After being able to magically tackle Ys I in nightmare, I’m sure there’s little else to expect from me than to begin Ys II right away! Of course, fresh run in nightmare and, hopefully, no Dark Fact final boss battles to worry about so I’ll most likely have a nicer time in this one
Also… Not gonna lie… I completely forgot Adol ends up at the land of Ys during the beginning of this game, which is also where Lilia and Dr. Flair reside (I like Lilia’s old design better). I don’t know how I’ve managed to forget this crucial piece of information but welp, here we are. Not only that, but it’s technically the only time we ever visit Ys since during Ys Origin we only get to see the surface and Darm Tower, though we DO know of the land of Ys since it’s where the people actually live, except that in the ending a few of them such as Hugo or Yunica end up living in the surface to start new life and that’s how we get Ys I and, of course, the priests’ descendants
You know… I’ve always loved the descendants and ancestors’ connections between Ys I&II and Origin. The fact that Yunica Tovah’s lineage gives birth to Jeba, Sara and Geban… and then Hugo Fact and Toal Fact have a corrupted line with Dark Fact as villain and Keith Fact as a monster (I love him though). I do wish we did know more about many of the descendants’ lineages or the characters themselves though, or just that a few of them did not just come out of nowhere like Maria or the gatekeeper, but hey, it’s still nice
On the bosses department, damn… I had a MUCH easier time here in comparison to Ys I, there were no bullshit bosses here. Moreover, you can… HEAL DURING THE BOSSES TOO? This is so fucking huge, though I never healed on any bosses during my playthrough in order to prepare myself for the Time Attack later on. Still, even with that little handicap that I put on myself, it was no problem getting through the bosses. Moreover, lots of them are just a bullet hell with your own fireball munition since they are immune to the bump system so it… actually makes it easier. Regardless, I really liked the balance here and most bosses were engaging and fun to challenge, though Darm is a complete pushover with Shield Magic and Elixir (even though it still took me a few attempts to defeat him with all that, but definitely no bullshit like Dark Fact). I’d say Dalles was probably the hardest boss here since it takes a little bit of learning to get him consistently
Most players say Ys II is a complete improvement over Ys I in every sense, and while I’d mostly agree… there’s the fucking dungeons… My god, they are so stupidly labyrinthic, I got lost all the time and there’s no map to check where I’m going, so going through Rasteenie Mine or the Temple of Solomon was a PAIN, especially the last one since you have to backtrack or re-enter it SO MANY TIMES. Apart from that, I’d agree that it’s a general improvement over Ys I on the rest aspects since you have magic, actual useful healing, a more interesting story that takes what Ys I set up, etc. But at the same time, Ys I and Ys II feel like a complete pack to me, so I can’t really separate them
As usual, the soundtrack is COMPLETE BLISS. I kneel to Jindo once again, what an absolute banging OST that understands Ys’ soul and legacy. I know I don’t have to repeat myself since I’m pretty much the Ys OST person at this point, but my god, I’m so in love with every composition made for this series (ok maybe not every Singa track)
Now, onto the significant achievements! The bestiary was… a pain in the ass once again, since this time you have to beat EACH monster an extra 5 times, for a total of 31 kills for each monster. There’s also the Tarf achievements, which one of them is extremely creepy and will proceed to forget it even exists in this game, and the other takes a bit of interesting grinding that I thought would be more annoying, but it’s actually quite fun to level him up to level 25. The rest of achievements are pretty trivial and easy to get, though the mosquitoes one is just… extremely random?
And of course, with that and a REEEEALLY easy Time Attack, Ys II is easily beaten in nightmare with all achievements! Yippie! I had an incredible time just like with Ys I and I’m super glad I took the time to revisit these two games properly, my personal opinion of them has improved so much with just these little re-playthroughs in nightmare. I love Ys man, I love Ys so fucking much, there’s no doubt it’s my favourite franchise in the world
The ending for Ys II still gets me choked up though. That Adol and Feena reunion for the last time gets me so close to tears, I love them so much and it’s so painful that they cannot be together or even interact anymore since Feena and Reah have to take on their role as Goddesses and seal the Black Pearl. It’s not only sad when it comes to Feena, who I love a lot and is one of my favourite Ys characters, but also for Reah who I also adore and… with the context of Ys Origin, it becomes just as painful to see her go forever, and in a time where Toal Fact is no longer there. Man. “A Still Time” really doesn’t make this any easier, it’s such a… melancholic track, with a hint of cheerfulness to go on, but sad enough to get you to curl up on the floor and sob
Man. I love Ys. I want to see Feena and Reah once again in the future… and Lilia too, poor girl gets the short end of the stick even in the game where she’s supposed to be the main girl. Sometimes I kind of wish we had seen more of the path Ys IV took, where the Goddesses and Lilia appeared on the plot as well, but I know it’s better to let their story end here
Silvy 