Kingy

With this the Wii U truly has nothing left.

@Olliemar28 @REAVERZINE I give it a 7/10 because there's still no Yoshi.

@PinderSchloss Right, I think I could get behind something like that. Some ideal game where you got Adol, Dogi, and Adol's obligatory new side piece (lol) that all have their own unique iterations of the slash/pierce/smash movesets (like Dana does in VIII's past segments) but obviously with a bit more complexity so you're not just constantly mashing attack in front of enemies. Perhaps replace special skills (most of which go entirely unused in VIII) with abilities that could be used in combat and traversal. For example you give Dogi his signature wall-crush that can crumble certain walls in the overworld, as well as destroy shields in combat and scatter small enemies on impact. I still have half the franchise yet to play, IX & X included, so idk if they or any games between IV & VIII covers any of this territory.

I agree with you on the visuals, Falcom seems to operate under a tight budget so their newer games don't look nearly as impressive as their contemporaries. But at the very least, VIII has the excuse of originally being for the vita, and actually looks pretty nice on the PS5 since they took some extra care in sharpening up the characters and environments (Celceta unfortunately does not lol, it very much just looks a vita game blown up on a flat screen).
Personally my favorite artstyle is the promotional material used for Ys Eternal / Complete, the games closest to this seem to be VI and Origins.

Ys has a bunch of different artstyles, but as the games continue I feel the designs start to become too vibrant and too busy (Sahad and Hummel for example, I think their outfits are a complete mess of visual noise, the ladies fare a bit better but I still would prefer some more clarity and fewer bright accent colors spilling all over the design).
I think Adol's silver armor is a perfect design (Yunica's is really good too), and if they followed that template into a new game and desaturated the colors just a touch we'd have something real neat on our hands. That being said, I don't hate what we have now, I'd say in a few years Falcom will get to a point where the environments will able to capture that 'wanderlust' the games are going for without making compromises.

@Banks Love to hear it, man, thanks!

@PinderSchloss No, just hard mode. Next time I play it I'll opt for the highest one. Though I think the issue lies more in the combat itself. Hard to describe it without having all four games in front of me, but I remember the bosses in Ys I&II and Oath being a lot more methodical (for reference I played these for the first time in 2022, and played VIII for the first time last month). There was trial and error involved in working out how each boss worked, and you could never just waltz in and win on your first try due either to the boss having a particular pattern or gimmick that kills you quickly if you're careless, or some sort of invulnerability you need to work around. At their best some bosses in Ys II and Oath feel like operating brain surgery with how precise you have to be lol, it left quite an impression on me.

Now Ys VIII has a little bit of this in the beginning of the game, but pretty early on (I'd say right after that one boss I'll keep "nameless" for spoilers sake) the game's combat just kinda devolves into a standard hack and slash, and nothing ever gave me an iota of trouble after that point. Maybe it's because there's a lot more the game has to consider design wise with five more playable characters and therefore makes all the enemies and bosses a bit too simplistic. Memories of Celceta had the same issue, worse even, considering it was too easy from the very start.

I was taking a pretty significant chunk of damage from normal enemies but you get such a massive stockpile of healing items that you can effectively tank anything the game throws at you, and with the half SP equipment you can pretty much break the combat in two, being able to indefinitely spam Adol's cheesy tornado attack that DECIMATES bosses. Because of this there wasn't many times where I felt me being underleveled for something made much of a difference. Which would be awesome if I actually enjoyed the combat, but instead it just made the bosses leave much less of an impact than they should.

One thing I do appreciate is that your dodge roll doesn't make you invincible, so if you roll into an enemy's attack you will eat ***** accordingly. But like I mentioned before, Adol can get smacked around by dinosaur tails all day thanks to all the potions, fruit, and meals in your inventory.
The raids are the worst part of the game for me. Just a slow slog of wave-based combat only now you're essentially invincible thanks to villager support. Most of them are optional though (I did them all anyways) so it's not a big deal.

Everything else about the game I have nothing but high praise for though, I had a really fun time with it. VIII's story is ***** wild lol its a roller coaster of crazy events one after another.

