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 console hit the market in 1989,
but it wasn't until early '92 that I finally acquired
a Turbo CD unit. By that point, it was darn near impossible
to find a copy of Ys Book I & II on store shelves,
so III was the first episode of the series that I purchased
and played through (though I did manage to obtain I &
II a couple of months later). I'm glad it worked out
that way. The rap on III at the time was that it was
a pretty solid sidescrolling adventure title but a hefty
disappointment in the wake of its predecessor's magnificence.
Since it was my first Ys game, I didn't have to worry
about it letting me down in that respect, and I was
able to derive enjoyment from it based on its own mettle.
And enjoy it I did (and still do).
These days, people
don't complain nearly as much about its "inadequacy"
as a sequel as they do about its atrociously rough
multilayer scrolling. I did indeed find the first
town's choppiness-afflicted backdrop disconcerting
when my adventure commenced, and perhaps due to
unpleasant memories of that initial experience,
I still note the unattractiveness of the strip each
time I start up a new game. But the faulty scrolling
isn't something I pay any mind to as I proceed with
my quest. In fact, I think the game looks pretty
darn good, as it features lots of very cool, very
nice-looking backdrops.
Some of the visual
highlights come towards the end of the adventure.
I've always dug the view of the climb up the circular
stairway that Adol takes to Demonicus' den and the
theatrics of the wall-bursting, stone-busting final
confrontation.
And the music rocks,
plain and simple. It doesn't offer the sort 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 what
III delivers. I especially love the dark, dirty
breakdown that follows the awesome guitar 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 at the "Beginning/Continue"
screen.
The great music augments
solid, fast-paced gameplay. Many adventure games
that are viewed from the side for their durations
or feature sidescrolling action portions get away
with combat that's merely passable thanks to their
overall packages including sweet visuals and/or
well-conceived questing elements. But Ys III actually
gives us hack-and-slash action that would be satisfying
even if evaluated on its own. It's a blast to hold
down button II and have Adol charge forward and
tear apart everything in his path like some 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 mind the easiness
all that much, but while some of the bosses (such
as the volcano dragon) are fairly cool...
...others are just
lame, especially the anomalous thing that's stuck
to a cave wall...
...and then there
are a few who don't do much of anything at all.
As for the lack of
length, I didn't expect an epic adventure coming
in, 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 offset the issue
of brevity. As it is, even when some "tricky" elements
are included in the stage design, it's 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 is an extremely goofy
and awkward fellow and the VA who voiced the lad
has goofy and awkward down pat--seemingly 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 is
attributable in part to mediocre writing, which
brings us to another thing I don't particularly
like about this episode: the rampant silliness of
the script. A few of the dumbest bits are amusing,
but such material never would've snuck its way into
the dramatic context of I & II. It's not that
I don't like it when sequels change things up by
moving in a less-serious direction--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,
the writers could've spared Adol his part in the
foolishness. I much prefer the cool, aloof man-of-few-words
in I & II to the garrulous, insecure dumbass
featured here.
But the action and
the aesthetics are the reasons to play this game,
and my complaints are minor when viewed in light
of the title's virtues.
