I'm really loving the gameplay on this one. It reminds of Ys seven. But one thing is bothering. In no way the music in this game compares to that of ys seven or oath. I mean. Everytime a boss showed up in either game the music pumped me uo. In this one, it feels bland. I don't know. Somethings missing.
Well there are two issues, the first is that Ys IVs OST, on which this one was based is in my experience similar to Ys 6 in that the music takes a little while to really click. The bigger problem is that they cut over half of the tracks of the previous soundtrack. It's just a damn shame. So many of the cut tracks were great too, hell the official OST has only 35 tracks. For an Ys game of this length that's horrible. I mean Ys 7 had 52 tracks. What were they thinking.
There are still quite a few gems in Celceta, and I think it's a high quality soundtrack, but it feels really rushed, which I never thought I would feel about Ys music.
Still a great game, but I can't help but feel disappointed by the audio.
Well there are two issues, the first is that Ys IVs OST, on which this one was based is in my experience similar to Ys 6 in that the music takes a little while to really click. The bigger problem is that they cut over half of the tracks of the previous soundtrack. It's just a damn shame. So many of the cut tracks were great too, hell the official OST has only 35 tracks. For an Ys game of this length that's horrible. I mean Ys 7 had 52 tracks. What were they thinking.
There are still quite a few gems in Celceta, and I think it's a high quality soundtrack, but it feels really rushed, which I never thought I would feel about Ys music.
Still a great game, but I can't help but feel disappointed by the audio.
Exactly, that's how I feel too. Its like the game was rushed at the last minute. One of the things that I loved when I first played Ys Seven (Which was my first Ys game) was the music. I got instantly hooked on it. On this one. Its like "Ok its YS and its great but wheres that damn metal music with Violins?!" Really disappointing by the audio like you said.
Exactly, that's how I feel too. Its like the game was rushed at the last minute. One of the things that I loved when I first played Ys Seven (Which was my first Ys game) was the music. I got instantly hooked on it. On this one. Its like "Ok its YS and its great but wheres that damn metal music with Violins?!" Really disappointing by the audio like you said.
Im thinking of picking up this game even though it would be my first Ys title. I love action RPGs like Kingdom Hearts so im wondering if this is similar.
Im thinking of picking up this game even though it would be my first Ys title. I love action RPGs like Kingdom Hearts so im wondering if this is similar.
Im thinking of picking up this game even though it would be my first Ys title. I love action RPGs like Kingdom Hearts so im wondering if this is similar.
I don't know if this game is the best Ys game to start out with. Ys needs to be appreciated without the party system. One needs to experience the solo play of Adol and the true challenge bosses present in a 1 vs 1 setting. Even if you hit the level cap in the old games, you still couldn't let your guard down.
Hmm? Nono, you don't get the Beast King Claws until much, much later in the game. If you're going by the guide, the guide is merely pointing out that there are places you've encountered thus far that require the Beat King Claws to get through -- meaning, you won't be able to get through them until waaaay later in the game.
Loved it, but it just might be my least favorite Ys overall. There are a lot of reasons for this, some are hardcore Ys fan annoyances, and some are just strange choices that the game made.
The Good:
-The combat is crisp and fun as ever. It's a step up from Ys Seven, and flash moving and flash guarding are a ton of fun. Skill finishes are especially enjoyable, and the game is fast and fun. Still haven't played an ARPG that is as good on the action as an Ys game. It just works.
-The Forest. I LOVE the huge map and world to explore, and I like having muliple choices in where to go and when. Very cool. The towns are great in their design, each has its own feel and reason that they are what they are.
-The party members. Your party is a varied and fun bunch to be around. They each have something to add story wise and the personalities are not grating at all. Ys tends to have strong archetypal characters and this one is no exception
-The quest system. I like it, some of them are a little meh, but overall it adds a lot to the game and gives you a good reason to explore the HUGE world. Good stuff overall.
-(Most of) the Dungeons. While they aren't quite up to the pure awesome that was OiF or Origin, the dungeons were for the most part cleverly designed and a joy to rip through. The puzzle elements didn't always work, but I always looked forward to exploring the areas.
-The Roos. All Roo dialogue is hilarious if you bother transcribing the runes.
-The shout outs. Great shout outs to all of the Ys games. In fact you could play this one in chronological order and it will likely increase your enjoyment of earlier games. Nice.