Drew this one last year around the time Nintendo announced Charles' retirement. Lots-a-uh-Maadyo!

@Arcwave Same here, all my favorites so far are the Adol solo adventures.

Most of them aren't on Nintendo therefore not on the list. Here's my ranking out of all of them I've played.

1. Ys I & II Chronicles (8) - I know people usually put the first two near the bottom of the list but I think they are way underappreciated only due to how antiquated the bump combat system looks. Both games are really fun challenges designed around the limitations of Adol's lack of attacks, and in II you get Fire magic, which turns some of the bosses into basically a SHMUP. The story across the two games is also basic but satisfying, high recommendation, and no other Ys games I've played have been able to top the first two so far.
2. Ys IV: Dawn of Ys (7) - Probably the most polished classic Ys game. Like MARIO said, it's got a super impressive fan translation complete with voice acted cutscenes. The only reason why it doesn't beat I & II is because they are ranked as a duology and IV is A LOT easier than them (which can be a plus for some, so take that as you will)
3. Ys: The Oath in Felghana (7) - This one's typically considered to be one of the best, I think it has the best boss fights out of all the ones I've played so far (especially the final boss which will put hair on your chest lol). The story and characters are unremarkable, so I'd consider this one a nearly pure gameplay experience, and I think it does a good job at that.
4. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (7) - This one IS considered the best one by fans. I think it is really good, and it's definitely got the best story and characters out of the ones I've played, but I think the party combat is way too braindead and the game struggles to have any memorable bosses due to the lack of challenge. The game is a major improvement over Memories of Celceta (which I dropped a couple of years ago), and I think the map mechanics shared between these two games make the Isle of Seiren really fun to explore. If I had to pick any game to make a first impression on a new player, it would be this one or Oath.
5. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (PC Engine 6) - This one's super weird but worth playing. It features side scrolling combat much like Zelda II, but it is by far the most braindead out of all of them lol. Oath in Felghana is a remake of this game and better than it in every way but this game still has a lot of charm, a unique playstyle, and its soundtrack is alongside Oath as best in the series.
6. Ys IV: Mask of the Sun (3) - This is the only one I'll tell you to absolutely NOT PLAY. There are effectively four Ys IVs all made by different companies, and this one was made by a literal who and it shows. Combat, story, music, everything is wonky mess and it makes for a really boring and unenjoyable experience. If you're going to play any Ys IV, make it the Dawn of Ys fan translation (or maybe Celceta if you really REALLY want more Ys VIII without just playing Ys VIII again... I would just play Ys VIII again).

@nhSnork Bold of you to assume I would ever play this on my switch 1.

I haven't played the game myself, but like I said in a previous article, the marketing strategy was more interesting than the thing itself.
Just a server stress test, a tech demo. Might become its own game or might not.

@speedracer216 I think at this point it would take Ubisoft acquiring a literal genie of the lamp to release that game lol.

I don't expect we'll ever be seeing the light on this one, but I guess we wait and see.

@LadyCharlie I'm all for never buying a Ubisoft game again but there are no credible sources for those allegations against Ancel and there's been no follow-through since. I wouldn't stake my moral compass on such dubious information.

@Olliemar28 If you have the time to reveal the next Kid Icarus I would much appreciate it.

@N8tiveT3ch The onus is not on you to keep a mismanaged, out of touch company afloat. The people from Ubi Montpelier were inevitably going to get the axe. At the very least now they can find a new place to work where their talents will be properly rewarded.

Literally the only thing of value that was left on that sinking ship. The remnants of this team will definitely be able to find new work elsewhere and they won't have to answer to Ubisoft when they do. Bad news in terms of future PoP and Rayman games (not like a new Rayman was ever gonna happen anyways), but devs like these don't just disappear from the industry, so I don't expect The Lost Crown will be the last thing we'll see from them.

YEEEEAH! This one's been a long time coming.

Not surprising but it sucks for them nonetheless. But the devs are all individually talented, so like any of these situations, I'm sure they won't have any trouble finding work elsewhere if need be.
Stay clear of EA next time. I know they're not involved in this specifically, but they are like the poison touch of video games for this sort of thing.

