Ys Origin

Ys Origin[1] is a 2006 action role-playing game by Nihon Falcom. It was first released for Windows in Japan with an English release by Xseed Games in 2012. Dotemu later released the game for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2017, for Xbox One in 2018, and for Nintendo Switch in 2020.

Ys Origin
Developer(s)Nihon Falcom
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Toshihiro Kondo
Producer(s)Masayuki Kato
Programmer(s)
  • Takayuki Kusano
  • Kazuhiko Onoda
  • Homare Karusawa
Writer(s)
  • Hisayoshi Takeiri
  • Shinichiro Sakamoto
  • Yoshihiro Konda
Composer(s)
  • Hayato Sonoda
  • Takahiro Unisuga
  • Ryo Takeshita
SeriesYs
Platform(s)
ReleaseWindows
  • JP: December 21, 2006
  • WW: May 31, 2012
PlayStation 4
  • WW: February 21, 2017
PlayStation Vita
  • WW: May 30, 2017
Xbox One
  • WW: April 11, 2018
Nintendo Switch
  • WW: October 1, 2020
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Ys Origin is a prequel to the previous nine installments of the Ys video game series. It takes place 700 years before the events of Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished, and tells much of the backstory of Ys, Darm Tower, the Black Pearl, the twin goddesses, and the six priests. The game has three playable characters: Yunica Tovah, Hugo Fact, and Toal Fact. By completing the game with each of the characters, the player sees more dimensions to the story. Each player character has a distinctive story, combat style and skillset. Ys Origin is the first game in the Ys series in which Adol Christin is not the protagonist. The game also differs in some respect as it is a straightforward dungeon crawl, taking place entirely within a single location.

Gameplay

Ys Origin features three characters with various fighting styles. Yunica is able to wield axes and greatswords with ease. In addition to standard hack-and-slash combos, Yunica is also able to perform various aerial maneuvers such as the down-thrust and up-thrust from previous Ys games, as well as a crippling lunge attack. Hugo Fact can fire energy from his wand and his "Eyes of Fact" alike, he can often fill the screen with destructive power, mowing down all enemies in his path before they have a chance to get anywhere near him. With good timing, he can pull off a crippling "power shot", generating a debilitating pillar of pure magic with a wider area of effect. Toal Fact is a short-range/high damage character geared towards the more experienced players.[2]

All playable characters have a "Boost Meter" that slowly fills as the game progresses. Once this meter has reached capacity, that character can be temporarily "Boosted" for quicker and stronger attacks and far greater defense. Once certain conditions have been reached during gameplay, boosted characters can utilize a special move called "Burst" that quickly depletes their Boost meter in favor of an ultra-powerful, extremely wide-ranging release of highly destructive energy.

Story

Setting

There once was a wildly prosperous land named Ys, ruled by the twin Goddesses Reah and Feena and their six priestly retainers. It was a veritable paradise, with all its residents able to enact miracles at will through the use of magic – a power granted them by a holy artifact known as the Black Pearl. One day, without warning, enormous demons marched upon the land, bringing death and devastation in their wake. Their numbers and their might were too much for the knights and sorcerers of Ys to handle, so the people sought shelter within their holiest of temples at the top of the tallest mountain. In a desperate attempt to keep these people safe, the twin Goddesses used the power of the Black Pearl to tear this temple from the ground and raise it into the heavens, away from the ever-growing threat below.

The demons were determined, however. They erected an enormous tower from which further attacks were launched, bringing the battle into the skies. An all-out war had begun, with forces concentrated in Solomon Shrine above and the Devil's Tower below. And it was amidst this chaos that the twin Goddesses stole away into the night. No one was told of their departure – not even the Six Priests who served them. It seemed clear that they'd gone back to the surface, but no one knew exactly why. Only one thing was certain: without the Goddesses, Ys could not survive. Intent on finding their missing deities, the Six Priests organized a search party of the most elite knights and sorcerers in the land. These soldiers were given a single mission: Secure the safety of Ladies Reah and Feena, and bring them back to Solomon Shrine alive and well. But in the desolate, ruined remains of Ys, there's only one place they could have gone...the Devil's Tower itself.

