Ys: The Ark of Napishtim (PlayStation Portable, 2006)

This game is great. I found it to have a very involving story line with a different set up than other PSP games.

This is a port of the Playstation version; however, I have not played that original version. Adol the main character wakes up on a mysterious Island and gets taken in by the locals. Adol finds out the species on the Island doesnt like humans too much. Kill a huge baddy, save the boss's daughter and get the respect from the locals!!

It only gets better from there!


THE GOOD:
Very easy to pick up and play, nothing needed to learn.
Different RPG from other games offered on the PSP.
Easy user interface in menu.
Game has AWESOME music, some of the best I've heard for a game on PSP so far.
Weapon leveling: You can upgrade your swords for more power and magic through Emel collecting that is obtained through slaying the baddies.
Open battles, non turn based hack and slash action.

THE BAD:
Longest load times on PSP I have seen...anywhere from 5-25 seconds wait time per new screen, the bigger the area the longer load time.
Learning the dash and slash move took me 10-15 mins or so...annoying.
9 item max when holding items.
No magic spells, just sword magic that you can use once you fill a bar up (killing baddies or getting hurt fills bar)
Time flys when you play
This version has no voice acting which is in the original


Overall, if you like RPG's this is a great title for those long trips, or boring times spent your relatives house. I am about 10 hours into the game or so and I am loving it, definitely give this game a play.

Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim stars Adol Christin in another action packed adventure full of hack-n-slash game play, excellent musical scores, epic boss battles, detailed environments, and a simple yet extremely well written story. In short, it has all of the qualities that made the previous Ys titles so memorable.

There are a few things with this title that make it stand out. The first are the controls which differ from most of the previous Ys games' directional attack formula. Adol can now perform a whole variety of combos and jumping maneuvers by pushing the appropriate button (sometimes in combination with movement from the D pad). He can also unleash magical attacks with a push of a button by charging the spell meter of his weapon in combat. Overall, the controls are extremely tight and responsive while keeping the combat fast paced.

The second major change is a crafting system that allows Adol to upgrade his three main weapons by collecting a stone which drops from monsters. A weapon that gets upgraded not only has greater attack power but also has stronger magic. This allows the player a certain degree of customization since you can focus on upgrading the weapon you prefer and switch to the others only when you need them.

The final thing to keep in mind about this game is that it does differ depending on the platform it was released on. The PS2 version has voice acting, optional areas, and additional FMV sequences. The PSP version (which this review is for) lacks all of the additional PS2 content but does offer extra fetch quests, mini-games, and an image/media gallery. The most common criticism against the PSP version are its load times but they are not nearly as bad as some reviewers claim. Sometimes it does take a screen seven seconds or more to load but that is the exception and generally it is only a few seconds, especially if you had recently been on that screen.

In conclusion I strongly recommend Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim for anyone that enjoys action RPGs and it is a must have for a fan of the series.

Well, first thing to remember is that you are playing a RPG. The combat is simple, run in, slash, jump slash, dodge, repeat. You start off with a normal sword that gets replaced with three magical swords you can upgrade and have different elemental attacks, depending on the sword. Wind, Fire and Lightning are the swords.
The story is very good, detailed from beginning to end. The only complaint I had about the game is that it has a lot of loading screens during game play on the PSP version. The Playstation 2 version has less loading screens. Besides that, solid combat, awesome story and very replayable.
The game has several side features which make the game one to pick up as well. A character bio journal, media player that plays videos and music from the game, and it has both a hard and nightmare mode. My suggestion to you is to pick it up and see if you like the game, not just because I thought it was awesome. Let the game be awesome for the reasons you like it to be awesome.

Sincerely, Danethefurry.

This game was a launch title for the PSP. I remember seeing media for it before the PSP released, and I was psyched. This game is a hardcore action RPG with emphasis on exploration. The game suffers slightly from the horrendous load times, but other than that, this game has it all. You level up, attain new items, and kick butt. The series just gets better from this entry, but this one is still worth your time.

Well I was looking for a new action RPG style game. I'm a huge fan of that genre. And I came across this YS: ark of napishtim. I was fairly impressed with it's control. Another reason I chose this game is because of the camera angle, 3/4 view. In my opinion that is the best angle for action RPG games.

I kinda felt like I was playing a zelda game...with an RPG twist. it was awesome cause I loved the 3/4 view zelda games, but this game stood above those.

As far as graphics go..I think they tried to do a little too much on detail. which kinda cluttered the screen. but it didnt damper gameplay at all.

Over all, I would recommend this game to any action RPG fan.