Having written the review for the PS2 version of Ys: The Ark of Napishtim, you will forgive me if I liberally quote myself with improper citation. Going by the score – 7.5, which means it’s .5 higher than just regular Good – it’s obvious that I had a good time with the game. That is true, and if it wasn’t for a problem that holds blame in both the hardware and software, I would have had just as a good time, if not better, here. While my GBA SP sits next to a proud Zelda re-release box, my PSP has no such action role-playing game to call its own. The Ark of Napishtim managed to fill that void – kinda.

As the red-headed hero Adol Christin awakens on the islands of Canaan, he becomes part of a fractured land that is ravaged by beasts and darkened with animosity. Famous for his previous adventures, he must go about discovering the mysteries of the islands he has come to call his home, and of the Great Vortex that carried him there. As gamers take on the charge of mending relations and setting things right, they will use both melee combat and magic in a system that takes a while to get into, but manages to engage with its simplicity and variety.

The islands of Canaan are populated by the original inhabitants, the Rehdan, and those who, like the hero, have found themselves washed up on the beach. With religious artifacts of the Rehdan missing and the bridge that connected the islands of the two peoples having been destroyed, both are at odds with each other. While you don't directly affect the relations between the two with your dialogue, you will cause change through your actions. By fighting through relatively small islands, caves, and underground temples, Adol will come into possession of what the Rehdan are searching for and help those like him by clearing the lands of the dastardly respawning feral rodents, killer plants, giant insects, and other nefarious oddities that nature has decided to enrage and throw at the citizenry.

Bringing unity to a land and uncovering an evolving story regarding past friends, enemies and new associates isn't as melodramatic as it may sound, as one might imagine after so many Final Fantasy titles. The hokey voice-overs that were mildly endearing in the PS2 version are gone here. The music is whimsical, but also suffers from some tracks going overboard, offsetting the mood created by the rest of the score. I also likened some of the traveling music to that found in a generic 1980s action movie, completely missing the mark and sounding like they belonged in a Top Gun rip-off. Thankfully, the general sense of the scenes and story is conveyed without either suffering too much. The graphics have some muddy textures, which makes the pastel overkill a little less than charming, but the 3D bosses look decent and the effects, altered slightly as well, didn’t fare too bad.

Equally unassuming is the real-time combat, which involves using three swords that are both magical and upgradeable. The swords vary with the powers of wind, fire, and electricity, and are enhanced by emel gems, which are found from deceased foes. By increasing the powers, the swords offer longer and more powerful combos, with the magic of that particular sword becoming more pronounced when it is unleashed as a finishing move. When he kills enemies, Adol gains both experience and money, which is automatically gathered. While the upgrading of the swords is fairly basic in that one simply allocates to whichever should be upgraded at that time, Adol's leveling is even more basic as he just becomes stronger and sturdier - those looking for even rudimentary trait-specific point allocation will be disappointed. The simplicity of the upgrades and leveling, however, fits well with the game's style. Aside from the basic moves, combat primarily involves finding which sword does the most damage and just where an enemy can be hurt, as some are damaged from the top and others from the front, side, or back.

Exploring the world is done screen by screen, which, along with the combat, is what causes the experience to resemble the original Zelda. As one screen is moved, Ys also slightly shifts to the side to introduce the new scene, with a path leading off in one of the directions. Rarely are the outside paths hard to find, with most of the planes being level and the paths wide. While there may be plateaus or lower levels in an area, these are limited to the underground dwellings and aren't as prominent as the flatlands, by and large. As you enter a new area, the enemies spawn anew, even if previously dispatched: this has the downside of making the copious backtracking somewhat of a pain, because of having to dodge weak attacks. However, regardless of your level, killed enemies will always leave emel and money behind, which means that it's fairly easy to rack up cash or gems. Scattered throughout the lands are also minibosses and treasure chests that pack either basic items, like herbs or honeycombs for health, or armor and accessories.

The hidden treasures have a further-reaching effect than just encouraging exploration. By cleverly utilizing the varying heights, environments seem larger than they actually are, and by providing such prime accessories, it makes money almost useless. Whether it is finding an additional bag to add another wearable accessory or a new shield or armor, there is little need to constantly spend money on protection as it can often be found by looking around. Instead, money is more useful for the more big ticket items, like wards against poison, which makes the experience less painful.

The settings will also be the scenes of the most frustration. The Ark of Napishtim suffers from excessive load times. Going in and out of structures and in between zones, which encompass as little as a few screens, can cause loading screens from anywhere as five to a little over fifteen seconds long. There is even a pause whenever you level up, which seems like a bug. Considering that the bulk of the game involves backtracking, that means that there is a sizeable amount of time where you simply sit and do nothing. There is a time attack involving boss battles of varying degrees of difficulty, as well as navigation challenges that were added for the PSP release, but those border on throwaway in terms of value.


Overall: 5/10
Ys is still a solid action RPG on the PSP, but the inclusion of frequent and excessive load times really dampens the experience. For a game that has backtracking and area-to-area exploration as one of its hallmarks, finding a way to minimize the amount of time people would have to spend looking at a black “Now Loading” screen should have been paramount. The game still provides a whimsical adventure, but it’s one that’s far inferior to what its console brother had me accustomed.