Ys Seven Q&A

This long-running series has now made it to the PlayStation Portable so that role-playing game fans can take it with them on the go. Like previous games, the story revolves around the young red-haired lad Adol Christin, as he stumbles upon a new land and then somehow manages to save the world with his unique skills. Ys Seven introduces a new party system that allows players to rotate among different characters on the fly in battle and customize them. Localization specialist Thomas Lipschultz answers our questions about Falcom's latest, Ys Seven, which is set to hit stores this August.

GameSpot: What can you tell us about the story and the characters in Ys Seven? How is this installment related to the previous games in the series?

Thomas Lipschultz: Like all Ys games (except Ys II, which is why it's almost always included on the same disc as Ys I), Ys Seven is a stand-alone story. The series in general is about a red-haired adventurer named Adol Christin, and in every game, he always begins by arriving in some new land (usually with his BFF Dogi at his side), getting caught up in some sort of turmoil involving the reawakening of an ancient evil, learning he's the chosen one who's destined to stop it, stopping it, ignoring all the women who've fallen for him, then setting sail for some other new land (to be continued in the next game!). It's generally not a particularly deep story, but then, it isn't trying to be--it knows what it is, and it revels in that. Like the games of old, Ys titles are always about gameplay first and foremost, and I think that's a big part of their charm.

Ys Seven's story follows this same basic pattern, but because it's the first title in the series to include a party system, it puts a little more emphasis on telling an interesting and well-paced narrative. It's still very simplistic, but there are plenty of unexpected plot twists and heaping spoonfuls of character development to keep the player genuinely looking forward to what will happen next.

The best way to describe Ys Seven's plot is to focus on its setting, since the series has always been big on subtle world development. Ys Seven opens with Adol and Dogi arriving in the country of Altago (an analogue to Carthage), which has been at war with the Romun Empire for quite some time and only just reached a ceasefire agreement with them. As such, the Altaginian people are still extremely xenophobic, suspecting every stranger they meet of being a Romun spy. And since Adol and Dogi stick out like sore thumbs…well, it's not long before they get falsely imprisoned for treason, which sets in motion a course of events that--you guessed it--leads to Adol becoming the chosen one who must save all of Altago from an ancient evil.

Fortunately, like I said, there are some pretty shocking plot twists to be had and lots of political intrigue along the way. Oh, and fans of the previous Ys game, Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, will be glad to see the return of Geis, as well as the three fairies Xisa, Sera, and Jue.

GS: The production values of Book I and II were ahead of their time, and this is the first Ys game to be built specifically for the PSP. Why was the PSP chosen for this title? How has the series' presentation evolved over time?

TL: Well, as I'm sure some readers may know, Falcom's always developed primarily for the PC. In fact, there was an 11-year stretch from 1995 to 2006 where Falcom developed only PC titles in house, with all of their console titles ported and published entirely by third-party companies. In 2006, Falcom broke this streak by porting their 2004 PC hit Gurumin to the PSP in house. And ever since, there's been PSP game after PSP game from them. I believe they've released 10 titles on the PSP at this point (in Japan, of course), with an 11th (Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki: Alternative Saga) due out this month and a 12th (Legend of Heroes: Zero no Kiseki) due out in September.

I remember reading an interview with them back in 2006, which noted that they chose the PSP because developing games for it is structurally very similar to developing games for PC, and handheld titles are both more popular and more lucrative than computer games in today's market (especially in Japan, where computer gaming has always been significantly more niche than it is in the Western world).

As for how the series' presentation has evolved, I guess the best answer is: It's become more 3D! Up through Ys V, every game in the series was presented in 2D, featuring animated sprites moving around on hand-drawn tiles. Ys VI was the first title to feature fully 3D environments, but it still had 2D character sprites moving around within those environments (save for the PS2 version, where Konami replaced the 2D sprites with 3D models). Ys Seven is not only the first Ys title to be developed specifically for the PSP; it's also the first Ys title to be developed by Falcom 100 percent in 3D, with all characters and backgrounds represented through carefully assembled 3D polygons instead of 2D art.

What's nice, though, is that they did a really great job with it, taking advantage of their 3D environment and characters to depict story-advancing cutscenes with dynamic camera angles and subtle, well-conceived animations. In general, it's just a really great-looking game!

