What's the best way to play Ys 1, 2, 3, and 4?

[BetaWolf47]

I have never seen any RPG series get so many ****ing ports. What's the best way to start? It doesn't appear that there are translations of the original Japanese computer releases available. Are the original US releases (SMS, Turbo CD, SNES) good translations? How about the PC and DS remakes?

[homerhomer]

I don't know but I noticed that Steam has some of Ys (eees) games on sale for like $5 - http://store.steampowered.com/app/223810/

[Tanooki]

There are modernized versions of the first 3 titles done for the PC you can get for a not much money, I think they're all on steam, though Ys3 got wacked out redone to be like ys1/2 so it's no longer a side scroller.

If you want something more traditional your best bet would be the TG16 CD releases of the lot. Good use of color and sprites, nice little movies, and the CD audio is fantastic.

[T2KFreeker]

Turbo Cd is the best bet. There was also a VERY good fan translation Patch of Ys IV, voice acting and text. It's fantastic!

[Aussie2B]

I don't think it really matters. None of the English releases have been poorly received on the whole. Just go with what you already own, or if you've yet to buy any of them, just look at the prices, some screen shots, and consider what console/handheld you'd prefer to play on to make a decision.

I recently played through the first two Ys games for the very first time via the DS remakes, and I had a ton of fun with them. Some diehard Ys fans pooh-pooh that release because they nitpick over tiny details and dislike the change to 3D graphics and sword slashing. Personally, I think it's a bit hypocritical because Oath of Felghana is a far more drastic change to the original versions of Ys III yet Ys fans gush over it, but I guess that one gets a pass because Ys III was sort of the "black sheep" of the series so people didn't mind if it was remade from the ground up, while Ys fans have intense nostalgia for the first two games and can't tolerate any changes to them.

Oh, and I should point out that there is no official English release of any version of Ys IV yet, although there will be one soon for Vita. Like Oath of Felghana, though, it's been significantly remade.

[Tron 2.0]

For the original Ys games go with the TG16 version such as 1,2,3,4.For the modern ones the pc version for steam they do have a few of them.If you have a psp it doesn't hurt to check out Ys oath in felghana,Ys 1&2 chronicles and Ys 6&7.

BTW,what brought this interest on for the Ys series the recent game sack episode !?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvvGtPWNRsA

Also hardcoregaming101 has a article on the series.
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/ys/ys.htm

Also Ys IV for the turbografx 16 does have a fan translation and dubbing.

[M.Buster2184]

Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to play the TuboGrafx CD version, nor will I be able to anytime soon, pending me getting a copy of the game and a TG CD to go with my TG16. Does anyone know if the PS2 or DS versions are any good/worth playing?

[Tron 2.0]

Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to play the TuboGrafx CD version, nor will I be able to anytime soon, pending me getting a copy of the game and a TG CD to go with my TG16. Does anyone know if the PS2 or DS versions are any good/worth playing?
Far as the remakes go ive played,Ys 1&2 chronicles on the psp but that's it.It's a solid version of Ys that plays great.Never played the ds version,though ive heard it's terrible due to it's controls.For the PS2 version of Ys 1&2 no clue since it never had a u.s release.

[M.Buster2184]

Far as the remakes go ive played,Ys 1&2 chronicles on the psp but that's it.It's a solid version of Ys that plays great.Never played the ds version,though ive heard it's terrible due to it's controls.For the PS2 version of Ys 1&2 no clue since it never had a u.s release.

Ahh balls, I wasn't aware the PS2 version wasn't released in the US, or that the DS version was no good. Oh well.

[Kitsune Sniper]

The PC ports of Ys 1-3 and Origins are excellent and have a really awesome translation. You can pick up all four for like sixteen bucks right now, for the next er, five and a half hours.

[Edmond Dantes]

Keep in mind that the Turbo CD was the only system to ever get the real Ys IV. The SNES got some weird alternative Ys IV, and they later made a completely different Ys IV for the PS2.

Weird, I know.

But speaking as a Turbo Duo loyalist... go with those, assuming you have a duo. Other than that, I believe Ys I and II have been rereleased for the PS2, PC, and PSP.

There's also an anime you should check out.

[xelement5x]

I liked the PSP remake versions, but after learning that the translations for them and the PC versions were essentially stolen without compensation from one of the people responsible for the fan translations, I'm hesitant to give any support or money to XSEED anymore.

I'd recommend the Turbo versions as well though, they are quite solid.

[Aussie2B]

Does anyone know if the PS2 or DS versions are any good/worth playing?

Just read my post two posts above yours. :/ And nevermind Tron's hearsay. I can say from firsthand experience that the DS versions are very enjoyable. It's not at all a terrible release, and the controls are rock solid, assuming you choose the manual control scheme rather than the weird touch screen control scheme. If you weren't aware of the "bumping" system of the original versions, you'd never know that the games weren't Zelda-style sword-slashing adventure games from how the DS versions play. The reception to the DS compilation was very positive; the only people who accuse it of being bad are nitpicky Ys purists who can't stand change. Personally, considering there are already a bajillion versions of the early Ys games, I think there's room in this world for multiple takes on the concept and enjoying their differences.


