This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2018) |
Ys IV: Mask of the Sun[1] is a 1993 action role-playing game developed by Tonkin House for the Super Famicom.[2] It is the fourth game in the Ys video game series.
| Ys IV: Mask of the Sun | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Tonkin House Arc System Works (PS2) |
| Publisher(s) | Tonkin House Taito (PS2) |
| Composer(s) | Yoshiaki Kubodera Masanori Hikichi Miyoko Takaoka Naoyuki Ito Tomohiro Endo Hiroo Tengenji |
| Series | Ys |
| Platform(s) | Super Famicom, PlayStation 2, Mobile |
| Release | Super Famicom
|
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Mask of the Sun was one of two games released under the title of Ys IV, the other being Hudson Soft's Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys for the PC Engine CD-ROM. The two games share the same basic story, but many changes were made in the Hudson-produced Dawn of Ys. Of the two, Mask of the Sun was the official Ys IV storyline before the release of Ys: Memories of Celceta.
Plot
editYs IV takes place between the events of Ys II and Ys III: Wanderers from Ys.
After returning to the town of Minea, Adol comes across a message in a bottle. The message is from the far-off land of Celceta, asking for help. Adol decides to take the offer and boards a ship to the land of Celceta.
In this version of Ys IV, Adol's departure occurs immediately at the start of the game; there are no initial events occurring in the actual town of Minea, as there were in The Dawn of Ys.
Gameplay
editYs IV returns to the style of play used in Ys I and II. Adol is viewed from a top-down perspective, and he attacks enemies by running into them to cause damage. Adol gains experience from defeating enemies, and gaining experience serves to raise his strength, as in the previous games. A new Magic system is introduced as well, in which Adol can equip elemental swords to cast various types of attack spells.
Music
editThe original Ys IV music was composed by Falcom's Sound Team JDK, and was arranged for the Super Famicom by the Cube Corporation sound team. Mask of the Sun generally draws from the same source music as The Dawn of Ys, though much of it is used differently between the two games. In addition, there are a number of new compositions which are used exclusively in Mask of the Sun.
The PlayStation 2 remake of Mask of the Sun only used the original Ys IV music, with none of the tracks composed for the Super Famicom version being present. This version's usage of the music also differs from the original Mask of the Sun and The Dawn of Ys in many places.
Development
editYs series creators Nihon Falcom licensed its development to Tonkin House.
Originally a version of Mask of the Sun was also planned by Sega for Mega Drive and later Mega-CD under the Sega-Falcom joint development agreement, but this version was ultimately canceled.[citation needed]
In 2005, Taito developed a remake of Mask of the Sun for the PlayStation 2, titled Ys IV: Mask of the Sun - A New Theory.[3]
Reception
editJapanese gaming magazine Famitsu gave the PS2 version of the game a 25 out of 40 score.[3]
Legacy
editA novel prequel was written by Waku Ōba and two different manga versions were done by Hitoshi Okuda and Nozomu Tamaki.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ イースIV - Mask of the Sun -, Īsu Fō
- ^ "イースIV MASK of the Sun [スーパーファミコン] / ファミ通.com". www.famitsu.com. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
- ^ a b "イースIV Mask of the Sun -a new theory- [PS2] / ファミ通.com". www.famitsu.com. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
- ^ "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: イースIV Mask of the Sun (スーパーファミコン)". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 258. ASCII Corporation. November 26, 1993. p. 37.