Over the next few years the Ys series would be a constant background item for me. I'd check the Falcom page and see the new titles being developed, download the wallpapers, and generally pine for them to be translated. I took the time to hack the free Ys screensavers and post them on my new web page. And of course, I still listened to the soundtracks regularly.

In 2004 there was a surprise Christmas present for Ys fans – an English translation of Ys IV for the TurboGrafx-16 CD. It didn't take long for a patched copy to appear on usenet (did I mention I would happily pay for all of the Ys games/soundtracks if they were officially released in the US?) I played through it immediately. It was simultaneously a happy and sad experience. Ys IV is an amazing game, debatably better than Ys Book I&II, so finally being able to play it was wonderful. However, seeing the lost potential was disappointing. I'm not saying this would have turned the fortunes of the TurboGrafx-16 CD, but it could have been a bright spot in its library, a true must-have game. The Sega CD faired only slightly better than the TurboGrafx-16 CD, but if Ys I-IV were ported to it the series may have survived in the US. After all, the Lunar series began its life on that doomed platform.

In the last three years I've added a couple ounces of Ys content to this site. There's this directory of Ys sites that gets updated once in a while and a some props in a Virtual Console article. Even created a nifty wallpaper for Desktopgaming.com. I still pay a weekly visit over to Falcom.com to see if there's any news I can't read. My iPod seems to always have at least one of the many Ys soundtracks on it at any given time. Seventeen years have passed since being introduced to Ys yet I haven't grown tired of it, the list of games with that effect is short.



Last week I was in GameStop and saw Ys: The Ark of Napishtim (PS2) for $14.99 and immediately grabbed it. I didn't own a PS2 when it came out and somehow I forgot about it when I finally bought the console (I'm a very late adopter of the PS2). I even recall being excited when I read it would be the first Ys game in over a decade to be Americanized. Years of Ys games not being released in the US must have somehow conditioned me to forget about this game. I'm thrilled the Ys series has once again returned to the western hemisphere. I can only hope Ys: The Oath in Felghana makes its way over too. Virtual Console releases would be more than welcome, giving millions a chance to discover this niche series.

Happy 20th birthday Ys, thanks for the good times.