This is an excellent localization, and is all the more impressive given how early it was in the history of ROM hacking/fan-translation: only 10 years after the release of the original game.

The November 2018 review by firedropdl is spot-on and has covered most of what I would say, but I wanted to add a few notes. First, about glitches:

• I didn’t encounter the glitch he mentions with the Rira Shell, and I don’t remember any issues with the Whisper Earrings either.

• On the other hand, the issue with the invisible Goddess Statue in Dolga’s room is indeed present in the original Famicom version – or at least, the same thing happens in the original and translated ROMs with the emulator I’m using. (I haven’t tried real hardware.)

Regarding the translation, it’s excellent overall – but it is misleading in a couple of places, both coming in the game’s labyrinthine final areas. (Since Ys II frankly starts to wear out its welcome near the end, that’s especially bad timing.)

• One is the use of the word “grid” at one point for what I’d normally call a “gate” or, if you want to get fancy, “portcullis”. That’s a bit confusing, since “grid” made me expect a new area with some kind of Matrix-y thing instead of the simple gate I found.

• The other one happens when a character refers to a “room with a different color” that has a hidden quest item. But the room he means isn’t a different color at all: it has a different wall texture. The trigger to make the quest item appear is obscure and uses a consumable resource (magic points), so a bad clue becomes a real issue here. I’m guessing it’s a mistranslation – because if it’s not, the designers were jerks! – and should ideally be fixed.

Still, these are minor points: maybe deserving of a quick 1.01 patch, but not enough to derail enjoyment of this excellent localization. And the game itself, while not of the highest caliber, is still a fun and fast-moving adventure that should definitely be played by anyone who digs the series.

Huge kudos to MakoKnight!