• Welcome to Talking Time's third iteration! If you would like to register for an account, or have already registered but have not yet been confirmed, please read the following:

    1. The CAPTCHA key's answer is "Percy"
    2. Once you've completed the registration process please email us from the email you used for registration at percyreghelper@gmail.com and include the username you used for registration

    Once you have completed these steps, Moderation Staff will be able to get your account approved.

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
Alright, so that's Celceta beaten. Got all the memories (which was easier than I thought it'd be) and map completion was at 99.3%, and I have no idea what area I'm missing as everything looks complete. I don't really feel like combing over the whole map at the moment looking for what is probably a side path to complete it, so I'm going to call this done.

Origin/I/II/Celceta spoilers follow: So, Dogi is in two of Adol's memories - he says he's going to take some Doctor back to some area that I don't recall off the top of my head, which explains his absence throughout Celceta. Were Adol and Dogi travelling with someone from Esteria after the events of II? Maybe that'll get explained in Felghana, which I'll boot up later today (been years since I played it, and it was my first Ys game, so I certainly don't recall plot details).

So Eldeel was another kinda god like the goddesses, then? I kept waiting for there to be some explicit tie in to Reah and Feena but it never really happened, save for Eldeel seeming to be aware of the events of Ys I and II, and even that was a passing reference.

Was Karna from the same tribe as Epona from Origin? Their designs were somewhat similar and "Darklings" are referenced in this game... does that mean people from Celceta left hundreds of years before to pull down Ys and kick off the whole series?

Who was Frieda's ex? I thought Druda might have been him, but it's implied to be someone else, who as far as I can tell is never named or shown. Maybe he shows up in a later game?


I really enjoyed Celceta, like all the others so far. If I had to rank them so far, it'd be:

1. Origin
2. Celceta
3. Ys 1
4. Ys 2

But to be clear, I really enjoyed all these games, so it's not like I'm saying Ys 2 is bad or anything. I know I really enjoyed Felghana all those years ago, so I'm looking forward to playing that again (and being able to jump, which I sorely missed, frankly).
 

Mightyblue

aggro table, shmaggro table
(He/Him/His)
*cough* go play VI *cough*

Also the doc mentioned is probably that one minor character from Ys I.
 

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
Okay good, so I didn't miss anything. Hooray!

Started Felghana up, forgot you can't save anywhere. This one will probably be difficult again like Origin...
 

Kishi

Little Waves
(They/Them)
Staff member
Moderator
Origin/I/II/Celceta spoilers follow: So, Dogi is in two of Adol's memories - he says he's going to take some Doctor back to some area that I don't recall off the top of my head, which explains his absence throughout Celceta. Were Adol and Dogi travelling with someone from Esteria after the events of II? Maybe that'll get explained in Felghana, which I'll boot up later today (been years since I played it, and it was my first Ys game, so I certainly don't recall plot details).

I haven't played Celceta, but I'm guessing it's Dr. Flair Ral, who plays a minor role in Ys II and also shows up in other versions of Ys IV. He was basically just one of several elements brought back to reassure peole who liked the first two games.


Was Karna from the same tribe as Epona from Origin? Their designs were somewhat similar and "Darklings" are referenced in this game... does that mean people from Celceta left hundreds of years before to pull down Ys and kick off the whole series?

What the localization calls "Darklings" are the Clan of Darkness, who got introduced in Ys IV along with the Eldeen civilization in an attempt to give the series some overarching mythology moving forward. Their members in Ys IV are Gadis, Bammy, and Gruhda. Again, haven't played Celceta, but Carna's not with them in The Dawn of Ys.
 

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
And that's Oath in Felghana beat. I had to lower the difficulty twice - the boss in the east wing of the castle that changes colors and can only be damaged by certain magic, and the final boss. The former because magic drains MP too quickly, so if you miss, you have to wait forever for it to recharge (there's probably a sidequest or a hidden item that mitigates that somewhat, but I didn't find it). And the final boss just because I can't stand boss fights where they go FOREVER without being vulnerable, so eff it.

Great game! Weirdly I still like Origin the best:

1. Ys Origin
2. Ys Oath in Felghana
3. Ys Memories of Celceta
4. Ys I
5. Ys II

Onto V...
 

