Ys Seven

Ys Seven for PC and PSP is the seventh installment of the popular jRPG series developed by Nihon Falcom. Initially the game was released on PlayStation Portable, but was made available on PC several years later. Both versions of the game were published by XSEED Games.

Plot

Ys Seven for PC and PSP takes us to the fantasy world of Altago. Our protagonists, Adol and Dogi, were accused of spying for the Romun Empire as they were venturing through Altago’s capitol. Luckily for them, their reputation of fearless adventurers saves them from punishment – king Kiemarl Ednas asks them to explore and inspect a mysterious crypt that emerged after one of the earthquakes. While fulfilling their task they awake Five Dragons – ancient powerful beings that bestow Adol with their power so that he can stop the impending cataclysm. Now, the fate of Altago lies in Adol’s hands.

Mechanics

Action in Ys Seven for PC and PSP is presented from an isometric point of view. Gameplay focuses on exploration of various locations, combat, and talking with more and more NPCs in order to progress the story.

Unlike in many classic jRPGs, combat in Ys Seven takes place real-time. Our hero can be accompanied by up to two A.I. controlled characters. Each warrior uses a different type of weapon. It is more important than it seems to be because our opponents are susceptible to specific kinds of weapons, i.e. flying foes are more vulnerable to piercing damage, and some less powerful enemies will be quickly defeated with firearms. Chosing a specific type of weapon leads to leveling up a specific ability, which increases our damage output. As we fight we also ‘fill’ a special bar which, when fully loaded, allows us to do a powerful attack. It is also crucial to skillfully use block. I we manage to successfully block our opponent’s strike, we can counter with a critical hit.

Technical Aspects

Ys Seven for PC and PSP has eye-pleasing, colourful visuals. The PC version of the game, however, comes with some tweaks and improvements, i.e. tweaked graphics (the game runs in 60 frames per second) and improved localization.

Misc.

The PC version of Ys Seven was initially released in 2012 in China only, but the 2017 remaster was created from scratch.

Last updated on 21 July 2017