Nihon Falcom, or Falcom for short, is one of those exceedingly influential game companies that has had the bad fortune in recent years of being overlooked in favor of blockbuster titles such as the latest Final Fantasy production. But nearly everyone is familiar with Falcom’s legacy – series such as Dragon Slayer, Ys, and The Legend of Heroes served as the foundation of the RPG genre. Meanwhile, Falcom continues to release quality titles that struggle to reach a wide audience.
But that’s all about to change (I hope)! In order to kick off 2014 with a bang and get folks caught up on the amazing Falcom library of titles, Kimimi of Shinju Forest and I will be playing Falcom games from our backlogs all throughout the month of January, and we’d love for you to join us! It’s easy to participate: just pick up an old Falcom game, play it during the month of January, and write about your experience! You can then join the conversation on Twitter using #Falcomonth or write something for your own blog/website. If you’d like to be included in weekly roundup posts I’ll be doing to promote the event here at Chic Pixel, all you have to do is send me an email (apricotsushi at gmail dot com) linking to your piece or leave the link of the comments of this post!
Want to participate but don’t know where to start? Here are some awesome Falcom games that should be easy to find:
Ys I & II Chronicles+ (Steam, currently 50% off!) – Why not start with the games that kicked off the iconic Ys action RPG series? These titles may seem a little rough around the edges for some, but if you really want to check out Falcom’s roots, this is the place to do it!
Ys Origin and Ys: The Oath in Felghana (Steam, both currently 50% off!) – Two more quality Ys titles that can be found for a steal on Steam! Ys: The Oath in Felghana is a beloved title in the series that is often recommended to newcomers. If you want to get the feel of the games, Ys Origin even has a demo!
Ys: Memories of Celceta (PS Vita) – As the latest Falcom game to release in English, Ys: Memories of Celceta would be a great pick for anyone looking to fill out their PS Vita library.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (PSP, available for PS Vita on PSN) – Also known as TitS, to the countless amusement of many, this is one of the Falcom games I’ve been recommended to play most.
Now, there are tons more where this came from, and I can’t hope to list them all, but here are a few more titles you may want to check out/see if you have in your collection: Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure, Sorcerian (if you want to pay a premium to play a retro Falcom game in Japanese on your iOS device…), and Ys Seven.
As for me, I’m planning on finishing up Ys: Memories of Celceta and cracking into my personal Falcom backlog, which consists of Ys: The Oath in Felghana, Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure, and The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, along with a couple of recently-acquired Japanese Legend of Heroes titles. I dare say I’ll have plenty to play!
Ooo I would love to participate in this. One of my new years goals is to try and clear my backlog lol. How is Ys: Memories of Celceta? I am going to be starting it soon. I believe I have played most of the Falom games in the US. I loved Gurumin! How about you?
I have Ys I & II Chronicles on PSP and might play that! After beating Ys: Memories of Celceta last month I’m really excited to try and play other games in the series. It’s honestly very rare for me to EVER beat RPG-style anything, so yeah, Ys has quickly become something of a special series to me. 😛
The only issue is figuring out if I’ll have time for it since I’m taking a pretty rigorous one month course this January. We’ll see! This is a very cool idea overall and hope to see more of these “game alongs” in the future!
Hi Jade! I’m really enjoying Ys: Memories of Celceta so far! I’ve only played Ys I & II though, so I don’t have any more modern Ys titles to compare it to. It’s a lot of fun on the Vita, though!
As for Gurumin, I haven’t even started playing it yet! It’s been in my backlog for a while >_< I’ll let you know what I think this month!
That would be lovely! It’s definitely high on my list for this month
Glad to hear you liked Celceta, Marcus! I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve played of the Ys series so far myself.
What’s this course you’ll be taking? That definitely sounds more important than playing a few Falcom games 😉 Glad you like the idea, though – I’m definitely hoping to do more in the future
Purely turn-based RPGs aren’t really my forte, I suppose, which is definitely part of the reason Celceta was so appealing. I know the first two games have a “bump” mechanic for fighting so hopefully that ends up being enjoyable too.
Oh, it’s a microeconomics class. I’m cautious about it since I know nothing about the subject matter and that it’s going to be a condensed course. But if things don’t end up being rough then that’ll leave some free time for Falcom :P.
PS: Even though I already own Chronicle, the Chronicle+ sale on Steam reaaaally tempted me. Oh, by the way, have you played Origin? I’ve got that one on Steam and dunno if it would be worth trying over I & II or not.
I would highly recommend holding off on Origin until playing I&II (and at least looking up the story of Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim). You can get some of the references playing the other way around, but I’m sure other more subtle ones will be missed.
That’s actually a really good order for the Ys games, story-wise. Ys IV/Celceta actually takes place between Ys II and Ys III/Felghana and sets up a lot of backstory for the other games in the series, including Ys VI and Ys Origin. I hope you have the chance to enjoy all the tie-ins 🙂
Ah, sounds good! Really looking forward to catching up on the Ys series 🙂
Hmmm, maybe I’ll finally pick up a copy of Gurumin and give it a go along with you two 🙂