Ys (video game) (Redirected from Y's)
Ys (pronounced "eece", like saying "east" without a T at the end, not "ease") (Japanese: イース) is a Japanese-origin computer role-playing game series, and Nihon Falcom's flagship franchise. It started on the NEC PC-88 in 1986. It was later ported to the MSX, NES, NEC TurboGrafx 16, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, SNES, PC, PlayStation 2, and cellular phone. It is the most popular PC role-playing game in Japan. The title is often incorrectly spelled "Y's", which arises from a typographical error in the packaging of the English-language versions of the Sega Master System port of Ys I.
The Ys series chronicles the adventures of Adol Christin, a red-haired young man with a zest for adventure and an uncanny knack for being in the right place at the right time. Gameplay always revolves around Adol, though his comrade, Dogi, is a frequent companion in the story. Adol is the only truly playable character in the series. Feena was a non-controllable companion in Ys Eternal, and Tarf was set up similarly in Ys II Eternal. The standard gameplay mechanisms only involve the control motion pad to fight, like pushing the enemy until dead. Those gameplay mechanisms were done away with by the game's fifth installment, Ys V: Ushinawareta Suna no Miyako Kefin (Kefin, The Lost City of Sand). Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim graphically departed from its predecessors, using three-dimensional graphics, but the gameplay is distinctly old-school in style. Ys: The Oath in Felghana is presented in the same graphical style as Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim.
List of Ys games
- Ys I - Ancient Ys Vanished - 1987, 1998: NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, MSX2, Famicom, TurboGrafx 16 CDROM, Sega Master System, Microsoft Windows PC (as Ys Eternal and later Ys I Complete), Playstation 2
- Ys II - The Final Chapter - 1988, 2000: NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, MSX2, Famicom, TurboGrafx 16 CDROM, Microsoft Windows PC (as Ys II Eternal and later Ys II Complete), PlayStation 2
- Ys III - Wanderers from Ys - 1989, 1991, 2005: NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-9801, MSX2, Famicom, TurboGrafx 16, Sega Genesis, SNES, PlayStation 2
- Ys IV - Mask of the Sun: 1993, 2005: Super Famicom, PlayStation 2
- Ys IV - The Dawn of Ys: 1993: PC Engine
- Ys V - Kefin, The Lost City of Sand (Japanese: 失われた砂の都ケフィン Ushinawareta Sunano Miyako Kefin) - 1995: Super Famicom
- Ys V Expert - 1995: Super Famicom
- Ys VI - The Ark of Napishtim (Japanese: ナピシュテムの匣 Napishutemu no Hako) - 2003: Microsoft Windows PC, PlayStation 2 and PSP (as Ys - The Ark of Naphistim)
- Ys - The Oath in Felghana (Japanese: フェルガナの誓い Ferugana no Chikai) - 2005: Microsoft Windows PC
Ys I and II were released as a single pack as Ys Book I & II for the TurboGrafx 16 CDROM Version, as Ys I & II Eternal Story for Playstation 2.
Ys - The Oath in Felghana is not technically a new game in the series, but is rather a heavily "re-imagined" remake of Ys III, intended largely to make the game's events fit in better with the overarching plot threads introduced in later games.)
Series Chronology
According to the chronology of the fictional universe that the Ys series is set in, the correct order is:
- Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished
- Ys II: The Final Chapter
- Ys IV: Mask of the Sun
- Ys III: Wanderers from Ys / Ys: The Oath in Felghana
- Ys V: Kefin, The Lost City of Sand
- Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim
Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys is not part of the official series' chronology, thus is noncanonical, but the events described take place just before Ys III. There is frequently some confusion on this issue, but factually, both versions of Ys IV take place between II and III.
To clarify, at the beginning of The Dawn of Ys, Adol and Dogi are returning to Minea for the first time since leaving after Ys II, and Dogi states "it's been two years since we left." The epilogue of the game depicts the events just before Adol and Dogi arrive in Felghana at the beginning of III. Also, at the beginning of Ys III, the opening crawl states that three years have passed since Adol saved the land of Ys from the clutches of evil.
Characters
- Adol Christin: The red-haired swordsman who is the protagonist of the Ys series. He was born in a small village near Promalock. His first adventure begins when he departs for Esteria from that port town. He has an uncanny knack for being at or arriving to the right place at the right time. He also has the curious habit of falling into the sea, and washing up on beaches, being rescued and nursed back to health by each game's female lead in almost every game.
