Ys I & II Chronicles+

This is tricky, since I have to apply one score to two games, and I would rate them differently (3 stars for Ys 1 and 4 for Ys 2). I speak as a newcomer to the Ys series. I just finished beating both games for my second time, and have only played them for about a week. THE GOOD: These games have a very interesting combat system--a holdover from their original release, since they were made a long, LONG time ago. You attack by running into the enemies, and whether or not you take damage in return is based on whether or not you run into them head-on or slightly off center. In concept, it sounds rather boring, but in practice it actually makes for a fast and refreshingly simple experience, where the difficulty comes not from difficult enemy design, but from enemy formations and terrain, which often restricts your movement and makes it hard to hit the enemies off center. The story, while nothing spectacular, is still pretty decent, and has some decent twists (especially in the second game). All-in-all, the shorter length of these games, along with their simplicity, make for a set of games that are very easy to pick up and play. THE BAD: These games suffers from Cryptic Game Syndrome (CGS) as I like to call it. There are a few times in the games where you are required to do something that nothing appears to hint at, and makes no sense in context. Potential spoiler here: there's a light spell that reveals hidden doors and makes it easier to see in the dark in the second game, but it never makes an invisible item visible until nearly the end of the game, where you are required to use it. Moments like that left me stumped for long periods of time, and I actually had to look up help online a few times. The first game is somewhat worse about this than the second, ESPECIALLY the final boss. This is why I rate it lower. Still, both games were otherwise VERY fun to play, and I highly recommend them. These are games I will probably return to multiple times.

First off, I'd like to say that I disagree with Doubleflores. If you start the massive franchise that is Ys with a game that plays better than the first two, you might feel put off when you finally get to play those. That can't be a good thing because these games are amazing. There's an entire website (Digital Emelas) dedicated to explaining the different ways to get into the series, and I strongly recommend you visit it first if you're at all interested in Ys. I was hesitant to buy this game at first. It didn't look very pretty, and not being able to swing your sword on command seemed like a terrible game mechanic, but the aesthetics grew on me, as did the bump system. Being able to just walk in your enemy's general direction and attack proved surprisingly convenient, and I have to admit it's also pretty unique. Add to that the phenomenal rock music, and Ys really makes you feel like a badass. If I had to compare this to any other game, I'd unironically compare it to DOOM. Ys 1 has some of the best AND worst game design I've seen in an RPG, and it's absolutely BRUTAL. A bug makes the final boss go faster on full-screen, while your character's speed is locked to that of windowed mode, so keep that in mind. And I can't be convinced that the game can be beaten without a guide with all the crazy backtracking it makes you do in some of the later dungeons. 3.5/5 Ys 2 is (almost) PERFECTION. The story gets explained in much more detail, boss patterns are more clever but not as frustrating, music still rocks, the layout of the dungeons is not as maze-like, and it has a really fun magic system. This game is such a big improvement over Ys 1 that I believe it deserves a 5/5 all things considered. Both games taken into account, I give this compilation a 4 or 4.5/5, not that the score should matter much. Nevertheless, these games are fun and definitely worth your 5 dollars.

For newcomers - I would strongly suggest that you try Oath in Felghana first, and then move on to Origins before trying this! This suggestion isn't because I think I and II aren't good - I think they're excellent - it's just that I think that the radically different gameplay in Oath would be much more appealing for newcomers. Why would I say this? Well, I think that in comparison to Oath, I and II's gameplay is inferior - enemies are hit by moving the protagonist, Adol, against the enemy, but at an angle so your sword arm is hitting them and not your whole body. Difficult to get accumstoed to at first, but when you nail it down it's second nature. However, the finesse of the later games - including combos, special moves, trance modes, magic, and in Origins case different weapons with different effects - is lost here. Saying that, though, the things for which the Ys series is known - grand boss fights, a great soundtrack, and a meaty challenge that will keep you occupied for a long time - are all here. I often come back to the first game just to try and beat my time on boss rush mode, just because the fights are often a lot of fun (although a few can be a "chore"). These are also the first games in the series, so obviously the expansive lore of Ys begins here. I think once you've grown to love Oath or Origins or any of the other modern iterations, you'll want to come back here and learn how the series started (and also how the plot links nicely to Origins nicely too!).

These games fit my needs perfectly. + They weren't completely unhinged anime games. They were relatively wholesome. + Each of the two games took near 1 full day of binging to complete the main story (if not slightly longer) (I was able to maintain interest) + The story was quite nice. It was a relatively well-put-together (lore-wise), sweet, traditional, fairy-tale-like story that I got a few laughs and feels out of. That being said, if you can't take the game lightly (with its metal boss music, etc), you might find it slightly cringe + The gameplay was quite unique to me. They use a combat and progression system that I have never experienced before. The progression system required little grinding in Ys 1 but was somewhat tedious in the Ys 2; that being said, grinding is very fast and simple due to the combat mechanics. The combat mechanics didn't require a large degree of skill, but weren't completely boring either, although such may have just been due to the "new/wow" factor for myself (the combat, for me, was fun to master and perform). Additionally, the bosses weren't all pushovers either, often requiring me to retry several times. Ys 1 (and to a lesser extent, Ys 2) actually does a relatively good job at letting the player know that they are not properly equipt for a particular boss fight, without actually telling them with words (the bosses are made such that if you do not have the sword needed to fight them, the sword you have will do small enough damage for you to get the idea that you are, in fact, missing an item you need) + Having customization options for the game music, portraits, etc. was really cool + Fun on controller + Great value on sale - Ys 2 required some grinding - There were a number of times where I didn't understand where to go, how to proceed, didn't understand my objective, etc. and, thus, had to look up a guide online (I hate having to constantly exit games for this kind of thing) (that being said, I'm also not the sharpest knife)