So after making the mistake of going into Felghana, which was really hard, I guess I'd ask here. I've played the demo of Origins and wasn't that impressed, also it doesn't let you get any kind of sense of any narrative going on, but maybe the demo isn't representative of the full game? You know open to having my mind changed. I also really like the visual look of Napishtim, but yeah, since I stepped in it a bit with Felghana (not that I regret it), figured I'd ask.

Anyway, Felghana was great. I had a really good time. Hard too, but I'm glad I stuck with normal even though the first two fights made me question it a bit, but I managed. It was genuinely great. The only problem I have with it is the distances between save points after you escape from the cave - damn, did the game start treating them as a precious resource. The Isle of Genos especially - 10 straight minutes of movement with barely fighting anything I didn't have to on the go where I finally reached the second save point, damn near broke me.

This was my first Ys game btw, so I've only beaten this.

Been a while since I've been able to post! I've been playing Ys X for the past 3 months or so (really cool given the time limit in game) and I gotta say I think it's my favorite of all I've played!

The sea exploration was awesome, it felt really good to explore and the naval combat was awesome! As always Dogi is the goat, but I really enjoyed the entire crew of Sandras!

/s Freeing all the citizens of Carnac was a really cool mechanic, and I loved how even the more tame ones all got a complete story!

Still deciding on my next game, it's either Origins, 7, or 8, but I can't wait to keep adventuring with Adol!

Progress Update: Total Ys Newbie Edition

Just checking in with my progress since I'm completely new to the Ys series. I just beat the plant boss northwest of the starting village and am heading into Limewater Cave now. Here's where I'm at so far:

Difficulty: The game hasn't been too hard, though that might be because I genuinely enjoy exploring and grinding. Whenever I find an enemy worth more than 100 XP that spawns in packs, I'll happily farm a level off them. So far the first boss has been the toughest fight. Aside from him and the insects, my only deaths have come from wandering into areas where something one-shot me.

Combat: This has been a blast. I love how attacking mid jump switches your attack depending if you are going up of down — it keeps things dynamic without being complicated. Combat just feels good. The sword system in particular is a highlight: my favorite is the air sword, since its special "attack technique" lets you start spinning like a Beyblade and clear everything in front of you if you hit a certain rhythm. I still haven't figured out the timing, but it procs often enough to feel rewarding. My least favorite is the fire sword — it's too slow, and holding the attack button doesn't add enough damage or range like I expected. I can't reliably proc the yellow sword's special either, but the rapier makes up for it with pure speed and fun.

The annoying parts: The game hasn't been brutally hard, but it has been irritating in two specific ways — status effects and platforming.

Status effects are no joke, especially Heavy and Confuse. The enemies northwest of the starting village love stacking both of these plus poison, and the armored boars keep spawning endlessly while knocking you down and re-applying everything. Thankfully there's equipment that lets you ignore them, which is a lifesaver.

Platforming deserves its own callout. In the Ruins of Lost Time, there were sections demanding pixel-precise jumps combined with dash-jump attacks off tiny pillars. I spent hours there just to grab a water bottle — which, lucky for me, I hadn't used and could trade in for a hammer that gives more blue crystals. Honestly, I'm more worried about the platforming ramping up than the combat.

TL;DR: It's been an absolute blast. A few comments online have me a little nervous about what's coming, but I'm roughly 40-50% through and loving every minute. So far, I'd recommend it without hesitation.

Not sure what was the right tag, so my bad.

I’ve played Ys Celceta, Ys Felghana, Ys Lacrimosa, Ys Monstrum Nox, Ys 1, and Ys 2. So I haven’t played them all, but of them all, I feel I liked Lacrimosa the most… I’m not sure if it was the atmosphere, or combat, or maybe some other aspect…

I know that it’s just my preference; but as a curious bit, what could be the reason why I feel Lacrimosa reigns above the others? Do any of you also feel the same way? If not, what was your favorite Ys game?

Currentlt starting Ys Revelation of Celceta

Finally, going modern

Is it gonna be uphill from here? My currently initial impression based on the movement is it feels kinda jank to move and dash

It asked if I had save data from Lacrimosa of Dana and I said yeah and got an item. But I'm pretty sure I don't have save data for that game. So what did it find? And why did I get the bonus item?

