*I played Ys Origins "twice" on Switch and on PS5.
Ys Origin is yet another solid Ys game that polishes the Napishtim system to its max. It's the only mainline game not to have Adol Christin as the protag and the protags consist of two main characters (with a secret final character) with their own story, development, and unique play styles.
Gameplay is polished with better platforming, better use of the magic system, and the bosses mostly being fun. Music is solid with a lot of remixed songs from Ys I, though all the original songs from the game are great. The playable characters are all fun to use and I appreciate the effort they made to make them feel different from Adol. The levels of Darm Tower were all unique with a campaign that least barely under ten hours. While the side characters aren't anything special, the main playable characters were all solid characters themselves.
Despite the positives, there are a few negatives I'll share. Despite how fun all three playable character were, the mage Hugo Fact kind of makes the game really easy and invalidates many of the bosses. Finally, and the reason why I personally think Origins is my last favorite of the Napishtim system is only for the simple fact you need to play all three characters to get the full context of the story. It wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the fact that all the levels of Darm Tower are the same regardless of which character you play. Despite the fact I still had fun and the campaigns are still short, I wished there was better variety in the Darm Tower levels between all three characters.
Despite my grievances with the needed replays, Ys Origins is a great game that give so much more context to what happened to Ys and why specific details are the way they are in Ys I and II. For that, you should play this game only after playing Ys I and II (and the other two Napishtim games for that matter). If not, it's still is a solid entry point since it is a prequel for the entire series. Easy 4/5.
Ys Origin is yet another solid Ys game that polishes the Napishtim system to its max. It's the only mainline game not to have Adol Christin as the protag and the protags consist of two main characters (with a secret final character) with their own story, development, and unique play styles.
Gameplay is polished with better platforming, better use of the magic system, and the bosses mostly being fun. Music is solid with a lot of remixed songs from Ys I, though all the original songs from the game are great. The playable characters are all fun to use and I appreciate the effort they made to make them feel different from Adol. The levels of Darm Tower were all unique with a campaign that least barely under ten hours. While the side characters aren't anything special, the main playable characters were all solid characters themselves.
Despite the positives, there are a few negatives I'll share. Despite how fun all three playable character were, the mage Hugo Fact kind of makes the game really easy and invalidates many of the bosses. Finally, and the reason why I personally think Origins is my last favorite of the Napishtim system is only for the simple fact you need to play all three characters to get the full context of the story. It wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the fact that all the levels of Darm Tower are the same regardless of which character you play. Despite the fact I still had fun and the campaigns are still short, I wished there was better variety in the Darm Tower levels between all three characters.
Despite my grievances with the needed replays, Ys Origins is a great game that give so much more context to what happened to Ys and why specific details are the way they are in Ys I and II. For that, you should play this game only after playing Ys I and II (and the other two Napishtim games for that matter). If not, it's still is a solid entry point since it is a prequel for the entire series. Easy 4/5.