Okay, so Ys III: Wanderers From Ys is that weird middle child of the Ys series—it ditches the top-down view for side-scrolling action, which honestly threw me off at first. You still play as Adol, but now you can actually jump and swing your sword directly instead of just bumping into enemies. Feels more like a hack-and-slash platformer than the usual Ys RPG vibe.

The Genesis version’s got that chunky 16-bit look, and the music slaps (as usual for Ys). Some purists hate the shift in gameplay, but I kinda dig the change of pace—just don’t expect it to play like the first two games. You’ll spend a lot of time hopping over pits and spamming sword swings, which is either a fun twist or a betrayal, depending on who you ask.

It’s short, messy, and divisive, but there’s charm in its jank. Worth a shot if you’re curious about Ys’ experimental phase.