Ys IX: Monstrum Nox (Zero Punctuation)

[@theescapist]

Watch this week's episode of Zero Punctuation on Cruelty Squad - www.escapistmagazine.com/v2/cruelty-squad-zero-punctuation/ - You can watch it early on KZbin via KZbin Memberships for $2 / month! kzbin.info/door/qg5FCR7NrpvlBWMXdt-5Vgjoin

[@LightStrikerQc]

Does he need a Hellpoint key? :)

[@KeithFraser82]

Now appearing on the game's sales pages etc.: "I ENJOYED PLAYING MONSTRUM NOX" - YAHTZEE CROSHAW

[@rockstermaniac]

probably would help sales a bit...

[@PubstarHero]

@@rockstermaniac Well it probably doesn't help that the game launched about a six months ago on PS4.

[@robertmahiques6218]

That's high praise coming from him.

[@orinanime]

"Fucking hell LADY! Where were you the last time I played World of Warcraft?!" What a timely question

[@woelke]

@@HighOctane01 oof

[@dra6o0n]

Convenience is the enemy of effort, from the developer's point of view. That's why Western devs thinks its a good idea to throw you 100x the effort needed to clear 1 thing than simpler rpgs... Because they are spending their days being drunk at work and can't be bothered to make content in a timely manner.

[@Izcer]

@@HighOctane01 She should have known better to try an buy the damn ale at Goldshire!

[@azzzanadra]

@@dra6o0n mate, have you played JRPGs? they tend to be highly tedious with their grindy gameplay.

[@oreox1000]

@@azzzanadra as a lover of JRPGS I concur. If the grind isn’t too bad or combat and general gameplay are enjoyable I tend to not mind as much.

[@Xaveze]

I don't know what's craziest, the fact that he reviewed Ys IX, the fact that he somewhat enjoyed it, the fact that he has played older Ys games, or the fact that not only did he play older Ys games but somewhat enjoyed those too. What next? Yahtzee going without sleep for a full week in order to finish Trails in the Sky in time for a review?

[@Paul-cu9lu]

I think that would cause him to have a stroke. Especially when you consider each subsequent trails game plays off the last and the Cold Steel series has 4 games worth of grind to get through.

[@aboreal]

@@Paul-cu9lu I really wanted to play Trails from Cold Steel, but I saw that and got "fuck that"

[@pureevil9496]

@@aboreal I recently started playing Trails in the Sky and I have been pleasantly surprised, actually. Knowing how much content this franchise has was daunting, but it hasn't been a slog at all because I have really been enjoying the moment-to-moment gameplay. Knowing that the gameplay gets more refined over time just makes me feel excited for more rather than dreading it.

[@Paul-cu9lu]

@@aboreal Basically catch one or two on sale and go through them back to back. You will certainly get your money's worth.

[@Cudgeon]

@@aboreal to be fair, the trails in the sky games are pretty chill experiences.

[@lexslate2476]

I enjoy his positive reviews. Like clearly this game has its flaws but it's competently executed and apparently comfortable to play. Might have to try out Massive Knokwurst.

[@WhiteFangofWar]

Same. He's still the most creative negative critic ever but even that can start to wear thin when it's always the same things to rag on about, usually AAA industry, sandbox or FPS-related.

[@EleventhFloorBelfry]

It's odd, given this is probably the worst Ys game out of the series.

[@ducky36F]

I generally enjoy all of his reviews even when he's dumping on games I love 😂 At least his brand of negativeity comes from a place humour.

[@ObsoletePerson]

@@EleventhFloorBelfry How?

[@crazykim]

@@EleventhFloorBelfry Says you and probably only you.

[@Hcaz1113]

"friends you're fine with now but embarrassed to be seen with in public".... yeah I felt that a little too much

[@tuseroni6085]

yeah...im that friend...

[@reizak8966]

So... friends made at comic con? Shit, I'm that friend. 😭

[@StrikeWarlock]

That's I.

[@spontanioussponge]

Funny how annoyed Yahtzee seems to be getting with Danganronpa recommendations. Guys, if you weren't so persistent about it and just waited until Decadence came out, there's a decent chance he might have picked it up during the post-Christmas "whew coast is clear" season.

[@matthewteo3111]

We got him to play fucking Doki Doki Literature Club, I'm sure Danganrompa will be no sweat.

[@icarue993]

Bummer... but if Scarlet Nexus is anime as balls, DR is anime as the whole body

[@RustoKomuska]

id prefer yahtzee didn't have to learn about danganronpa really

[@animewatcher102]

@@matthewteo3111 Doki Doki Literature Club is a hell of a lot shorter than Danganronpa games though.

[@icarue993]

@@animewatcher102 Yeah, I don't feel is a good game for hiim to review. He might enjoy it in his free time, maybe

[@vitortrindade5617]

Ys graphics are"whatever the current gen of portables can do at 60 fps and max resolution"

[@KillThad]

Honestly, that is perfectly fine by me.

