Speculation on Ys V Remake?

[fireinthehole]

With the newest game Ys: Foliage Ocean in Celceta, all of Adol's adventures from 1 to 4 are remade, which makes this game the only old Ys game that has not received such treatment. Playing through Ys 5 recently made me realize that the recent Ys games (from Ys VI to Foliage Ocean in Celceta) have their roots in Ys 5 rather than in Ys I & II. So I am interested in seeing how the remake for this game will go since that will be inevitable. Falcom could make a completely new Ys game but I personally want them to fill in all the gaps before moving on. What are your speculations / hopes on Ys 5 remake? My major ones are these:

1. Party system
- Since Ys Seven and Celceta have the party system, I certainly don't see why the remake for this wouldn't. In fact, Ys Material Collection 2 actually states that they planned to add the party system in Ys 5. Stahn, Stoker, and Terra most definitely should be party members and Terra's idiotic brothers and Masha can be potential candidates as well.

2. Artwork
- I really wish they do not change the old artwork so much. I can understand the massive change in artworks from PCE & SNES versions of Ys 4 to Foliage Ocean in Celceta since neither of artworks from old Ys 4 games would go well with recent times and Falcom never had a chance to develop Ys 4 on their own. On the other hand, Ys 5's artwork is good even by modern standards so small changes to modernize it should be more than enough.

3. System
- The current engine should be fine for the remake. I am satisfied with the battle system of this engine and certainly wouldn't mind seeing it more developed. Flash move and flash guard can stay and adding jump would be nice, as many others in this board suggested.

[korzic]

I don't know much detail-wise about the characters and setting of Ys V (due to being Japanese illiterate), but wouldn't Terra be a little young as a party member (hmm, then again, Seven did have Elk)? I didn't know they originally planned for a party system, but the others characters you mentioned I can see happening (not sure who Stahn is, though =p), maybe also the lady that teaches you the fireball magic. I can definitely see the materials thing from Ys Seven/Celceta working in a remake as well, if they decide to stick with the current engine.

[yotaka]

Ew, no no no, no party system. If they're going to remake V I'd love for it to be Adol-only. If there must be party elements, Terra, Stan, Stoker and even Niena can tag along for a scene or two each as unplayable allies.

For the engine, as much as I've had fun with Celceta I really don't want to see the next game play the same way (they could do good things with the system, I just don't want to see it here). V really would feel better to me if it plays like Nayuta no Kiseki with movement abilities and some Metroidvania elements. They can keep the synthesis system from Seven/Celceta since the big plot point in the game is alchemy, just tweak it a bit. The thing is, V was basically the prototype for the Napishtim system so a remake really should feel similar to that. Seven's engine worked with Ys IV because that game was 2d but V is different.

For the story, it's already pretty good but I'm sure they'll expand on it when the remake comes. I'm fully expecting that we'll learn that Kefin's alchemy was connected in some way to the Eldeen, whether they learned it from the winged ones or developed it on their own in an attempt to match their power.

[Ascended Mermaid]

The jump feature would be perfect for this game. If the level design remains generally similar, I would recommend something similar to the wind skills from Origin and Felghana -- there is a certain irritating rapids section that would actually be more enjoyable to navigate in true 3D. (Granted, the pseudo-3D never helped with general depth perception to begin with.) With the Felghana engine and aesthetic, not much about said area would need to change. Bonus points if the current propels Adol instead of forcing an area restart.

I know it's unlike me to pinpoint Ys V's flaws, but I certainly couldn't ignore that it is outdated and certain things could be adjusted to fit the modern engines.

As for the soundtrack, just spiff it up JDK style. I do love the orchestral sound, with my favorites being Field of Gale, Wilderness, and some others that I can't recall off the top of my head.

[fireinthehole]

Oct 20, 2012 20:39:57 GMT -5 yotaka said:

Ew, no no no, no party system. If they're going to remake V I'd love for it to be Adol-only. If there must be party elements, Terra, Stan, Stoker and even Niena can tag along for a scene or two each as unplayable allies.

I don't know. In Ys V, Adol is often with other characters, who have shown to have combat ability, before boss battles and they just back out as once as boss battle starts. It felt like Falcom originally intended to have the entire party fight together but removed it at the last moment.

SPOILER: Click to show

I could definitely imagine Abyss (one of the three minions of Rije) puts Adol's party in a trap, but then Stan shows up, disables the trap, and joins the party for the boss fight. It was cool seeing Stan's one-shotting Abyss but the proper boss fight would be nicer.

