Title: Ys ζʹ
Developer: Nihon Falcom
Publisher: XSEED
System: Sony PSP
Genre: Action RPG
Release: August 17, 2010 US Retail/US PSN/EU PSN
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWyjCE4Pe-Y&fmt=18
XSEED's crappy trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W3e6xZ1ddo&fmt=18
Official Site
Price: $29.99 standard edition, $49.99 limited edition.
LE includes: "Oversized 12.5" by 34" Cloth Map highlighting the world of the Ys series, Game soundtrack CD featuring more than 20 songs and 60-page art book showcasing artwork from the Ys series"
Information
There was a time when many fans thought the Ys series dead. Ys 5 came out in 1996, and many years passed without a peep about a sixth entry. Remakes of the first two games surfaced, but this wasnt a surprise these games had already shown up on every platform imaginable before. Falcom surprised everybody in 2003 when they released Ys 6: The Ark of Napishtim. Not only because it was a brand new game in a presumed-forgotten series, but because it was such a dramatic departure from the past games in the series. It was truly a reinvention of the Ys formula, and it was a hit amongst fans.
Seven years later, its difficult to assert that the series is dead or dying. After Ark of Napishtim, Falcom went on to release two more Ys games in a relatively short time span: Ys: Oath in Felghana, a re-imagining of Ys 3; and Ys Origin, a prequel to the first game in the series. Both built on the foundation laid by Ark of Napishtim, but didnt do anything radically different.
Enter Ys 7, which once again turns the formula on its head, not only through combat changes, but also by giving the player a party to command for the first time.
Stuff about the game that's cool
- The first Ys game developed specifically for the PSP, taking its strengths into account.
- Party play control three characters instead of one, quickly swapping between them in real-time in order to exploit enemy weaknesses.
- Incredibly fast-paced action combat that series fans have come to expect, along with huge and difficult boss fights.
- Multiple difficulty levels ranging from easy to nightmare.
- Lots of loot to collect and use in the game's item/equipment synthesis system.
- Some other junk; nobody reads this stuff anyway.
Thanks to archnemesis for the banner.