[@charcharmunr]

They've been using this same engine for ages, and honestly that's fine. Only with, like, Kuro no Kiseki are they changing it up, right?

[@crazykim]

@@charcharmunr I mean, if Bethesda can get away with it Falcom sure as fuck can.

[@JameboHayabusa]

@@charcharmunr what game?

[@JameboHayabusa]

@@melanp4698 oh yeah ok. I've actually played most of them aside from cs4 and the new one.

[@bannin]

The way Adol casually writes up his adventures in a collection of travel reports cracks me up. Dude literally saves the world from game to game and doesn't want to get it on with the girls that fall for him, because this MF got places to be. The soundtrack is usually spot on for me and I love the way Adol and his newfound friends grow together over the course of each installment. It's simple, but sincere, and at the end of it all, heart-warming fun.

[@Tustin2121]

Adol sounds like probably unintentional ace rep to me, and I’m here for that.

[@TitaRussellTrails]

I mean the two girls he actually really hit it off with didn’t end so great. One turned into an angel and the other died

[@YellowMage]

Plus, he's already got Dogi! Fun fact: the president of Falcom said in a promotional interview for this game that “Dogi is so important it’s like he’s Adol’s wife”; as far as I'm concerned, that makes it canon.

[@dialsforstupid]

@@Tustin2121 Adol is old enough that Rance is a hentai parody of him and has like a million games per the last 30/40 years

[@stormrunner4081]

A simple game that knows what it wants and what it can do God that’s a rarity in itself nowdays

[@creekandseminole]

The Ys games are so charming and fun to play.

[@AttentionDeficitGuy]

I am somehow both surprised and not surprised Yahtzee is somewhat of an Ys fan.

[@HappyPotat]

I was expecting Yahtzee to tear the Ys series a new one it's kind of heart warming to hear this cynical husk of a man actually like your favourite JRPG series (even if it is less in the sense of "wow this is the greatest ever" and simply the sense of "I like this, this is nice").

[@meyers0781]

Well this is in the same tone as his Scarlet Nexus review. Basically he likes it, he's just pointing the obvious.

[@dragonandavatarfan8865]

@@meyers0781 He definitely didn't like Scarlet Nexus lol. It made him so pissed that he did a podcast on it with a very click-bait title "Anime ruins everything".

[@liquidprince1285]

I’m super happy he enjoyed it to I hope that means it sold enough for another continuation

[@AAAAAAAA-vd6zv]

Cynical? Because he often dislikes games? Dude, you serious?

[@thomastakesatollforthedark2231]

@@AAAAAAAA-vd6zv he's described himself as a cynic

[@kosmikme]

If Nintendo is "triple A but 10 years behind", Ys is "single A but 10 years behind"

[@Avajou_]

Sometimes Nintendo can revolutionize gaming. Other times, their fucking online exists. Baffling how they manage both.

[@GBDupree]

@@Avajou_ That's because nintendo min maxes the hell out of their stats, putting everything into gameplay innovation and hardware innovation stats, while ignoring the graphics and online stats. This gives them a sort of glass cannon build that works very well in most situations, however the newest update added raids where the boss uses mostly Online based attacks. Now Sony spec-ed purely into a graphics build, ignoring just about every other stat, at the expense of affordability-mana. And since in raids all members share the same mana pool, this year they ran out of mana too quickly, meaning very few members were able to recieve their graphics buffs. And all Microsoft does is hit the Auto-skill-upgrade button and works with whatever they are given, which has worked out well enough for them, except for when they added the multimedia/TV stat and the game automatically added all their skill points into that, but luckily the developers changed that stat to online-service/streaming and that helped them out a bit from falling behind.

[@azzzanadra]

@@GBDupree i love this DnD description

[@TitaRussellTrails]

Nihon Falcom games are Double A

[@anomaly7853]

Hearing Yahtzee say "Totes adorbs" is quite strange.

[@Haan22]

Bet you a certain tiny human giggled just before he wrote that.

[@matthuck378]

Still, I'd rather hear him say it in a game review than read it in any number of tweets or posts from some vapid twatwaffle.

[@racistpandagod]

Ones could says it's totes adorbs

[@DrSX]

It's a bit cringe ... ... ... ...worthy.

[@zhizn_snake]

Ironically, in their early days (80s), Falcom and their games like Dragon Slayer and Ys literally influenced every other JRPG. Ys on TurboGraphX was the first JRPG to have an intro with fully voiced narration. Adol isnt just a generic red haired heroic anime swordsman, he's THE ORIGINAL.

[@Diresilence]

The big Innovation: "We added a Gopher NPC." "WHY ISN'T THIS IN ALL GAMES!?"

[@bird3713]

That gag about "writing home to your parents" got me.

[@bondfall0072]

I don't know how else to describe it, but Yahtzee has such dad vibes in this review.

[@pureevil9496]

Probably because he's watched the wittle Ys series grow over the years like his own baby

[@jocosesonata]

Well, he _is_ a dad. If you don't know, that is. Otherwise, just ignore me.

