So, over the past... 6 months or so (I don't play that much anymore
I played through Ys I and II and Ys III on the PSP. Great games! Especially Ys III was a blast. Wonderful old-school stuff! So, just wondering on people's thoughts with regards to other Ys games? Especially those that have made it here to the US. How is Ys Ark of Nep... however you spell it
Also, I heard Ys VII for the PSP is great. By the way, in Ys III if you died enough during a boss battle you had the option of lowering the difficulty for that boss. I thought that was a brilliant move, and more games should implement such a feature.

If you're going to play Ark of Napishtim, get the PS2 version. The PSP version looks bad, cuts voice acting, has terrible frame skip issues, etc. The PS2 version on the other hand is fantastic.

And yes, what XSEED has done by making a solid pact with Falcom and bringing those PSP titles over is a true miracle. You'll want to play Ys SEVEN. It doesn't hold the nostalgia-weight of the others, but it makes up for that with a LENGTHY (but FUN!) play with multiple characters.

Ramza

I agree with everything Ramza said, but make sure when playing Napishtim for PS2 that you get the cheat codes first that turn it back into the original version of the game instead of Konami's weird CG-fest.  MUCH better that way.

I've been going through a Falcom Rush on the PSP myself lately as well.
Oath of Felghana was absolutely awesome, but I personally found Ys 7 kind of lacking.
I mean, it wasn't bad by any means, it was just not that interesting, I thought.
Never bothered to beat the final boss either.

Currently playing Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky, which is fun!

.... But you didn't lower it, did you?  Please tell me you fought against that temptation.

I most certainly lowered the difficulty for two of the boss battles. It was not as if my character was not a high enough level. I would make it through the area no problem, then get slaughtered by the boss. Try again, same thing. And again, and again... once a game is frustrating it's no fun. However, in general I did not lower the difficulty for the boss battles because most were reasonable and not frustrating. In fact, even the final boss was not that hard in my opinion, but for whatever reason those two battles earlier in the game were just a slaughterfest. Anyway, good of Falcom to include this!

Actually, I found the bosses to get progressively EASIER.
The final boss was indeed not much of a fight, and I thought the 3 harpies (or whatever they were) were quite easy too, but the VERY first boss in the game!?
I had to try that one, like, 50 times or something. LITERALLY.

The thing with Oath in Felghana's bosses is, a single level up often meant the difference between failure and success.  If you were finding it impossible to beat a particular boss, it was always worth trying to level up just one more time before tackling them again; you'd be surprised at how much more of a fighting chance you gain in the process.

I had an incredibly tenacious mindset throughout this game, so I didn't dare lower the difficulty.  Not once.  It's a nice handicap for lesser skilled players, but it just felt a bit like cheating.  I viewed it as an obligation to experience the meticulously crafted challenge exactly the way the developers had intended.

When I played through Ys I & II Chronicles on the PSP (Japanese version), I started playing on Hard difficulty, since I had probably played through Ys I twenty times before on various systems.  When I got to the bat boss, I kept getting destroyed.  I couldn't even take off 1/3 of his health before I died.  I leveled up to the max (which, unfortunately, is level 10), made sure I had all the silver equipment, and kept trying.  I maybe got him below 1/2 health once in 30+ tries.

And guess what?  Lowering the difficulty WAS NOT AN OPTION in the game.  If it had been, I would certainly have seized it.  Eventually, I got so frustrated that I started the game over on Normal difficulty.

The feature to lower the difficulty is one that I am glad they incorporated into later games.  While I didn't take advantage of it in Ys Seven or Felghana (having learned by lesson from Chronicles, I played both on Normal difficulty), I definitely recognize the virtue.

I leveled-up once or twice and still got killed by that flying dragon with the spiky tiles. It was not fun. Games should be fun, and I like a good challenge (I loved Demon's Souls and Dark Souls) but just getting continually thrashed around by some boss is lame. I don't feel that it's cheating if the game purposely makes it an option. On the other hand, taking advantage of glitch is something I would consider "cheating". Also, have you ever used a guide or gamefaqs before? Some might consider that "cheating" as well, but who cares as long as it makes the game enjoyable for YOU!

Was it Konami that did that? I thought that when Falcom made the PS2 version in Japan (after the PC version) they hired a Korean animation studio to do the CG.

But yeah, look up the password to enter to unlock the "PC version." You can even get Japanese VA if you want it.

See the above.  Ys 6 PS2 is amazing.  Love that game.

Ys Seven I played and beat. Great soundtrack!  Currently playing Ys Oath of Felgahna but am stuck at that Dragon boss in the lava area.  I guess I should take Angela's advice and level up more?  The freakin guy is impossible!  I havent played in days cause of the difficulty!  Great music in that game as well!