The meh:
-The new tunes. We got a bunch of new tracks from Falcom for this one, but honestly they weren't up to snuff. They aren't bad by any stretch, they hover around Ys 7, but that was another weaker entry in the franchise music wise.
-The NPCs. By this I am singling out anyone who isn't in the actual party. They just never felt like they were adding much to the whole thing. Rabbit and Pigeon were alright, but
Leeza is boring, though she always was. Leo got a bigger role, but a kinda forgettable one, at least as the dumb villain he had some spark and Eldeel is just odd, but he has never been written all that well. I just wish we understood him more, as he is the window into the Eldeans.
The Bad:
-Lack of musical variety. There just isn't enough music for the number of areas in this game. So many areas reuse tunes that it's ridiculous. Yeah a lot of other games do that, but not Ys! Ys has always been great at having a different bit of music for each dungeon and area on the map. Sometimes every TOWN would have different music. The music here isn't bad, it borders on great, but it grates after a while. That and they cut the best tracks from the Ys IVs for no good reason. I just don't get it.
-The removal of (ys IV spoilers)
Esteria.
I knew it was coming, but I don't like it one bit.
Esteria was HUGE in both Mask of the Sun and Dawn of Ys. It cemented the links between the first games and the Eldeans, and it was a great bit of fan service as well. Not to mention it was a huge part of the later third or so of the story. Without it, things seem kinda off.
-The final dungeon. The final area of Ys games is traditionally a tense, difficult run through hordes of monsters in an absolutely massive labrynthene area. Finding your way around is sometimes as hard as getting through the enemies, and that's usually pretty hard too. Games like Ys 1 and 2 both had sprawling monstrosities of dungeons that took the latter half of the game to complete. Ys VI, OiF and Origin had smaller areas, but they felt no less epic. You felt like you were going through some of the best level design in the game to make it to the end. Not here, the final dungeon is a joke
With three floors that each have a single gimmick. They are all short, and not all that satisfying. Both Ys IVs had huge abandoned cities to explore before the end. Here it's a whole lot of buildup for nothing.
-The Ending. Was terrible. Really, terrible. Like felt like it got cut off in the middle terrible.
Still loved the game, and will heartily recommend it to anyone who asks. Just a bit disappointed in comparison to the rest of the series. This game did SO MUCH right, that it's worth it. I just wish it was a little more polished. It feels rushed.
-The new tunes. We got a bunch of new tracks from Falcom for this one, but honestly they weren't up to snuff. They aren't bad by any stretch, they hover around Ys 7, but that was another weaker entry in the franchise music wise.
Given the vast number of tracks left out from Ys IV's OST and the repetition of music throughout the game, I agree Celceta's soundtrack isn't really up to snuff with Falcom's best -- when the game first came out, I was convinced Sound Team jdk must've expended so much energy coming up with the UTTERLY AMAZING soundtrack to Nayuta no Kiseki that they had little left to give for Celceta.
As I played through the game, however, I found myself enjoying it more and more, and came to consider some of the new tracks to be up there with Falcom's best -- most notably, Gust of Wind, The Morning After the Storm, and the almighty Ancient Land.
Still, I totally get where you're coming from with Celceta's soundtrack. HOWEVER... Ys Seven was a weaker entry in the franchise music-wise?! Are you MAD?!?! Ys Seven has one of the best soundtracks in the series! It's way better than Celceta's, and was just an absolute marvel in general! Desert of Despair, Mother Earth Altago, Crossing Rage, To Reveal the Way To Go, Smashing Through the Mountain Path, Vacant Interference, Legend of the Five Great Dragons... I could go on and on and on! And the town themes and dungeon themes were all so ethereal and beautiful... man, Ys Seven is still one of the best soundtracks of the last decade, far as I'm concerned.
...So, yeah. Definitely disagreeing with you on that one.
Yeah, some of the Ys IV arrangements are excellent -- I agree that both Burning Sword and Great Forest of Celceta are fantastic, and also feel that Falcom did a great job with Battle #58, A Kiss From Eldeel and Tower (Iris). Harlequin's Temptation AAAAALMOST made the cut too, but come on -- how could they remove those Star Trek vocals from the track?! Totally inconceivable!!
Most of the other Ys IV tracks made the transition pretty well, though I do feel Dawn of Ys is a bit on the weak side. I'm surprised they didn't use the JDK Band version of it.
