It's more of Y's 8 but not quite hit the highs of 8

Good:
+ Combat is fluid with a good mix of skills
+ Puzzle solving and collectible gathering using abilities
+ Solid character design, models, and costumes
+ Overall world design and the Gothic setting


Bad:
- Titular girl isn't playable (gun play would have been fun)
- Playing as the prisoner isn't that fun (personal preference)

Rating:
4/5 Dial soap bars

It's a Ys game, I feel the only people who play these games are the people who played Ys games before so you likely know to expect.

It's a good game, but I will say this is a huge step back from Ys XIII on many many levels, honestly up till now I felt that the Ys games just kept getting better with each new sequel but this one I didn't feel that at all.

There really wasn't a single thing I hated about XIII but IX took me a while to even appreciate, the game starts off really slow and doesn't get good until the very late chapters. The town you spend most of the time in is pretty bland and it feels like they forced to put a lot of the mechanics from XIII in and it's done poorly, like the raids which are just a annoyance here.

finally finished the game after more than 30hrs on hard diff
is this a good action jrpg? absolutely
is this a good YS? hell no, theres alot of YS element that missing on this title
no underwater stage
no dark/blackout stage
no undead enemy
there is a swamp stage but its kinda too far on late game and its just an optional

they tried to copy defense thing like YS8 but failed miserably
the story itself is kinda too edgy for oldman like me but its getting better afterwards
the battle is fun
character's design is OK
the BGM is banger as always
but ofc its adol, there will be another girl that got heart broken by him
i rated it 6/10 hope YS10 is better than this

Ys 9 follows up from it's previous fantastic entry, Ys 8 and delivers on numerous aspects. If I had to compare both titles, I'd put them both on an equal plane. Both titles excel on different factors that the other title could have improved on.

While Ys 9 had more engaging and satisfying combat and traversal, I think Ys 8 had better locales and general location design. Ys 9 has a few pacing hiccups while Ys 8 suffers from a much slower and a less captivating beginning while still having pacing problems later on within the game. Ys 9 has an interesting mystery behind its story that does succeed in providing a captivating story, but I'd say Ys 8's story was more fulfilling and provides a long-lasting effect for anyone experiencing the story. Ys 9 definitely has a better cast of characters throughout the story, while Ys 8 has a very special and enduring story of Dana and its characters involved.

Both titles have their pros and cons and I wouldn't place one over the other. If I had to make a recommendation, play 8 before 9 for a few extra story cues. Both are excellent titles to enjoy.