Over the years, gamers have had to witness some of their favorite franchises twist themselves into knots just in order to be more appealing for modern audiences. In some aspects, we can’t blame the changes made because certain gameplay mechanics felt slow, clunky, and dated. But that also led to some games losing their identity in the process.
As we see more of these titles try and appeal to everyone who has a gaming console, it’s good to know that the Ys games are still about slashing things.
For those unaware, the Ys series is a simple action RPG where you control the red-haired Adol Christin. This blank slate of a character gets lost in all kinds of locations, leading to adventures where he fights a ton of monsters by slashing them. While there have been some gameplay changes with the series, like going fully 3D and adding new characters, the core mechanics still involve slashing stuff.
There’s some cathartic beauty in seeing Adol and his beautiful anime friends slashing monsters. It helps that the developers at Nihon Falcom have made sure that controlling these characters always feels snappy and responsive. Even when the games are ported to Switch and dropping frames, combat somehow still feels great, proving how underrated simple gameplay loops are.
If gamers started playing the Ys games during the PSP era and are enjoying the newer installments, they know that the core gameplay has stayed intact. As we mentioned previously, you just slash things as Adol. Seeing a company show this much confidence in its ongoing gameplay loop is what keeps this action RPG special, even when the graphics aren't great or the performance isn't up to standards.
Look at the identity crisis Final Fantasy has had over the years. They went from traditional JRPGs with turn-based combat to linear games with turn-based combat, then an open-world game with real-time combat to more linear games with real-time combat before going back to an open-world game with real-time combat. I mean, come on, make your mind up!
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+ 2In Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, Adol is stranded on a deserted island where he has to slash things.
Similarly, Capcom’s Resident Evil series had tank controls for the longest time. This was eventually abandoned and changed into the over-the-shoulder shooting from Resident Evil 4, which accidentally influenced an entire generation of third-person shooters. Capcom would then transition to first-person horror with Resident Evil 7 and Village, while still keeping third-person shooting for their remakes.
In Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, Adol has to solve a conspiracy surrounding a town’s super jail by slashing things. He can also turn into a hotter version of himself thanks to a curse.
click to enlarge + 2Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed has also changed itself a couple of times. This series started out as an open-world stealth game, tried messing with that formula by introducing multiple playable characters, ended up becoming an open-world RPG, tried going back to the stealth formula, and is now deciding to switch between the two genres for multiple games.
In Ys X: Nordics, Adol has to team up with a pirate girl, and you guessed it, they have to slash things!
The gaming industry will keep changing, twisting itself to try and make more money, succeed, fail, and go through this process over and over again. But as these cycles keep going, there’s something comforting in knowing that Nihon Falcom will still release Ys games while staying true to its roots.
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