Why I Loved Ys IX

[@TheKisekiNut]

Off to Brighton today, but wanted to get this out before I left. Hope you enjoy it!

[@neverstopmovingforwardfitn7277]

I wait for the day you do a video on Ys Oath in Filgana (probably misspelt it)😅😅

[@xDragonInstallx]

The freedom of movement and exploration made this game really fun. Plus the character designs were awesome. I've only played a few Y's games but this one is my favorite of the bunch.

[@NerevarineKing]

I think it was a fun diversion but I'm not likely to replay it. The areas/music just don't quite do it for me compared to other games in the series.

[@AceWing905]

I was waiting for this I know people don't like the smaller, mostly urban area, but I loved it specifically for that reason. There are so many games that do big open areas, but dense urban areas based on historic architecture AND designed with verticality in mind? Yeah, those are rare. (Assassin's Creed was one of the pioneers of this, before they too fell back on boring big open flat lands) And they are absolutely up my alley.

[@Kazuchi35]

I really liked Ys IX myself, a lot more than I thought I would. I pretty much agree with everything you said. At first I really didn't like the setting and I was hesitant to even buy the game. By the end, everything grew on me and I ended up loving it. Just like you, my personal favorite remains YS VIII, that game had everything and Dana will forever remain one of my favorite female characters ever.

[@Yusei255]

Ys VIII was trash though, the worst in the series.

[@acidwizard6528]

@@Yusei255 I disagree. Ys VIII had the most depth to it's battle mechanics of any Ys game as well as a fun cast of characters with only a few misses. The music is still great, and the multiple perspectives switching between Adol and Dana was a refreshing change from every other Ys game where you are always with Adol.

[@michaeljakeusman]

@@Yusei255 ys 8 best ys game in the series. followed by celceta and ys7.. ys9 for me below ys origin

[@Yusei255]

@@michaeljakeusman i wouldn't say Ys 8 was the best, when 9 is def better as it improves over every aspect of Ys 8 origin is still the better game.

[@Walamonga1313]

Agree. By the end of it I was having lots of fun and the ending was pretty nice

[@Nel_Annette]

When the game cut back to the prison the first time and showed a certain someone who shouldn't be in the prison at that point, I was hooked. Was genuinely wondering what was going on until the reveal, especially with monsters from Adol's previous adventures showing up. The twist itself was kind of "oh... it's just THAT trope", but I still enjoyed my time with it. Most of the characters were genuinely fun to play as too, so I was shuffling between them regularly instead of just sticking to Adol.

[@animesoul479]

That was what hooked me in too. Before that first cut to the prison I wasn't too on board story wise where Ys 8 had me hooked from the beginning. But after I was hooked and the game began making referrences to past games and letting the side characters shine I couldn't put it down until I beat it. The ending was just tugging at the heart strings there.

[@Nel_Annette]

@@animesoul479 Man, that part after the final fight, when you realize who those lights are... man, that was a great callback.

[@scottfrenz]

Yup same. It really threw me for a loop and I was hooked

[@rladudgns15]

Characters are always my favorite part of Ys series. Falcom was again successful at making me get emotionally invested into the characters, and that's all I asked from them. Great music, story, world building, and gameplay is just bonuses that I get. I can honestly consider Falcom games as 60 dollar albums, and i will still feel like I get more worth out of the money.

[@Hilversumborn]

I like this game because Erik the Red teams up with Jeanne D’Arc.

[@lnsflare1]

Fate/StaYs -Night- In Prison

[@fierytigergaming8112]

I was going to question what you meant, but yeah, Raging Bull has the same VA as Jeanne D'Arc

[@lnsflare1]

@@fierytigergaming8112 There's that, but there's also the spoiler reason of SPOILER Aprilis being their world's version of Joan of Arc.

[@S_F_S]

CATHOLIC GVNG RISE UP!! 🤝🏻🕊️✋🏻🙏🏻⚔️⚔️✝️✝️🕊️🕊️

[@helenFX]

I had so much fun with Ys 9 - Watching you video is making me incredibly nostalgic for Baldoc. I really, really love it when I get to know a fantasy city so well that I no longer look at the map to find my way around. Trista, Leaves, Baldoc, Heimdallr ( hell, all the kiseki cities lol)

[@Eggsnbaconbits.]

I'd gotten really deep into Falcom games over the last year, so when I got around to the Ys games I started with Ys 8 then went right into Ys 9. After having beat a few of the other Ys games I replayed 9 and it made it so much better being able to understand the many call backs it has to the other games. Great video, I've been watching your videos all through my Falcom journey so keep them up!

[@ACatHandler]

You were spot on when you said someone would like the bad song and vice versa, the bad song absolutely slapped while the other sounded generic lol

[@AliAlslaman]

9 is a great game and the only problem it came after the masterpiece 8. Had it been the other way around i doubt people would even debate which one is better.

[@Kruxx26]

A little late to your video but it just popped in my recommended section. I really loved this game. It felt like a love letter to the Ys Series. The callbacks, characters and ending were all great, in my opinion.

[@itsmeruka]

I'm really excited for Ys 10. Hoping they keep up the quality

[@roeland1441]

So, I've just finished playing the trails games. Took me a little over a year to play em all and now I bought this, cause I need a change of pace from turnbased jrpgs but I didn't wanna end my Falcom streak 😅 Edit: great channel btw. Definitely gonna subscribe and catch up on the older content too! 👊

[@frozenfury0]

Welcome, just got started with Y's this year myself, I've only played Y's Origins and definitely highly recommend it.

[@roeland1441]

@@frozenfury0 thanks for the tip! Apparently I already bought Origins before since it happens to be in my ps4 library 😅 I did play and beat Lacrimosa of Dana a few years back, but that was way before I fell into the Trails black hole... should probably replay it someday.

[@TheKisekiNut]

And now you can join us on the Reverie waiting platform!