Given the vast number of tracks left out from Ys IV's OST and the repetition of music throughout the game, I agree Celceta's soundtrack isn't really up to snuff with Falcom's best -- when the game first came out, I was convinced Sound Team jdk must've expended so much energy coming up with the UTTERLY AMAZING soundtrack to Nayuta no Kiseki that they had little left to give for Celceta.
So bring Nayuta over here so I can be amazed. It's not like it's that linked to the others right, no reason you guys can't bring it out. amirite?
As I played through the game, however, I found myself enjoying it more and more, and came to consider some of the new tracks to be up there with Falcom's best -- most notably, Gust of Wind, The Morning After the Storm, and the almighty Ancient Land.
They aren't bad, hell bad Falcom music is still better than most stuff out there, and it's not like its as bad as TitS 1 (which I think had only a couple exceptional tracks. I hear TitS SC is better) it just got monotonous to me towards the end. That shouldn't happen in an Ys game.
Still, I totally get where you're coming from with Celceta's soundtrack. HOWEVER... Ys Seven was a weaker entry in the franchise music-wise?! Are you MAD?!?! Ys Seven has one of the best soundtracks in the series! It's way better than Celceta's, and was just an absolute marvel in general! Desert of Despair, Mother Earth Altago, Crossing Rage, To Reveal the Way To Go, Smashing Through the Mountain Path, Vacant Interference, Legend of the Five Great Dragons... I could go on and on and on! And the town themes and dungeon themes were all so ethereal and beautiful... man, Ys Seven is still one of the best soundtracks of the last decade, far as I'm concerned.
...So, yeah. Definitely disagreeing with you on that one.
God Tier:
Ancient Ys Vanished Omen
Ancient Ys Vanished The Final Chapter
Ys III/OiF
Jesus Tier:
Ys IV
Ys Origin
(as Jesus = God, they are pretty much as good as the above, but don't quite have the same place in my heart.)
Damn good tier:
Ys VI
Ys Seven
Ys Celceta
Each one of those has exceptional tracks, I love me Smashing Through the Mountain path and Innocent primeval breaker quite a bit. But at least with my playthrough of it, it never quite stuck with me like the higher tiers. It is still an amazing OST, the strongest of the damn goods, but it still doesn't come near Origin and Ys IV for me. And so it's to me... among the weaker OSTs. And a weak Ys OST is still great. Celceta is the worst of them BTW.
Oh and the last tier:
The Ys compositions and SNES sound chips don't mix tier:
Ys V (even though the orchestral CD is amazing)
I'm playing through it now, but I would be surprised if it wowed me.
So bring Nayuta over here so I can be amazed. It's not like it's that linked to the others right, no reason you guys can't bring it out. amirite?
They aren't bad, hell bad Falcom music is still better than most stuff out there, and it's not like its as bad as TitS 1 (which I think had only a couple exceptional tracks. I hear TitS SC is better) it just got monotonous to me towards the end. That shouldn't happen in an Ys game.
I basically rate my Ys OSTs as follows:
God Tier:
Ancient Ys Vanished Omen
Ancient Ys Vanished The Final Chapter
Ys III/OiF
Jesus Tier:
Ys IV
Ys Origin
(as Jesus = God, they are pretty much as good as the above, but don't quite have the same place in my heart.)
Damn good tier:
Ys VI
Ys Seven
Ys Celceta
Each one of those has exceptional tracks, I love me Smashing Through the Mountain path and Innocent primeval breaker quite a bit. But at least with my playthrough of it, it never quite stuck with me like the higher tiers. It is still an amazing OST, the strongest of the damn goods, but it still doesn't come near Origin and Ys IV for me. And so it's to me... among the weaker OSTs. And a weak Ys OST is still great. Celceta is the worst of them BTW.
Oh and the last tier:
The Ys compositions and SNES sound chips don't mix tier:
Ys V (even though the orchestral CD is amazing)
I'm playing through it now, but I would be surprised if it wowed me.
Crimson Ruins is pretty wow-worthy, when it comes to Ys V. As are the town themes, if you're a town theme connoisseur -- Stormy Town and In the Cradle are especially good -- and a few other tracks come close, like Wilderness or Wind Knight. But yeah, Ys V's soundtrack is a little lackluster overall. Has lots of potential for greatness, though, and I can only hope Falcom gives it an awesome remake with awesome arrangements in the future!
The SNES sound chip and Ys compositions totally DO mix, though! Long live Ys III SNES!! Never gets the respect it deserves, I tell ya'...
In Seven, I was instantly hooked when Mother Earth Altago started playing. When Vacant Interference started playing, I felt like the most badass mofo on the planet.
