History VideoGame / Ys

* ActionGirl: Karna in ''Dawn of Ys'', [[spoiler:Cruxie]] in ''Ys SEVEN''

The games long suffered from extensive NoExportForYou syndrome, which is the primary reason the series was practically unheard of outside of Japan for so long. Beginning with the release of ''Ys: Book I & II'' on the Virtual Console and ''Legacy of Ys: Books I & II'' for the DS, the games started to reach a much wider audience, and the American video game publishing and localization company XSEEDGames announced an exclusive partnership with Nihon Falcom in 2010 that included the localization of ''Ys SEVEN'', ''Ys: The Oath in Felghana'', and ''Ys I & II Chronicles'' for the PSP for the North American market. As of March 2012, XSEED and Falcom have also begun to release Ys games on Valve's Steam service starting with ''Oath'' and ''Origin''; as that will result in the most recent versions of every game in the franchise bar ''IV'' and ''V'' being easily available in English, it seems the series' NoExportForYou tendencies are well and truly over, especially if (though with the boom of Ys games outside of Japan in 2009 and the early 2010s it looks more like when) someone (likely XSEEDGames) is able to pick up ''Ys: Celceta, the Sea of Trees'' for localization, which would leave ''V'' as the last gap.

The games long suffered from extensive NoExportForYou syndrome, which is the primary reason the series was practically unheard of outside of Japan for so long. Beginning with the release of ''Ys: Book I & II'' on the Virtual Console and ''Legacy of Ys: Books I & II'' for the DS, the games started to reach a much wider audience, and the American video game publishing and localization company XSEEDGames announced an exclusive partnership with Nihon Falcom in 2010 that included the localization of ''Ys SEVEN'', ''Ys: The Oath in Felghana'', and ''Ys I & II Chronicles'' for the PSP for the North American market. As of March 2012, XSEED and Falcom have also begun to release Ys games on Valve's Steam service starting with ''Oath'' and ''Origin''; as that will result in the most recent versions of every game in the franchise bar ''IV'' and ''V'' being easily available in English, it seems the series' NoExportForYou tendencies are well and truly over, especially if someone (likely XSEEDGames) is able to pick up ''Ys: Celceta, the Sea of Trees'' for localization, which would leave ''V'' as the last gap.

** Another version, [[VideoGameRemake ''Ys: Celceta, the Sea of Trees'']], is scheduled for the PlaystationVita, finally giving fans a Falcom-developed version of ''IV''.

* CanonDiscontinuity: ''Ys VI'' follows the two Super Famicom sequels (''Ys IV: Mask of the Sun'' and Ys V'') and relegates the PC Engine version of ''Ys IV'' (''Dawn of Ys'') to an alternate continuity.

''Ys'' (typically pronounced "ees"[[hottip:* :Basically like "geese" without the G; this pronunciation is the one used by the series's current American publisher, XSEEDGames]], though "yees" was used instead in the English localization of ''Ys: The Ark of Napishtim'') is an action RPG series developed by NihonFalcom and published by the same company in Japan and nowadays by XSEEDGames in North America and Europe that has spanned over twenty years and thirteen consoles. The games chronicle the adventures of Adol Christin, a [[TheDrifter wandering]] [[HeroesPreferSwords swordsman]] with [[RedHeadedHero fiery red hair]] who always seems to be in the right place at the wrong time as far as world-threatening disasters are concerned. The eponymous ''Ys'' is a [[FloatingContinent mythical island floating in the sky]], which is visited in some games and merely referenced in others.

''Ys'' (typically pronounced "ees"[[hottip:* :Basically like "geese" without the G; this pronunciation is the one used by the series's current American publisher, XSEEDGames]], though "yees" was used instead in the English localization of ''Ys: The Ark of Napishtim'') is an action RPG series developed and published by NihonFalcom that has spanned over twenty years and thirteen consoles. The games chronicle the adventures of Adol Christin, a [[TheDrifter wandering]] [[HeroesPreferSwords swordsman]] with [[RedHeadedHero fiery red hair]] who always seems to be in the right place at the wrong time as far as world-threatening disasters are concerned. The eponymous ''Ys'' is a [[FloatingContinent mythical island floating in the sky]], which is visited in some games and merely referenced in others.

The games long suffered from extensive NoExportForYou syndrome, which is the primary reason the series was practically unheard of outside of Japan for so long. Beginning with the release of ''Ys: Book I & II'' on the Virtual Console and ''Legacy of Ys: Books I & II'' for the DS, the games started to reach a much wider audience, and the American video game publishing and localization company XSEEDGames announced an exclusive partnership with Nihon Falcom in 2010 that included the localization of ''Ys SEVEN'', ''Ys: The Oath in Felghana'', and ''Ys I & II Chronicles'' for the PSP for the North American market. As of March 2012, XSEED and Falcom have also begun to release Ys games on Valve's Steam service starting with ''Oath'' and ''Origin''; as that will result in the most recent versions of every game in the franchise bar ''IV'' and ''V'' being easily available in English, it seems the series' NoExportForYou tendencies are well and truly over.

