All-New Saturday Summaries 2017-09-09: Gateway Edition

Welcome to another edition of the Saturday Summaries: September Synopsis Special Sibilance Spectacular. That's not a name I'm planning to stick with. Let's preface this with saying that I hope any Florida duders or those with family in the area aren't strongly affected by what looks like a legit insane-in-the-weathervane category 5 hurricane. Stay safe, take Maiden's advice to run to the hills if possible, and hide all your valuables in a dishwasher to keep that business water-tight.

Many of my favorite franchises saw new entries this year, but it occurs to me that a few are a little challenging when it comes to trying to find one's way into them. With most video game franchises, you either start from the very beginning (particularly true of those with a strong serial storyline) or you simply go with whichever game is the newest and thus the most modern, which is more true of iterative genres like fighters, shooters or sports games, barring the occasional weaker year. With some franchises there's a little more nuance and disagreement in where people tell you to begin. I figured I'd weigh in on three series that this site's staff in particular don't have a whole lot of experience with, in case there's anyone out there who has no clue where to start.

(Just a disclaimer first off: these are my personal recommendations, not necessarily the objective standard, and there's concerns like availability and sales and wanting to partake in the conversation that surrounds new games that should probably take precedence.)

Falcom's Ys

Ys is having a busy time of late between the localized Steam debut of Ys Seven last week and the localized release of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana for Steam, PS4 and PS Vita in the week to come. It's a series that has been criminally overlooked by Giant Bomb, as it's far less your traditional turn-based JRPG but rather one with a fast-paced arcade sensibility that it has leaned harder into in recent years as a means to set itself apart from the herd. While it is an RPG series with a recurring protagonist, none of the games actually have much to connect one another: it's more like Metroid, where the protagonist is off on another adventure without any of the cool shit or new abilities they picked up last time. Thus, there's a level of freedom in where you want to start. For the sake of convenience, here's my recommendations for where to jump into the series and where to head after that:

1. Ys VI: Ark of Napishtim AND/OR Ys: The Oath in Felghana: Either of these options should suffice as your first Ys game. Ys VI was the first game to really go hard on the action-RPG format in the vein of a high-tempo Diablo hack-and-slash, with the excellent rock soundtrack and challenging boss fights that the series is known for. The Oath in Felghana is a remake of the third game, originally for SNES, that uses Ark of Napishtim's engine and also serves as a worthy entry point.
2. Ys I & II Chronicles: After either or both of the above, I'd recommend picking up the Ys I & II Chronicles compilation on Steam (or PSP) and starting the Ys franchise from the very beginning. The mechanics are a little slower and more awkward here, but it's still a fantastically scored game and worth seeing where it all began if Ark or Oath has you hooked. (Even though this pack includes two games, they're both very short: these games were originally released in 1987 and 1988, so don't be surprised if you sprint through the whole thing.)
3. Ys Origin: That's followed by the prequel to Ys I & II, that's meant to be played afterwards for the full effect. It's the only Ys game without Adol, and instead provides three distinct characters with which to tackle an earlier version of the Tower of Darm from Ys II. It also uses the same engine as Ark of Napishtim and The Oath in Felghana, and is likewise accessible on Steam (and, more recently, on PS4).
4. Ys Seven AND/OR Ys VIII: I'd probably recommend the new games after that. Ys Seven and Ys VIII are naturally going to feel very different, as both bolster the story aspect and both offer alternate playable characters in the same way Origin does. I can't speak to what Ys VIII will be like, but as a fully 3D game it's going to be quite a shift from the older Ys entries.
5. Ys: Memories of Celceta: I put this after the new ones because it's still Vita-only, and thus it might not be all that convenient to play right now if you don't own the system or got rid of it at some point. By the time you work your way through the above it's possible Celceta will have its own Steam port the way Ys Seven did. Celceta is a remake of the fourth game, Mask of the Sun, though it's really more of a reimagining.
6. Ys III: Wanderers of Ys/Ys IV: Mask of the Sun/Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand/Dawn of Ys: Ys 3-5 are all Super Famicom games, of which only the first was ever officially localized but the other two have fan translations courtesy of Aeon Genesis. If you have a way to play them, by all means check them out. Dawn of Ys, meanwhile, is for the TurboGrafx-CD and is sort of a weird "gaiden" version of the fourth game with a whole different story and setting. There's also Ys Strategy, but I've heard mixed things about that one.