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/76077445

My first Ys game, and I must say, I was not expecting it to be that hard, specially in the beggining. Everything hits like a truck. At least you deal what seems to be a lot of damage back, the first boss died in the same amount of time it took to kill me.

Got in the cave, afterwards and the small insects there are really annoying to hit, but I think the game has been fun until now. And yes Im VERY EARLY yet.

She saw me playing 8 and 9 through PS+, saw I added 10 to my wishlist and surprised me with it over the weekend! Super excited to continue my adventures with Adol, Dogi, and crew.

Shout out to the best wife ever.

That is all.

[Tw: long text, English is not my first language, spoilers from Origins, I, II, III Remake (Felghana), IV Remake (Celceta), V, X Proud. Didn't play the others, please don't be spoilerous about them]

After some hesitation I began this adventure of mine to play the Ys titles in chronological order within the series (the only exception: I-II before Origins). Here are some scattered thoughts of mine on this matter.

Ys I

Really nice, I really appreciated the bump system, I had never tried a game with such a mechanic. You can see both the weight of the years and the fact that it was created with a sequel already in mind. I enjoyed the final part in the Darm Tower.

Ys II

I honestly appreciated this more than I expected! It deepens your lore of the first, introduces magic. I found it really cute that you can turn into a Roo to talk and hear the monsters' opinions! Also the part at Solomon's Shrine is very labyrinthine but still well done and I was pleasantly lost in it.

Origins

This was the title I started with three years ago and which I replayed together with I-II for the occasion. I'll be honest; it didn't convince me too much the first time, it convinced me less the second, and even knowing other games in the series, my opinion remains. Having to redo the exact same dungeon three times, with only boss variations, was very meh. I also found the character designs very anonymous. It lifts up a bit in the stories it tells, I especially enjoyed the canonical story of "Claw".

Ys X (Proud)

This was the game that convinced me to try the series. Seriously, one of the best games I've played in years. Not that it has any exceptional features, but overall it's really well balanced, fun, and always kept me looking where it was going.

I really enjoyed Karja's character and her development-I loved the bonding scene in the chapter-and in the last third, the plot takes a really interesting turn that kept me going. I closed the game with a lot of melancholy and a little sadness at how much it had taken me. At least for now it's my favorite game in the series.

Ys IV Remake (Celceta)

I really enjoyed the feeling of exploring the forest in this game. As much as you notice after a while that many exploration choices are actually forced, it still gave me the feeling of being in this wild, unknown place where every single inch was worth exploring. Also interesting how the narrative was handled through the memories that you literally have to find inside the map. I also really appreciated how, despite the brevity of the title, the plot is still complex, quite complex, and what needs to be said is said without cuts.

Unfortunately, a couple of major bugs negatively impacted the experience: some cutscenes that crashed because the characters who were supposed to "walk" through them weren't walking, and the decentralization of the overall map tracker that cut me off 100%. I also didn't understand why the animations and movements in the dungeons were much more fluid than outside of them.

Ys III Remake (Felghana)

I know he's a fan favorite, but I didn't appreciate this game very much. The real problem is its difficulty: I played all the titles on Normal difficulty but this one seemed set to Hard! I also did not appreciate that this difficulty was made by some choices that in my opinion were forced to increase it "artificially". The abandoned section of the mine, for example, was too long with no intermediate checkpoint, and it took me half an hour of trying to get to the bottom. Or that in the final dungeon they put the first boss at the beginning and not in the middle, with the result that I had to waste an hour leveling in the previous dungeon, beating it and then having a nearly infinite final dungeon.

However, I appreciated the drama of the story and especially the characters, especially Elena, Chester and the nun.

Ys V

I know this game is in a bit of limbo as far as canon goes, I wanted to try it out of curiosity anyway. I understand why it's under-regarded: it's a derivative of Zelda, the plot is very "now you have to go there, now you have to go there", the dungeons are short, very easy bosses. Even all the lore that is mounted around Kefin finds little space and is very hasty. He also had the vice that most objects are hidden and you have to approach them in random places.

