Ys 3 - Wanderers from Ys
Reviewed by Michael LoCascio
There's a huge risk involved when a company creates a sequel
that deviates from the play mechanics featured in the
original game. Perhaps the most notorious instance where
this occurred was when Nintendo designed Zelda II - The
Adventure of Link. While I was among the gamers who loved
Zelda II and respected Nintendo for taking a chance and
moving in a new direction, I must admit that most sequels
are better off sticking with what made their predecessors
such huge successes. Ys III - Wanderers From Ys is one such
sequel that might have been a lot better had it been created
in the mold of its excellent predecessor.
Ys Book I and II, the most successful CD game ever released
for the Turbografx-16, was an action-RPG and was played from
an overhead perspective. Ys III, on the other hand, is a
side-scrolling affair along the lines of The Battle of
Olympus or Zelda II. While it still contains numerous RPG
elements (such as gold and experience points), Ys III is
actually a hack-and-slash action title at heart. Besides the
fact that the game isn't entirely linear in nature and
features an intriguing plot, it really isn't that much
different from most side-scrolling platform titles.
The red-headed warrior known as Adol Christin is once again
the hero, but the adventure doesn't take place in the land
of Ys this time around. Instead, the game is set in the land
of Kenai, the birthplace of Adol's pal, Dogi. Dogi had heard
rumors that Kenai was in bad shape, and requested that Adol
accompany him on a journey to see what's really going on
there. The main objective of the game is basically to figure
out who the troublemaker is that's trying to take over the
world, and subsequently destroy him. That may not sound very
intriguing or original, and, truth be told, it isn't.
However, the primary focus of Ys III isn't on the plans of
the evil villains, but rather on the problems faced by two
siblings whom Adol encounters in Kenai. An attractive young
girl named Elena is rather concerned about her older brother
Chester, who has been acting very strangely of late. As it
turns out, Chester has joined the enemy forces and
eventually finds himself in more trouble than he had at
first realized. There is much to discover about the history
and the motives of this brother-sister team, and it actually
becomes far more interesting to acquire information about
them than to learn of the cliched plans of the evildoers in the game.
While there are various tasks that you are asked to
accomplish during each action sequence, the game play
essentially consists of slicing up enemies, finding items,
and slaying bosses. You start off in Dogi's hometown, which
you will be returning to after almost every mission that you
complete. When you leave the town, you'll be able to select
where you want to go next on a little map screen, and then
the action will begin. The game is somewhat linear in that
you can't gain access to some of the game's locales until
certain objectives have been met. For instance, the only
place that you'll be allowed to travel to in the beginning
of the game is the Tigre Mine. Once you've taken care of
business in the mine, you'll be granted access to another
area in the land of Kenai. This method of progression makes
the game seem even more like an action title, and less like
an RPG.
Contributing to the simplistic feel of the game is the fact
that there are only five different locations outside of
Dogi's hometown that you are allowed to explore in the
entire adventure. You'll traverse the aforementioned mine,
along with ancient ruins, frosty mountain tops, a complex
castle, and of course, the final bad guy's lair. While all
of these locations offer you multiple paths to explore, none
of them are all that lengthy, nor are they very difficult to
complete. Ys III is a very short and simple game, which is
rather disappointing when you think about what a spectacular
epic Ys Book I and II was.
Anyone who was lucky enough to experience Ys Book I and II
will likely never forget the outstanding music that was
featured in that game. Ys III is superb in this aspect as
well, although the music in this game contains far less
variety than the tunes in the original title. Ys III mainly
consists of explosive hard-rock music, and while I miss the
softer, more majestic tunes of the first game, these tracks
are still definitely well-done.
Unfortunately, the voice acting is another story. Instead of
hiring professional voice actors as they did for Book I and
II, it seems that NEC settled for anyone they could find to
fill the roles this time around. The voices in Ys III are
completely void of any kind of emotion or sincerity; it
really sounds as if the voice actors were reading their
lines for the first time when the recording for this game
took place.
The graphics in Ys III are absolutely beautiful - at least
when you're standing still. It seems as if the multi-layer
scrolling combined with the exquisitely detailed sprites
were a bit too much for the Turbo to handle, as the movement
in this game is extremely choppy. Thankfully, the choppy
animation doesn't interfere with the game play.
Speaking of the game play, Adol controls extremely well. He
moves and responds to your commands very quickly, and he has
a variety of attack techniques at his disposal, all of which
are quite easy to pull off. Apparently, there were many
gamers who were not satisfied with the combat system of Ys
Book I and II (which required gamers to 'bump' into
enemies in order to kill them), so NEC decided to make
battles a bit more fun and more reliant on reflexes than
strategy. While the combat system in this chapter works
fine, I still wish that they had come up with a different
method rather than altering the entire look and feel of the game.
Another unforgettable element of the original Ys game was
the inclusion of some incredible cinemas which not only
looked amazing, but also contributed to the telling of the
game's story. While there are some such sequences in Ys III,
they are decidedly less impressive, less exciting, less
symbolic, and even less relevant. Their sole purpose seems
to be to impress gamers with some graphic fluff, as they
don't contribute to the plot of the game at all. Instead,
the action halts at certain points during the game, and you
get to sit back and watch some little scenes (not cinemas,
mind you) that clue you in on what's really going on in the
land of Kenai. These would have been perfect spots to
include some animated sequences, but instead, NEC stayed
with the basic look of the game, and threw in some lousy
voice acting to advance the plot.
The plot in Ys III is decent enough, although it's a bit
shallow for an RPG. The roles played by Elena and Chester
were intriguing enough to keep me interested throughout the
game. There were some elements that I found to be a bit
off-putting, such as the feelings that develop between Adol
and Elena. After Adol's relationship with the adorable,
endearing Lilia seemed to blossom in Ys II, I found the
inclusion of this little romantic sub-plot to be a cheap,
cliched attempt at making the story more dramatic.
With all of the role-playing elements that are included in
the game, it would have been easy for NEC to neglect the
action sequences that are actually at the heart of the
title. While you will have to acquire experience points and
purchase weapons and armor, you'll spend most of the game
jumping and slashing your way through hordes of enemies. For
this reason, it's a good thing that NEC made the action in
Ys III fast and exciting. Although I still would have
preferred that they kept the game play of the original game
intact here, at least they did a good job of designing
action stages that are enjoyable to play through.
As flawed as it is, the fact remains that Ys III is a very
entertaining video game that features impressive graphics
and music along with tight, responsive game play.
Unfortunately, it's far too short and easy, and it really
does pale in comparison to Book I and II. Then again, there
are very few titles that can compare with that grand
masterpiece, and while Wanderers From Ys may not be one of
them, it is certainly an exciting, entertaining ride while
it lasts.
Overall: 8 out of 10
OR
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