Ys III: Wanderers from Ys

~ YS III: WANDERERS FROM YS ~

Falcom / Hudson Soft / NEC

CD-ROM

1991

I bought a TG-16 as soon as the system was released in 1989, but it wasn't until early '92 that I finally acquired the Turbo CD. By that point, it was darn near impossible to find a copy of Ys Book I & II on store shelves, so I purchased and played through Ys III first (and managed to obtain I & II a couple months later). I'm kind of glad it worked out that way. The rap on III at the time was that it was pretty good but a hefty disappointment after its magnificent predecessor. Since it was my first Ys game, I didn't have to worry about it letting me down in that respect, and I got to enjoy it based on its own mettle. And enjoy it I did (and still do).

I'm sick of hearing people complain about the rough multi-layer scrolling. Yes, it was disconcerting when I took my initial steps through the first town, and perhaps due to memories of that experience, I still note the unattractiveness of that particular part each time I start up a new game. But I don't even think about the scrolling for the rest of the adventure. In fact, I think the game looks pretty damn good, with lots of very cool, very nice-looking backdrops on display, such as the one with dragons circling volcanoes in the distance.

I've always dug the view of the climb up the circular stairway near the conclusion and the theatrics of the wall-bursting, stone-busting final confrontation.

And the music rocks, plain and simple. It doesn't offer the type of variety that can be found in I & II's soundtrack, but if you dig exciting, up-tempo tunes that feature some good, crunchy riffs, you'll like what you'll hear here. I especially love the dark, dirty breakdown that follows the awesome solo in the Tigre Mines track. But one of the best tunes in the game actually isn't a rock number. It's the enchanting melody that plays during the "Beginning/Continue" screen.

The great music augments solid, fast-paced gameplay. A lot of adventure games that are side-view all the way or feature side-scrolling action portions get away with combat that's merely passable, simply because their overall package includes sweet visuals and/or great questing elements. But Ys III actually gives us hack-and-slash action that would be truly satisfying even if evaluated on its own. It's a blast to hold down button II and have Adol charge forward, tearing apart everything in his path like a vicious madman.

The cool music, cool combat, and, yes, cool visuals make Ys III a definite winner, but I do have some complaints to make about it. I'll get the "short and easy" spiel out of the way first. Actually, I don't really care about the easy part so much, but while some of the bosses (such as the volcano dragon) are fairly cool...

...others are just lame, especially the thing stuck to a cave wall...

...and then there are a few who don't do much of anything at all.

As for "short," I didn't expect an epic adventure or anything, but a single evening is about all it takes to get through the whole thing, and that's just not enough for a quest game that's devoid of challenge to begin with. Levels that are less straightforward would've been nice and might've helped eliminate the issue of brevity. As it is, even when some "tricky" elements are included in the stage design, it's still always quite clear where you must go and what you have to do to get there.

And I think people should complain more about the horrid voice acting than about the scrolling. NEC recruited an all-star cast of voice actors for Book I & II but opted not to go that route for III, and the actors they did go with delivered horrible performances. The only one I don't mind is Chester's, but that's because tragic antagonist Chester strikes me as such a goofy, awkward fellow, and the VA who voiced him has goofy and awkward down pat, as if thanks to his own real-life aspects. Elena is supposed to be a sweet, endearing, "eyes closed as she prays for Adol's safe return" type...

...but her VA did such a terrible job that I don't find her to be an appealing character in the slightest. And I have to cringe when the Dogi VA administers a lecture on being a true warrior.

Dogi's downfall during that part is due in part to mediocre writing, and, speaking as a fan of I & II, the silly scripting is another thing I don't particularly like about this episode. A few bits are kind of funny in a dumb way, but this sort of stuff would've never snuck its way into the dramatic context of I & II. It's not that I don't like when sequels change things up--hell, I dig Final Fantasy X-2--but dopey scripting has no place in an Ys game if you ask me. At the very least, they could've spared Adol his part in the foolish dialogue. I much prefer the cool, aloof man-of-few-words in I & II to the garrulous, insecure dumbass who stars here.

But again, the action and aesthetics are the reasons to play this game, and my complaints are minor when viewed in light of the game's virtues.