Sega's Yakuza

The Yakuza series has accrued a relatively small but fervent fanbase in the west over the years since the first game back in 2005, and this fanbase has been hanging on tenterhooks throughout that time as Sega regularly hemmed and hawed about whether or not to bring the next Ryu ga Gotoku game to an international audience and, if they did, whether they would choose to scrap large parts of it for being too "Japanese" for us to handle. It was hell being a Yakuza fan around the time 3 and 4 launched, and while I imagine there's still some "I liked it before it was cool" hipster resentment at its sudden emergence into the mainstream I suspect most of us are breathing a sigh of relief that Sega's totally on board with bringing out more Yakuza games out here now that it's popular. There's quite a number of spin-offs and side-games that might now get the localization treatment thanks to the warm reception Yakuza 0 received, and a timely localization of Yakuza 6 and the second Kiwami are now all but assured. But where to start kicking hoodlum ass as the Dragon of Dojima?

1. Yakuza 0: Conventional wisdom seems to suggest that going from 0, the chronologically earliest game in the series, is the best way for newcomers to enjoy Yakuza. That's certainly the route Giant Bomb East has taken, and it seems to be working out for them. It will feel a little weird to go back to the earlier games with their comparatively rudimentary mechanics, but this is where the zeitgeist is currently.
2. Yakuza Kiwami: It naturally follows you'd then go to Yakuza 1 via this recently-released remake. The original PS2 version of Yakuza has some issues, not least of which is a mostly dispassionate dub featuring the likes of Michael Madsen and Rachel Leigh Cook as well as not really knowing its own strengths as a series yet, so feel free to skip it.
3. Yakuza 2 OR Yakuza Kiwami 2: After this, you either have the option of waiting for the second Kiwami game to be localized or just play the original PS2 version. Yakuza 2's a highlight of the series with some particularly memorable bosses, so I'd say it's essential either way.
4. Yakuza 3/Yakuza 4/Yakuza 5: The rest of the Yakuza series follows in numerical order, naturally enough. The games have a serial structure, so you can't really miss out on story beats or the introduction of new characters because there's no telling when any of them will become important again, but fortunately each new Yakuza also contains a plot synopsis of the previous games for your convenience if you do decide to sit a few of them out. If you are skipping around, I might recommend playing 4 over either 3 and 5: 3 had some heavy content cuts and its Okinawa stuff isn't all that exciting, and I only know 5 from its average reputation at present. 4 is my current favorite in the series and does a great job with its multiple protagonists; a feature that the fourth game introduced and every subsequent game has utilized. All three of these games are exclusive to the PS3.
5. Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan!/Ryu ga Gotoku Ishin!/Yakuza: Dead Souls: All of the Yakuza side-games right now are either Japan-only or, in the case of Dead Souls, not really worth the trouble. I will say that much of the third-person shooter mechanics of Dead Souls would later find their way into the Yakuza team's only (presently) non-Yakuza game, Binary Domain. If you're interested in that connection, or want to see Yakuza characters fight zombies for some reason, it could be worth considering.

Bandai Namco's Tales

The anime-friendly Tales mega-franchise is like Final Fantasy in that they're both intimidatingly humongous JRPG series but also have no connecting tissue between their entries whatsoever besides a focus on certain themes and the names of recurring items, spells and monsters - with the exception of a few direct sequels. You'd be entirely OK with any Tales game as your first, but for the sake of starting on the best footing possible here's what I recommend:

