Ys: The Oath in Felghana [PSP][out now][buy it]

[Super Orbus]

I know Tom can't comment on the crediting thing, so Tom, avert your eyes.

Just thinking about it - I mean the Screen Actor's Guild doesn't have an automatic monopoly on acting jobs. I'd think it'd only be a problem if SAG members were seen to be working on the game, and it wasn't a union job. If non-union actors work on a non-union game, why shouldn't they be credited? Is it that they fear not being able to join up with the union at some future point in their careers, for taking non-union work?

I know this is kind of off on a tangent - just genuinely curious now.

Back on topic, I went to Fry's again and managed to score the game! They had two copies (both the standard edition) and I got one. Interestingly, they also had a ton of copies of Ys Seven, both collectors and non, sitting there as well. Hope that doesn't mean it didn't sell well.

[wyrdwad]

I'd think it'd only be a problem if SAG members were seen to be working on the game, and it wasn't a union job.

That IS pretty common in the industry, actually.

Not saying that's what WE did... just that it happens.

-Tom

[Super Orbus]

Yeah, I can see how it could, and be a problem. Anyway, going to break out the PSP in a bit here and give it a go.

[wyrdwad]

So, uh, I don't want to seem petty for posting this, but... post I shall!

Take a look at the user reviews for Felghana on Metacritic:

www.metacritic.com/game/psp/ys-the-oath-in-felghana

We're (meaning everyone at XSEED *and* on Ancient Land of Ys) 99% sure that what we're seeing is a last-ditch effort by Megalink (a troll with a crazy vendetta against Oath in Felghana who's already been banned from both ALoY and RPGamer -- multiple times, creating a new account each time to harass us some more!) to sabotage this game's success. One review in particular, by user Vivacious, seems to confirm this by specifically targeting members of ALoY for slander, then comparing Oath in Felghana with Mass Effect (an argument Megalink's attempted to make in the past, as well).

I'd like to ask that anyone who's played the game and has a moment write a short review of it (an honest one, of course -- I'm not asking for 10/10s here!), to counterbalance Megalink's slander a bit -- since aside from reporting his posts (most of which don't seem to specifically break any rules), there's not really any other recourse for bringing up our Metacritic score.

And if anyone should feel like flagging or reporting these reviews, please do so -- I imagine the more people who flag/report a review, the more likely it is that the reviews will be removed from the site.

And again, I'm not asking people to praise the game or anything -- just asking for people to write honest reviews, so the score on Metacritic can begin to reflect an honest overall assessment of the game.

Thanks!

-Tom

[Weasel]

So wait, uh...when is 1 & 2 Chronicles supposed to hit the US?

[wyrdwad]

Release date isn't finalized, but the tentative date Gamestop is giving is February 15th, which is about the timeframe we're shooting for.

-Tom

[Super Orbus]

Nov 4, 2010 22:32:51 GMT -5 Weasel said:

So wait, uh...when is 1 & 2 Chronicles supposed to hit the US?

Amazon says February. Yes, XSeed went backwards.

I do want to play Chronicles, since I've never actually played Ys I & II in any form, but right now I'm starting to get really antsy for Sora no Kiseki. Hang in there US PSP market! We need you!

EDIT: D'oh, Wyrd beat me to it.

[kimimi]

I think I would actually cry if Sora no Kiseki SC doesn't see an English translation

[evilakito]

I really should have pre-ordered from Gamestop. Amazon still hasn't shipped my copy

[Feynman]

Nov 4, 2010 22:42:03 GMT -5 kimimi said:

I think I would actually cry if Sora no Kiseki SC doesn't see an English translation

DON'T YOU DARE JINX IT. As much as I love Ys, Sora no Kiseki has me drooling in anticipation.

[wyrdwad]

As long as XSEED is around, SC *is* happening. It's already in the budget, we're already booking voice-acting sessions for the battle cries, we're already getting things ready for the translation process, etc. -- we're too invested into the project even NOW to drop it without suffering a huge financial loss, so yeah, barring any sort of wildly unexpected event, SC will happen. Fo' sho'. (:

And Orbus: When you play Chronicles, make sure you don't give up before sinking your teeth into Ys II. Not that Ys I isn't cool -- I really like it -- but it shows its age a lot more than Ys II does, and has a much higher chance of turning people away.

Ys II, on the other hand, is just... amazing. I had forgotten just HOW GOOD it is until I replayed it recently, which very quickly reminded me of that fact. (: For 1988, especially, it wasn't just ahead of its time, it was like... some kind of sorcery!

-Tom

[9inchsamurai]

OK, I really do want to buy these games just to support XSEED doing something this awesome, however I don't think I have the money to actually do that right now. If only I could replace my purchase of Lords of Shadow for these two games...

[susanismyalias]

Wyrdwad, this is kinda a longshot, but would you happen to know if Falcom has any plans to handle the Ys 4 and ys 5 games ever again or should I just grab the old copies of them? I'm just getting into the series, and I'd love to play em all and if there are ever gonna be new versions of the games I'll probably wait for them.

[wyrdwad]

I don't specifically have an answer to that question, but I DO know Falcom is aware that fans want to see those games remade (and let me tell you, it's not just us, it's the Japanese fans, too!), and they want to see them remade as well. So I'm guessing, like an HD remake of FF7, Oath in Felghana-style remakes of Ys IV and V are pretty much inevitable. The real question is when! It could be soon, or it could be YEARS from now.

One thing I CAN say with certainty, though, is that any forthcoming remakes of Ys IV will almost certainly be VERY different from "Dawn of Ys," since (A) Dawn of Ys isn't canon, and (B) Hudson wrote a good chunk of that story and designed pretty much the entire game, so certain parts of it are more of a Hudson property than a Falcom property.

So I recommend picking up Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys on the PC-Engine at some point, and playing it with Nightwolve and Deuce's translation patch... because at the very least, when the inevitable Ys IV remake comes, it will definitely be a VERY different experience from THAT.

And Dawn of Ys is too awesome a game to miss out on.

-Tom

[Feynman]

Incidentally, does Ys I & II Chronicles have a retro soundtrack option the way Oath does? Because stabbing things in the face to X68K music kicks ass.