You only need to see my ratings for the other Ys games that I've played to see that I am a pretty big fan of the Ys series. It's without a doubt my favourite action RPG series and I like all three main styles of gameplay that are prevalent in the series (bump combat, solo hack n slash and the party member system of modern Ys games).
There are a lot of other Ys fans who for some reason get really defensive about Ark of Napishtim, but it becomes evident just from playing it for a little while that Ark was a very rough start to the solo hack n slash style of Ys games. The combat feels clunky and relies on the player regularly using a kinda hard to execute lunge attack move, and most enemies and bosses are just completely unbalanced and the whole thing just feels like a mess much of the time. It's still good enough for a single playthrough and the finale is genuinely great but unlike other Ys games when I finished Ark of Napishtim I felt no desire to continue with a second playthrough on a higher difficulty and shelved it aside.
I think the main reason why some Ys fans get so defensive about Ark is that it has a pretty engaging story and is the game that contributed most to the Ys series setting/lore, with story entities from Ark of Napishtim being referenced in various other Ys games. Along with that, the soundtrack also really slaps. Ark of Napishtim is probably my second favourite Ys soundtrack just underneath Ys VIII and Ruined City of Kishgal is legit one of my top 5 favourite videogame songs of all time. If only the gameplay was as strong as the music.
There are a lot of other Ys fans who for some reason get really defensive about Ark of Napishtim, but it becomes evident just from playing it for a little while that Ark was a very rough start to the solo hack n slash style of Ys games. The combat feels clunky and relies on the player regularly using a kinda hard to execute lunge attack move, and most enemies and bosses are just completely unbalanced and the whole thing just feels like a mess much of the time. It's still good enough for a single playthrough and the finale is genuinely great but unlike other Ys games when I finished Ark of Napishtim I felt no desire to continue with a second playthrough on a higher difficulty and shelved it aside.
I think the main reason why some Ys fans get so defensive about Ark is that it has a pretty engaging story and is the game that contributed most to the Ys series setting/lore, with story entities from Ark of Napishtim being referenced in various other Ys games. Along with that, the soundtrack also really slaps. Ark of Napishtim is probably my second favourite Ys soundtrack just underneath Ys VIII and Ruined City of Kishgal is legit one of my top 5 favourite videogame songs of all time. If only the gameplay was as strong as the music.