NintendoComplete | Ys V: Kefin, Lost Kingdom of Sand (SNES) Playthrough [English] @NintendoComplete | Uploaded September 2024 | Updated October 2024, 6 days ago.
A playthrough of Falcom's 1995 action-adventure game for the Nintendo Super Famicom, Ys V: Kefin, Lost City of Sand (イースV: 失われた砂の都ケフィン).

Since the game was never released outside of Japan, I used a fan translation patch for this recording. You can find the patch at aeongenesis.net/projects/ys5

Released exclusively for the Super Famicom in December of 1995, Ys V was the last entry in the Ys series to hit the 16-bit consoles, and for a time, it seemed like it would be the last we'd see of Adol Christin. Ys I-V came out over a span of eight years, but following Ys V, another eight would pass before the red-headed swordsman would return in Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim.

A year has passed since the events of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (youtu.be/f-ZEdTDWslQ), and Adol has recently arrived in the Xandria region of Afroca, the world of Ys' analog for the northern reaches of the African Sahara. Before long, he finds himself wrapped up in the mysteries surrounding a city swallowed by the desert five centuries ago. Kefin was home to an advanced society that had seemingly tamed incredible forces, only to be wiped from the face of the earth. No one knows if they brought about their own downfall, but tales of their strength have attracted those who would unearth and exploit the source of this power.

Falcom brought development back in-house for Ys V, but most of the folks responsible for Ys 1-3 had long since left the company, and the game clearly reflects the turnover. Ys III is typically referred to as the black sheep of the series, but Ys V marks a far sharper deviation from the series' norms. The fast-paced, Hydlide-inspired bump combat was traded out for Zelda-style sword play. Magic has to be crafted, junctioned to weapons, and leveled up through use. And the storytelling and presentation lack any sense of the series' signature flair and personality.

It's a good game, but it doesn't feel like an Ys game. I get the impression that Falcom's new development staff didn't know what to do with the series, and that they were drawing inspiration from games the series' creators had worked on since leaving Falcom. Many of those ex-Falcom employees went on to form Quintet, the company behind Soul Blazer (youtu.be/clPT-KSffOw), Illusion of Gaia (youtu.be/obmIQsY07gY), and Terranigma, and the influence is obvious once you see the connecting thread. All three games carry Ys' DNA.

Ys V, however, does not. It's an amalgamation of mechanics, tropes, and motifs that come together to form a perfectly servicable action game, cozily plated with the lovely-yet-dull veneer of a late-gen SNES RPG. The graphics are pretty, the music has its soaring moments, and the story is interesting despite being half-baked, but the game tends to be remembered more for its utter lack of balance (magic is largely useless and there's no challenge to speak of) and polish - it's very buggy. The game's problems were so significant that an updated version - Ys V Expert - ended up being released by Koei a mere three months later. That was not a move that sat well with the people who had already paid full price for the original release version.

Falcom doesn't appear eager to revisit Ys V - it's the only Ys game that hasn't been released outside of Japan, and it's the only 2D game in the series that hasn't received Falcom's 3D remake treatment - and I think that's pretty telling. It's not my intention to tear it down, but lofty expectations have always come part-and-parcel with the Ys name, and at the end of the day, Ys V is a thoroughly average action-RPG that utterly failed to uphold the series' standards.
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

NintendoComplete (nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!