Line #29 VideoGame/YsOrigin


1	! Because of its {{Prequel}} status, this page assumes you have played ''VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen'' and ''VideoGame/YsIIAncientYsVanishedTheFinalChapter''. There will be spoilers for those games.
2
3	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ysorigin.jpg]]
4
5	'''Ys Origin''' is an ActionRPG {{Prequel}} of the ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' franchise, developed and published by Creator/{{Falcom}} and was released on Platform/MicrosoftWindows in Japan on December 21, 2006, while Creator/XSEEDGames published the localization and released it on May 31, 2012 for Platform/{{Steam}}. ''Origin'' was also ported to the Platform/PlayStation4 on February 12, 2017, the Platform/PlayStationVita on May 30, 2017, the Platform/XboxOne on April 11, 2018 and the Platform/NintendoSwitch on October 1, 2020.
6
7	Taking place seven hundred years before the events of ''VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen'', the ancient "Kingdom of Ys" on the island of Esteria is led by the twin goddesses Reah and Feena. Through the "Black Pearl", a powerful artifact that gave rise to the kingdom, its citizens can use magic and perform miracles. When demons suddenly encroach upon the land, bringing swift devastation, the goddesses use the Black Pearl to raise Ys into the sky in order to stave off the demonic threat. Unfortunately, the beasts began constructing the giant "Darm Tower" where they continue launching their assault.
8
9	As war continues between the survivors of Ys and the demons, the goddesses seemingly disappear, taking with them the Black Pearl back to the surface. The "Six Priests of Ys", the goddesses' servants, task a search party of knights and sorcerers to secure Reah and Feena's safety and bring them back. However, the only place the goddesses could have went to is none other than the Darm Tower.
10
11	''Ys Origin'' retains the 3D game-play used in ''VideoGame/YsVITheArkOfNapishtim'' and ''VideoGame/YsTheOathInFelghana''. As a chronological {{Prequel}}, it is the first game to not feature Adol Christin as the game's protagonist (outside of bonus game modes like Time Attack and Arena Mode). Instead, three characters and their respective stories serve as the overarching narrative of ''Ys Origin'':
12
13	* Yunica Tovah: Granddaughter to Priest Tovah, one of the Six Priests of Ys, she is the ancestor of Goban Tovah from ''Ys I''. Armed with a battle axe, Yunica cannot use magic, but will acquire magical weapons that contain spells that can be cast. Her game-play is reminiscent of Adol's from ''The Ark of Napishtim'' and ''The Oath in Felghana''.
14	* Hugo Fact: A magic-user who launches magic missiles with aid from magical {{Attack Drone}}s, he is the ancestor to ''Ys I'' BigBad Dark Fact.
15	* "The Claw": A mysterious white-haired warrior who has joined with the demons, wielding WolverineClaws, and is pursuing the twin goddesses.
16	----
17	!!''Ys Origin'' has the following tropes:
18
19	* ATasteOfPower: You get some of it during a boss fight as Hugo [[spoiler:when he lets himself be overcome with demonic power, [[SubvertedTrope but that turns out very badly]] until he gets some unlikely help]].
20	* ArtificialStupidity: Some demons who use ramming attacks against the PlayerCharacter sometimes charge and then fall into a hole going to the floor below.
21	* BadFuture: {{Inverted}} - ''Origin'' shows Esteria's bad ''past''. The surface below Ys has craggy rocks, lava flows, and noxious gas everywhere, except near the Roda Trees, which are essentially oases of lushness in the ruined land. Contrast how it looks 700 years later [[VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen when Adol arrives]], where the surface has recovered and become a small country called Esteria whose fields are lush and has a port town by the ocean, and some descendants of the Six Priests of Ys live there, with Goban (a Tovah descendant) assisting with Adol's raid on Darm Tower and Luta Gemma assisting with the same thing within the tower. In addition, after Adol visits Ys and finishes his journey there in the second game, [[spoiler:Ys returns to the surface, reuniting Ys with Esteria]].
22	%%* BeardOfEvil: [[spoiler:Cain Fact]]
23	* BigNo: [[spoiler:Toal, when the goddesses go to sleep at the climax]].
24	* BloodKnight: Kishgal qualifies with flying colors as he seems more interested in having a WorthyOpponent than his boss' goals.
25	* CallForward: When it comes to references to ''Ys I & II'', this game ''rides in it''.
26	** The very first section of the tower greets the players with an orchestral rendition of the classic "Tower of the Shadow of Death" as its theme, much like the first part of the Tower of Darm in ''Ys I''.
27	** Rico is first met in a room that can only be accessed when the door is visible by the Mask of Eyes, similar to how Adol used it in ''Ys I''.
28	** A trap still at the starting section of the tower stops the player character from progressing and throws them in a different part of that tower section. Like Adol in ''Ys I'', they need the Blue Pendant to nullify the trap.
