Ys Origin, originally a 2006 prequel to the 1980s JRPG classics of the same name, saw well-received releases on then-current gen systems in 2017. Since then it’s been enjoyed on PS4, Xbox One and even PS Vita (RIP) and now Nintendo Switch finally gets its very own version. But was it worth the wait?
Where, Y, Who?
Set 700 years before the first game, Ys Origin takes place in the fictional land of Ys. Once a thriving paradise, the land is now ravaged by war; a too-long chaotic battle between the twin Goddesses and dark, twisted demons.
Before the game begins, you are asked to choose between two characters with which experience the story. Whichever character you choose, sees you thrust into a colossal tower where you are part of a team sent to investigate the sudden disappearance of the twin Goddesses and a great artifact.
With the entire experience taking place within this tower, the story is told through mostly personal interactions with all setting and exposition done at the beginning. Even with me having no prior Ys experience, I grasped the story and its characters quickly and enjoyed the general narrative beats, if not wincing at some of the dialogue.
Double Role (One Widely Known Spoiler)
What makes Ys‘s story more impressive is how it uses its two different protagonists. Yunica is the granddaughter to a very important priest of Ys, who is armed with a battle axe and attacks with rapid melee strikes. Hugo Fact is a descendent of a great magical family, where he fights using ranged missiles with his staff and the mystical “eyes of fact”, which act as little turrets.
Without delving into their gameplay differences too much here, they are also vastly different individuals, from a storytelling perspective. Hugo is an arrogant magician with has a short fuse. He struggles to trust just about anybody. Yunica is a sweet girl who possesses brilliant melee weapon skills. Her benevolent nature often manifests itself through story-heavy sections that dissect the gameplay loop.
Despite being so morally different, the two characters share an important heritage and pressures of living up to their names, allowing the general game to still feature the same key moments either way. There are unique interactions and viewpoints throughout two otherwise similar stories.
After completing the game once, you unlock a third character who offers the “canonical” playthrough, giving further variety to the story.
A Better Time
After spending around 30 hours with the game, completing it once and reaching the last stretch with the alternate character, I couldn’t help but reminisce. Not because of any similarities to other JRPGs from that time, but because the game is better than early 2000s adventure romps that we loved as kids.
Ys Origin does still feature JRPG gameplay staples, such as HP, MP, inventory, abilities etc; but it’s all perfectly streamlined alongside what is in essence a very simple, hack’n’slash dungeon crawler. The addition of a simple role-playing system only fleshes the game out, whilst still containing engaging and expertly crafted monster-filled labyrinths.
Sore Thumbs
You will fight a lot of enemies in Ys Origin, as you work your way up the 20+ tiers of the tower. In tune with its streamlined progression system, the combat is equally as basic to understand, yet controls can be frustrating for the first few hours. You have basic attacks which are either ranged magic missiles or axe swings, depending on your character, plus three colour coded abilities that you acquire and upgrade throughout the game.
Combat can get fast and frantic, especially as you begin really feeling the “groove” of how things work and control; but luckily it never gets boring. With well over 90 different monster variations, each one meticulously crafted to give you a uniquely bad time every time you make progress, you will be constantly finding different tactics and ways to approach every single new encounter.
At the end of certain segments, you will then take your learned abilities and accrued experience, and face off in incredibly well-designed boss fights, which will try your patience and test your skills every time.
Big Spender
Enemies will explode into satisfying clumps of temporary stat boosts, health pickups and SP. SP acts as the in-game currency where you can upgrade your currently equipped armour pieces, as well as a whole catalogue of other permanent boosts. This means backtracking, which you will do a lot of, never feels wasted, due to enemy waves respawning when you re-enter rooms and offering you more satisfying loot to consume and recycle into your characters progression.
Your weapon is a different story, requiring the help of an NPC who stays at the bottom of the tower and enhances your main weapon if you give him a rare resource. These resources are hidden throughout the tower, but thanks in large part to the games stellar level design and direction, they are not difficult to find and allow you to experience some great platforming moments and excuses to explore every nook and cranny.
The Big Climb
Exploration is just as much of a key ingredient as the combat and tight RPG system that keeps it all together. With the general narrative push being that you must climb to the top of the tower, it allows the game to segment its levels between easy to use checkpoints which are known in the game as Goddess Statues. These statues often introduce a new part of the tower, which always means new environment design, a plethora of new enemies and puzzle sections.
Each segment between these Goddess Statues will end in a locked door, requiring you to search every corner of the surrounding area, for the chest that contains the key. Along the way you will encounter many things to side-track you, but these endeavours will ultimately enhance your experience and your character.
What makes exploring fun when its complex designs could cause frustration, is the ability to teleport to any of the statues you have found, at literally any time, even during combat. This makes the genre’s obligatory backtracking and grinding accessible throughout.
Additionally, Ys Origin‘s music is fantastic and gives the game a real mood. There are some beautiful tracks that are reminiscent of other great JRPG soundtracks, as well as some excellent progressive metal tracks which fit the action-oriented style well.
It may not hit some of the memorable heights as other games like Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger, but the Dynasty Warriors-esque guitar riffs and the melodic slower songs, make for a brilliant OST to listen to.
Ys Queeeen
Despite having no prior knowledge about Ys Origin, I was able to have an easily enjoyable time with my playthroughs. There were maybe some teething issues with the controls and some of the character interactions were not great.
Ys Origin didn’t blow me away with its story or characters, in fact I found Hugo to be quite unbearable a lot of the time. However, there is so much variation and focus on keeping the game engaging to play, that it’s impossible to put down when you get into it.
Ys Origin is available from 1st October 2020
Review code provided by PR
