Ys Origin Review

Developed by Falcom
Published by DotEmu
Reviewed on PlayStation 4 (also available on PC and on Vita in May)

 

Ys Origin is an adventure RPG from Falcom, who are known for their great action games. Over the past 30 years Falcom has created numerous Ys games for various consoles and the PC. Ys Origin is the prequel to the Ys series. Ys Origin is actually a port of a PC game that’s never been on the consoles. The company behind this port is DotEmu, who ported classics such as Another World and the upcoming Windjammers. DotEmu surprised everyone at the PlayStation Experience when it announced it would be releasing a PlayStation 4 version of Ys Origin, which is available now. 

Ys Origin takes place 700 years before the events of the first Ys game, telling the backstory to Dark Tower, the black pearl, and the twin goddesses. At the start of the game you can choose between two playable characters, Yunica Tovah or Hugo Fact. Yunica is a melee class axe wielder while Hugo is part of the mage class and uses wands. Each character has a unique story, combat style, and skill set so the replay value is very high. Upon completion of the game you unlock a third playable character named The Claw.

The gameplay of  Ys Origin is amazing. This is the first Ys title I have ever played and it took my breath away. Given the choice at the start to be Yunica or the Hugo, I chose Hugo. Having chosen the mage class, the game almost felt like a shooter. You can spam away on your Square button and just blast enemies from afar, which is very enthralling.

The game has a 3D effect where the room will kind of turn with you in some areas, which reminded me of Chrono Trigger. The controllers work very well on the PS4 controller. I only came across two finicky control issues. The first is that in order to run, you have to double tap in the direction you want to go and sometimes the analog stick just doesn’t register it. Second is if you’re firing away at some enemies and you try to jump, it doesn’t allow you. You would have to stop firing, then jump and fire to attack enemies that can fly.

Leveling up in Ys Origin is cake. I barely had to do any grinding at all; in fact I found myself almost overpowering most enemies. Only one boss game me trouble as I wasn’t doing any damage on it. So I grinded out two levels, came back, and smoked him. Finding gear and new weapons came pretty easy enough as well. The game is pretty linear with some backtracking you, but not too much. You can find pretty much every item and piece of gear along the way. The puzzles in Ys Origin are very good and challenging. I was stumped a good couple of times. I found myself thinking “Did I miss something?” All I can say is make to sure you read the descriptions for all the items you find…it really can save you lots of time.

The music of Ys Origin is most notable and perhaps the best part of the game. Falcom Sound Team JDK, who are known for their epic, guitar heavy soundtracks, really lay it down. From the start of the game where you’re wandering through the many levels of the Dark Tower to the epic boss fights, the music is on point. The soundtrack to Ys Origin definitely worth the pickup alone. In fact I’m actually writing this review with the game paused, listening to the track.

Overall Falcom made an amazing game and DotEmu did a great job porting it to the PS4. The game, which originally came out in 2006, still definitely holds up. It’s a cross buy title, so it will also be on the Vita in May. I can almost guarantee I will be going through Yunica’s story on the Vita for some on the go action.