Ys: Memories of Celceta

Hello everyone,

This will be my very first Ys game and I have a few questions pertaining to the entire series in general.
* What is the deal as to why every Ys is retaining the same protagonist/s?
* Follow up question to ^, do all the Ys games contribute to one over arching plot?
* Is it recommended to play all the other Ys games to have more knowledge of the Ys world/story?
* Based from a few videos I've seen on youtube, the battle system seems to revolve around a 'Tales-like-combo-system' wherein encounters occur on the map as opposed to loaded battle scenes. How in-depth is the battle system in Ys games? Is it a button mashing type of game (Spam x to victory type) or do some encounters actually make you reconsider your options/strategy etc.?
* Are Ys games the type that provide replay value (New game+, post game content, side quests , crafting, etc.)? Are they the type that you would play once for the story ?

Thanks for sharing any information on this. I'm really looking forward to its release on the Vita :)
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KintaroOekun:D
D'Alar Este Kaz' taRov

As a preliminary matter, unless you can read Japanese you might want to start with another game. While the odds are good that XSEED will localize it, they haven't announced plans to do so yet. If you like the look of this game, Ys Seven would be a good place to start.

* What is the deal as to why every Ys is retaining the same protagonist/s?

Every game other than Origin (a prequel set 700 years before Ys I) follows the exploits of Adol Christin so it's expected that he's in each game.

* Follow up question to ^, do all the Ys games contribute to one over arching plot?

Sort of. Aside from all the games having the same protagonist the key that binds the series together is a race of winged beings who once inhabited the world and the legacy they've left behind. Every game other than V and Seven relates to them in at least some way. This game relates more directly than most. At the same time, the storytelling is pretty episodic so it's not hard to get into regardless of which game you play first.

* Is it recommended to play all the other Ys games to have more knowledge of the Ys world/story?

The only games you absolutely have to play in a particular order are I and II. Like I said above the individual games are largely episodic. I'd certainly recommend playing at least some of the other games but it's a fairly safe bet that you could play this game completely blind and not have any trouble enjoying it.

How in-depth is the battle system in Ys games? Is it a button mashing type of game (Spam x to victory type) or do some encounters actually make you reconsider your options/strategy etc.?

As a general rule, button mashing equals instant death against bosses. You need to figure out their attack patterns and in quite a few cases, how to actually hurt them. For regular enemies, sometimes you can spam regular attacks and win and sometimes you can't. For example, there's a type of enemy in Napishtim that swarms you and can only be harmed via magic (which you don't have when you first encounter them) or by using the drop attack and if you don't aim carefully, the ones you miss will murder you while you're recoverng.

For depth in general, it depends a lot on which game you're playing because Falcom likes mixing things around. For example, Ark of Napishtim, Oath in Felghana and Origin all play similarly and give you a handful of normal attacks and three types of chargable magic. The latter two have Burst (a temporary super-mode), Napishtim had special sword-specific techniques and Oath had three different playable characters with three different play styles.

Seven included a party system for the first time, a lot of special abilities per character and threw in a distinction between slashing, crushing and projectile attacks and enemies tended to have resistances to one or more of them.

* Are Ys games the type that provide replay value (New game+, post game content, side quests , crafting, etc.)? Are they the type that you would play once for the story ?

Again it kind of varies by game. Seven gives you the most to do (sidequests, synthesis, some optional bosses), Oath has the three characters with their own stories plus arena mode and (in the Steam release) achievements, Oath has some optional unlockable bosses and Steam achievements while the PSP version adds some NG+ options and so on. Most of the replay value just comes from the games being insanely fun though.

"What is the deal as to why every Ys is retaining the same protagonist/s?"

It's easier to use one well designed SILENT hero than to design multiple ones with unique personalities. Just think of Mario and Link, Silent Hero's that don't grow old.

* Follow up question to ^, do all the Ys games contribute to one over arching plot?

Very minimally. Some of the history and back story can be understood easier if you play Origins, ys1, and ys2. The main general story of every ys game follows a pattern of:
1)Adol arrives at town/continent/country seeking adventure.
2) Said area he arrives in has some problem.
3) Adol investigates problem and discovers evil dark cult trying to revive a god.
4) Some female heroine gets captured who has one cute intimate moment with adol, then gets captured and is used to revive evil god.
5) Evil god is revived, Adol acquires anti-god weapons, kicks its ass, saves the girl.
6) Adol gets on ship to leave in search of further adventure and cute girl waves good-bye at adol wondering if he will ever return. (He has many women waiting for him >_>).

* Is it recommended to play all the other Ys games to have more knowledge of the Ys world/story?

Not for story.

* Based from a few videos.....

Ys games have very punishing bosses that almost require you to be at an exact level to beat them, memorizing their patterns is almost essential 90% of the time. However depending on which ys game you play it's possible to level up one level past a certain point and literally be invincible.

You will be mashing x a lot when fighting normal enemies, sometimes you will enter an area (with warnings) that have higher level enemies and they will one shot you. If an enemy doesn't one shot you then you can basically mash it to death.

Are Ys games the type that provide replay value...
Not many have much re-playability but they are really simple and easy to turn on and just go to town running through the game for 5 hours (once you know what to do) and beat it.
Ys3 was my first snes rpg as a kid, I must have beaten that game like 10-20 times. No new-game+ or anything, just fun as hell.
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My end thoughts, Ys games are ALWAYS worth the small price they cost. Many of them don't last long (ys seven being a HUGE EXCEPTION, long game) but you will have sooo much fun playing them.

I recommend buying Ys origins(the prequel game to the series), it recently came out on steam for pc, it's cheap and will help support further localizations.
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Thanks for all the replies ! :)

@Guruda ~Thanks for the warning but I actually play Jrpgs in their original language :) Challenging my Kanji progress.
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KintaroOekun:D
D'Alar Este Kaz' taRov

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/ys/ys.htm
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