Ever since Ys III I've had an interest in the Ys series, but I've never actually played any. Not even on Emulators. I'm thinking of jumping in with Ys VIII when it comes out on PS4 later this year. I know there are tons on PSP and Vita. But I really know nothing about the series beyond the early ones and their unique look. Any Ys fans care to give me a Ys 101?
The whole thing is a clusterfuck really because some of the newer games are in fact remakes of older ones. IMO, getting a PS TV is a good way to go, since you can play Ys I & II, Oath in Felghana (remake of III), Memories of Celceta (remake of IV) and Ys Seven.
Played PC version of 1 and 2 - good 2d graphics and music. Also recommend PC versions of Origin, Ark of Napishtim, Oath in Felghana. Runs at 60fps on 2009-2011 machines in high resolutions with max AA/AF. Keep in mind - running on CRT monitors with refresh rates higher than 85Hz can make some bosses unplayable hard, you'll need to slow game down to 60fps with some software. For Memories of Celceta and Ys Seven PS TV is way to go.
If you get Ys 1 for TG-16 or PCE, the Duo edition that came as pack in is slightly easier than the original TG-16 version.
If you like 8 bit, avoid the snes ones, get the turbo. If you don't mind, the new reboots are nice. Same experience but the charming 8 bit graphics are gone. Ys was and still is my first love, the power of CD media was so incredible, from bloops and bleeps to cd music. Good times.
You should checkout Ys 2 Special on the MS-DOS very excellent game imo! And has a very similar style to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
