Ys IX part 1: Somehow I don't think these Gifts came with receipts...
0It's been over 3 years since I played Ys VIII on PS4, and IX has been out overall for about as long (about a year and a half on Steam), so it's about darned time I play it. Having played the demo on Steam during nextfest last year, I got the impression I'd be safe enough going for the PC version this time - as opposed to how horribly NISA botched Ys VIII on PC initially...
The game starts out with Adol already imprisoned - he has apparently become so efficient at getting tossed in jail in just about every adventure, that Falcom was like "you know what, we're not going to waste any time, you already live here now".
Plenty of familiar mechanics (aside from imprisonment) return, plus the addition of Gifts, which so far seem to encompass significant movement abilities that also have an impact on progression. The abilities so far seem to have a significant vertical component to them; I get the impression that Falcom may have really wanted to push that to make the game seem more three-dimensional than past installments. Perhaps also related is the difference in camera handling - it feels more closed-in on Adol this time around, and I'm still getting used to it; I feel like I end up spending a lot more time panning around than in previous games. It also seems to have an awkward time dealing with investigating nooks and crannies.
Ys IX would have us believe it takes place entirely within a single city, which at first might seem underwhelming, but it's already becoming apparent just how massive the city of Balduq is - massive enough that parts of it are initially blocked off, in ways that honestly seem somewhat artificial, unfortunately. Also perhaps unfortunate is that we are evidently tasked with defending the city from time to time, in a format similar to the camp defense minigames from Ys VIII - something I would not have minded never seeing again in an Ys title...
At any rate, there's plenty to enjoy here as with other Ys titles. The story has quickly proven to be eventful, there are plenty of mysteries that remain to be uncovered, and this first gameplay segment leaves off with one heck of a curveball that I'm real interested to see how they resolve.
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