Where have all the pikkards gone?
Ys VI ~ The Ark of Napishtim - PS2 - Rating 9
I'm spent. Over the course of these last several days I've virtually lived and breathed in the land of Ys. What did I know? Yeah, I've been through Ys Book I & II on several occasions and have completed Ys III on both the Turbo CD and SNES. Sadly, and rather ashamedly, I've yet to try Ys IV or V, but from what I've heard part V wasn't really all that good. That being said, you know a game is special when it sucks you in and doesn't let you go, no matter how hard you try. When you think of nothing but that particular game, even when you're not playing it. This may be the only time this generation besides the upcoming Phantasy Star Trilogy that I get completely absorbed in an adventure title. The RPGs of this generation just haven't cut it. Needless to say, Ys VI comes as a sigh of relief and a ray of hope for the future. Falcom is to be commended on a solid performance, and Konami deserves credit as well for not only bringing it out here but doing a damn good job in translating it as well.
Ys VI (pronounced "ease") originated on the PC and is now available for purchase on your PS2. Consider it your obligation to purchase this game within the next few days or so if you haven't already and thus support Konami/Falcom financially so that more companies will wake up and say, "Hey, look at that -- people really dig quality adventure games!" Yes, they do. And whaddya know? Maybe you'll see Ys VII sooner than you think.... But tragedy always finds a way of playing a part when it comes to fine products such as this. Not to go on a tirade but the lack of coverage for Ys VI in the media is an utter tragedy and all persons responsible ought to feel ashamed of what they've done.
...However, because you're reading my über-quality review that must mean you have some gaming sense and therefore will make the purchase soon if you haven't already. And those of you who have already delved knee-deep into this mighty quest know just what kind of quality Ys VI represents -- it is a throwback to when quality gaming was the norm of the day, when people would discriminate against titles that looked great but had little-to-nill substance and were being educated by other smart minds in the gaming industry. Consider Ys Book I & II, a classic in its own right. It was every RPG/adventure gamers' dream: a sterling adventure chock full of great characters, foes, bosses, excellent graphics and design, a mind-blowing soundtrack (thanks, Yuzo).... all adding up to an extremely playable and enjoyable product. It even broke new ground with the addition of voice acting. Of course, voice acting has become commonplace today, and you can thank Falcom/Hudson Soft for that.
Ys VI doesn't really break any new grounds. Instead, you get the tried and true method of joy which has typified the series since its inception on the NEC PC88 series. If it isn't broke, don't fix it. Good. Instead, Falcom has tweaked the gameplay by adding in actual sword swipes and combos. Although that was the case with Ys V on the Super Famicom, I think it's safe to assume that V has nothing on VI, so let's close the books on that one. Also, instead of equipping various magical rings, each Emelas sword, of which there are three, has its own special magical property which can be unleashed once the meter has filled. Almost everything else is the Ys you've grown to know and love. Although the animated cut scenes have been replaced with CG FMV, when you talk to people they are always represented with great artwork, some of which fills up half or even the entire screen during special instances. And everybody speaks to you audibly, and I mean everybody, no matter what is said (and a lot is said). In fact, you can speak to people at least a couple of times and they'll have something new to say. Furthermore, since there are only two towns, you'll become familiar with all of the characters. This allows the writers to cultivate the personalities and relationships much better than in your typical RPG wherein there's around 500-1,000 people and they all walk around like lifeless statues.
As if it needs to be said, the game is fantastic. It's all in 3D--glorious, resplendent 3D, mind you--and Falcom takes full advantage of this with meticulous dungeon designs, some of which share similarities with former Ys locations. Controlling Adol Christin is as effortless as ever. You can choose to use either the standard D-pad or the left analog stick, with the analog allowing full 360 degree rotation and movement. However, it's somewhat disappointing that you cannot make Adol walk unless you hold L2, even with the analog. Oh well. Most of your time is going to be spent running anyway so it's a non-issue. Adol can jump, dash-attack, dash jump, hack and slash (each sword has its own combos via the square button [default controls]), perform a leaping spin attack or downward thrust from midair, utilize each sword's magical properties to perform damaging attacks, use items, and more. You don't even need to enter the menu screen to equip different swords: simply use L1 & R1.
You wanna talk about challenging enemies? Ys VI's got 'em. I actually felt threatened on numerous occasions and died many times throughout the game, especially at bosses, and that was just the Normal difficulty setting. Immediately following my first playthrough, I played through it on Nightmare difficulty which opens up after you beat the game once, along with Time Attack mode. Yup, I skipped Hard difficulty and went straight for the hardest setting. The level of challenge on Nightmare is reminiscent of Legend of Oasis (Saturn), only without the insane difficulty of the puzzles; Ys is more of an action game than anything else. The boss fights require precision and exact timing, but if you're at a staggeringly high level then I don't think you'll have too much to worry about. Thankfully, if you die at a boss you can restart the fight as many times as is necessary, except in Alma's Trials. Note that you cannot enter the equip/status menu while fighting bosses, which is, again, just like former Ys titles.
Adol Christin and longtime buddy Dogi "The Wall Crusher" make their return. This time, they escape the clutches of the Romun Empire by way of pirate ship, along with an old acquaintance named Terra. They head towards the Great Vortex of Canaan, hoping to discover the hidden treasure which supposedly lies in its core. Well, Dogi is anything but elated when he learns of this. (Would you be happy if you knew that you were sailing towards a vortex!?) Anyway, they get attacked by the Romun Fleet while out at sea. Adol rescues Terra from falling into the ocean but winds up falling off the side of the ship himself and sinking into the depths of the ocean....
