Ys Origin improves on its predecessor's winning formula and this prequel deserves the title of best in the franchise.
+ Interesting story and likeable cast of characters
+ Multiple playable characters add reason to play again
+ Great variety between the playable characters and the combat is still awesome
+ Impressive level design and visuals
Negative
+ Still no voice acting
In these latest release of Ys, the series has maintained a certain standard; old-school, fast hack-and-slash gameplay with plenty of big and challenging bosses that are satisfying (and occasionally infuriating) to take down, and great visuals and dungeon variety to fresh things up. Ys: Origin is the latest Ys to be rereleased on the PC via Steam; an installment that builds on the series' root with multiple playable characters that freshens things up and the same gameplay and challenge you might have grown fond of.
Ys: Origin takes place 700 years before the original 'Ancient Ys Vanished' so this origin story completely ditches likeable and silent red-haired protagonist Adol the Red. The game revolves around a search party, namely one of the two characters you choose in the beginning, in their search for their missing twin Goddesses inside a gigantic demonic tower. The two main playable characters are Yunica Tovah, who uses an axe for close-quarter combat, and Hugo Fact, a magic prodigy who uses ranged magic for combat. Both of these have a different motive (other than rescuing their Goddesses) for climbing this huge tower, with each story revealing their past and motivation. Yunica's side of the story is surprisingly memorable, especially how she manages to mature throughout the ten hour story. Hugo is an arrogant character, in comparison to innocent and simple-minded Yunica, as his conversations with the enemy are more amusing and less one-sided than when in Yunica's position. There is a third character (which I will not spoil for you) after you beat the story with either Hugo or Yunica on any difficulty. This time around, there is more focus on fighting and story than actually trying to help everyone you see, but I guess you are still on a rescue mission, so this does not deviate much from what our Adol normally does.
Due to multiple playable characters, the combat is slightly different from previous installments. With Yunica, you will still engage enemies in close-quarter combat as you hack-n-slash your way through each dungeon a la Adol style. For further information on this part of the gameplay, feel free to check out my other review, Ys: The Oath in Felghana. Anyone who ever played with Adol in other installments will immediately feel right at home with using Yunica. Hugo however, offers a new kind of combat. Being a powerful magician, Hugo does not engage in close-combat. Using his staff, and small satellites called 'The Eyes of Fact', Hugo can shoot laser projectiles to hit his enemies. Hugo's gameplay adds a layer of strategy to the otherwise mindless stabbing. Even his magic, it is more defensive. Yunica's wind magic creates a whirlwind that hits surrounding enemies. Hugo's wind magic creates a barrier instead that blocks a single attack.
Ys: Origin is mostly structured like its most recent predecessor; The Oath in Felghana. Instead of multiple dungeons scattered a small world map, Ys: Origin takes place in a single tower. Taking the example of Persona 3's Tartarus, you are always ascending the tower, and the levels change as you progress. In each dungeon, you will have some Zelda-like exploring (on a smaller scale), requiring you to find keys or gaining a new power, and do some light platforming to progress instead of rushing from room and room and killing anything that moves. At the end of each dungeon, you will face a boss. Like the apparent tradition of the Ys franchise, the bosses are furious and challenging; at times to the point of boiling frustration but the game has an incredible amount of scalable difficulty, though chosen at the beginning. Though the Very Easy in Origin is far easier than the Very Easy in The Oath in Felghana. Most bosses follow specific patterns, giving you only particular moments to actually do damage. Other bosses are more straightforward, allowing you to do damage whenever. The actual bosses are fun, and give a spice up to the average combat against normal enemies.
A new addition is that of using spiritual power (SP) to enhance your character. At save points, after purifying the Goddess statue, you have access to blessings. These blessings give additional boast to your character, each cost a handful of SP, purple crystals that the enemies drop. You will find new armor and boots while your weapons can be upgraded by collecting ore and giving them to an ally in the game for enhancements that will make a huge difference, most noticeable against bosses. There are no shops to pay for upgrades, and these upgrades feel too necessary this time around. You will find other items that will aid you through this tower, including a weird piece of equipment that allows to walk normally on slippery sand areas; yes, slippery sandy areas.
For this kind of game, Ys: Origin looks awesome. An improvement over Ys: The Oath in Felghana, the dungeons look more diverse than ever without suffering from lack of detail. Each room looks different than the previous one. Character sprites may look a bit strange, but serve the look of the game. Also some minor modifications could have been made to the antagonists of the game. When enlarged into a hand-drawn design, the sprite simply does not match the new image. But the levels pack so much detail and variety that it is difficult not to praise. The big bosses look as great as you might expect but the camera has the tendency to distance itself when fighting human bosses. There is still no voice acting, except for the prologue which is voiced using French voice acting? Really? There are some cinematics, which really need better visuals, but they serve the purpose of showing big things happening. The last but not least, is the soundtrack. No need to say, the soundtrack rocks, as much as that found in The Oath in Felghana.
With three different characters, you can go play the story with another character, ignoring the same pattern of repeating the same dungeons and bosses in turn of receiving different dialogue and that character's side of the story. The story is not the reason you might play Ys: Origin, but surprisingly the story for each character is interesting and entertaining for the average of 10 hours. The gameplay and bosses are as satisfying as ever so there is little to question about Ys: Origin. If you have played the more recent Ys and loved it, Ys Origin is a superior, more entertaining dungeon crawler that will satisfy your need for quick stabbing and taking down mean bosses.
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Graphics = 8.5
For this kind of game, the visuals are impressive. Character sprites may not earn as much praise, but there really isn't anything that feels out of place. Large bosses are impressive looking.
Sound = 8.2
Standard but perfectly fitting soundtrack along with the usual sound effects. Voice acting has been forgotten once again. Why is the prologue voiced? In French none the less.
Presentation = 7.9
Cinematics could use some more work. Even through voiceless dialogue, the story delivers. The level of challenge once again is accessible to newcomers and hardcore players.
Gameplay = 8.8
The finest Ys game to date. Yunica's gameplay is faithful to the usual Ys gameplay, while playing as Hugo adds a new layer of strategy and difference to the usual quick-paced stabbing. Bosses are still brutal but satisfying to take down. The addition of blessings gives you another reason to grind.
Story = 8.6
Two playable characters in the beginning, and one unlocked after finishing the game with either. The story is basically the same for both Yunica and Hugo, with changes in dialogue and encounter. Both sides of the story are worth checking out. Steam Achievements available for achievement lovers.
OVERALL = 84 / 100
This maybe the prequel to the original Ys, but Ys: Origin takes its predecessor's strength and improves on its foundation, marking this the best Ys installment yet.