I could spend an entire article (or three) going over the intricacies of the Ys backstory. The series has a long history, though most of it has remained a mystery to players in the United States, until now. XSEED is bringing over not one, but three (well, more like four) Ys titles: Ys Seven, Ys: The Oath in Felghana and Ys I & II Chronicles.

The magic of Ys games is they are accessible, at least when it comes to story. They share story elements, but you can jump into Ys Seven and know exactly what is going on. Games usually begin with protagonist Adol showing up in some new land and discovering some evil that must be defeated. This usually translates to lots of dungeon crawling, visiting villages and sometimes building a team of allies.

Ys Seven brings a number of improvements to the series. One of the more helpful, and portable-friendly, options is a “save anywhere” feature. There are still save points scattered throughout the world, though these function more like “retry” points rather than true save points. If you have to take a break, you can easily save simply by visiting the Save menu. For a game with a 30+ hour story campaign, the option should really help.

The game also introduces an evolving skill system. All characters have a set of basic attacks, but can also learn skills based on which weapons they are using. Characters automatically take on any skills associated with their currently equipped weapon. Once they’ve used those skills enough in combat, they will permanently learn the skill. As they continue to use the skill, it will continue to evolve into new, more powerful forms.

In addition to any skills learned from weapons, each character has a special power attack. As characters attack, a small gauge will begin to fill. Once they’ve stored enough power, they can unleash the attack.

While Ys Seven is the latest game in the series, fans may also want to catch up on Adol’s previous adventures. XSEED has you covered there as well. Ys: The Oath in Felghana is a re-make of a game that was widely considered one of the worst in the series. Though the remake sees a number of improvements, both visually and gameplay related, the most striking feature is the lack of load times and slowdown. Oath of Felghana is easily one of the smoothest running PSP games I’ve seen in a while.

Another addition is six-hit attack combos rather than the normal three. If that isn’t enough, there’s always Boost mode, where you can go bananas hacking and slashing through enemies. Another standout feature that should hook players is the large map full of places to explore.

Finally, Oath comes with a “downgrade” feature. If you repeatedly die in an area, the game will prompt you with the option to drop the difficulty down on level. It may comes as a shock to your ego, but it’s a cool frustration-reducing feature.

Ys I & II Chronicles is a remake of the first two games in the series. Outside technical and cosmetic improvements, gameplay remains largely intact. This includes the “bump” battle system. To damage enemies, you need to run into them. If your blow hits off-center, you also take damage. It’s a neat, and different, sort of combat system.

Ys Seven is scheduled for late summer. Both Ys: The Oath in Felghana and Ys I & II Chronicles will follow in the coming months.