One of the most often mentioned titles released on the Turbografx console is Ys Book I & II. This package is a remake of two action RPGs available for the Master System, and it’s often heralded as the absolute best reason to pick up the expensive CD attachment for NEC’s old system. To be honest this was one of the main reasons I sought out a Turbo Duo. It has since been re-released as well as remade for modern consoles, but I’ve always preferred playing retro titles using the real physical media. Ys is a well done and memorable adventure, but unfortunately it didn’t live up to the hype for me. This is all the more disappointing because the hardware in working condition is so expensive nowadays. Today I’m here to tell you just why Ys is worth playing, but falls short of the legendary status that fans have since given it.
The story here focuses on a red haired warrior named Adol Christian. In this anime styled fantasy world exists an island called Esteria which has recently been plagued by disaster. The young protagonist sets out to investigate the case. While en route Adol’s ship is destroyed, but fortunately he washes ashore at Esteria. He immediately begins his investigation in an adventure that eventually leads him to the magical floating land of Ys which has been long lost and spoken of only in legends. The story is fairly non-existent in the first half of the quest. Characters are largely forgettable, and you go great lengths of time with absolutely no dialogue between them. Later on the storytelling is kicked up a few notches, but it’s still nothing on the level of most 16-bit RPGs in my opinion. Adol himself is a rather boring protagonist if you ask me. Ys Book I and II is a typical action RPG on the surface, but it does feature a few interesting twists. You view the action from overhead as you guide Adol across a world map, through town areas, and into dark and dangerous dungeons. Monsters populate many of these areas. Defeating them grants experience points which makes Adol stronger as well as money that can be used to upgrade his equipment.
Okay so the biggest gameplay twist is that, despite being equipped with a sword, Adol cannot swing it. You damage foes by ramming into them. This is jarring at first, but after some practice it begins to feel more natural. Normally in video games you must avoid monsters, and purposely ramming into them just plain feels wrong. Unfortunately the whole system is a little touchy. You must hit enemies at a particular angle to ensure that Adol doesn’t instead take damage, and this takes a little practice to get just right. Even toward the end of Book II there were still instances in which I still had trouble with the system. While it’s fairly functional the game as a whole would have been significantly better with a more traditional approach. While the game isn’t exceptionally difficult it is far too easy to get cornered by enemies within dungeons. Despite gaining a few levels and being able to plow right through foes with ease there have been times when I’ve been cornered and overpowered. It’s far too easy for the enemies to hold you down, and sometimes when you hit them they aren’t knocked in the direction you expect. Things improve a little when you gain magic spells in Book II, but it’s never perfect. The battle mechanics are more than a little clunky.
The dungeon designs are one of my favorite aspects of this collection. The developers did a great job making challenging yet manageable labyrinths to traverse through. In addition you have a plethora of great bosses to face off against (the confrontation with Dark Fact is one of the most memorable moments in the game). The tower at the end of Book I makes up a significant portion of the entire adventure, and will test your memorization and exploration skills. Unfortunately some aspects of the game are ill explained. For example, it’s never entirely clear how to obtain specific items, and where you need to use them. There are hints for sure, but Ys is generally a little cryptic when it comes to both primary and secondary goals. Another issue I have is that the difficulty can be a little lopsided. Some boss encounters are easy, and others can be frustrating. The balance is a little out of whack. This is especially true when speaking of the leveling system. I found that whenever I was having trouble against a boss that gaining only a few levels would make Adol overpowered which diminishes the difficulty. This can be a little jarring to be honest.
While fans will disagree I thought the graphics were generally a little underwhelming. Aside from being especially colorful this looks like something that could have been pulled off on the Master System. What’s more is that the display is windowed with a large border to display the health of both Adol and his current enemy. In addition the screen scrolling is a little on the choppy side. Considering the windowed display this is very disappointing. The enemies and other characters are fairly detailed by eight bit standards, but they aren’t anything special. On another note the animated cut-scenes are actually pretty impressive. This is among the best full motion video I’ve seen on the Turbografx CD/Turbo Duo. The animators did a very impressive job here. The soundtrack is also incredible. While some of the music sounds a little archaic (the town theme in particular) I think this was done to purposely reference the original release. The opening music is incredible, and the world map theme is one of the most memorable compositions ever. Even the voice acting is decent. I imagine at the time of release this release made quite the case for CD media.
I’ve been a little hard on Ys Book I and II, but there’s a good reason for that. Originally I went in with exceptionally high expectations due to the huge amount of hype that surrounds this title. There was little chance it could stand a chance of matching it. The game is a competent and memorable experience, but in my opinion it doesn’t quite stack against other similar titles like Zelda, Secret of Mana, Soul Blazer, etc. Ys Book I & II is just a bit more awkward than the rest of the bunch, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun.
