mqstout: What's the best Ys game to try for someone who never played one to know what the franchise is like?
First, I should point out that calling these games "RPGs" is misleading; they're action games with some RPG elements. (Note, however, that I haven't played that many of them; I've only played 1-3 and the Naphistim engine games.)
As for my thoughts on them:
Ys 1: The original game, with the bump combat. This was likely one of Falcom's earliest games, and it shows in a few ways, like how you reach the level cap halfway through; how, at that point, there is a poorly designed boss that will drive you batty; and how, after that, there's a point of no return, after which money is useless (no more stores). Plus, the way to deal damage to the final boss is not obvious.
Ys 2: A continuation of Ys 1. You should play 1 before 2, if you're going to play these games. It differs from 1 in that you get magic spells, including a fireball spell that will likely dominate combat for most of the rest of the game. One complaint: At the end of the game, you *have* to gain a few extra levels, as otherwise it's impossible to damage the last couple of bosses.
Ys 3 (not on GOG): This game is very different from the rest of the series; it's a sidescroller. There's not that much platforming to do, though there is a little. There's no overworld; instead, you select locations from a menu. Being the "black sheep" of the series, this particular entry is often criticized, but I happen to like this game. (Worth noting that this game, and in particular the SNES version, was the first game in the series I played.)
Ys 6: First of the Naphistim engine games. It;s now 3D, and you can jump. There's a little platforming here, thanks to the ability to jump, but it doesn't dominate the gameplay. (Worth noting that there's a dash-jump technique that can be tricky to perform.) You get some powerful offensive magic by upgrading your swords, but you can't use them that often, as you need to use a lot of basic attacks to recharge your magic. Note that, on Nightmare mode, you may occasionally encounter some unexpectedly strong monster that could kill you quickly. One other thing: You can't pause or open your inventory during boss fights. (You can in 3 and some versions of 1 and 2.) Note that this game, as well as the other Naphistim games, is very level sensitive; one level may be enough to make a boss go from unreasonably difficult to quite easy.
Oath in Felghana: This game is billed as a remake of 3, but it changed so much that I consider it to be an entirely different game. The gameplay is similar to 6, except that spells can be used much more frequently (but aren't as powerful), you get some new abilities metroidvania-style, and there's a lot of platforming, significantly more than any other Ys game I'm familiar with. In fact, there's so much platforming that, on Easy and Very Easy, the developers included a no-fall mode, so that when you fall you just restart the room, and on Very Easy, the ability to save and restore your position in some of the easier platforming sections. Oh, and there's now an actual overworld.
Ys Origin: Sort of a side game, this game takes place before the others, and notably Adol (the protagonist of the rest of the series) isn't playable in the main game. Instead, you play as one of 3 characters, one who plays a lot like OaF Adol, and the other 2 who have different playstyles. Also worth noting that the game takes place *entirely* in a tower, albeit with different tiers with different biomes. (There's even a water level in there.) No towns, but there's a currency you can use to upgrade your weapons. The game makes a lot of references to the first 2 games, including some musical references, and even some recurring bosses, albeit changed significantly. (Don't worry about that one boss I mentioned in the Ys 1 section; it's been redesigned and is actually fair this time.)