I liked the PSP remake versions, but after learning that the translations for them and the PC versions were essentially stolen without compensation from one of the people responsible for the fan translations, I'm hesitant to give any support or money to XSEED anymore.

Huh? I thought XSEED worked with the fan translators and did compensate them?

[Tron 2.0]

Huh? I thought XSEED worked with the fan translators and did compensate them?
Nightwolve didn't get what was 'owed to him.He pretty much got the raw end of the deal which is really screwed up.

Read more about it here.
http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=15057.0

[Bloodreign]

Don't believe everything you read, you'll go blind, some more about the fiasco.

http://seldane.proboards.com/thread/6552/boycott-xseed

Dude seems batshit insane.
http://www.ysutopia.net/forums/index.php?topic=419.0
http://www.ysutopia.net/forums/index.php?topic=422
http://www.ysutopia.net/forums/index.php?topic=423.0

All in all this could turn into a brutal filthy court battle between the guy and XSEED.

[M.Buster2184]

Just read my post two posts above yours. :/ And nevermind Tron's hearsay. I can say from firsthand experience that the DS versions are very enjoyable. It's not at all a terrible release, and the controls are rock solid, assuming you choose the manual control scheme rather than the weird touch screen control scheme. If you weren't aware of the "bumping" system of the original versions, you'd never know that the games weren't Zelda-style sword-slashing adventure games from how the DS versions play. The reception to the DS compilation was very positive; the only people who accuse it of being bad are nitpicky Ys purists who can't stand change. Personally, considering there are already a bajillion versions of the early Ys games, I think there's room in this world for multiple takes on the concept and enjoying their differences.

Apparently I can't read. In the long run I'll have to try it out for myself, but after checking the out some reviews, it seems the DS version is worth playing. On the plus side, for me it's more accessible and more affordable.

[BetaWolf47]

That story makes it sound like Nightwolve's d-bag partner is the one who screwed him over, not Xseed. But either way, it's been made clear that I should begin with the Turbo-CD games.

[Aussie2B]

Wow, what a drama. I guess this all just recently came out? It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. Really, this just backs up what I've assumed all along, and that's that game publishers really are better off doing their own localizations or farming them out to reputable localization companies like 8-4. Dealing with the fan translation scene is just asking for trouble since you're working in a legally gray area, and whether the publisher is at fault or not, you're bound to run into clashing internet personalities, drama, and shady dealings. Don't get me wrong, there are upstanding individuals in fan translation who behave very professionally, but every online fan scene has its dumb drama. I've seen drama blow up after manga publishers dipped into the scanlation scene as well.

[Tron 2.0]

That story makes it sound like Nightwolve's d-bag partner is the one who screwed him over, not Xseed. But either way, it's been made clear that I should begin with the Turbo-CD games.
That's how i see it for the most part.Heck i didn't know until now man talk about allot of drama over the game translation.If you gonna 'start with the Ys games on the TG16 that's not a bad place to start.Just don't pay to much for a physical copy it's gotten rather bad,when it comes to Ys III with gouging for it by resellers.

[xelement5x]

Wow, what a drama. I guess this all just recently came out? It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. Really, this just backs up what I've assumed all along, and that's that game publishers really are better off doing their own localizations or farming them out to reputable localization companies like 8-4. Dealing with the fan translation scene is just asking for trouble since you're working in a legally gray area, and whether the publisher is at fault or not, you're bound to run into clashing internet personalities, drama, and shady dealings. Don't get me wrong, there are upstanding individuals in fan translation who behave very professionally, but every online fan scene has its dumb drama. I've seen drama blow up after manga publishers dipped into the scanlation scene as well.

Yeah, I believe XSEED is fully aware of the backlash at this point and has decided not to use fan translations like this in the future. I kind of have mixed feeling about it, because if using fan translations made it cheaper and easier for them to get a final product out better it would be cool, because presumably they could bring over more games.

But because of how this wound up they've decided to avoid that in the future, which still means a good product, but each one will probably take longer at this point.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Nightwolve didn't get what was 'owed to him.He pretty much got the raw end of the deal which is really screwed up.

Read more about it here.
http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=15057.0

Here's the thing about Nightwolve: He charged money for the translation patches. As much as he claims he got ripped off, Falcom can sue him for that. And most of his claims amount to "I made the tools Deuce used to translate the text!" Well, yes, he did. Unfortunately for him, XSeed only paid for the text translation. All the reprogramming was done in-house, and they probably used the same tools Falcom created for the game, which meant they only had to insert the text as it was necessary. Leaving out all his work.

Does Nightwolve deserve payment? I dunno. That's between Deuce and Nightwolve. XSeed only paid for a text translation.