[@harrylane4]

@@jocosesonata I didn’t know but I’m choosing to ignore you anyway

[@jocosesonata]

@@harrylane4 Fair enough!

[@RuleroftheSandcastle]

He always complains about the oversaturation of Serious Hairy Dad Games (trademark), but now his videos have become Serious Hairy Dad Videos! He's infected!

[@nicklager1666]

Game developers make long convoluted name for their game. Yahtzee i guess i can leave my cadbury egg collection for 5 minutes and make fun of the name.

[@0ctopusComp1etely]

It brings me immense joy to know that Yahtzee enjoys the Ys series. "Adorable" is the perfect description. It does what it can, somehow striking in that fine line between too-cheesy-for-its-own-good, Try-hard, and Just perfect. I'm glad to know Monstrum keeps up the tradition. I'm sold on checking it out.

[@drunkrdm]

mmm.. mint chocolate stab, my favorite.

[@MeteoBahamut]

Yeah Ys has always been a place of comfort and you can always expect the music to be really good

[@sindrisuncatcher653]

You know what? This actually makes me want to buy the game! [checks steam, sees $60 price tag (plus another $55 in DLC] You know what? This actually makes me want to put the game on my wishlist so I get notified if it ever goes more than half off!

[@intergalactichumanempire9759]

Ever since Valkyria Chronicles Yahtzee has slowly been getting more and more open to anime games.

[@ChuckPalomo]

Or he was a closet weeb all along.

[@supersasukemaniac]

@@ChuckPalomo I'll go with that since he always gives the Imps Anime like looks when "personality" is involved.

[@Xatzimi]

@@ChuckPalomo A little bit, I think. Older ZPs frequently referenced Evangelion as a show that he quite liked, and he used Rei Ayanami as a character archetype in Dev Diary, so there's that at least

[@hannayman4448]

VC was awesome tho

[@billyhall2551]

Now see that's interesting point. Are all games made with this art style a anime game? Seems odd to classify all games with one Art style? We don't call games made with American art an American art game.

[@Sora383]

I quite enjoy Nihon Falcom they do Lore really well (looking at you trails series) and fun/casual battle mechanics like the Ys games. Glad to see Yahtzee enjoyed this.

[@nikosagantz]

If Ys is a child then I guess the Trails series is that ankward big brothers that you dont know if he is a teen or a child.

[@alexnoman1498]

New study finds 80% of teens under 18

[@naarcissus]

@@alexnoman1498 I'd actually say that it's closer to 50%. I don't think I've ever heard anybody refer to a 10 year old as a "teen".

[@naarcissus]

@@Vincent_Beers I stand corrected. That was dumb of me. 71% rounded down.

[@naarcissus]

@@Vincent_Beers You have out pedanted me. I admit my defeat. :cries in the corner:

[@Wandergirl108]

Do you mean the Tales series?

[@liquidprince1285]

I’m super happy to see a more well known reviewer doing a video on ys I love this game franchise and I’m just excited at the fact that this video might get it some more players

[@Rankerquat]

wait we're allowed to recommend our favorite retro games? Have you considered starting a life of crime and pirating Mother 3?

[@lucariosom1267]

uh, i want Pokemon Mystery dungeon Team Red

[@billveusay9423]

He said in his Earthbound review that he wouldn't do it. Altho, that's a shame because I also adore Mother 3

[@SnowyFoxFox]

Pretty much summed up everything I enjoy about the Ys series. Quite glad to hear I might not be insane.

[@CalciumChief]

2:45 I see you sneaking in a timely He-Man reference.

[@Anonymos185]

About as "sneaky" as knocking down a door and screaming "HE-MAN" He wasn't really being lowkey about it

[@KniGhTKrawLeR9]

@@Anonymos185 To be fair, the way many so-called He-Man fans have been acting lately, "sneaky" and "lowkey" are the very last approaches you'd want to take with anything related to that property.......lest they start fuming about how they were misled and "lied to".

[@bababanana20123]

It's all fun and games until you learn the Ys series has been going on since 1987

[@br2k]

and yet its still absolutely correct to put it on the B or C squad considering sales and brand recognition to wit, there isn't even a trophy for Ys in smash according to the wiki the only time Ys comes up in Smash is a single tournament named so in 2018

[@charcharmunr]

@@br2k Honestly I'd be weirdly happy seeing Adol be the final Smash DLC. It absolutely won't happen, but hey.

[@TainoMoya]

@@br2k crazy how new indie titles appear yet A long running classic like Ys doesn't. Sad, but that's life at times

[@Kaefer1973]

@@br2k So? I never played a game of either series,but am at least a little more familiar with Ys.

[@br2k]

@@Kaefer1973 so, you're not all that special, which is why your individual experience with the content would not influence the popularity of the brand or its sales figures. Your "familiarity" is statistically meaningless *and didn't even translate to a sale for the series.* If you didn't buy Ys, and your friends all don't buy Ys, then that series will continue to be as insignificant as your 'familiarity' with it.

