The Falcom Thread

[nocturnal YL]

Now that I think about it, NISA is more problematic than I thought at first.

NISA is bad with NIS's own games. They typically come out about half a year after the Japanese release, and the examples I have in mind (Yomawari series, Void Terrarium series) aren't even particularly text-heavy.

I recall that there were multiple bidders who wanted to localise/publish Ys VIII, and NIS won because they also offered to make a Switch version to sweeten the deal. Since Falcom is handling Switch development themselves now, I think they can afford to change overseas publisher (again).

[nocturnal YL]

Famitsu info from ゲームよりどりサブカルみどりパーク (http://ryokutya2089.com):

Including Felghana, there are 3 Refine games planned. The Felghana remaster can pretty much run at 60 fps just fine. There will be some balance changes made in consideration of Switch users.

Ys X takes place after I and II, when a 17-year-old Adol is on his way to Celceta. Having a young protagonist is done in consideration of Switch users, as this is the first (new) game on the system.

There are only 2 playable characters. There are towns, but the base of operation is the ship. About 20% of the game takes place on the ship, where it will have marine battle encounters. The ship itself has growth elements.

Charge the revenge gauge by guarding to raise attack power. A new type of action called Mana Action is introduced and will give more freedom to aerial movement. There are also solo and paired battle modes, with solo being the usual high-speed action and pair will slow Adol down but raises attack power. This is triggered by holding a button.

They're being rather conscious that they're trying new grounds by targeting new hardware, and they hope they can make something that new and old fans can approach the same way.

New trailer will come after new year or in spring.

---

Okay, this serious feels like it's going to be an easy game when they're bringing up new and potentially younger fans all the time.

[Nester the Lark]

So, apparently, there's going to be an official novelization Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, written by Anna Kashina. Here is the official website.

It's a good story to adapt into a novel, I suppose, but I'm curious about how they'll handle Adol. Will he have full dialog?

[Nester the Lark]

Here's some new key art for Ys X.

You can also see some character art and tiny screenshots via Famitsu.

I also learned that the lead artist was also the artist for Tokyo Mirage Sessions, toi8.

[Nester the Lark]

Here's the first English trailer for The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails:



Due out Fall 2023. Only about 1.5 years after the Japanese release. At least I'll have something to play while I wait for the localization of Ys X in 2025.

[nocturnal YL]

Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is going to be out on Switch on June 29 in Japan.

[Nester the Lark]

I've heard mixed things about Tokyo Xanadu. It's supposed to be like a mix of the dungeon crawling of Xanadu with the combat of Ys and the involved storytelling of Trails/Kiseki. Whenever I used to watch someone streaming the game, all I saw were endless cutscenes with verbose dialog. It seemed more like a visual novel with some occasional dungeons.

The game was originally localized by Aksys Games, so not sure what this version's chances are of being released outside Japan.

[Nester the Lark]

Here's an English trailer for Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, but it's not an announcement for a Western release. Rather, it seems that it's just for the Asia region outside Japan. The scheduled release is May 25.

[Nester the Lark]

First gameplay footage of Ys X: Nordics. Starts at about 1:19:56, and goes to about 1:31:04.

www.youtube.com/live/W6-s6r_V8VE?feature=share&t=4796

[Nester the Lark]

The English version of The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails confirmed for September 19.



At the very least, this will help hold me over while I wait for Ys X (for the next couple of years, probably).

[Nester the Lark]

There was a poll recently in Japan asking fans about their favorite things in the Ys series. English results are in this Reddit thread. (Original Japanese article here)

Here are the results:

SPOILER: Click to show

What is your favorite Ys game?

1- Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA

2- Ys I & II

3- Ys IX: Monstrum Nox

4- Ys: The Oath in Felghana

5- Ys SEVEN

6- Ys Origin

7- Ys III: Wanderers from Ys

8- Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim

9- Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand / Ys: Memories of Celceta

What is your favorite moment?

1- Farewell to Feena (II)

2- Adol meets Dana (VIII)

3- Reunion between Adol and Crimson King (XI)

4- Opening (II)

5- True Ending: Farewell to Dana (VIII)

6- Ending (SEVEN)

7- Bell Tower Scene (II)

8- Final Dispossession (Quest) (IX)

9- Dana's Past (VIII)

10- Chester's Death (III / Felghana)

Who is your favorite male character?

1- Adol

2- Hummel

3- Dogi

4- Geis

5- Toal

6- Chester

7- Jules

8- Crimson King

9- Credo

10- Marius

Who is your favorite female character?

1- Dana

2- Feena

3- Lilia

4- Elena

5- Reah

6- Ricotta

7- Tia / Krysha

9- Olha

10- Laxia

What is your favorite sword of Adol's?

1- Mistilteinn

2- Cleria Sword

3- Silver Sword

4- Short Sword

5- Rusted Sword

6- Caliocerion

7- Isios Blade

8- Emelas Swords

9- Brave Sword

10- Talwar

What is your favorite item?

1- Silver Harmonica

2- Old Seal Ring

3- Mask of Eyes

4- Roda Tree Seed

5- Golden Vase

6- Black Pearl

7- Hermit's Scale

8- Book of Ys

9- Gale Feather

10- Adventure Journal

What is your most used skill?