@GameOtaku Uh, that's just false. They've been covering up the lady warrior in promotional material since 2001, the ratings system was established by then and DQIII was rated T. Sexual content (the Puff-Puff innuendo) in Dragon Quest has been removed or altered in the west since the very first game and religious symbolism was removed from II-IV.
What has gotten changed over the years has been inconsistent between games but there are multiple instances of female characters having outfits altered and violent content being toned down.

I'd say there is no at least here, it's just bad through and through, and by your standard these games would be 'compromised' too would they not?

@MidnightDragonDX Dragon Quest has a pretty long history of censorship and unnecessary alterations between releases, unfortunately. This particular instance only got traction because it's being used as another battlefield for terminally online culture war brigades. There are a lot of bad faith actors in the mix who weren't going to buy the game one way or the other, as always.

That being said, the censorship was a bad thing then and it's a bad thing now.

@GameOtaku The content complete version of the game to date (pre-remake) is the GBC version. It has everything introduced in the NES original and SFC remake (unless I'm mistaken), but it does suffer from gameboy screen crunch and obviously doesn't look as good as the SFC version, which is gorgeous.
The mobile versions aren't only ugly, they're also missing content from both the SFC and GBC iterations and are infamously the worst way to play the game.
All versions are the same game fundamentally, so pick whichever one you want, I just strongly advise against spending money on the mobile version.

@GameOtaku I don't think a compromise is necessary, in a perfect world they would've just made the game rated T and kept the designs unaltered, and done away with the body type A/B nonsense entirely, it's a dying trend that's currently getting raked over the coals.

But if want to play the game, and you want to support the team that made it then you might as well just buy the remake. We already know how Yuji Horii feels about the changes, I'm sure the individuals who worked on the game agree with him. The problem here is Square Enix the company.
The best way to support the devs is to buy the game. And the only way to tell SE to stop with the nonsense is to not buy the game, or any game of theirs, until they change their business strategy.

It's a tough choice but personally I'd say if it's something you're excited to play then you shouldn't deprive yourself of it nor feel the need to compromise for a ***** version of it. At the end of the day, even with the alterations, this remake is the most faithful incarnation of how Horii, Toriyama, and Sugiyama want you to experience their work. It was incredibly tasteless for them to change Toriyama's art after he passed, but I don't think that should supercede all the hard work that went into everything else.

As an ultimatum, you could play the SFC version for now and then buy the remake next year. You would still be supporting the devs (eventually) while still having an effect on Square Enix's top dollar while it matters the most. I don't think I'll be getting the game immediately myself either, though that's because I'm pretty fatigued on the overabundance of remakes in general.

@GameOtaku That's just not a realistic outcome dude, there's no universe where you rally up enough people to outsell a anticipated and superior remake of the same game.
And even you could, it sets a bad precedent of companies being rewarded by the people who are actively protesting them. Who's to say Square Enix wouldn't manufacture a controversy in the future just to artificially inflate numbers for another product? You'd be buying from them all the same.

You want a company to change you starve them of the money they need to continue running, that's the only way to get through to them. And this is coming from someone who's going to buy the remake.

@GameOtaku Okay, well I'm gonna say that everyone NOT purchase and suffer an inferior product and instead either buy the remake if they want or play the SFC version if they're that miffed about the censorship.
And if you really want to "vote with your wallet", you don't buy from Square Enix, period. That's how boycotting is supposed to work, but because it's apparently impossible for boycotters to practice self control, they always end up supporting the things they proport to boycott anyways.

@GameOtaku The mobile ports on the eshop are hideous, I recommend just emulating the SFC version.

Oh, and no one thinks that games aren't a medium for storytelling, that's ridiculous. All the biggest games of every year are largely single-player adventure games with a heavy devotion to narrative.

The most parroted "best game of all time" was Ocarina of Time for like 20 years, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

Man is still big mad that no one cared about his game. Sorry dude, but it comes with the business. The game's industry is an industry, same as movies and comics, or any kind of artwork on the market. There are millions of artists devoted to their work here and most of them will inevitably be buried into obscurity by mainstream projects, especially those who don't know how to sell their art.

