Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim (2024)

"Far west from our continent... so it is the end of ocean.
People say that the area called 'Great Vortex of Canaan' exists there...
Why does the vortex exist there? What does exist beyond the vortex?
If you are an adventurer, it would awaken your interest..."

~ Excerpt from
"Searching for the Winged Ones"

Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim (イースVI -ナピシュテムの匣- Īsu 6: Napishutemu no Hako^?) is a Japanese action RPG developed and published by Falcom, and the sixth installment in the Ys series. It was first released in 2003 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers. Not counting the Eternal/Complete remakes of Ys I & II, it was the first new Ys game released by Falcom in eight years.

Ys was ported to the PlayStation 2 in 2005 and to the PlayStation Portable in 2006 by Konami for worldwide release. It was notable for being the first English release of the series since Ys III: Wanderers from Ys. In 2015, a new English translation for Windows version was announced for release on April 28th via Steam, the Humble Store and GOG.com.

Plot[]

The story begins after Adol's ship is attacked by a fleet of Romun ships. Forced to sail into an unknown area, they encounter a large storm. Adol is swept off the vessel while trying to rescue a fellow sailor and washed ashore by the vortex that surrounds the Canaan Islands. He is found, unconscious, by the nieces of the chieftain of the nearby Rehda village, Olha and Isha, who are the daughters of his brother who died when battling with fellow Redha against the Wandering Calamity. The girls take him to their village and lay him to rest in their Uncle Ord's house. Adol hears them talking about him and wakes up briefly, afterwards going back to sleep because of his exhaustion. His adventure then begins.

Releases[]

PC (Japanese)[]

The initial release of the game was the "Limited Edition". After this sold out, Falcom released a standard edition of the game with some new features. Two new difficulties and a Time Attack mini-game where you fight through all the game's bosses were added. However, there was never a patch or upgrade released to initial buyers, so players wanting these new features had to buy the game again. Years later, Falcom released the "PC Vista version", which is the same as the Standard Edition with support for Windows Vista.

PlayStation 2[]

Konami made several additions and changes when porting the game to the PlayStation 2. The most notable were the inclusion of both English and Japanese voice acting to all characters (including NPCs) and several new optional areas referred to as "Alma's Trials." While the Japanese voice acting could be selected in the NTSC-U version, the PAL version had all Japanese voice acting removed. Konami also added new FMV sequences, though the original animated sequences could still be selected through a code. Blood and gore effects were removed due to console games requiring a rating. Lastly, they changed the character and monster graphics from pre-rendered 3D sprites to fully polygonal 3D models. While this allowed for much better animation, it also changed Adol's appearance based on his equipment. It also added cheat codes and these are exclusive to the PS2 version.

Konami originally wanted to replace the game's soundtrack with a new orchestral score, but reconsidered after a fan backlash. The new music was used only in Alma's Trials.^[4]

PlayStation Portable[]

The PlayStation Portable port does not include any of the changes of the PS2 port except for the removal of blood and gore effects. However, the European and North American versions came with a new set of bonuses including some extra fetch-quests that unlock a few mini-games and an image/media gallery. These were later included in a "Special Edition" re-release in Japan. However, the game is noted for having particularly long and frequent load times. Voice-acting was never included in this version.

PC (Steam/GOG)[]

In 2015, XSEED games ported the original Japanese PC version of the game to Steam and GOG in English. Therefore, Konami's additions, such as voice acting, 3D models and Alma's Trials, are not included. However, the resolution was improved for HD support. They also changed the functionality of the Wing of Alma to let you warp to previously visited areas at any point in time, with a few exceptions.

Gallery[]

Packaging[]

Key Art[]

Trivia[]

• This is the first game to use the "Three weapons" fighting style.

References[]