[@VitorMach]

Ys I & II were actually incredibly fun with the bump mechanics, by far my favorite Ys games, and very memorable overall.

[@dragmire3D]

I pronounce Ys as 'whys', as in, "Why's it named that?"

[@lnsflare1]

FYI, it's pronounced "Ees," and it's based on the French equivalent of Atlantis, Ys, and is an artifact of the first two games in the series (and eventually Origin) being about it (or at least the fantasy technically-not-Earth version of it) and its gods, kinda like how there's a few Legend of Zelda games where Zelda is practically non-existent.

[@Ramsey276one]

Because JAPAN As usual XD

[@charcharmunr]

@@lnsflare1 Yeah it's a title that means absolutely nothing after the first two games, but there's a continent called Ys in the first two.

[@lnsflare1]

@@charcharmunr Don't forget that Ys Origin is also all about the nation of Ys and is goddesses, too. Also, the Eldeen (the race that the goddesses belong to) are also heavily involved in Ys 3, Ys 4, and Ys 6 (I'm not sure about Ys 5, since that's never been officially localized), though, for what it's worth, I think that the goddesses may have been refugees from their society before they founded Ys.

[@uberpinkwarrior]

@@lnsflare1 Ys 5 is about him dealing with alchemy shenanigans in not-egypt. There is absolutely no Eldeen anything anywhere. Literally the only part of it relevant to the rest of the franchise is that alchemy is a thing in it and that gets mentioned in ys 9. It doesn't even have Dogi! On the plus side it actually has a strait up magic system like ys 2, but it is via alchemy so it is absurdly needlessly complicated since you need to physically make the spells by finding certain crystals and combining them, and they dont have enough crystals in the game to make all the spells. And half the spells are useless because hitboxes and cast times. Also if you weren't aware, you actually start ys 8 with the Isios sword from ys 5 (the ultimate weapon in it).

[@KiLLLLeR150]

Hearing Yahtzee give a positive review for a game I love made my day. Perfect way to cap it off for me as I just finished it last night as well.

[@AdamChan318]

Didn't realise Yahtzee knew of the Ys series, they're usually pretty simple with the plot, but I love the way they approach challenging hack and slash gameplay (play on lunatic for a dark souls experience), also the music is banging

[@LOLquendoTV]

Yeah, yahtzee probably doesn't appreciate the 10000 super chats with "play Danganronpa pls" he's sent every livestream

[@noriringtail7428]

People paying him money for him to cruelly turn them down?? That's gotta be his dream job!

[@Alastorchaos]

If a dollar a chat, that's a lot of dosh to deny people!

[@Maioly]

Oh come on, Adol is not just a generic adventurer dude... he is actually insane to the point were multiple characters in the game are actually horrified or amused by how just insane he is about all the life threatening shit he is being put through. Instead of angsting about it, or being shocked by it all, he is just "YAY, a new adventure! cant wait to see what kind of world shattering insanity ill deal with now! I wonder if ill get cursed this time... or accused of regicide and sent to fight against a giant monster with nothing but a rusty machette and rotten wooden shield!" Adol is basically a version of link who is NOT constantly re-incarnating and adventuring centuries apart, or a classic JRPG protagonist who actually has lived through multiple FFs worth of world threatening chaos... and he absolutely loves every second of it. Enough that its a plot point in this game that the part of the reason he got arrested is that people dont believe all the insane shit he pulled in the past and think he is actually a spy or con artist. That is actually one of the things I like about this game, every time you get a dialog option you have the 'newbie' option were he acts like a generic RPG protag man... and then you get the adol option, were none of this shocks him, he just takes it all in stride or even acts excited about whatever life threatening bullshit will be thrown his way next, or talks about/compares stuff to previous adventures. Also there is the fact that by this point in his life he actually has multiple god/godess in love with him and one of them even cameos in this game giving him indirect help and serving as the quest giver for a side collection quest... via posessing a generic RPG.

[@tomschreier3319]

I love the Ys series, it's so underrated.

[@kingsleycy3450]

Despite being a self proclaimed JRPG hater, Yahtzee sure likes playing them. If I weren't a trusting rosy cheeked character, I might suspect that he is lying.

[@sincereflowers3218]

He came to the conclusion that he likes anime games that either try to inject something into the usual boring tropes of the genre (Persona 5) or are inoffensive enough that it's not worth "breaking out the buttered fuck crumpets"

[@mushijian7839]

Nah, I think he's just sees now how much western game industry got rotten by greedy and crazy people, and there we have a japanese game industry that a little bit conservative, a little bit cringy, a little bit budgetary, a little bit oversexualised for some amount of people, but they still around and can make a completely good AAA games. And you start to think that maybe today I buy predictable but good japanese game, instead of unpredictable western game full of fragile promises. And I think not only Yahtz change his mind about JRPG genre, but more and more people starting to look at them attractively.

