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| Ys | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Action role-playing |
| Developer | Nihon Falcom |
| Publisher | Various |
| Creators | |
| Composer | Falcom Sound Team jdk |
| Platforms | PC-88,PC-98,Sharp X1,MSX2,FM-7,X68000,Master System,Genesis,Saturn,NES,Super NES,Nintendo DS,Windows,PlayStation 2,PlayStation Portable,TurboGrafx-CD,Apple IIGS,mobile phones,PlayStation Vita,PlayStation 4,Nintendo Switch,Xbox One,Stadia,PlayStation 5,Nintendo Switch 2 |
| First release | Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished 21 June 1987 |
| Latest release | Ys X: Proud Nordics 31 July 2025 |
Ys (イース,Īsu;IPA:[iːsɯ]) (/ˈiːs/) is a Japanese series ofaction role-playing games developed byNihon Falcom.[1] The series chronicles the life of the adventurer Adol Christin.
The first game in the series,Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished, was released on theNEC PC-8801 in 1987.[2]Ys games have since been ported and released on many other platforms. As of 2017,Ys had sold over 4.8 million copies worldwide.[3]
TheYs series chronicles the life of Adol Christin, a young man obsessed with adventure. Gameplay usually revolves around Adol, though his comrade, Dogi, is a frequent companion in his travels. More recent games in the series include several other playable party members.
A feature of the earlyYs games is the Darm Tower. In the story, it is an unfinished and deserted tower, built with the intention of touching the sky. The tower houses a small annex, titled "the Tower of Rado" (or simply "Rado's Annex"[4]), three quarters of the way up. According to in-game lore, the normally immortal ancient Ys aged because humans overused the magic power of an ancient artifact, known as the Black Pearl. The result of this misuse was evil magical energy bringing forth millions of cruel demons. The people of Ys fled to Solomon Shrine and used the Black Pearl to lift the palace into the sky, creating a safe haven. The demons, focused on controlling the Black Pearl for their own intentions, began building the Darm Tower, day and night, attempting to connect to Solomon Shrine with their construction. As in-game-events transpired, however, the demons' efforts were thwarted. Later games feature a variety of plots.
The world the series takes place in is notably geographically very similar to real-lifeEarth. The series is named after Ys, thefloating island featured in some of the games, which was inspired by themythical cityYs.
In early games, the player uses only thedirectional pad to fight. The player must run Adol into enemies, hitting them on the side, back or slightly off-center of the front. This was created with accessibility in mind; while other RPGs at the time had eitherturn-based combat or a manually activated sword,Ys had Adol automatically attack when walking into enemies. While mostYs titles do not use the 'bump attack' system, it has become one of the series' defining features.[5][6] Falcom staff have compared this style of gameplay to the enjoyment of poppingair bubble sheets, in the sense that it took the tedious task oflevel-grinding and turned it into something similar to ahigh-score-basedarcade game.[2][6]
A feature that has been used in nearly everyYs title is thehealth regeneration mechanism, which had previously only been used in theHydlide series. Recharging health has since become a common mechanism used in many video games today.[7][6]
Ys II introduced magic spells to the series (e.g. shooting fireballs), and the ability to transform into a monster, which allows the player to both scare humannon-player characters for unique dialogues, and interact with non-boss monsters.
Ys III: Wanderers from Ys adoptedside-scrollingaction-adventure gameplay, similar to Falcom's ownDragon Slayer series andNintendo'sZelda II: The Adventure of Link, with an attack button and a variety of different attacks.
Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys andYs IV: Mask of the Sun returned to the original control scheme, whileYs IV: Mask of the Sun - A New Theory requires the player to press buttons to attack.
Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand uses a top-down viewpoint and requires the player to press buttons to attack or defend with a shield.
Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim graphically departed from its predecessors, using a mix of three-dimensional graphics and sprites. Gameplay ishack and slash generally without the ability to actively block.Ys: The Oath in Felghana andYs Origin share this gameplay style.
Ys Seven brought back the ability to actively block, with skills, stun meters for enemies, weapon types, super combos known as EXTRA skills, and the ability to parry hits from attacks with a flash guard system. Failed flash guards result in the player character taking extra damage compared to failing to defend at all.Ys: Memories of Celceta introduces a flash dodge where a player character dodges just before a hit.Ys VIII andIX continued this style.
| 1987 | Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished |
|---|---|
| 1988 | Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished – The Final Chapter |
| 1989 | Ys III: Wanderers from Ys |
| Ys I & II | |
| 1990–1992 | |
| 1993 | Ys IV: Mask of the Sun |
| Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys | |
| 1994 | |
| 1995 | Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand |
| 1996–2002 | |
| 2003 | Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim |
| 2004 | |
| 2005 | Ys: The Oath in Felghana |
| 2006 | Ys Strategy |
| Ys Origin | |
| 2007–2008 | |
| 2009 | Ys Seven |
| 2010 | Ys vs. Trails in the Sky |
| 2011 | |
| 2012 | Ys: Memories of Celceta |
| 2013–2015 | |
| 2016 | Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana |
| 2017–2018 | |
| 2019 | Ys IX: Monstrum Nox |
| 2020–2022 | |
| 2023 | Ys X: Nordics |
TheYs series has its roots in the Japanese computer systemNEC PC-8801. Each of the first three games was released on that platform first. Ports of the games to console platforms have usually been handled by various other licensee companies, such asHudson Soft,Tonkin House andKonami.
