[Aeana]

Title: Ys Origin
Developer: Nihon Falcom
Genre: Action RPG
Release: May 31, 2012 (Steam)
Website: http://worldofys.com/yso/
Price: $19.99/€15.99/£12.99/399 rubles

http://store.steampowered.com/app/207350/


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 place they could have gone...

The Devil's Tower itself.


Ys Origin is a prequel to the rest of the Ys series, taking place 700 years before Ys 1. The game takes place entirely
within the tower, but it is a much more varied place compared to how it appears in Ys 1. Along the way, you'll learn
quite a lot about the history of Ys, the tower, and the goddesses. And don't let the setting fool you into thinking the
game is just a dungeon crawler, as it has what I feel is the most well-developed story in the series.

In terms of gameplay, it's a very fast-paced action RPG that uses the next iteration of the engine that powered Ys 6
and Ys: Oath in Felghana, however it does not quite play the same, because of the different characters to play as.

The English Steam release features true widescreen support, Steam Cloud support, and Steam achievements.

Ys Origin features three playable characters, each with their own unique play-style and storyline. At first, you can
only choose between Yunica and Hugo, but upon beating the game once, "The Claw" becomes available to play.

A descendant of Priest Tovah and an apprentice knight with a deep, almost obsessive attachment to the Goddesses.
After making an impassioned speech to Commander Galleon, she was given a chance to prove herself as part
of the search party. Though young and reckless, her skill with the Battle Axe is unquestionable – but she has
absolutely no ability to use magic whatsoever, which is a source of great embarrassment for her.

Yunica plays closest to Adol of the three, so she is a good starting character for series veterans.


A magical prodigy who's mastered the use of orb-like familiars known as the "Eyes of Fact." He was chosen as the
successor to the Fact family priesthood after his older brother elected to forgo the title in favor of becoming a knight.
Intent on proving his worth, Hugo has since completely devoted himself to intense training, shunning everyone and
everything else from his life in his quest to become the most powerful sorcerer Ys has ever known.

Hugo uses the Eyes of Fact to fire magical beams at enemies. Playing as him feels a little bit like playing a ground-
based a shoot-'em-up.


A mysterious white-haired individual who wields clawed gauntlets with speed and precision alike. Seems to have
taken on a demonic element, granting him faculties far beyond those of a normal human. His motives and his
loyalties are unknown.

You'll just have to give him a try to see how he plays!

Trailers

Original Japanese reveal trailer
Japanese trailer #2
English trailer


And always remember,

[Raitosaito]

I need this in my veins now!

[RyougaSaotome]

Awesome job on the OT Aeana!

I'm so freaking psyched for this right now. Way more than I thought I was gonna be.

Next Thursday can't come soon enough.

[flawfuls]

All this time I thought it was Y's. My life is a lie.

[Aeana]

All this time I thought it was Y's. My life is a lie.

Pronounced like the 'eece' in 'fleece'!
It seems like people who think it's pronounced like "whys" are the ones who think it's written "Y's."

[Akainu]

Hard to care with no Adol.

[Aeana]

Hard to care with no Adol.

Why?

[RyougaSaotome]

Hard to care with no Adol.

Say whaaaaaaaa?

[fushi]

I bought the original boxed copy of this back when the yen was dirt cheap and life was good. Never could get it to work properly, though. It always crashed past the introductory sequence. Locale settings, new drivers, etc. didn't help.

Will happily double dip and try again, though.

[Eusis]

Hard to care with no Adol.

I really do find it hard to fathom people care so much about the lead character when it's a series more about the thrill of high speed hack & slashing. If I had to choose between an overlinear Zelda that still started Link, or a very non-linear one that didn't have Link at all I'd always pick the latter, and you still get Adol as an unlockable, albeit for the non-story gameplay modes.

[fushi]

Also, XSeed desperately needs someone to properly work on these trailer videos. They always look so goddamn cheap.

