New Review Posted: Ys: The Ark of Napishtim

Daniel Weissenberger · 04-20-2005, 02:54 AM

Mike Bracken reviews Ys: The Ark of Napishtim, and begins with a little learnin':

"a·nach·ro·nism n.

1 - The representation of someone as existing or something as happening in other than chronological, proper, or historical order.

2 - One that is out of its proper or chronological order, especially a person or practice that belongs to an earlier time: "A new age had plainly dawned, an age that made the institution of a segregated picnic seem an anachronism" (Henry Louis Gates, Jr.).

If some of you are wondering why I started this review with a vocabulary lesson, bear with me. It's just that after spending 15 or so hours with Konami's Ys: The Ark of Napishtim, anachronism happens to be the one word bouncing around in my head. Being "out of its proper or chronological order" would almost seem to hint that Ys is a bad game—something that it's certainly not. Instead, the title is a throwback to an earlier era of gaming, one that old-timers like myself look back on with fond memories. And that's perhaps the funniest thing of all about the game. Depending on the player's age, the title could be viewed in one of two ways: an old-fashioned game that looks really long in the tooth, or as a fond trip down memory lane. For me, it's entirely the latter option."

The rest of the review is only a click away.

EnduroGamer · 04-20-2005, 12:01 PM

The rest of the review is not right there. That link goes to Chi's review of Custom Robo. The Copy/Paste devil strikes again! I, myself, got to copy/paste this from the other post because this problem is epidemic today.

I'd rather less sequel/colon jokes and more working links.

Daniel Weissenberger · 04-20-2005, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EnduroGamer

I'd rather less sequel/colon jokes and more working links.

Well then you're lucky you don't have to decide! By one AM the next day, anyway...

EnduroGamer · 04-20-2005, 05:38 PM

Ha! Good one. By the way, I was purely being sarcastic.

Boy · 04-20-2005, 11:23 PM

Y's is so last month! Where's the review of Shining Tears?

Seriously though, nice review. I did want to point out however that those screenshots are of the PC version. The PS2 didn't have 2D character sprites.

Mike Bracken · 04-21-2005, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boy

Y's is so last month! Where's the review of Shining Tears?

Heheh, I can only play these games so fast, you know. Digital Devil Saga should be showing up soon.

Plus my raging FFXI addiction came back full-force late last week--balancing that and Jade Empire has been rough.

Mike B.

Boy · 04-21-2005, 06:47 PM

Hm...How is FFXI these days? I was kind of toying around with the idea of getting back on, but I was thinking it could have only gotten worse since I left.

Mike Bracken · 04-22-2005, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boy

Hm...How is FFXI these days? I was kind of toying around with the idea of getting back on, but I was thinking it could have only gotten worse since I left.

FFXI is FFXI--there are good things and there are bad things. Gil sellers still camp everything under the sun, fishbots are still around (despite massive changes to the fishing system to eliminate them) and some items that used to be fairly affordable are now astronomically expensive (astral rings, which were 200k when I quit are now 700k, for example)

On the other side, World of Warcraft seems to have sucked in most of the assholes so people are a bit more friendly now. Square just lowered the exp. levels for players from 51 to 75 so it's not quite the grind it was (it's still a grind though). They've added a ton of new endgame content, lots of new areas, new NMs, and things like that.

I'm like 3k away from level 70 and it seems that the endgame stuff is where things actually start to get interesting. Sure, you can still experience, but there are gods to fight, and lots of other quests to undertake. It's not quite so much about grinding out levels.

If you're interested in the story of the game, I've found that it really picks up once you start the Zilart missions (which are doable after you reach rank 6). The cutscenes for those are great and storyline really picks up a lot.

At any rate, it's the same game, yet different at the same time. I'm definitely having more fun now than I did before quitting though.

Mike B.