Ys: The Ark of Napishtim - PSP Review

Ys: The Ark of Napishtim is a charming action RPG. Unfortunately, the PSP is needing more than a port of a PS2 game to fill the RPG void the system is currently suffering. While Ys PSP brings plenty of new content to the table, including minigames and videos, the game isn't suited for mobile playing. The game is too demanding time-wise to make this an appealing game on the road. Ys: The Ark of Napishtim is fun, but maybe not the best choice for a PSP game.

For those of you who didn't play Ys: The Ark of Napishtim on the PS2, you're in for a treat. Not only is the PSP version and accurate port of Ys, it's actually better, due largely to the extras. For everyone else, it's hit or miss.

Ys is an action RPG (read: button mashing combat) that pits the protagonist, Adol Christin, and co. against large numbers of baddies in an effort to get three magical swords. One of the strengths of Ys is its solid character and enemy design. You care about your heroes, and the enemies can, quite honestly, be quite creepy. The story is serviceable, and the graphics are on par with any PS2 game in the same genre. Think of it as a Japanese version of Untold Legends, only cuter and with a story to drive it.

The only real problem with Ys is that it was never designed to be a PSP game. Portable games tend not to require level grinding, and usually have frequent save points. This is due to the fact that portable games are played in short spurts: on the bus, while waiting for the light to change, etc. Ys requires that players spend large amounts of time leveling up before going to the next stage, less the die before being able to save. While in-level loading is decent, all other load times are painfully long.

Ys is a good game on the wrong system. I appreciate the new minigames and mediaplayer, but if we continue to get PS2 ports, the gameplay needs to be adjusted to a PSP style of gaming. Ys is a solid game, but it doesn't travel well.