Ys VI is a decent game, it's just not for everybody.
User Rating: 6.2 | Ys: Napishtim no Hako PS2
The Ys series has been around now for almost eighteen years. It has been a mainstay overseas in the land of the rising sun, and hasn’t seen a domestic release in the states in nearly a decade, that is, until now. Ys: The Ark of Napishtim is the sixth game in the series, and while it doesn’t exactly live up to the lofty heights the series has set before it, it’s still an all right game for the type that it is. The Ys games are essentially hack-and-slash role-playing games that focus a lot of neat environments and a good story. While this game doesn’t suffer in the story department, or even in its cool environments and setting, it’s a rather shallow button masher that doesn’t really offer much in the way of replay value. The game casts you in the role of Adol Christin, who is a red-haired swordsman who has a lot of personality and charisma. Right off the bat, if you’re unfamiliar with him, you’re probably going to start liking him instantly. He’s a pretty cliche hero, but hey, this is a pretty cliche game. The Romun forces are after Adol at the start of the game, to steer clear of their grasp, you must take to the seas and join up with pirates. When the Romun’s manage to catch up with him and begin their siege, this, apparently, is enough to send Adol in some vortex to another dimension filled with beasts and monsters on these isolated, but beautiful islands. He’s eventually rescued by these priestesses and is nursed back to health, now it’s time for him to uncover the mystery of the great storm! You have three blades in the game, one is Wind based, one is Lightening based, and one is Fire based, these all play vital roles in how you’re going to fight off the foes. Enemies drop these power-ups called emels, which are used to eventually upgrade your weapons and stuff of that nature. When you’re fighting enemies, the more enemies you kill or hit, the more your magic meter fills. Eventually when it’s full you can unleash pretty powerful elemental attacks. Though fighting in the game is kind of tiresome, because it’s all button mashing, the bosses are pretty cool. Bosses seem to be the most interesting thing of the game. They’re big, they’re tough, and most important of all, they look great. The enemy models in the game range from little black dot-like things to full-scale, detailed, goliath-like creatures. It’s really too bad the enemies aren’t so consistent. As far as the core gameplay goes, it’s really a mixed bag. It’s a fun game, but there’s nothing here that hasn’t been done before, or even done better for that matter. It’s all in real-time, so you won’t be going to a post-secondary combat screen and choosing from menus, but it’s certainly not as strategic or rewarding as most games that are. As you traverse through the areas, you’re going to find yourself just running around and jumping on platforms as if this is almost like a Mario game, not an RPG. It stays true to the Ys roots, however, that was outdated almost a decade ago. Graphically, the game is pretty weak. The character models and the majority of the enemies look pretty bland, there are a few characters and enemies here and there that look great, but it’s a rare occurrence overall. The environmental details, on the other hand, are what really save the look of the game. It’s sharp and easy to look at overall. Where the game lacks graphical polish, it makes up for in its unique style of 2D-ish art backdrops. On the audible side, Ys is not so bad. If the game does anything pretty well, it’s that it has a good soundtrack. It’s been said that the Ys series has been known for some of the best music in RPGs, while that may not be readily apparent here, it’s still pretty good overall. The game is fully voiced over, all cutscenes and dialog is worked in voice, which is nice, but in some cases, it’s a little on the annoying side. The voices aren’t all bad though, because some of the greater characters are acted out pretty well. Ys: The Ark of Napishtim is not a bad game, it’s just not a game that beckons for a lot of praise. It doesn’t do a good job of setting itself out from the already crowded lineup in PlayStation 2 RPGs, and it certainly doesn’t show that it’s in the caliber of the cream of the crop on the system. Ys is going to be best left for die-hard fans of the series and gamers who are craving that certain old-school fix. It’s worth the $39.99 that it’s retailing at for that reason alone, or if you’re a collector of RPGs – this one will likely be a rarity within a year or two. 
