SNES | Brandish | Falcom/Koei | Top-down dungeon crawl, the only entry in the series to be localized |
JP SFC | Brandish 2: The Planet Buster | Falcom | Similar top-down dungeon crawling as the first |
Vita | Brandish: The Dark Revenant (DL only) | Falcom | See PSP |
PSP | Brandish: The Dark Revenant (DL only) | Falcom | 3D remake of the original Brandish with an extra storyline from the villain's perspective, punishing but fair gameplay |
Turbografx-CD | Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes | Falcom | Detailed game for the time, bridges the gap between the Dragon Slayer and LoH series |
JP PSP | Eiyuu Densetsu: Ao no Kiseki | Falcom | Second half of the "Crossbell arc," leads into Trails of Cold Steel II, turn-based combat like other Trails games |
3DS | Gurumin 3D: A Monstrous Adventure (DL only) | Falcom | Almost identical to the original, save for the application of 3D effects and some technical issues like pop-in |
PSP | Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure | Falcom | A cutesy ARPG, fun hats confer stat upgrades and can be leveled in and of themselves |
NES | Legacy of the Wizard | Falcom | An early example of a metroidvania with a family element; different family members have different exploration skills |
DS | Legacy of Ys: Books I & II | Dreams/Falcom | Combined enhanced remake of Ys I and II with 3D and potential multiplayer |
JP PSP | Nayuta no Kiseki | Falcom | ARPG with platforming elements |
PSP | The Legend of Heroes: A Tear of Vermillion | Microvision/Falcom | Second game in the Gagharv trilogy, despite western release order; run-of-the-mill turn-based gameplay and an arbitrary pet system |
JP Vita | The Legend of Heroes: Sora no Kiseki the 3rd - Evolution | Falcom | Final game in the Liberl arc albeit with a different protagonist; plays like the previous games; Evolution version adds new artwork/scenarios |
PS4 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero | Falcom | A port of a port of the first game in the Crossbell Arc of the series, long thought to forever remain unlocalized (until now) |
Switch | The Legend of Heroes: Trails From Zero | Falcom | See PS4 |
PSP | The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky | Falcom | The 6th Legend of Heroes game/first Trails game, starts an interweaving storyline, combat is turn-based but offers lots of attack options, NPCs react to the story dynamically |
Vita | The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (DL only) | Falcom | See PSP |
Vita | The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC (DL only) | Falcom | See PSP |
PSP | The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC (DL only) | Falcom | Immediate sequel to the first game, plot-heavy with compelling characters, gameplay similar to the first but adds combination attacks |
PS4 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel | Falcom | Tons of QoL changes; includes all DLC, more English dialogue, JP audio, and a turbo mode |
Vita | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel | Falcom | See PS3 |
PS3 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel | Falcom | Beginning of another major arc in the Trails series, adds co-op link attacks to combat, structure is based in a school-type environment |
PS4 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II | Falcom | Tons of QoL changes; includes all DLC, more English dialogue, JP audio, and a turbo mode |
Vita | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II | Falcom | See PS3 |
PS3 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II | Falcom | Takes place soon after the first game - basically required playing if you liked the first one |
PS4 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III | Falcom | Ties together plot threads from the Sky trilogy and Crossbell duology as well as continuing the Cold Steel plot; naturally a long game, combat mostly unchanged from I and II |
Switch | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III | Falcom | See PS4 |
Switch | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV | Falcom | See PS4 |
PS4 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV | Falcom | Absolutely requires playing all other Trails games prior to this one; has a very large (and arguably unwieldy) cast of characters, plays like its predecessor |
