It's pronounced "eese."
EGGCONSOLE Ys PC-8801mkIISR
Switch eShop (PC-88 emulated)
Falcom / D4 Enterprise
1987 2024
I love Ys so much it's unreal. And I'm not even talking about the series (though that has a lotta good games); I'm talking about the original ass entry. With every favorite game of mine, I typically try to experience the "original version" -- though that gets tough for something that first came out on the NEC PC-88. The two main options are either buy unwieldy and expensive hardware, or fiddle with complex emulation on the PC. Until now that is: the absolute GIGACHADS at D4 Enterprise have rereleased an emulated version of the very first iteration of Ys on the Switch, as part of their EGGCONSOLE lineup. Now, be aware that nothing on EGGCONSOLE is actually localized. This is literally the 1987 game resurrected. That said, there is an English manual and most of the game can be understood without knowing any Japanese regardless. This is especially true for anyone who's already played (and "remembered") any other version of Ys.
Ys (or Ancient Ys Vanished Omen lol) is an old-school action-RPG with a compact world (three towns, three dungeons, and a verdant overworld) and thus a relatively brief runtime. Comparisons to Zelda are obvious, though this one's roots can be traced back to older ARPGs like Hydlide and Falcom's own Dragon Slayer. The (mostly silent) protagonist is one Adol Christin, a redheaded young man with a terminal case of wanderlust. The story is rather vague. After washing ashore in a port town and awakening after a bout of unconsciousness, Adol finds himself in a land plagued by monsters. A fortune teller asks him to retrieve the titular "Books of Ys" which may divulge some secrets regarding ancient prophecies. Meanwhile, there are some smaller local matters for Adol to attend to, like the retrieval of a lost harmonica. Similar to games like A Link to the Past, there's a delightfully cryptic "mythological" background to all the events of Ys, which is something greatly expanded upon in subsequent series installments.
The big "gimmick" here is that there's no attack button; instead Adol attacks enemies automatically when he "bumps" into them. This was actually a common design element among retro Japanese ARPGs, though most of those went unlocalized which makes Ys stand out to Western gamers in this regard. Sounds simple, and success in combat is somewhat reliant on experience level. But it's also important to "aim" and thus hit enemies off-center, which is more likely to cause damage to them without harming Adol. Bosses shake things up quite a bit. They're massive and ferocious, and the game's generous save feature becomes an absolute lifesaver as deaths and reloads are inevitable. Success against the earliest bosses is predictably (but not entirely) level dependent. An underpowered Adol stands no chance, while an overpowered Adol will roll right over a boss, whereas a "perfectly leveled" Adol faces an appropriate challenge. Later bosses, once the level cap is reached, are seriously difficult. Dozens of attempts made against a single late-game boss is not unheard of, as players must learn to guide Adol along expertly-timed shmup-like paths of precision to inflict damage without also absorbing a greater amount. Interestingly, while the game is rich with various monsters, all "normal" enemies attack in what is essentially the same fashion. That is, they attempt "bumps" of their own, and vary in terms of offensive power, defensive power, and speed. Controls feel natural on the Switch, probably better than whatever the PC-88 used!
The game's structure remains intriguing as Ys dungeons cannot be cleared in a single trip. In the first two (the palace and mines) Adol must retrieve key items (and people) from the depths, return to the surface, and later begin spelunking once again. The final dungeon, Darm Tower, literally consumes 50% of the game, a point of contention for many. Even here, Adol must bounce up and down between floors, though a net vertical progression is ultimately required. The towns themselves are pleasant. Minea serves as the "hub" of the game with its bar and various item shops, while Zeptik is used to flesh out the game's lore (Barbado doesn't appear until later remakes). NPCs are numerous and illustrated nicely. To touch on the language barrier again: it's really just the dialogue that's in Japanese. As with many old Japanese games, item names and menu options are in English (or Engrish, behold the BLUE-KNECKLESS).
As far as aesthetics go, I'm actually more surprised than anything. I expected the PC-88 to have a bit more distinct of a "look" but this really doesn't look THAT different than SMS or Famicom Ys. The visuals are simple but legible. Gameplay segments, again, recall Zelda, but those giant character portraits and floral borders exude that dreamy "left in Japan" vibe (and check out the naked grill with the orb!). And while Ys is world-renowned for its soundtrack, it's not THIS version they're talking about (the PCE red book audio is IMMACULATE). That said, the PC-88 sound chip actually rules! It's not as distinct as, say, C64 sound, but the compositions really do shine in their original form. Yuzo Koshiro, truly a master of his craft...
I gotta touch on some things unique to this EGG variant. There's (simulated) disk flipping and disk saving as well. Easy enough to figure out, but the four save state slots really come in handy, allowing saves during boss battles and so on. The "speed" of the PC-88 can be tweaked, which is hugely helpful, as Ys often feels a little too fast or too slow. Now, Adol can fly through the requisite grinding or trudge through a boss fight that demands precision hits. One peculiar oddity: you have to "read" the books of Ys to finish the game, after the final boss. Apparently on a real PC-88 you press the R key on the keyboard. On the Switch... it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure this out. You press the R stick. I don't like it when sticks double as buttons. Not at all. Hate that it's become standardized. The Dreamcast (final good controller) didn't do this.
Ys is so good. It has this archaic, atavistic, ruminative feeling. A je ne sais quoi that grants it an aura like it wasn't molded by human hands and somehow predates video games altogether. This original variant isn't the "definitive" one though. It's "best" on PCE and "most accessible" in Chronicles. Fans of the series (and not even necessarily obsessive ones like me) should check this out though. Bump bump bump...