- Dogi: Adol's best friend. He is taller than Adol and has blue hair. A former thief who worked as part of Goban's band of Robin Hood-esque group. His most outstanding trait is his incredible strength (and a consequent penchant for knocking down walls with his bare hands), which is offset by his kind heart, deep loyalty, and frequently goofy demeanor.
- Edgar
- Feena: Appears in the first two installments of the Ys series.
- Slaghf
- Galbalan
- Chester Stoddart
- Elena Stoddart: Chester Stoddart's baby (or much younger) sister. She was raised by Chester.
- Lilia: A girl who finds Adol when he arrives at the lost land of Ys in Ys II. She plays a reasonably major role in the remainder of the game.
- Karna
- Leeza: Appears in Ys IV, and lives in Celceta.
- Bammi
- Jevah
- Lemnos
- Eldeel
- Lord McGuire: Known in some versions as Lord McGaya. He is the lord of Valestine Castle in the land of Felghana in Ys III. His misguided actions play a major role in the events of that game.
- Niena
- Rizze
- Massea
- Stoker
- Terra: Appeared in Ys V as a child, showing up with the Ibur Gang to cause trouble, and later appeared in Ys VI as an adult.
- Isha: The younger sister of Olha and one of the lead females in Ys VI. Has the gift of foresight and the power of the Rhedan priestesses who safeguard Alma. Captured by Ernst near the end, but saved by Adol.
- Olha: The older sister of Isha and another lead female in Ys VI. Current priestess of the Rheda who live in the Canaan Islands. She was captured by the Romun empire for her powers, but was saved by Adol.
- Geis: Appears in Ys VI as a dark-haired, intimidating mercenary.The younger brother of Ernst and a descendant of the humans who stole from the gods. Tries to protect the Canaan islands from the Ark of Napishtim (a entity that controls the world's weather and keeps the surrounding currents intact), but fails.
- Ernst: The older brother of Geis and main villain in Ys VI. A corrupt Romun commander who tried to force the island's inhabitants into slavery. He also tried to control the Ark of Napishtim, a weather controlling device deep under the Canaan Islands. Has three fairies to do his bidding: Jue Brilante, Xisa Livart, and Seras Erricil.
Geography
Unlike most games of its kind, the world of Ys is actually a fictionalized version of Earth, with countries being given alternate names, listed as follows:
There are some places without direct geographical counterparts, but their equivalent locations are as follows:
- Altago: A city on the northernmost tip of what would be Tunisia (most likely Carthage).
- Canaan: An archipelago of three islands out to the west, which serves as an analogue to the Bermuda Triangle. It is where Ys VI takes place.
- Celceta: A land at the northern border between Ispani and Gria. Its map location places it most likely close to San Sebastian in Spain. This is where both iterations of Ys IV take place.
- Xandria: A city in what would be Egypt (most likely Alexandria). It and its surroundings are the location of the events in Ys V.
- Promalock: A port town on the northern coast of Gria. The maps are not identical, but it is probably meant to be geographically close to where La Rochelle is.
- Esteria: A small island out to the northwest of Promalock. The Japanese spelling is Esterior. It is the location of Ys itself, and is where the first two games take place.
- Ediz: A city on the southernmost tip of Ispani (most likely Cadiz). The only involvmenet that this location has had in the games, is that it is the Ediz ports where Adol and Dogi were when the Romun soldiers came looking for them, just before they were taken into hiding by Ladoc and Terra (Ys VI).
- Barecia: Most likely the equivalent of Barcelona, but it is in Gria rather than Ispani, since the border between the two is not the same as the real-world borders. Like Ediz, it has not been mentioned in a game, but is on the world map.
- Steldum: A city on the north coast of Garman. Geographically, it is probably the equivalent of Hamburg. It has also not yet been mentioned in-game.
Many locations on the map are according to the Romun Empire. Many of the names according to the Romun on the map for the games are, in fact, much closer to those spelled on the maps charted by those from our Ancient Rome.
Release Notes
Screenshot of Ys I Complete for Windows The Ys series has its roots in the Japanese computer system, the PC-8801. Each of the first three games was released on that platform first, and that is still considered the "official" form of each. Ports of the games to other platforms have almost been handled by various other licensee companies, such as Hudson Soft, Tonkinhouse and Konami, to name a few.
When it came time for the fourth game in the series, there were only two versions released, and Falcom licensed both versions out, the Super Famicom version to Tonkinhouse (who had handled the port for Ys III), and the PC Engine CD-ROM version to Hudson (who had ported all three previous games to that platform). They allowed Hudson to take considerable liberties with the game, though, and as a result, the two games are very different. They share the same setting, cast and much of the basic plot, but the actual structure of the story plays out in a completely different manner, as do the game's levels themselves.
