The Early History of Falcom

[@bowloflentils]

Corrections (Last edited in 2024): 1.) I mispronounced Ys in this video, it should have been pronounced as "Ees". I also made similar mistakes with a few other names such as Masayuki Kato. 2.) In this video I speculated that the Ys development team perhaps left Falcom because the company changed Ys III into a number installment when it was only meant to be a spin-off. However, I later found a blog by Hiromasa Iwasaki (Ys I&II's PCE-CD director) that went into the history behind Ys III. According to the blog, the staff initially wanted to make an original title and used Adol as a placeholder graphic for the player character. This led to the game becoming a spin-off called Adol's Great Adventure which was later renamed to Wanderers from Ys. Before development had even begun, Masaya Hashimoto/Tomoyoshi Miyazaki were planning to leave Falcom and Wanderers was going to be their last game at the company. However, tension built between Hashimoto and Falcom's president and eventually almost the whole team left at the beginning of 1989 once development of the core game was finished. Falcom's remaining staff then put the final touches on the game and changed the title to "Ys III" at the last minute (only after the original development team had left). You can read more about Ys III's development on Iwasaki's blog here: tinyurl.com/mr2a5yfy 3.) Masayuki Kato did not make Toshihiro Kondo the third president of the company like I stated in my video. Apparently, according to a recent interview with Kondo, it was actually one of Falcom's board of directors that offered the position to him after Shinji Yamazaki stepped down due to illness. Here is the source: news.denfaminicogamer.jp/interview/231106c 4.) The magazine ad shown at 28:41 is not announcing that Falcom is making Xanadu 3 and Ys IV. The ad is actually saying that Falcom's next game is NOT going to be one of those sequels and will instead be a new franchise, Brandish. 5.) This magazine chart at 19:45 is not ranking PC titles in terms of sales data. These are actually results of a popularity poll based on reader submitted surveys. 6.) At 54:34, I mentioned that Trails from Zero was Falcom's last PC port. While the title was published by Falcom, the Japanese release was actually based on the Chinese PC port developed by Unistar and Joyoland in 2011. So, technically, the final PC to be developed directly by Falcom was Zwei 2 in 2008.

[@EekChocolate]

Interesting interview. It looks like Hashimoto was directly inspired by Castlevania and Link's Adventure.

[@spacebeaglewithcheese]

Thank you for the updates and corrections!

[@ultimate_batdave7425]

On 53:16, you say that Trails in the Sky FC has sold over 100.000 copies, though if it is in relation to the image, it's 100万, so over 1 million, and seemingly combined with Trails from Zero. Really like your videos!

[@bowloflentils]

@@ultimate_batdave7425 Thank you! And yeah, I didn't get that number from the advertisement but from one of the interviews in my list of sources. I believe I was referencing this interview between Masayuki Kato and Toshihiro Kondo where they stated that Sky FC sold around 400,000 copies on the PSP. Although, I could have sworn there was another source that specifically said "over 100,000”. It's been a few years so I’m not sure. news.denfaminicogamer.jp/projectbook/180724/3

[@hemangchauhan2864]

RIP Masayuki Kato. His work in maintaining the company that pioneered RPGs changed the industry.

[@stupendously_silly]

Fun Fact : Shinji, the protagonist of Evangelion had a walkman where he rewind the same cassette over and over again. The cassette is the soundtrack of Ys titled Lilia ~from Ys~. What made it even more interesting is the vocal for one of the song is done by the VA for Misato.

[@casekocsk]

Wow... All those people who left Falcom, ALL OF THEM turned out to be GREAT names in video game industry... So that means at one time, Falcom is full choke of talents...

[@A-Spoto]

One of the greatest fumbles in the Japanese video game industry. Treat your employees right people!

[@zzasdfwas]

When all the staff left, the fans got hired and became the company. Who else could have the passion and knowledge to continue such a legacy?

[@demilembias2527]

thats so fascinating that it changed from a training ground for creatives who then graduated to other companies to a place rebuilt by fans of those creatives' work in the first place.

[@smttms8946]

If it werent for xseed, we wouldn't have trails series outside Japan. At that time nobody wanted to work on that game because of the large script. Xseed was the only one who had the balls to take on that project without knowing if it was going to sell outside Japan.

[@BlueGrovyle]

Well, we wouldn't have gotten it _when_ we got it, but almost certainly still eventually. And considering the miserable experience that some of the people went through to get Sky to us, I'd happily wait as long as necessary for these games.

