LogFAQs > #970800667

23. Ys Origin (2006)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/1/7/AABKTfAAEFVR.jpg

Whoa, a good pre-8 Ys game! I never thought it was possible. I played 3, Felghana, and Memories of Celceta before this, none of which were particularly good. I probably had the most fun with 3, due to playing it as a child rather than because it was good, but the others just didn't click for me at all. Despite Origin having one big flaw, I had fun with it pretty much the whole time. Uniquely for the series (I assume), basically the whole game takes place in one big tower that you spend the game ascending. Every floor adds new monsters, there's a boss every couple floors, and there are plenty of different area types. At first I was disappointed with the setup, since exploring a big world is one of the fun things about Ys, but the focus worked surprisingly well? Most normal enemies can be killed pretty weakly once you know their weaknesses, and movement's fast, so it's a brisk experience. You get several movement upgrades along the way to make exploration more fun (though none of them are particularly unique), and the new skills you get along the way keep combat fresh as well. Bad gamer that I am, I found Felghana to be more challenging than I'd like, while Origin was a good deal easier I think. There were still bosses I died a few times on, but I very rarely died against regular enemies, and I never got overly frustrated with the bosses (other than the first one, who has the annoying ability to stay invincible for long periods. Dying a bunch to a boss where you mostly have to wait was not great).

The other thing that makes Origin different from the other Ys games is that you play as three characters, none of whom are Adol. This is fabulous, since Adol's just a silent protagonist (though they did some cool stuff with him in 9), and these three actually had personalities. Origin's a little more story/character focused than the other early Ys games, and the story's good, I think. The way it works is that you play through the game with each character, and they all have their own route. Yunica's story was basic but enjoyable - weak hero gets stronger as she goes, with some good development along the way, dealing with tragedies, etc. The other two were rather stronger. The second, Hugo, was my favorite character and story - he's basically an arrogant asshole for most of the game and he does a lot of shitty/terrible things. He can be an unlikable prick, but that's what makes him interesting/entertaining. The third character is basically the 'true' route, where it explains a lot more of the backstory and gives the most complete picture. I didn't think it was as good as Hugo's story, but it was still pretty interesting, and the third character was compelling too.

The problem with this system is that you have to play through the game three times, and there's not nearly as much variety as I would've liked. The level design never changes, and your movement abilities are mostly the same with each character too. There are some different bosses, but you face several of the same bosses too. Thankfully, each character is extremely different in combat, so it's not all bad. Yunica and the third character are mainly melee attackers, and feel quite good to play, with a really fast-paced attack style. They evolve quite a bit as you get new skills, all of which are useful in different situations. Hugo's totally different, as a longer-ranged mage. He's fun in his own way, but also the easiest, and his skills are a bit more poorly thought out: his first skill makes him invincible, which is by far the best skill in the game, so I rare found myself using his other abilities...

Still, the game's not too long, so I didn't mind replaying it (2nd and 3rd runs were between 5 and 6 hours each, despite the third having the most story by far), and it's nice to be in that zone where you're just having fun going around killing things. The other aspects of the game were mostly good too. The character designs were honestly pretty poor (why does Yunica wear oven mitts???), but the sprite artwork looked nice and the enemy designs were good. The soundtrack was, of course, godly, as I'd expect from classic Ys. Origin might actually have my favorite OST in the series. It's amazing how many of the area/boss themes are hits. Makes exploring even more fun.

Next game hint: more games where you travel with a party need to have scenes where you just hang out and chat together imo (2021)