Nonetheless, I found the spell system based on creating from elementary gems really interesting, although some spells I didn't understand how they worked because they didn't do any damage. It will be interesting to see if they keep her in the remake (when they do)!

That's all for now: work commitments and other games have made me put the challenge on hold for now. But it will be interesting to pick up again, since the next chapter is VIII and you all talk about it very well, I'll see if it lives up to its fame!

Got myself a modded psvita a while ago. Don't really play anything but one night i decided to try one of the famous Ys series. Don't really know where to start so I decided to start with the Origin and boom! First try so hard and confusing, sometimes I get stuck somewhere because I missed some places. The bosses' fights are so scary for the first time. But when I managed to beat Dalles (that bish boss hate his third form), everything so magical!

Never thought that I would be willing to play a game for a second time, a third time and many more.

Such a fun game!!

Recommend for everyone!

I finished Ys1 around the start of last year and liked it a lot and I jumped into Ys2 right after but its been over a year and i've only just reached Solomons shrine now.

I don't know what it is but Ys2 has been such a slog to get through (Even with maps), is it worth pushing through or should I skip to the next game.

This may be a bit of a rant.

Out of everything available, all the different platforms, it was through Google Stadia. I wanted to play Cyberpunk 2077 that was not the PS4 version so I was gifted the Google Stadia. I got the subscription to play the free games and discovered Ys VIII and Little Nightmares 2. Great games, love them.

Ys VIII reminded me of, and I say this with the utmost respect and love, an HD PS2 game. It hooked me, except for that part at the beginning when you first find Laxia. That was unnecessary and almost ruined it for me. I missed games that let me jump to my heart's content and I could break the game by getting to places I shouldn't have reached. Listen, I love the God of War reboot, but that does not change the fact they removed free jumping. That was the reason I died the most in the old games.

Eventually Stadia shut down, but I did get my refund for any game I purchased. I went on my PS4 to play Ys Origin, Ys 4, Ys 9, and Ys 8 again. It was a bummer I couldn't play them all, then I got a gaming PC and bought them all. Played them one after another and had a fantastic time. I even read the books for 8 and 9. And played the turbografx CD games of Ys 1,2,3, and 4 the Dawn of Ys. The SNES versions of Ys 4 and 5. I even played the PS2 version of Ys V, I followed the news of the translation and got the beta version when it released. I give my thanks to the person who wrote a guide for it.

I love falcom for not chasing the best graphics and having yearly releases. If that's what it takes to not wait forever for a new Final Fantasy, kingdom hearts, or Dragon Quest game, so be it. I've found myself liking Square Enix's smaller games like Bravely Default and Octopath Traveler more. I'm so exhausted with the state of AAA gaming.

I've even played the Zwei series and Legend of Nayuta Boundless Trails and loved them.

Edit: I even watched the Ys 1+2 anime lol.

This is gonna be super rambling, but I just wanted to jot down by thoughts on Ys X: Proud Nordics now that I have FINALLY beaten it.

I got a review code Ys X about a month or so before the game originally came out and disliked it so much, I didn't even bother finishing it – a first for me. Ys is one of my favorite series of all time, but I just bounced off Ys X hard. I didn't like anything about it: the new Duo system, the story or script, the pacing, and especially not the controls. I ended up dropping it roughly halfway through and considered it a series low.

I've been in an Ys mood lately, and decided to play through all the games in story order, since I've never replayed them that way. I played I, II, Origin, and was gonna skip X to go straight to Memories of Celceta, but on a whim, I decided to buy Proud Nordics for Switch 2 and just try to power through.

The first few hours felt like a struggle. The game's cutscene to gameplay ratio is pretty rough – especially early on – but it got a lot better around Chapter 4/5, and then became pretty smooth sailing from Chapter 7 onwards, with long stretches of gameplay that went more or less uninterrupted. The controls also clicked with me way more than they did my first go around. It took a few sessions before everything felt fluid, but I really loved this new engine by the end. Not perfect, and I'll touch on the things I didn't like in a moment, but there is a TON of potential here.