1- Pentagram

2- Bump System (Half-Character Shift)

3- Force Edge

4- Judgement

5- Counter Trick

6- Aura Fencer

7- Down-Thrust

8- Fire Magic

9- Vermillion Scythe

10- Abyssal Blade

What is your favorite music?

1- To Make the End of Battle

youtu.be/cVCpaINqUcI

2- The Boy Who Had Wings

youtu.be/ATBcYQjE6rw

3- Sunshine Coastline

youtu.be/HvBla5NUlvk

4- A-to-Z

youtu.be/Kz9yQ-qzWiM

5- Feena

youtu.be/Rgdn5V31dWg

6- The Sibylline Road

youtu.be/bGda1iypk7Y

7- Iclucian Dance

youtu.be/xogTY-BvV6s

8- First Step Towards Wars

youtu.be/4CKQqDMusIo

9- Genesis Beyond the Beginning

youtu.be/Ytz61uka79M

10- Dana

youtu.be/xI4_b-ZqmK4

11- Hope Alive

youtu.be/-ta-Tlo2mnM

12- Valestein Castle

youtu.be/HSzaK_ueHY4

13- Norse Wind

youtu.be/nTJNYniviRw

14- Mighty Obstacle

youtu.be/02A9KsvsoW0

15- Tower of the Shadow of Death

youtu.be/1GNWcJLEKYw

Who was the hardest boss for you?

1- Dark Fact

2- Galbalan

3- Mephorash

4- Vagullion

5- Oceanus

6- Pictimos

7- Darm

8- Chester

9- Dalles

10- Kava Kelos

What age do you hope Adol will be in the next game?

1- 25

2- 22

3- 30

4- 20

5- 27

6- 35

7- 40

8- 63

9- 28

10- 24

Comments:

Favorite male character: Adol was expected, but Dogi wasn't second?

Favorite female character: No Yunica anywhere invalidates the entire list.

What age do you hope Adol will be in the next game?
In general, it seems that people want to see an older Adol. Number one is age 25, which is one year older than he was in Ys IX. Age 63 also made the list, which is canonically the age Adol "dies" (or technically, goes missing, and his journal entries cease).

Sometimes, it does seem like Falcom wants to cram half of Adol's 100 adventures into a five-year time span.

[nocturnal YL]

This is interesting. If I am to answer these questions:

What is your favorite Ys game? → Ys Origin so far. I've only played 3 games.

What is your favorite moment? → Toal fighting Kishgal and the knights rushing in to aid him. It shows that Toal's earlier actions paid off.

Who is your favorite male character? → Toal. At this point, he's my overall favourite Ys character too.

Who is your favorite female character? → I'll say Anemona. A doll with roller shoes sounds fun.

What is your favorite sword of Adol's? → I'm too distracted by other characters' weapon to care about Adol's.

What is your favorite item? → None. The fact that I have to equip things for what should be permanent upgrades like double jumping and slaying undead enemies doesn't really help me appreciate items.

What is your most used skill? → Let me check… Nope, can't remember what it's called. … Ah yes, Illusionary Gavotte.

What is your favorite music? → Glessing Way! And I'd say Gens d'Armes and Silent Desert for their respective games.

Who was the hardest boss for you? → None of them is hard, but if I have to pick one, Oceanus for giving me a few close calls.

What age do you hope Adol will be in the next game? → 63.

[Nester the Lark]

Here are my answers:

What is your favorite Ys game?

Ys Origin

What is your favorite moment?

Hmm... Maybe in Yunica's route in Ys Origin after (spoiler) dies, and "Beyond the Beginning" kicks in.

Who is your favorite male character?

I agree with the popular opinion -- Adol Christin. In second place, not sure. Maybe Dogi.

Who is your favorite female character?

As alluded to earlier, Yunica Tovah from Origin. In second place, I think Laxia from Ys VIII.

What is your favorite sword of Adol's?

I actually don't remember most of these.

What is your favorite item?

I don't have one.

What is your most used skill?

Not sure. Maybe Adol's Force Edge from Ys VIII, if that's the one I'm thinking of. Also, Yunica's Whirlwind.

What is your favorite music?

I'll always have a soft spot for Yuzo Koshiro's classic "First Step Towards Wars."

Also, "Genesis Beyond the Beginning." I especially love this incredible live version by Falcom jdk Band from 2013.

Who was the hardest boss for you?

I agree with the popular opinion -- Dark Fact from Ys I. Although, I did manage to beat him on Nightmare difficulty.

Also, Galbalan from Oath in Felghana. Especially if you're playing on PC, haven't bought a proper game controller yet, and use only mouse and keyboard... like I did the first time.

Oh, and maybe Lanaluna from Ys VI. I always seem to have trouble there for some reason.

What age do you hope Adol will be in the next game?

24 or 25. I want to see what happens to him after Monstrum Nox.

[Nester the Lark]

On their live stream, NISA just announced the official localization for Kuro no Kiseki. The English title is Trails through Daybreak. They also confirmed a Switch version. It's due out Summer 2024.

Trailer:

[Nester the Lark]

The Happy Console Gamer imported Ys X, and here are his impressions: