Ys book 1 & 2 was ported to the Turbografx CD in 1989 and was received very well by most, even as a masterpiece by some. Because of Ys 1 & 2 being regarded that highly, people were a bit disappointed with the sequel. Ys III: Wanderers From Ys which departed from the first game in similar ways Adventure of Link departed from the 1st Original Legend of Zelda game. Even though Ys III has a phenomenal soundtrack the rest of the game failed to live up to its predecessor and has since often been called the “black sheep” of the series.
People were livid when they saw that Ys IV: Dawn of Ys was going to go back to the originals’ roots (Much like “A Link to the Past” did) and were starting to get hyped only to find out that the game would not be released outside of Japan. This was because of the Turbografx16 and its CD peripheral not doing very well in the western markets and were close to discontinuing the system.
Ys IV and the PC Engine did great in Japan though, so the game was released with critical acclaim. Many years later a fan dub/translation was done so us westerners could finally enjoy the game.
I speak fluent Japanese so i played the game like 50% in Japanese and 50% in English just for comparison. Read and see how I felt about Ys IV!
Continue reading Ys IV: Dawn of Ys (1993 PC Engine/Turbografx16) →