[@roeland1441]

@@TheKisekiNut yes. And also that one action game with Towa's grandpa. 2023 is such a long wait though... 😔

[@jerry-sama2257]

Haha we are on the same boat Btw , after finishing all trails series (Waiting Hajimari with official English tho), but now im totally 100% Falcom Fans by playing all Ys series, leaving my Tales of Arise at chapter 2 😁😂

[@IamYasha10]

I do agree with how character focused this game was. They really did a good job of making me learn and care about all of the characters. Getting stuck in the city really helped because you started to get familiarized with everything, from important Locations to NPCs. Towards the later parts of the game I already know how to navigate and search for any places and people with ease as if I've lived there for years. I had teary eyes leaving Balduq behind and all of my amazing comrades in the end.

[@theultimategamer95]

This is my personal GOTY honestly. Might be biased due to being an Ys stan but I love this game so much. Edit (having actually watched now): lmao at you attempting Heaven's Run (5:28). Also wow, did NOT expect you to call Ys 9's story the best in the series, that's an unpopular opinion if I've ever seen one. I CAN agree with you on the ending though, actually made me tear up going through that epilogue, goddamn. I thought Oath's ending felt the most climatic and "complete" before this one came along tbh, did not expect it to hit that hard.

[@TheKisekiNut]

I've actually heard a lot of people enjoyed the story! It's without doubt the best in Ys so far in my eyes.

[@AceWing905]

Personally, I'd say at the very least it's tied with VIII. It's hard to really decide because they are very different stories. But I think it is by no means inferior. And yes. The epilogue was incredible. All in all this game left me very excited for the next Ys, whenever it comes.

[@theultimategamer95]

@@TheKisekiNut Yeah same, but you're one of the only people I've really seen say it's better than 8 (I too think 8's is better, but still really enjoy 9's). Power to you for honesty though.

[@TheKisekiNut]

@@theultimategamer95 Quite a few people have told me that they didn't like Ys VIII's story, which was always strange to me. The general consensus seemed to be around the true ending.

[@theultimategamer95]

@@TheKisekiNut Huh. The Ys fanbase is interesting tbh. I can understand not liking that true ending though, it's pretty badly written imo (though still really feelsy).

[@SupriceSupplies]

I can't really express how much I came to love Ys IX by the time I finished it. Not only did it become my favourite Ys game, but it also dethroned Sky SC as my favourite game of all time. While I definitely have some minor issues with the game (The presentation, both visual and OST being a step down from VIII; as well as a particular issue I have with how one plot point was resolved in the ending.), I felt like it's the most fun to play Ys game yet, the City of Balduq is a fantastic setting, and it's the first Ys game where I actively liked every party member instead of being indifferent to or disliking at least one of them. The sidequests were great as well. It's a game I'll gladly look back on in the years to come. It's simply fantastic all the way through and I have no doubt I'll end up replaying it at one point or another.

[@fierytigergaming8112]

Really? I honestly found the facial graphics more expressive (Probably because they actually have details in them, i.e. tears aren't static like they are in the Trails games)

[@austinlawrence6987]

Ys 9 was the first Ys game i played and i love it, so much so it got me interested in the other Ys games.

[@warrenhammer7262]

We played through this with co-op. The beginning of the game was very slow, but as soon as you got the flight power. The game got 1000x better. It's so much fun climbing and flying around, even more fun with your friend. The characters are cool too, I love how all the characters felt very distinct in their attacks and feel. We have this character with a long hammer and a spell caster with awesome ranged attacks, yet despite having range, he wasn't overpowered and I still used other characters. These guys need to make more, I would love to see a LOTR or even super hero game made in this way.

[@fierytigergaming8112]

7:27 Something I noticed when I started the game for the second time yesterday was that White Cat had a different tone to her voice, almost as if she was trying to hide herself. Whereas, after the reveal, she started talking more in her normal tone as if to show that she was helping in her own way, instead of her old "Steal from the rich, and give to the poor" mindset

[@Veo87]

Glad you liked it! I loved it and the characters, thought it doesn't have the special place in my heart that Ys 8 has. What I like about this one is that it's sort of the Ys version of "The Avengers" or "Justice League." You and a team of people are superheroes, each with your own special abilities, and you have "alter ego's" that allow you to freely move around the city without people recognizing you. You go around helping people with their smaller issues and saving the city from much bigger issues like superheroes do. The city itself is not the most aesthetically pleasing place in the Ys series, but it definitely makes this superhero theme work. A couple of the "what are they doing now" pictures in the end credits literally made me cheer out loud. That's how invested I was in the characters. So, I definitely loved the ending too. Man, after experiencing the endings of Ys 8 and Ys 9, imagine how disappointed I was at the really sudden ending of Memories of Celceta. . . lol I REALLY hate that this game doesn't have any artwork or extras like that in the main menu after you finish the game. Ys 8 did, but not Ys 9. This was really disappointing to me, because some of the end credit art was good. The game runs perfectly on PS5 as well

[@LightMageMike]

