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Yes, more Ys is coming to PSP

by JC Fletcher { Nov 25th 2009 at 2:45PM }

The Ys series gets around. Primarily a PC-based franchise, Falcom's action-RPG series is ported to everything that can play games in Japan. It appears on the PSP in the form of Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, Ys I&II Chronicles, and (soon) Ys VII.

Yet another Ys game is migrating over to PSP, as Falcom announced that Oath in Felghana, a port of the PC game of the same name (pictured), will be released in Japan on April 22, with upgraded controls, voiced "events," and the ability to switch between versions of the soundtrack.

Oath in Felghana is a remake of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, swapping out that game's unusual side-scrolling gameplay for the traditional Zelda-esque Ys style.

Ys sequel and remakes coming to PSP

by Andrew Yoon { Mar 19th 2009 at 2:30PM }

Falcom loves the PSP. So much, in fact, that it announced two games for the PSP. The first is yet another remake of Ys I & II, subtitled Chronicles. According to andriasang, he PSP version will be based off the 2001 PC remake but will include new visuals and music.

In addition to a revival of these classic RPGs, Falcom is also planning a brand new Ys game, Ys VII, which continues the story set in the PSP game Ark of Napishtim. Both Adol and Dogi will return, with a twist, in this first Ys game to feature a party system. Perhaps the game will take some inspiration from Monster Hunter?

Ys Seven might be coming to PSP, PS2

by Majed Athab { Mar 9th 2009 at 7:00PM }

Falcom announced two new games at a fan event in Tokyo over the weekend: Ys Seven and Ys I & II Chronicles. According to Dengeki Online, Ys Seven will feature series hero Adol again, and will follow the story of the "Five Great Dragons of Altago." It's expected to hit Japan sometime this fall. As for Ys I & II Chronicles, not much is known about it, but it could be another remake like the recent Legacy of Ys: Books I & II for DS. That one will be out in Japan by summer.

IGN suspects that Ys Seven might be a game for Sony platforms, seeing as the title will be featured in an upcoming issue of Dengeki PlayStation magazine. Falcom did release Ys: The Ark of Nephistim on PSP and PS2 back in 2006, so it's not too much of a long shot to see the next in the series appear on either system (or both).

A fitting legacy for your Legacy of Ys preorder

by Chris Greenhough { Dec 31st 2008 at 12:30PM }

Preorder perk ahoy! For the February 10 launch of Legacy of Ys Books I & II, Atlus will be offering jammy U.S. and Canada-based gamers a sweet preorder bonus: a limited edition soundtrack CD, featuring tracks from both Ys I and Ys II. As far as we know, this will be available at Amazon and GameStop.

The revised translation for this DS remake had already roped us in, but now we're counting down the ~~days~~ ~~hours~~ minutes. As the press release we received notes, the Ys series is renowned for having wonderful music. If you're new to the series, you can head to this part of Atlus' website to listen to a few samples for yourself.

Gallery: Legacy of Ys: Books I & II

[Via press release]

Brandish remake headed for the PSP

by Alan Tsang { Dec 2nd 2008 at 3:00PM }

Falcom is remaking old school action RPG Brandish for the PSP, according to Dengeki Online. The game made its original debut in Japan on the PC, but Americans will be most familiar with the Super Nintendo port released in 1995. The PSP remake is renamed Brandish: The Dark Revenant , and puts you in the shoes of a swordsman named Ares who ends up in a multi-level dungeon with a scantily-clad sorceress chasing after you.

This blogger actually owns the game on the SNES, but didn't finish it due to the awkward controls and steep learning curve -- hopefully this 3D remake will address those issues. The game will be released in Japan on March 19th -- Siliconera reports that Atlus is ~~in talks~~ currently working with Falcom, so we might actually see this in your neck of the woods.

[Via Siliconera -- thanks, David B.!]

A new Legacy of Ys translation

by JC Fletcher { Nov 25th 2008 at 5:00PM }

Atlus may have just given us another reason to buy the DS Legacy of Ys Books I & II instead of (or in addition to) just dropping $8 for the Virtual Console version: for the first time since that release, the games will have a new official translation. Given that Atlus does better localizations than most companies now, they are almost guaranteed to do a better job than circa-1990 NEC.

In a press release, project lead Sam Mullen said "We're not taking this lightly, but we also see this as an opportunity to give the game a 21st-century localization, a new script to match the game's remade features."

We rather like the idea of carefully-considered text in the classic action RPG! Wander into our gallery for new screens of this new-ish game.

Gallery: Legacy of Ys: Books I & II

DS Daily: Ys or no

by JC Fletcher { Oct 27th 2008 at 9:00AM }

Atlus will publish Interchannel's DS remakes of the endlessly remade first two Ys games to North America next year. Japanese gamers are pretty familiar with Falcom and their venerable ARPG series, but it never really caught on outside of Japan, despite a decent number of releases making it over here on the Sega Master System, Turbografx-16 CD-Rom, Super NES, and other systems.

How familiar are you with Ys? Did you pass over the Virtual Console release in anticipation of the announcement of this DS game? Did that recent release pique your curiosity about the series? Or has Atlus's involvement gotten your attention? Alternately, you love these two games so much that you'll pick them up on every available system?

[Wallpaper found here]

Zwei RPG breaks out in this debut trailer

by Majed Athab { Oct 24th 2008 at 11:45AM }

We don't know too much about this action-RPG for PSP called Zwei!!, but we do know one thing -- it's really pretty. A little research revealed the title was originally a PC game and it's currently being made by Falcom (makers of Gurumin). December 11 is the game's release date for Japan, which isn't too far off. Hopefully, like Gurumin, North America will also get to enjoy this Falcom RPG. Check out the debut trailer posted after the break.

