Ys VIII

The exception being Ys Origin, which is a prequel to the entire series and doesn't feature Adol, and Ys I and II being direct sequels. I do recommend that anyone interested in Origin play it after I&II, as I feel it's more fun to catch some of its references this way, but they can be played in either order.

Never play II before I, though, as they are very direct sequels - one begins exactly at the moment the other ends. II is a great game, by the way, and my second favourite in the series after Felghana (let's see if it holds its position after playing VII and VIII).

It's more or less like the Zelda series in a sense: there is a general timeline if you dig that kind of thing, but each game is generally separated from the rest. I liked every single one that I played until now: Origins, I&II Chronicles, Felghana and Ark of Napshtim.

I've also just discovered that Memories of Celceta will get a PC release this year and it's being ported by XSeed!

Yea, I forgot to mention those caveats...
Mainly I suppose because I&II are usually bundled together as one release and a continuous story where 2 just organically follows from 1.

Another thing to note about the chronology is that IV (Memories of Celceta) apparently also takes place before III (The Oath in Felghana), which makes 4 technically the next adventure after the original story in I&II...
So that's kinda kewl...




Heh, I'm nowhere in Cervantes ' league.
I have some familiarity with the series but VIII will be my first since the original iterations of I&II from my early PC days...

On where to go to after VIII for a newcomer I'd say either I&II since it's the quintessential experience, or do what I like to do and play it chronologically from Origins.

But since they're all stand alone might as well just go straight for the most popularly acclaimed of the lot (4-'Celceta' or 7-'Seven') and work your way down to the lesser known ones if it keeps interest.

dschult3 - I haven't played the newer ones (VII, Celceta, VIII), so I can't comment on them. From the others, after playing VIII, I suggest you should either play I&II or Oath in Felghana. Quick explanation:

Besides I&II being great to understand the world and its characters (so you can see, for example, how Adol met Dogi, his sidekick for the entire series, what actually "Ys" means and who are Feena and Rhea), I think II has the best story from the ones I've played. To give you an idea, you even get an item in II that allows you to talk to every single enemy in the game (minus bosses) and all of them have unique things to say. But here's the problem: the gameplay is not everyone's cup of tea. In these games, you don't have an attack button: you just bump into enemies; if they're right in front of you, you lose life, if they're slightly to your diagonal, you hit them. It's a strange system at first but I like it - once you get the hang of it, you'll just be running through enemies and killing them all. So, while I recommend these games for their story and being the starting point of the series, not everyone likes them. Also, Ys I has a small map and makes up for it by having a lot of backtracking, so it might give a bad impression to new players.

Felghana is great because it is where the action combat of the series reached perfection. It's absurdly fast and highly controllable, demands good reflexes and every boss is a true challenge. The story and its characters, while not as elaborate as I&II, are very captivating, so much that some fans consider them the best in the series. It's my favourite game, everything considered (the story is not as good as I&II but the gameplay easily makes up for it).

I started with Felghana and do not regret it. If you prefer going into I&II first, look for the "Ys I&II Chronicles +" version - it's the most complete one.

I wouldn't recommend going right to Origins (it's good, but repetitive and less varied than the rest) or Ark of Napishtim (it's almost as good as Felghana, but not quite) before those. Also, Origins has a lot of the same bosses from I, except reimagined in 3d, so it's fun to first fight them in the original game and then see which surprises their 3d versions are holding.

I'll see if, by the next Steam sales, I can grab the 3 modern games I'm missing (VII, VIII, Celceta) and see how they compare to the rest.

I like when old series stay alive, and when I see people following them. That kind of loyalty shows how good those series are.

I'll get there eventually. I think I stalled on...Ys IV or one of the remakes of it.