1. Tales of Symphonia: Symphonia was the first Tales game to go 3D for its combat, and it's one of the better games in terms of story and characters. It's also the Tales equivalent of Final Fantasy VII: something about the new 3D presentation and great critical reception brought a lot of newcomers to the series back when it was new. Each new Tales games iterates on the combat engine of those that have gone before, so while there's no absolute need to play these games in order I think there's something to be said for watching its systems grow in complexity from game to game, often adopting new features that don't carry over into successive entries. Symphonia's recently been remastered for Steam and PS3, so it shouldn't be too troublesome to find. (I would not recommend the sequel, Dawn of the New World, under any circumstances.)
2. Tales of Vesperia AND/OR Tales of Xillia: These two are my current favorites in the series, though they're a little less accessible than Symphonia right now: currently, Vesperia is only available in the west on the Xbox 360 and has yet to made be made backwards compatible for Xbox One, while Xillia is similarly exclusive to PS3 owners. Vesperia has the best protagonist of the series and a really cool feature in its insta-kill "Fatal Strikes", while Xillia was the first (to my knowledge) to implement a new overworld that is comprised of an interconnected series of zones to explore rather than a traditional JRPG world map. Xillia also offers two storylines to follow, albeit two that overlap about 80% of the time. Both games come highly recommended. (I've not played Xillia 2 yet, but if you really liked Xillia I can't imagine it's a bad choice.)
3. Tales of Zestiria AND/OR Tales of Berseria: I found Zestiria a little lacking compared to the above, but it's available for both PS4 and Steam so that makes it more accessible than most. Ditto Berseria, the newest Tales game, which I've yet to play but apparently has a lot of references and connections to Zestiria even if I'm fairly sure they're not set in the same world. Both Zestiria and Berseria have made some huge changes to how Tales normally plays, which is why I'm putting them further down this list.
4. Tales of Phantasia (GBA)/Tales of Destiny (PS1)/Tales of Eternia (PSP)/Tales of Legendia (PS2)/Tales of the Abyss (PS2/3DS)/Tales of Hearts R (PSV)/Tales of Graces F (PS3): At this point you're free to explore the back-catalogue. Phantasia, Destiny and Eternia all have 2D battle engines rather than the 3D ones above, and I find I generally prefer 2D because it's easier to keep your ranged and magic-users protected with a front line of melee tanks. Eternia might well be my overall favorite Tales game too, as I love its characters and it has a really neat twist on Tales' recurring "two worlds" theme. Abyss is a little overlong, but the 3DS remaster makes it an appealing choice for fans of portable RPGs. I can't speak to Legendia, Hearts R and Graces F quite yet (Legendia was never released in Europe in any form, Hearts R requires a Vita which I don't own, and I haven't got around to Graces F), but it seems like they're more divisive entries.
5. Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology: I put this PSP game down here because A) it's fairly grindy and dull, and B) it has a huge number of cameo playable characters from other Tales games, as Radiant Mythology is sort of a "crossover" event in the same vein as a Dissidia: Final Fantasy or World of Final Fantasy. Therefore it's probably better if you come to this game with a wider appreciation for Tales after playing several of its core entries first. There's quite a huge number of Tales crossover games, almost as many as there are core games, but as far as I know this is the only one that got localized.
6. Tales of Destiny 2/Tales of Rebirth/Tales of Innocence: Presently, these are the only core Tales games without localizations, though Innocence (for DS) has a translation patch. If you've played all of the above and are still looking for more... well, you're probably beyond help at this point.

If you're still looking for more game recommendations from yours truly, might I suggest this week's blogging content?:

• We have seven new The Top Shelf entries this week, what with it being Shelftember and all, and I'm already starting to make a smaller list of games I want to explore more than the paltry hour I've given each entry for this month for the sake of moving things along. We start with Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, a so-so outsourced entry in Naughty Dog's beloved mascot platformer series that I'm sure isn't representative of the franchise as a whole; 007: Agent Under Fire, a punchy and compact FPS and James Bond simulator that makes the smart choice of rewarding the player for doing cool spy stuff; Stella Deus: The Gate of Eternity, a SRPG with the complexity (and composers) of Final Fantasy Tactics with the character design of a modern Persona game that I've been spending most of my non-blogging game time with; The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, a multiplayer hack-and-slash brawler based on the first two New Line Cinema movies; Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the famous 80s-enriched open-world crime game that I'm going to have to spend a lot more time with before I'm ready to compare it to San Andreas; The Mark of Kri, a surprisingly good stealthy character-action game with some great visuals for the PS2 era; and Champions of Norrath, a Diablo clone set in the EverQuest universe that delivers on its premise of a mindlessly fun loot-grindy console RPG.
• The Indie Game of the Week is Valiant Hearts: The Great War, a 2D puzzle-action game that follows four characters through the deadliest and most pointless war in (just about) living memory. Created through the same engine Ubisoft developed for the Rayman reboots and released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I, the game has its share of poignant moments, clever instances, and well-realized recreations of famous battlefields like The Somme and Verdun, but my playthrough was unfortunately spoiled by one too many glitches and some uncharacteristically silly sequences. It didn't have to be all doom and gloom, but musical bumper cars was a bit much.

There's no additional game-specific section this week, because I barely found the time to get any further into Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. My goal was to complete the game before the release of Danganronpa V3 on the 26th of this month, but I'm not sure if I'll make it with all these PS2 distractions. Still, I'm happy to be reacquainted with a lot of PS2 games I was ready to leave behind, and I'm particularly invested in finding the time to finally knock out Stella Deus, Vice City and The Mark of Kri throughout the month some decade plus after their respective releases. There'll still be room for the weekly Indie spotlight games too, which should give my hoary PS2 some much-needed rest.

See you next week for another seven PS2 games and please let me know if you found my "gateway" suggestions useful or have your own combinations of Ys/Yakuza/Tales you'd like to suggest; it might be a concept worth revisiting with other franchises in later Summaries.