this game is a lot shorter then i remember...
actually you know what... i'm going to compair this to the other version of the game that i played.
as for why it's only book 1.... the game is stressful and i may forget some details by the time i get to book 2 so yeah... separating.
First, what the story is about.
most of what i know is thanks to the Anime but the game does a good job of telling you though some in game text and a cutscene when you start.
Adol, a young (16?) adventurer tries to get to Minea cause... well in the anime it's cause he feels it's calling to him... in the game he just kinda wants to... he doesn't talk much after all... anyways he tried to crossthe sea by boat
fun fact... um... pun not intended... Adol+boats=not a fun time
anyways he comes across this storm that seems to surround the island and ends up shipwrecked, luckily it's on the island he was heading to anyways.
soon after he finds out he's part of a prophecy, in the anime it's mentioned that his name is pretty common and even a girl could have it but that is never mentioned in the game... just that Sera has been seeing him in her dreams.
he is sent out to find the 6 books of Ys in order to bring peace to the world (or at least Esteria cause... everything is very local in these Ys games)
so yeah... long story short Adol Christian goes on an adventure.
which... is the plot of all the games but what can you do... they are fun.
Ok like i said this isn't my first time playing this game. However it is my first time playing this version.
I have a friend who gives me endless flak about the version i did play originally... see I played the DS version that Atlus put out.
...
i'm sure that has no bearings on why book 1&2 are my least fav of the series right?
okay well so one was done by atlus and one by Xseed... who cares.... they can't be that different right?
Wrong.....
The core mechanic of the game is that you just kinda bump into enemies... not head on but from the side or an angle... essentially there is no attack button.
The atlus version of the game added an attack button and got rid of the bump mechanic completely... but thats good right? beign able to attack at will is good.... right?
no.... no it effectively breaks the game... i didn't believe it at first (cause i did eventually beat the version... it was hard but not completely impossible) but having played this... yeah... see the thing is when you are hit you get pushed back a little making the lack of recovery time not a big deal... in the DS version you get hit and you don't move at all... you can have your entire health drained in a matter of second because an enemy cornered you and you do flinch after getting hit.
other changes i noticed... the level cap is 10 in the xseed version as opposed to 24 in the Atlus one...
a point in atlus' favor? NOPE... see even though the number is different the stats are exactly the same and reading my old review i hit the level cap at exactly the same time so... it's just a way to make you feel better i guess?
I seem to remember something about gettign EXP from certain events... i didn't notice this happening in the xseed version but i wasn't look for it... a point in atlus' favor?
NOPE cause like i said... you hit the level cap insanely early... both times i got there before the second boss. so extra exp really means nothing...
Also the Xseed version feels less glitchy then the Atlus version... i'm sure there are glitches but nothing that forced me to quit... unlike the atlus version where i literally got stuck in a wall.... more then once.
okay.... now that i'm done beating poor Atlus who i really do love.... they just didn't do a good port of this game...
time to say the good and the bad.
The good:
The music, this game gives you the option to have three different types of music... i personally loved the orginal system music cause it had a kind of tinnyness that i find charming but i did play most of the game with the default music.... switching just to hear each songs versions.
The gameplay.... i can't believe i'm saying this but even though i found the idea of running into enemies and hoping they don't hurt me incredibly stressful it was a lot of fun.
just overall it was fun to play this game the way it was meant to be played.
The not so good:
while i actually had fun this time.... it's got some flaws.
I got lost.... a lot... the entire game is kinda a maze of "hopefully you going to the right place"... and even more of "what am i supposed to do now?" and hile everything is explained by an NPC it's still frustraiting when you go into the shrine... get the Silver bells and go see sera only to be told that your a moron and still need to beat the actual boss and get the book of Ys.
Speakign of bosses two stick out at me.
One is this thing that transforms into bats which can't be hurt and chip away at your health which sucks cause again there is no recovery time. the bats do come together and you can attack then.... but the timing you have is like half a second and if you are at all late you get hurt when he turns back into bats .... i hate every time i come across this boss... pretty sure he's in origin as well.... or one of the other games at least.
the other is the final boss.... every time you hit him a chunk of the floor vanishes.... i got really unlucki in my playthrough and was suck in the corner.... but since he bounces on a patter he walked right into me and killed himself.... not complaining just.... it was a lot easier then i remember it being.
speaking of the final boss.... do not fight him with the best armor/weapon.... it's a trap... a really mean trap.
The bad:
this was the only 'glitch' that annoyed me and it's not that big a deal but i should mention it.... i playedi n windowed mode (my screen size made the game look kinda terrible) and if i clicked off to reply to someone on skype things would be fine..... unless i was on the save screen... even if i hadn't saved in a while clicking off when on that screen got the not responding warning every time.... it eventually went away but it was a little annoying cause even if yu left the window the game wouldn't really pause.... but honestly it's not a game breaker just something i noticed and felt i should mention.
I had a lot of fun this time around... yeah it was way more stressful then my first time but hey i didn't throw anything across the room this time... thats progress.
I really want to thank Xseed for bringing out (or at least trying to bring out) all the Falcom games, you guys are the reason i am buying a Vita in fall... i'm more then a little excited for Celceta (and more then a little hopeful for some more legend of/trails of/whatever the series is considered cause it branches so much i don't even know anymore... but i know it's unlikely cause of the psp's demise and the games are massive.... but still... full of hope)
I enjoyed this game... i will enjoy book 2 (though i've told myself no playing it till i finish some commissions.... i wasn't supposed to play this one at all till i had finished some but hey... at least i finished 1 of 4 right?
ok i better get back to work.
Ys Chronicles+ (ys 1&2) are available on steam for 14.99, it comes with two versions of each game (chronicles and complete) three choices for music (chronicles, complete and original) multiple different ways to view all the info and of course 2 games.... if you ask me thats on hell of a deal.
and yeah i'm Biased.... I love Adol Cristian and his story no matter how silly or repetitive it can get.
yeah book 1 is a little short... i beat it in 5 hours... would have been closer to 3 had i not forgotten my actual objective of if i hadn't gotten lost so much or if i hadn't completely forgotten to to the Rado's Annex part of the game... which is important.
anyways this game is also available from Xseed on psp
and Ds from atlus (though.... dont get this version... unless you wanna see the slight differences and butchered gameplay)
and like... 20 or so other times.... seriously this game has been redone a lot.
but i'd say the best version so far is the one Xseed released... give it a shot you probably wont regret it.
No comments:
Post a Comment