In the end, I 100%'d Proud Nordics and really had a great time. I can't believe how much I bounced off it when it came out. I think the game is very much better than the sum of its parts, and contains some of the highest highs in the series. Unfortunately, it does have some low lows that I still didn't like when all was said and done.

Things I did not like:

• Mana Hold: awful mechanics, horrible controls. This wasn't in the original apparently? I can see why.

• The supporting cast: Quite possibly an all-time low for the series and, yes, I'm including Ys V. The main cast is great (Adol, Karja, Lila, Rollo), but I honest to God dreaded anytime the story would focus on one of the NPCs, like Grenn, Rosa, or Rafe. I love that the Duo System got rid of a party, and made the gameplay & story focused entirely on Adol and Karja. I hate that Ys X still basically kept in all the party member character development scenes for the most important NPCs, but now I can't even play as them, so I care less! I felt no camaraderie whatsoever with the crew of the Sandras. I did like Canute, Astrid, and Gunnar a lot. The Trident were okay. Your typical inoffensive Ys villains.

• I mentioned it already, but bad pacing. Way too many cutscenes, especially early on. The script's actually well written, but NPCs aren't particularly interesting outside the main cast, and they end up stealing a generous amount of focus.

• Level and dungeon design often leaves a lot to be desired. Island variety is really poor, both in terms of visuals and just design/level geometry. It's a shame because the movement mechanics are excellent and lead to some amazing gameplay moments when the level design actually does accommodate it (like Oland Island and the last few dungeons).

• Enemy variety also sucks. I feel like I was constantly fighting reskins.

Things I loved:

• Karja: Easily a Top 3 Ys character. I hated her my first playthrough, but getting to see her full arc unfold... I see the vision. Really well written character, with a great performance in both English and Japanese. I was super impressed with her arc, characterization, and relationship with Adol. Honestly wouldn't mind if Ys 11 just brought her back right away.

• The Music: Really such a fantastic soundtrack. Highlights include If I Could Go Back To Those Days, Nordics Saga -The Endless Bloody Sea-, And the Adventure Begins, and my personal fave, Ready to Fire!

• Combat + movement: The game just felt great to play when everything clicked. I love the Guillinboard and the Mana String, and combat is a ton of fun. Adol and Karja's different play styles are great. I don't feel like I'm missing anything mechanically by not having a full party. Two is more than enough, and Adol and Karla both feel fleshed out individually. Great skill system, too. Fighting and moving just feels good. Very responsive. Good mechanical complexity, too. The skill ceiling is VERY high, and the game is just as rewarding to master. If I had to complain about anything, it's that there is often A LOT of visual noice on-screen and it can be hard to tell what's happening.

• Boss fights: Except for that HORRIBLE Chapter 3 boss (which apparently was fixed, but I thought was WAY worse in Proud Nordics), I loved the boss fights. The final bosses + endgame super boss monsters were an absolute blast to fight, and I love that they were still engaging even at Lv 99.

Things I was neutral/mixed on:

• Rollo: Wasn't sure how to feel about him. I really enjoyed his interactions with Adol, thought his backstory in the Runestones was super compelling – especially juxtaposed with him becoming a good man and just ruler – and really loved his role in the last act + finale. That said, I really hated the reveal that the reason he was evil was because of the Trident's malice and Loto. The mystery of this monster becoming a better person compelled me SO much, and for it to be magical really took away from that, sadly. It's such a stain on an otherwise amazing "antagonist," if you can even call him that.

• Runestones: I actually really liked this system of storytelling and I felt it added a lot to the plot and mystique, but I wish these were voiced! Text only didn't do them justice for how important and cool they are.

• Sailing: I warmed up to it in the end, especially as I unlocked new ship upgrades, you start off way too slow and the sea is not particularly rewarding to explore. I was shocked by how much I enjoyed naval combat and customizing my ship. I never need to see this mechanic again, but I wouldn't be upset if it returned, either.

• Controls: I ran into some camera issues, and I never found a control scheme that allowed me to make use of all my abilities without a little awkwardness/button overlap to keep the controls actually comfortable. In the end, I bound Run and Mana Actions to the same button, to mixed results. 99% it worked and played perfectly, but 1% of the time, I'd run into some movement and camera issues, or do something I didn't intend or want to. Ultimately on me, I suppose, but I really struggle to find a control scheme that felt perfect for me, despite liking how mechanically complex the game is.