Also... it's hard to take his claims seriously when all he does is use insults to refer to the people he claims screwed him over. He's fucking nuttier than a Planters distribution center. He was nuts before these games were sold by XSeed, calling people who used his patch without paying for it "buttpirates"... the man has serious persecution issues which he will probably never get over because he'll take his grudges to the grave.

[Aussie2B]

Personally, I think if a publisher wants to dip into fan translation, they should compensate, or at least credit, all those who are responsible for the translation. Hacking a game, extracting text, programming software to facilitate the translation, none of it is easy work, and the translation wouldn't exist without it. That said, XSEED could just as well play dumb and say that the translator could've made the text translation by playing through the game and copying down all the Japanese lines. And a publisher doesn't even need to compensate these guys. If they really wanted to, they could probably play the patch and copy the whole fan translation for their own use, and I doubt the fan translators would have any legal recourse because they were never authorized to do an English localization in the first place. And those who do have the licensing rights could also work to wipe the fan translation off the face of the internet. It's all one big legal quagmire.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Personally, I think if a publisher wants to dip into fan translation, they should compensate, or at least credit, all those who are responsible for the translation. Hacking a game, extracting text, programming software to facilitate the translation, none of it is easy work, and the translation wouldn't exist without it. That said, XSEED could just as well play dumb and say that the translator could've made the text translation by playing through the game and copying down all the Japanese lines. And a publisher doesn't even need to compensate these guys. If they really wanted to, they could probably play the patch and copy the whole fan translation for their own use, and I doubt the fan translators would have any legal recourse because they were never authorized to do an English localization in the first place. And those who do have the licensing rights could also work to wipe the fan translation off the face of the internet. It's all one big legal quagmire.

They did compensate Deuce. They paid him for the original, unedited, script translation. They didn't compensate Nightwolve because they didn't use any of his work. That is the key difference here.

What it all amounts to here is money. Nightwolve didn't get paid, and he wants money despite not having any involvement in the XSeed version of the game other than giving Deuce the original script to work from. And that is what's eating him up.

[Aussie2B]

Both of their work resulted in the translation. XSEED did use NightWolve's work, just in a more roundabout way.

I do official localization of manga, and as the editor, I am indebted to the translator, who is in turn indebted to the licensor for providing the raw materials. Even if I rewrote every single line of a script such that none of the original, raw translation is used and some new company was licensing my edited script, I'd still expect the translator to be credited and/or compensated, as I'd never be able to do my job without being able to work off of what the translator provided me.

But don't get me wrong, XSEED didn't HAVE to compensate anybody or work with them in the first place. It was basically a 50/50 on XSEED's part between saving time and getting cheap labor and offering out of the kindness of their hearts some money to the fan translator who originally did the work with no intention of it ever being official or putting money in his pocket.

[Tanooki]

Just read my post two posts above yours. :/ And nevermind Tron's hearsay. I can say from firsthand experience that the DS versions are very enjoyable. It's not at all a terrible release, and the controls are rock solid, assuming you choose the manual control scheme rather than the weird touch screen control scheme. If you weren't aware of the "bumping" system of the original versions, you'd never know that the games weren't Zelda-style sword-slashing adventure games from how the DS versions play. The reception to the DS compilation was very positive; the only people who accuse it of being bad are nitpicky Ys purists who can't stand change. Personally, considering there are already a bajillion versions of the early Ys games, I think there's room in this world for multiple takes on the concept and enjoying their differences.



Huh? I thought XSEED worked with the fan translators and did compensate them?

I second this entirely and I started out on the turbo cd version of the game. The DS version is a fantastic conversion and oddly also was some fantastic movie sequences too. Ignore the ignorant and intolerant purist babies.

Also I just read the nightwolfe thing and I'm mixed in it. He takes all the credit for another's work admittedly in that write up of his for the Ys games as he knows zero Japanese. The real worker gets contacted by xseed and gets contracted to convert his work for the DS, steam, etc games. The only bad I see there was not also giving nightwolfe a small pittance for his conversion of a crap ton more hours of translation work but xseed also didn't need it for their programs so I don't know. Morally a bit sketchy but legally fan translation and hack job work isn't exactly licensed or above the table so that's a learning lesson as would be of crediting the guy with a heap of hours translating all those scripts to English.

[badinsults]

Don't bother with Ys 3 for the SNES - it is terrible. Grinding should not have be necessary in an action side-scrolling game.

[BetaWolf47]

Okay, basic question. Is Ys IV the only game in the series that has been retconned into a different game(s)?

[Tron 2.0]

Okay, basic question. Is Ys IV the only game in the series that has been retconned into a different game(s)?
SNES version is consider cannon while the PCE one is not.Still with it's remake for the vita that has probably has changed.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Don't bother with Ys 3 for the SNES - it is terrible. Grinding should not have be necessary in an action side-scrolling game.

Grinding has been a Ys tradition since the start. :P

But yeah, the original version of Ys 3 does kinda suck.