Two new games from two of my favorite series of Japanese role-playing games have fallen at the same time and I’m driving on a wall trying to give them equal time. It seems that we have entered into a polyamorous relationship with Ys IX: Monstrum Nox and Ryza Workshop 2: Lost Legends and the Secret Fairy, and I desperately try to show them that I love them both equally.
If my circumstances were different, it would be a good problem. Between the two games, I have over 100 hours of fighting, exploring, assembling, crafting and generally squeaking over attractive anime characters doing interesting things in front of me. If I weren’t in a profession where there are always new games on the horizon, I feel compelled to play, I wouldn’t feel so anxious dividing my time between them. If I didn’t have children to help raise the ongoing medical problems, I would be in the Japanese sky of pigs (or wild boars).
Instead, I connect to the PlayStation 5 and flip back and forth between these two game icons. I play the PS5 version of Atelier Ryza 2 for a few hours. Then I start to feel careless, so I switch to the PS4 version of Ys IX.
It would be useful if one of these two games were bad, but it would not have such luck. Atelier Ryza 2 could be the best Workshop game since the 24-year-old series went from 2D to 3D. Extremely charming alchemist Ryza and friends have never looked as good as in the PS5 version of the game. The dynamic combat system, a combination of active and active combat, is even more interesting than it was when it was renovated in Ryza’s Workshop: Always darkness and secret hiding in 2019. I like the streamlined alchemy system, which sees Ryza using skill points to unlock new recipes on a vast skill tree. And it’s nice to accompany the young alchemist as he travels from her island back to a vast metropolitan city.
Meanwhile in Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, we are treated to a new version of Adol Christin, the incredibly unhappy adventurer who faces problems in Nihon Falcom’s series since his debut in 1987. Upon arriving in the prison town of Balduq, Adol finds himself “endowed” with the ability to to turn into a Monstrum, supernatural warriors with strange powers tasked with protecting the city from the invasion of evil spirits known as Lemures. Adol soon discovers that the name of the city has a double meaning and that, as a Monstrum, he cannot escape the vast city. Adol and his constant companion, Dogi, have settled in the city, gathering allies for their cause, while trying to discover the mystery of the Monstrums.
G / O Media may receive a commission
What is very interesting about the latter Yes the game – in addition to finally recognizing how much trouble magnet Adol has become over the years through his fun and naughty dialogue – is the game’s new travel system. Instead of just running on the streets, Adol and friends can use the Monstrum powers to run on walls and warp into points, adding a new dimension to the action RPG. Along with a combat system that allows you to switch between characters on the go, there are very interesting things.
I just have to choose one game, see it to the end and move on to the next. It would make sense, but I can’t choose. Both Ys IX and Atelier Ryza 2 feed different JRPG cravings. Atelier Ryza 2 it’s about digging through craft menus and accidentally exploring ancient ruins with friends. Ys IX it is more immediate and full of action. Atelier Ryza 2 he takes me out into the field, jumping, diving, swimming and swaying in search of ancient secrets and ingredients of alchemy. Ys IX it makes me go to jail through a sewer called the Maximum Sewer. Continue to Google the “sewer”. Maybe you’re not looking for pictures.
That’s why, instead of being in the middle of one game or another, I only have five or six hours in both. I play Ryza for a bit, then I start to miss Yes. In the middle of the game Yes, I suddenly remember where to pick up the materials for an alchemy recipe Ryza, and I go back. If the PlayStation 5 had the Xbox One S / X fast replay feature, the two games would work consecutively to facilitate the change.
Long story short, Ys IX: Monstrum Nox and Ryza Workshop 2: Lost Legends and the Secret Fairy there are two very good, very different JRPGs that are worth your time. Maybe not simultaneously.
.