Let's Play: Ys I & II Chronicles+ - Before GARcher, there was Adol the Red

Seeing your adorable self fighting horrendous monsters with the sheer power of your tears would be truly marvelous indeed.
I'm all for a Biding of Isaac LP. Let us cry together as we help Isaac overcome his problems!

(I tried to play the Biding of Isaac too, but I suck so hard at that game)

Yeaaaah, I'm significantly over-leveled for the plains now. But I think it's more like two hits, you just can't really distinguish them due to the bump combat nature.

I'll probably do another video of the Minea Fields once we're done exploring Minea and finding the plot.

Speaking of, if you go to the youtube account that spawned that video, you can find an old (My first, in fact) LP I did of the Demo of Fortune Summoners. If y'all could check that out, especially the second where I sorta fixed my mic volume, ignore my horrendous voice, and tell me if you'd like me to do some segments (Thinking of the field combat stuff) like that, and decide whether you want me to do voice over commentary for those sections, that'd be great.

And Candied Citrus had a "NOPENOPENOPE" response to doing an LP of TBoI. All my sads :<

Probably the only game of which I would be willing to do an LP. Because the characters are adorable, and I want everyone to love it as much as I do, and it's the first game I've completed in quite a while~ <3 xD

And yeah... No. Nopenopenope. I die so easily in that game, and seem to have the worst luck with how the floors are generated. :T

Yeah, pretty much. Isaac wouldn't be the only one crying if I played it. XD
I'd be crying inside, right along with him. ;~;

We all would.
I felt so bad for the poor little guy when I watched an LP of it.
I mean, HE'S SO ADORABLE BUT HE'S NAKED AND CRYING. HIS MAIN WEAPON IS HIS SADNESS, PEOPLE.
Even if you managed to not die even a single time during your playthrough, the game can be pretty heart wrenching.
All the more reason for you to LP it!

C'mon, I've never played TBoI. LET ME LIVE VICARIOUSLY THROUGH YOU.
Also, I'm a little late, but:

What's up with all the silent protagonist hate? Silent protagonists are the best, they shut up and don't interrupt my monster murders.
Edit: Apparently it's only 5 dollars. Who knew. Should I lp this blind or play through it once or twice first?
Edit Edit: Screw it, may as well do this thing blind.

Noooooooooooooooooope~ :3 Nopenopenope! :D

I don't understand all the hatred directed at silent protagonists either. It makes me sad, though, because they're awesome. :'<

I don't like silent protags because it's like they're made of ice or something.
I feel like they're not reacting to anything when they clearly should be.
I understand that this was made with the purpose of the player projecting their own reactions and thoughts into the character, thus making they feel more attached to both the story and the protag as well, since the player is the protagonist.
But for me, this only makes me feel like the protagonist is no character at all, just a mindless mannequin, since I don't have the habit of pretending to be the main character. I have the habit of following their stories, and that's why I don't like silent protagonists. They're just not for me, I guess.

My favorite game EVER still has a silent protagonist, so while I dislike them, I can put up with them if the game is really good.

Hey, MariPanda if you don't like silent protagonists....have you ever heard of a game called Radiant Historia? Check that out!

Never heard of it, but if it's by the same team who made Persona 3 (another game with silent protagonists that I love), I'll probably love it.
I'll give it a try!


Okay, so I checked it out on wikipedia, and look at what I found!

I'm sold.

Right. It's by atlus, I don't know about the specific team though... (I've always felt that the silent protags in Persona games weren't really silent, you know. They had a character onto themselves.)

Yup! Go play it! It's good.

Sorry for this taking so long, I had a busy week at university. Lots of stuff going down just now.

Minea, Walled City of Esteria.

As Adol enters the city, the first person to greet him is a little girl, called Prim.




Prim: Please go and see her!

Cute little girl, right? I think you'll find that she's an agent for PLOT (Protagonists Lead On Traintracks).

Ignoring the fact that they OBVIOUSLY want me to talk to this fortune teller, I take my time to explore the city.

I start with the house on the left, which is the residence of a couple called Tabitha and Buck. Tabitha is the daughter of the Zepik town mayor, who was preoccupied last time they saw each other, talking about something that his town's residents couldn't find out about. Buck informs me that the Silver Mine is abandoned and infested with monsters who only come out at night.

Exiting their house, I find this lad...



They're kept in the city now due to the monster outbreak, and the kid isn't happy about it. Apparently that tree was really nice, and had a good atmosphere.

Just after this kid, I meet a guy who tells me about the town Merchant, Pim.



I decide to go visit Pim's shoppe, the building to the left, near the tree.