29	** The characters communicate with their superiors through the Lila Shell, much like Adol did in ''Ys II''.
30	** Hugo's way of getting around the Devil's Corridor is the same as Adol did in ''Ys I'': [[spoiler:finding a hammer and using it to break one of the pipe pillars so that the demonic sound stops permeating the area.]]
31	** All of the bosses from ''Ys I & II'', with the exception of Petrorex, Tyalmath and Druegar, are bosses in this game, although some of them are pretty much InNameOnly, like Khonsclard.
32	** Yunica goes through a quest to unpetrify [[spoiler:her partners]], not unlike what Adol had to do for the petrified villagers in ''Ys II''.
33	** The Hall of Reflection is an entire area based around two floors added in the Eternal version of ''Ys I'', complete with its own rendition of "Dreaming". Similarly, the player character needs a particular rod to be able to pass between the mirrors.
34	* ChaosArchitecture: Darm Tower is described as having constantly shifting floors by one member of the search party.
35	%%* ChekhovsGun: The [[spoiler:broken sword]]
36	* {{Chessmaster}}: [[spoiler:Cain Fact pretty much manipulated all of the events in the game, down to even his own DealWithTheDevil.]]
37	%%* DatingCatwoman: [[spoiler:Epona and Hugo's]] relationship in a nutshell.
38	* DeadpanSnarker: Hugo tends to be rather snarky when talking to his enemies.
39	%%* DealWithTheDevil: The closest we get is [[spoiler:Hugo accepting demonic essence from Dalles and going mad]].
40	* DiedInYourArmsTonight: Twice in the game - [[spoiler: Roy]] in Yunica's route and [[spoiler:Epona]] in Hugo's route.
41	* DoomedByCanon: [[spoiler:Toal's plan to keep the goddesses from needing to seal the Black Pearl by destroying it himself]] was never going to work. In fact, this applies to all three routes of ''Origin'' as those who have played ''Ys I'' will know the demons aren't defeated permanently until Adol arrives 700 years later.
42	* DualBoss: {{Zigzagged}} - Vagullion is presented as this during Hugo's route, but one of the demons chases after Epona instead. However, the second half of this fight has Vagullion split into two.
43	* AloofBigBrother: Toal to Hugo; [[spoiler:in Toal's route, it becomes obvious that he cares a lot about Hugo beneath that aloofness]].
44	%%* EvilRedhead: Kishgal
45	* EvilSorceror: Much like ''Ys II'', Dalles, Zava and [[spoiler:Cain Fact/Darm]] qualify very well.
46	* FallenHero: Toal once he enters the story and appears to be in league with the Clan of Darkness, but [[spoiler:[[FakeDefector it turns out he's not]]]].
47	* ForegoneVictory: Hugo's second fight with Pictimos, [[ATasteOfPower where he gets a big power boost]]. If you somehow manage to lose, you get an achievement.
48	* GoldenEnding: XSEED Games refers to The Claw's route as the canon GoldenEnding of the game and it's not hard to see why. [[spoiler:Toal's father Cain Fact fuses with the Black Pearl and becomes the demonic Darm, whose body is destroyed and sealed within the Black Pearl by the goddesses, including themselves]]. In addition, the final illustration at the end of game says "To be continued in ''Ys: Ancient Ys Vanished ~ Omen''", the next chronogical game in the franchise and it only appears for this character's route. Finally, the penultimate illustration in The Claw's route [[spoiler:is Toal leaving behind his Silver Sword by the Roda Tree, the very weapon Adol finds in ''Ys I'', thus explaining the origin of the sword and why only it can hurt Dark Fact]]. Ultimately, The Claw is essentially the most important character in the franchise, whose ties to ''Ys I'' (and, by extension, ''Ys II''), wouldn't have gotten Adol anywhere.
49	* GuineaPigFamily: [[spoiler:Cain used his sons as test subjects to see whether they can handle being turned into demons in order to see if he himself can handle demonic energy before fusing with the Black Pearl and becoming Darm]].
50	* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: Averted hard with the main duo. [[SquishyWizard Hugo]] fights at range with magic bolts while [[CuteBruiser Yunica]] gets right into the enemy's face with a battleaxe [[spoiler: and eventually her father's {{BFS}}.]]
51	* HeroicBSOD: Yunica enters one after [[spoiler:failing to prevent Feena from getting captured]].
52	* HeroicSacrifice:
53	** In Yunica's route, [[spoiler:Roy]] pulls this to save her from a trap set up by Zava.
54	** A sizable part of [[spoiler:Toal's route is him and Reah each trying to make one on behalf of the other. Unfortunately for Toal, Reah succeeds by sealing herself with the Black Pearl at the end of the game]].