[@Indigo_Gaming]

Excellent piece of history here with the origins of Falcom. Great presentation and very clean and understandable audio.

[@Rawhaki]

Indigo Gaming!

[@EricVanWilderman]

Incredibly informative video. I clicked thinking I'd watch only a few minutes, but stayed the whole time! I'm a huge fan of Ys and Trails, but I didn't realize how many other franchises they made. And here I was thinking Tokyo Xanadu was just a one-off game lol. I didn't realize it was part of a series.

[@tchitchouan]

i do believe xanadu next was the peak of the series

[@quentiny5372]

Ys' fan here as well. Love it so much!

[@hiro6164]

Holy shit i had no idea you liked falcom games i started following you because horror games XD

[@zenoslime]

i wish more people would play xanadu next. think of it as a game with the feel of something akin to ys with isometric graphics and mouse + keyboard controls not too unlike diablo, with narrative and leveling system elements that could be seen as a precursor to demon's souls...!

[@yum2735]

@@tchitchouan I picked that one up in a sale not thinking that I would enjoy it all that much with its apparent WRPG elements, but I ended up loving it. It was very true to Falcom's roots with the Xanadu series when WRPGs and JRPGs still had a lot of common ground. I can't believe that a game like that was still released in the 2000s, but I wish there were more.

[@panagiotisgoulas8539]

Moral of the story:Treat your employees properly... Man why did you make this video so good and I had to watch until the end..

[@akiradkcn]

Yeah, he almost killled his own company with that attitude

[@IsaacG8]

This was an excellent video. I had no idea that some of my favorite JRPGs from the 90's like the Lunar series and Xenogears were created by former Falcom employees. It kind of feels like Falcom is the grandparent of these games now.

[@NotaPizzaGRL]

It's like finding out that some of the employees from Irem (a.k.a company who did the R-Type games and kung fu) later went on to found Capcom and SNK. You don't see the influence at first but once you hear about it it becomes appearent.

[@justicegaming1412]

Agreed, I had no idea about that!

[@realnlyp]

Makoto Shinkai being a former employee for Falcom was a fact that surprised me!

[@joesterling4299]

@@realnlyp Yuzo Koshiro blew my mind. Had no idea he started out as a teenager with Falcom.

[@FloPe97]

@@realnlyp it gets really mindblowing when you realize that shinkai and kondo knew each other from shinkais falcom days - considering the occasionally eerily similar storydevices AND releasetimes between your name and ys 8... almost feels like they stayed in contact after shinkai left and talked to each other about these concepts and developed their own seperate stories around the same skeleton in a way... (who knows if thats in anyway true or if they just had similar ideas during the same time but its still fun to think about)

[@tats_sacs]

I’m Japanese. I love falcom music. But how they treated their composers mainly Yuzo koshiro was appalling. Imagine creating the music for Ys and they release all these CDs with multiple arrange versions and they would put the name of the arranger but not ONE mention of the name of the composer. They sold a lot of these CDs and the composers never got any royalties.

[@DSan-kl2yc]

I agree. And then they seemingly punished their new developers because they don't treat staff well enough to stay

[@KAZ64OST]

What☹️

[@joesterling4299]

@@starless267 Thing is, if a composer works for a company, and gets paid to create music for that company, then he isn't entitled to royalties. That music belongs to the company. He should still have been credited as the composer on the CDs, though.

[@ericazahn9689]

Do you know why they us the german word "zwei" for the english Port? Like the german named games that are for the english market, zweihänder and geist, and they mix schwarz (german for black) and world in shin megami tensai journey into the aweful schwarzworld. Why is this a thing, i do not get it.

[@harrylane4]

Damn who knew game devs treated their workers like shit. Glad that’s not the case anymore! We never have worker abuse in this industry anymore 🙃

[@TheKisekiNut]

Wow, this is outstanding work bud! Very well researched, and an extremely comprehensive round up of one of the all time great JRPG developers.

[@bowloflentils]

Thank you very much! I've enjoyed a few of your videos in the past so I'm happy to hear you enjoyed mine.