Pim is a foreigner, marooned here due to the Stormwall, and recognises Adol as a kindred spirit due to his "unusual" red hair. I check out his inventory, and sure enough he as a Sapphire Ring for sale, for 1000 GP. I'm not willing to spring for it just yet, but I leave to see if I can find someone who has maybe lost a ring.

To that end, I go visit the town's tavern. Tavern's are always hives of scum and villainy information and opportunity.

Upon entering the Tavern, I start talking to the patrons.



Apparently she's very pretty, and so is the song she plays. It's almost... mesmerising.

Adol then goes to talk to two guys who are conversing with the Barkeep, Orman.



Handsome dude on the left is Garreck, he's been contracted to try and find the Silver thieves. He also tells me about a Roda tree on the plain outside of Minea. Rare, giant trees whose leaves are apparently a delicacy. The same tree the kids used to play in, maybe?

The other guy is Donis, and he's lost a sapphire ring that his wife got for him. He's slacking off work he's so heartbroken over the loss of his ring. Hm. Seems like I should go get that ring, then.

On the way I talk to more people wandering around and I can deduce a couple of things. Silver items are being stolen across the town, leading people to suspect the bandits who make camp near Zepik. A strange, refined man in a black cloak (One person swears the cloak gave off a soft, blue luminescence) visited town recently. One woman thought him extremely handsome, until he looked at her, and found his eyes to be inhuman. Apparently the Silver Mine is infested with monstrous bats, which were instrumental in the destruction of Rastin, and finally, a scholar entered Darm Tower a week back and hasn't been seen since.

I also encounter the Poet mentioned by Ricardo.



Reah: I value it nearly as much as my own life...

Well, I guess we'll have to find that at some point. She should be recognisable from the opening video, so yeah, she's important (As if the fact she got a portrait for her dialogue didn't make that obvious)

That done, I go visit Pim again, and buy the sapphire ring, except I haggle him down first (Basically select the item and keep refusing to purchase it, and he'll lower the price)



I'll take it!



Sapphire Ring get!

I return to the tavern to talk to Donis.




Donis tells me that he doesn't have much, but being able to face his wife again is worth what little he can give me.



600 GP profit? I can deal with this. Adol thanks Donis and goes on his way to finally visit the fortune teller.

As I enter her house, a very beautiful piece of music starts playing.

And she seems to have been expecting Adol.



Sara: You are not from Esteria, correct?
Sara: Did you come here... by crossing the Stormwall?
Sara: Goddesses... thank you... I've waited so long for this day..
(She seriously doesn't let Adol get a word in edge-wise, here)
Sara: You are the one whom I've been seeking.
Sara: Please, get your equipment in order, then return here at once.
Sara: I must beg a favour of you.

With that, she stops talking. Leaving Adol feeling slightly nonplussed, but he gathers she means the fact he's still running around without armour. So he goes to use his money at the armour shop in town.

The Armour store owner, Dios, seems to have a friendly rivalry with his neighbour who runs the weapon store.



Adol purchases some Chainmail and a small shield, coming at around 1200 gold total.




With the armour bought and equipped, I return to Sara's house to find out just why she wants Adol.




Adol informs her that he isn't.

Sara: Ys was the name of an ancient kingdom that existed here ages ago. The lost history of the land is written within the books of Ys.
Sara: It is unknown, however, who actually inscribed their words. But the six books detail the reason for Ys fall from grace.




Adol agrees to search for the Books of Ys - he came to Esteria searching for adventure, after all.

Sara: You will? Ah, Swordsman, you are truly the man I've been seeking! Thank you so very much!
Sara: Please, take this with you. It will show you the way within the shrine.

Adol received Sara's Crystal.

Sara: First, please visit Jeba, in the village of Zepik.
Sara: She is my aunt. She knows a great deal about the history of Ys. I am certain she will be of aid to you.
Sara: Zepik village is to the north-east, just outside Minea. You'll pass through it on the way to the Shrine.

That said, the fortune teller falls silent, indicating that Adol should leave, which he does - still unnerved by how much the fortune teller knew about him. He leaves the town of Minea, in no hurry to stick around, as he now has a goal to aim for.



Time to cross the plains to the North, and find Zepik!


(And in the mean time I'm going to grind to get gold to afford a better sword and better armour. She's sending me to a dungeon and dungeons in the Ys games mean bosses. And Bosses mean death.)

That is adorable~ ;-;

Good luck with the grinding and not dying, bro. o7

CAN WE ROMANCE HIM?!

No, wait!

She's hot! Can we romance her instead?!

NO, WAIT!

HNNNNG SO MANY BISHIES I CAN'T DECIDE.

Also, are the bosses that bad? Like, Battletoads Nintendo hard?

