Ys III: Wanderers from Ys
“And the warrior...is you!”
This is where it started for me on the SNES
Ys III would first debut on the PC-88 in Japan, but little would those in the West know that it would also be the last taste they would have of the series outside of imports.
It would be ported over to the popular TG-16 continuing Falcom's association with NEC, the Sega Genesis, and the SNES which were busy waging a three way war for 16-bit domination of the marketplace when it arrived in 1991.
Sega 16's comparison screens between each release
All three versions would also have dramatically different opening sequences, although the gameplay and story remained relatively the same. The biggest differences would belong to the TG-16's intro thanks to the bleeding edge technology of CDs. After all, what game could possibly use more than one...oh, right.
Now, Galbalan was the name of the main villain in both the Genesis and SNES versions. I couldn't forget that name thanks to nearly throwing a controller out of the window when he would repeatedly use Adol as a beam target. Thanks!
But for some reason, he would be introduced as Demonicus in the TG-16 version. Adol would also be presented as a stylized, bronze skinned and golden haired Spartan during the narrated intro.
When the actual game started, the player was suddenly cast as a red-headed adventurer ready to sail across the seas (Adol and boats..). But the animated intro was decent on a technical level, if not misleading, in making use of the TG-16's CD format. Dude...it talks!
Game cover for the TG-16 version. Whoever did the art may have thought that was Adol, but he wasn't.
It's also not the first time something didn't quite mesh with what was seen and what was actually in the game. Localization issues were also much more prevalent in those days, especially in between different licensees. Who could forget Michael Biehn on the cover of Metal Gear as Snake?
The story begins three years following the events from Ys II. After all, Adol and Dogi had helped to save the world, so who knows what they did in the years they had since that time to match it. At least they didn't pull a Ghostbusters 2.
But Dogi gets homesick and decides to return home. The bad news is that Adol's habit for finding trouble drags some of that bad karma along when things turn out to be not quite as peaceful as his friend remembers them. Evil things are afoot, so naturally, our red-headed swordsman heads out to kick more ass. And while he did have something to say in the first two Ys, it continues here with the slowly rarified event where Adol actually says something other than "Adol explains X".
The biggest change for longtime fans, however, is in what they saw when the game began.
For whatever reason, Falcom threw out the top down view that it used for Ys I and II and instead went the side-scrolling route similar to Castlevania II: Simon's Quest with player initiated attacks. Collecting different rings for different magical powers would return and the difficulty was still there despite the change in perspective and the use of parallax scrolling.
Adol had also become the Bruce Lee of sword speed in the three years since his last adventure: hitting or holding down the attack button would turn his blade into a swinging curtain of steel. It didn't make him invincible, but it was probably a good thing that the designers opted not to put in a stamina bar.
Ys III on the MSX2
I remember getting my ass handed to me several times in this game, even with the regenerating health system, and didn't know that this wasn't what the previous Ys games were like. To me, the music, monsters, and the grinding were pretty addicting staples to play with until I reached the level cap. Adol's fast swordplay, regenerating monster spawns, and easy controls didn't make the trudging journey to the next level as tedious as it could have been.
And there was still something alluring about the game, whether it was the music or the cool tower effect while climbing up to meet the evil Galbalan for the final battle. Hated that boss. Little did I know that he'd become much worse in the remake.
Ys III eventually underwent an almost customary facelift that Falcom's titles are known for and be released again on the PS2 in 2005. It would retain the side-scrolling action of the original, but with better graphics, updated score, and voice acting all around. Adol and Dogi also have speaking parts, so if you're curious to know what they sound like in Japanese and have a Japanese PS2 (or one modded to read imported discs), here you go.
Adol talking? Yes, it's true.
As to whether Taito's remake is actually worth a look, judging from this review, it's not much of an improvement other than with its presentation. It wouldn't be until 2005 that Falcom would introduce its own idea on what a remake should be like and blow fans away with The Oath in Felghana.
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