The first two games in the series were originally intended as a single game, but the creators, Masaya Hashimoto and Tomoyoshi Miyazaki, eventually decided to split it into two separate games:Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished (1987) andYs II: Ancient Ys Vanished – The Final Chapter (1988).[2] They were later re-released together in theenhanced remakeYs I & II (1989).[8] It was one of the first video games to useCD-ROM, which was utilized to provide enhanced graphics, animatedcutscenes,[9][6] a Red BookCD-DA soundtrack,[8][6] and voice acting.[8][9] ItsEnglish localization was also one of the first to usevoice dubbing. The game received theGame of the Year award fromOMNI Magazine in 1990, as well as many other awards.[9] TheX68000 remake ofYs I released in 1991 was notable for its early use of3Dpre-rendering for the bosssprites.[10][6] AnMS-DOS remake calledYs II Special was also released exclusively for theSouth Korean market in 1994; it was a mash-up ofYs II with theanimeYs II: Castle in the Heavens (1992) along with a large amount of new content.[10][11][6]
After completingYs III: Wanderers from Ys (1989), Hashimoto and Miyazaki leftNihon Falcom and foundedQuintet.[8] Two versions of the fourth game were released, and Falcom licensed both versions out: theSuper Famicom version to Tonkin House (who had handled the Super NES port forYs III), titledYs IV: Mask of the Sun; and thePC Engine CD version to Hudson Soft (who had ported all three previous games to that platform), titledYs IV: The Dawn of Ys. Hudson Soft took certain liberties with the game, and as a result, it is very different fromMask of the Sun. They share the same setting, cast, and much of the basic plot, but the actual structure of the story plays out in a completely different manner, as do the game's levels and enemies.Mask of the Sun is the official continuation of the series, while Falcom have deemedThe Dawn of Ys to be essentially an "alternate universe" take on the events in Celceta. A PS2 remake ofMask of the Sun was released in May 2005, further subtitled "A New Theory".
Falcom releasedYs V as a Super Famicom exclusive. A standalone title, it gave Adol a jump and manual attack. It was criticized as being too easy; in response to this, Falcom put outYs V Expert, a harder version of the game. A PS2 remake ofYs V by Taito was released 2006 in Japan.
After this, the series remained dormant for eight years (except for remakes such asYs Eternal), during which time Falcom abandoned console development altogether, choosing instead to focus on theWindows platform. The sixth game in the series, entitledYs VI: The Ark of Napishtim, was released in September 2003.Ys: The Oath in Felghana, a remake ofYs III, was released in 2005. A spin-off game calledYs Strategy was released in March 2006 in Japan for theNintendo DS. Unlike the rest of the series, it is areal-time strategy game. It received lackluster reviews and general disdain from fans.
Ys Origin was released in December 2006. It takes place 700 years before the events of the first game, following the separation of Ys from Esteria. The two initial playable characters are Yunica Tovah and Hugo Fact. The two characters' stories play out somewhat differently during character interactions. Adol appears only as a hidden bonus character. Falcom has since released a new version of the game that required a copy's registration serial number sent to Falcom along with shipping charges to get an extra enhancement disc for the game. With this disc the player would be able to play as Adol, along with various other new features.Ys Seven was released in Japan in 2009 for thePlayStation Portable. Unlike the previous entries in the series, this time the player has a party of characters fighting simultaneously against enemies on the field, and can change the controlled character on the fly with the press of a button. This system has been maintained in all subsequent games in the series. The graphics also had a significant upgrade compared toYs Origin.
In September 2012,Ys: Memories of Celceta, a canonical remake ofYs IV, was released for the PlayStation Vita.Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana was released in Japan in July 2016 for the PlayStation Vita, and was later ported to the PlayStation 4,Windows, andNintendo Switch.[12]Ys IX: Monstrum Nox was released on the PlayStation 4 in Japan in September 2019.[13][14] It was released in North America and Europe in 2021.[15]Ys X: Nordics was released in Japan for thePlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in September 2023.[16] It features naval exploration and combat for the first time in the series.[17]
Until 2005, only threeYs games were available in North America:Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished (Master System, MS-DOS, Apple IIGS),Ys I & II (TurboGrafx CD), andYs III: Wanderers from Ys (SNES, Genesis, TurboGrafx CD). The original PC-8801, PC-9801, X1 and MSX2 versions, as well as the Famicom ports, remain exclusive to Japan. English ports of the JapanesePC gameYs VI: Ark of Napishtim were released by Konami in 2005 and 2006 for the PS2 and PSP, respectively, marking the first English release of the series in 13 years.
At one point, NEC Interchannel proposed bringingDigiCube'sYs I & II: Eternal Story to North America, but the idea was rejected bySony Computer Entertainment America.
