Vita Ys Foliage Ocean in Celceta (Celceta Sea of Trees)

[kazekirifx]

So, this is coming out later this week (Sep. 27). Should be arriving at my doorstep around then.

I've been reading Falcom's mail magazine, and they announced that the game has earned a "Platinum" rating from Famitsu's hall of fame. It's the first of Falcom's games to receive that honor.

Famitsu Rating: 35/40 (9/9/9/8)

Clear Time: 30hrs (up to 60 to complete all tasks) [EDIT: Actually, I think 60 hours is if you choose to play harder difficulty settings after completion, and obtain all the trophies. It took me less than 30hrs to complete doing almost all the optional quests.]

Famitsu also commented that "the gameplay has a very satisfying feeling of high speed." "Having many different ways to attack enemies, including using teammates abilities, is fun." "The story and scenarios are very enjoyable." "The user interface is very simple to use, and it is good as a beginner's action RPG." "Special attacks are very easy to execute." "The game's system and story are a good match." "It's fun to gradually uncover the map of the foliage ocean." "The game pulls you in and makes it hard to stop playing." However "the graphics can be a bit weak in some places."

I can hardly wait to get my hands on this one... I'm buying a Vita for this too.

[Emerald Rocker]

I forgot to preorder, so I'll have to scrounge this up someplace.  This is what I'm buying a Vita for, too.

[WingZeroKai]

I've had my Vita since launch specifically for Falcom's games. Too poor at the moment to afford the collectors edititon, so I'm gonna wait till I can snag one up somewhere.

So excited for it though.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I would pick up the collector's edition if it had the ost with it, that would rock.  Otherwise, I'm not interested in the drama cd, I already have a couple of those same maps(maybe this one's updated?), & I forget what else comes with it.  So, I'm just gonna wait for the US release.  I don't have a Vita yet, & I want to wait for a price drop & a new version of the Vita, so, holding off gives me an excuse to do that.  I look forward to other peoples opinions on the game though, & really look forward to hearing what they've done with the soundtrack!  I'll probably order the ost when it becomes available.

[Keranu]

Famitsu also commented that "the gameplay has a very satisfying feeling of high speed." "Having many different ways to attack enemies, including using teammates abilities, is fun." "The story and scenarios are very enjoyable." "The user interface is very simple to use, and it is good as a beginner's action RPG." "Special attacks are very easy to execute." "The game's system and story are a good match." "It's fun to gradually uncover the map of the foliage ocean." "The game pulls you in and makes it hard to stop playing." However "the graphics can be a bit weak in some places."

But what about the music!? We're talking freaking Ys here!

[SignOfZeta]

I was reminded that the Vita existed the other day (when they announced new colors)...but I couldn't remember why.

You'd think Falcom would do what Bandai does and just keep releasing games on PSP. The margins have to be much higher.

Not that Famitsu's scores mean anything to me, but do you think this score could be inflated by the lack of Vita software? As in, its only a B-grade PSP game but its an A-grade Vita game?

[futureman2000]

Is the Vita not selling well? I never wanted one because I don't like Sony stuff.

[SignOfZeta]

It's selling so-so. I never wanted one because...why would I? The difference between the PSP and this is...what? The Vita might be the least charismatic upgrade in video game history.

[kazekirifx]

But what about the music!? We're talking freaking Ys here!

Yeah. Really. That's exactly what I was thinking too.

Not that Famitsu's scores mean anything to me, but do you think this score could be inflated by the lack of Vita software? As in, its only a B-grade PSP game but its an A-grade Vita game?

I don't think anybody outside Japan takes Famitsu's ratings seriously anymore. I do, but maybe that's because I'm in Japan. I find I tend to agree with them. (Yep. I loved FFXIII-2!)

Personally, I don't expect much from PSP games in the first place, so I don't see how a B-grade PSP game would be any better on another system, but that's just me of course. Just having higher res than PSP will satisfy me. If anything, I reckon they still have high expectations of the Vita as a new system, and they're looking for games to justify the system's specs. That's probably why they mentioned the graphics are a bit weak, but that's what I was expecting anyway. (Falcom hasn't been on the cutting edge of graphics since the early 90's.)

Is the Vita not selling well? I never wanted one because I don't like Sony stuff.

