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Ys II is the second installment in Nihon Falcom’s long-running series of action RPGs. The original Ys was planned to be much longer but due to limited time and space the game was split in half with Ys II finishing the story that was initially intended. Advertisements boasted how the game's data was four times as large as the previous game and contained new mechanics such as series protagonist Adol Christian now being able to use magic. The title was initially released on April 22, 1988 for the NEC PC-88 before being ported to a number of other computer platforms. A Famicom port was also released in 1990 by Victor Interactive and the title was remade several times over the years, often included with Ys I in compilations.
Trivia
- Ys II introduced the character of Lilia who would go on to be one of Nihon Falcom's most popular characters. However, the idea for Lilia did not originate from Ys II's scenario writer, Tomoyoshi Miyazaki, but instead came from the game's map designer, Seigo Oketani. Oketani was a fan of pale sickly heroines so he passionately pitched the idea of introducing a new female character to Miyazaki. Once she was added to the game her design was created by the sequel's lead graphic artist Tomoo Yamane who also created the game's animated opening which featured the now iconic shot of Lilia turning towards the camera as Adol lands on Ys [1].
References
- Who Created Lilia? by Hiromasa Iwasaki (Colorful Pieces of Game, 2015).
