Ys I & II : Eternal Story

Ys I & II Eternal Story PS2 is a Japanese PlayStation 2 action role-playing compilation released on August 7, 2003. Published by DigiCube and developed by Michaelsoft under Nihon Falcom’s supervision, it brings together the opening two adventures of red-haired traveler Adol Christin. This is not the 1989 PC Engine CD-ROM² edition commonly called Ys I & II: it is a console adaptation of Falcom’s later Windows remake line, specifically the material collected in Ys I & II Complete. It was released only in Japan, in standard and limited editions, and remains a single-player entry in the long-running Ys series.

The adventure opens when Adol reaches Esteria, an island cut off by a supernatural storm. Monsters have begun to spread across the island, and the mystery leads him toward the six Books of Ys, records connected to a vanished ancient kingdom. Townspeople, ruins, mines, and the towering Darm Tower provide clues and obstacles as he searches for the books and confronts the force behind the crisis. Completing the first chapter leads into Ys II, where the story moves to the floating land of Ys itself and expands the central mystery of the goddesses, priests, and the kingdom’s lost power.

Like the early Ys games on which it is based, Ys I & II Eternal Story uses real-time, top-down action rather than a turn-based battle screen. Adol attacks by colliding with enemies at favorable angles, so positioning matters more than a separate attack button. Defeated monsters supply experience and money; stronger equipment and higher levels help him tackle caves, towers, bosses, and other dangerous locations. Pausing in safe outdoor areas can restore health, while dungeons demand more deliberate use of equipment and recovery resources. In the second game, magic becomes a major part of both combat and exploration, adding tools for attacking, lighting dark places, travel, and speaking with monsters.

The PS2 release preserves the two-game structure while offering an Eternal Story arrangement mode tailored to this version. That mode connects the games through a revised progression setup and adds voiced event presentation for principal characters. It also introduces the Alternating Equipment System, or AES. Weapons and rings can carry special effects, encouraging players to change gear to influence a fight instead of relying solely on raw attack values. DigiCube’s pre-release information used the Short Sword as an example: repeated hits could slow an enemy, allowing Adol to switch equipment and seek a safer finishing position.

Eternal Story mode also adds a small optional Dream World feature. After acquiring and equipping the Dreaming Jewel on Esteria, Adol can meet two PS2-exclusive sisters: Misha, a painter, and Jeanne, a musician. Showing Misha suitable items unlocks artwork over time, while Jeanne’s conversations and musical pieces build out a separate gallery-like reward space. These additions are distinct from the main quest, but they give this port its own collectible material and help differentiate it from simply playing the Windows games separately.

The game’s place in the series is especially easy to misunderstand because several similarly named versions exist. Falcom originally released Ys and Ys II as separate Japanese computer games in the late 1980s. Hudson’s PC Engine CD-ROM² compilation combined a different set of adaptations and added its own audiovisual presentation, while Falcom’s Windows remakes later rebuilt the first two stories as Eternal and Complete editions. Ys I & II Eternal Story belongs to that latter branch, not to the PC Engine version, and it predates the PSP-based Ys I & II Chronicles releases that later offered their own visual and soundtrack choices.

For players exploring the earliest part of Adol’s journey on PlayStation 2, Ys I & II Eternal Story presents the foundational two-part saga in one package. Its brisk contact-based combat, direct dungeon exploration, continuing fantasy narrative, PS2-specific equipment effects, voice work, and Dream World extras make it a particular snapshot of how Falcom’s first adventures were reworked for a later console. The title’s Japanese-only release and its association with DigiCube and Michaelsoft also make it a clearly separate version within the unusually extensive history of Ys I and Ys II.