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Released In: 1991 When Dogi, your friend and traveling companion, hears about strange disturbances in his hometown of Redmont, he rushes there to see what's going on. You accompany him. You are Adol Christin, hero and adventurer. When you arrive in Redmont, you learn that the town is being threatened by evil forces emanating from the nearby Ballacetine Castle. Being as you're a hero and all, you take it upon yourself to single-handedly save the town. Syd Lexia: Ys is Nihon Falcom's trademark video game series, and it has a rather strong following in Japan. Sadly, only two the games have ever received major releases in the North America: Ys III, which was released on the Super Nintendo and Genesis, and Ys VI, which was released on the PS2 and PSP. Out of the all the games in series to bring stateside, Ys III was probably the worst choice. While the other Ys games use a top-down view, Ys III is a sidescroller. That's right, it's the Zelda II of the Ys series. And much like Zelda II, Ys III is not exactly well regarded. Fans of action-oriented RPGs will dislike the incredibly linear nature of the game; even the fucking dungeon designs are linear. Meanwhile, casual gamers will dislike the battle system, which is frustrating and unforgiving. And aside from the occasional beautiful cut scene, the graphics are not very impressive. But once you stop your whining and give it a chance, there's plenty of fun to be had. The main thing you have to realize is that this game is not a hack n' slash. You are going to have level up like a motherfucker, and you are going to have to start doing it before you even leave the first screen of the first dungeon. A single hit from a basic enemy will take off about 20-25% of your life when you first start off, assuming you bought and equipped the cheapest shield and armor. So yes, you are going to have to waste a lot of time mindlessly leveling up. You are also going to have to save constantly because you never know when an enemy could suddenly kill you. But hey, it's an RPG, what the fuck did you expect? The good news is that your health automatically refills once you exit a dungeon, so you're not gonna have to waste all your heard-earned gold on trips to the Inn. The other good news is that Ys III has some of the best music on the SNES. The better news is that once you get past the initial tedium, Ys III is fun game with a pretty decent plot. Valdronius: This game has a pretty cool looking intro, but that's about it. The gameplay overall just isn't very engaging. Then there's that second boss that fires sonic waves at you, and lightning if you get too close. Good luck beating that guy. |