I know I've kinda been commenting a lot on old videos recently, and sorry about that, just found the channel, but this is one I have to say because man did I love Ys 9. It was my first game in the series, but it caught me so hard that I put it down halfway through because I wanted to get more of the background and dive deeper in the lore of the setting before finishing the story. And yeah, that was such a strength of the game. Stuff like when the Avalodragil showed up as a boss and I immediately recognized it from 8 or the little details like the voices in the Azure Petals subquest. Even a while after having finished the game, the ending still blows me away in how satisfied I felt with it all. Especially because something that could have otherwise felt like a Deus Ex Machina moment with the circumstances surrounding the Egg of Draupnir came across as natural and even earned. And the way that each character's ending felt just perfect, from the fact that Credo was the only one who refused to say goodbye or that you can see the Dandelion crew in the audience of Yufa's wedding. And even the main villain, who definitely wasn't as prominent in the main story as, say, Chatelard, played with the lines of villain in an interesting way. While he certainly needed to be stopped, you can tell that he never really intended to do anything bad (Mostly. He was certainly unforgiving to those he felt betrayed him). It's stuck with me in a way that a lot of other games haven't and I just love that. Especially since that's actually something that soured me a bit to 8, since there is one particular detail of the ending that I found fairly unforeshadowed and frankly unnecessary to the conclusion of the story except in a kind of circular 'its necessity exists because of its presence' sense which left me a little bit unsatisfied. Like, I do struggle to say which is better between 8 and 9. I think that 8 is the technically better game, there are some minor quality of life things I found lacking in 9 (why did they swap the mapping of the attack and swap character buttons, why don't they mark gather points on the map, why are the Flash bars so small now, etc.) and there wasn't a character whose playstyle grabbed me like Laxia's did. But 9 does have a slight (and I will emphasize slight) edge in the way the story and characters left me satisfied. Either way it leaves me hyped for the next leg of Adol's journey (even though I know 10 is supposed to be chronologically earlier). With all of the build up that's happened so far, I can't wait for the inevitable final confrontation between Adol and the Romn Empire. I look forward to seeing who they'll bring, whether as a side character or a party member. I wonder how he'll end up losing Tir na Nog. And I hope that Credo and Geis get more members for their 'Adol Christin Rival Support Group' / mercenary corp.

[@rodelcorton8815]

Wow thx for this commentary video i have a new outlook on ys ix thanks to this.I also played the whole ys series and trails thx to your videos and commentaries so thank you for providing the effort and time to make your videos good and enjoyable to watch.

[@evil_cupcake2386]

I heard that Ys IX is not that well recieved than Ys VIII, but when I played it, I was so immersed in this world. Though the pacing for the story is not best, it's still a good story and one of the twists near the end was really interesting. And Falcom finally learned how to properly end Ys games after Ys VIII. Not just "defeat the final boss and here's the end credits", but proper endings. And when I was saying goodbye to the city of Balduq, it was so bitter-sweet. In terms of gameplay it's also pretty good. I get that visually it's not the best game and the city is not that interesting as the island from VIII, but it's not any less interesting to explore. And monstrum gifts is not only good idea, but also nicely implemented. OST is fine, but yeah, it's not that great as in VIII, which I think has most dope OST of them all. Though the "Dandelion's Journey" and "New Life" was kind of tracks, that I missed in Ys VIII. Overall I had a blast playing Ys IX and I really don't know how Falcom doing it. No matter how many flaws their games have, you just don't really mind them, because the overall adventure is always great fun.

[@krisnantoprayogosantoso4033]

Ys IX starts the adventure inside a town/city is actually very observant about Ys old traditions. Ys I, II, III, IV, V, VI, and SEVEN opens Adol adventure while exploring a city or a village. It was Ys VIII that broke the tradition by starting on a ship where we could control Adol, ending in a tutorial boss battle. And then, soon after that we control him exploring the wilds.

[@scottfrenz]

Excellent video! I also enjoyed Ys IX and loved the characters. And I agree Ys VIII is a masterpiece

[@johngratton2301]

You say immeasurable better but immediately told us you could measure the difference!

[@curtisalanmcgee]

As long as Dogi is around, I'm in.

[@radianttrails939]

Great vid, also the sketches you do are awesome, really funny and make your shit stand out. Stoked I found your channel, good work man

[@chariothe9013]

That ending song made me cry…. And i cried harder when i saw Doll in the ending, i was like where is my Doll? where is her? why she isn’t there to see Adol off? But omg i can’t put it in to words of how much happiness i got from seeing her(Yeah, in new form, a human) in the ending movie. Best story! This game takes the 1st place in my heart. I love every characters, the Balduq city too.

[@miguelgonzalez6495]

I was very sad to have finished the story. And so many sad backstories too. Doll is precious. ☺️

[@fierytigergaming8112]

Something about that ending makes me hope we see the Monstrums again in a later game, given the amount some of them changed in the epilogue, plus these are the ACTUAL people now, not homunculi like the others

[@fierytigergaming8112]

It most likely won't happen though, given how the games throw old characters into the backburner when the game finishes (Exceptions being Griselda in YS IV + YS VIII, and the brief cameos in YSIX)

[@juampabenja7618]

I loved it! Even more than Ys VIII. Exploration in the city was great , finding secrets, collectible items, jumping from one roof to another. Also loved the underground structure, how it was design. As for the OST , liked Ys IX better than VIII .... maybe 'cause i'm a metal head xD And as you mentioned , since it was my 2nd Ys game, i felt there're many references i missed (specially that moment with the voices). Si now i'm starting from Ys 1 to see everything.

[@Walamonga1313]

Odd I'm a metalhead too (just look at my pfp lol) but I thought VIII's ost was perfect whereas this one was good but not amazing

[@alanwattie6093]

Just finished Atelier Lydie and Suelle yesterday and will be playing this next. Only played Ys 8 so far but excited to get back into the series.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Currently playing Sophie as we speak.

[@Gintokioddjobscorp]

I started with Ys seven on PSP one of my friend gave to me and i saw the trailer for it went to Gamestop and brought when I played it I was instantly hooked the characters music and combat I loved then I play YS 1 and 2 to 8 and finally playing Ys 9 felt like it was worth the wait and I'm glad they mention stuff in lacrimosa Altago put a smile on my face I can't wait until Falcom announces Ys X one day because i'll be ready for it.

[@miguelgonzalez6495]

Your reviews are always amazing dude. 👍

[@nicholasyoung1000]

Definately one of my favourite games I’ve played this year! It’s not quite YS:8, but I thought it was still loads of fun!

[@Yusei255]

Ys VIII wasn't even all that good though. it was complete Garbage.

[@cidfacetious3722]

@@Yusei255 then why are you here?

[@AliAlslaman]

can't beat Dana

[@exis3383]

Seeing Geis at the end credits gave me a shock and a smile when I finish the game

[@jbmsonicxd]

This was my second Ys game, like a week after VIII.. And I love it, now, I have played both Celceta and VII, but this is still my favourite, IX was the game that made me love Falcom, the one that pushed me to try Trails and fall in love with it, I will never forget my adventure in Balduq

[@Jack_80]

trails in the sky is what made me love falcom. also a game called nayuta, that's basically an ys game with a different world and characters. for whatever reason i could never fully get into ys, but nayuta hooked me real quick. i am finally getting into ys, i'm over 40 hours into 8 and really enjoying it, but it'll never compare to trails or nayuta for me. but if you love ys you should definitely try out nayuta if you haven't. not sure if there's an official english version, i played a fan translation for psp on my phone with a ps4 controller.

[@PLANTBAT]

Ys VIII will always be hard to top, but IX is just fantastic and the best action game to come out since then.

[@dennisbergkamp17]

I agree with your points here. Great Ys game, not quite as good as Ys Vlll, but still very good. Also, did this game feel surprisingly…short to anyone else ? Even with all the exploration and side quests, I still managed to beat this game in around 40 hours. I swear Ys Vlll felt way longer. Hell, Tokyo Xanadu took me longer to beat.

[@TheKisekiNut]

I think that's a testament to how good the game is. 40 hours is still fairly lengthy, and it went by like a breeze!

[@fierytigergaming8112]

Well, it helps the fact that the map's smaller - while YS VIII was focused around an entire island, YSIX just centred around Balduq and the outskirts, on top of that there's the powers to make the trips easier (Especially White Cat and Hawk in particular)

[@marc-ap4699]

I played it on PS5 before the patch and it run flawlessly but it was crashing if I was using fast travel too fast , the SSD was a double edge blade lol ! I loved it too and it push me to play all previous Ys games to fully get that little ending with the lights/ghost. 8 will always be my fav Ys but 9 was really close behind ! Great review !

[@outkastshadowking2719]

No, it isn't the SSD causing that, it poor optimization.

[@CtheIronblooded]

I typed up an almost 2000 word review on the game when I first finished it. Masterpiece of a game, Falcom once again proving they're the best at what they do. If Lost Judgment didn't release this year Ys IX would've been my GOTY. Ys IX took all the best things Ys VIII laid the groundwork for and amplified them to 11, adding an even greater emphasis on story, world-building and character development while staying true to the series lightning fast gameplay and infectiously catchy music along with incredible metroidvania-like exploration makes Ys IX not only the strongest entry in the Ys series to me, but an instant classic and an all time favorite. The time I spent in the prison city of Balduq with Adol and friends is not something I'll be forgetting any time soon and I'm already greatly anticipating Adol's next big adventure.

[@mediaglitch]

Any Ys fan gets my sub. I love the series and this was a great installment.

[@alexmorpheus6762]

I played the demo version of Ys IX: Monstrum Nox. The exploration, usage of different skill attacks, boosts, the character designs, boss fights, flying mechanics and movement style made this game really awesome!!! The only thing I wished they could have created is exploring outside the dungeons frequently. Apart from this, it's almost a perfect game. Hope they keep up the quality and bring more features in the upcoming game, Ys X.

[@alexmorpheus6762]

I played it on my PC. It was really immeasurably better.

[@tyrantravealpha]

I loved Balduq and it's residents. Of the main cast I felt the only character who's arc was abit weak was Yufa. I still like her alot, she just doesn't get as much of a personal struggle. Also Krysha is precious and must be protected.

[@fierytigergaming8112]

ikr, that's the main reason I regretted completing the game XD

[@Fhashyl]

I played Ys IX for the first time on a Ps4 Pro and didn't have any of the aforementioned performance issues. Now that I am playing it again on my laptop, the only issue I have is that it takes a bit longer to load as compared to my Ps4 Pro. I'm happy to see another person talking about YS IX. This game is so good.

[@RaifSeverence]

I to played on my PS4 pro initially and the only issue I noticed was the framerate in town ran lower than everywhere else.

[@thyruos6499]

Just recently cleared this on lunatic, done three play through. Really enjoyed it, and is only the second Ys game I ever played, first one being on the SNES years ago. Going to get Ys 8 soon now.

[@Abraham10777]

Immediately closed the video's tab after hearing there are spoilers, thanks for the heads up, just came back to comment and give it a like.

[@amberoveranalyzes8322]

Nice review! Ys IX is the first Ys game I played (working on 8 now after the fact) and I loved the vertical-ness(?) of the game. I thought the prison city aspect was really cool as well :)

[@juststeve2579]

This was my first ys game. I've been wanting to try and I have to say I fell in love with it. I had a good time and it was fun. Now im playing ys backwards and started ys 8 which in also enjoying.

[@Acidrain82]

Ys 8 was the first Ys game i played and may complete the game one day

[@outkastshadowking2719]

I'm skipping Y's IX and waiting for Y's X. Perhaps, it'll combine the best aspects of previous games while adding tons of new changes then it can become a evolutionary step forward like Persona 5 and Tales of Arise. I hope the dungeons aren't too wide and big, but smaller or medium size like previous games.

[@Nachtmahr616]

It was the first game in a long time I actually finished with everything done. At first I refunded it when I found out that the whole game is 1 city, but I thought "hey but it's Ys, there must be more to it", and ended up loving it more than the generally preferred 8. 8 felt a bit stretched with the raids and hunts and took me 20h longer, and I had to sigh when there were like 10 more raids & hunts in the last chapter lol. 9 waves felt like torture

[@Consola260]

I'm playing this game right now and came in with fairly low expectations given all I had heard. Yet I find myself loving every minute of it. I love the music, the combat, the intringue; I love how they reference previous games and this is the culmination of Adol's adventures so far. Graphics look great to me at nearly-maxed settings on PC. I like that that they brought back some of the best things from VIII (a convenient base with shops and quests, raid system, material trading, and many others). I'm loath to bring up/compare with a different franchise, but to me Ys IX is to Ys what Twilight Princess was to Zelda: more dark, more "goth", just different from the rest of the series. Yet it's one of my very favourite Zelda games. (But Ys has taken my top spot as "favourite Action RPGs" )

[@creekandseminole]

I have this on the Switch and despite the technical issues it's still a fantastic game and I can't wait to play Ys X whenever that comes out.