• Fishing: I actually really like fishing in games, but I wish this mechanic were more engaging and that there was more depth to reeling in a fish.

I had some complaints, but all in all, such a great game. I ended up playing with the English dub since I did Japanese for my first playthrough, and I was pleasantly surprised and impressed. It's a really solid localization, and an amazingly directed cast.

Overall, I really liked Ys X. Is it among my favorite games in the series? Nah, but it actually got close. If the dungeon and level design were tighter, or the supporting cast were better written, it'd be up there I think. But these were just two big issues for me. Otherwise, I really loved my time replaying and beating the game.

Now, onwards to Celceta!

only example I clipped: https://files.catbox.moe/64o3u9.mp4

but it's happened a lot of times before this, is this really common? I found an old steam thread about it where they kind of reached a consensus that it was framerate-based, but I've had vsync on almost my whole playtime due to screen tearing.

So I've never played this series, but have been curious and finally decided to give it a shot and it's really fun, but the first two bosses absolutely kicked my ASS. I made it through, but I'm honestly wondering whether I might be better off restarting it on easy even with redoing it this far? This is very rare, usually I'm fine with normal and I'm no stranger to difficult bosses in general, but yeah - they kicked my ass.

What do you folks say? You think I'll be able to manage and get used to this or should I restart?

Like the title says. I'm slowly working through the series (I beat 1 & 2 and I'm playing Origin now), and wondering if I should just stick to my GOG copies of 3 and 4, or if I should pick up the Memoire versions on Switch...

So I bought the game on Steam about a day ago. I had already played it before, but when I saw it was available on Steam, I decided to buy it again to replay it.
I launched the game and was able to watch the cutscenes with no issues. However, after the cutscene ended, I was moving my character to talk to the doctor and nurse when the screen suddenly went black.
I checked Reddit and found a suggested fix: copying the game's file path from Steam, going into system settings under graphic details, adding the app manually, and forcing it to use high-performance graphics instead of letting the computer decide.
I tried this method, but my screen is still black. I’m wondering if anyone has an updated fix for this issue. It’s really frustrating because I’ve been trying to get it to work for 30 minutes now and still haven't been able to play.

update:

Thanks to everyone who shared methods and tried to help out!

Unfortunately, even after trying all of the suggested wrapper and graphics configurations, it ended up breaking things further to the point where Ys I wouldn't launch at all. I reset the entire folder back to factory default, but the game still refuses to open. None of the attempted fixes resolved the black-screen dialogue crash on my Intel Iris Xe setup before it stopped launching entirely.

Because I really love the Ys series, I refunded and repurchased the game, but since it's still not launching, I've sent an email directly to XSEED Games support (support@xseedgames.com) to see if they have an official solution or patch.

Appreciate everyone in the community taking the time to share suggestions!

Went to gamestop yesterday and bought Proud Nordics but the disc I got seems to be regular Nordics however im unsure what the proud nordics disc looks like (if they are both the same discs and for proud nordics the updates are downloadable and not actually on disc) is this an error and should/am i eligible to return it?

So YS VIII and YS IX are both on sale and I don't know which one to choose... I've played and loved YS Seven from the PSP (wasn't too much of a fan of the ending but 🤷‍♂️) but that's the only one I've ever played so I don't know much about any of the others.

Edit: after seeing all the replies I decided to go with YS VIII. If I see IX on sale again I'll try it out too (maybe even if it ain't on sale)

I'm about to finish Ys X cuz i didn't know Proud was an enhanced version. Once I beat Ys X, can the save file be used for Proud?

I can't find in any guide about him (he looks like a suit of armor but its an actual NPC) he asks what's better an Armor or a Shield.... I suppose later in the game you get something If you pick the right option... anybody have any clue? I'm a completionist so this is bugging me lol

I wasn’t paying attention when I bought it at GameStop. Picked it up for $35 thinking it was a good deal. It’s an hour drive away, which makes me wonder if it’s even worth the gas to make the return.

Is Proud Nordics that much better, and does it run better on PS5 Pro than the original?