#Ys II

[90sfantasyanimestuff]

Ys II PC Engine version

[dailyfigures]

Feena ; Ys ☆ Myethos

[carnageform]

My first ys art I remember making (or close to it), after giving out flowers in Ys II

[demonfox38]

Entered the surprise "bully the redhead" arc.

You know what? If someone asks if your hair is red with the blood of your enemies, just say "Yes." No downsides to it.

[armormodekeeg]

ok. that's it. [makes the end of battle]

[baa-sil]

[mezzopurrloin]

The wandering swordsman Adol seeks the lore of ancient Ys kept in the Solomon Shrine. To reach it, he'll first need to cross this treacherous ice ridge.

[vgadvisor]

[bowloflentils]

These are various magazine ads for Ys II Special, a Korean developed remake of Ys II that was released in 1994. The first ad features artwork by Lee Myung-jin, the artist famous for creating Ragnarok (the manhwa that would serve as the basis for the MMO RPG, Ragnarok Online).

These ads were taken from a few different issues of Game Champ, a Korean gaming magazine published in the 90s. Scans of the magazine can be viewed on this website.

[90sfantasyanimestuff]

Ys II Special

[thaumana]

Feena (Ys)

[roninkairi]

I freaking love this game's soundtrack.

[carnageform]

Pictures of a very cool Ys CD that came in the mail today + an extra picture of Lilia for her cool coloring effect

[demonfox38]

Completed - Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished – The Final Chapter

Do we need to do the GDQ Orb chant?

Jumping into "Ys II" after finishing "Ys I" may have been a touch masochistic on my part. Not that I didn't get through the game in a decent amount of time or didn't occasionally enjoy myself. But, that final boss…woof! What a goodwill shredder! Having said that, I still have my goal of 12 games to beat this year in front of me (with 9 being from my Steam library.) "Ys II" was right there, packaged right in with its predecessor. I figured if I was going to tackle it, now would be better than later. At least I would be going in prepped for the full abuse that the "Ys" series could throw at me with the memory of the Push System fresh in my fingertips.

I went in, prepared to take grenades to the face.

"Ys II" opted for tomatoes instead.

"Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished – The Final Chapter" is the second in line of the "Ys" games. Notably, nowhere near the last. (I guess "final" here is about as final as the finals in "Final Fantasy!") Produced a year after "Ys I," it has since followed its counterpart in several ports across multiple PC platforms, providing an extended story arc for its predecessor. Is it a story conclusion? A contradictory twist? Continuing the twin theming from the previous game? Well, it's at least a couple of those things. Ya know. Things coming in twos and all.

Having defeated the wicked mage Dark Fact (yeah, I know; snicker snicker) and reunited all six tomes of Ys' sages from the first game, hero Adol goes from being gently bathed in light and surrounded by goddesses to being punted headfirst into a floating island. So much for his dignity and inventory! Oddly enough, this would happen to be the titular country of Ys that has been missing for over 700 years. Having been recovered once again by the locals, Adol takes their advice and journeys out to Solomon Shrine, where the two goddesses of Ys are said to—

Wait, I thought I was there last game. How is this shrine up here, too? Did I go into the past or a parallel dimension? No? Then how did nobody notice this floating island before? Does that have something to do with the storm wall in the first game? Translator, help? Did I misunderstand something from the last game? Why are you busy making "The Room" jokes?

Did "Ys II" need a sequel? Fiscally, sure! Plotwise? I thought we had solved enough problems last time. I guess not. Not that I mind killing demons, but going back-to-back with the previous game, it does feel a little bit unstable in terms of its plot's foundation. Most of the pieces I found interesting had to do with side elements, like the drama with Sada's failed rescue of his fiancée, as well as whatever hell the human-friendly demon Keith was going through. Even the main quest and its resolution is…fine. Good enough. I think I just got sick of everyone trying to hook up Adol with this game's lead girl.

Look, man. I'm just not into moe. I kind of need something more than a girl being cute and sweet going on to form an attachment. Especially when said character keeps getting in trouble every 30 seconds.

So, the plot's whatever. It happens. What I am surprised with is how well tuned up the gameplay is from the previous game. It's still got the base Push System for dealing with enemies. However, it felt way better to me this time around. I don't know if it had to do with wider hitboxes/environment design, or if I was doing better at paying attention to my attacks, or what changed. Something clicked, this time. I didn't feel so much like I was walking into a meat grinder as I was the meat grinder.

Additionally, the game grants you access to a variety of spells. This allows for ranged combat, which in turn greatly improved the boss design of "Ys II" over its predecessor. Last time around, it was all about fiddly movement. This time? The bosses felt more like something out of a bullet hell game, requiring you to respond in kind with your own fireballs. Like, actual boss design. "Gradius"-style boss design! And, hell! I can handle that! I was trained on those kinds of boss battles! Even in later battles, where your sword strikes were required, the game was not nearly as cruel as it was last time around. Like, it even pitches you extra healing items and a revive item, if you need it! Way more approachable!

The overall progression in game felt more logical as well. While you get more sets of armor and weaponry, it all flows upwards (not requiring the user to downgrade their weaponry to fight the final boss, like in the previous game.) The auto-health regeneration item also shows up way earlier, which I appreciated! There are more levels to be gained, but the statistic caps are the same (255), so it doesn’t feel too different there. A greater variety in environment design also helped. It wasn't just village/cave/shrine/tower, this time. Fire and ice environments in particular helped to break up some of the exploration monotony. The same labyrinthine looping is still happening, but it doesn't feel quite as snarled as before. Some places can feel huge or confusing, but not to the extent I felt with the previous game.

About the only other twist with "Ys II" is the implementation of a rudimentary affection system. If you equip a regenerative item (think food, flowers) and bump into a townsperson, you can offer them said item. Giving certain characters multiple items might get you little mascot charms of them, as well as bonus items. Me? I was about getting extra food. Not that I needed it much, but hey. I'm not throwing out a cheap steak.

My feelings on this game are weird. Very confusing. See, there's really not all that much difference between "Ys I" and "Ys II." There's still maze exploration, shoving monsters around, a difficult economy, and an occasional escort mission (complete with weird and/or creepy achievements.) Having a ranged option and some tuned up boss designs just made that much of a difference, I guess. Shit. Is this what "Mega Man 2" fanatics feel like?

Getting "Ys II" on Steam does necessitate getting "Ys I" as well, so I guess I would wait for a sale, if the sequel did sound appealing to you. Like, 50% off? 0.5 is just an inversion of 2, right? Makes it thematically appropriate. Somehow. I guess.

I mean, you don't have to play everything you buy. But, I certainly don't want to burden you with something extra. Then again, if we finally hit that triple A gaming crash that we're due for, maybe you'll finally have time to tackle your backlog! Maybe then, this won't feel like a burden to add.

[locustsummers]

it's precious babies!

(shush, of course goban counts; c'mon look at that smile)