[@TheAufziehvogel]

Very few are covering Falcom, also enjoying this (will watch the rest of the video later). It all begun with Falcom when it comes to japanese RPG's. Nowaydays, Falcom is stagnating due to questionable management of president Kondo. Milking the Legend of Heroes franchise dry, making Ys more like Legend of Heroes and refusing to hop on the Switch train. It's not Falcom who are ordering Switch-Ports of their games, it's NISA asking Falcom that it may be a wise decision to focus more on Nintendos console. Yeah, can't say I'm happy with the current Falcom but at least there are the classics from them and their rich history. Yet I hope Kondo is not the future for Falcom.

[@ltb1345]

@@TheAufziehvogel This comment didn't age well, lol. Now there are a ton of Falcom Switch ports, and Ys seems like it's going in a somewhat new direction for Ys X.

[@Pan_Z]

These creators that condense a month of research into an hour long concise, edited video are some of the biggest unsung heroes of KZbin.

[@MinkDaddy]

See this is why I believe Adol would be great pick for Super Smash Bros. I am aware that many people might be confused about his inclusion, but it makes so much sense as he and Falcom are some of the grandaddies of the action RPG genre. And, as you mention in the video, so many developers and creators started in Falcom. It's not a question of if Adol deserves to be in Smash as it is a question of how could they make him unique, which I think is very possible.

[@demilembias2527]

I'd prefer Estelle because I'm not sure how you'd make Adol unique from Link or the DQ Heroes. Any Falcom rep would be greatly appreciated though lol.

[@Error_4x5]

Hardcore gamers wouldn't be confused by Adol's inclusions

[@flamelmao69420]

Tbh I feel like an assist trophy would work a bit better since you all know how the smash community is about swordfighters

[@ltb1345]

I'm surprised that they never did even a Mii Swordfighter outfit based on Adol.

[@Randhrick]

I'm a huge Falcom fan but never knew all this, not a lot of information is known about them for us English speaking fans. You did a stellar job on the video.

[@Randhrick]

@Keith Courage RX-78-2 Not really, I never could get into that series, I played Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2 and that was enough, too bad Falcom applied the LoH formula to the newer Ys games I wish they would make another old school Ys game

[@JoshyGoodtime1]

This is possibly one of the best video game documentaries on KZbin. I learned a lot, and it was interesting to know that the developers who were in Falcom branched out to create companies and to make games like the Xeno series, and Lunar. Very well done, great job Mr. Lentils.

[@Zazzaro703]

Falcom Sound Team is easily one of the best in the industry. The music in the Trails series rivals music from any other game/series. And wow great video I had no idea Falcom had that much talent at one point.

[@HProtagVtuber]

Dude I hope you get chance to play ys9 holy shit the music in that is amazing.

[@Walamonga1313]

@@HProtagVtuber Really? I thought the OST in 9 was good but 8's was perfect. I also really love Ys 1 and Origin's ost

[@Richardlikespies]

I really liked this video. It's really cool to see where Falcom was like in their golden age and what lead to now

[@えすい-v4q]

あえて日本語で ここまで日本ファルコムについて海外から調べることは容易なことではないと思いますし、尊敬します。 自分も好きなメーカーではあるのですが軌跡シリーズに代表されるように 良くも悪くもJRPGの固定観念から抜け出せずにいる伝統芸能のようなゲーム会社です。 歴史を振り返って、あえて変わらないでほしいと願ってやみません。

[@OriginalReVozero]

I very rarely comment on KZbin videos but I just had to drop in to say that this is criminally underwatched. What a fantastic dive in Falcom's history, thoroughly enjoyed that, thanks 🤙

[@grayson8633]

As someone whose lifelong aim is to work in the Japanese gaming industry, thank you for this video! Nihon Falcom is one of the three companies ( others being Square Enix and Atlus) that I am going to work for as an artist/writer. I have been researching Falcom more recently when I came across this, and a lot of questions I had were answered, along with being informed of things I was not aware of. My love of these games has only grown from my start at the Erebonia saga at 15 , and as Ive been nearing its end at 21,expanding to its other titles has been thrilling so far. So once again, thank you!

[@deadyrockspin]

I really appreciate your dedicated research on topics that are very niche in the west. EDIT: I see this video is blowing up! you deserve it for all the effort!

[@bowloflentils]

Thank you :)

[@ignaziomignogna]

I second this. And the videos are very enjoyable to watch too

[@skins4thewin]

Can I give this comment 10 thumbs down? This stuff is VERY much beloved in the west!!!

