Developer: Nihon Falcom
Publisher: NEC
Release: November 1991
It’s fun to get away from the Jaguar every now and then and talk about a system even more obscure. The TurboGrafx CD had an even smaller US library and like other CD add-ons at the time was prohibitively expensive. $400 is a lot of money now let alone 33 years ago. Despite its obscurity, however, I am a fan of the TurboGrafx CD. They avoided the more gimmicky nature of other CD-ROM consoles of the time and actually churned out some good games. Ironically, the higher quality may be one of the reasons the Turbografx CD is less remembered than Sega CD or Jaguar. There just aren’t as many funny and weird games. There are also several games that have much more well-known releases on other consoles. If you’ve ever played Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, there’s probably a 99% chance that you played it on Super Nintendo. It was also the only game in the Ys series that most American gamers had played up until the 21st century. Unless you had a Master System and played the mediocre port of Ys: The Vanished Omens then Ys III stood more as an odd standalone release than part of a series. America wouldn’t have another Ys game until Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim in 2005. Fourteen years is a long time between releases, and it’s not the only RPG series on TurboGrafx CD that had a long gap between US releases. It wasn’t easy being an RPG fan in the 90s.
(If you've never played Ys before, Adol is the one that saves the world while Dogi is the one that introduces him in a new town and then hangs out in the inn the entire game)
It’s funny that Ys III is the only early game in the series known to most Americans, because it doesn’t play like any other Ys game. Where most of them are more traditional action RPGs with top-down and later 3D worlds, Ys III is completely side-scrolling. Where other entries in the series have you attack by bashing into enemies, Ys III actually has you swinging a sword. The RPG elements are even lighter, but it does have enough leveling and money gaining to still qualify. The game features a single town and several dungeons that are accessed by an overworld map. The use of a sword certainly helps, and the combat is probably the game’s best feature. Series protagonist Adol really swings that thing fast, and there are enough different enemies for the dungeons to always be entertaining. The game had a good rhythm as well. I felt a very natural progression as I made my way through, and never felt like I had to gain too many levels to proceed. However, much like with The Vanished Omens about halfway through the game I was maxed out in both levels and no longer had anything to buy in town. It mattered less in Ys III, however, for reasons I will get into later.
Of course, if you are buying a CD-ROM version of a game that also has a cartridge release you want it to be bigger and better. Ys III certainly throws in the bells and whistles. It has some great anime-styled cutscenes and improved music, but most impressively it has a lot of voice acting. It’s seriously hard to think of another game of the era that has so much spoken dialogue outside of FMV games. The quality of the acting is decent for the time, although there are some awkward pauses. I also think it’s odd that Adol isn’t voiced despite being the main character. His dialogue is all text, and even in the closing scene he keeps his mouth shut. It’s an odd choice that I don’t quite understand. I guess they could be aiming for the classic silent protagonist, but he does have plenty of text-only dialogue. Still, it has enough voice acting to make your less wealthy friends jealous. It certainly takes advantage of the new format.
However, there is a serious flaw with Ys III. This game is short. It’s in the running for shortest RPG I have ever played. We’re talking less than three hours, even if you don’t know what you’re doing. Sure, a couple of bosses might hang you up, but even with these roadblocks it is ridiculously brief. The Super Nintendo version takes longer which might be due to the slower speed, so it’s a bit jarring finishing the game so quickly. That’s why I mentioned that maxing out the stats doesn’t matter. By then there’s only an hour or so left in the game. It’s a shame because I could’ve spent several more hours playing Ys III. Actually, all of the first three Ys games are very short. The first two games are combined in another Turbografx CD disc, and the whole thing only takes about ten hours. More recent games in the series are sprawling RPGs full of bonus content that can take over 50 hours. It’s interesting how much things have changed in the last thirty years.
Even with its short length I am going to put Ys III: Wanderers from Ys into the good column. I certainly had fun playing it, and that’s what counts the most I suppose. I was obsessed with action RPGs as a kid, and this game certainly has that old school charm that takes me back to my youth. And let’s face it, if you’re playing this game in 2023 you are probably doing so without paying $600 for the console and $200 for the game. So, if you do have some way to play Ys III or have very deep pockets and want to track down a physical copy, I recommend it. I spend $500 on a TurboDuo back before I had kids, so I won't judge. It’s a quick and fun way to complete 2.33% of the entire US library, and I can’t say that about many games. It actually ended up much higher on the list than I expected. The lower part of the good section probably has some games that don’t belong, but you can blame that on my sunny, optimistic disposition. Everyone knows I’m Mr. Positive. It’s all the way up at #44 just under Tecmo Bowl and above After Burner. It’s a good way to introduce an underrated console.
TurboGrafx CD Quality Percentage: 1/1
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