Aside from that, though, it still somehow really looks like a Ys game. I can't even explain how…I just know that it does. If you see this game in action, and you're familiar with the series, you know you're looking at a Ys title. Maybe it's the fixed camera perspective; maybe it's the colors…I don't know. I just know it's got that classic Ys feel all the way around. And as long as they never lose that, this series will never get old!

GS: The view and game mechanics have changed over time in the series. What decisions do you believe may have led to these changes in Ys Seven?

TL: I always tell people that Falcom doesn't try to reinvent the wheel; they just try to make it rounder. In other words, innovation isn't as important to them as fine tuning a genre until it's as fun as it can possibly be. But this is actually kind of a faulty way of looking at it, as Falcom really does innovate. They just do so bit by bit, over time, learning from their mistakes and further improving upon their successes. It's almost like they apply the scientific method to game design: Come up with a theory, test it out, figure out what works, figure out what doesn't, and apply what you've learned to the next phase of the experiment.

Ys Seven very much does the same thing, and if you look at some of Falcom's other titles from the last five years, you can fairly easily see the progression that led to the awesome game we have today. Two of their PC titles in particular, Xanadu Next and Zwei II, were clearly influential on Ys Seven's gameplay. Xanadu Next sports a very similar (but less robust) ability system, as well as similar dungeon design philosophies, and Zwei II sports a similar party system (which was, itself, built upon the party system used in the original Zwei and integrated with the basic gameplay of Gurumin!).

Falcom seems to have taken these best parts of Xanadu Next and Zwei II, mixed them with the best parts of the previous generation of Ys games, and pureed them together into an ambrosia of delicious action role-playing game goodness, which they're now further adapting to be used in Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki!

GS: Is the game more focused on the story, action, or other aspects?

TL: Absolutely 100 percent action. The story's not bad; don't get me wrong. But it's very simple and classic and clearly written for virtually no other reason than to facilitate awesome gameplay.

GS: Could you tell us more about the music? Will we hear familiar tunes or is it all original?

TL: In typical Ys fashion, the soundtrack is about 95 percent original, but it does contain a couple tracks as Easter eggs for series veterans. The Ys II classic "Don't Go So Smoothly" (Engrish title and all) is reprised during one particularly intense chase scene, and one of the penultimate boss themes contains numerous melodic nods to "The Strongest Foe," the final battle theme from Ys III and Ys: The Oath in Felghana (and as a result, its spoiler-iffic original track title has been altered on the limited edition's pack-in soundtrack CD to help prevent series fans from putting two and two together and ruining one of the game's major plot twists!).

Ys IV fans may also hear a few familiar pieces of instrumentation during the main overworld theme, "Mother Earth Altago."

As for the original tracks, they're all amazing. This is definitely one of the best soundtracks in the series, and when you have a series so renown for its music, that's saying a lot! The JDK Band studio-performed boss and intro tracks are absolutely breathtaking, and the synth tracks are all crisp, clear, fast paced, and just generally awesome.

GS: Will the latest Ys draw in more new players or will it be aimed mostly at Ys fans? Did you make any adjustments so that the game would be more accessible to a newer audience?

TL: Actually, part of the reason I'm so glad we're releasing Ys Seven first is it's so completely accessible to everyone. It mixes classic RPG tropes with all the hardcore elements Ys games are known for and really does the Ys name proud. If you're a fan of the series, you're going to love this game; and if you're not, you probably will be after you play it! Even if you've played Ys games in the past and disliked them, Ys Seven can still enthrall you. As I mentioned at E3, this is the first time a Ys game has ever been officially released in English straight from Falcom's programmers to your hands. Every other Ys game ever published in English was a third-party company's licensed interpretation of the series; not Falcom's own design. But Ys Seven is all Falcom. We're just putting it in English and letting the game speak for itself.

So to answer your questions, I believe Ys Seven will draw new players to the series and make existing Ys fans very happy. And aside from the "Name In Game" alterations (which, by the way, are only replacing descriptors like "Happy Bartender" and "Flower Enthusiast"; not Japanese character names!), we haven't adjusted a thing. This game is presented exactly the way Falcom created it.

GS: What do you hope players (the new ones, as well as the Ys fans) get out of Ys Seven?

TL: Many, many dozens of hours of enjoyment, great music, an awesome art book, and a seriously kicka** cloth map!

