Ys Origin Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

Ys Origin Switch NSP Free Download Nihon Falcom’s Ys (pronounced “eese”) been around since the days of the PC-8800, but only now are we seeing this formative tale in the enormously popular saga. Well, technically, a lot of people already saw it in 2006 when it originally released, or 2012 when it was initially localised. Thankfully, now it’s on the Switch we can see that it has held up brilliantly, and is well worth playing whether it’s for the first time or one of many encore playthroughs. The momentum of Ys Origin is quite something. An action-RPG with the “action” part very much writ large; we found it more akin to the likes of Gauntlet than, say, the Zelda series. ROMSLAB.COM BEST SWITCH GAMES

Ys Origin Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

No doubt that statement will have many series fans gnashing their teeth at this writer’s ignorance, and for that, we can only apologise; not being what you’d call a committed fan of the long-running Ys series, you might wonder if a useful position can actually be offered. Here’s the thing, though – regardless of your attachment to its host franchise, Ys Origin is excellent fun. It’s that momentum that makes it work – the meat and potatoes gameplay of it all is very familiar stuff – run, jump, attack, magic attack. It never gets much more complex, but it doesn’t need to; the escalating design introducing stronger enemies and environmental hazards always keeps you on your toes, and considering it’s a game in which you spend much of your time fighting enemies, said fighting never stops being a total blast.

At the start, you’ll pick a character

Either hack n’ slash Yunica or ranged attacker Hugo – then set out into a fairly linear ascension of the massive Darm Tower, each floor of which effectively encapsulates a “dungeon”, through which you’ll have to crawl. Said dungeons are surprisingly breezy to navigate, thanks to your characters’ ease of control and speedy movement – bashing your way through rooms is so effortless in terms of basic navigation that you’ll never feel like Ys Origin is a slog, even when the difficulty spikes upwards. The challenge is a robust one, but very fair and easy to mitigate when you hit a wall. In Ys Origin, levelling up is extremely potent in terms of immediately noticeable effects on your damage output Project Nimbus Complete Edition Switch NSP

Ys Origin Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

A boss that’s a near-impossible war of attrition on the first encounter can become a much more agreeable challenge simply by going back and grinding a couple of levels. Now, you may not want to hear the word “grinding” applied to pretty much any game, but the process of beating up monsters here is so enjoyably crunchy that it’s actually a pleasure to have an excuse to spend more time doing it. The sensation of repeated impacts is satisfying stuff and executing your special attack to melt through a crowd of grunts is a joy.

Destroying enemies results in a shower of glimmering items,

From SP (spendable on permanent upgrades at save points) to health regains to temporary buffs; it triggers a mini version of that tingly Diablo effect watching items fly out of the enemy you’ve skilfully dispatched. You level up pretty quickly, too, so it’s great fun to combine the necessary murdering with a quick sweep of the dungeon for hidden treasure chests. This ease of progress (in terms of accessibility, not game difficulty) leads to an action RPG that feels downright friendly, which to this reviewer is a bit of a departure from what can be a somewhat alienating genre. Among its contemporaries, including others in the Ys series, Origin is incredibly easy to get to grips with. Pokkén Tournament DX Switch

Ys Origin Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

It’s also not the longest game to see the end of – we took around 7 hours with Yunica – but there’s always the other character’s version of the game to play through. Granted, outside of the story and a few remixed elements, it’s not terribly different, but the option is there if you want to spend more time in Darm Tower. Getting around to dig up more and more secret items as you discover the means to access them is achieved by using the save points to simply warp from floor to floor – another brilliantly useful touch. In terms of presentation, Ys Origin all looks lovely, if a little bit dated – the 3D environments are never impressive, aiming for function over form, which means you’ve got clean.

Last but not least,

The trio of adventurers discover a variety of accessories to facilitate their trek up the tower. Some must be explicitly equipped, such as hallowed chimes that send undead enemies to their final rest, though others do not need to be, such as a ring that unlocks double jumping. Each new feature and function is doled out slowly while progressing up the tower and the flow of upgrades and new features feels brisk without being overwhelming. For anyone who needs a refresher, the easy to use menu has tons of information, including an instruction manual showing all tutorials, a bestiary, as well as both an equipment and item menu. Pokémon Café Mix Switch NSP

Ys Origin Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

All of this combines together for a fast-paced combination of platforming and real-time combat which players must navigate, but with upgrades, abilities and equipment being rewarded at regular intervals, there’s a hard to describe fun feeling of progressing in Ys Origin. The pacing is excellent and combat is by far the best part of the game and will bring players back to experience all three story perspectives, despite the dungeon layout being identical for all characters. However, there are some gameplay drawbacks. Strangely, Ys Origin never explicitly states that players can swap between elemental attacks with the Switch’s shoulder buttons, which is important information given the usual method of switching is unavailable during boss encounters.

Add-ons (DLC): Ys Origin Switch NSP