[@constipatedwonka8061]

I think there was one episode where Yahtzee himself started to question if he even hates JRPGs, basically renouncing the title of "JRPG hater".

[@NaSandJayZ]

In his review of persona 5 strikers, he (sort of) admitted that he actually likes JRPGs. It was said as half a joke (probably), but I think it shows his tone towards the genre has softened a bit. Don’t think that means he’s gonna go full weeb anytime soon, but he seems to be at least more open to it

[@Jardrin]

@@GameGod77 Using the argument of JRPGs being too tropey is kind of hypocritical once you realize the western scene can be just as guilty. In the grand scheme of things, isn't everything in the world just filled with overused tropes?

[@ozwell1088]

Monstrum Nox was better than 99% of the other games that came out this year. Games DO NOT need to have up to date graphics to be way better than all of the games that have them.

[@Ashl33129]

Yahtzee has mellowed out a little in his old age, it’s nice to see

[@P1nstr1p3]

Sometimes… it’s okay to enjoy “not great” games. Sounds a little outside my preferred genres, but it’s nice to hear that you found a chill, relaxing time as the world burns down.

[@Tyler-gg6xt]

Now I actually want to get this game... that's worth a laugh on it's own.

[@EleventhFloorBelfry]

I wouldn't recommend it

[@Tustin2121]

Same, I kinda wanna pick it up for the heck of it now (and also the open world movement stuff).

[@vaidenkelsier7757]

I've only played a bit of it, but it's fun. I'd recommend Ys 8 as well. Some real goddamn bangers in the soundtrack, too.

[@TitaRussellTrails]

Ys 8 and 9 are great games with killer soundtracks and not the highest budgets

[@TainoMoya]

I recommend

[@tornic531]

Honestly given Yahtzee's preferences I would really like to see him take a look at 13: Sentinels Aegis Rim sometime. A masterpiece of a game that could not be told in any other medium, I feel like Yahtzee would completely lose himself in it.

[@ianhoopes6650]

Yahtzee would either love 13 Sentinels or absolutely despise it and either way I want to see his review.

[@kgosiletimile9246]

you recommended it now he is never going to play it

[@akanta5746]

He did and he hated it lol

[@TheCreepypro]

as a guy who misses and longs for retro rpgs this sounds like my jam and I'm going to enjoy the heck out of it not every rpg has to be persona 5 to be enjoyable

[@vinnythewebsurfer]

Man you know it’s roughy if Yahtzee has to dig through B grade JRPG’s.

[@p4rz1val]

Summer hole at its finest

[@arrownoir]

Ys isn’t B tier.

[@p4rz1val]

@@arrownoir Not as a measure of quality, but budgetwise, they're just two or more steps behind the major JRPG IPs from Square. The JRPG equivalent to Eurojank RPGs from Spiders or Piranha Bytes, so to speak.

[@matthewmuir8884]

The Ys series is one of the oldest JRPG series in existence; it's half a year older than Final Fantasy and only a year younger than Dragon Quest.

[@vinnythewebsurfer]

@@p4rz1val basically this.

[@Zayl1016]

Two weeks where Yahtzee played games he enjoyed? Oh the bourgeois are gonna be tickled by this scandal when they're finally allowed to watch it.

[@mlaine83]

Aren't we the bourgeois elites getting to watch it early? It's the plebiscite masses who see it next week.

[@Zayl1016]

@@mlaine83 You're right, I wrote that while tired and made a dum dum

[@itar10n]

@@Zayl1016 it's okay, this plebiscite is pleased to forgive your minor failings.

[@alexnoman1498]

Even the elites on KZbin are bumbling fools, society is doomed ;D

[@KeithFraser82]

A happy and educated populace runs contrary to the interests of our leaders.

[@nbdante]

Ys/ Falcom stayed behind the rest because, of their president policy of being strictly a PC developer and mostly to japan in the early days even thought they were doing RPGs things before the competition! So they stayed small! Ys is fantastic!

[@nbdante]

@Mac mcskullface I said Ys/Falcom! Falcom didn't do the port they were only developing for PC but other companies were licensing for ports until Ys 5 that was only in SNES JP! Falcom games stayed for a long time PC and when then opened up to consoles it was for a long time in Japan only! What I'm trying to say they didn't do the right move to be as known in the on consoles/ world as Square soft and Enix!

[@AttentionDeficitGuy]

@Mac mcskullface To clarify further (because the other guy is either incorrect or not being very clear), Falcom was a PC only developer back in the day from the 80s through the early 2000s, but pivoted to console development in the late 2000s/early 2010s when the Japanese PC market pretty much died for a while (outside of porn games at least). These days it's a complete reversal of back then, as none of their PC releases in the past 20 years have been ported in-house.

[@MyrmidonRadd]

Gotta agree with Yahtzee's take on this one. Sometimes, you just want a vanilla RPG experience. No needless frills, no attempts at innovation that only serve to mangle and complicate proceedings. Just some good old fashioned "Stab Enemy, Level Up, Save Day" adventuring.