In Celceta, the only one I like so far is Forest of Celceta, and it doesnt even click until halfway through the track.
I don't know if this game is the best Ys game to start out with. Ys needs to be appreciated without the party system. One needs to experience the solo play of Adol and the true challenge bosses present in a 1 vs 1 setting. Even if you hit the level cap in the old games, you still couldn't let your guard down.
People should stop of thinking about this game as an Ys IV remake but more as an actual Ys 8, just to prevent massive disappointments from people who have played both Ys IV games.
And yes, the soundtrack is disappointing (by Ys standards) and definetely feels rushed in some points, although I still consider it a solid OST and worth checking out. I want to believe it was because Falcom Sound Team jdk was pretty busy with the Nayuta's soundtrack, as they still stand very high in my eyes and personally I love what Hayato Sonoda has done with the new team.
I don't know if this game is the best Ys game to start out with. Ys needs to be appreciated without the party system. One needs to experience the solo play of Adol and the true challenge bosses present in a 1 vs 1 setting. Even if you hit the level cap in the old games, you still couldn't let your guard down.
You can't let your guard down in Ys Seven either. If people want a challenge start the game on the hardest setting. Getting 2 or 3 shot makes the games just as intense as the older ones. Ys Seven was REALLY fast paced and you had to play it like you just consumed some crack on a lot of the boss fights to win. Still though I'd say Oath is the best game to start Ys with then move on to the new engine.
It's not like the party system makes it any less hard. Seven and Celceta are easier than Felghana and Origin, but it's not because of the party system itself. Just play Nightmare mode without healing items and absorb weapons and you'll see both of those games live up to the challenge pretty well
Of course, it's a self-imposed rule, but I don't mind it. Celceta kinda drops the ball when it allows you to have limitless healing items, but that makes it acessible to a bunch of other people who would probably not be able to finish it because they're not very good. This way, though, those people are able to beat it, and the more hardcore fans can just play through it without the items and still get a good challenge.
Speaking of which, clocking 29h myself on my no-item Nightmare run. Just beat
Eldeel
last night and it was probably one of the coolest bosses in the whole series for me. Definitely joining the ranks of Rada-Manj and Galbalan. The 2nd half of the game has really delivered in terms of bosses. From Crell Emecia to the two other villains and this, there was some great fun to be had.
Also, Black Wings is easily the best song in the entire game so far for me. Such an amazing theme, and it even has Hiramatsu playing his signature guitar on it to boot. Love it!
Is flash guarding supposed to be extremely hard to pull off? I only seem able to do it on the rare occasion and on bosses without groups of enemies.
Of course, I'm also replaying Castlevania:LOS on PC and am having trouble blocking properly in that game too - maybe I'm just getting old and having trouble reading tells from enemies nowadays, that may be at the root of my problem.
I feel like Ys Seven's OST is a little on the weaker side simply because so many of the tracks were done with kind of mediocre samples and heavy synth instead of live instruments, and Celceta suffers from the same problem. I guess Chronicles and Oath kind of spoiled me in this regard. In Seven's case, there are a lot of tracks that I didn't care for in game, like Crossing Rage and Legend of the Five Great Dragons, that have turned out much better in arrangements. As for Celceta... well, it doesn't really help that some tracks already have much better arrangements available (Dawn of Ys, for example).
Crimson Ruins is pretty wow-worthy, when it comes to Ys V. As are the town themes, if you're a town theme connoisseur -- Stormy Town and In the Cradle are especially good -- and a few other tracks come close, like Wilderness or Wind Knight. But yeah, Ys V's soundtrack is a little lackluster overall. Has lots of potential for greatness, though, and I can only hope Falcom gives it an awesome remake with awesome arrangements in the future!
Not far enough in to make a full judgement. I generally need to play a game for an OST to really get to me. Not always mind, Ys IV I loved before ever playing it, but we'll see how it goes. It's not bad, and Field of Gale is great, it's just missing that certain special something that 1-4 had.
People should stop of thinking about this game as an Ys IV remake but more as an actual Ys 8, just to prevent massive disappointments from people who have played both Ys IV games.
But the story IS essentially an expanded Mask of the Sun. Pretty much the same areas, same characters, just a lot more of them. It is closer to the Silver Star Story remakes in that it takes the same skeleton but changes motivations and characters while it retells the story. It just changes a LOT by the end, but again Lunar did this too.