Of course it isn't. It's a high-spec smartphone with a game card slot and a game controller on it. I think with smartphones being as ubiquitous as they are now, the market can probably only sustain one successful portable game console at once from now on - if even that. I'd prefer new Falcom releases were on a home console or the PC. I wouldn't bother with the new handhelds otherwise. (But I'll buy Uncharted and Assassin's Creed 3 Liberation too, as long as I have a Vita anyway.  )

Speaking of smartphones, Falcome is releasing their first smartphone game (iOS/Android). Not really looking forward to it, but I will buy it.
http://drgslrts.channel.or.jp/

[ParanoiaDragon]

I think Falcom does still have a few more PSP games in the works, probably Kiseki related. 

In any case, some of the music can be found in this fairly long video!

[kazekirifx]

Oh crap. Falcom sent me an E-mail to say they shipped out the game already today. I'm not ready yet. Must finish sora no kiseki the 3rd first... almost there... fucking end, you long-ass game.

I think Falcom does still have a few more PSP games in the works, probably Kiseki related. 

And I will be waiting for an "Evolution" version for the Vita.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Crap. Nevermind.  Posted an old video, nothing to see here

[kazekirifx]

Got it. (and a Vita too)

I was only able to play it for about 2 hours last night, so this is by no means a "review". These are only very initial impressions, but here's what I think so far.

GAMEPLAY - Exactly the same as Ys seven. Dash instead of jump, changing characters, special abilities all work exactly the same. Only addition is a guard button (not sure what that's for yet   ). The same system of collecting minerals and fauna is also still here. Basically, this is Ys 4 done Ys seven style, so if you liked Ys seven you should be very happy here.

STORY - Doesn't follow Dawn of Ys very closely at all, and probably not Mask of the Sun either (to the best of my memory since I only played it once, in the early '90s). Adol has amnesia for some reason. The first dungeon is a cave at Puroma rock, with the music from the first cave in Dawn of Ys, before you even can exit Puroma rock.

MUSIC - Nothing but familiar tunes. I really hate to say it, but I think the arrangement could be a little better. This is definitely not Oath in Felghana level (though that would be expecting a bit much). Nor does it sound quite as good as seven to me, either. As in most recent Ys games, the really good arrangements are reserved for certain key tracks, and the rest are the usual cheap synths Falcom tends to use (if not maybe slightly worse than usual so far). Only two decent tracks so far were the opening sequence (brand new music) and the first field music in the area outside Puroma Rock (not the same as PCE. They chose to use the music which was used in the rainy stage in the PCE). They're good, but neither of these really blew me away either. I fought a boss already (which used that Malmsteen rip-off track) and the arrangement I found rather disappointing for a boss track. The Puroma Rock music is okay I guess. Keep in mind I still haven't heard much of the soundtrack so who knows? The rest could be excellent for all I know, but honestly, not too impressed so far. It's par for the course at best. I'm sure there are lots of good tracks yet to come, after all they have good source material to work with.
(EDIT: And just a minor gripe - some of the sound effects are a bit annoying too, though most are the same as seven.)

GRAPHICS - This is where I'm most disappointed. I already said I wasn't expecting much in my second post above, but I was expecting better than this. To be fair, I haven't really played any other Vita games yet, so I don't really know what a Vita game is supposed to look like, but I expect more from a system released in 2012 (EDIT: Okay, Dec. 2011 in Japan). It isn't that the 3D environments are simple - I was expecting that - but seriously are polygons supposed to be this jagged, aliased, and low res on Vita? Sorry, but it looks like a slight incremental upgrade from Ys seven on the PSP at best. The Ys games released on the PC look a lot better than this. It shouldn't be that hard to make the polygons look smooth on a system this new, and they failed as far as I'm concerned. I've seen better looking 3D games on smartphones. I'm gonna get Uncharted over the weekend so I have another Vita game to compare it to, but if this is what is to be expected from the Vita then Sony shouldn't have bothered releasing a new portable at all.

Sorry to sound more than a bit negative about the graphics and music above. I really want to love this game, and I'm sure I will get plenty of enjoyment from it, as I mentioned the gameplay is fine. Playing through another Ys seven will be plenty of fun, and it will continue to be interesting to see the new takes on the Ys 4 story, locations, and music. If you liked Ys seven, then I think you should get this game despite my gripes above.

