Ys I & II Chronicles+

This game is relentless! even on normal difficulty. I think that there's a special place for people that actually possess the mental fortitude to complete this game on any difficulty. I've only finishes Book 1 and I'm looking forward to booting up Book 2 because it was a rush!. by no means is it unbeatable. it just requires a considerable about of luck. DON'T BE DISCOURAGED. PLAY. THIS. GAME.

I wanted to get into the Ys series for a while, and I was always a bit put off after watching gameplay videos. Turns out, the bump-to-attack mechanic was quite fun. It's not deep, there are no different builds or tactics to it, but for an old game this works fine. Bosses are the real highlights, and as I understand, they will remain so in all Ys games. What I was also worried about was writing, and it is also important to understand that this game represents its time. You just didn't get much better writing in an action RPG. If something like this gets released today in a fully priced JRPG game, it won't be accepted well. It is not bad, but it is not great at all. But I am hoping that getting to know the characters and events in Ys I and II will help me appreciate later games more, and after spending a couple of hours with Ys Origin, I am glad that I completed these two games. Like some other reviewers mentioned, there will be moments where you might not know waht to do. Don't waste too much of your time on figuring out what to do, use the guide. Overall, these two games are well worthy of your time. They are good old games.

It's a fantastic remake that's worth every penny. The music is absolutely fantastic in this version. The only sad thing is that there are no Mac OS-X binaries.

This combination of YS Books I & II is a remaster of the first two games in a series that started in the 1980s on Japanese PCs long before other action RPG franchises appeared. While that means updated visuals, sound, accessibility, and some quality of life features vs. the originals. If you weren't around for those days long ago keep in mind that games of this vintage were a little more quirky and don't always explain things. The 'bump-combat' style is one of those unique and quirky aspects; it seems odd at first, but once you get used to it you can see that it leads to a fairly quick-paced combat flow with lots of movement which is what they were going for. Part of this older style also means they expect you to explore everything, and experiment with your equipment/items around the environment to uncover things organically. The thought would also be that you'd probably replay the game, which means something you missed could surprise you on a replay. The side effect of that is that it becomes really easy to miss things or not be aware of something as it doesn't drop much in terms of hints. If you don't want spoilers, but don't want to miss things have multiple saves and before any boss fight check a guide for anything you missed up to that point. I originally played this on a game console called the TurboGrafx-16 CD (PC-Engine CD in Japan) released in 1990 (1989 Japan). With that being the first CD game console and this game being one of the first CD games in existence with two sizable (for the time) games combined into one package with enhanced graphics, anime cut-scenes, voice-acting, and a CD audio soundtrack (vs. just chip-tunes) it was amazing. Replaying this using Gentoo Linux via Proton 9.0-203 compatibility layer with env var PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1, regedit to "DisableHidraw"/"Enable SDL" for controller support, and disabling movie playback via the config.exe. Works great!

Ys 1&2 is a retro arpg with a unique fighting system(the bump system) you just run into enemies trying to be slightly off their center in order to damage them while if you run into them straight on you exchange blows resulting in you taking dmg also. Save yourself the trouble and use a guide on this one the game was made in a different gaming era and ys1 is rather short(it took me around 6 hours to finish) if you know what to do. I completely disagree with those that say that the game is painfully difficult(I played on normal), most bosses are easy and the few that are not just requires you to get their rhythm down, no boss took me more than 5 tries. The music is phenomenal, the tunes match the action on the screen to a T and the boss fight music pumps you up. To conclude ys1&2 is a really charming and enjoyable retro game, going into it expecting modern game design is nonsensical since they were made in 1987 and 1988 but they hold up remarkably well.