Ys: The Ark of Napishtim

"Make no mistake, this is one of the best."

Ys( pronounced "wees"): The Ark of Napishtim is the sixth game in a long running real time battle RPG series. You take control of a hero named Adol and fight off hordes of monsters and save villages from the forces of evil. One element that really makes the difference in the game is the fun factor. This game is fun, really fun. You can keep playing for hours without noticing that time has passed at all. You can pick it up and play whenever you want, and for how long you want at any time of the day. Isn't that how a game should be?

Graphics-9

The graphics are great. The character have full designs instead of 2D sprites and it look pretty well done. The backgrounds are all very well designed and details just fill the screen. Monsters look pretty good as well with the bosses looking especially good. I advise you to look at some screenshots of the game to see how well crafted the bosses are. All the bosses are big and detailed and are very visually pleasing.

Gameplay-9

Great hack 'n slash fun. It's really simple, you have two stats (ATT and DEF), three elemental swords (that you gather from all around the world) and lots of monsters to kill. One button is for attacking, one for jumping, one for a special sword ability and one for using magic. The three elemental swords each have their ups and downs but don't fret, you toggle between them in the middle of battles with the press of a button. There are also a lot of puzzles and mazes that should keep you hooked for hours.

Sound-10

The attacks and spells sound great. The music is very well done. It varies from slow orchestra music in town to fast paced music while in battles. The voice acting is great as well. Everyone in the whole game, EVERYONE has a voice, even the dumb NPCs in towns or wherever, and they all sound great. Almost everyone has an accent, and definitely everyone sounds great.

Story-9

Really simple and fun. You're this guy who just goes from place to place adventuring and exploring, while at the same time, running from the Romun empire and its soldiers. At the start of this game, the Romuns find you, and you escape on your ship. Later, the Romun ships catch up to you and blow a hole in your ship. You fall and end up on an island with lots of mysterious people and places. You learn about the people who live there and their conflicts and worries. Sure it may sound normal and boring, but it's really cool and the characters are all great.

Value-7

The game is somewhat short. You can complete it in like 10 hours. Completing all the sidequests would take another 10 so that's 20 hours for completing everything the game has to offer. You level up pretty fast too, reaching level 20 in the first two hours of game play. After completing the game, you can play higher difficulties and some new features are unlocked like time trial and warp mode.

Final verdict-9.
It's fun and great, with its only flaw being a bit short. A great rental in the least.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/14/06