Ys games are remade several times. This is a little guide to help you know what is what. The versions that are considered canon of each game I'll mark in bold.
- Ys I and Ys II are bundled together often, as they're largely considered to be two parts of one game. Ys I&II (PC-98), Ys Book I&II (PCE), Legacy of Ys: Books I & II (DS), and Ys I&II Chronicles(+) are all the same game. I definitely recommend the Chronicles version of PC or PSP, as its easily the best version of the game. There does exist another version of Ys II called "Ys II Special", which completely revamps Ys II from the ground up, modifying the story to reflect the anime series more, as well as changing the gameplay to play more like an action RPG a la Soul Blazer. This version is only in Korean, though, and getting it to work on any modern computers without frequent crashing is really difficult. I've yet to play this version.
- Ys III/Wanderers from Ys is the black-sheep of the series, as it went to a side-scrolling perspective and abandoned the overhead bump-system format. It was remade for PS2 though largely was the same game. It was remade again, as Ys: The Oath in Felghana (PC/PSP), and this version is widely considered to be the definitive version of the game.
- Ys IV was actually two completely different games. Ys IV: Mask of the Sun (SNES), and Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys (PCE). While MotS was considered the actual canon version at the time, Dawn of Ys was a significantly better game. Neither game was released in English, but English patches for both exist and are complete. This game never actually came west or had an official version made by Falcom until 2012, when it was completely remade from the ground up as Ys: Memories of Celceta for Vita, which is the second of the party-based action RPGs. There exists a PS2 remake of Mask of the Sun called Ys IV: Mask of the Sun - A New Theory, but it sucks and should be completely ignored.
- Ys V: Kefin, Lost City of Sand (SNES) was a different kind of Ys game. Not only was it significantly easier, but it abandoned any kind of Ys gameplay for a more traditional action RPG system, and even abandoned the fast-paced upbeat music for more standard orchestral music. The game is still fun, but it's really easy. This one didn't come west either, but there's a wonderful English patch for it. There exists a harder version called Ys V Expert, which was an official harder version by Falcom, but the English patch isn't compatible for it. There's a PS2 remake, but like Ys IV's PS2 remake, it's terrible and should be ignored.
- Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim (PC/PS2) was the first of the hack-n-slash games and largely considered the game that revitalized the series. There are no other versions aside from a terrible mobile version.
- Ys Origin (PC/Vita) is the prequel to the entire series, taking place 700 years prior to the first game. No other versions of this game exist. The Vita version is coming out next year.
- Ys Seven (PSP) is the first of the party-based action RPGs. It's worth mentioning that it's much easier than past Ys games, though still keeps a relative challenge compared to Ys V. It's notorious for having dropped the popular Boss Rush and Time Attack modes for whatever reason. If you want to have a boatload of fun with this game, crank the difficulty up to Nightmare immediately, as it puts the difficulty back on par with the likes of Oath in Felghana.
- Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (PS4/Vita) is the newest game in the series and the third party-based action RPG. It adds multiple things like two protagonists and a town-building mechanic, among other things. I haven't played this yet, as I'm waiting for some form of announcement of a western release.
The versions of each game I'd recommend are:
- Ys I/II: Ys I & II Chronicles (PSP) or the Chronicles+ version (PC).
- Ys III: Ys: The Oath in Felghana (PC/PSP).
- Ys IV: Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys (PCE) or Ys: Memories of Celceta (Vita). MoC is one hell of a solid game, though the beginning is a bit confusing and the story is wonky. Dawn of Ys is the absolute pinnacle of the bump-system games.
- Ys V: The original SNES version. It's better than the PS2 version, and actually has an English patch, unlike Expert. If Expert had one, I'd definitely recommend that version.
- Ys VI: Definitely hit the XSEED official English release on PC (Steam/GOG). They polished it up for modern systems and added a couple extra things, like the ability to warp between save points, which saves you so much time since you don't have to constantly backtrack long distances.
- Ys Seven and Origin only have one version (Origin is getting a PS4/Vita port, but I've yet to see if they're any good). Ys VIII is only out on Vita right now, but is getting a PS4 release next year.
And if you want to know the chronological order of the games:
- Ys Origin happens first. Adol is not born yet.
- Ys I happens 700 years later. Ys II happens immediately after. Adol is 16 years old at the time.
- Ys: Memories of Celceta happens two years later. Adol is 18 years old at the time.
- Ys: The Oath in Felghana. Adol is 19 years old at the time.
- Ys V: Kefin, Lost City of Sand. Adol is 20 years old at the time.
- Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. Adol is 21 years old at the time.
- Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim. Adol is 23 years old at the time.
- Ys Seven happens less than a year later. Adol is still 23 years old.
There's no recommended order for the story. The great thing about the series' story is that each particular part is largely considered its own "self-contained story", as most of the games are told as if they're a volume that Adol wrote in his old age (Adol died at the age of 65, having written many tomes telling of each adventure of his).
The
only games that absolutely require you to play a specific game first are:
Ys I obviously must be played before Ys II, as Ys I is just considered the first part of Ys II. Ys Origin, despite taking place before all of them, has a
lot of spoilers to I & II. So Ys I & II must be played before Origin if you don't want the story spoiled for you.