PSP | The Legend of Heroes II: Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch | Microvision/Falcom | First game in the Gagharv trilogy, despite western release order; gameplay is still very traditional, arguably bland, continues the pet system from the previous game |
PSP | The Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean | Microvision/Falcom | Last in the Gagharv trilogy, but chronologically between the other two; still linear but allows for importing of data from the previous two games |
Vita | Tokyo Xanadu | Falcom | ARPG with a modern setting; rock-paper-scissors-like enemy weaknesses require quick party member swapping, linear dungeons |
PS4 | Tokyo Xanadu eX+ | Falcom | Contains new post-game content and side stories |
NES | Tombs and Treasure | Falcom | 1st-person dungeon crawl with some point-and-click elements |
N-Gage | Xanadu Next | Falcom/ScriptArts | Isometric ARPG gameplay with a clunky class-switching system of sorts and a different story than the PC version |
JP FC | Ys | Falcom | Adol bumps into the enemies to slay them |
Vita | Ys: Memories of Celceta | Falcom | Considered by Falcom to the the real Ys IV; still an ARPG, has party members with a variety of attack types, parrying can reduce damage taken and enable counterattacks |
PS4 | Ys: Memories of Celceta | Falcom | Adds a Japanese voice option, otherwise see Vita |
PSP | Ys: The Ark of Napishtim | Falcom | Closer to the original PC Japanese version than the PS2 version was; also adds some extra quests; very long and frequent loading |
PS2 | Ys: The Ark of Napishtim | Falcom | Technically Ys VI; Adol can jump now, so that's cool |
PSP | Ys: The Oath in Felghana | Falcom | Remastered version of Ys III, taking gameplay elements from Ys VI and expanding the storyline with extra scenes |
Vita | Ys: The Oath in Felghana (DL only) | Falcom | See PSP |
Master System | Ys: The Vanished Omens | Falcom/Sega | Some dungeon areas are horizontally flipped, but is otherwise generally similar to the original release |
Turbografx-CD | Ys Book I & II | Falcom | Another way to experience the glory of Adol? Ys, please! |
PSP | Ys I & II Chronicles | Falcom | Mostly the same as previous versions, but with a new soundtrack option as well as newly done character portraits |
Vita | Ys I & II Chronicles (DL only) | Falcom | See PSP |
JP FC | Ys II | Falcom | Adds magic to Adol's repertoire |
Genesis | Ys III | Telenet/Falcom | Plays like the other releases, but with arguably better music and game balance |
SNES | Ys III: Wanderers From Ys | Falcom/Advance Communication | Similar to the FC version, but with cleaner graphics and arguably worse hit detection |
JP FC | Ys III: Wanderers From Ys | Falcom | Changes the battles to be side-scrolling rather than top-down and allows Adol to swing his sword/jump |
Turbografx-CD | Ys III: Wanderers From Ys | Falcom/Alfa System | It's sidescrolling Ys- that's all there is to it |
PS4 | Ys IX: Monstrum Nox | Falcom | Carries over a lot of gameplay elements from Ys VIII; Adol's most story/character-heavy tale yet; features new movement mechanics for world traversal |
Switch | Ys IX: Monstrum Nox | Falcom | See PS4 |
Vita | Ys Origin | Falcom | An Ys without Adol as the protagonist! Has 3 different protagonists and takes place as a strictly interior dungeon crawl, goes back to hack-and-slash spirtes |
PS4 | Ys Origin | Falcom | See Vita |
Switch | Ys Origin | Falcom | See Vita |
Xbox One | Ys Origin (DL only) | Falcom | See Vita |
PSP | Ys Seven | Falcom | Adds party members to the regular Ys formula, in addition to making weapon types (slashing, blunt) determine an enemy's susceptibility to them |
Vita | Ys Seven (DL only) | Falcom | See PSP |
JP SFC | Ys V: Ushinawareta Suna no Miyako Kefin | Falcom | Only game in the series to have never been localized (hopefully this will change?) |
Switch | Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana | Falcom | See PS4 |
Vita | Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana | Falcom | Adol in ARPG action again, with a settlement-building mechanic and up to 3 party members in combat |
PS4 | Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana | Falcom | Has more dungeons and forms for Dana than the Vita version, at the expense of some costumes |
PS5 | Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana | Falcom | See Vita, with some slightly enhanced visuals |
JP PSP | Ys vs. Sora no Kiseki: Alternative Saga | Falcom | A 3D arena fighting game- very Power Stone-like, where characters from Ys and Trails collide (and level while doing so) |