Ys I & II Chronicles+

Ys I & II Chronicles+ are charming old-school games with beautiful pixel art and music. Since the remakes retain the original games' 80s-era mechanics including the bump combat system, they take some getting used to. The lack of a map system, especially in the game's labyrinth-like dungeons, was frustrating from time to time. Also, the end-game boss fights felt unfair and made me realize just how brutal old games could be back then. I still recommend these games to anyone eager to experience the fun of classic games despite their rough edges.

I was advised to skip all Ys games and instead start with Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA. I chose to start from the beginning anyway. I was promised at least nice music, nice story, and garbage dated combat. Instead, I got great story, great music, and great combat. Yes, the combat of Ys I & II Chronicles+ is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! If future Ys games remain as good as these two, then I have finally found a new franchise to call a favourite A beautiful story with endless optional dialogue that brings charm, emotions, and some hilarious moments Amazing music that intensifies the moments you spend interacting with the world of Ys THANK YOU, Nihon Falcom Overwhelmingly deep inhales ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED!

It's a very easy to learn RPGMaker-like pair of ARPG games which show their age in the level and boss designs. The combat is simple and the games aren't long enough for the faults to dampen your experience too much, but be aware that the dungeons get labyrinthine and a few bosses are just frustrating (mostly in the first game). Otherwise the combat is nice and fast since you automatically attack enemies by just running into them most of the time. The games do want you to grind a little bit as initially enemies in new areas (even at the start of the game) can quickly kill you if you aren't careful, but usually it's not more than 10-20 minutes worth at a time. Armor and weapons give a noticable bump in power as well. I would give this a more "maybe" review if that was an option, but ultimately they're quick, cheap, and simple games if you're interested in the gameplay or in the series in general and the downsides aren't egregious enough for me to really dislike the games. Also note that the playtime shown is from the first game, the second game takes about as much if not a tiny bit longer, depending on how lost you get in all the areas where everything looks the same.