Edit:
Correction. The town I referred to above as "Puroma Rock" is not called Puroma Rock in this game. It is referred to as "Casnan". I'm not sure if it is supposed to be equivalent of Puroma Rock, but it has the Puroma Rock music and it is the town you begin the game in.

[kazekirifx]

I'm reading some stuff online about the Vita. Sounds like I expected too much from the system's capabilities. Lots of people are complaining about the aliasing in other games, including Uncharted. The people defending the Vita are like "What do you expect from a portable system? It's not a PS3!" Sorry. I DO expect more. Why did Sony even bother releasing this system? I might be a bit biased since I never really liked handhelds to begin with, of course.

[WingZeroKai]

The Vita uses the same GPU as the new iPad, which can put out some shiny graphics for what its worth. It should also be a bit better in the CPU department.

Some Vita games look pretty good(Virtua Tennis, Little Big Planet, Dynasty Warriors come to mind) and other are jagged as hell. I don't know if developers are just lazy, unfamiliar, or don't want to spend the budget to make a good looking game on a handheld that isn't selling the best.

I do know it can look much better than what we are getting though.

[kazekirifx]

Guess I'll have to play some of the good looking ones before I pass judgment, but right now I am thinking the Vita sucks a lot more than I had thought.

[WingZeroKai]

Don't get me wrong, the Vita is not every ones cup of tea, but it can certainly put out good graphics.

[kazekirifx]

Yes. It can. I downloaded the demos of Power Smash 4 and Dynasty Warriors Next. Both look excellent, as you said, though the frame rate noticeably suffers a bit sometimes in Power Smash. I've read in other forums that games which use the system's native resolution look much better than games which don't. Games which don't tend to have some very noticeable aliasing issues.

Overall, I'd say the system is still not quite as capable as I had expected, but, yes, the two games above come much closer.
Ys still looks pretty bad, especially after playing better looking games, but you get used to it after playing the game for a few hours.

[WingZeroKai]

Yeah, I've come to not really notice it after a while. Though games like Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 and Blazblue look great despite being sub native resolution(Blazblue might be native, don't know). I think it comes down to how developers use their resources.

In the end I feel I'll enjoy Ys a lot when my copy arrives despite the graphics, and I guess thats all that matters.

[SignOfZeta]

Everything on Sony systems looks hyper aliased to me. It's obvious someone at Sony likes it that way.

I wouldn't judge a system by a Falcom game though. They aren't exactly known for pushing hardware to the limit.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Here's Burning Sword, this one's dope IMO:

This one is quite dope as well!

This guys got alot of music, as well as some gameplay videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/bestvgmmusic/videos?query=Celceta

So far, I don't know if I like the songs I've heard more, but they're different & still great.  I still need to listen to more to decide.  There may be one that I thought was just ok.

[WingZeroKai]

Everything on Sony systems looks hyper aliased to me. It's obvious someone at Sony likes it that way.

I wouldn't judge a system by a Falcom game though. They aren't exactly known for pushing hardware to the limit.

I'll give them a little credit, early screens and footage of Celceta looked barely better than Seven. They came quite a ways in a short time from that.

Though you're right, PS3 and some Vita games have too much aliasing. Some games look too damn blurry in my opinion.

[SignOfZeta]

Blurry? To me they look too jaggy. It's like that have that stupid Edge Enhancement function from their TVs permanently on. The PS2 was the worst offender, it looks like there is a friggn glowing white line surrounding every object. The PS3 is possibly even worse. It's obviously an aesthetic choice for them. A lot of people probably like it.

[WingZeroKai]

I always thought aliasing was smoothing, but then again I don't pay a whole lot of attention to terms in regards to graphics. I know what your talking about though. I also think many games abuse motion blur or whatever they call it, and it makes them blurry looking to me.

[kazekirifx]

I've got just over 50% map completion now. This game is fuuuuuun. Totally recommend Celceta Sea of Trees to Ys fans - especially those who liked seven. The graphics still suck, though. Now I've purchased Uncharted on the Vita, and played several demos. Though I've heard many complain about the graphics in Uncharted (and I can see what they mean) it looks beautiful compared to Ys. Ys is by far the worst looking Vita game I've seen yet.

Story is so different from either version of Ys 4, it's pretty much a whole different game, and has very little to do with Ys 4 - other than some common characters and tunes.

