Legacy of Ys - Books I & II

Legacy of Ys: Books I & II for Nintendo DS brings the opening two adventures of Nihon Falcom's long-running action role-playing series to one cartridge. Atlus published this North American compilation on February 24, 2009. It packages the Nintendo DS remakes of Ys I and Ys II, originally developed for Japan by Interchannel-Holon from Falcom's foundational 1987 and 1988 computer games. The connected story follows red-haired adventurer Adol Christin as an investigation of a storm-bound island grows into a journey concerning the vanished kingdom of Ys.

The first book begins when Adol reaches Esteria, an island cut off by the supernatural Stormwall. Monsters have begun appearing, the island's silver has disappeared, and the people have few answers. Adol explores villages, caves, ruins, mines, and the towering Darm Tower while searching for the six Books of Ys. Those volumes preserve the history of an ancient civilization and point toward the source of Esteria's crisis. The opening quest introduces figures including the fortune-teller Sara, the amnesiac Feena, and Dogi, while gradually connecting the island's present danger to the lost land above it.

Legacy of Ys uses an overhead action-RPG structure rather than turn-based battles. Adol moves through field areas and dungeons in real time, meeting enemies directly and earning experience and money from victories. Towns provide equipment, information, and story leads; new weapons, armor, shields, and items improve the hero's prospects in increasingly dangerous areas. The Nintendo DS version changes an especially famous feature of the earliest Ys games: instead of relying only on the original contact-based attack system, it offers a more direct sword-swing approach controlled with buttons or the stylus. The two screens also give the remake room to display play information and maps while keeping the adventure moving.

Completing the first game leads into Ys II, but the second chapter is not simply a repeat of its predecessor. Adol arrives in the floating land of Ys and learns more about its six priests, its twin goddesses, and the Black Pearl that underlies the kingdom's power. The setting expands from Esteria's immediate mystery to the plight of a people living amid demons and kidnappings around the Shrine of Solomon. Magic becomes a major part of exploration and combat, providing abilities such as ranged fire attacks, illumination, travel between locations, and a monster-disguise spell used to communicate with creatures that Adol normally cannot understand.

The compilation's two-part design makes its narrative progression one of its defining qualities. Ys I establishes the books, ancient silver, and Darm Tower before its conclusion sends Adol into the second game; Ys II answers the larger questions about Ys itself. Although the DS adaptations update the presentation with three-dimensional field environments and a new English localization, their quest structure still reflects the concise, exploration-driven design of the original entries. Puzzles, boss fights, equipment choices, and NPC clues guide progress, while the continuous premise gives players a clear route from a local emergency to a fantasy world-spanning resolution.

Nintendo DS-specific additions distinguish Legacy of Ys from the earlier PC Engine and later PSP collections. Players can choose touch-screen or button-based controls, and the package includes local wireless multiplayer features for up to four participants. Atlus also offered first-print North American copies with a soundtrack CD. These additions do not turn the game into a new chapter of the series; they present a particular remake interpretation of its beginning, combining two historic Adol Christin adventures in a portable format.

As an entry point, Legacy of Ys: Books I & II places the origins of the series in their original story order. Its setting, recurring hero, ancient mythology, and brisk action-RPG progression establish ideas revisited throughout later Ys games. For Nintendo DS players, the release is a self-contained chance to follow Adol from his arrival at storm-shrouded Esteria through the revelation of the land of Ys, with both chapters collected as a single adventure.