* ''Ys III: Wanderers from Ys'' (1989, 1991, and a re-imagining in 2005 as ''Ys: Oath in Felghana'', whose PSP version was released in Japan in 2010, and November the same year for North America.)

* ''Ys Origin'' (2006)

* ''Ys SEVEN'' 2009 (Japan), 2010 (North America))

* HairColors: Every color has representation somewhere in the franchise. Several characters even rotate through the rainbow in different installments: Lilia's hair is red in most older games, dark brown in the OVA and light brown in newer games. Karna goes all the way from dirty blonde to black depending on which version of the story you’re looking at.

** The ''much'' more obvious dark-colored ewe of the family is ''Ys V: Kefin, The Lost City of Sand''. On the surface it sounded great, elaborating on a relatively unexplored portion of the world and backstory. But it was ''only'' released for the SNES in its first release (taking the series completely away from its PC roots and even from its TurboGrafx16 following), was hugely limited graphically as a result of being cartridge-based (with many complaining that "it looks like every other SNES JRPG ever, but blander", which is ''particularly'' impressive given the intended exoticism of the game's particular setting), and worst by far, the music was all synth and pseudo-orchestral rather than the Red Book audio rock tracks the series had become famous for!

* ''Ys III: Wanderers from Ys'' (1989, 1991, and a proper remake in 2005 as ''Ys: Oath in Felghana'', whose PSP version was released in Japan in 2010, and November the same year for North America.)
** Note that ''Ys: The Oath in Felghana'' has replaced previous versions of ''Ys III'' in the series's canon. See CanonDiscontinuity below.

** Note that Falcom does not consider ''The Dawn of Ys'' to be canon; ''Mask of the Sun'' is the canon version of ''Ys IV''. See CanonDiscontinuity below.
*** Both will soon be replaced by [[VideoGameRemake ''Ys: Celceta, the Sea of Trees'']] for the PlaystationVita, finally giving fans a Falcom-developed version of ''IV''.

* CanonDiscontinuity: ''The Dawn of Ys'' was officially declared non-canonical in favor of ''Mask of the Sun'', though there are indications (such as the promo Falcom pitched for a second OVA series) that it wasn't always that way. All previous versions of ''Ys III'' were replaced by ''The Oath in Felghana''. The Playstation 2 versions of III-V were not made by Falcom and thus never were canon and the same is true of ''Ys Strategy'', which is contradicted in any case by ''Ys Origin''.
** ''Mask of the Sun'' is soon to become non-canonical as well now that Falcom is making their own version of the game.

** The TG-16 version of Ys II may be the only game in the series where he goes so far as to kiss one of the girls.

* BadassNormal: '''Adol.''' There's nothing obviously supernatural about him, he's just a dude who decided to wander a bit, and yet he pretty much [[{{Ghostbusters}} eats gods for breakfast]] as a ''living''. And even though he can use magic in some games, it's always for plot-related reasons (such as the bracelets in ''The Oath in Felghana'') and not innate ability (as we said, there's nothing obviously supernatural about him), and he loses it after the journey's over. His best friend, Dogi, is pretty much a BadassNormal as well.

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:Bishop Nikolas]] Garland in ''Oath''. He played both Count McGuire and Chester like fiddles to bring about the resurrection of Galbalan, [[spoiler:AND he shows nothing but contempt for Nell after Nell happily serves him as "Dularn" all throughout the plot and gives her life to try and stop Adol.]]

* AntiVillain: [[spoiler:Sister Nell in ''Oath''. She follows Garland's orders out of gratitude for saving her life and genuinely feels remorse for her actions. When she is defeated by Adol for the last time, she even thanks him and asks him to save Elena before dying.]]

* ScarfOfAssKicking: Adol dons one in Oath in Felghana. Chester's redesign for Oath also includes one so you know he means business.

* ''Ys IV: Mask of the Sun'' (1993, 2005)
* ''Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys'' (1993)

*** Soon to be replaced by [[VideoGameRemake ''Ys: Celceta, the Sea of Trees'']] for the PlaystationVita, finally giving fans a Falcom-developed version of the game.