The original Windows PC remakes wereYs Eternal andYs II Eternal. Later, there was a compiled re-release calledYs I & II Complete, which bumped upYs Eternal visuals toYs II Eternal level (more color depth, primarily) and made the soundtrack sound more cohesive between the two. Once this was out of print, Falcom began selling the two separately again, asYs I Complete andYs II Complete. Falcom changed the "Eternal" to "Complete" on all external packaging and advertisements, but not in the actual games themselves. In one of the English patches, the internal bitmaps are edited to reflect the external change for the packages.
In 2002, Nicolas Livaditis, an avidYs fan and software engineer, spearheaded an English fan translation project for the first PC remake,Ys I Complete. This led to other projects forYs II Complete,Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys,Ys: The Ark of Napishtim,Ys: The Oath in Felghana andYs Origin, though not all were completed; theYs VI project for example, was cancelled to respect Konami's licensing rights. Completed translation patches were made forYs I & II Complete andYs IV: The Dawn of Ys. In 2010,Xseed Games purchased the fan-translated script forYs: The Oath in Felghana from Jeff Nussbaum, the actual translator, an act considered historic and unprecedented, as unlicensed translations are technicallycopyright infringements as unauthorizedderivative works. XSEED went on to purchase three more fan-translated scripts forYs I,Ys II, andYs Origin.
Nintendo addedYs Book I & II to the USVirtual Console in August 2008, the first release of theYs series on a 7th generation home console. Atlus released the games in one package entitledLegacy of Ys: Books I & II in February 2009 on theNintendo DS.
Xseed Games localized thePlayStation Portable gamesYs I & II Chronicles,Ys: The Oath in Felghana, andYs Seven in North America. As of 2011, all games have been released.[18]
In 2012, Xseed Games began publishing Japanese PC games through Steam, starting with the PC version ofYs: The Oath in Felghana on 19 March.[19] On 31 May, Xseed Games released an English version ofYs Origin on Steam.[20]Ys I & II were also released via Steam in February 2013 asYs I & II Chronicles+[21] – XSEED's Steam programmer Sara managed to combine Falcom's PC port ofYs I & II Chronicles with the earlier fan-favorite PC releaseYs I & II Complete, effectively mixing all the best features of both versions like selectable soundtracks (PC-88 original, Complete and Chronicles) and art styles from both Chronicles and Complete, alongside the visual flexibility of Complete, such as greater viewing area, togglable screen frame and support for windowed mode.
Ys: Memories of Celceta was released in North America in November 2013 by Xseed Games. The American release was also released as a limited edition calledSilver Anniversary Edition, which features a 3-CD collection of both original and arranged music spanning the history of the franchise, a cloth map of the land of Celceta, a logo-emblazoned compass and Adol's Travel Journal, containing around 120+ pages of adventuring strategies and artwork.Ys: Memories of Celceta was released byNIS America in Europe in February 2014.[22]
Ys Online ~ The Call of Solum, developed by the South Korean game makerCJ Internet and taking place more than a hundred years after the main series, was launched on 5 November 2007 in South Korea, and in 2009 as an open beta for Chinese, Japanese and European players, but was discontinued in all regions in October 2012.[23]
There are two separateOVA series ofYs, with the first spanning seven episodes and covering the events of the first game, and the second running for four episodes and loosely covering the events of the second game. The first anime expands on the relatively thin storyline ofYs I, including a retelling and expansion of the prologue found in the game's original Japanese manual.
Both series were released on DVD in English by Media Blasters' anime label "AnimeWorks", packaged both separately and in a three-disc box set. The dubbed/audio tracks have changes to some character names ("Dark Fact" becoming "Dark Factor", "Adol" becoming "Adle", and "Lilia" becoming "Lillian", for instance). Pronunciations of various names are inconsistent, sometimes within the same scene.
Included on one of the discs is what appears to be a preview for an anime based aroundYs IV: Dawn of Ys. This was created by Falcom as a "pitch" trailer to shop around to various animation studios to see if anyone was interested in producing the series, but they had no takers, so this trailer is all that exists of the rumoredYs IV: Dawn of Ys anime.
The first two games were composed byYuzo Koshiro, Mieko Ishikawa,[24] and Hideya Nagata, whereas Mieko Ishikawa handled the soundtrack forYs III. The composers' works have been remixed for each subsequent release, for instance, by Japanese musician Ryo Yonemitsu forHudson Soft'sYs I & II,Ys III: Wanderers from Ys andYs IV: The Dawn of Ys releases forTurboGrafx-CD.[24][25] The TurboGrafx versions made use ofRed Book audio.
TheYs series is seen in thevideo game music industry as some of the finest and most influentialrole-playing video game scores of all time,[2][26] demonstrated by an extensive series of CD releases based on the series' music, with numerous variations on its themes. It has also inspired video game composers outside Japan, such as German musicianChris Huelsbeck.[27]
The later games in the series were composed by Falcom Sound Team jdk, the collective name of Falcom's internal sound production staff (not to be confused with the jdk Band – a band made of freelance musicians who works for Falcom and performs Sound Team jdk's music live and for arranged albums).[citation needed]
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