As for the soundtrack, yeah, spiffing it up with orchestra just like OiF did would work wonders. I would prefer if it's closer in style to OiF than Celceta. BTW, what are the remixes that you are looking forward for this remake? Mine are:

1. Field of Gale
2. Wind Knight
3. Death Spiral

[yotaka]

Wind Knight and Crimson Ruins are among my favorite tracks from V but they're pretty good on their own so they don't make the list and Field of Gale just got a nice remix that I wouldn't mind at all if they used (remake the entire OST along a similar line and I'm sold) so to pick three others for illustrative purposes I'll have to go with:

Sinister Shadow
Break Into Territory
Wicked Pleasure

Why the last one? Because I have confidence Falcom can make it a worthy final boss BGM and I'm eager to see how they do it. Of course, most of my anticipated songs for Celceta didn't make it into the game so maybe I should list the songs I wouldn't mind to see on the cutting room floor instead?

[fireinthehole]

Well, I certainly hope they use all the songs, including that unused one! I have mixed feelings about Wicked Pleasure. It is a good OST and feels like the final boss theme but compared to other final boss themes like Termination and The Strongest Foe, it just doesn't match up. I can see its getting used for the phase 1 of the final boss but I want something with more impact for the final boss.

[fireinthehole]

For the storyline, what changes do you think will happen? The Kefin segment can be expanded further. As yotaka suggests, Kefin's alchemy can be connected to the Eldeen especially since the clan of darkness has been shown to use homunculus. I'd personally like to see more ash emelas monsters though rather than some annoying fairies.
Also, Niena should have more important role in the game. Same goes for Stoker and Foresta since they felt detached from overall plot despite their importance. Having Stoker as a party member should alleviate that one. I could totally imagine Stoker dual-wielding daggers, just like Joshua from the Kiseki series. Come to think of it, those two sport similar personalities, don't they?
I also wonder if they will add some backstory to Terra and her family. I think it would be better if they just remain a mischievous clan of thieves and comic relief but who knows?
Lastly, I want to see Dogi even though that may be unlikely considering the circumstances in which they parted ways for awhile in Ys: OiF.

[lindaluv]

Seeing as how Ys 5 is the root/base of Ark and OiF, I would not want it to have the new SeVen and celceta system. Ys 5 really only needs a graphical overhaul. The music was fantastic, although I wouldnt mind if they remixed it a bit. They already have a great system from Ark and OiF that they can use for Ys 5, while still staying true to the original system a bit by allowing Adol to use his shield.. and allowing a custom colored Adol =D.

Really, for its time, Ys 5 had a pretty ahead of its time system.. at least I thought so.

[Xalphenos]

Sept 30, 2013 18:28:49 GMT -5 Truner said:

Yeah, I would like Falcom to go back to the previous Ys style overall. Not just for an Ys V remake, but for most of the games. Something about the new style just doesn't scream Ys to me. Not saying they are bad though.

I am in 100% agreement.

[fireinthehole]

Now that I look back on it, the remake for Ys V will probably use the new engine since Ys IV was remade with Seven's. Previously, they only remade Ys 3 with Ys VI's engine so I don't see why they would try to remake another old game with Seven's engine (although you can still argue that Ys Origin is Ys I & II remake in some ways). But yeah, not implementing some mechanics from Ys VI engine like jumping would not do it justice since Ys V is the game that introduced those mechanics in the first place. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing some gimmicks that Ys Seven and Celceta's engine introduced like large number of enemies and huge field map for exploration.

[Fiel]

If a Ys V remake was to be made by Falcom...I'd use the Ys 7 engine but with the Celceta enhancements and without the party system. Instead, have the proper platforming in the team system and an on-the-fly weapon switching or even better, whole set of armour, shield and weapon on the fly, with the sets affecting Adol's appearance like in YsIII.

[Gohan13]

Feb 26, 2014 12:46:54 GMT -5 Fiel said:

If a Ys V remake was to be made by Falcom...I'd use the Ys 7 engine but with the Celceta enhancements and without the party system. Instead, have the proper platforming in the team system and an on-the-fly weapon switching or even better, whole set of armour, shield and weapon on the fly, with the sets affecting Adol's appearance like in YsIII.

Party system is something that I don't like either. I guess I'm just a lonely wolf... or ninja!