Screenshot of Ys II Complete for Windows The Super Famicom version, titled Mask of the Sun, is the official continuation of the series. The PC Engine CD-ROM version is called The Dawn of Ys and takes several different turns, plot-wise, including some significant inconsistencies with the canonical storyline. For this reason, The Dawn of Ys is essentially an "alternate universe" take on the events in Celceta. In spite of this, it is widely considered to be a much better game than Mask of the Sun, and is still held in high regard as one of the best titles available for the PC Engine CD-ROM platform.
When Falcom released Ys V, it came out on only a single platform: the Super Famicom. As a late-generation 16-bit title, it made impressive use of color and the console's sound chip, but it received a lukewarm reception from critics and fans alike, partially due to the liberties it took with the gameplay (namely, giving Adol a jump and making him swing his sword, a la The Legend of Zelda) and the music having a more orchestral and subdued style. It was also extremely easy. In response to this, Falcom soon put out Ys V Expert, which was exactly what it claimed: a much harder version of the game.
After this, the series sat dormant for eight years, during which time, Falcom abandoned console development altogether, choosing instead to focus on the Microsoft Windows platform. Out of nowhere, they announced a new game in the series, entitled Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, which was released on September 27th, 2003. It took what Ys V had done and refined it, turning it into a very fast-paced action-RPG, which was generally well-received.
In early 2005, a new title in the series was announced, this one titled Ys: The Oath in Felghana, which is a top-to-bottom "re-imagining" of Ys III, covering the same plot as the original, but expanding on it greatly. In spite of how much has changed, it is not "Ys VII." It was released on June 30th, 2005.
English Releases
For a very long time, only the first three Ys games were ever released in North America. The Sega Master System version of Ys: Ancient Ys Vanished, the Turbografx-16 CD-ROM versions of both Ys I&II, the Sega Genesis, SNES, and Turbografx-16 CD-ROM versions of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys were released in North America, but the original PC-88, MSX, and NES versions were released exclusively in Japan. The series has garnered a feverishly loyal English fan base, however, and all but one of the games can be played in English in some form, thanks to unofficial translations.
- Ys I Complete and Ys II Complete for Windows PCs have been fully translated by RIGG (http://rigg.servegame.com/translations/yscomplete/).
- Ys IV: Mask of the Sun for the Super Famicom has been fully translated by the Aeon Genesis Translation Project (http://agtp.romhack.net). A script revision is forthcoming.
- Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys for the PC Engine (Japanese form of the TurboGrafx 16) has a 100% text translation patch over at RIGG (http://rigg.servegame.com/translations/ys4/). A dub for the voices was being worked on, but all progress on it has halted indefinitely.
- Ys V: Ushinawareta Suna no Miyako Kefin is also being worked on by Aeon Genesis (http://agtp.romhack.net), but progress is stalled, pending a full script dump.
Konami purchased the rights to bring the Ys VI: Ark of Napishtim to the PS2 in the global market (and dropped the "VI" from the title in the process), and the US version was released on February 22, 2005, with the Japanese version following on March 10th, 2005. This marked the first official English release of a game in the series in over twelve years. A PSP version is also forthcoming, after many delays, and is currently slated for Spring 2006. At one point, NEC Interchannel proposed bringing DigiCube's Ys I & II: Eternal Story to the US, but the idea was rejected by Sony, due to their prevailing attitudes toward the viability of 2D games in the US market, as well as numerous technical issues with the port itself.
Ys' Music and Impact
Ys, especially Ys Book I and II in its various incarnations and remakes, are known throughout the industry for its groundbreaking melodic soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro, Mieko Ishikawa and Hideya Nagata, who were among the first video game musicians to move beyond blips and bleeps to create movie-like memorable soundtracks in video games. The composers' work has been remixed for each subsequent re-release of Ys I and II, but most memorably was remixed by Japanese computer musician Ryo Yonemitsu for Hudsonsoft's Ys I and II, and Ys III: Wanderers from Ys releases for the PC Engine CD-ROM. Combining Yuzo's composition and Ryo's arragement abilities, this arrangement found itself introducing video gamers, for the first time, to video game soundtracks that can stand on their own as full orchestral pieces of music. Consequently, the Ys series is seen in the video game music industry as groundbreaking, as demonstrated by a never-ending series of music CD's based on the series' music, with almost infinite variations on its themes. Even Final Fantasy does not have as many musical CDs in circulation over time.
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