[@Fiat_Lux_23]

I'm a German and I'm here to tell you that "Monstrums" is actually the correct plural... in German, that is. 😃

[@Kaefer1973]

And here I thought it was Monstrümmer.

[@Fiat_Lux_23]

@@Kaefer1973 I just found out it's actually the Genitiv, but nevermind. 🤣

[@Kaefer1973]

@@Fiat_Lux_23 The word Genitive reminds me of the fact that you can get through school without ever getting anything better than a 6(F) in grammar tests. Good times.

[@J.G.H.]

But the game is set in the Ys universe version of Paris...

[@Fiat_Lux_23]

@@J.G.H. ... and yet for some weird reason not entirely clear to me, the Japanese generally love inserting the occasional German expression or reference in their pop culture, in video game, manga / anime titles, or even character names. Just a few days ago, I accidentally stumbled upon the word "gestalt" in Nier Automata, but it's kind of a well-known thing.

[@joelbraithwaite1390]

Ys seven is the reason I still play my PSP regularly!

[@J.G.H.]

How good is it? Just about to beat Monstrum Nox and I'm not really feeling playing 8 again yet.

[@DMTrance87]

I gotta say, those STAB jokes had me almost literally dying. Some fine content this week.

[@MiaWinter98]

Seems like this mid-Range light Plot Game that probably had some dedication or ambition behind it is more enjoyable than the high polished money oozing AAA formula-committee Games. Who would have thought.

[@Edagui97]

"Ambition" is not a word I'd ever use with an Ys game. Trails maybe, but not Ys

[@ShiroZerotheDragoon]

@@Edagui97 trails definitely, at least for it's commitment to it's lore/world building. I mean trails has NPC's that have actual character arcs spread across different games.

[@J.G.H.]

The game before this one, Lacrimosa of Dana was pretty awesome.

[@DeOneTrueSage]

Would love to see the reactions of game developers watching Yahtzee review their game.

[@teh_hunterer]

Having just levelled my enchanting in TBC Classic, that last line speaks to me.

[@SageofStars]

This was actually one of my favorites from earlier in the year, and I can still play it, for a lot of reasons. It's got a load of additional content, some great challenges, and unlike other games, your stats can keep going up, and up, and up, so you're never playing, 'just to play it again', you can justify it by saying, I'm making my characters stronger every time, because you are. Better, the Ys have two things over their contemporaries. 1, you can play them in any order, as the games, while connected, are not directly linked story wise. The big thing is that Adol Christian, our stalwart hero, is...well, an Adventurer, as Yahtzee said. That is what he is doing, and that's all the motivation he has, so there's no real big overarching plot or anything, it's just a guy living in a magical world, going around having fun, and saving the world/local area as he does. The only exceptions are Ys 2(Ys 1 and 2 are basically part 1 and 2 of the same game), and Ys SEVEN(Yes it's all in caps), which is a direct follow on from Ys 6. 2, those random word salad titles mean something, and it's never obvious at first, meaning you eventually understand. They're not random or without purpose. Lacrimosa of Dana was...well about the Lacrimosa of Dana. But who Dana is, and what a Lacrimosa is, both very plot relevant things, are revealed only by playing. Same for the Ark of Napishtim, which is the macguffin of the game, though what it does and why it's important is also in the story. Oh, and Memories of Celceta. That's an important title, as it's those memories, of that place, that drive Adol in that plot. As I said, the titles mean something, but only if you play the game. No Revelations, Brotherhoods, or Resurrections to be found here.

[@matthewmuir8884]

Some good points. I will just say, to add to your second point, that it is sometimes possible to deduce some of the meaning behind the subtitles. For instance, "Lacrimosa" is Latin for weeping, so one can safely deduce that something rather tragic happens/happened to Dana. Sure enough...

[@SageofStars]

@@matthewmuir8884 I actually did not know that. Neat! And yes, that was a tragedy in many ways. If you got invested in that story, the final still image after the credits really does hit hard. You don't get that in Monstrum Nox, due in part to the tragedy is balanced away by freedom, true freedom, and while that can be hard, it's still better than the alternative.

[@romeocharliegolf]

I guess Nihon Falcom never really sell their game graphics. I don't play Ys, but I enjoyed their other franchise: the Kiseki/Trails series. The Zero and Ao no Kiseki were released in 2010-2011 and they were still sprite-based... Heck, Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2 were released in 2015 but the graphic is worst than a PS2 game.

[@kurtirving8349]

Oh the plus side, Falcom can chuck a massive amount of animations probably because the graphics aren't so complex. There's nothing like explaining to your friends why a loli can use an orbital laser to target enemies through an underground, enclosed, secret base is your favorite attack animation. I also found that the Heroes series has a pretty good battle system.

[@Edagui97]

Cold Steel had graphics of a PS2 and cutscene animations of PS1. I still love Falcom.

[@bakuhakudraws5603]

all the budget other games put into high-end graphics and full voice acting, Falcom puts into the novel-length fully-fleshed-out easily-missable side stories of every single resident of every single town that you're never going to read even 10% of but you feel very happy knowing are there nonetheless.