Characters
  • Yunica Tovah (ユニカ＝トバ, Yunika Toba): Yunica is the granddaughter of Priest Tovah, one of the six priests of Ys.[3] She begins the game armed with a battle axe, but later acquires a fire sword. The axe allows for rapid attack sequences, whereas the sword affords a wider reach. Although unable to cast any kind of magic by herself, she can use wind or thunder magic with her axe when she has the required magical artifacts that contain the spells to be cast, and fire magic with her sword when she finds it. Yunica's gameplay is comparable to Adol's in The Oath in Felghana and The Ark of Napishtim.
  • Hugo Fact (ユーゴ＝ファクト, Yūgo Fakuto):[4] The magician Hugo attacks by emitting magic missiles from his staff and from his two small satellites, the Eyes of Fact.[3]
  • Toal Fact (鉤爪の男, Kagizume no Otoko): Toal Fact is a character surrounded in mystery; he attacks rapidly, wielding two large metal claws.
  • Adol Christin (アドル＝クリスティン, Adoru Kurisutin): The expansion disk and later editions of the game add Adol to the roster of player characters in the Time Attack and Arena Mode bonus games. The player can choose to play Adol as he appeared either in The Ark of Napishtim or in The Oath in Felghana. Each variation plays as it did in the original game, but with control mechanics adjusted for parity with the other three characters.

Release

Ys Origin was originally released on December 21, 2006, for Windows XP. An expansion disc was made available to owners of the first edition (a serial number had to be provided to request the upgrade). The expansion disc added two new difficulty levels, an arena mode, alternate versions of the three main characters with upgraded skills, the ability to play as Adol Christin (in Time Attack and Arena Mode only), and a few additional secrets. The retail version has been re-released three times in order to support new Windows operating systems: Vista in 2007, 7 in 2010, and 8 in 2013.[5]

Xseed Games released the game through Steam on May 31, 2012.[6] On top of the enhancements from the expansion disc, this release added a fully localized translation, proper widescreen support, Steam achievements, enhanced game pad support, and cloud save support.[7] By January 2015, this version of the game had sold over 200,000 copies worldwide.[8] The game was later released DRM-free on GOG.com and Humble Store as well.[9]

Developer and publisher Dotemu ported Ys Origin to various consoles. Featuring most enhancements from the Steam release, the ports also add localization to French, Italian, German, and Spanish, in addition to English (using Xseed's translation) and Japanese.[10] The PlayStation 4 version was released on February 21, 2017.[10] The PlayStation Vita version was planned to release alongside it, but was delayed to May 30.[11] A version for Xbox One launched on April 11, 2018 with new content, such as blood level options and a speedrun mode.[12] The Nintendo Switch version followed on October 1, 2020, both digitally, and in limited standard and collector's editions.[13]

Reception

The game received "generally favorable reviews" across all platforms according to review aggregator Metacritic.[14][15][16][17] Richard Cobbett from PC Gamer rated Ys Origin a 71 out of 100 and called it "a cute, quirky anime dungeon crawl that will cheerfully kick your arse until your nose starts bleeding".[20] Dale North from Destructoid awarded it an 8.5 out of 10 and commented that "$20 gets you a thoroughly enjoyable PC RPG that both looks and sounds great, despite its age. You'll get about 10 hours of entertaining gameplay, really strong narrative (for a Ys game), and a great localization to go with it".[18]

References
    1. イース・オリジン, Īsu Orijin
    2. "Ys Origin - Gameplay". Retrieved February 8, 2015.
    3. Kalata, Kurt; et al. "Ys Origin". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
    4. "Player Character". falcom.com (in Japanese). Nihon Falcom. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
    5. "Ys Origin Release Information for PC". GameFAQs. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
    6. Yip, Spencer (4 May 2012). "Ys Origin to Steam with English Text in May". Siliconera. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
    7. "XSEED Games Releases Action RPG Title Ys Origin on Steam". XSEED Games. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
    8. "Ys Origin Sells Over 200k on Steam". Hardcore Gamer. January 12, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
    9. Massey, Tom (9 February 2014). "Chronicles of Ys: A Series Retrospective". eurogamer.net. Gamer Network.
    10. "Ys Origin RPG Gets New Release on PS4, PS Vita on February 21". Anime News Network. December 4, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
    11. "Ys Origin for PS4 and PS Vita 'Yunica and Hugo' trailer, PS Vita version delayed to May 30". Gematsu. February 8, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
    12. "Ys Origin for Xbox One launches April 11". Gematsu. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
    13. "Ys Origin for Switch launches October 1". Gematsu. September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
    14. "Ys Origin for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
    15. "Ys Origin for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
    16. "Ys Origin for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
    17. "Ys Origin for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
    18. "Review: Ys Origin (PC, Steam)". Destructoid. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
    19. "Y's Origin - Test". Eurogamer.de. Eurogamer.de. 14 June 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
    20. "Ys: Origins review". PC Gamer. 11 September 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
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