Ys I & II

Ys I

Young adventurer Adol Christin travels to Esteria, an island isolated by a supernatural storm known as the Stormwall. After washing ashore, he learns that monsters have appeared across the island and that silver objects are being stolen. The fortune-teller Sara tells Adol to recover the six Books of Ys, which contain the history of an ancient kingdom and may explain the crisis.^[5]

Adol searches Esteria, rescues an amnesiac woman named Feena, and learns that the ancient people of Ys prospered through a magical metal called Cleria. The use of Cleria was associated with the appearance of demons, leading the people of Ys to seal away their magical power.

The remaining Books of Ys are located in Darm Tower. Adol enters the tower, meets Dogi and other descendants of the six priests of Ys, and confronts Dark Fact, a descendant of Priest Fact who seeks the power contained in the books. After defeating him and assembling the complete set, Adol is transported to the floating land of Ys.

Ys II

Adol awakens on Ys, which was raised into the sky seven hundred years earlier to escape an invasion of demons. He learns magic, explores the island, and returns the Books of Ys to statues of the six priests. Their messages reveal that the power used by the ancient civilization also created the demons threatening both Ys and Esteria.^[5]

Adol travels toward the Shrine of Solomon, where villagers have been kidnapped by the demons. He encounters Feena and Reah, who are revealed to be the twin goddesses of Ys, and learns that the Black Pearl is the source of the kingdom's magic and the demons' existence.

With the aid of the goddesses and descendants of the priests, Adol defeats Darm, the sentient manifestation of the Black Pearl. The destruction of its power eliminates the demons, and the floating land of Ys descends to reunite with Esteria. Feena and Reah enter a long sleep to continue watching over the land.

Origins and production

The original Ys I and Ys II were developed by Nihon Falcom for Japanese personal computers. Masaya Hashimoto served as principal designer and programmer, while Tomoyoshi Miyazaki wrote the scenario.^[1] The story was divided into two releases because the complete concept exceeded the schedule and storage available for a single computer game.^[7]

Hudson Soft licensed the games for the PC Engine CD-ROM² and commissioned Alfa System to develop a combined adaptation. The production brought the two stories together as a single title rather than presenting them as separate releases.^[2] Hiromasa Iwasaki, who had worked on Falcom's original games, participated in negotiations and production related to the PC Engine adaptation.^[8]

The PC Engine version was designed to take advantage of the CD-ROM² format. Its larger storage capacity supported recorded music, voiced dialogue, animated scenes, and a continuous presentation of the two games.^[2] Contemporary technical descriptions reported 41 music tracks, approximately 24 minutes of voiced dialogue, and about 20 minutes of animated sequences.^[9]

Ryo Yonemitsu arranged the music for the PC Engine release. The original compositions were written principally by Yuzo Koshiro, Mieko Ishikawa, and other members of Falcom's music staff for the PC-8801 versions.^[1] The CD-ROM format allowed Yonemitsu's arrangements to be played as recorded audio rather than generated entirely through the console's internal sound hardware.^[2]

Visuals and voice production

Hudson and Alfa System expanded the visual presentation with newly created character portraits, animated openings, transitional scenes, and ending sequences. Although the field graphics retained the overhead structure of the computer games, the CD sequences used larger illustrations and animation to depict major story events.^[2]

The Japanese version featured voiced dialogue during cutscenes and significant conversations. The North American localization was also dubbed into English, making it one of the earlier console role-playing releases in North America to use extensive English voice acting.^[2]

The localized script changed some terminology and names from the Japanese version. The North American title, Ys Book I & II, emphasized the six Books of Ys that connect the first game's plot with the continuation.

Japanese and North American releases

Hudson Soft released Ys I & II for the PC Engine CD-ROM² in Japan on December 21, 1989. NEC Technologies published the North American TurboGrafx-CD edition as Ys Book I & II on May 23, 1990.

The North American version retained the CD music, animation, and voice acting while replacing the Japanese dialogue and text with an English localization. It later became a pack-in title for the TurboDuo, which combined the TurboGrafx-16 and CD hardware into one system.^[2]

The game was reissued through the Wii Virtual Console in Japan in 2007 and internationally in 2008. It was also included among the games supported by later PC Engine Mini hardware in selected regions.

Windows remakes

Falcom developed a new Windows remake of the first game, Ys Eternal, in 1997, followed by Ys II Eternal in 2000. These versions rebuilt the graphics, expanded dialogue and side characters, modified maps and events, and introduced newly arranged music.

Falcom combined the remakes as Ys I & II Complete for Windows on June 28, 2001. The release included further graphical revisions and animated opening sequences directed by Makoto Shinkai, who worked at Falcom before becoming an independent animation director.^[10]

The Windows remakes are separate productions from Hudson's PC Engine compilation. Although both combine the same two stories, they use different graphics, scripts, music arrangements, balancing, and supporting content.

PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS

DigiCube published Ys I & II: Eternal Story for PlayStation 2 in Japan on August 7, 2003. Based on Ys I & II Complete, it added new characters, items, and other content.

Interchannel-Holon released separate Nintendo DS remakes of Ys I and Ys II in Japan in March 2008, followed by a combined package. Atlus published both games in North America as Legacy of Ys: Books I & II on February 24, 2009.^[11]

The Nintendo DS versions use three-dimensional field graphics and replace the traditional contact-only combat with an optional stylus-controlled sword attack. They also include wireless multiplayer modes for as many as four players and a soundtrack CD with first-print North American copies.

Ys I & II Chronicles

Falcom released Ys I & II Chronicles for the PlayStation Portable in Japan on July 16, 2009. It is based on the Windows Complete remakes and allows the player to choose between the 2001 character artwork and newly created portraits.^[5]

Players can also select among three soundtrack modes: music modeled on the original PC-8801 versions, arrangements from Ys I & II Complete, and a newly produced Chronicles soundtrack.^[5]

A Windows version followed in Japan on December 24, 2009. Falcom described it as a complete port of the PSP edition, retaining the selectable artwork and three music modes.^[5]

Xseed Games released the PSP version in North America on February 22, 2011 and digitally in Europe on February 23. The North American premium edition included a soundtrack CD and a calendar.^[12]

Chronicles+ and mobile versions

Xseed released Ys I & II Chronicles+ for Windows through Steam on February 14, 2013. It added widescreen support, smooth pixel scaling, achievements, leaderboards, Steam Cloud support, decorative screen frames, four difficulty settings, and boss-rush modes.^[6]

DRM-free versions were released through GOG.com and the Humble Store in February 2015.^[13]

Dotemu adapted the Chronicles versions for mobile devices. Ys Chronicles I was released for Android and iOS in April 2015, followed by Ys Chronicles II in February 2016.^[14]

X68000 version

A new version of Ys I & II for the Sharp X68000 was released in Japan by Beep on March 9, 2021. It was produced as a modern commercial release for original X68000 hardware rather than as an emulated edition of one of the earlier ports.^[15]

Contemporary reception

Ys Book I & II received strong reviews after its North American release. Contemporary reviewers frequently emphasized its recorded soundtrack, animated sequences, voice acting, and the size of its continuous two-part adventure.

Roe R. Adams of Computer Gaming World described the game as an effective demonstration of the capabilities of CD-ROM technology. He praised its enhanced graphics, animated sequences, background music, voiced dialogue, story, and enemy behavior.^[17] GamePro similarly praised its graphics, role-playing gameplay, music, and animation, awarding it 24 out of 25.^[21]

The reviewers for Dragon awarded the game five out of five stars and highlighted its audible character voices and music.^[18] VideoGames & Computer Entertainment gave it a score of nine out of ten,^[23] while TurboPlay awarded it the same score and praised its audiovisual presentation and scale.^[24]

Electronic Gaming Monthly awarded the game a combined review score of 35 out of 40.^[19] In the magazine's annual awards, it was named Best Role-Playing Game and received the award for Best BGM and Sound.^[25]

In a 1992 reader poll published by PC Engine Fan, Ys I & II was ranked as the third-best PC Engine game released to that point. It placed second for music and sound, fifth for playability, and third for difficulty.^[26]

Later versions

Reviews of Legacy of Ys: Books I & II for Nintendo DS were more mixed. Critics generally welcomed the availability of both games in one package but criticized elements of the three-dimensional presentation, technical performance, and revised combat. The version received an aggregate score of 67 out of 100 from Metacritic.

The PlayStation Portable and Windows Chronicles releases were generally praised for preserving the contact-based combat while adding selectable soundtracks, visual options, and modern compatibility features. Reviewers nevertheless noted that their map design and combat were comparatively simple when measured against later action role-playing games.^[35]

Lucas M. Thomas of IGN awarded the Wii Virtual Console release 8.5 out of ten. He described its contact-based combat as simple but addictive and praised the soundtrack and the value of receiving both games as one continuous adventure.^[29] Nintendo Life awarded the same release nine out of ten.^[30]

In a 2001 retrospective review, RPGFan gave the PC Engine version a score of 92 percent and praised its controls, audiovisual presentation, localization, story, and soundtrack.^[32] The publication separately awarded the Windows remake Ys Eternal a score of 100 percent.^[31]

Retrospective recognition

Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked Ys I & II at number 38 on its 1997 list of the 100 best video games of all time.^[36] It later appeared on the magazine's 2006 list of the 200 greatest video games of their time, produced with 1Up.com.^[37]

The game was also included in GameSpot's retrospective list of the greatest games of all time.^[38] IGN placed it at number 100 on its 2012 ranking of the greatest role-playing games,^[39] and number 87 in its revised 2017 list.^[40]