What a difference a few decades make. It was really strange to return to the Ys franchise after last playing one of its titles back in the 16-bit era. Needless to say, this very modern take is functionally a completely different animal, featuring some pretty gorgeous graphics supported by the horsepower of the Switch 2, and active combat that’s satisfying. However, for people who aren’t like me and may have played the initial version of the game on the Switch, it would be harder to say whether some improvements and added content would be worth a double dip.

You’ll be playing the game as the lively adventurer named Adol, who pretty early on ends up bound with a warrior princess named Karja. This somewhat reluctant duo does tend to keep the character interactions and dialogue a little different from the norm, though they do at least grow on one another, but the main benefit to this pairing is that they make the combat quite a bit of fun. With a little practice you’ll likely get the flow of things down, understanding when to block, when to dodge, and then when to simply go in slashing. The fact that you can then work together to unleash even more furious attack power adds a nice minor strategic component and some visual flair as well.

The combat is then complimented nicely by a sense of exploration, which is helped along by the satisfying ability to hit the high seas. If you’re a fan of exhaustively discovering everything that can be found, there are plenty of nooks and crannies all over the map to indulge yourself with, but if you’d prefer to just stay laser-focused on the main campaign that’s also a path you can choose to take as well. Aside from generally looking great, outside of some pop-in and an occasional odd texture, what’s really wonderful is how fluidly the game plays overall, especially if you opt for performance mode. The small sacrifices in quality make the game feel outright buttery, and leaving the whole experience low on caveats or qualifiers in saying it’s a lot of fun to enjoy on the Switch 2.