[@ct2651]

Well i have heard that unless you have a great pc or a ps5, theres technical problems in the city, sadly.

[@suntzu4607]

White Cat made the enemy weakness feature amd switching obsolete with her high damage and high speed skills even at disadvantage. She’s that strong

[@chickenfillets]

I completed this on Switch the other day and everything you've said is 100% correct!

[@greygravesVT]

I quite literally finished Ys9 the day this vid came out.

[@morriganrenfield8240]

Finally got ys9, after trying ys8 multiple times and not getting into it I’ve finally felt what others do with falcom titles here. It’s just amazing honestly! And even the world setting? I prefer it over ys8! It honestly feels like assassins creed 1 and an action jrpg had a freaking baby! Thankfully it runs smoothly on ps5 ^.^ also the ost is amazing, the inns song? I’m pretty sure they got inspiration from the beach town in ff7, unless I’m remembering that song wrong

[@neverstopmovingforwardfitn7277]

I have been waiting for this video 👏👏👏👏👏

[@deathcabdanh]

just found this channel - love it!

[@TheKisekiNut]

Thanks bro, welcome aboard!

[@mrphokam]

Ys9 is my first game of the series. And it’s very impressive. Feel like GTA with different setting.

[@Particle_Ghost]

Yea I don't know. It's not bad but the world is so small compared to 8 and it's way to easy. The entire game feels like one big bulletin board with fetch quests, it's a massive drop in quality and it has a much smaller budget.

[@advmx3]

To me the only issue with YS IX ending is that Falcom really expects me to know the voices at the end of the game without having most of those voices dubbed before in any language, AND by not allowing me to see their names the only way to know who is who is to check a wiki, EVEN IF I played all YS games apart from V. XD I mean, I knew who the girls probably were, and one of the guys but I would never expect DF to be one of them! XDDD Now about Adol loving an adventure, this game is the one that expresses it the most. The more you do the more you see him happy and excited to do something new, the fact that the models are the most expressive of all of the games so far helps a lot.

[@salsamonkey65]

The Switch port is really rough, but I still finished the game on there anyway

[@Excalibur01]

Same. I got it for the portable feel

[@TheKisekiNut]

Ah good, I heard it wasn't great but never experienced that myself.

[@Excalibur01]

@@TheKisekiNut It's not perfect and definitely 30 frames at most but like with 8, I'm having fun but apparently every time I mention the graphics of this series everyone attacks me instead of seeing how Ys design is pretty old. It feels more like a well done PS3 game than a PS4 game in both graphics and gameplay. I know graphics isn't always a thing but you would think the developers would somewhat make their games look like Tales of Arise by now

[@arcanegale285]

Just recently I finished playing Ys IX, it was the first one in the series I've played (well I played Origins briefly but I didn't like it so I dropped it) and I LOVED the game. I wanted to say something the gifts. Adol+Krysha made me feel like Spiderman (obviously badass) Credo's was fine, it was just traversal Anemona's was pretty much constantly active cuz it was very useful but then the two black sheep come in... Yufa and Jules' ones are there just for the sake of being there Yufa's was unusable in combat despite it being a heavy attack, because of how slow it was And Jules I didn't have any more spots on my controller to utilize properly (my start and select buttons are dead) but even so it felt strange whenever I used it, I realize it can be a valuable asset for dodging attacks and stuff, but still it felt off. I am of the opinion that if you kill your enemy before the need to dodge/ tank hits comes you should do it. Because of such a playstyle, the final dungeon was such a cakewalk (set up Adol with the Crown of Dawning and the Holy Sword's Hilt and just use Vermilion Scythe over and over, nothing posed a threat)

[@windrunner8497]

I like both the ost. One was adventure. The other was more designed for the blitz and go music during town battles which was why I feel it fitted ys 9 and was okay.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Exactly, some people would prefer this OST. It's all a matter of tastes. I'm just more a fan of the renditions similar to the likes of Celceta, Ys VIII or Oath.

[@AndreaMusso99]

This is probably my favorite game in the series, I honestly dont know how an eventual YS X is gonna top this :v

[@TheKisekiNut]

I'll be surprised if it's not an Ys game announced at the shareholder meeting. Whether it's Ys X or an Ys V remake though is unknown.

[@RaifSeverence]

I've heard that 9 is the last one with a party based system. So I suspect they're going to change up ys 10 by going back to the old school solo adventurer. (Since Kuro no kiseki took the current Ys party based combat system and fused it with the Trails turn based system. And honestly I'd like for falcom to have 10 take place in Esteria. 10 years after Ys took place. On the new engine they have

[@crimson6172]

Agree with you that Ys 8 is better, I picked that game up last year with zero expectations and was blown away so I was really excited with Ys 9. When I found out the setting was in a city I was a bit disappointed like you but Balduq actually exceeded our expectations hey. The prison had that mysterious atmosphere that is begging to be explored and I really dig that. You made a good point about the setting needed to be in a prison city for the Monstrums gift to be used, I thought it was because Falcom just wanted a change from the Ys 8 setting of being in nature. Again comparing with Ys 8 I didn't like how the enemies was based off people's 'malevolence' though because it reminded me of Tales of Zestiria and in my opinion it's lazy writing which I hope it doesn't appear again in future titles. It's a HUGE downgrade from the coolness of the primordials in Ys 8. I think 8 had a better storyline, better setting as the isle of seiren is really well designed and better characters too. Overall though yes I agree Ys 9 is a great addition to the series, it does its job well in being the latest adventure on Adol's timeline. Definitely an unmissable entry if you're a fan of the series.

