weird game! it's got incredible music (easily in contention for the best version of this soundtrack), weird difficulty balancing, a pretty fun presentation and aesthetic, and its about as short as ys 1 too.

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they make the bizarre choice to have adol talk but only in text boxes, but its still strange to see him have a voice, and mostly he just says variations of "elena you are too much of an innocent girl to go into danger you must flee" which is a choice alright. most of the rest of the game gets actual VA, and it's charmingly awkward and feels very of its time in a way i enjoyed.

the difficulty of the game is strange, half the bosses melt instantly when you find the right spot to stand and the other half are kind of annoying and take a bit to figure out how best to approach. the regular stage enemies are the same, with most posing no threat but an occasional one who can do a ton of damage with just one touch.

despite the weirdness i had fun with this game, despite shifting to a zelda 2-ish side-scrolling platformer, this game maintains the feeling of speed that ys 1 and 2 have, and the game is quite short overall, so it really doesn't overstay it welcome. definitely recommended if you have an afternoon to kill and are curious!

standout track: so hard to pick just one honestly, the whole thing is amazing, but here