''Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga'' is a 2010

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...

Nihon Falcom is a Japanese video game developer, best known for their '' Ys'', '' The Legend of Heroes'', and ''Trails'' series. The company was founded in March 1981, making them one of the oldest active video game companies. They are credited with pioneer ...

. Similar to the concept of ''

Super Smash Bros. ''Super Smash Bros.'' is a Crossover (fiction), crossover fighting game series published by Nintendo. The series was created by Masahiro Sakurai, who has directed every game in the series. The series is known for its unique gameplay objectiv ...

'' and ''

Dissidia Final Fantasy is a fighting game with action RPG elements developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable as part of the campaign for the ''Final Fantasy'' series' 20th anniversary. It was released in Japan on December 18, 2008, in Nor ...

'', the game involves players choosing a character and participating in up to four-player fights against other characters sourced from Falcom's '' Ys'' and ''

Trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. The ...

'' role-playing game series. It was released only in Japan for the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

on July 29.

Gameplay

''Ys vs. Trails in the Sky'' plays as a

, similar in concept the ''

'', ''

'', and ''

Tales of VS (pronounced as ''"Tales of Versus"'') is a crossover fighting game featuring various characters across the ''Tales'' video game series. It was developed by Matrix Software and published by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation Portable on Au ...

'', in which the player chooses characters taken from a series and directs them in a fight against characters from other franchises. It takes its roster from two of

's series, '' Ys'' and ''

'', and is played from a

top-down perspective A variety of computer graphic techniques have been used to display video game content throughout the history of video games. The predominance of individual techniques have evolved over time, primarily due to hardware advances and restrictions ...

. The game contains a story mode, where a player goes through a series of battles while experiencing story sequences in between. Five separate difficulty settings are available. Additionally, local multiplayer of up to four players is also available via an ad hoc connection. Battles may be played both competitively and cooperatively.

Characters

The game's roster of playable characters consists of characters from the ''Ys'' and ''Trails'' series. From ''Ys'', there is Adol Christin, Dogi, Elk, Mishera, Aisha, Geis, Cruxie, and Chester Stoddart. From ''Trails'', there is Estelle Bright, Joshua Astray, Tita Russell, Agate Crosner, Olivier Lenheim, Kloe Rinz, Renne, Leonhardt, and Lloyd Bannings. The game also employs a support character system, which entails choosing a computer-controlled character who temporarily assists the character. Some of these characters come from other Falcom games, such as Jurio and Chris from '' The Legend of Heroes II: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch'', Dela from ''

Brandish Brandish may refer to: * ''Brandish'' (series), a four-game action role-playing video game series ** ''Brandish'' (video game), a 1991 action role-playing video game and the first video game in the ''Brandish'' series * Brandish Corner, a point ...

'', and Gurumins from ''

Gurumin ''Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure'' is a 2004 action role-playing game developed by Nihon Falcom. It was originally released in Japan in December 2004 for Windows. A PlayStation Portable version was later released in Japan in June 2006, then in 20 ...

''.

Development

''Ys vs. Trails in the Sky'' was first announced in an issue of ''

Dengeki PlayStation is a Japanese video gaming publication by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). It primarily features information pertaining to the PlayStation brand. Dengeki was originally founded as a magazine in 1994 and ran until 2020, when it ceased p ...

'' in November 2009. The game was created due to

's desire to make use of the

's wireless ad hoc local multiplayer function, something they had not been able to work into prior JRPG titles. They also felt that both series, ''Trails'' and ''Ys'', while

JRPG While the early history and distinctive traits of role-playing video games (RPGs) in East Asia come Video games in Japan, from Japan, many have also been Video games in South Korea, developed in South Korea and Video games in China, in China. ...

s, both had many themes in them related to battle and conflict that they felt lent to a natural transition to a fighting game. The game's engine was based on the one first used in '' Ys Seven''. The game contains the full Japanese

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

. Additionally, the game's music was a combination of original compositions and

arrangements In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

of tracks from the ''Ys'' and ''Trails'' games. ''Ys vs. Trails in the Sky'' was released in Japan on July 29, 2010. In addition to the standard version, a special limited edition was also released, which in addition to the game, contained the game's soundtrack, an album of selected music from Falcom's library, a special booklet of game information, and special card for a promotional ''Victory Spark''

trading card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...

. Website ''

Siliconera The GAMURS Group, simply known as Gamurs, is an esports media and entertainment publisher. Established in December 2014, the group operates multiple brands focusing on the esports and entertainment news markets, including the websites: ''Dot Espo ...

'' had speculated that the game would be likely to get an English localization due to

Xseed Games Xseed Games is an American video game company founded by former members of Square Enix USA. It later became a subsidiary of the Japanese game company Marvelous, providing the localization and publishing services for video games and related mat ...

's relationship with Falcom, Falcom's stated intention to focus further on Western markets around 2010, and the fact that the game would be a smaller undertaking to translate than the typical text-heavy JRPG. An English

fan translation Fan translation (or user-generated translation) refers to the unofficial translation of various forms of written or multimedia products made by fans (fan labor), often into a language in which an official translated version is not yet available. ...

patch by the group Geofront was released in October 2021.

Reception and sales

The game debuted eighth on the

Media Create is a Japanese company that gathers and analyzes data from the digital entertainment industry, specifically focusing on the Japanese console gaming market. Business operations include publishing, market research and consulting. It is a popular webs ...

Japanese video game charts, selling 30,047 copies in its opening week, and seventh on the ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' charts. The game was one of many in the release week that ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' cited as being drivers in PSP hardware as well, with the system itself doubling the sales of its prior week. The game sold well enough to warrant a "

The Best Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

" budget re-release in July 2011.

Notes

References

External links

* {{The Legend of Heroes series 2010 video games Fighting games Japan-exclusive video games The Legend of Heroes Trails (series) Ys (series) PlayStation Portable games PlayStation Portable-only games Video games developed in Japan Crossover fighting games Multiplayer and single-player video games Nihon Falcom games