This is when Civilizations reached its peak. Civ 6 was like new Pokemon/Monster Hunter games. Sure, the normies love it and eat it up, but Civ 5 is truly perfection.

And no, I won't even try Civ 7 since how much I hated Civ 6.

Buy Civ 5

Firstly, Ys is a retro JRPG game. It's the first in its serious and has apparently had a million remakes and ports. What drew me to this game in the first place was its artwork and for the simple fact of it being a JRPG.


The story of Ys 1 is classic tale of a boy becoming a knight to save a land from an evildoer, sounds typical but it's a classic for a reason and Ys throws in plenty of interesting elements to make it their own unique. If you're someone that's already a fan of classic anime and JRPGs, it's a story you'll enjoy.

You're sent to find the six books of Ys in order to free a land from a curse placed upon it. Monsters have appeared on the island in the last six months, a stormwall isolates the island from the outside world as well and there's worry about thieves stealing all of the silver from the island. Any small, tiny amount of silver will be stolen for some reason. You'll need to solve these mysteries, help a few townsfolk, encounter the thieves guild, explore abandoned mines, find the legendary silver sword and figure out what's at the bottom of an ancient shrine.

The game goes pretty quickly, but you do get a chance to "get to know" quite a few of the characters. My only complaint would truly be that it was too short. It's still fun and satisfying to interact anyway, everyone has their own personalities, after many story events a lot of the dialogue is updated for everyone in the entire world so it gives you quite a bit to find out. There's a lot of things you can miss if you don't explore though.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and the characters. But I am someone that enjoys cheese old anime so I'm heavily biased.


The gameplay was actually a bit to get used to in terms of combat. You use something called the "bump system" to fight monsters. Rather than clicking a button to swing your sword, you have to run into the enemies at the right angle to avoid taking retaliatory damage. Although, it didn't take long to get used to it and enjoy it. Later on in the game, it actually became something I appreciated given all the backtracking that I did. I'd say this type of combat definitely fit the game well, despite my poor first impressions.

The game does not have autosave, so you'll have to make sure to remember to save. It's easy to forget that nowadays. There's one point in the game where you will not be able to go back, so it's probably a good idea to make lots of saves between points of interests. If you're someone interested in going back and finishing things, as there's no new game+ in it either.


The graphics are a charming retro style that remind me of Chrono Trigger. Everything is such a beautiful pixel-art as well as quite a few cutscenes drawn in the old anime-style many of us love. Certain important characters throughout the game get their own scenes as well. Where they're using drawn portraits rather than pixel-art text boxes to represent them. The artwork for the landscapes and locations is also beautiful, there's a small touch that goes appreciated as well. During the final area, the background changes accordingly with the time and the higher you climb.


I'd give it an overall 7 out of 10. Everything combined from the artwork, the gameplay, the story, the characters and the overall lore of the world was very satisfying. I went in knowing nothing of the Ys series and I beat the entire game in three long play sessions. It took me about 7-8 hours to beat my first playthrough. I plan to do so again on nightmare difficulty and get all the achievements eventually. If your'e someone that enjoys JRPGs, this is definitely one you'll want to get. Especially at its cheap price.


The finally boss of the game was a bit of a let down. It was not a real fight imo, but I suppose you can make the argument that it fits in with the bump system of fighting that the game has. So it's understandable why it was the way it was. So while earlier I do praise the combat and thing it was a great choice for the game, the final boss was still a let down no matter how you look at it.

You'll need to have been paying attention too, because if you use the wrong gear against him, you'll never be able to beat him. And about a third of your game time will be spent in the final area. The amount of backtracking that you have to do is actually a bit insane. And there were some moments where I felt like just quitting for the day. But thankfully they didn't last very long. Definitely would recommend a guide on your second playthrough. I used no guide and found myself lost so many times. I had made it to the top of the tower only to finally realize there was an item I had needed to grab all the way down on floor 2. It was quite a pain. I do believe it may have been intentional to make this tower as insufferable as possible.

The game is incredibly short. Maybe we're spoiled by modern JRPGs but this game is short. Sometimes short can be good and not so overbearing, sometimes short can be a nice change of pace for you. Short can be a good thing for many people but this game only left me wanting more, and with how quickly things progressed through the story, it all flew by in a flash.

When you become max level and have all the best gear, the game is a bit of a breeze. Even the final boss, once you learn his gimmick, is quite easy. Just make sure at every pass you try to go for more than one hit at a time and you'll beat him in no time.