Ys: The Art Book

The Ys series has been a personal favorite for years due to its wonderful art, fun gameplay and downright fantastic music and this book perfectly captures the spirit of the series' artwork as a whole with detailed images and information from the latest installments going all the way back to the beginning. I about died of happiness upon noticing the inside cover contains a poster version of the front of the cover itself, only even more-detailed and the background characters fully colored. This is one of the best art books I have ever purchased. It is thick, full of content, and pays homage to a wonderful series that deserves more recognition on the west for its contributions to gaming.

I agree with the other reviews, so I'll just add on criticism/other details (with love of course :P ). First, the compilers added some equipment designs (weapons, shields, etc). and some monster designs (though would've been great to get more on those lol). Second, since this is the translated version and many labels that were vertical were turned horizontal to be easier to read, there might've been a mistake or 2....more specifically about 5 characters were mislabeled in a total of 3 labels (wrong names on 1 group page, portrait label switched with chibi label). Finally, some pictures that could've been in here (ex: ys ark of napishtim ending group pics...look it up on youtube if you wish) didn't make it. I believe that is it. Otherwise loved the art they compiled. Awesome book XD

If you want to enjoy high quality art, even if you don't follow the Ys series, this is a good buy. I'm very, very glad I got this.

Filled with tons of art from Every YS game except ys iv. Because who knows? but it does have the 2012 Ys IV remake. Just amazing how much is in this book. If you love Ys, this is an amazing collectable. Buy it, sit back and follow along as you watch 25 years of art evolve before your eyes.

Great set of art from a fabulous series. Every page seems to leap out at you. Must have for any RPG fan seeking a trip down memory lane. Sadly the binding seems easy to crease, causing my OCD to force the book into an awkward grip.

Love being able to see Ys franchise evolve art wise. There are various types of styles in this art book which allows me to use as reference when drawing my own characters, as well as draw inspiration from the costume/armor designs.

I have had my eye on this book for a while now and decided to get one with a gift card I got as a birthday gift. I've played many of the Ys games throughout the years and have enjoyed them all. I remember my mom bringing me home one day a used copy of the Ys III: Wanderers from Ys game for the Super Nintendo back in the mid 90's or so. Back then I had no idea what this was and no clue there were other titles out there. We were mainly a Nintendo family back then. Wow, that game was tough and it pretty much just sat there. Glad I was able to play the redone version on the PC a few ago. Falcom has made some really great games. The Good: The art in this book is done very well. You can tell how it has changed over the years and it all looks great. It's fun to look over the images of the games I've played in the past and definitely makes me want to do it again. The Bad: I'm not happy with the order of the book. I wish they started with oldest to newest. I don't care about the timeline of the games which by the way I hate when writers go back to a time before their first game or movie but I won't stress over it much. 2 more criticisms I have. Where the heck is the 4th game? I would really like an explanation and I wish there was more explanation about each game, just something written by the artists and the creators of the games in the back of the book would have been nice. Conclusion: Despite my criticisms I am still very happy with the book. It is definitely a must buy for the fans or really anyone. Good way to get someone who never played a game. I wish there were more materials out there but I will take what I can get. I even bought the The Ark of Napishtim guide by Bradygames a year ago just because it's an awesome game. It even had some art work in the back.

Great art book! TONS of full page, high quality art from the various Ys games. Thick book. Wish it was hardcover but then it'd probably be much more expensive. Pages seem to be bound well.