Also, a newfound appreciation for Falcom as a developer. There aren't many game development studios left who do what Falcom does. Companies with such consistently high-quality games and such great game development and management philosophies are few and far between. I mean, this is a game company with its own in-house '80s power metal band, who actually holds live concerts in Japan several times per year. If that doesn't say something about them, I don't know what would!

Some of Falcom's releases in English haven't been as high in quality as they could have been, and I attribute that almost entirely to third-party companies who don't just port their games from PC to console but take it upon themselves to "remake" those games in ways that were never intended. Hopefully, we at XSEED can undo some of the damage those third-party companies have done to Falcom's good name and show you all what Falcom is really all about!

GS: Can you talk about the other Ys titles coming to the PSP?

TL: Sure. Ys: The Oath in Felghana is Falcom's own complete reimagining of Ys III: Wanderers From Ys. Now, if you've played Ys III (which was available in North America on all three major 16-bit consoles back in the day), you probably either remember it very fondly or with extreme hatred. It was definitely one of Falcom's most divisive games of all time and is often regarded as the black sheep of the Ys series.

Falcom knew this and sought to "make amends," as it were so they created Ys: The Oath in Felghana, which I maintain is the single greatest remake of any video game ever. Every aspect of the game was improved upon in every way imaginable. Graphically, it's perhaps one of the nicest looking and most colorful games on the PSP. Musically, it features a brand new, fully arranged, mostly studio-performed version of Ys III's legendary soundtrack, with lots of additional guitar solos and melodic flairs. The story's been rewritten, following basically the same plotline but going into much more depth and taking it in an entirely new direction that's not only more interesting, but also ties it in with Ys VI a little bit. And the gameplay...well, let's just say it's a whole new game, taking a bit of a cue from the classic Metroidvania school of design, with a highly varied, labyrinthine, fully interconnected world full of hidden secrets.

If you loved Ys III growing up, you will simply adore Oath in Felghana. If you hated Ys III growing up, I don't care who you are, you'll still love Oath in Felghana. It's an improvement in every sense of the word and is just an outstanding masterpiece on Falcom's part.

And it's got full voice acting for all story-advancing cutscenes! And basically no load times!

I could go on and on about this game, so let's just move on to Ys I & II Chronicles before I end up writing a whole book.

Ys I & II Chronicles is Ys I & II the way it was meant to be played. This is Falcom's own remake; again, not some third-party company's interpretation, but Falcom themselves presenting the game exactly as they always wanted it to be played. The most unique feature is probably the battle system, which is completely buttonless. Often referred to as the "bump system," it has you attacking enemies simply by ramming into them. Hit them head-on, and you'll take damage; but hit them off-center or at an off-angle, and you'll explode them into bloody gibs (no, seriously, they literally explode into chunks when they die!).

If you haven't played Ys I & II before, this likely sounds either odd or stupid, but it's amazing how fun it really is. The key to this battle system's success is the fact that it encourages you to never stop moving. Mix that with a newly arranged '80s power rock soundtrack performed with live instrumentation by Falcom's in-house band, and you have the gaming equivalent of a Rocky training montage (to quote a friend of mine). It's almost mesmerizing!

And with full analog control, it's more fun than it ever has been before. Personally, I love running right at an enemy and then swerving off to the side at the last possible moment. This ensures that when we collide, we collide at an off-angle and I take 'em out. Soooo satisfying!

Of course, the game has more to it than just that. As you progress further in, you'll learn all kinds of magic spells (used with button presses, for those of you who still doubt the awesomeness of the bump system!), including my favorite: a spell that turns you into a fuzzy kangaroo-like creature called a Roo. This allows you to go around the entire game world and actually talk with all the random map monsters as if they were villagers, learning why they've been sent to their respective locations, how they feel about it, and how much they hate that red-headed adventurer who's been going around killing their brethren!

The whole game is presented in 2D, with old-school sprites and tiles, but it's all highly detailed, beautifully hand-drawn 2D, with lots of visual flairs that make it a real feast for the eyes (I love how when clouds go by overhead, Adol can stand in their shade, and you'll see his whole sprite darken).

So yeah, to summarize, Ys: The Oath in Felghana and Ys I & II Chronicles are extremely different games from one another and from Ys Seven as well. Yet, they're all Ys games through and through. That's one of the great things about this series: No two games are alike, making each one a very new experience. Yet, they're all still clearly cut from the same cloth. And what an awesome cloth it is! (Almost as awesome as our cloth map!)

GS: Thank you for your time!