Ys: The Vanished Omens

The Good
I don't have a lot of experience with console RPGs like Final Fantasy 3, Legend of Zelda, etc., but if Ancient Land of Ys is anything like them, they must indeed be fun.

Gameplay consists of running around your surroundings in an overhead view, bumping into people to talk with them (or bumping into enemies to hit them). The more you fight, the more experience you get; the more experience you get, the more hits you can take and the faster you recover.

The graphics are decidedly anime, but there's a certain charm in that.

The Bad
Certain parts of gameplay are not obvious and frustrating. At one point, the only way to go from one section to the other is to find a hidden door. You can easily see this door if you're wearing a special mask. But if you're not wearing the mask, you not only can't see the door but you can't open it either! I had "opened" the secret door at least 10 times before I stumbled through it with the mask on.

The Bottom Line
If you like console RPGs, you'll love Ancient Land of Ys.

The Good
It's a cute game for one thing. Very similiar to many Playstation Anime RPG's when RPG's first became popular in Playstation.

The game is simple enough...probably too simple for my tastes now, but I do recall it being fun when I played it then. The game has a very clear (and short) story line that is similiar to Playstation RPG's: Talk to people, complete their quests, kill monsters on the way.

The game is divided into 3 major places: The town, wilderness and dungeons. The town of course is where are the people are, where you get quests, buy stuff, etc. Wilderness is the area-in-between from the town to a certain place you want to go. Random monsters weren't created yet if I'm not mistaken, so you know what to expect each time monsters re-generate. Dungeons represent places where there is a certain quest you have to complete. Of course it's packed with monsters.

The Bad
The game as I said was simple. A little too simple. I usally enjoy RPG's that have 'unique features', something this game did not present much of. Or maybe because this game was one of first in its line...

The Bottom Line
Well, it ain't bad for an RPG. Could've been much better if they put a little more 'effort' in it...

The Good
Charming in that Japanese anime sort of way.

The Bad
Ys has all of the bad things about Japanese console RPGs, with almost none of the good. Graphics are weak even by the PC standards of the day. Combat is excessively simple (bump into your opponent!) and extremely monotonous. The plot is ok, but nothing that special. There really isn't anything in Ys that isn't done much better by countless other Japanese-style RPGs.

The Bottom Line
I would only recommend this game to very small children or other people who enjoy lots of repetition.

The Good
Ys: The Vanished Omens was one of the best Sega Master System games to be released, at in America. Everything about the game is groundbreaking, both as an RPG and as a game for the ill-fated Master System.

The Sega Master System was quite popular in many nations, but its success in the United States was much more limited. For American Master System owners, such as myself, this meant that we only had official access to a small library of games, many of which were not terribly good.

Luckily, Ys: The Vanished Omens was one of the Sega Master System games to be officially released in America. I had never heard of the Ys series prior to playing this game, and (for years) was I disappointed by the fact that this was the only Ys game given a American release.

Everything about this game -- its graphics, music, storyline, character development and playability -- is perfect. The game shows off what the Master System can do, in the right hands, and it also introduced Americans to one of the best RPG series that has ever existed.

The Bad
The worst thing about this game was, that (after beating the game) no sequel existed for us, lowly, Americans.

NEC gamers got Ys I and II released together as a CD set, which (as far as I could tell) was the only way for Americans to officially play the second game. Instead, Ys III (not Ys II) was -- eventually -- given an official released on the Sega Genesis.

I had hoped that the Ys series would be re-released for the Xbox 360, but that does not seem to be in the pipeline.

The Bottom Line
Ys: The Vanished Omens is a great Master System game. It is one of the best RPG game series ever made. It is also probably the best Master System released in American Hopefully, more American gamers will -- one day -- be able to explore all the Ys games.