Rating: 5/5
Reviewed: 11/08/25
EGGCONSOLE Ys MSX2
Switch eShop (MSX2 emulated)
Falcom / D4 Enterprise
1987 2024
Yesterday I did something I had never done before... I beat Ys in a single day! No, not a single sitting. This time the MSX2 variant, once again emulated thanks to D4 and EGGCONSOLE. And I don't have much to say about it. It's incredibly similar to the original, minus a few little tweaks. The character portraits are softer and "more anime." Music isn't quite as robust. And some tracks have been swapped out for weaker, less iconic ones. I swear this version is a bit easier, mainly because one need not be as precise when aiming Adol's attacks. Once I hit level 3 or so I was just creaming enemies head-on. Any other differences probably just boil down to hardware. The MSX was never known for smooth scrolling, and there's less fiddling with (virtual) disks this time around.
Ys was on a bunch of computers, as it came out before the Windows era, where a bunch of companies instead had their own "proprietary" systems. A person could typically afford just one system: a PC-88 person would play PC-88 Ys, an MSX person would play MSX Ys... it was even (eventually) on DOS and Apple II in America! These days, pick your poison, or be an Ys fanatic like me and play 'em all!
Rating: 5/5
Reviewed: 11/10/25
Ys
Famicom (Patched)
Advance Communication Company / Victor Interactive Software
1988
Believe it or not, Ys parts one, two, and three were all ported to the Famicom, with the first coming in 1988 (14 months after the original PC-88 release). Moreover, all three have fan translations. Published by Victor, this variant is apparently just called Ys without any additional subtitles or accoutrements.
While Fami parts two and three are pretty straightforward adaptations whoever handled this one decided to get cute. While the core "environments" will look familiar to all Ys fans, the actual layouts have been HEAVILY modified. Toss those old maps; they're useless. The first town now has Sara's house surrounded by a moat. The overworld is bigger, to make room for a teleportation puzzle and a pool containing a fairy (not beating the Zelda rip-off accusations). Navigation within the shrine is more complex, especially when it comes to the mirror maze. There are TWO mines now, inaccessible until a fetch quest (involving the aforementioned fairy) has been completed. Darm Tower has been completely renovated. There are no longer exterior balconies, and Adol can actually LEAVE at any time (there's no reason to do this though). The pillar that must be smashed by the hammer is now located inside, and isn't particularly hard to spot. The whole thing feels like a topsy-turvy fever dream remix designed by someone who had Ys described to them in excruciating detail, but hadn't actually played the original.
Unfortunately the gameplay is pretty screwed up too. Adol moves too slowly, heals too slowly, and the screen doesn't scroll unless he's on the verge of humping the borders. Bump combat is finicky and demands precise alignment. Level progression is all out of whack (it isn't hard to hit level 19 but it takes forever to reach the cap, 24). Also, the only efficient way to level mid-game is to grab the heal ring from the mines and then return to the shrine basement. Very awkward. Bosses are the worst. Terrible programming here. Some are absolute pushovers while others are comically hard, even for Ys standards. The mantis in Darm Tower is ridiculous. Its projectiles aggressively home in on Adol and the window to attack lasts for seemingly a fraction of a second each time. Did I mention how slowly Adol moves? And then the final boss battle ditches the crumbling floor, reducing the difficulty to practically nothing. What the hell!
Just weird all around. The NES/Fami is one of the best consoles ever, with plenty of worthwhile conversions, but this is an L. Instead try......
Rating: 2/5
Reviewed: 11/12/25
Ys: The Vanished Omens
Sega Master System
Sega
1988 1989
Yup Ys is one of those oddball games released on both NES (okay, Famicom) and the Sega Master System. And this obliterates the Famicom version. Talk about a great computer-to-console conversion. Controls, UI, everything is top-notch. The OST sounds lovely here and the graphics are splendid. I even appreciate the strange colors on the title screen (and how they made the image less scandalous courtesy of the giant logo haha). The dungeon maps have been altered again! It's not nearly as drastic as what was seen on the Famicom, but thanks to some trolling Sega programmer all dungeons are flipped in a "mirror image" when compared to the original.
Localization is as strange as one would expect from this era. Adol is now known as Aron. Characters speak in thee/thou Elizabethan English, similar to Dragon Warrior. The bad guy is "Dark Dekt" and Sara is a "seer" and the game concludes within "The Tower of the Doomed." Most puzzling of all is the title of the game itself. While the Sega box art bears the same Ys logo that graced the Japanese game, the instruction booklet, as well as the text printed on the cartridge and game box spine, use the spelling Y's with an apostrophe. This apparently led a generation of American JRPG nerds to pronounce the game title as "wise."
I'm tempted to give this a perfect score like the old computer versions, but grinding and level progression is a huge issue here. In typical Ys fashion, there's no way to fudge the game or attempt a "low level run" -- bosses have nigh unavoidable attacks and are impervious to a weakling Adol (uh, Aron). The first boss can't be defeated until Adol is at level five, which requires 1600 experience points. At this point in the game, the enemies that dole out the most XP are the knights that patrol the palace gates -- this being FOUR experience points each. Yes, four. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that very few enemies can exist onscreen at once, and simple screen scrolling (wandering around) doesn't cause them to respawn sufficiently. What does is entering and exiting doors. So, the most efficient way to get ready for boss #1 is to enter dungeon #1, exit, kill a knight, reenter the dungeon, and repeat hundreds of times. Seriously!! Speaking of bosses, they're actually kind of sluggish and easy in this variant (assuming Adol is leveled and equipped, obviously). A breath of fresh air after the Famicom beatdown.
A fine port, anyone wishing to experience the Ys series via officially localized games should start here.
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewed: 11/14/25