Continued →

Atlus eyes Ys for DS in North America

by Jason Dobson { Oct 23rd 2008 at 6:30PM }

Ys-y for you to say, eh? Eh? Atlus will bring the recent DS remakes of Nihon Falcom's flagship Ys role-playing series to North America on February 10, 2009. Even better, instead of releasing the two titles individually as they were sold in Japan, the publisher plans to bundle the games together as Legacy of Ys: Books I & II. Samuel Mullen, project lead for Legacy of Ys, tells Joystiq that the team "worked closely with the developer to offer both games, Books I and II, on a single DS cartridge."

The package is a pint-sized version of Ys Eternal, which was released on the PC in Japan in 1997, and was itself a rehash of Turbo Duo classic, Ys Book I & II. The series has never garnered the same sort of cult status that it's enjoyed in Japan, but we nonetheless welcome the addition to our DS library, if only for the music (some of which can be heard in the video above) alone.

Virtual Console adds classic role-playing, tardy fighter

by Jason Dobson { Aug 25th 2008 at 10:30AM }

How nice of you to join us. Do you have any idea what time it is? We were expecting you weeks ago! Well, no matter, go and take your seat with the rest of the Virtual Console class so we can begin.

Samurai Shodown 2 (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points): SNK's 1994 follow up to Samurai Shodown finally slices and dices its way onto the Virtual Console this week, bringing back most of the original's weapon-wielding cast, as well as several newcomers vying for the opportunity to skewer anything that moves with a pointy blade and sharp Engrish wit.
Ys Book I & II (TurboGrafx 16 CD-ROM, 1 player, 800 Wii Points): Nihon Falcom's enhanced remakes of the first two titles in the Ys saga finally levels up for the US Virtual Console. Offering roguelike-style combat and music we still find ourselves humming at the dinner table, this is a download not to be missed by role-playing fans with eyes for the classics.

Finally, some good news about the Virtual Console

by JC Fletcher { Aug 1st 2008 at 10:00AM }

Thanks to advance notice from two companies, we can now look forward to the Virtual Console releases for once. If Hudson and SNK's plans go through (as in, if a game isn't mysteriously bumped) we can expect both Samurai Shodown II and -- this is totally awesome -- Ys Book I & II.

We've been waiting for Ys since its first appearance on the ESRB ratings database last year, and now we're going to have the opportunity to buy two great action RPGs for eight bucks! There hasn't been a better deal since they packed Ys I & II with TurboDuo systems, and the Wii actually costs less than a Duo!

[Samurai Shodown II news via press release]

Sora no Kiseki the 3rd website revealed

by Nick Doerr { May 10th 2008 at 1:00AM }

So the popular Japanese franchise from Falcom, Eiyuu Densetsu, has gotten a third title to show off -- a website has been launched to remind the world. If you're proficient in Japanese, you can read up on the announced characters, storyline, and world for the title. There are already a couple of wallpapers and PSP themes for you to download, with more to come every Friday until the game launches at the end of July. Check out the site and if it's your thing, get your import on this July.

[via PSPHyper]

Hudson 'evaluating' North American VC release for Ys

by JC Fletcher { May 6th 2008 at 2:15PM }

In an interview about digital distribution (Bomberman for all!), Siliconera asked Hudson's Vice President of Product Development, Sabine Duvall, about the prospects for an U.S. release of the Turbografx-16 CD-Rom version of Ys Book I & II. Her response: "We'd love to make our fans happy, so we're still evaluating if it's right to bring Ys over."

We fully expect the game to show up on Virtual Console here at some point. There's no reason for it not to. It's not even as if Ys is an import title like Battle Lode Runner or DoReMi Fantasy. It was released in the U.S. For that matter, it was bundled with TG16 CD-Rom drives.

But for whatever reason, they've been evaluating this for a long time. Ys was actually given an ESRB rating back in November. We wonder if they're trying to decide between releasing Ys I & II as an $8 VC download and publishing the DS games that recently bombed in Japan.

Watch this trailer for Vantage Master Portable

by Majed Athab { Apr 15th 2008 at 8:00PM }

So the PSP gets a lot of RPGs. More specifically, it gets a lot of Japanese RPGs. Ever more so, it gets a lot of Japanese RPGs that are not released in the west. Do you see where we're going with this? It's possible that Vantage Master Portable might be another such game; however, there's still time to prove that thought wrong.

So before we etch things into stone, let's not vex ourselves over such things right now. Instead of wondering and waiting, let it come to you as a surprise when/if we post a western release announcement. For now, be entertained by this trailer.

Ys I & II DS get bundled, still cost too much

by JC Fletcher { Apr 6th 2008 at 2:00PM }

The remakes of Ys I & II should have been sold in one package to start with, as 5,040 yen ($49) each is rather a lot to pay for yet more Ys remakes -- especially since they were released on the same day and therefore fully intended by Interchannel to be sold together. All but about 1,000 Japanese DS owners agreed, as the games sold 2,000 copies combined in their first week.

7dream.com, an online retailer run by 7-Eleven and NEC (who used to own Interchannel, the company publishing these games) is now offering a "Special Box" of Ys I & II DS containing both games, a soundtrack CD, and, yes, a special box. While it's awesome to have both games in one deluxe package, the 9,800 yen ($95) price probably won't boost sales that much.

[Via Inside Games]