[@blumiu2426]

@@skins4thewin I wouldn't go that far. It's growing in popularity, but they are still niche by sales standards, despite the fame of the long-running series. Trails of is a good entry JRPG, but can't contend with many out there, while Ys gets wiggle room, but not much. I think that's fine, though. I don't want them to get too big and then start thinking they need to change things or compete in graphics, borrow elements from other games. Many mess up that way and Trails has already taken a Persona/girlfriend hunter (I refuse to use waifu) approach, which is more trend than value.

[@skins4thewin]

@@blumiu2426 Personally, I gotta say I disagree, as the first two Trials games are as good as it gets imo. And Falcom is already pretty huge, they are a pretty big deal in Japan no doubt.

[@Cneqq]

As someone who's beaten every YS game [besides YS 9] and is yet again completely caught up with the trails series this will be a perfect watch to fill the void after finishing hajimari and once again being on the wait for calvard lol thanks for the effort of putting a video like this together

[@ringtail99]

so hajimari does not take place in calavard? really but this c person must be related to calavard

[@buttertoast1146]

@@ringtail99 hajimari is basically the grand finale of Lloyd and reans journey. C is actually gonna surprise you

[@ringtail99]

@@buttertoast1146 oh shit so they will never be making any more aprences in the series but I think that they might have camious

[@buttertoast1146]

@@ringtail99 well rean will idk about lloyd

[@Burning_Orpheus]

I already know about Makoto Shinkai working at Falcom, but Tetsuya Takahashi ? That blew me away

[@TainoMoya]

Ikr, two of my all time favorite rpg series. Tetsuya behind both. Im impressed

[@aichistarburst3333]

That pleasantly surprised me too

[@HProtagVtuber]

Bro nice profile pic and banner

[@FelipeWalker2]

THE WORLD NEEDED THIS. So well done man, congrats on this, I hope you make more from Falcom.

[@121597Luke]

Falcom is my favorite developer so seeing a highly researched and detailed video about their beginnings is an amazing gift. Thank you so much for all of the hard work you put into this. Thank you.

[@user-gz4ve8mw9l]

My favorite as well. In fact 97% of games I play anymore are purely Falcom games.

[@CloudStrifeXBL]

Just finished Ys VIII the other day, what a master piece of a game. It's baffling to me how this company was out of my sight for nearly 30 years, I missed so many godly games.

[@Yashimasta]

For so long there was a game I played as a kid that I could not remember, I tried searching for it but I remembered so little about it I could never find it... I started to think I had just imagined it or was blending it with other games. Turns out, that game was Faxanadu. Thank you so much for helping me remember, awesome video 🙏

[@bowloflentils]

I know I mispronounced "Ys," and a few other names, in the video. I'll try to double check my pronunciation in the future. Also, thank you for all the positive comments! I was never expecting this video to get this many views and I'm happy to see that people are enjoying it :)

[@brux357]

Dude who cares you could call it “Yeet” and this video would still be amazing. I learned so much from this. Great job, man

[@BryanRollinsTV]

The thumbnail got me and i was not disappointed. Great work.

[@davidk.8686]

Yeah, who cares ... whatever fanboy complaints would never put as much effort to pay actual respect to and educate about this company and their games. Also, occasionally finding content like this makes spending so much time on youtube not feel like a complete waste of timee for me. :D

[@brux357]

@@davidk.8686 Lol agreed

[@bowloflentils]

Thank you but it was a genuine mistake and most of the people that pointed it out were not jerks about it.

[@cartoongamermatt9077]

God damn the talent that came from Falcom is insane! All these great developers with games that I love like Lunar, Illusion of Gaia, Beyond Oasis, and fucking XENOGEARS ended up with origins in Falcom. Absolutely insane. Even Yuzo Koshiro started with Falcom. This company literally created its own intense competition from losing key members and we ended up with some of the greatest JRPGs of all time from all of these companies.

[@Megaman12Protoman14]

Falcolm is my favorite RPG developer next to Atlus and just one of my favorite devs period. Was really interesting to learn about their early years and just how monumental of an impact they made in Japan.

[@squidjar7494]

this is straight up the most interesting video i've ever watched about game devs. nihon falcom's beginnings were super humble

[@SharkLordProductions]

As a newcomer to Ys and Falcom, I must say... I did _not_ expect Hello Kitty to pop up while rock music plays in the background. That one came straight out of left field.

