Ys Origin

I don’t know whether to feel happy or a little melancholic now that I’ve finally caught up with most of the older Ys games. As someone who adores old school action RPGs and holds a deep love for the early 2000s era of Ys, I know I’m going to miss the simplicity and atmosphere of these games dearly. I adored Ys I & II, and Oath in Felghana was so addictive that it quickly became one of my all time favorites.
Ys games just have a gentle, simple, and nostalgic charm that never fails to captivate me. In a way they feel reminiscent of the pre-BOTW Zelda games, and I genuinely can’t think of higher praise than that. They embody the pure feeling of adventure, and the simplicity of the gameplay only enhances that. Ys Origin is no different. If anything, it’s a huge step up from The Ark of Napishtim, and I couldn’t be happier about it. There are no overly complex combat mechanics or convoluted upgrade systems, just a beautifully streamlined experience that hits the perfect balance between exploration and action. You’re not mindlessly running in a straight line, but you’re also never overwhelmed by aimless wandering. This simplicity is what makes the game so enjoyable.
The movement is fast and fluid, making even the act of engaging in combat incredibly fun. Every attack flows seamlessly into the next, slashing through hordes of enemies is endlessly satisfying, especially with an awesome soundtrack that takes the experience to the next level.
After loving most of the older Ys games, I can say without a doubt that the Ys games from the 2000s are among my favorite games. I can only hope that the later entries manage to capture the same magic that made these classics so special.

A really nice Action-RPG. Takes about 11 hours to play through.
This was my first time playing one of the Ys games. I'd assumed that they were JRPG's like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and the like but this is closer to Secret of Mana or Zelda in that they are more action-orientated.
Structurely it isn't like those, as this game takes place in one large muli-level tower. There isn't a sprawling map, it's very linear. You'll frequently meet forks in the road that never go too far to keep track of.
Combat gets a bit spammy and can sometimes devolve into just spamming your attack, flailing your weapon but I found it fun in its simplicity for the most part. You also get some special attacks that you can use consistently and are quite important for dealing with specific enemy types.
I played through the game on Normal (default) difficulty, and while that was a little on the easy side, I still found the challenge engaging and sufficient, I didn't stall anywhere for very long. I might go a difficulty level higher next time I try a Ys game. You have the option to grind XP if you are struggling, but I never found myself needing to do this on Normal difficulty. I made sure to kill everything on every screen and collect every item, which kept my character at a sufficient strength.
The story is well done, I thought. I mean, It's anime aimed at teenagers with a larger than life fantasy plot but the writing wasn't annoying me like most other anime would. It has some of the sillyness and cliches that come with anime but it at least tries to take itself seriously and doesn't get frequently silly (fair share of cliches though).
The one thing I did know about Ys before playing, was it's music. I accidentally stumbled upon some Ys MP3's decades ago and I've been listening to music from the series since. While the music isn't flawless or anything, it's energetic, moody, fun, romantic. It's livelier pieces almost remind me of some of the Shmups from the Genesis. This series is somewhat known for their tunes, many of which reappear across multiple Ys games, usually redone with new versions.
So yeah, good solid action-RPG! I enjoyed it enough that I'm certainly going to be exploring more of these Ys games.

You basically have to play the same game 3 times with different story beats to come full circle.
This is not entirely bad, as these story beats make more and more characters feel realized, especially the Main Characters (of course, it's Falcom we're talking about here).
So while people speak of repetition, and if you don't care too much about getting that Nightmare achievement, I would humbly recommend this as an immersive setting, based on the power levels of the characters:
1. Play as Yunica first on Normal mode.
2. Play as Hugo second on Easy or Very Easy mode. When you reach the GFire boss, you should be able to scrape out a win. To me this difficulty and outcome feels canonical based on Hugo's power level.
3. 3rd chara, Easy or Very easy as well.

Fun gameplay, really challenging bosses.
The history is captivating and each character is unique on gameplay and background.
Must have.

Princess Tiffany's review is pretty good. This will mostly echo that.
Pros:
+Decent music with a blend of remixes and original songs
+Almost pure action hack n slash gameplay at the height of Ys
+All 3 characters have vastly different playstyles, though Hugo is kind of easy mode
+Good story and does Ys lore far better than the other Ys games
+Game forces you to get good by the end but prepares you for it. Towards the end bullet hell genre elements are thrown in with the hack n slash elements really amping it to 11
Neutral
=Some grinding
=Can out level bosses making them too easy. Not a negative at all, just even one level can take a boss from blisteringly difficult to "wow that was easy"
=No town. Would of strongly preferred a small encampment for realism/immersion.
Cons:
-Need at least 2 playthroughs for the cannon story (guy with claws), and most of the 2nd+ playthrough is going to be a bit of a slog
-A lot of "What the F do I do" moments that make it challenging without a walkthrough. Not as obtuse as Ys 1+2 but you could still spend hours stuck on a single part before you figure it out without a walkthrough
It's pure unadulterated 95% action at the peak of Ys series before it got bogged down in RPG and party mechanics - there isn't even a town, which actually is a tiny bit of a negative. I would've liked an encampment next to the tower or something just for immersion.
The real thing that surprised me is how good and emotional the story gets in Yunica's playthrough starting halfway through. It is connected with the gameplay in a fantastic way too.
Keep in mind people are referring to this being grindy compared to other Ys and single player action games - if you've played MMOs before this is not grindy at all.

Pros:
~Music is EXCELLENT.
~The gameplay, while not for me, is pretty good overall. It can get challenging if you set it at higher difficulties
~Three characters with distinct playstyles
~I love how this game uses artifacts and magic items, it feels very LOTR-like
~The storyline is very good. I was invested in the characters and their journeys
~Provides some background to YS1&2

Cons:
~A bit grindy for me
~Tough to figure out without a walkthrough
~You need 3 playthroughs (one with each MC) to see the full story. I loved the story, but wasn't too interested in grinding through the tower after the first playthrough...

Overall: It's a decent game. If you're a fan of Falcolm and want to get into the series, you won't go wrong here. It's essentially a dungeon crawler with outstanding music and an excellent story

If you want to just unwind for 30 minutes after work before your workout, this is your game. Just download the community control configuration that gives you auto fire and go to town. I rarely play games a second time but I will certainly finish with all three characters.