[Aeana]

This story would not be possible at all if Adol were in the game, considering when it takes place. It's a story that really needed to be told, and the game itself is super fun because they were able to move away from Adol's playstyle a bit and offer some unique stuff.

Also, XSeed desperately needs someone to properly work on these trailer videos. They always look so goddamn cheap.

That's why it got third billing. XSEED's trailers are so crappy. And Falcom is one of the only companies whose trailers consistently get me super hyped.

[Akainu]

Why?

Adol is just so awesome it's just hard to care when he isn't involved. I'd probably play anyway.

I really do find it hard to fathom people care so much about the lead character when it's a series more about the thrill of high speed hack & slashing. If I had to choose between an overlinear Zelda that still started Link, or a very non-linear one that didn't have Link at all I'd always pick the latter, and you still get Adol as an unlockable, albeit for the non-story gameplay modes.

...Are you comparing Link to Adol?

[Aeana]

Adol is just so awesome it's just hard to care when he isn't involved. I'd probably play anyway.

But as a trade-off, you get to play as an ancestor of DARK FACT from Ys 1!

[Alextended]

Nice, I hope I'll like it more than Oath.

[fushi]

That's why it got third billing. XSEED's trailers are so crappy. And Falcom is one of the only companies whose trailers consistently get me super hyped.

Haha, yes! I've watched the Origin trailer a bajillion times over the years, same for Seven trailer. Perfect music, animation pacing, visual effects... even the typefaces are expertly chosen. The XSeed trailers tarnish all that, sadly.

[Aru]

Thanks for the OT.
Will buy someday, since I'm currently busy with Felghana and I will not play 2 Ys games one just after another. And since Felghana, Naphistim and Origin share the same engine, I've got more reasons to play other games first.

[archnemesis]

Nice OP! I've already played through it with two characters, but I'll get this eventually so I can try out "The Claw".

[Aeana]

Nice OP! I've already played through it with two characters, but I'll get this eventually so I can try out "The Claw".

Fortunately, one change made in this version is that the third character unlocks after only beating it with one character, instead of requiring both.

[jj984jj]

Glad to finally see an official English release, I really hope it will do well.

[archnemesis]

Fortunately, one change made in this version is that the third character unlocks after only beating it with one character, instead of requiring both.

That's good news. Do you know if it's possible to download a save where everything is already unlocked?

[speedpop]

Will have to give it a pass for the time being. Too much crap piling up around me.

[Aeana]

That's good news. Do you know if it's possible to download a save where everything is already unlocked?

Well, Oath in Felghana on Steam recognized my original saves, so I expect Origin will do the same.

[archnemesis]

Well, Oath in Felghana on Steam recognized my original saves, so I expect Origin will do the same.

Nice. Thanks!

[Volcynika]

My body has been ready. Got to 100% this too.

[PixyJunket]

WOOP WOOP!

I actually suggested on the Steam forums that they consider changing a certain bonus item's unlock requirements (which are really dumb and render it completely useless). They said they'd ask Falcom about it. On the other hand, if I can use my old saves, I'd be most of the way there. Hmm.

[ciaossu]

Pronounced like the 'eece' in 'fleece'! It seems like people who think it's pronounced like "whys" are the ones who think it's written "Y's."

Really? I've been saying it wrong.

I've never played a Ys game before, but it's really cool that they're getting released on Steam. With cloud and achievement support too! I might have to give this a try when I finish the games I'm currently playing.

[MoogPaul]

Who handled the translation and is it up to par?

[Aeana]

Who handled the translation and is it up to par?

XSEED licensed Deuce's translation. He's the person who has done almost every fan translation this series has had.

[Tenck]

Love the OP. I somehow forgot about the 1 week rule and thought it was out already. Was looking for a link to buy it off steam already :lol

[chickdigger802]

Do these new characters talk or are they pretty much just adol but ...not?

[Aeana]

Do these new characters talk or are they pretty much just adol but ...not?

Every character talks.
There are no silent characters in this game.

[Augemitbutter]

neat. was planning to fire this up again with the steam guys, but i forgot about dragons dogma.

