Ys Seven was released last week for the PSP, but the biggest surprise for me was the huge amount of fanservice that publisher Xseed games had lavished on it. It's crazy what they included with the premium edition.
Remembering the somewhat tepid response that Ark of the Napishtim had when it came out years ago on the PS2, or how few of the games in the series had actually been officially released in North America in comparison to what Japan had long enjoyed, it was startling to see such a huge push for an otherwise commercially obscure franchise here. At the same time, I'm also incredibly happy to see that Xseed had taken this kind of risk upon itself to help give this underrated series some attention as well as give something back to the fans.
So what's in it? Lots of Ys goodies.
In addition to a huge box, the edition came with an art book, music CD with 27 tracks from the game, and a nice cloth map. I remember when certain CRPGs like those in the Ultima series came with cloth maps.... Mmmm, nostalgia...
The art book itself is nicely done and pretty expansive with over sixty pages of eye candy. It isn't filled with cinematic frame excerpts or CG concepts, but is a collection of the full blown drawings and paintings based on the series. It covers Ys I and II, the Oath in Felghana (Ys III remake), and Ys Seven. Both the inside and outside covers of the book are also decorated.
The cloth map that came with the game was also another great surprise. Finally, we have some idea of what the world of Ys looks like from orbit to put Adol's adventures in some kind of perspective. It's also really nice to look at and doesn't use the wierd kind of ink that makes it feel gummy between the fingers.
Let's see...Vortex of Canaan, Esteria, Promalock, Europe Region...it's almost like home. The PSP case the game came in is literally dwarfed by this thing.
Even without the extra goodies, the manual that the game comes with hearkens back to when plenty of background info was provided making it feel like a small book introducing you to another world. It's chock full with as much information on its characters and Altago as there are instructions on how to actually get around to do things. And that's always awesome. Real manuals aren't dead yet!
I've just started the game so haven't actually gotten too far into it yet. The party mechanic seems like a nice touch, and the graphics aren't half bad on the PSP. The only thing I wish is that this game had been released either for a major console or had even come out for PC in the Japan for import (and the inevitable fansub).
It's not that I don't like gaming on the PSP, but I'd rather experience something like this on a much bigger screen (I've got an old version without the audio/video output). But Adol actually made it to shore without sinking his ship, Dogi hasn't shoulder blocked any walls yet, and it's Ys. Can't wait to see what's next!