Funnily enough, when Ravenholme was typing up his update, I saw the fortune teller and was like, "Woah, who is she? <33"

But I totally agree - there're too many bishies! >////~////< Well, if you can't decide, just have them all~ ;3

Adol's a bishie too~ just not when he's so young DX

Just for the record, I'm totes down with the Sara romance.

I haven't played Battletoads but I've watched people play it. Going exclusively off my Famicom experience, I wouldn't say that the Ys bosses get quite to the level of unfair of Battletoads but they are pretty brutal. There was one boss that nearly got to controller snapping difficulty in the first game for me (If it shows up in this version, I'll point it out) and, like I said, I still haven't beaten the final boss of the second game. However, Ys is also fairly forgiving when it comes to trying again, while Battletoads, if I recall correctly, eventually has you run out of continues and kicks you back to the start. Personally, I also didn't actually think the first boss was too bad in comparison to the rest.

Also, yeah, Sara's pretty. Reah's also pretty. Heck, I'm pretty sure 90% of the people in this game are pretty.

I can also imagine that, both because of the combat and the time this game first came out (since gaming was more of a challenge in the good old days), the boss fights will be harder than any of the other Ys games. Certainly in Ys Seven they're not too bad, but I do think that I've also taken on all of them so far at a higher level than is necessary - they would definitely be harder if I took more damage from attacks, etcetera.

And yush, I would certainly say that's true. But pretty people seem to crop up in every Ys game, in great number too - maybe it's a theme of Falcom's...? xD
Not that I'm complaining~ I like having characters to obsess over that are easy on the eyes. X3
(But I totally do obsess over them like Geis in Ys Six & Seven orz)

So, while the bosses can be pretty brutal, you still have the option of grinding your heart out to be able to take them on, right?
If yes, then that makes things considerably easier.

Sara is prettier/sexier than Reah IMO.
But when will we meed Adol's Heterosexual Partner For Life? I am dying for some bromance, man.

Sorta. Grinding only helps so far. And in Ys I (and maybe II) Adol is capped at level 10, because it's his first adventure. Which is enough to deal with the trash mobs, but enough that later bosses can still give you a run for your money. (By contrast, the level cap of Oath in Feglhana is 60).

And the first boss may not be too bad, but this -is- a blind LP, and trading on my Falcom knowledge - Better Safe than Sorry. (Plus, the first real boss in Oath kicked my ass so much, so I'm taking nothing for granted here)

And I suspect we'll be hearing about the bromance partner soon, if not meeting him outright yet.

Is it just me or is Dios wearing Goku's martial arts clothe's (from dbz)?

Also in case you don't know, you can get the talwar for free in the near future after rescuing a certain someone from the upcoming dungeon and returning to he who gave you the shortsword.

Yup, grinding's always an option, which also can help make things easier. I probably could beat the final boss of the second game if I decided to grind for a while, though the area where I found the grinding is best is kind of far from the final boss and I may end up getting lost despite normally having a good sense of direction. >.>

Also, I guess I agree with that assessment. At the very least, Sara's portrait looks better than Reah's. Anyway, I think we'll be meeting our partner soon and the bromance will begin.

The cap for Ys II is 30.

Also, out of curiosity, are you using the PC88, Complete, or Chronicles version of the music or are you switching it up as you see fit (if you don't know what I'm talking about look in the sound settings under options)

Lots of spoilers there, though mostly things I had guessed myself. And aye, I'm aware of the "measuring" achievement, although not entirely sure how to get it. Most likely I'll do it in my second run through the game when I finish the LP. And aware of the Talwar due to another achievement.

THE LEVEL CAP IS 10?!
IN A JRPG
THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS.

Heh, you're right, it totally does!

And my grinding has already put me to level 6. I'm nearly capped for Ys I >___>

I'll do the Minea plains as a video, I think, and switch to the normal format when I reach Zepik.

I use the Chronicles soundtrack, though I generally switch through the other versions to hear them out whenever I encounter a new track. I just prefer the Chronicles soundtrack, because it's the first I was exposed to

And you HAVE to be at it half way through the game to have any real chance against a certain boss.

B-But!
What do you do after you've reached the level cap?!
It makes no sense! We only reach the level cap in the final parts of the RPG after countless hours of senseless grinding!
This! This is so strange to me.
It's like a new world opening up before my eyes.

Sorry about this... But could I maybe ask you to put the bit about

in spoilers? ^^;

Since Ravenholme wants it to be a surprise for those who haven't played any of the Ys games. >.< Sorry. orz

Edit: Thank you very much~ :D

Sorry, I actually did intend to spoiler tag that, but completely forgot to when I finished typing it up.

Don't worry about it. Thank you for putting it in spoiler tags! :>

Also, Ravenholme!

This is also a thing that happens in Bahamut Lagoon SEE OUR LPS ARE CONNECTED WE'RE CLEARLY LP BROTHERS- wait what
I don't even know what I'm saying anymore.

Wellp, not many people doing LPs on this forum can claim to have an imouto-chan doing thread housekeeping whilst you go to bed. Cheers CC.

And omg Mari our LPs are fated to be together! Bahamut Lagoon LP x YsI&II Chronicles+ LP 4eva

Yes! I ship that!
OTP 5evah!

The obvious answer to this is harem ending. Always.

Hey guys, I'm really sorry about the length of time between updates here, but I've spent the past two weeks taking an Ecological Model (A Spatially Explicit Tritrophic Rosenzweig-MacArthur model if anyone cares to know) from conceptualisation to implementation using R with a friend for some coursework, and that was eating up all of my time.

So, without further ado....

Onward to Zepik

And in apology, have a video to open with...


Watch the video, as it contains the journey from Minea to Zepik, and some plot-important landmarks along the way.


So picking up where the video left off, Adol is now in the Mountain village of Zepik, with the mandate to go and find Sara's Aunt, Jeba.




Zepik village consists of a lot of green space, a lake to the east, some trees and three or four little wooden cabins. Adol enters the nearest one...





And finds this dignified gentleman, who turns out to be....




Robels: Young man, where did you come from?
Robels: Ah, from Barbado? You know Dr. Bludo, then? Good, good.
He looks around uneasily, before speaking again.
Robels: I have something to tell you, but you must promise me you will NOT let the villagers know about it. Will you keep this conversation between us?




Robel: I desperately wish to get it back. If worse comes to worst, I'll pay any price the thieves may ask!
Robel: Will you negotiate with them on my behalf? I'd ask the villagers, but they simply must not know of this!

Adol indicated that he would gladly negotiate on the Mayor's behalf.



Robel: The Thieves' Den is north of the village, on the mountain road. If you meet their leader, please tell him I'll pay whatever price he asks for the bell. I'm counting on you, young sir.

Adol takes his leave of the Mayor.

Following that exchange, Adol begins to talk to the villagers. It appears the man with the dark cloak has been here, and was seen heading North, where only thieves and monsters roam. The old man Adol is talking to closes with the ominous question of "Which was [the man in the cloak]? Thief, or Monster?"

Another old man tells Adol that he is a Scholar of Ancient Ys, and that it used to be ruled over by twin Goddesses who protected it from harm and monsters. He ponders that if Monsters are real, then he'd like to believe the Goddesses are, as well. Similarly, another old man who used to be a miner says that they broke into a room in the old mine that contained two statues of the Goddesses, but not long before everything went wrong, one of the statues went missing.

Another old women offers her views on the current state of the village...




WELLP. I think Adol should really get them their bell.


And finally, Adol comes across this woman, wandering anxiously outside her empty house...



Iris: He was probably sleepwalking again... Where on earth could he be this time?!

It appears her husband, Luta, whom has a history of somnambulance, has gone missing. His wife, and several other villagers, are worried about him.

Adol then enters another home, near the northern end of the village...




Jeba: I see. So you're the swordsman Sara has been seeking all this time.
Jeba: You intend to find the Book of Ys within the Shrine, do you? I believe you will be needing this key, then.



Jeba: The ruins atop the hill were once known as Solomon Shrine.
Jeba: If one of the Books of Ys is there, it will no doubt be somewhere in the Shrine's lower levels. The entrance to the lower levels is well hidden, but that Crystal will show you the way.



With that Jeba wishes Adol luck, and lapses into silence, leaving him to depart her house and turn towards the northern path leaving the village....





To do:
Negotiate with the Thieves to the North.
Enter Shrine in search of the Book of Ys
Maybe find this Luta guy?
Find the Cloaked Man?
Find Reah's Silver Harmonica
Find out what is plaguing Esteria.

I'd like to know why the families of people with serious life-threatening sleep-walking conditions don't just invest in a pair of handcuffs already. It'd save so much trouble!

Yeah, that looks like a perfect and humane solution.

Adol's true love is the beaches he keeps washing up on.

Great on you for LPing this series! I'll definitely be watching this one. I haven't played the Ys games myself, but I've watched a friend who loves them to death play them in bits and pieces, and I saw the OVA, so I'm looking forward to watching someone play this on my behalf in its completion, haha.

Haha, very true! (Although that only happens in I and VI.. to my knowledge, at least)

Also: People who are reading my LP - Was the video segment okay? Because Video really is the easiest way to capture a lot of this game because the dungeons and boss fights are pretty frenetic.