The PSP has been graced with a lot of RPG titles this year starting off with Ys Seven, then followed by Valkyria Chronicles II and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. For a RPG gamer like me, it is a year where my PSP will be used a lot as finishing these types of games take hours to complete. Delving in the world of Ys Seven, players will be taken to another epic adventure of Adol where he must save the world from the evil forces. Fans of the Ys series should know by now of Adol’s history as he’s always been the lead character in all the Ys games.
After years of patiently waiting for a true Ys game, XSEED Games has heard our voices and finally released the first of the three Ys games that they will be releasing exclusively on the PSP. Ys Seven is the seventh game in the series where Adol will take the lead once again. With a lot of Ys games already released, how does Seven stands out with the rest of the games in the series? Let’s take a look in the HOTs and NOTs of the game.
HOT
Fast Paced Action
One feature that makes Ys Seven stand out with the rest of its competition is the fast paced action the game has to offer. Forget about turned-based battle system! Ys Seven offers a real-time battle system where Adol and the rest of the crew can attack freely with a push of a button executing many deadly skills. The game is more of action orientated in lieu of the old-school boring turned-based combat from yesteryear. There are no random encounters in Ys Seven as monsters in the game are shown on-screen and the player can attack or runaway from them at any time they want. After each successful kill, experience points will be rewarded and the player can loot the things that can be useful in synthesizing items.
Throughout the game, there will be a decent amount of characters that a player can have. Only three will be able to join the party at one time. Two characters will be controlled by the AI while the other one will be controlled by the player. Each of the characters have their own respective strengths and weakness when it comes to finishing an enemy. Some enemies are immune to sword attacks while some are weak against it. It is best for a player to switch around by pressing the circle button.
Synthesizing and Customizing Character’s Equipments
The loot that an enemy drops after they are defeated will be very useful for having strong equipment in the game. Those loots can be used in synthesizing items which is one of the ways for a gamer to obtain one of the strongest armors and weapons in the game. Looting is not the only way to get raw materials as throughout the Kingdom of Altago, there will be places of resource where a player can gather the loots. In addition to the raw materials, money will be needed in order to customize things. Each of the characters in the game is limited to a specific type of weapon and only three characters can join the party. At every shop the player visits, the weapons for each character will be easy to distinguish as usually Adol uses only Swords and Dogi uses a Gaunlet. Players will notice that the game offers a limited amount of weapons in each shop in town and that is a good thing as they don’t have to spend too much time choosing between two weapons.
Big Boss Battles & Challenging
It’s rare for a RPG game on the PSP to show big bosses. In Ys Seven, expect a lot of bosses that fill out the whole screen of the PSP. These big bosses are equipped with some deadly attacks that are sure give many gamers a challenge. Aside from the main bosses of the game, there will be extra quests that will give players an opportunity to beat other bosses. The bosses in the game are challenging but there is nothing in the game that will be impossible to beat. Each of the bosses in the game have patterns on how they attack, and as soon as the player finds out this pattern, it is entirely possible to finish a boss without getting any damage from them.
Superb Soundtrack
It’s easy for a gamer to fall in love on the soundtrack that Ys Seven has to offer. The rythmn and beat at every boss fight is so engaging it will give the players tension and excitement whenever there is a boss fight. There are no voice overs in the game but it is all made up with the amazing and memorable tunes that the game has. Each of the towns in the game has its own unique tunes and when a character is attacking, there will be a slight voice overs equipped with them.
NOT
Cliche Story
In order for a RPG game to be very good, it’s supposed to have a good story to back up all of its amazing features. In Ys Seven, the story follows the story of Adol and Dogi in searching for a new adventure in the Kingdom of Altago. Their arrival at Altago have opened up an adventure for both characters and uncovered the secrets to the five dragons that guards the land. After Adol and Dogi completed the first assignment from the King of Altago, they set out on an adventure to seek out the Dragons and acquire their powers as an evil force is threatening the land. For a hardcore RPG gamer, the story is not that unique and it’s already been seen a lot of times. The story is not as good as you would expect but its amazing gameplay will mask this flaw in storytelling. For newcomers, the story is not hard to get into or understand.
Backtracking
Everything in the game is in real-time. There are no world maps or anything but the thing that makes the game so annoying there is a lot of backtracking. After successfully doing a mission on a town, the player will be asked to go back to the area where the path divides and go to the other side as it leads to the other town. There are a lot of backtracking to expect and it will really wear out the patience of the player.
Average Graphics
There is nothing too exciting about the graphics that Ys Seven has. Everyone has seen these kind of graphics before and it is nothing that will wow anybody playing it. The five dungeons that a player will explore are laid out like a maze but there will be a mini map that will be shown on the upper right hand side. The towns are well designed but the character sprites are not very impressive. Also, dungeons are bland and unattractive.
VERDICT
Ys Seven can be a great action role playing game to play despite some of its shortcomings. If you can bypass through the clichéd storyline and uninspired graphics, the fun fast-paced combat and the thrill of defeating the huge bosses will be sure to give RPG fans something to look forward to. For fans of Ys series, Seven is something that you should be picking up right now. Any newcomers to the series can purchase this game as their first step in loving the series. The game has flaws but it can easily be forgiven thanks to its excellent gameplay.