[@danielwerner86]

I think Ys IX was a solid game (at least a 8/10 for me), but I couldn't help getting a DLC-feeling about the game. It just feels like Ys VIII but on another map. Most mechanics feel copy-pasted, but worse since we've seen them before. Also, Ys VIII is one of the best games I've played since the old school Final Fantasies, so I probably had hyped the game up for myself a bit too much.

[@TheKisekiNut]

I think that's the issue, it's very easy to compare the game to Ys VIII because of how similar it is from a gameplay standpoint. It's probably why Falcom are shifting the formula going forward.

[@Sergeantmajormario]

My major issues with IX is it feels like it's banking off VIII's hype too much, especially when you have stuff like the Nox raids and giving meals and gifts to people. I mean I get it, but in IX the characters REALLY like Adol and thank him for everything when most of their stuff he either didn't do or didn't do alone. It makes the heart-to-hearts not feel as worth it as they did in VIII. However, VIII had Sir Carlan, the bane of my existence, and IX had Chante, who has 0 flaws whatsoever and is just the perfect man. I get that it's made on the same engine as VIII and so some things they kept in because there was nothing else to do in terms of extra coding, but I still think they could've done some thing to give the game it's own unique gameplay identity I did also play the Switch version, it was okay, chugged in some areas but still playable. The framerate was 30 about 98% of the time, though in some rare cases it did reach 60

[@gespenstrv2850]

I guess now you can call him the Crimson Captain after all, once YsX releases😄

[@galihriskipratama3631]

I think the developer of ys8 playing persona 5 a lot, even they influenced so much in ys9, the prisoner, the theme, the 2 personas that you must play both (monstrum) I dont mean it in a bad way, but I just miss the plain green world of ys games, that what makes ys8 is so good because it reminds us a lot from the first and second ys games

[@fattiger6957]

I find it hard to choose between Ys IX and Ys VIII. Ys IX has better gameplay and I like the wider cast of characters. However, I absolutely adore the plot and setting of Ys YIII. All the flashbacks with Dana pulled me into the story more. Both have weird, giant overarching plots, but Dana's was weirder and gianter. I guess I choose Ys VIII because of the story.

[@fierytigergaming8112]

Whereas YS IX's version of the flashbacks is a cut back to Balduq Prison with human Adol, you mean?

[@AliAlslaman]

i agree, Dana herself is a big factor of enjoyment in Ys8.

[@momzilla2010]

Been playing YS games since the 90s

[@wodensthrone5215]

I played this on ps5, locked 60fps and 4k? Or some form of higher resolution rendering The poor Switch performance is because Falcom always out sources Switch development but they stopped doing this with YS10. Hopefully that means future YS games will run better on Switch.

[@fierytigergaming8112]

15:37 Ah yes, Ingrid left me with a headache after every claim. Seems Balduq doesn't have the "Innocent until proven guilty" system if everything they based it on was pure speculation

[@MakeAmericaLiftAgain]

Awesome game, just finished it on PS4.

[@Gnidel]

My only issue with the game is Nox meter. I would have played the game in exactly same way without it, but it made me feel much more limited.

[@banjo9225]

I played ys 9 on my ps5 and had no framerate issues

[@Excalibur01]

PS4 pro was pretty good

[@TheKisekiNut]

I remember PS4 Slim being pretty bad. It's one of the reasons why I wanted to play it again on PC.

[@banjo9225]

@@TheKisekiNut well it certainly beats the painful Nintendo switch version launch, that's for sure

[@emmettracine8310]

While I do agree with most of the points in this review, I didn't exactly come away feeling very satisfied with the game. Might be that me being a dumb idiot trying to play this game on my 10 year old rig caused me a lot of issues, but I soldiered on through. But the biggest thing I think is I kinda just didn't get super invested in the narrative as much as I thought I would. Something about what I played kinda just turned my brain off from the characters. Maybe it was hearing Yufa continuously saying things like "What?" or "So he's ... " over and over again. Not to say I didn't like her or any of the cast, but I dunno it just felt severely underwhelming in the character department possibly due to the writing or something. Like the characters TALK about how much Adol changed the city or TALKING about how close these characters are or how nice these people are despite already making that clear. Like they are showing these things but they also feel the need to tell me these things too. I dunno weird stuff. It's deffinetly not a bad game, like I said I wouldn't necessarily disagree with a lot of the points in the video, yet I still came away from it mostly dissatisfied. YS VIII just did pretty much everything better, and funnily enough the game couldn't stop reminding me how much more I liked Ys VIII as well, plus I could tell I was missing out on a lot of references too. Good game but underwhelming in the end.

[@ronwisegamgee]

I agree with a lot of the assessment made in this video. With regards to the crafting in this game, while it was great that you were able to upgrade accessories, I felt that the constantly updating shops made enhancing your weapons a waste in materials, since you can get the better batch in the following chapter. Even with everyone's final weapons, having those as the only ones worth enhancing was kind of meh.

[@isaacconner8622]

I started on switch and the frame rate was awful. So i popped it into play PS5 and it ran great. Loved this game!

[@Walamonga1313]

Just beat it today. The starting 10 or so hours weren't hooking me tbh. Didn't really like the locations at first. Thankfully from chapter 3 or so it got way more varied and interesting. I also had some really weird and random framedrops at times (where I'm playin perfectly fine at 60 then it just starts dying, not because of effects on screen or anything) BUT I'll blame my craptop for that. The story in particular got quite interesting in the last 3 or so chapters. Also the soundtrack wasn't as great imo, but still pretty good. Thankfully the gameplay is still fun as hell and that's the most important thing.

[@SeveredLegs]

The ending was very good but you can't tell me that it was better than the true ending to 8.