[@kittyshippercavegirl]

the trails series doesn't need graphics, it has the best characters in all of video games (and the crossbell games are some of the best games, full stop) and music that slaps hard

[@kittyshippercavegirl]

@@kurtirving8349 That orbital laser and the smoke cannon carried me through the first part of Sky 3rd ngl

[@lnsflare1]

For what it's worth, I don't really think that Raging Bull was particularly sassy in either of her identities. She gets in the odd mildly biting remark (mostly towards Hawk, who absolutely deserves it), sure, but otherwise she's pretty much textbook caring and helpful older sister/girl next door, except when SPOILER talking about the recent war that killed her parents a few years back. Like, she and Tifa Lockheart would be one another's spirit animals.

[@PubstarHero]

Shame there was no mention though of the Nihom Falcon's amazing music for every game. They only know one speed though - F A S T.

[@KeithFraser82]

From that last comment during the credits, I'm now imagining Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck holding up a cardboard sign saying ANIME SEASON.

[@muffinfluff2476]

Seems I enjoy yahtzees voice so much I got his books on audible. Really enjoying differently morphous!

[@mitchellbonds766]

Oh god. I played the first Ys game and spent 2 frustrating hours trying to chest bump the final boss to death while he made floor panels disappear under me. I do NOT miss not having an attack button. May give this one a try!

[@TitaRussellTrails]

You can play basically the entire series on steam now aside from Ys 5. Thankfully they did away with the bump system a while ago and Ys 8 and 9 are pretty dang good

[@Ophiegasm]

"The viewers get to send in heartfelt recommendations for their personal favorite indie and retro games I get to tell them all to piss off everyone's having fun" 😂😂😂

[@lnsflare1]

Nihon Falcom needs to shift over to cel shading rather than realistic lighting to not only have the characters look more like their rather great looking anime artwork, but also so that they can have resources left over to put things like stained glass into their otherwise bland (but really fun to explore) gothic setting. Like, Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana technically has worse graphics, but way better aesthetics due to its broader color palettes making it easier to tell when the monsters you are fighting are new.

[@lnsflare1]

Actually, since he mentioned Gravity Rush, Monstrum Nox with a more gothic version of GR1's or especially GR2's cel shaded art style would be mind bogglingly great. Like, they even have similar graffiti side quests.

[@blueraizan]

The Ys games have fast, fun, and don't overstay their welcome. One of the funnest jrpg series I've gotten into in recent memory.

[@mesonoxianvisitor]

'Salt and vinegar stab' cracked me up.

[@joppalowe3870]

And all these years I've been pronouncing it 'WHYYYYYS'.

[@3ternalHours]

I’d always been pretty sure it was meant to be pronounced (and read as) Weiss, as in the German for White, but without the hard W

[@Plo1154]

@@3ternalHours It's pronounced "Ees"

[@khalilhenoud2714]

Thanks!

[@theescapist]

Thank you!

[@kenpachielric]

Definitely made me laugh. Need more anime for this season

[@creekandseminole]

I'm currently playing this on my switch and progressing through chapter 6. I absolutely love this game and I was a big fan of Ys 8 and this one feels like the great continuation. I am really looking forward to the 10th game in the series because Falcom is going to be using the whole brand new engine for it and I'm curious to see how they'll expand on the lore for Adol. Kuro No Kiseki which is coming out this September in Japan is using the new engine and for a Falcom game it looks great! Also just a note the game doesn't feature gratuitous panty shots or skimpy looking ladies there's just one character that has really sexy features but is not really exploited like he was seeing other anime games. Honestly all the Falcom RPGs don't really have a whole lot of female characters that are sexually exploited as bad as some other titles which is a breath of fresh air in the jrpg genre

[@PrezWashinguns]

I think it's kinda wild that we've come to the point of video game development that "not innovating" seems like the new innovation. The point about the game not expecting much from the player and vice versa is spot on. Honestly, I feel like I enjoy games like that more than flashy, bleeding edge games most times. I liked Doom 2016 more than Eternal. I play Star Wars Battlefront 2 classic because the new one expects me to sell liver to afford to sit around and play it all day.

[@despawn7663]

An absolute perfect description of the little kids (Ys) coming to the big boy table (Big Game RPG).

[@15oClock]

It also has a demo, which makes it better than 99% of games nowadays in term of accessibility.

[@zainlookboonmee]

The write home a letter bit got me good 😂

[@christianfarren1179]

Never thought I’d see a game franchise make cartoon Yahtzee curl up to it like a cat, but here I am.

[@alchemystudios7796]

It's been awhile since a ZP video sent me into fits of hysterical laughter but "Her name is 'i drew my girlfriend's DND character for my college art portfolio" fuckin did it holy shit 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@CmdrVoltaire]

I love that, in universe, Adol is treated like he’s genuinely insane by everyone except Dogi. Like, this man has been in SO many “end of the world” plots, met multiple god-like beings, and had held the affection of multiple women, that the guy has just become…used to it, and treats everything like it’s a GAME. As if he KNOWS he’s a JRPG protagonist and just goes along for the ride for the thrill of it. Which is hilarious to think about.