55	* HopelessBossFight: The mid-level boss fights of the Guilty Fire level for Yunica's and Hugo's routes are intended to be {{Unwinnable}}. You ''can'' beat them if you level up enough, but all you get out of it is an achievement and a slightly different scene after the battle (which has the same net effect on the plot).
56	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler:Happens to Dalles at the end of Toal's route by Cain]].
57	* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Hugo's main issue with his older brother Toal throughout the game. [[spoiler:In Toal's route, it turns out that he was aware of Hugo's talent in magic and turned down the position as heir of the Fact family so Hugo, who is more talented, can inherit it]].
58	* ItemCrafting: ''Origin'' has weapons getting enhanced with Cleria and armor getting blessed with Spiritual Power.
59	* LongSongShortScene: The game features a jazzy remix of the song "Tension", whose original version was played on the upper floors of the Darm Tower in ''Ys I''. As opposed to how the original was used instead of "Tower of the Shadow of Death" as Adol climbed further up the tower (thus giving it plenty of usage), ''Origin'' has its version used for a single boss fight.
60	* MistakenForGranite: Yunica considers Nygtilger to be a rather disgusting sculpture, but at least praises the craftsmanship for making it almost looking alive.
61	%%* NameOfCain: [[spoiler:Needless to say, he is evil]].
62	* OneManArmy: [[spoiler:Toal]]; {{Justified}} when [[spoiler:he, along with Saul Tovah, fought against the entire army of demons in order to buy time for the palace of Ys to float to the sky before ''Origin'' begins]].
63	%%* OneWingedAngel: Dalles [[spoiler:and Cain]]; unlike most examples, the latter remains a demon to his death.
64	%%* QuirkyMinibossSquad: Kishgal and Epona
65	* SegmentedSerpent: Nygtilger - The Pestilent Arthropod, the ruler of the Flooded Prison tier. It consists of a large number of segments that launch either electrical motes or poison spores, and they're damaged by jumping on the creature and hitting the back. The tail and head are the last to be damaged, at which point the Nygtilger will break apart on its death.
66	* SelfRecoverySurprise: Pictimos will consume its flunkies to regain its {{Hit Point}}s. In addition, this boss full recovers exclusively in Hugo's route
67	%%* {{Stripperific}}: Epona's outfit
68	* ShoutOut: One Roo in the game is named "Rootkit", a type of [[ComputerVirus malware]].
69	* SlippySlideyIceWorld: Played with via the Darm Tower's fourth area being a ShiftingSandLand, yet its environmental properties mirror this trope.
70	* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: [[spoiler:The "Cleria Sword", which the GoldenEnding reveals is the Silver Sword from ''Ys I'']], is the only weapon that can defeat the FinalBoss in The Claw's route, given to him automatically right before the fight.
71	* TrueFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Cain as Darm, who only appears when Dalles is defeated via playing as Toal]].
72	* UnknownRival: Rico Gemma is surprised to learn that a Roo also knows how to strengthen weapons with Cleria ore. Hilariously, he declares that he won't lose to them in performing this function, though the Roo most likely has no idea who he is.
73	* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Painfully {{Subverted}} - [[spoiler:Toal's plan to destroy the Black Pearl will mean certain death, while Reah wanting to seal the Black Pearl will cause her and Feena to lose their powers and sleep for untold centuries. Partway through the game, Toal discovers TakingAThirdOption that doesn't require one of them to make a HeroicSacrifice for the sake of the other, but doesn't explains what it is. After the final battle, Reah implements her plan regardless as Toal lies wounded and exhausted from his fight with Darm, begging her not to, leaving the third option forever unspoken and unexecuted]].
74	* WellDoneSonGuy: Hugo is partially motivated by the high expectations that his father Cain set for him. [[spoiler:{{Downplayed}} with Toal, who broke away from the family teachings, but tells Cain that he wishes they can someday reconcile their differences. Unfortunately for the brothers, their father is a self-serving {{Jerkass}} who sees them more as tools than family, meaning they'll never gain his respect]].
75	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: In Yunica's and Hugo's routes, the ultimate fate of some supporting characters is never mentioned, such as [[spoiler:Toal and Epona]] in Yunica's route and [[spoiler:Kishgal]] in Hugo's route.
76	* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Dalles; his hair color is slightly blue, but he has the personality down pat.
77	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity:
78	** [[spoiler:After the demonic essence Dalles gave to Hugo is activated, he literally goes DrunkWithPower]]. The latter's speech also becomes distorted and is indicated in the English translation with unusual capitalization. Fortunately, it goes away after [[spoiler:Epona snaps Hugo out of it]].
79	** {{Subverted}} with The Claw: despite having demonic essence flowing within his body, he manages to hold onto his sanity through HeroicWillPower.

Context VideoGame / YsOrigin