I was wondering where they'd take this after Ys VI. I appreciate that it's building on Ys VI's combat but with just that much extra care put into the design. The decision to remove consumables from the player inventory and eliminate "banking" healing items works surprisingly well; it makes the bosses into even more of pure action setpieces than they were in the first game. The level design and combat design are both a step up from an already great game, in particular the detail put into making hitboxes and vulnerability features feel fairer.

I'd played and abandoned Ys III a few times before this. I'm genuinely impressed how much they manage to nod at the original game in a recognizable way, right down to some of the level layouts, despite the switch to a top-down map perspective and some very different combat.

I was playing this for Japanese practice, and when I hit the point where I realized I was grinding endlessly and not actually reading any new text, it wasn't doing the job I was playing it for.

This is very much a teenager's first RPG, so it doesn't feel fair to review it as a game in the normal way. I enjoyed it for what it is, but the simple combat and need for extensive grinding meant I was spending less time exploring the world and talking to characters. Feels a little telling the dev's own recorded playthrough as an adult had him playing it on 4x speed.