Time to bump!
So I imported this game and just started it yesterday. And I've definitely gotta say that I'm having a blast so far! Now that I'm actually playing it, I've gotta say that it feels more than anything like a spiritual successor to Gurumin, rather than Ys. I mean, the main character doesn't have a drill weapon (though for all I know there MAY be one..... I'm still pretty early in the game after all), but it's similar in the sense that you don't really tackle the adventure from one big field to the next like you do in Ys. Rather, the action segments take place in their own separate "stages". Also, you apparently just have one town that acts as your hub (which, again, is like Gurumin).
Combat-wise, again I can't give a full impression due to me still being at the early point of the game, but so far it feels slightly slower than Ys Seven. Not that it's a bad thing, though. Something I find cool is that Nayuta can equip different weapons aside from swords (though so far the only other weapon I used was an axe). You also have Noi (the tiny fairy girl), who's basically the mage (she can use many kinds of offensive magic, though so far I only have two spells for her). And speaking of Noi.... I just find her so cute (I especially like how she's floating with little gears attached to her hair)!
But so far, I have to say that I'm most impressed by the platforming. Currently I've just gotten past the first boss dungeon, and my goodness, was it a blast! Even the dungeon's boss battle forces you to rely on your jumping skills! It really makes me wish that Falcom made more platformer-type games (but sadly, it looks like even the upcoming Ys Celceta will be entirely ground based like Seven was.... which is kind of a shame, IMO).
As far as visuals go, it definitely looks nice, that's a given. Very bright and colorful, and the character models are more detailed than in Ys Seven. And as for music (which is usually one of the main attractions of a Falcom title), well..... truthfully, I'd rather not give a full impression until I've gotten farther in the game. I can definitely say I'm liking what I hear so far, though (the first boss dungeon I mentioned before has my favorite BGM so far). Sadly, I can't really say anything about the plot now since my knowledge of Japanese is miniscule at best (as far as I know, it's basically about Nayuta and co. traveling to some alternate world and stopping the bad guys from doing bad stuff. But what the heck do I know?
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All in all, I'm definitely love what I played of it. And I say that it's more than deserving of an overseas release (you reading this, Xseed?).