The games have suffered greatly from NoExportForYou, which is the primary reason why the series practically unheard of outside of Japan. With the release of ''Ys: Book I & II'' on the Virtual Console and ''Legacy of Ys: Books I & II'' for the DS, the games might be able to reach a much wider audience, and American video game publishing and localization company XSEEDGames has announced an exclusive partnership with Nihon Falcom that currently includes localization of ''Ys SEVEN'', ''Ys: The Oath in Felghana'', and ''Ys I & II Chronicles'' for the PSP for the North American market. As of March 2012, XSEED and Falcom have begun to release Ys games on Valve's Steam service starting with ''Oath'' and ''Origin'', so it looks like the series's NoExportForYou tendencies seem to be well and truly over.

* TheDragon: Dalles to Darm in Ys II, Garland to Galbalan in Ys III/Oath, Eldeel to Arrem in ''The Dawn of Ys'', Gruder to Eldeel in ''Mask of the Sun'', Dorman and Rije to Jabir in ''V'', Admiral Agares to Ernst in ''VI'', [[spoiler:Scias to Tia]] in ''SEVEN''.

* DualWielding: In his second appearance in Oath, Chester fights with both his original sword and the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Brave Sword]].

* DisappearsIntoLight: [[spoiler: Ernst after his defeat in ''VI'', and Tia at the end of ''SEVEN''.]]

The games have suffered greatly from NoExportForYou, which is the primary reason why the series practically unheard of outside of Japan. With the release of ''Ys: Book I & II'' on the Virtual Console and ''Legacy of Ys: Books I & II'' for the DS, the games might be able to reach a much wider audience, and American video game publishing and localization company XSEEDGames has announced an exclusive partnership with Nihon Falcom that currently includes localization of ''Ys SEVEN'', ''Ys: The Oath in Felghana'', and ''Ys I & II Chronicles'' for the PSP for the North American market. As of March 2012, XSEED and Falcom have begun to release Ys games on Valve's [[Steam]] service starting with ''Oath'' and ''Origin'', so it looks like the series's NoExportForYou tendencies seem to be well and truly over.

The games have suffered greatly from NoExportForYou, which is the primary reason why the series practically unheard of outside of Japan. With the release of ''Ys: Book I & II'' on the Virtual Console and ''Legacy of Ys: Books I & II'' for the DS, the games might be able to reach a much wider audience, and American video game publishing and localization company XSEEDGames has announced an exclusive partnership with Nihon Falcom that currently includes localization of ''Ys SEVEN'', ''Ys: The Oath in Felghana'', and ''Ys I & II Chronicles'' for the PSP for the North American market, so it looks like the series's NoExportForYou tendencies are over, at least for console installments.

* [=~Hey, It's That Voice!~=]: Michael Bell (Duke) and Alan Oppenheimer (Skeletor) voice Dark Fact and Darm, respectively, in the dub of ''I and II''.

* [=~It's All Upstairs From Here~=]: Darm Tower in I, Dawn and Origin.

** [[ VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia Cless]] with red hair.

** [[TalesOfPhantasia Cless]] with red hair.

* ImpossibleItemDrop/MoneySpider: Played straight in all games but V. Dead enemies drop money and occasionally things like Emel and Raval. Enemies in Oath and Origin also drop instant-use healing items and temporary stat boosts and enemies in ''SEVEN'' drop synthesis items. In V, the enemies don't drop money, instead they drop gems that you exchange for cash. Don't ask why the literal spiders are carrying around topaz though.

* MoneySpider: Played straight in all games but V. Dead enemies drop money and occasionally things like Emel and Raval. Enemies in Oath and Origin also drop instant-use healing items and temporary stat boosts and enemies in ''SEVEN'' drop synthesis items. In V, the enemies don't drop money, instead they drop gems that you exchange for cash. Don't ask why the literal spiders are carrying around topaz though.

* CheckPointStarvation: In the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon of ''{{Ys}} V'', you have to fight three very tough bosses, with no save points in between. Unlike previous games where you could save anywhere, this one only allows you to save at inns in town.

* TheChosenOne: Adol is a rare combination of this and TheUnchosenOne. In most cases TheChosenOne becomes {{Badass}} because they were chosen. Adol, by contrast, didn't even JumpAtTheCall: he set out looking for calls. In the OVA of {{Ys}} 1, it turns out he has the same name as the prophesized hero, but this is {{Lampshaded}} when the seer's superior reminds her that Adol Christin is a common name and the last one that came to town was a little girl. It turns out that the prophecy is in fact talking about him, but instead of him becoming a hero because he was chosen by the prophecy, it just correctly predicted that he'd show up and save the place. Adol's reputation begins preceeding him ''as early as the first game.'' It's generally because of who he is and what he's done that he's given any powers or ancient artifacts that he doesn't get himself: if you need a hero to save your land, it's only sensible to choose someone with job experience. In the sixth game, the daughter of Alma running the trials is not impressed with this random man who just showed up out of nowhere, but after he begins passing them, she asks around about who this 'Adol Christin' guy thinks he is. She gets ''much'' more impressed and respectful after that.