Ys I & II

Ys I & II
Developer(s)	Nihon Falcom Alfa System (TGCD) Team Digi (PS2) Dreams (DS)
Publisher(s)	Nihon Falcom Hudson Soft
Designer(s)	Masaya Hashimoto (director, designer) Tomoyoshi Miyazaki (scenario writer)
Programmer(s)	Masaya Hashimoto (original) Hiromasa Iwasaki (remake)
Composer(s)	Yuzo Koshiro (original) Mieko Ishikawa (original) Ryo Yonemitsu (arranger)
Series	Ys
Platform(s)	TurboGrafx-CD, PC, PlayStation 2, Virtual Console, Nintendo DS, PSP
Release date(s)	TG-CD JP December 21, 1989 NA 1989 Virtual Console JP October 16, 2007 NA August 25, 2008 EU September 5, 2008 Nintendo DS JP April 18, 2008 NA February 24, 2009 PSP JP July 16, 2009 NA February 22, 2011 EU PSN February 23, 2011
Genre(s)	Action role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone (Virtual Console) ESRB: Teen (Nintendo DS)

Ys I & II (イースI・II, Īsu Wan Tsū) is a Japanese action role-playing game compilation consisting of enhanced remakes of the first two Ys games, released for the PC Engine CD-ROM by Nihon Falcom and Hudson Soft in 1989. It was released as Ys Book I & II for the TurboGrafx-CD in North America in 1990, and was a pack-in title for the TurboDuo in 1992.

Ys I & II was released on the Virtual Console in Japan on October 16, 2007, in North America on August 25, 2008, and in Europe and Australia on September 5, 2008.

Overview

Ys I & II consists of early enhanced remakes of the first two games released in the Ys series, Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished and Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished – The Final Chapter. It was one of the first video games to use CD-ROM, which was utilized to provide enhanced graphics, animated cut scenes, a Red Book CD audio soundtrack, and voice acting. The game's English localization was also one of the first to use voice dubbing.

In both games the player controls a red-haired swordsman named Adol Christin. In the first game he must seek out the six Books of Ys. These books contain the history of the ancient, vanished land of Ys, and will give him the knowledge he needs to defeat the evil forces currently sweeping the land of Esteria.

In Ys II Adol is transported to the floating civilization of Ys, and begins a quest to unravel the secrets of the land, and finally rid it and Esteria of evil. All English translations of Ys II were part of a compilation; no standalone version has been localized.

Remakes

Windows

Ys I & II Complete was released in Japan for Windows PC on June 28, 2001. It contained updated graphics and FMV sequences.

PlayStation 2

Ys I & II: Eternal Story was released on PlayStation 2 on October 7, 2003. Based on Ys I & II Complete, it also added new characters and items alongside the previous game's improvements. Eternal Story was also a Japan-only release.

Nintendo DS

Legacy of Ys: Books I & II was released on Nintendo DS in the United States on February 24, 2009. The remake includes 3D graphics, updated sound, and multiplayer for up to 4 people. Each copy of the first printing of the game also includes a bonus soundtrack CD.

StageSelect.com awarded the Nintendo DS remake an 8 out of 10 and considers it a nostalgic addition to anyone's collection.

PlayStation Portable

Ys I & II Chronicles was released on PSP on July 16, 2009. It is also based on Ys I & II Complete. XSEED Games localized and published the game in North America, where it was released on February 22, 2011. It was also released in Europe (only on PlayStation Network) on February 23, 2011. When starting a new game, the player can choose between two different game modes, which will display character portraits from the 2001 Windows release, or entirely new portraits created for this release. The soundtrack can be changed at any time during the game, between that of the PC88 release, the 2001 Windows release, or an entirely re-orchestrated soundtrack created for the PSP edition.

Windows 7/Vista

Ys I & II Chronicles was released in Japan for Windows PC on December 24, 2009. It is also based on Ys I & II Complete.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameStats	9.0 / 10
Review scores
Publication	Score
Dragon
Electronic Gaming Monthly	8.75 / 10
IGN	8.5 / 10 (Wii)
RPGFan	92%
TurboPlay	"Incredible"
Awards Entity Award OMNI Magazine Game of the Year

In 1990, the game received the Game of the Year award from OMNI Magazine, as well as many other prizes. The August/September 1990 issue of TurboPlay magazine praised the game in its review, stating that the introduction sequence is "mind-blowing," that "everything, from the graphics to the gameplay, is incredible" and that it gets the reviewer's "vote for having the greatest sound and music track ever recorded for a video game." The game was reviewed in 1991 in Dragon #172 in "The Role of Computers" column, where the reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars. The review praised many aspects of the game, including "important characters whose voices can actually be heard," the cinematic sequences being "well done" and "extremely satisfying to watch," and the animation being "the best we've seen" in a TurboGrafx game, concluding that it is "a great adventure game that offers long play value, music, cinematic sequences, and role-playing action."

Electronic Gaming Monthly's panel of four reviewers gave the game scores of 10, 9, 8, and 8, averaging out to 8.75 out of 10 overall. The magazine's 1999 Video Game Buyer's Guide described the game as still "one (well, two actually) of the best RPGs around." RPGFan reviewed the game in 2001 and gave it a 92% score. It described it as "the first RPG on the first video game console CD-ROM" and stated that its "release heralded the evolution of the standard role-playing game," promising "a much larger, more colorful world, populated with lifelike characters who communicated with voice instead of text." It praised various aspects of the game, including the responsive controls, the graphics as having "stood the test of time," the soundtrack as an "audio masterpiece," the "vocal performances" and "dubbing" as surpassing "most gaming dubs produced today," the "fantastical world," and the "story of tragedy, hope and life."

IGN reviewed the Wii's Virtual Console release of the TurboGrafx-16 game and gave it a score of 8.5 out of 10. The reviewer Lucas M. Thomas described the "incredibly simplistic gameplay design choice" of "ramming" into enemies as "interestingly addictive" and found that it "streamlines the entire experience, which benefits the progression of the game's plot." He also praised the soundtrack as "one of the best to be heard" on the Virtual Console and concluded that it is "hard to argue against the value of getting two games' worth of content combined together into one double-length adventure." The game's early Red Book audio soundtrack, composed by Yuzo Koshiro and Mieko Ishikawa, has been praised as some of the best video game music ever composed, by GamesTM, Kurt Kalata of Gamasutra and Hardcore Gaming 101, and RPGFan.

External links

• Ys I & II at MobyGames
• Ys I & II at GameFAQs
• Official Legacy of Ys Books: I & II site (English)
• Ys I & II Strategy Guide (TurboGrafx-CD) at TurboPlay Magazine Archives