And speaking of the music, I'm not really sure what's going on there, either. So much of the same tracks are reused throughout the game (always the same town music, for instance, even though Ys 4 had several different town BGMs).  Yet, I've already heard a few brand new tracks that aren't even from Ys 4... while there are still so many remaining Ys 4 tracks to use. I'd really like to hear as much of the Ys 4 soundtrack used as possible, though it's looking a lot like a lot of tracks are going to be excluded at this point.

Still, everything is overshadowed by how much fun the game is. Dungeon designs are great, new characters are great, combat is great, optional quests are generally worth doing, and uncovering the map is fun (Famitsu was right about that). You guys had better get a Vita...

[SignOfZeta]

I always thought aliasing was smoothing, but then again I don't pay a whole lot of attention to terms in regards to graphics. I know what your talking about though. I also think many games abuse motion blur or whatever they call it, and it makes them blurry looking to me.

You're thinking of anti-aliasing. What the N64 did to extremes.

[WingZeroKai]

Ah, ok. So many terms that confuse the hell out of me.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Dungeon is up, I'm digging this rendition!

[WingZeroKai]

It appears Bronze District didn't make the cut. I was hopping it would.

[kazekirifx]

I think the arrangements are only passable in this one. Wish they would use more of the Ys 4 soundtrack rather than making up new tracks - most of which aren't very memorable. (one is though)

Edit: It's interesting how some of the music has been re-purposed though. Opening sequence from PCE version is now stage music, story part music now town music, shop music now story part music, etc. One can only wonder if this is closer to what Falcom originally intended when they first composed the soundtrack.

[kazekirifx]

Don't know if anyone is reading this anymore, but I finished the game on Sunday. Took me less than 30hrs, and I did almost all the optional quests.

Overall, I like it a bit more than Ys seven. It's maybe a bit shorter than seven, but involves less backtracking. Seems perfect to me. New Game+ looks like it will offer some significant replay value.

There are a lot of notable Ys IV music tracks that are noticeably absent from this game, which is a bit disappointing. However, the inclusion of two unused Ys IV tracks - or at least two that I recognized - was quite a good idea. (There are four unused Ys 4 tracks which you can hear on Falcom Special Box '95. Falcom often puts unused tracks from Ys games in newer versions of the games.)

[WingZeroKai]

Well, I'm still waiting for a good deal on the collectors edition, but its great that you liked it. 

I'm not too worried about length, I still love the original Ys despite its length.

Is there a lot of freedom, or is it pretty linear on exploration. What I mean is can I go back to older areas and just wander freely? Or do things get locked off at any point?

[kazekirifx]

I'm not too worried about length, I still love the original Ys despite its length.

What I meant, really, is that it is still really long for an Ys game, but maybe not quite as long as seven. I actually heard a lot of complaints that seven was too long (at least for an Ys game) and I can sympathize with those arguments. Seven was quite a bit longer than any other Ys game before it. Those same people are likely to have the same complaint about Celceta Sea o Trees.

Is there a lot of freedom, or is it pretty linear on exploration. What I mean is can I go back to older areas and just wander freely? Or do things get locked off at any point?

Things never become locked off at all. You get a warp ability to get around the areas you've visited from the very beginning of the game too. You're encouraged to frequently go back to the previous towns to see if there are any new quests available.

[WingZeroKai]

Awesome. Sounds like I'll have a blast with it. Seven's length didn't bother me too much, though I can understand the complaints.

[ParanoiaDragon]

With the lil bit I know about the story(as I'm trying to avoid spoilers, but have hit some) & the excessive amount of missing songs, I'm thinking this game might be only part 1.  I think it may be possible for a prequal or sequal, I'm thinking a prequal is more likely, but I could be wrong.

[kazekirifx]

No. It's definitely a one-part deal. No sequel coming. The story begins and ends with this game. Not really a spoiler, but the game touches most bases Ys IV does toward the end, and finishes at more or less the same point.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Hmmm, that's a bummer.  I was thinking maybe a prequal because of the whole "Adol losing his memory plot".  It's a shame about so many songs thrown out the window.

[kazekirifx]

It's a shame about so many songs thrown out the window.

Yeah. Tell me about it. The ones they used are not even necessarily the good ones. Plenty of great tunes didn't make the cut, and some boring ones did.

BTW, saw a guy playing this game on a Tokyo train the other day. I don't see people with Vitas often, let alone playing a game I like. Pretty much everyone plays games on their phones.