[@everyanybody]

I just want to watch this video over and over again, it's been executed so well!

[@mik_oro]

One of the best videos I've seen in a long a while. It's really incredible how much talent went away, but maybe it had to be this way, otherwise the Trails series might never have been a thing.

[@McCaroni_Sup]

I think it was worth it since Falcom is learning their lesson.

[@TainoMoya]

@@McCaroni_Sup i hope so

[@sirdurpsalot4593]

Thank you for making this video! I already loved the falcom company, but this history made me love it even more! I hope their games will continue to grow in popularity in the west!

[@windblade7082]

This was an incredibly well done video. I’ve been following Falcom since I first saw it for the TG-16 back in the day. When I lived in Japan I tried to go to the Falcom store but sadly it was already closed. Really great history of the Company and great storytelling.

[@Haganeren]

I took so much time making my own (french) review of the Ys series, searching into interviews, image, japanese site and such, rewriting everything as i found more information... And i'm astonished by your video. Yeah, i detailled some stuff a bit more like the novels which actually have summary on the Internet or an actual prototype of Ys 1 where you could trade animal skin for money but in a whole, you said everything i ever said with ever greater detail... And i only made the Ys one ! You even documented the birth of Legend of HEroes and even Dragon Slayer which was like a little project of mine ! You even have video of the staff working on what i supposed being Ys 2 ! There is something weirdly emotional to see everything i understood by myself being told just here on this video in such an easy way... I'm incredibly impressed by this work, a tiny bit jealous i won't lie but I know how time consuming this works is and i can only say you have made an incredible job. Also, you have no idea how cool it is for me to have access to your source. I can believe you found so many cool artworks and video i didn't knew existed too ! Yes, maybe i will make another comment later, when i see the video a second time where i can pinpoint some stuff but really, that's just a fantastic documentary Edit : Oh yeah, since i didn't finished everything for my rewriting (i'm at the part of the rebirth of Falcom), i KNOW for sure that i found the director of Ys I & II Eternal pushing in order to make Ys VI happens instead of a remake of Ys III. He had a cool phrase, like "if we don't do anything Falcom will always be something from the past" but i can't for the life of me, find this source again. If you happens to know from where it is from.. Well... Don't hesitate.

[@mottower]

Wow. Didn't know Yuzo Koshiro had his beginnings here! I love his music, especially the one from Etrian Odyssey. Also didn't know that Minako Iwasaki came from Falcom too! The most surprising was Makoto Shinkai. I don't really like his movies, but damn didn't know he also started here. What an amazing company history. Props to you for making such a great video!

[@Mal_Ah_Key]

Ridiculously comprehensive, well done on creating such a mammoth video.

[@andrewkos5560]

I've had this in my recommendations for about a month and I'm genuinely bummed I only clicked on it just now. Fantastic work.

[@Andrew-Gomez904]

Amazing video man, this is what helped me start getting into the trails series. I've been putting it off because hearing that all 9 games are connected was a bit intimidating. But I started 2 days ago with Trails in the Sky and I'm really enjoying the slow burn and slow build up. Thank you again man

[@JackDandyHG]

What a detailed video! I had no idea Falcom went through so many bumps across their lifespan. But I suppose it's natural when you've been around for so many years. Thanks for making this!

[@TainoMoya]

Heh, bumps!

[@NintendoMania98]

Crazy how many people left and created companies we know still today, like Monolith Soft. Insane.

[@stzsch]

I don't usually comment on videos but oh my. I've been really disillusioned with youtube lately, but then I'm greeted with this gem of a channel in my recommendations. I've been looking at your past videos and it's surprise after surprise. They're insanely well made, and you're just my kind of nerd in so many ways.

[@lune__]

Wow this was really good. Hope you continue to make more documentaries like this!

[@firasin1891]

This is such an amazing video, giving a detailed and comprehensive look at such an understated behemoth that is nihon falcom when it comes to their contribution to videogames, of the past and present! Highly thankful for your work and research, but also the great presentation(script, visuals & music) making this so engaging. I'd love to see more of that from you!

[@thetrin]

Wonderful historical retrospective on a company that I've loved for a long time. Kondo himself is a really interesting figure. Would love to meet him one day.

[@pedrozanon7245]

Amazing vidro, probably the best English video about Falcom on KZbin!

[@superretroquest]

the level of detail of this documentary especially in the early days is amazing, well done!

