Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim

you will learn to use the dash jump and you will like it

Here I am after finishing Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim. I decided to play the series in the order of Ys I & II, then The Oath in Felghana, and now Ys VI, even though Felghana is a remake released later. I wanted to experience the evolution of the first act (YS I & II & III) . What I enjoyed the most in this entry was the lore. We finally learn more about where Adol comes from, his homeland, and his past, which adds another layer to his character after Ys I and II. It was also a great surprise to meet Raba and Dogi again. Small moments like these make the series feel connected and reward you for playing the games in order. As always, the soundtrack is excellent. Falcom rarely disappoints when it comes to music. That said, I did feel that some tracks became a bit repetitive compared to previous entries. I also really liked the visuals. Even though this game is older than The Oath in Felghana as far as development goes, I actually preferred its overall 3D presentation. The environments felt more focused, the models stood out nicely, and there was something about the visual style that I found especially charming. The boss fights were enjoyable, but this is where I think the game falls short compared to Felghana. They simply don't feel as well balanced. Sometimes grinding just one extra level was enough to defeat a boss in seconds, which removed much of the tension. I've been playing the series on Normal because older RPGs often become wildly unbalanced on higher difficulties, and even then I noticed how much easier some encounters became after a little grinding. I liked the weapon upgrading system. It was satisfying to unlock new abilities and strengthen your equipment over time, although having to level all three swords eventually became a little repetitive. The teleport system continues to be a fantastic quality-of-life feature and makes exploration much more enjoyable. Revisiting previous areas never feels like a chore. Thankfully, all the FPS and high refresh rate issues from Ys I and II are completely gone here. The game ran smoothly from beginning to end. This game also took me longer to finish because I decided to hunt for more Steam achievements instead of simply rushing through the main story, and I don't regret it. It gave me more reasons to explore every corner of the world. When I think back on Ys VI, what I'll remember most are the final boss, which was a lot of fun, reuniting with familiar characters, and seeing the evolution of the series before the gameplay refinements introduced in The Oath in Felghana and Ys Origin. It was fascinating to experience that progression firsthand. Is it my favorite game in the series? No. I still think The Oath in Felghana is a stronger experience thanks to its exceptional balance and boss design. But Ys VI is an important game for the franchise, and I'm glad I finally played it. Next up is Ys Origin. I've heard it's much better balanced than the previous games, so for the first time since starting this journey, I'm going to play on Hard. Let's see how that goes. See you there!

I really wanted to like this game, but I couldn't. It is just inferior to The Oath in Felghana in every way. The plot is almost nonexistent, the characters are flat, and the two main Rehda girls on the cover art (Olha and Isha) have essentially no personality. Also, the antagonist, if you can even call him that, is only seen at the very end of the game. The gameplay is serviceable, but I still don’t like that spells are locked to specific weapons. I also really hate the dash jump and I'm glad they didn't include it in following games. The dungeon and enemy design is just mid. The bosses are straight up bad and easy, they don't have big or interesting movesets so they don't really require skill to beat, just levels. As a whole, it isn't bad, I'm just disappointed. The trailer mentioned that this title inspired The Oath in Felghana and Origin, and that is evident. However, it is just very barebones and the soundtrack is definitely the best part. I would advise everyone to play this game before playing The Oath in Felghana or Origin. 5/10

YES.

Fantastic experience with very compact dungeon crawling and side stories. The main plot is serviceable but fun all the same. I just wish the EXP system wasn't a complete make or break for combat as a single level can heavily determine difficulty in a fight, making less room for skill expression. That is my only gripe in an otherwise great experience.

Хорошо расширяет лор В целом норм

An extremely important stepping stone for the YS series, but has a lot of growing pains. Still fun enough in its own right, with some cool story ideas that unfortunately aren't super fleshed out. As always, very cool to see how the series evolved over time. PLAY ON NORMAL. Hard just adds grind.