[@br2k]

The Prince Adam joke absolutely did me in

[@Evanz111]

Wasn’t expecting you to cover this! Not as good as the other modern Ys games in my opinion, but still a fantastic game overall!

[@ewanherbert3402]

Nihon Falcom are the unsung essential workers of JRPGs

[@SRFriso94]

"Ys has gradually embraced the innovations of the action RPG genre - _at its own leisurely pace_ ..." I don't know why I think that particular passive-agressive comment is so hilarious, but it is.

[@IamJacksColon4]

cant believe how long this series has gone on for

[@daffyhat]

Y'know this might be the first time I've agreed with everything Yahtzee's said about a game I enjoy. The graphics and gameplay are nothing game-changing, but if you're looking for something to play to just have some fun it's great. And while the story is typical anime what the fuckery in places it does have some solid moments.

[@thepersonwhocomentz]

Yahtzee reviewing a Falcom game? Hell's not just frozen over. It's become a Bose-Einstein Condensate.

[@DIOGOTTSCHALK]

I saw Danganronpa and laughed. I love the game series, like I can't even explain it. However, I'd love to watch Yatzee RIP it a new one, he's got so much sass. I wouldn't have even been mad. Hahaha

[@CadmonAlima]

It felt like he was speaking directly to me when he said that. Y-yatzee noticed me!

[@ToyKeeper]

Things don't have to be innovative to be good. Like, there's nothing new about pizza, but almost everyone likes it.

[@shrimpboom8]

Adventurers *giving* fetch quests is more innovation than I could expect out of any one game over the past 10 years.

[@a.dennis4835]

The name "Monsterums" makes me think of the Monstars.

[@golgarisoul]

Has Yahtzee been playing Ys on the side this whole time?

[@SnuSnuDungeon]

The only other Ys game I've seen was the 8th one Lacrimosa of Dana. The gameplay was fun, setting was good. 2 characters (the Loli Ricotta and the Tsundere, Lexi I think was her name?, were annoying but overall didn't spoil it for me.

[@matthewmuir8884]

That's the only Ys game I've played. I liked how the idea that the characters are stranded on a deserted island does justify a lot of tropes that RPGs tend to take for granted, like the only "village" consisting of 20 people: in most RPGs, that would be a village, but in this game, it's justified by being a village of castaways. The story was pretty good too; a lot of the twists were fairly predictable but still well done (and rather dark for an overall lighthearted island-survival plot); I just didn't like that one nonsensical twist that was tacked on at the very end of the game.

[@cupcake5478]

I remember playing an Ys game on the PSP(I think Ys Seven). Never played an Ys game before. It had a blue-haired sidekick character that mentions he's been with you for previous adventures, but he didn't actually matter in that game's story, which is what made it *digestible* (especially compared to Kingdom Hearts ptsd). I could still follow that game's generic non-story fix-the-town's-problems before your blue-haired sidekick says it's time to leave to go to the next game. 10/10 boss fights though, which is what made it *fun*. Sounds like the formula still works.

[@matthewmuir8884]

Ah; that character's name is Dogi. As far as I know from what Ys fans have told me, he appears in most of the games as the best friend and main tagalong character that, in most games that he appears in, does nothing. I also have only played one Ys game; in my case, it was Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana on the PS4.

[@gl8689]

That’s Dogi. He’s like Adol’s best bro and adventuring buddy who shows up in most games.

[@J.G.H.]

I kind of want him to do Lacrimosa of Dana. It's by far the better game, and I love the story, its melodramatic as balls so it would probably drive him crazy though.

[@Plauge_Dragon]

I was thinking that he'd put it in the Bland by default. I wasn't expecting him to come out and say, without any sarcasm, that he actually liked it.

[@subtlewhatssubtle]

Jesus Christ, barely 15 seconds in and already an ugly sputter laugh from me at the "I piss dust" joke. Bravo.

[@xelldincht8149]

Danke!

[@theescapist]

Thank you!

[@xelldincht8149]

Yahtzee, if the dry season for games continues I think you should give Shin Megami Tensei 3 a try. From the setting, the difficulty and the "choice of music" i think there is a lot of things to make an interesting review

[@matthuck378]

"Jilling off" is brilliant.

[@55lakeman]

I was kind of hoping the credits gag wouldn't have been Yahtzee turning into his adventure awaits character.

[@First-Last_name]

3:16 lol, that had me bust a gut 🤣

[@meyers0781]

1:45 memories about Ys VII returns

[@KeithFraser82]

The NPC who aggregates all the stores (aka Jeff Bezos) also shows up in Mass Effect 3, though you have to pay a shipping and handling fee to just order stuff from your ship as opposed to going to the shops on the Citadel.