Backlog Game Reviews 38: Ys 2: Ancient Ys Vanished the Final Chapter (Famicom)

 

 

   Hey there, and welcome to Backlog Game Reviews.

   On part 2 of the retro game marathon, we're going to take a look at Ys 2 on the Famicom. It's a direct sequel to Ys 1 and picks up where the last game left off. There's not much background info I can give that wasn’t already said in Ys 1’s review, (Ys 1 Review) so let's jump right into it and check out the second half of Adol's first adventure.

 Part of the opening cutscene. Two mysterious figures talk about Adol climbing to the top of Darm Tower in Ys 1.

 

   At the end of Ys 1 Adol collected the six books of Ys. While searching for the books he learned that the sudden appearance of monsters was somehow linked to Esteria's mines and the silver found within them. He also climbed the monster-infested Darm Tower. At the top of said tower, he fought and defeated Dark Fact, a man that planned to take control of the monsters and use them to take over the world. After defeating Dark Fact and taking the final book of Ys from him, Adol was suddenly transported to a floating island high in the sky.

After defeating Dark Fact a flash a light transported Adol to a island high in the sky.

 

   On this floating island, Adol meets a young woman named Lilia, she tells Adol that he's in Ys, the same country that vanished from the face of the earth. After exploring Ys Adol finds statues of the six priests that wrote the books of Ys and governed the country with the help of the two goddesses. Using the books, Adol is able to speak with the priests through the statues.

 

 The floating island, Ys.

 

They tell Adol about the history of Ys and that the monsters that are in Ys now appeared at the same time as the monsters in Esteria did. They also speak of a powerful evil controlling the monsters. They say it resides in Solomon Shrine, the shrine where the two goddesses of Ys used to live. The priests explain that the only way to get rid of the monsters on Ys and down in Esteria is to defeat their leader at Solomon Shrine. They then ask Adol for his help, Adol, not one to turn a blind eye to the suffering of others or a possible adventure agrees to lend a hand. He then sets out on a journey through the floating island.

 Meeting Lilia.

 

   Just like the first game, the story is one of Ys 2's strong points. Any questions you might have had at the end of Ys 1 are answered here. Where did the monsters come from? What was the disaster that made the priests and goddesses lift Ys up into the sky? How are the silver items you found in the first game related to the appearance of the monsters? All these questions are answered throughout your adventure, and at the end, this grand two-part story, comes to a satisfying and climactic conclusion. A good story isn't something that comes to mind when thinking of Famicom and NES games, but Ys 1 and 2 are pleasant exceptions.

 Walking around the first town in the game.

 

   The game plays very much like Ys 1 but some changes and improvements have been made. One of them being Adol's walking speed. Adol moves much faster in this game and feels like he's actually running, as opposed to the last game where he moved like he was taking an after-dinner walk. This simple change makes battles flow more smoothly and makes them more intense. It also helps grinding go by faster and improves the game's overall quality of life.

 Fighting a monster.

 

   Another addition to the gameplay is magic. Unlike the last game, Adol can do more than just ram into enemies. He can use magic to attack, defend, uncover invisible objects, he can even transform into a monster and talk to other monsters. While you'll learn a wide variety of spells throughout the game, you'll mainly be using the fire spell, your only offensive spell.

 Using the fire spell to defeat a monster.

 

The fire spell makes combat more varied as you now have a long-ranged attack and don't have to bump into everything. Magic also allows you to defeat enemies that are slightly stronger than you. Because you can attack from a distance and don't have to worry about getting close and taking damage.

 

 You equip magic the same way you would weapons and armor.

 

Magic also changes how boss fights are handled. Most bosses are impervious to physical attacks and can only be hurt by magic. So, bosses are more about dodging and keeping your distance while looking for an opening to fire a spell. This is a strong contrast from the last game where bosses boiled down to trying to get close and bump into them. This change makes it feel like bosses test your skill as a player, where Ys 1 bosses were mainly level checks.

 The first boss in the game.

 

Ys 2 is a lot more straight forward then Ys 1 was. Ys 1 had a small overworld but required a lot of backtracking and had a lot of cryptic puzzles. Ys 2 requires very little backtracking and the overworld is much easier to navigate as it's built like a really long tube. There are no overly difficult puzzles this time around, what you need to do to progress is usually pretty clear.

 Your first goal in the game is to find all of the priest statues.

 

Unlike Ys 1 I don’t really have anything negative to say about this game. The combat and overall gameplay is way more enjoyable this time around. It’s not as cryptic so you spend way less time trying to figure out what to do. Pretty much all of the problems that the last game had were fixed. If you’re a Ys fan then this game is worth checking out when you have some free time.

 Throughout the game you'll come across alot of different items.

 

As you can probably tell from the pictures so far, the graphics are pretty much the same as before. The NPC sprites look a little nicer though, and the character portraits have seen a huge upgrade. They're way more detailed and much nicer to look at.

 While not great looking, the portraits are much better then what Ys 1 had.

 

The music is still awesome. Ys 2 is full of fast-paced rock songs that get you pumped to go out on an adventure or get you in the mood for a boss fight. Just like Ys 1, Ys 2’s soundtrack is one of the best the Famicom has to offer.

That's all I have to say about Ys 2 on the Famicom. It's much better than the last game but it's hard to recommend because of how the two games are connected. If you don’t play the bad first game then you won’t understand what’s going on in this game. If you're already an Ys fan then this is a fun game worth playing. If you're new to the series and haven’t played the first game yet then play one of the newer remakes and come back to this version later if you decide to become a fan.

Thanks for reading! Next time we're going to continue the retro game marathon and take a look at a PC Engine game, or an SNES game, or a Dreamcast game, or maybe a Sega Master System game..... Or a PS1 game. I'm working on alot of stuff at once so, I'm not sure what will be next. I hope to see you again here at Backlog Game Reviews.