[Fiel]

It's not due to my dislike or anything, it just captures the Ys V and Ys VI systems better without the party system, merging the best of both workds. The party system, as awesome as it is has its "problems" in game deisgn due to limitations, since for the system to be successful something must be sacrificed, in Ys 7 it was platforming for sure(don't know if Boss Rush was also ommited because of the party system or because they didn't have time) and in Ys Celceta, there are reports of slowdown. The games may run at a pretty exellent framerate and be the fastest Action RPGs I have seen but like the best action games they suffer from the same thing : they can only handle so much in one screen.

Take Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 for example, having to constantly render a large stage with enemies that appear suddenly or on designated spots and often gang up at Ryu but they never appear in more than groups of six or eight, unless the stage in question or the area in question is a small colloseum or a forest arena with very clear boundaries. The reason for that is that the game engine cannot handle anything larger than that number of enemy combatants on screen while generating the stage and take in account the players actions, all these without a)framerate drops, b)intelligence drops from enemies / allies and / or c)glitching out. And given how powerful the Hybrid Engine is, this seems to be a very real problem that Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge barely got away with by making the larger stage be divided in small areas, separated by the small loading icon to give the player the illusion of the engine "rendering" the whole stage at once.

Ys games have really areas quite often and with all that in mind and the fact that the Ys 7 game engine, despite being upgraded to the Celceta engine once it hit the VITA, is nowhere near as powerful as that engine, I'd rather do away with the party system for these remakes to emulate the originals feeling a lot better and make them true remakes.

PS : Sorry for the technical, long-ass post.

[fireinthehole]

At this point, looking at those Not-Ys screenshots released some time ago, I am starting to doubt that the next Ys game is going to be Ys V remake. In that case, it would make more sense for Falcom to release the game with new engine on this upcoming game (which will probably get released next year) and fix the problems and release Ys V remake in time for the 30th anniversary, like they did with Ys: OiF and Ys: MoC. I think it's a good thing since as much as I enjoyed Ys Seven and Celceta's system and it can still use some room for improvements, three years for development (if my prediction about the new Ys game coming out next year is correct) is enough time in between games that they should try entirely different things with the new engine as they already made enough variations with the old one.

[ysgamerpt]

In what all cases i have seen and enjoyed the remakes of each Ys game which are Seven,Ark of Napishtim and Oath of felgana for the psp, i do believe Falcom has the potential to make it a enormous annoucement by releasing Ys:V for Handheld and PS3/PS4 because hey it's the modern age now but i have to play Memories of Celceta anyway

[redsilversnake]

Mar 30, 2014 8:16:43 GMT -5 ysgamerpt said:

In what all cases i have seen and enjoyed the remakes of each Ys game which are Seven,Ark of Napishtim and Oath of felgana for the psp

...wut?
Seven and Napishtim aren't remakes. Felghana and Celceta are the only remakes in the series.

[veleskola]

Mar 30, 2014 9:00:32 GMT -5 redsilversnake said:

Felghana and Celceta are the only remakes in the series.

I hate to be that guy but, Celceta isn't a remake at all. It's just Falcom's version of Ys IV. It takes inspiration from both games but it pretty much is it's own game. 

[Deleted]

Mar 31, 2014 18:21:08 GMT -5 veleskola said:

Mar 30, 2014 9:00:32 GMT -5 redsilversnake said:

Felghana and Celceta are the only remakes in the series.

I hate to be that guy but, Celceta isn't a remake at all. It's just Falcom's version of Ys IV. It takes inspiration from both games but it pretty much is it's own game. 

Well, its a re-imagining so it kinda counts, I guess.
Could Ys Chronicles be considered a remake as well?

[korzic]

Mar 31, 2014 18:21:08 GMT -5 veleskola said:

Mar 30, 2014 9:00:32 GMT -5 redsilversnake said:

Felghana and Celceta are the only remakes in the series.

I hate to be that guy but, Celceta isn't a remake at all. It's just Falcom's version of Ys IV. It takes inspiration from both games but it pretty much is it's own game. 

Well, yeah, it's true Celceta isn't a remake, but good luck trying to stop the majority of people from referring to it as such. Heck, I remember reading that even some of Falcom's own employees were doing that during development, and they had to be told "No, not a remake."

Anyway, as far as the Ys V remake is concerned, whether they decide to go with the party system or not, the story really needs some fleshing out as far as I'm concerned. Not that it's necessarily bad, but it just feels loosely strung together. Maybe it was just a result of the translation, but it was hard to get attached to what was happening. I know, Ys games aren't so much about the story as they are the gameplay, but compared to other titles, there didn't seem to be much substance to it. To clarify, the basic plot outline feels fine, it's the delivery that's lacking.