[@TheRyoshiin]

Absolutely one of the best gaming related video I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

[@MaemiIshimura]

I am pretty much a You Tube lurker normally but I felt I needed to comment to tell you how much I appreciated this video! Amazing job!

[@Nashman2k24]

The very first falcom game I ever played was Y's book 1 & 2 on the turbo cd, And just to add this, 2020 has been a rough year for people, but this video brightened up my day and so far in 2020 I haven't had many of those, So sir to you, Thank you for the hard work you've put into this and thank you for making my day better with this interesting video Please keep up the good work

[@PikachuEXE1]

This level of details... I thought I was watching videos about gaming on Netflix Thank you for your effort!

[@TheIPGCorporations]

Excellent fan documentary on Falcom's history. I grew up with Koshiro's music from when I first played Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Master System. He composed the music for that game. I also wanted to play YS I and III back in the early 1990s. Ah, well.

[@saltyoak8533]

Dispite the bumpy road for Falcom, it was very cozy and enlightening video. Thank you for your work!

[@kylegilland3673]

Thanks so much for this. I recently became incredibly interested in the Trails and Ys series, and learned a little about Falcon through my research, but it was after I just finished Tokyo Xanadu eX+ and realized it was a Falcom game, that I needed to know more. Your video was the perfect scratch for that itch, and I even learned some cool things about other developers and composers along the way, very cool stuff.

[@mobiushills]

Watching this another time. One of my favorites, i just like listening to it. Excellent video.

[@GR34SRR]

38:49 this is the funniest transition ever omg thank you

[@ebbhead]

This is quite the comprehensive video, thanks so much for putting this all together! I owned both Legacy of the Wizard and Faxanadu in the late 80's/early 90's and remember enjoying both immensely as a kid. Surprisingly, I have little experience with any of the other Falcom series, and I love jRPGs/action RPGs. Even with Ys, I have only played the games for an hour or two at the most. I have a lot to look forward to!

[@enchiladaforfireemblemhero9302]

Great video! I love falcom games. I can't believe this was an hour because I was engaged the whole time

[@raphaelcarbinatto]

What a great video. I was already quite knowledgeable about Falcom's history, but having this much interesting info presented in such a cozy way was a treat. My singular nitpick would be the pronunciation of some of the Japanese names but, as said: a nitpick. Absolutely fantastic work, man. If you are at all interested in the topic and eventually have the drive for another extensive endeavor, please consider making a similar video for Akitoshi Kawazu and the SaGa series!

[@zenoslime]

i was going to make the same nitpick about names (e.g. kato, said here like 'keito'), though it really only stands out because everything else is so good. so yeah, i'll just agree.

[@Douglas12ds54]

What a wonderful work. Please continue working on original documentary videos like those which you produces. I love them. Cheers from Brazil!

[@RoninXDarknight]

The Trails series is one of my favorite ever. Just got my copy of Cold Steel IV and can't wait to have time to start it!

[@PrettyGuardian]

This was an amazing and thoughtful documentary level film. Thank you for teaching us so much about this beloved game developer!

[@jonahscott3196]

While falcom is my favourite company, they definitely have a lot of flaw when it come to management and their crediting. This hold true for many staff and their composers. Its sad that even now they are still this way and I hope they will change their way.

[@bowloflentils]

Yeah, making this video really made me realize that issue even more. Hopefully that is something that changes in the future.

[@McCaroni_Sup]

@@bowloflentils This is why Falcom has to cut corners sometimes. Just look at what happened with Singa and Falcom JDK. I love Falcom but they really need to be less stiff about stuff like this and be more adaptive. They also need to up their marketing game, just like they did back in the day.

[@blumiu2426]

@@McCaroni_Sup You have to remember the bubble back in the 80s that made that possible. Japan in not in the same state as it was, so they likely can't go that big, but are starting to build toward that again now with popularity in the West edging up. The music, if anything, will leave the biggest mark. With Cold Steel finished, they might be looking what more they can do with the Legend of Heroes franchise, and I hope something departed from what 4 games did already before stagnating. Ys is playing around with elements in the new game, though not sure how much more they plan to push the 3D world mechanics and combat. The last Xanadu was pretty mediocre, maybe because I didn't realize it was THAT Xanadu because modern day and felt like a lesser Cold Steel.

[@HarpoTheVillain]

Absolutely agreed. I love Falcom and they are a true artifact of a game developer, but in many ways, they deserved their misfortune.

