Just finished up Book I of Ys: Book I&II. Book II will have to wait until later when work settles down.
My only prior experience with the Ys series was playing Ys III on the SNES as a kid, so the over the top world view instead of side scrolling was a bit of an adjustment. I didn't even know about Book I & II, so I was always curious why there was suddenly a game III that was out when I had never heard of the first two.
All I can say is... WOW... what a great game!
Admittedly, I was skeptical at first about the "bump into your enemies instead of swinging a sword" gameplay but I found I adjusted to it fairly quickly. It also made grinding and leveling up seem easier. There were some cryptic moments to the game that left me puzzled (the mirror section mainly) but overall, I was really, really, impressed by the game (and I'm not even technically done with it yet, Book II awaits!).
It is another example of where I wish I could go back in time and visit "8-year old me" - show myself this game and say "The TurboGrax exists and you are SO missing out by not having one!!".