Adol winds up washing ashore a beach on Canaan Island. Fortunately, fate lends a hand as two girls with ivory skin, long pointy ears and fluffy tails happen upon his motionless body and help to bring him to their room. Those two girls being Olha, the older of the two and priestess of Rehdan Village, and her sister Isha, another priestess who has strange powers. Of course, Adol can't help but find himself surrounded by the ladies because he's a babe magnet™, but he's not the 'settling down' type, hence why he keeps going from place to place, kicking ass and then heading out to kick even more ass! Because of Olha's gentle, kind disposition and loving personality, she's immediately fond of Adol, the short-haired Eresian (what the local villagers call 'short-eared,' tailless humans), and as the quest progresses develops more heartfelt feelings for him. However, at the outset of the game there's a certain air of animosity towards "Adol the Red" because he is considered an outsider to the Rehdans -- they want him to leave as soon as possible. At first, there's nothing overly dramatic going on, until one of the Wandering Calamity makes its appearance....
The story starts off slow but develops into a full-blown spectacle filled with suspense and hidden personal motives. The conflict between the Eresians and Rehdans is played out very well, and you cannot help but feel somewhat sorry for Adol for always putting his life on the line to help others, even those who are ungrateful and mean to him. But.... that's just the way it is. I loved the character interaction. However, some of the voice acting wasn't to my liking, especially Terra. I cannot stand her. In fact, I loathe her appearances. I just want to watch the relationship between Adol and Olha grow, but then this stupid bimbo has to interject herself into everything. Just once, I wished for Adol to backhand her in the face and tell her to shut up and go away. She adds nothing at all to the game.
Speaking of the title, "The Ark of Napishtim," this is at the core of the game's story but you'll just have to play it to learn more about it.
The graphics are awesome throughout the game's entirety. There's a certain 2D feel to the visuals, even though they're 3D. The animation is good and the enemies are very well designed, although with a somewhat more organic feel than in previous Ys titles. There's an abundance of plant and wildlife creatures roaming about, albeit mutated versions, and then there's the standard stuff like various colors of slimes and cockroaches which spew weird tentacles or something from their heads. Expect to transverse lots of tropical areas, caverns, mountains, and the inner sanctums of an ancient underground area. There's plenty of exploration with a small dose of backtracking. To Falcom, the smaller details are just as important as the larger ones. You'll catch the shadows of clouds passing over Adol while transversing green pastures, breathe in the fog and moisture within the dark confines of a cavern leading towards the bottom of a precipice behind the island, and survey massive statues while navigating down a deep stairway. Although you have no control over the camera, it matters not as everything is done from an overhead perspective so that you can see everything without getting lost, with a few instances where the camera is placed at a distance from behind Adol for dramatic effect.
Ys VI's soundtrack is probably the best I've heard yet this generation. There are more symphonic songs in certain areas, but then there's the typical hyper-synth Ys motifs that I've grown to know and love, accenting the experience just enough without becoming an unwanted distraction. There are two--count 'em, TWO--seperate overworld themes for the different sections of Canaan Island, and both are vintage joy through and through. I cannot begin to express the sheer aural brilliance which occurs upon descent into the final area: a techno-like movement evocative of the 32-bit era stuff, or the triumphant entrance music into any one of Alma's Trials -- just let the game sit idle, absorb it and allow it to unfold on you. The voice acting is well done, aside from Terra and a few other characters, but you can skip over anything you want or simply turn off voices altogether if you should so desire to. The sound effects are great, as expected. Just one small sidenote: sometimes, when I would enter an area and a song would start up it would play for about three seconds and then restart. I'm not sure if this is the game's fault or my PS2. Either way, I don't care that much.
Had Ys VI ~ The Ark of Napishtim been released here last year, I would've given it game of the year over Astro Boy (GBA), hands down. There's plenty more to discuss about this game -- the hidden cheats, Time Trial, etc. -- but I'll leave it all for you to discover for yourself. There's more than enough secrets, hidden items, action and adventure to keep you busy for hours on end. Having this much fun reminded me of gaming's glory days and is a proud return to form for Falcom which had once fallen from grace after the devastation of Ys V. Yes folks, Falcom's BACK!
Here's the official Falcom site for YS VI ~
http://www.falcom.co.jp/ys6/
And be sure to check out RPGamer's coverage ~
http://www.rpgamer.com/games/ys/ys6/ys6.html
Cheat codes~
Go into the Cheat room and perform the following codes to open up hidden, extra features. Each color is represented with a letter: Red = R, Blue = B and Yellow = Y. You hit each orb a set amount of time as shown by the corresponding numbers and then perform a downward thrust into the center platform in the room to activate the code. Depending on the code, when you leave the room the difficulty select should be highlighted in red. These codes will only work if you start up a new game.
Default code (imput this in order to make the others work): R1, B1, Y1, R1, B1, Y1
PS2 Mode with Japanese voices/English text: Y1, R4, B1
PC Mode with English voices/Anime cinemas: Y2, R2, B1
PC Mode with Japanese voices/Anime cinemas: Y2, R4, B1
Activate all special features: R4, B4, Y4, B2, Y2, R2
Olha bikini (Japanese): R5, B3, Y1, R1, B2, Y3
Ohla bikini (English): B5, Y3, R, B, Y2, R3
--Tip: When speaking to Olha, press Triangle to close the message window and you'll just see her illustration.
Start new game at highest level (Lv60): R2, B2, Y2, R2, B2, Y2
Watch the Opening CG in Japanese audio/English subtitles. B4, Y, R
"Wanna get your walls crushed?" ~ Dogi
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