by Kikki » Jan 12, 2018 9:59 am
Ronin19 wrote:Same. I was set on getting it, but after I looked up the game, I realized that it's the same main character across all games and YS VIII would be my first game. In other words, I don't know if I need to play the other games in order to understand this one or not.
That question gets asked a lot. You can play any game, with, I believe, the exception of Ys I and II (which are directly connected to each other, so playing Ys II before Ys I would be weird) without much trouble. A little like playing a LoZ game. I talked to Wyrdwad (Tom) on the XSEED forums for a while about that,
in this thread. There is a very detailed Ys. site listed there (
Digital Emelas), and Tom also goes into detail about what he thinks of the playing order, if you'd like to check that thread (or the site.)
Ys VIII is of more interest to me than any other in the series (I do own Ys. SEVEN though, after the conversation linked above) because of the extra features in it. I'll definitely get it...some day. After I pare my backlog down a bit. But to give just an idea since what Wyrdwad said helped me figure out my own opinion...
Wyrdwad wrote:I don't fully agree with the recommended order listed on Digital Emelas, TBH, as I think it puts a much greater emphasis on the narrative weight of the series than is necessary. The order recommended there is indeed good if you're one of those people who absolutely insists on never spoiling anything, no matter how small or inconsequential it may be, until you've experienced it for yourself -- but Ys is a series with a very light overarching storyline, designed to be played in almost any order. I equate it to something like Star Trek: The Next Generation, or some other episodic TV show of its ilk. Yes, there is an overarching storyline in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but you can very easily sit down and watch whatever episode they happen to be airing in reruns without too much worry about being spoiled -- the chances of it containing a crucial story element to one of the overarching plot elements is slim, and even if it does, the episode will typically be written in such a way as to introduce the necessary elements to the audience for them to understand what's going on even if they have no prior knowledge of past events.
The only real exceptions to this are:
-Ys II, which is a direct continuation of Ys I (fortunately, Ys I & II are almost always bundled together because of this)
-Ys Origin, which is the earliest point in the storyline, but does assume players have some prior knowledge of events from Ys I & II
-Arguably Ys IV (Memories of Celceta) and Ys VI (Ark of Napishtim), both of which introduce fairly major story events and somewhat heavily reference other games
Aside from those entries, I'd honestly say you're safe starting the series literally anywhere, and you'll feel just as comfortable doing so as if you'd sat down to watch an episode of Star Trek for the first time.
In any case, both Wyrdwad and the Digital Emelas site agree that if you want to jump into the series starting with Lacrimosa of Dana, there's no significant reason why you shouldn't go ahead and do so.
[quote="Ronin19"]Same. I was set on getting it, but after I looked up the game, I realized that it's the same main character across all games and YS VIII would be my first game. In other words, I don't know if I need to play the other games in order to understand this one or not.[/quote]
That question gets asked a lot. You can play any game, with, I believe, the exception of Ys I and II (which are directly connected to each other, so playing Ys II before Ys I would be weird) without much trouble. A little like playing a LoZ game. I talked to Wyrdwad (Tom) on the XSEED forums for a while about that, [url=http://www.xseedgames.com/forum/index.php?threads/new-ys-fan-site-digital-emelas.29256/]in this thread[/url]. There is a very detailed Ys. site listed there ([url=http://www.digitalemelas.com/]Digital Emelas[/url]), and Tom also goes into detail about what he thinks of the playing order, if you'd like to check that thread (or the site.)
Ys VIII is of more interest to me than any other in the series (I do own Ys. SEVEN though, after the conversation linked above) because of the extra features in it. I'll definitely get it...some day. After I pare my backlog down a bit. But to give just an idea since what Wyrdwad said helped me figure out my own opinion...
[quote="Wyrdwad"]I don't fully agree with the recommended order listed on Digital Emelas, TBH, as I think it puts a much greater emphasis on the narrative weight of the series than is necessary. The order recommended there is indeed good if you're one of those people who absolutely insists on never spoiling anything, no matter how small or inconsequential it may be, until you've experienced it for yourself -- but Ys is a series with a very light overarching storyline, designed to be played in almost any order. I equate it to something like Star Trek: The Next Generation, or some other episodic TV show of its ilk. Yes, there is an overarching storyline in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but you can very easily sit down and watch whatever episode they happen to be airing in reruns without too much worry about being spoiled -- the chances of it containing a crucial story element to one of the overarching plot elements is slim, and even if it does, the episode will typically be written in such a way as to introduce the necessary elements to the audience for them to understand what's going on even if they have no prior knowledge of past events.
The only real exceptions to this are:
-Ys II, which is a direct continuation of Ys I (fortunately, Ys I & II are almost always bundled together because of this)
-Ys Origin, which is the earliest point in the storyline, but does assume players have some prior knowledge of events from Ys I & II
-Arguably Ys IV (Memories of Celceta) and Ys VI (Ark of Napishtim), both of which introduce fairly major story events and somewhat heavily reference other games
Aside from those entries, I'd honestly say you're safe starting the series literally anywhere, and you'll feel just as comfortable doing so as if you'd sat down to watch an episode of Star Trek for the first time.[/quote]
In any case, both Wyrdwad and the Digital Emelas site agree that if you want to jump into the series starting with Lacrimosa of Dana, there's no significant reason why you shouldn't go ahead and do so.