The Legacy of Ys was first released in 1987 for the NEC PC8801 and since then has had more then 20 remakes and sequels including the most recently released update Legacy of Ys: Books I & II (published by Atlus) for the Nintendo DS. Each of the remakes has improved on the previous iteration in some way, be it improved graphics, sounds, and even some story elements have been changed over the years. Remakes are not always better then the original and sometimes they are so bad its not even worth pretending they exist. Legacy of Ys:Books 1 & 2 is one of those examples where they get everything right and update a classic in all the right ways.
The story follows Adol, a young man who washes up on a strange shore after a ship wreck. He is discovered by one of the towns people and brought to the doctor to recover. He has herd the Legend of Ys and of the Goddesses who once protected the land. However now the country of Esteria is over run with monsters and he is asked to help rid the land of the monsters and recover the missing Books of Ys which hold the power to bring the land to peace once more.
The story is a fairly stereotypical one for an RPG; destroy the monsters and save the land. It is hard to fault the story though because this game came out before RPG's really became popular. At the time this might have been pretty original even though it is a pretty normal foil for an adventure tale. Book 2 is a direct continuation of Book 1. This is great as its similar to reading a series of novels that build on one another, however if you started with Book 2 for some reason you would have no clue where the story came from or what the opening was talking about.
The graphics have been given a complete overhaul. Long gone are the fuzzy and pixelated graphics of old. The new Ys looks more like something you would have played on your PS1 late in its years. Which is only made sweeter by the fact that its now something you can carry around with you on your DS. Like a portable PS1 made better. While the graphics might look updated and new it still maintains the look of other classic JRPGs like Phantasy Star 4. Book 2 got an even better graphics overhaul complete with animated cut scenes. Although one can assume since Book 2 was made after Book 1 that graphics they started with were already much improved.
Ys offers you two control modes to choose from. You can either use the stylus or classic D-Pad and face button controls. The stylus controls are nothing but sloppy and frustrating. They work all right for running around the town or maps as you simply drag the stylus where you would like your character to go. When you encounter an enemy you are supposed to tap them to have your sword swing. However this does not work at all. After dieing multiple times without even getting two feet out of town I switched over to the classic controls (which thankfully you may do at any time). These controls are what you expect from an old RPG. Y swings your sword, B backs out of a menu, X uses an item, and A selects an item when in the menu. While they may be simple they are done well and act as you would expect. After switching control schemes the game suddenly became playable and not only that but it was great!
< Prev
Next >
x