[@TainoMoya]

I hope they improve these flaws.

[@Exalted5581]

I love these documentaries you make, they’re very informative and very interesting to watch. I enjoyed this one and watch it all even though it was long. Thanks for the information and entertainment!

[@kyleminton9065]

This is really good. Looking forward to more mini-documentaries!

[@slamgolden3594]

Fantastic video. Rare to see an in-depth history like this, especially with japanese developers.

[@skins4thewin]

Freaking fantastic video man! One of the best and most detailed I've ever seen about a company I know little about, but was always very curious about due to all of the fantastic tracks I've head of theirs over the years. It's just a shame that most of their titles lay behind a language barrier that I will never be able to traverse.... We NEED more fan translations of their earlier works!

[@anthracite9253]

"a language barrier that I will never be able to traverse" : you should never say "never". ;-) I am myself learning Japanese for two years, especially in order to play Japanese games that may never be translated, all on my own without any teacher nor language school, and that is not that hard, with a good method, daily learning/practice and good ressources (and a solid and sincere motivation of course). This language seems difficult because it is so different of Western languages like French, German or English, but actually this is just a matter of different language logic. To give you an idea of my progress, I started to play in Japanese about 18 months ago : at first, I only played video games that I knew very well, only in order to train myself on reading the kana instead of trying to understand texts. Then, month after month, I slowly increased my comprehension's ambition by playing videogames in Japanese. I started to learn Japanese when I played Tengai Makyou The 4th Apocalypse on Saturn, sick and tired of waiting for an English translation that would never happen, as many, many, many other obscure Japanese video games on Saturn, PC Engine, PC88, PC98, and so. I applied the following "proverb" : when we meet a poor man, we can give him a fish which would feed him just one day, but if we teach him about to catch fishes, he would be feeded for his entire life. Same for me : waiting for an unofficial translation would satisfy me for just one game (if this translation is even released), but if I learn Japanese, I would be satisfied for EVERY Japanese game : that is a real "freedom" ! :-)

[@bornanime3255]

AGHHHHHHH THIS VIDEO IS SOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD!!!! I LOVE YOUR CONTENT DUDE🥺🥺 I've put a looooong hold on Legend of heroes Trails in the Sky, but I definitely need to pick it up again. The heavy text, lore and world building overwhelmed me in the early portion of the game tbh. Like, I had to get a notebook to write down all the details and read through my notes to make sure I followed what was going on. BUT YOUR VIDEO MADE ME SOOOOO PUMPED TO PICK IT UP AGAIN IT'S SO FRIGGIN GOOD. You're an amazing storyteller, with the way you collected all the history and information together to make an amazingly cohesive narrative whilst also being informative was MAGNIFICENT. I hope you'll make another one of these videos again😤 Anyways that's my 2 cents. I wish you all the best and God bless you my guy.

[@creekandseminole]

It's a good time to be a western Falcom fan right now. We're getting Trails Through Daybreak 1, Tokyo Xanadu ex for Switch, Ys X Nordics, and in 2025 were getting Trails Through Daybreak 2, Ys Oath in Felhgana remaster, and hopefully Trails Through Daybreak 3 aka Kai No Kiseki. Now we just need Trails of Cold Steel 1&2 for Switch brought over and Trails in the Sky trilogy to get brought to modern consoles.

[@ACE0fFAITH437]

This was a fantastic video! I have a long history with Falcom games. You taught me things I didn’t even know about a company I love. Subbed!

[@tchitchouan]

AMAZING DOCUMENTARY Been a fan of falcom for the longest time XANADU NEXT FTW

[@silly5905]

Great video! I didn't know so many of the current RPG masterminds used to be a part of Falcom. Also, seeing all those old animated shorts and artworks in that signature 80s and 90s artstyle is really making me long for the old days...

[@crystraiders356]

I'm watching this because Hazel gave it a shout out in her newest video and I'm so glad I did. This was a lovely watch

[@stephanemarsot2947]

I'm french and i was waiting for a so interesning and complete video with Nihon Falcom for subject. Thanks a lot this video was for me a wonderful moment i learned a lot of things on my favorite rpg franchise SO COOL!!!!

[@007MrYang]

I don't know why I put off watching your videos when they popped up in my recommended. I guess I was afraid I would be spoiled on Sen no Kiseki or Tokyo Xanadu lol. This is easily one of my favorite channels on youtube now. Keep up the good work!

