Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys

~ YS IV: THE DAWN OF YS ~

Falcom / Hudson Soft

Super CD-ROM

1993

Fans of Book I & II get a treat right off the bat here, as Adol's confrontation with Darm is recreated in a thrilling opening cinema.

Later, you get to romp through the land of Ys I, visiting familiar locations, seeing familiar faces, and reveling in familiar tunes. The first time I played through this game, I got chills during the Ys I stretch. Ys IV effectively pays homage to its glorious predecessor and will bring a nostalgic tear to the eye of I & II veterans, and it deserves a lot of credit for that.

Of course, IV has some money moments of its own, including fantastic "history lesson" scenes that feature moody, dramatic music and extremely cool artwork.

As far as in-game action is concerned, you can't have Adol simply lower his shoulders and bulldoze through everything now; you have to pay a little more attention to the impending collision spots if you're going to avoid damage. It's still a fast, convenient method of combat, and the Samson shoes (which turn Adol into a slow-footed but nearly invulnerable wrecking machine) make late-game leveling a less arduous task.

More impressive than the combat tweaks are the challenges and puzzles involving the environment, including shifting desert sands and a bizarre warp-tile sequence.

The graphics also received the upgrade treatment and now flaunt slightly larger sprites and more detail in the backgrounds. I wouldn't call the visual improvements major, as I found Book I & II nice looking to begin with, but they contribute to the game's general appeal all the same.

The anime-style close-ups of the characters benefit from a new refined style: Lilia, for instance, looks much better here than she does in I & II.

(Of course, despite Lilia's improved looks, Adol, as usual, finds a few new young ladies to cavort with.)

While I'm fine with the gameplay and graphical amendments, I'm not completely satisfied with the soundtrack. Sure, there are some brilliant tunes here: the new rendition of Adol's theme, the immensely catchy tune during a late-game tower stretch, and the appropriately odd-sounding track that accompanies the warp-tile escapades are good examples. There are some forgettable and even awful moments, however: one of the field tunes, a repetitive electric-guitar-driven number, is horribly grating, and I always want to cover my ears when I hear the high-pitched shrieking that goes on within the flood-gate labyrinth. There are quite a few great chip tunes, however.

The mediocre trio of villains is more of a concern than the music. I would've preferred to encounter foes more intriguing than the cartoony bunch we get here, as these miscreants would be more at home in a Schbibin Man game than an Ys adventure and seem particularly inadequate when viewed as successors to the legends that were Dark Fact, Dalles, and Darm.

I don't like the fact that Dark Fact's old chambers are occupied by a chubby blonde oaf; and while the girl looks cool on occasion, she doesn't do much aside from stealing a tactic from Dalles' old playbook. Evil bladesman Guruda does earn his place in PCE history with one shocking moment of treachery, but he isn't very memorable design-wise; he's just a generic blue-haired anime dude.

A lot of folks consider this game to be the greatest action-RPG for the Duo; while I think it's very good, I don't agree with that praise. I believe it's outmatched in many aspects by some of its peers, even within the Falcom fraternity: Book I & II has the greater soundtrack and cooler villains, Legend of Xanadu is more challenging and features superior puzzle design, and Xanadu II has better visuals and combat. However, Ys IV does indeed offer up a fine overall package and ends up being a worthy successor to I & II (which is truly the greatest PCE game of all time!).