Ys Origin is (to date) my favorite Ys game and one of my favorite RPGs of all time. It's hard to explain and convey why I feel that way towards the game since it doesn't really offer anything earth-shattering in terms of gameplay and storyline but on a personal level I really enjoyed the setting, the character development in the game, the fast-paced action-based combat system, the soundtrack (best intro in Ys series) and how the game lays out the story for future Ys games.

Regarding character development, I really enjoyed how Yunica and Hugo turned out. Yunica starts as a sweet-loving and somewhat insecure scout group member due to her inability to use magic. However, as the journey of escalating Darm Tower's unfolds, she develops a strong will and determination that culminates with her confidence and overall character completely different to when she started this story. Hugo's character provides a good contrast to Yunica in the sense that he has a very "easy to hate" cocky and unpleasant personality that, someway-somehow, ends up growing on the player as his journey unfolds and you learn more about his past.

Despite the game only taking place at Darm Tower, I felt like the different levels offer as much variety as they can; and combined with different enemies, mild puzzles, and interesting (and challenging) boss battles, they make up for a fun journey full of surprises via the different plot changes that happen.