesting to you first! If you liked them decently, you enjoyed one or two good games. If you loved them, you have a meaty series ahead of you to discover!
- It's a good idea to play Origin and Chronicles back to back, in any order.
- If you REALLY fell in love with the series right on the first game, whichever it was, might as well try to play the rest of the series in chronological order! It's really not necessary at all, it's just a neat little thing you can do, or at least try to!
- Ys V is very skippable, as it will likely be remade at some point like III (Felghana) and IV (Celceta).
- If you play everything and STILL want more, you can play the originals (non-canon) entries I mentioned above. I personally recommend the Turbografx versions (For all Ys I through IV. And you can play V then too I guess, SNES only. You will need English patches for IV and V. Ys IV has two very different versions, Dawn of Ys and Mask of the Sun, for Turbografx and SNES respectivelly. I recommend to play the former first).
