Ys I & II

Lore & Background

The original Ys I and Ys II were developed by Nihon Falcom for Japanese personal computers, with Masaya Hashimoto as principal designer and programmer and Tomoyoshi Miyazaki writing the scenario. The story was split into two releases because the complete concept exceeded the schedule and storage available for a single computer game. Hudson Soft licensed the games for the PC Engine CD-ROM² and commissioned Alfa System to develop a combined adaptation, bringing the two stories together as a single title. Hiromasa Iwasaki, who had worked on Falcom's original games, participated in negotiations and production related to the PC Engine adaptation.

The PC Engine version was designed to take advantage of the CD-ROM² format's larger storage capacity, supporting recorded music, voiced dialogue, animated scenes, and a continuous presentation. Ryo Yonemitsu arranged the music, originally composed principally by Yuzo Koshiro, Mieko Ishikawa, and other Falcom staff. The compilation presents the two games as a continuous adventure, with experience levels, equipment, and other progress carrying from the end of Ys I into Ys II. Newly produced animated sequences and voice acting connect their stories.

NEC Technologies released the game for the TurboGrafx-CD in North America in 1990 with an English-language localization and dubbed dialogue. It was later included as a pack-in game with the TurboDuo. The compilation received strong contemporary reviews for its music, audiovisual presentation, and continuous role-playing structure. Falcom subsequently produced new remakes of the two games for Windows, beginning with Ys Eternal in 1997 and Ys II Eternal in 2000, which formed the basis for later compilations such as Ys I & II Complete, Ys I & II Chronicles, and Ys I & II Chronicles+.

Reader's Guide

Ys I & II is significant as an early landmark in console role-playing games, demonstrating the potential of CD-ROM technology for enhanced audiovisual storytelling. Its use of recorded music, voiced dialogue, and animated cutscenes set a precedent for future titles on the TurboGrafx-CD and other optical-disc-based consoles. The compilation's continuous campaign, where progress carries from the first game into the second, was an innovative structure at the time. The game's contact-based 'bump combat' system, inherited from the original computer versions, became a distinctive feature of the Ys series. The North American release, Ys Book I & II, was one of the earlier console RPGs in the region to feature extensive English voice acting. The compilation's legacy is reflected in its frequent citation as a defining release for the TurboGrafx-CD platform and in the subsequent Windows remakes that kept the core gameplay while updating graphics, music, and interfaces. The game was reissued through the Wii Virtual Console and included in later PC Engine Mini hardware, ensuring continued accessibility.

Did You Know?

• The compilation combines enhanced versions of Ys I (1987) and Ys II (1988), originally developed by Nihon Falcom for Japanese personal computers.
• The PC Engine version features approximately 24 minutes of voiced dialogue and about 20 minutes of animated sequences.
• The North American localization was dubbed into English, making it one of the earlier console role-playing releases in North America to use extensive English voice acting.
• The game was later included as a pack-in title with the TurboDuo, which combined the TurboGrafx-16 and CD hardware into one system.

A Prequel That Rewrote the Series' Center of Gravity

Ys Origin occupies a unique position in Falcom's long-running franchise: it is the first major entry that does not place Adol Christin at the heart of the story. Set roughly seven centuries before the events of Ys I and Ys II, the game transports players to the twilight era of the ancient kingdom, when the twin goddesses Feena and Reah still governed alongside the descendants of six priestly families. Rather than following a single hero through a linear narrative, the title structures its story around three distinct campaigns starring trainee knight Yunica Tovah, sorcerer Hugo Fact, and Hugo's elder brother Toal. All three routes wind through the same general sequence of tower regions, yet each one reshapes the combat feel, the interpersonal dynamics, the specific events that unfold, and what the player ultimately learns about the world. Certain occurrences in one route are replaced or reinterpreted in another, so the story functions as three parallel tellings of the same era rather than three simultaneous journeys. Falcom and subsequent retrospective coverage have singled out Toal's route as the thread that feeds directly into the continuity of Ys I and Ys II, making the choice of protagonist a meaningful narrative decision rather than a cosmetic one.

One Tower, Every Genre Tool

Instead of scattering the adventure across a wide open world, Ys Origin confines nearly all of its action to the vertical expanse of Darm Tower, a demonic construction built to reach the elevated sanctuary of Solomon Shrine. From an elevated camera angle, the player climbs through themed regions packed with enemies, traps, platforming sequences, environmental puzzles, locked pathways, and large boss arenas. The design refines the fast real-time action framework Falcom established in Ys VI and Ys: The Oath in Felghana, layering on top of it a progression system that rewards sustained engagement. Defeating foes in real time yields experience and SP, which can be spent at goddess statues on permanent blessings like increased defense or resistance to environmental hazards. Breakable objects and defeated enemies also drop health restoratives and temporary power-ups, and maintaining a kill chain amplifies those bonuses. A Boost gauge accumulates during combat to temporarily raise offensive and defensive stats, and later progression unlocks Burst, a powerful area attack available while Boost is active. Each character also carries three artifact-based skills powered by a rechargeable magic gauge, serving both combat and exploration roles such as extending jumps, shattering obstacles, and activating mechanisms.

Three Heroes, Three Ways to Fight

The most immediately visible consequence of Ys Origin's three-campaign structure is that each protagonist brings a fundamentally different combat identity to the same tower. Yunica Tovah, a trainee knight, fights at close range, wielding an axe early in her route and switching to a greatsword later. Her toolkit centers on rising and descending strikes, broad combination strings, and skill variants built around direct melee pressure, making her the closest mechanical analogue to Adol's traditional close-range action. Hugo Fact operates from a distance with a staff and two floating magical devices known as the Eyes of Fact, which fire alongside him so he can chip down enemies while keeping safe ground. His artifact skills lean toward barriers, projectiles, and traps. Toal Fact, initially identified only as the Claw and unlocked after the first two campaigns, favors short-range claw attacks that emphasize speed, mobility, and long sustained combinations. He can also release a demonic factor implanted within him to transform, adding a dramatic escalation to his kit. Across all three routes, movement, reach, boss tactics, dialogue, and specific encounters shift, so replaying the same tower feels like a different game each time.

From Japanese PC to Global Consoles

Ys Origin launched in Japan on December 21, 2006, as a Microsoft Windows title developed and published by Nihon Falcom. Its international journey was considerably longer: Xseed Games brought an English-language Windows edition to global audiences on May 31, 2012, adding true widescreen rendering and Steamworks integration. Between 2017 and 2020, Dotemu adapted the game for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, finally placing it on mainstream console shelves. Critics across these releases generally responded favorably, consistently highlighting the tight real-time combat, the variety of boss encounters, the memorable soundtrack, and the distinct feel of each playable character. The most common criticisms centered on the noticeable repetition that comes from replaying the same tower structure three times and on the visual presentation, which by the time of the console ports showed the weight of its mid-2000s origins. A post-release expansion program also broadened the game's scope, introducing Very Easy and Nightmare difficulty tiers, an Arena Mode, enhanced variants of the three protagonists, a bonus shop, additional costumes, and two versions of Adol drawn from Ys VI and The Oath in Felghana, though Adol remains restricted to Arena and Time Attack rather than the story campaign.