[@MajorPhilGraves]

I have to admit I was completely oblivious to Falcom's rich history. What an informative, wonderfully executed video. Your presentation and editing skills are seriously impressive. Would love to see more if time allows. :)

[@SoShiBias]

This is both beautiful and sad at the same time. Appreciate the video for kind of painting a picture that the staffs are actually the pillars of a company. Really a company with titles that have very distinct, classic Japan flavor. I've came across Ark of Napishtim on the PS2 back in the days and only played Ys I & II Chronicle+ on the PC in the year 2020. They've effectively put my eyes on the company now and I'm glad they are still kicking their own way. Now I understand that the question of "What is the play order of the Ys series?" is never that straightforward of a question lol.

[@RewindArcade]

Excellent work, really enjoyed this! Definitely a company that gets forgotten way too often.

[@ScaryGarrySG1]

Tremendous job on this!

[@Victormunro]

Very nice! I'm really glad that Falcom never gave up during those hard times. Especially after losing their old employees. I know I would have. I would have never played the YS series if they gave up, and I really love the Ys series it's a blessing honestly!

[@misterkefir]

S-tier video my dude. Super interesting history and well delivered. Cheers!

[@zzasdfwas]

Growing up in America, my only contact with Falcom was very limited: playing a rented Legacy of the Wizard, or briefly watching someone play a pirated Ys game on computer, which I couldn't understand the text of. But I do remember them saying that it was a very good game and a very special game for those in the know, as it wasn't something you could buy here. Somehow that name stuck with me, and I finally picked up Ys Oath of Felghana multiple decades later on steam. Way before, I got my hands on a pirated Vantage Master V2, which is such a great game that I don't know how it didn't catch on more. The visual style really fit the limited capabilities of windows at the time, which was totally unsuitable for action rpgs which would better run on DOS. I think the limitation probably caused them to branch into the more strategic realm including Lord Monarch. It totally needs a sequel for mobile.

[@yousefalabed3846]

Man i have enjoyed your video more than some actual movies i have seen, absolutely great work !

[@RodrigoGarciaCarmona]

This is a truly outstanding video. Well researched and informative. Falcom is going through a resurgence right now, but you managed to point out both its historied past and its game design philosophy, and put everything in perspective. I've studied Falcom's history extensively but even I found things I didn't know in this video. Again, a great work.

[@sinigangs6999]

this was such a fantastic and in-depth video. i really enjoyed your voice and the way you were able to tell Nihon Falcom's history :)

[@Uranusfog]

This documentary-style video is an absolutely tremendous piece of work. It would be a proud moment for me when, hopefully, I shake your hand one day!

[@Kouryu]

Great video, thanks for the hard work. It's frustrating that so many of these games are not available outside of Japan :/

[@mission-toast]

Couldn't stop watching. Amazing!

[@Bole_ZG]

Excellent video. Watched whole video in one sitting is rare for me, but this is really informative video. Hope you will keep doing this!

[@RememberTheAGES]

What a fantastic video! I learned so much about a company that I have enjoyed mostly through the Ys series. Even though the video was nearly an hour long, I was fixated to watch more! Excellent work with everything, I loved this!

[@Diorphe]

Also your channel is great, happy to see someone making archives of such niche things, you have a subscriber for life.

[@ranzorr]

Great research and edition. As a longtime Falcom fan, I found this impressively thorough and informative.

[@MaxOVADrive]

Impressive amount of research went into this. Great mini-documentary!

[@SRUFUS3D]

Fantastic video, man. I learned much from it and it was very well researched and enjoyable to watch.

[@krizthulhu]

What a fun and educational watch! Thanks for this. :D My first exposure to a Nihon Falcom game was in the 80's with Legacy of the Wizard for NES (Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family). I loved that damn game. Today I am a huge Kiseki fan.

[@MaidenHell1977]

Hey dude, this was absolutely incredible. I've been a fan of Nihon Falcom since the early 90s when I was introduced to the Ys and Dragon Slayer games on the TurboGrafx and of course Faxandu on the NES. But this was fantastic, really had no idea so many great programmers and composers and artists worked for this company over the last 4 decades. Extremely informative, beautiful presentation and a joy to watch. Cheers dude!

[@aggelandro]

Thanks for the video! Very informative, a lot of details, well done.