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
I don't want to speak too soon, but I feel like I'm pretty far into Ys V (just got the Earth Crystal), and it is super easy? Like I'm slaughtering bosses without trying too hard, and I don't even have to use healing items (though you can in boss battles if you want).

I like it - good SNES soundtrack - but I wish it had a little more teeth.
 

Wolf

Ancient Nameless Hero
(He/him)
I think it is kind of easy compared to the rest. It would explain why Falcom released Ys V Expert a year later.
 

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
I think it is kind of easy compared to the rest. It would explain why Falcom released Ys V Expert a year later.

I didn't know that was a thing. Explains a lot. Has that been fantranslated? Maybe I should've played that...
 

Mightyblue

aggro table, shmaggro table
(He/Him/His)
Nope, apparently the game was a nightmare to hack so only the regular game got a full translation patch.
 

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
Welp, that's Ys V beat. It's pretty much a cakewalk start to finish. I did need to use some healing items during the last boss, but had I played carefully I probably could have beat it without doing so.

As easy as it is... I found it rather charming, and had fun playing it. It was a nice break between difficult games. I mostly like the graphics, even if it can sometimes be hard to tell where you can exit a screen. The music was good. The gameplay was a bit awkward - it felt like a knockoff Secret of Mana - but nowhere near as difficult and pretty fun. Magic was pretty useless (thought I hardly sought out different combinations, so maybe there is some good magic that's worth using). The last dungeon is actually Darm Tower/Solomon Shrine done right - a huge last dungeon with multiple bosses, but it makes sense to navigate and has little popups telling you which section you're in. I liked it a lot!

No idea if I'll ever revisit it, but it could use a remake to flesh out a bit of the plot. Either way, I'm glad I played it.

I'm going to keep ranking these. So far I've enjoyed them all:

1. Origin
2. Oath in Felghana
3. Memories of Celceta
4. I
5. II
6. V

Even if it's my least favorite so far, I still liked it. This series really is a great one.
 

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
Question about Ys VIII - it said the raids are "mostly" optional - is this true? I don't mind them - they're actually kinda fun - but I don't want to break up the exploration randomly to go fight waves of enemies sometimes. Some of the quests are apparently timed, as well, so I assume some of the raids are as well... right? I doubt I'll care much about 100%ing the game but it'd be good to know ahead of time whether I can even lock myself out of doing so or not.

Game rules so far, though. Music has been fantastic the whole time, and the combat is better than any of the other games so far (even if so far I find it a bit easy - I'm sure that will change, though).
 

Wolf

Ancient Nameless Hero
(He/him)
I think there was only one NPC quest I didn't get done, maybe two, and it wasn't because of a raid. So either I got very lucky, or else they don't impact the timing for quests.
 

Mightyblue

aggro table, shmaggro table
(He/Him/His)
No, the sidequests are timed via main story stuff happening and raids except for the first story mandated runs don't count for that.
 

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
Alright, rad. Now to just figure out where this resin or whatever is for Dogi. Thanks!
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
I'm playing Ys VI: Ark of Narishtim, which is generally fun, but also frustrating. It just gives me a lot of space to explore with only vague directions.

I got to the second village, with all the stranded people and the merchant major guy, where I learned that a boy was missing. I found him, but never found a way to actually damage some of these monsters. And now I'm in a room with him and four black slimes, with no way to hurt them.

How can I damage these things? Or any monster that my sword can't hurt. I wished the game would have guided me to the upgrade, or magic, or whatever I need to actually advance here. But for now, I guess there is nothing but to die now.

Edit: Ok, downthrust works. Would still have been nice to know that some enemies can only be hurt by it, but whatever.

Edit2: Jesus, who designed this shitty giant moss boss? What a horrible design. Yeah, sure, just stay out of reach for more than five minutes, while puking eggs with smaller enemies on the ground. So, I guess I'm just supposed to wait forever? I died three times against this clown now, always at the very end, because I get hectic when he finally gives me a short time window to hit him, amongst all his children, before he hits me.
 
