Ys: The Ark of Napishtim
| Ys: The Ark of Napishtim | |
|---|---|
 North American PS2 boxart | |
| Developer(s) | Nihon Falcom Konami (PS2, PSP)[1] Hudson Soft (PS2, PSP)[1] |
| Publisher(s) | Nihon Falcom (PC) Konami (PS2, PSP) XSEED Games (Steam, GOG.com) |
| Series | Ys |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows PlayStation 2 PlayStation Portable Mobile phone |
| Release date(s) | Windows Windows Vista
PSP |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Distribution | CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, UMD |
| Sound | OGG Vorbis - 16-bit 44.1kHz stereo |
| Display | 640x480 and up, 16-bit (High Color) and up |
Ys: The Ark of Napishtim (イースVI -ナピシュテムの匣- Īsu Shikkusu -Napishutemu no Hako-, Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim) is a Japanese action RPG developed and published by the Nihon Falcom Corporation, and the sixth installment in the Ys video game series. It was first released in 2003 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers. Not counting the Eternal/Complete remakes of Ys I & II, it was the first new Ys game released by Falcom in eight years.
Ys was ported to the PlayStation 2 in 2005 and to the PlayStation Portable in 2006 by Konami for worldwide release. It was the first English release of the series since Ys III: Wanderers from Ys. In 2015, an English translation of the Windows version was announced for release on April 28 via Steam, the Humble Store and GOG.com.[3]
Gameplay
Ys VI expands on the mechanics introduced in Ys III and V in that players are given much more control over Adol including the ability to jump and control his attacks (in Ys I, II and IV, enemies are attacked simply by walking into them). The gameplay is structured similarly to previous and subsequent Ys games and other console RPGs.
Areas are presented in 3D graphics. Character, monster and minor bosses are presented using pre-rendered 3D sprites (except in the PS2 version, which uses 3D models). Larger bosses are presented using full 3D models.
Plot
The story begins after Adol's ship is attacked by a fleet of Romun ships. Forced to sail into an unknown area, they encounter a large storm. Adol is swept off the vessel while trying to rescue a fellow sailor and washed ashore by the vortex that surrounds the Canaan Islands. He is found, unconscious, by the nieces of the chieftain of the nearby Rehda village, Olha and Isha.(They are the daughters of his brother that died when battling with fellow Redha against the Wandering Calamity)The girls take him to their village and lay him to rest in their Uncle Ord's house. Adol hears them talking about him and wakes up briefly, afterwards going back to sleep because of his exhaustion. His adventure then begins.
Releases
PC
The initial release of the game was the "Limited Edition". After this sold out, Falcom released a standard edition of the game with some new features. Two new difficulties and a Time Attack mini-game where you fight through all the game's bosses were added. However, there was never a patch or upgrade released to initial buyers, so players wanting these new features had to buy the game again. Years later, Falcom would similarly add features to Ys Origin; this time, however, initial buyers were offered an upgrade disc for the cost of shipping. The "PC Vista version" is the same as the Standard Edition with support for Windows Vista.
PlayStation 2
Konami made several additions and changes when porting the game to the PlayStation 2. The most notable were the inclusion of both English and Japanese voice acting to all characters (including NPCs) and several new optional areas referred to as "Alma's Trials." While the Japanese voice acting could be selected in the NTSC-U version, the PAL version had all Japanese voice acting removed.[4] Konami also added new FMV sequences, though the original animated sequences could still be selected through a code. Blood and gore effects were removed due to console games requiring a rating. Lastly, they changed the character and monster graphics from pre-rendered 3D sprites to fully polygonal 3D models. While this allowed for much better animation, it also changed Adol's appearance based on his equipment.
PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable port does not include any of the changes of the PS2 port except for the removal of blood and gore effects. However, the European and North American versions came with a new set of bonuses including some extra fetch-quests that unlock a few mini-games and an image/media gallery. These were later included in a "Special Edition" re-release in Japan. However, the game is noted for having particularly long and frequent load times. Voice-acting was never included in this version.
Music
Soundtrack releases for The Ark of Napishtim include:
- Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim Original Sound Track (2003): The complete soundtrack to Ys VI.
- The Songs of Zemeth - Ys VI Vocal Collection (2005): A small collection of vocal arrangements of Ys VI tracks. Included is a second disc which contains vocal-free versions of these arrangements.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim (2005) PlayStation 2 Credits". MobyGames. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
- ↑ Kyle MacGregor (April 17, 2015). "YS VI: The Ark of Napishtim arrives on PC April 28". Destructoid. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
- ↑ "Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim Coming to Steam Next Week". Made For Gaming. April 21, 2015.
- ↑ "What's the best version of Ark of Napishtim?". XSeed Games Forum. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
External links
- Official websites for North America, Japan
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