[@lnsflare1]

I think that the last chapter felt a bit rushed, like it should have been expanded into two, or even three, chapters to give some new detail. Like, was the Draupnir even hinted at in more than that one scene? Still a great game, though I still prefer Ys 8 as a more polished and complete story to Ys 9: Balduq Xanadu. Also, while I agree that the Monstrum are overall better characters than the castaways, the titular Dana is still pretty solidly the best party member Adol has ever had (with Ys 7's Dogi being a distant second, maybe), and possibly the best character in the franchise altogether. That said, I wouldn't say no to DLC or a future remake letting you play as Aprilis, who by all accounts should have been fighting alongside you the entire time, or at least from the halfway point. Oh, and I was really disappointed by how much of a downgrade the Grimwald missions were compared to the various raids in Ys 8, what with the basic ones just dumping clumps of heavily palette swapped Lemures practically in your lap, over and over, when compared to the much more visually distinct (including the palette swaps, since they weren't all using the same pallets with different, but still pretty damn similar, patterns that tend to blur into an indistinct mass when in the middle of an Ys-style fight) primordials whose placements were much more curated. The lacrima Noxes we're better, but still just a poor man's Lair Raid, and there was nothing analogous to the night raids whatsoever.

[@fierytigergaming8112]

Definitely, since we don't know when YS X will be released

[@AliAlslaman]

well said. Dana is just at another level compared to all other Adol friends.

[@Olphas]

I was looking forward to this very much since I absolutely loved Ys 8. Started it at release (was okay on a PS4 Pro) but .. it just did not grip me. Then something else must have come up and it is still unfinished to this day. I think I played about 10-15 hours before this? I do intend to go back some day and play the whole thing but initially it was a bit of a let down for me.

[@TheKisekiNut]

I think you should give it another whirl. It didn't grip me massively on my first playthrough, it was the second one (on an admittedly better platform) that sold it for me.

[@Olphas]

@@TheKisekiNut Yeah, that is still the plan. :)

[@Kaslo25]

Strange, I didn't feel performance issues on PS4 Pro that I can remember.

[@animesoul479]

I played on a regular ps4 and really only had some lag during large mob fights where lots of enemies flooded the screen at once.

[@NovaSniper12]

Well….that’s because it was on the pro lol I played the game on my pro before I got the ps5 and it worked excellently from what I recall.

[@Moffattt]

before watching the video i gotta say that nox was a good game but i feel like it falls short compared to dana. the world feels smaller (idk if it is) because you are mostly confined to a big city instead of a vast island or a world with multiple towns and cities. and not only that, am i the only one who thinks the movement is different? it feels way slower than the movement in dana. i got used to it eventually but in the start it just felt wrong. and the progression in this game was not all that well made, grinding mobs to get enough of the soul type things to open the next area you need to go to is far worse than exploring and finding other members of the ship to continue the story. again, nox was a good game but i cant help but feel a bit disapointed in it

[@Magus427]

I think the movement issue depends on what system you play it on. I imagine if you play Ys IX on PS5 (like I did) or PC (if you have a pretty good setup), you won't have the "slowdown" issues. I didn't have any issues, but I heard that people who played on PS4 had issues at times and obviously Switch version is 30fps (not 60fps) so combat may feel slower there as well.

[@Moffattt]

@@Magus427 i didnt have any issues on the combat (ps4) moreso the movement, the dodging felt slower. the speed you got from jumping was slower as you could "bunnyhop" to gain pretty fast speed in dana but not in nox. this might have been something that changed between games as nox gameworld is smaller therefore not in need of faster movement options considering we got a grappling hook, wings to fly with and wallrunning

[@maevtr3922]

Do i need to have played others in the series to enjoy this?

[@armakeen3576]

no

[@fierytigergaming8112]

NGL, after playing this after YS VIII, the interrogation scene made me roll my eyes harder than when I last played through IX (Before starting 8)

[@larcek.giglamesh]

it's a pretty good game for sure, but the sudden limitation in exploration and the sudden increase in plot sequences made the game feel more like some other story heavy series instead of the rather quick paced, action intensive Ys i came to love. even though the game offered sequences like breaking out prisoners, we do not get to actually escort them out, even though escort missions had been a part of many game entries. i'm also not much a fan of the gifts, since they are granted to the whole party once aquired, it makes them still act out more like the artifacts we've known before, instead of providing challenges by being required to play certain characters at times. if they had also limited dungeons to 3 characters only instead of the whole party, the whole gift system could have given reasons to replay dungeons alot more, instead you just playthrough them once by story and at best on some side quests. also some of these gifts are massively underused in the overworld with the best movement type gifts (including adols double jump) being granted very early. battles definetly are enjoyable and i actually enjoyed every character more (in story and battle) than in previous titles, even the expeditions felt better fit into the whole concept then on Ys8. as for music and graphics, i'm all in with you. overall i enjoyed Ys9 alot, but not as much as Ys8. though one gotta remember that the initial release of Ys8 had many dungeons and the Dana Sequences removed. if we were to compare those 2 initial releases, they'd likely even out alot more. so even though it's unlikely to ever happen, if we had given the chance to play (in battle or additional plot sequences) Aprilis, Ys9 might have become alot more enjoyable as well.

[@fierytigergaming8112]

And a costume of normal Renegade (Since he was able to walk in the epilogue)/ Human Anemona

[@Excalibur01]

I was making King Crimson Jojo jokes the whole time

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

The OST was spot on. I liked the “bad” song better 😂

[@firebreather4192]

I think it's a mixed bag. It has one if not he best story of an Ys game so far and it also has got the best cast of characters, but the emphasis on storytelling harms the overall pacing, which is much too slow for an Ys game. I agree on your opinion concerning the soundtrack, there are some great tracks like "Cloaka Maxima" but overall this game needs more of them. The setting is dreary, but nevertheless it is the right setting for what this game tries to achieve and I did really enjoy the monstrum gifts. In the end it might be the best Ys game from a narrative standpoint but it is flawed when it comes to the great strengths of the series.

[@TheKisekiNut]

There's the thing, I place more importance on narrative even in Ys. It's a testament that the Ys games generally have good plots even if they are lacking in complexity, but Ys IX was a real step forward on that front. I personally welcome that.

