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Tanooki wrote:Xanadu, it's a rich series with lots of main line and splinter off stories which include even Faxanadu and Legacy of the Wizard on NES/FC.

Well, not exactly. Faxanadu was meant to be a pure port of the original PC Xanadu, but ended up being a rogue project by Hudson that almost destroyed the relationship between Falcom and Hudson on arrival. If it weren't for a crazy executive at Hudson accepting extreme licensing fees, Ys I & II on the Turbo wouldn't have happened. Also, Faxanadu just has zero to do with the original game.

Legacy of the Wizard / Dragon Slayer IV is unrelated to anything Xanadu, other than the original, and The Legend of Xanadu, and only by virtue of those three games being part of the Dragon Slayer series. While there are supposedly some connections between Xanadu, and The Legend of Xanadu--mostly in the music, it seems*--the latter is generally not seen as part of any "Xanadu series." It's foremost a Dragon Slayer game--the last one--and I'm convinced that the "Xanadu" in the title is, at least in part, a nod from Kiya to his most popular work, since The Legend of Xanadu was also his last game with Falcom.

There's a bit of misconception about the Dragon Slayer series in the West, and it's probably perpetuated by the Wikipedia articles. "Dragon Slayer" is largely a calling card for Kiya Yoshio's flagship works. They tend to have commonality in the aspects of collecting crowns, and fighting a dragon at the end, but not always. The main link between them is Kiya, and because of that, there are many who exclude The Legend of Xanadu II from the Dragon Slayer series, even. The later Legend of Heroes, and Xanadu games from Falcom are mostly misguided efforts to compensate for the massive void left by Kiya's departure from the company.

*EDIT - Looks like the overlap in music is with Xanadu Scenario II, which makes a lot more sense.

BoneSnapDeez wrote:The Legend of Xanadu - and its sequel - are two of the best games ever made. This is the obvious choice.

I loved Emerald Dragon on Super Famicom. Derped around a bit with the PCE port and liked what I played. That'd be my second choice.

I know little of the others, despite being a huge JRPG nerd.

Sol Bianca has an all female cast, though, and I think they might actually be written with some substance. I am fine with starting with The Legend of Xanadu, since that seems to be where this is going. I have some fairly high hopes for it.

Well, the result seems to be a bit set already, but anyone else feel like casting a vote for funsies?

Seems almost guaranteed to be Legend of Xanadu to start. Cool beans! I'm looking forward to starting on this.

Best title screen ever.

Yeah, I remember the banner of those character sprites you used to have in your signature.

oh wow you have a good memory, I had forgotten about those.

I didn't vote, as I have not played any of these games, but I am looking forward to seeing what you think of Xanadu. I really want to play the PC-98 version of this game, but, well, I can't read Japanese, and have yet to find a thorough English walkthrough.

The Legend of Xanadu is not Xanadu ya know, right?

Xanadu is the second Dragon Slayer game.

The Legend of Xanadu is part eight.

Ah, right, I feel like I looked up how the Dragon Slayer series actually goes at some point, but just forgot.

I assume Xanadu I & II on PC-98 are completely different games then. Well, still looking forward to hearing thoughts on it either way

Yeah, and the direct sequel to Xanadu, Xanadu Scenario II, is actually a very early example of an expansion pack (before that terminology even existed).