Hard to care with no Adol.

heh, where is that "adol is badass" thread again?

[orfax]

Pronounced like the 'eece' in 'fleece'!

And there I was thinking it was pronounced like 'ease'.

[Mzo]

Pronounced like the 'eece' in 'fleece'!

And there I was thinking it was pronounced like 'ease'.

Isn't that the same sound?

[Aeana]

Isn't that the same sound?

Not quite.

[Salaadin]

So excited for this, even moreso since my old saves will work with with it. I can jump right into that 3rd playthrough.
This drops the same time as Max Payne 3 PC so I might not play it right away but Im definitely buying it on day 1.

[Diomedeskun]

That reminds me, I need to go back. I got stuck at one point and couldn't figure out how to progress, but I adored everything up to that point. My first four hours were spent getting my copy running, as I mistakenly picked up the XP version and had to track down the bonus disc, then I had all the usual headaches with running it on an American windows. I would probably have waited for the steam version even though the copy I bought at Hard-Off was cheaper.

Definitely a strong contender for best in the series from what I have played though.

[StarCreator]

Haha, yes! I've watched the Origin trailer a bajillion times over the years, same for Seven trailer. Perfect music, animation pacing, visual effects... even the typefaces are expertly chosen. The XSeed trailers tarnish all that, sadly.

I don't see the issue with the XSEED Origin trailer, honestly - it does a good job at demonstrating gameplay, and didn't resort gimmicks like the 300 joke in the Felghana trailer. If there weren't weird technical issues (the framerate, the aspect ratio being super-wide, and interlacing artifacts) and it were a bit longer I'd probably put XSEED's Origin trailer on par with the Japanese one.

[djtiesto]

Can't wait to finally play this one! If anything can get me to put aside Xenoblade for a bit it's this. Origin and 5 are the only ones I have yet to beat... now let's just hope Gideon will release 5 soon.

Is there a huge change to the storyline/dungeon design/endings depending on who you play as? Is it worth playing through multiple times or is a break advised?

[Zapages]

doesn't Adol get unlocked after beat the game with all three characters as an easter egg. lol

Anyway, day 1 for sure on this!! Can't wait to play Ys Origin!!! :)

[pje122]

This game is hot!
I need to start my third playthrough at some point...

[Semblance]

Nice and clean OT, Aeana.

Curious what the price will be.

[Varion]

doesn't Adol get unlocked after beat the game with all three characters as an easter egg.)

Only for arena and boss rush, not for the main game. Seen as the story wouldn't really make sense with him in it because he's not born for another few hundred years.

Don't think I'm quite ready for another replay of this after beating all three routes on nightmare last year, but hopefully people will enjoy it seen as it's definitely my favourite Ys game. What it lacks in terms of adventuring and Adol it more than makes up in just how much fun it is to play, especially on the higher difficulties.

[Llyranor]

I didn't pick up Oath in Felghana yet. Between this and that, which would be the best introduction to the series (and to gauge whether I actually like it)?

[Dark Schala]

This OP is very clean and I like it.

Since I've been short on time lately, I might not pick up this version just yet (though I've played Origin twice), but it's cool that it might recognize old saves. I hope it does well. It's very fun, and as with any other Ys game, it gets better and better when you bump up the difficulty. :D

And c'mon, I like Adol and all, but the story just won't make sense with him in it because he isn't born yet! (Surprised no one asked for Dogi yet.)

[BabeSlayer]

WTB on Xbox...

[Ultratech]

Very nice OP.

Origin is a pretty awesome game, so definitely grab it!

Is there a huge change to the storyline/dungeon design/endings depending on who you play as? Is it worth playing through multiple times or is a break advised?

The general story stays the same, but it's a matter of perspective between the characters. It's different enough to warrant playing each character (especially "The Claw" for certain reasons).
Each character also fights a few bosses the others may or may not fight.

[Volcynika]

WTB on Xbox...

Good for you. Not like it'll ever happen.

[ctrayne]

.