[@firebreather4192]

@@TheKisekiNut Yeah I think it comes down to what you expect from an Ys game and which elements are important for you. Even though VIII is my overall favourite Ys game I prefer the approach of the Napishtim era games.

[@holyheretic3185]

The switch verison is a crime considering how great ys 8 was on it. The farm area your framerates just drop to decimals. And for some reason they made all the text like 1/4 the size of the ps4 verison it's Soooo hard to play.

[@kani-licious]

nice to see you praising jindo's track and not singa lol

[@あいさく-c3t]

I have very mixed feelings for Ys IX. I felt that it was better on a lot of points regarding previous Ys games, but at the same time disappointing. First, regarding the characters and the story. It's true that it's the first Ys to go that deep in the chara dev., at least with so much side characters (because Dana in Ys VIII is still at the top). They tried to bring what was kinda lacking in previous Ys games, which were heavily focused on just action gameplay and adventure (with a story that is more a secondary topic). And it began very well, with Adol going to prison, the mystery around Balduq… The whole plot is in fact turning around this mystery and finding a way to break free by solving it. But here is the problem: there was almost nothing regarding story progression for the first 2/3 of the game (until you go to this dungeon after the last Monstrum joined your team). I remember myself reacting “What !? Already finished ?? It’s just started!” when I first cleared the game. And my second playthrough with the PC release confirmed my reaction. And it’s a shame because the last third is really solid. So what are those first 2/3 of the game for ? Well, it’s just introducing each Monstrum. And one per chapter, in a lazy and linear way. Having more than a half of the game focused on introducing the characters may has its good side, and The Kiseki Nut already spoke about it in the video so I won’t just repeat it, but it’s still average in “quality”. For an Ys game it seems very good, but when you know what Falcom is capable of for other games… One problem here is that when you end a chapter focusing on one particular character, you forget him for almost the rest of the story, only minor progression here and there (with an exception made for Anemona maybe). It’s really sad for Jules for example, who joined the team way too late imo. Anyway, if you’re used to play Falcom games/games overall and a bit interested in game development, you easily guess that Ys 9 has been rushed in it’s development to keep the “one game per year” ratio (kinda the same with Hajimari but it’s another topic). Worst OST of all Falcom games overall, lack of game optimization, lazy story telling/construction, huge elements of past gameplay re-used (hum Grimwald night hum)… My overall feeling is that Falcom tried to go further on several points but ended rushing almost everything. Soooo yeah, I can’t say I loved Ys IX, especially after the masterpiece that is Ys VIII, but at least it stays strong in its already strong aspects and the last third of the story is really rewarding.

[@Walamonga1313]

Funny how you specifically mentioned "the last third". I just replied to someone else here in the comments talking about how that last third of the game was great. I guess I'm not alone in feeling that that was the best part of the game

[@yojimbo26]

Strange to hear that a multi platform game is more optimized for PC then for consoles. PC gamers used to get the short end of the stick, especially Japanese ports.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Apparently people playing on PS5 and PS4 Pro had a good time. My Slim though (which is equivalent to a base PS4) struggled quite a bit. Maybe they've patched some of that since I played it the first time around, it was just as the game came out. All I know is that PC worked like a dream, but I've got a fairly decent rig for that.

[@RaifSeverence]

Thank Durante for that.

[@tvsizedanimechannel7288]

I am a little mixed on calvard it to advanced why have highway but not in erobonia

[@suntzu4607]

My take on this game Pros: Gameplay (obviously) Characters Movement freedom Grimwald Nox Cons: Story Balduq Dungeons I don’t even have to explain the gameplay. Characters, yes, I can agree that the character development of each Monstrums and Rosvita. Krysha’s from shy and meek to still shy but headstrong. Credo’s from battle maniac to learning to control himself. Anemona from being emotionless to showing emotions and wanting to experience being human (in which she became a homunculus in the end credits). Yufa (I think she has the least development) from scared to tell the truth to her siblings to finally accepting her feelings to Felix and telling the truth to her siblings in a roundabout way even tho they already know it. Jules from hating his father and accepting his death to understanding his father and looking forward to living. Not to mention the people in the Dandelion with their own surprises. Iris is the princess, Parks is the missing governor general, Chante was a gladiator, etc. Movement, the game will make you use the Monstrum’s gift all throughout the game whether it’s in the city or during battle. I still find Yufa’s gift to be the most niche. Grimwald Nox is just chaotic especially during the ultimate Grimwald Nox. I love it. Cons The story, the chapters of the Monstrums have a bit of mystery in them but once you saw the pattern, you’ll know it’s them. Ngl, I knew Yufa is the Bull when I saw the mole under her left eye and… uhh… the badonkers. Credo was the one I didn’t expect. The homunculus thing was a surprise at first but when you think about it, it’s not that strong of a plot twist. In fact, why would Aprillis had to shoot the homunculi to be Monstrums? How did she get the power again? By a god? And the ending… arghh the ending, come on, Anemona should at least said good bye in her homunculus form. I have more to say but it’ll be longer than this. Balduq, the city is bland and dreary, I’ll not sugarcoat it. Even with the movement freedom, the place feels limiting and oppressive but I guess that’s what the devs are going for since it’s a prison city. The dungeons are just the same as Balduq. Bland. Repetitive. Same design with little tweaks. Except for the final dungeon. I have more to say but I don’t want this to be too long.

[@fierytigergaming8112]

I'm still confused as to how Krysha ended up losing consciousness during the chase, because she overused her powers?

[@nobodyinterestingyou]

Didn't she fell,too? I seem to remember her clumsily falling from some height ,after Adol chased her around, for a bit.

[@fierytigergaming8112]

@@nobodyinterestingyou Yeah, I noticed the broken basket next to her when she fell when playing through that scene again yesterday

[@fierytigergaming8112]

@@nobodyinterestingyou I would've laughed, but then I remembered the amount of times I fell into the river while trying to use Crimson Line