And that's not a bad thing, you don't have to be the next big trendy release, you can make something really good that caters to a niche audience and will sell modestly - my favorite game this year is Emio -The Smiling Man, and there was no world where that game was going to sell gangbusters. But that's fine, because what it lacks in mass appeal it makes up for in its own supreme qualities.

Like, this guy thinks that maybe if publishers weren't trying to make "the next Fortnite" (something that a large subset of gamers clearly do have an interest in btw as much as we may hate to admit it), somehow a game like Zau would get more appreciation. But it wouldn't, it would do exactly the same, because there is ultimately a limited market for the kind of game Zau is.
And if he has a problem with that, then maybe instead of complaining about Hero Battle Royale #800, he should've thought of something better than Indie Metroidvania #9000

Nah, these new Mario Partys never get a whole lot of mileage in my house. We always default to Mario Party 2 if we're in the mood for some casual torture.

@wolvesboy @Arkay @ZebZed
You're the first people they're gonna let into heaven.

This is going to be the most underwhelming thing ever, I can already tell lol. You gotta manufacture hype with all this rigmarole? Naaaaah.

Yuji Horii comes to your house and gives you one DQ Burger Blizzard combo meal.

@Ulysses Well put, it's jarring whenever you see characters snap from one keyframe to another. It's not uncommon to animate characters this way, but it becomes especially noticeable in these hand-drawn games as opposed to something like NES Mega Man, who still looks natural in his environment despite having like five to six unique frames of animation depending on the game.

Main character has that weightless movement you see all too often in video games but otherwise everything looks incredible. Will be keeping my eye on this one.

Oh *****, I hadn't even realized. Can't say for sure if we'll be getting one at all this year now. They might be waiting to reveal the Switch 2, and I don't think we'll be seeing anything on that until next year.

Best girls all at the top as god intended. I'd add Ochlys in the number 5 spot and move everyone under down one.

@ottoecamn Square Enix just keeps on digging that hole.

No, that three month delay for AC Shadows is gonna turn everything around. It's gonna be their magnum opus guys lol

The game is funny as ***** it's worth playing co-op just for the absurd experience. But yes, the game is as bad as its reputation.

If there is a worse game in the series it would be Village, but even then I would probably say Village is the better game by technicality.

Ys X for me. Everything else for October is a bunch of horror games on my backlog plus a return of my annual Luigi's Mansion foray.
I thought about picking up the Silent Hill 2 remake, but not before playing the original.

Am I crazy or can someone explain to me how this changes anything? Yuji Horii and Torishima are still frustrated at unnecessary alterations and censorship to appease the west's selectively puritan sensibilities. That's literally what we all assumed he meant when we heard 'sex education' anyways, if anything the argument is now MORE clear about that sentiment with the correct verbiage.

I'm failing to see the big misinformation here that caused this interview to be scrubbed from the internet. People are saying this story is purely damage control by Square Enix, and at this point I can't say I disagree.

@DripDropCop146 Bro, you got a shirt?

...on second thought, censorship isn't sounding too bad anymore. I've been meaning to get something to wear under my bikini armor.

@Bunkerneath That's what I was thinking too. Plus a coat of horror over the whole package. This is exactly my kind of game!

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Trilogy HD DELUXE coming our way boys!!

@Jiggies "Leave the multibillion dollar company alone"

As soon these brits land in the states they gettin the ghost blicky pulled on them.

That's crazy! Hopefully it'll be worth the wait, the reveal trailer looked promising.

Did the devs actually say this was inspired by Sea of Stars? Or has the author never seen an RPG from the mid 90s-early 2000s?

I've heard nothing but good things about this game. A shame it seems to have suffered from Ubislop's awful marketing & reputation.

It took some time but I finally got to dig into Emio and it exceeded my expectations! The writing in that game is excellent, so now that I'm in a FDC mood I'm replaying the remakes once again. Then I'll more than likely play through Emio again too, to see what details there are to catch knowing what I do now about how the whole thing unfolds.
It's my GOTY.
I've also been playing Ys VIII on and off. That one has been a treat so far, but it keeps getting shafted by ZZZ dailies lol.