Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (MD, 1989/1991)
Graphics-7 Sound-8.5 Control-6.5 Challenge-7 Story-7
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-7.5 Fun-6.5 Originality-6
Overall Score-6.5
+
Pretty good interface
Fast movement
Up- and downstab moves (Dragon Buster)
Pretty good dialogue for its time
Pretty nice intro (text and stills - some animation on SNES but the pixel art is worse)
Decent art direction
NPC encounters in dungeons
Can move while crouching and attack while moving
Save feature (three slots)
Some good bosses (first main boss)
Better color choices and spritework overall and somewhat more zoomed out view compared to the SNES version
Mostly better music than in the SNES version (the latter has clearer drums though)
Can use items during boss fights
Can escape from boss fights
Some new gear shows on your avatar (only the flame sword?)
Partially interactive epilogue
+/-
Speaking protagonist (doesn't say much though)
Auto-fire except when jumping (then Adol downstabs instead)
Small sprites overall
Regenerating health outside of dungeons and hostile areas
Enemies don't get knocked back when hit (this combined with no invincibility time and very short knockback for Adol means you can die very quickly in new areas)
Quickly respawning enemies (right as you scroll the screen away from their spawn point - helps with grinding but sucks if you're near death)
More linear structure than in the first game
Hub map (lets you quickly move between locations but makes the world not be fully interconnected)
Can't equip a sword without also equipping a shield and vice versa
-
Holding down the attack button to auto-attack can sometimes cancel your jumps
Can't jump onto or off of stairs
Can't upstab on stairs or in mid-air
No invincibility time when taking a hit
Slow EXP and money gains early on (the slow money gains continue further into the game)
Unforgiving hit detection against some bosses and enemies (the lava cave dragon and the mountain cave flies, final boss)
Large border around the action screen
No dungeon maps
Trial & error (some fast flying enemies, can't look up/down, make sure to buy a sword before the first dungeon, boss patterns, )
Too easy to get semi-stuck on walls in some areas (the caves)
Can't see how equipment changes your stats in the equipment menu or when shopping
Can't sell items
Some plot oddities (why not stop the king when he comes in person to threaten the mayor?, NPC dialogue doesn't update properly in the first town and the mountain cabin (after beatig the harpy))
Level requirements for even being able to beat most bosses
Some typos and minor mistranslations
No alternate weapons
Some backtracking (no wing item)
You'll max out your levels pretty early and this lowers the incentive to kill enemies since there's also not a lot to buy in the late game
No hidden items or paths?
Somewhat tedious last dungeon labyrinth thanks to how the red jewel flashlight effect works (moves slowly across the screen)
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-7.5 Fun-6.5 Originality-6
Overall Score-6.5
+
Pretty good interface
Fast movement
Up- and downstab moves (Dragon Buster)
Pretty good dialogue for its time
Pretty nice intro (text and stills - some animation on SNES but the pixel art is worse)
Decent art direction
NPC encounters in dungeons
Can move while crouching and attack while moving
Save feature (three slots)
Some good bosses (first main boss)
Better color choices and spritework overall and somewhat more zoomed out view compared to the SNES version
Mostly better music than in the SNES version (the latter has clearer drums though)
Can use items during boss fights
Can escape from boss fights
Some new gear shows on your avatar (only the flame sword?)
Partially interactive epilogue
+/-
Speaking protagonist (doesn't say much though)
Auto-fire except when jumping (then Adol downstabs instead)
Small sprites overall
Regenerating health outside of dungeons and hostile areas
Enemies don't get knocked back when hit (this combined with no invincibility time and very short knockback for Adol means you can die very quickly in new areas)
Quickly respawning enemies (right as you scroll the screen away from their spawn point - helps with grinding but sucks if you're near death)
More linear structure than in the first game
Hub map (lets you quickly move between locations but makes the world not be fully interconnected)
Can't equip a sword without also equipping a shield and vice versa
-
Holding down the attack button to auto-attack can sometimes cancel your jumps
Can't jump onto or off of stairs
Can't upstab on stairs or in mid-air
No invincibility time when taking a hit
Slow EXP and money gains early on (the slow money gains continue further into the game)
Unforgiving hit detection against some bosses and enemies (the lava cave dragon and the mountain cave flies, final boss)
Large border around the action screen
No dungeon maps
Trial & error (some fast flying enemies, can't look up/down, make sure to buy a sword before the first dungeon, boss patterns, )
Too easy to get semi-stuck on walls in some areas (the caves)
Can't see how equipment changes your stats in the equipment menu or when shopping
Can't sell items
Some plot oddities (why not stop the king when he comes in person to threaten the mayor?, NPC dialogue doesn't update properly in the first town and the mountain cabin (after beatig the harpy))
Level requirements for even being able to beat most bosses
Some typos and minor mistranslations
No alternate weapons
Some backtracking (no wing item)
You'll max out your levels pretty early and this lowers the incentive to kill enemies since there's also not a lot to buy in the late game
No hidden items or paths?
Somewhat tedious last dungeon labyrinth thanks to how the red jewel flashlight effect works (moves slowly across the screen)