Arem is only in Dawn of Ys, so I was never expecting him as the story in that game went off of the rails. It took the scenario from Mask of the Sun and basically added in Ys II. There is like NO Dawn of Ys left in this game, anything that was from Dawn of Ys was stuff that was shared in Mask. OTOH the overall scenario isn't ALL that different from Mask until towards the end.
Depends. I played on Normal and it was a cakewalk. Nightmare in Ys games is usually for the masochists, but it can be quite satisfying when you beat it. Anyone play it on Hard?
Damn right my friend. The music of Sorcerian Extra Scenarios (especially this), Dinosaur and Star Trader really helped me to appreciate her as a composer. Plus, she scored Ys III alone (save for the extra tracks added in the Sharp X68000 release by Masaaki Kawai), which is still IMO the best Ys soundtrack ever produced and what every Ys soundtrack should aspire to sound like.
She's the true essence of old-school Falcom music for me. We need her back at composing instead of whatever she's currently doing at Falcom.
But the story IS essentially an expanded Mask of the Sun. Pretty much the same areas, same characters, just a lot more of them. It is closer to the Silver Star Story remakes in that it takes the same skeleton but changes motivations and characters while it retells the story. It just changes a LOT by the end, but again Lunar did this too.
I don't have the game (my LE is still floating somewhere in the Atlantic -- being an European Falcom fan is suffering) so I don't quite know what Celceta does. Can we talk about this once I play it too?
Arem is only in Dawn of Ys, so I was never expecting him as the story in that game went off of the rails. It took the scenario from Mask of the Sun and basically added in Ys II. There is like NO Dawn of Ys left in this game, anything that was from Dawn of Ys was stuff that was shared in Mask. OTOH the overall scenario isn't ALL that different from Mask until towards the end.
Well, there's a song called 'Arem' on Ys IV J.D.K. Special. It makes sense if story-wise this game is more like MotS, since that game sticks closer to Falcom's original story for Ys IV than The Dawn of Ys.
The only thing I've seen from DoY in this game is that Gadis is still voiced by fuggin' Tesshō Genda (in Japan). That was awesome.
Got my collectors edition, finally, in the mail. Arrived in decent shape with the exception of the soundtrack. I swear there's almost nothing left of the clips that hold the cds in place. They're almost entirely broken :lol
I feel like Ys Seven's OST is a little on the weaker side simply because so many of the tracks were done with kind of mediocre samples and heavy synth instead of live instruments, and Celceta suffers from the same problem. I guess Chronicles and Oath kind of spoiled me in this regard. In Seven's case, there are a lot of tracks that I didn't care for in game, like Crossing Rage and Legend of the Five Great Dragons, that have turned out much better in arrangements. As for Celceta... well, it doesn't really help that some tracks already have much better arrangements available (Dawn of Ys, for example).
I actually prefer Ys Seven's soundtrack to Chronicles' by leaps and bounds BECAUSE it's so synth-y... somehow, Ys + synth music really resonates with me, and the fact that virtually every single track in Chronicles was a studio-recorded rock song really grew tiresome after a while. Felghana had the right idea, mixing studio performance with synth in perfect proportions, but I certainly don't hold its successes against other games in the series. And the synth in Ys Seven was just *really good* IMHO.
Same with Celceta, for the most part. Dawn of Ys being the exception -- I really, really don't care for the Celceta version of that track at all.
Same with Napishtim too, for that that matter.
AND that's the same reason I enjoy the music from Ys III SNES so much. The synth in that game was technically pretty bad... but man was it ever pleasing to the ears. I think it's the utter distinctness of it. No other SNES game sounded like it, period... and that distinctness gave it a real sense of identity that always brings back good memories for me whenever I hear it.
- I just reached the windmill/technology city. How far am I from beating the game? I hear it's only like 20 hours over-all.
- Is it necessary to buy the latest and greatest equipment when you reach a town? I just got the flame sword and spent a lot of money and resources upgrading it, but i just reached this town and all of a sudden the claymore and all these weapons are like 20+ damage stronger, not to mention the armor being better. I don't have the money to fully buy all the weapons and armor for my main party. Especially if there's gonna be another town with better shit.
- What's the best way to make money? I'm making sure to explore as much as possible and do every sidequest, but when the rewards are like 2k to 3k gold per side quest, and the weapons are now starting to be like 7-9k what the hell is going on? There's no way in hell to keep up with the price increases. Are you guys making trinkets and selling them?