Last edited:

Wolf

Ancient Nameless Hero
(He/him)
If you're having that much difficulty, you may honestly want to just grind out a level or two. One of the really nice things about Ys games is that grinding levels doesn't take long at all, and one or two can make the difference between getting wrecked and being the one doing the wrecking.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
Yeah, I did, the level made all the difference. I'm just a bit on edge because of STUFF, and get easily annoyed by bosses who can decide to stay out of range for however long they want. Still, sorry for being angry, and thanks for the tip.
 

Wolf

Ancient Nameless Hero
(He/him)
Hey, games can be frustrating at times. I hope I didn't come across as trying to police your expressions of frustration. I know how infuriating it can be sometimes when you just want to unwind and the game seems bent on caving your skull in.

Ys VI on the PS2 was my first Ys game in a way, though I really learned the lesson about leveling with Ys I sometime shortly thereafter. I was having trouble with the first boss, the phantom that guards the entry to the lower levels of Solomon Shrine. I was under-leveled at first, and the fight was impossible. Two quick and easy levels later, the same fight was trivial.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
I didn't interpret it at policing at all, I appreciated you trying to help. I just don't like to get angry at videogames, it's so pointless.

I do know about the importance of levels in Ys, Napishtim is already my fifth Ys game. I just think there were clearer directions in the other games I played (I, II, Felghana and Origin). But that might be wrong, I took long breaks between the games, my memory might be wrong.

I do remember the exact same things in Ys I, regarding all bosses. It's also the only game were I found the bosses to be just bad, mainly because they never felt decently balanced. I think they all destroyed me, until I got a level up, which would lead me to destroy them without a problem.

These games are really fun, I just wished your level was a bit less important.
 

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
I'm falling head over heels for Ys VIII, and a big part of why is the soundtrack. I took a sidequest and went to the area where it takes place, which is a nighttime retread of a dungeon I'd already done, and was greeted with this:


I mean, fuck. Listen to that. Way to get me pumped about a sidequest, Falcom. Damn.
 

Wolf

Ancient Nameless Hero
(He/him)
There's a lot to love in Ys VIII for me, and the OST is a big part of it. It might be my favorite game in the series.
 

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
There's a lot to love in Ys VIII for me, and the OST is a big part of it. It might be my favorite game in the series.

The only one I haven't ever played is VI, which is next on the list, but if VIII keeps up the level of quality it's had thus far, it'll be my favorite (currently I've explored just over 30% of the world map).
 

Wolf

Ancient Nameless Hero
(He/him)
The only thing I've seen people complain about with any consistency has been that it's too long. Personally, I never had a problem with its length.

It's exceedingly rare that I pick up a game and finish it without taking a break somewhere in the middle because something else seems new and shiny and catches my eye. Outside of the Mass Effect games and some of the Soulsborne entries, Ys VIII might be the only other long-form game that held my attention nonstop from beginning to end. And while I didn't 100% it, I got damn close, and had a blast doing it. I won't say that it's perfect for everyone, but it was damn near perfect for me.
 

Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
I agree about the length. I never once felt the urge to stop playing Ys VIII outside of the slow opening. It was a tremendous time, rivaling (and maybe exceeding) the fun I also had with Ys Seven.
 

conchobhar

What's Shenmue?
These games are really fun, I just wished your level was a bit less important.
For what it's worth, I think VI has one of the more aggressive level systems in the series (outside of I, of course). Even the other games with its engine, Felghana and Origin, are more gradual.
 

FelixSH

(He/Him)
And done, the Ark has been destroyed. These games are so much fun, outside of their frustrating moments. I didn't like the bosses in this game much, most seem to have some kind of annoying stuff included in their mechanic, but just running around and killing monsters is a joy in these games. I'm still hungry for more Ys, so I might replay one of the other games soon.
 

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
................why are these women dressed like this

I can't believe Dana's DLC pirate outfit is better than her default costume.

Anyway, Ys VIII is still absolutely fun as hell. I'm at about 18 hours in at chapter 5. No idea how much is left but I'm still enjoying myself.
 

Mommi

Miss or be made.
(She/Her)
I bought one of Serah's DLC outfits immediately in FFXIII-2 for the same reason.
 
Top