I have my doubts about that, but I'm prepared to be wrong. Oath set the bar pretty high.
Ys Thread
Bentley Edwards
James Anderson
That's the extent of my experience with the games.
Benjamin Lopez
Later Ys games ditch the bump system for more traditional action RPG mechanics. Hell, Oath in Felghana, VI and Origins are more action than RPG and have heavy platforming elements. It was VII and Memories in Celceta that established the party based system that's the current style being used for VIII.
In short, just try some of the other games and see which one tickles your fancy. I didn't care much for 1 and 2 either, but Oath in Felghana is easily my favorite.
Christian Ramirez
Brayden Hill
You could check out Origin, it's really good and doesn't have the bump combat.
Matthew Carter
The demo/trial up now on PSN apparently extends through much of Chapter 2, giving you a lot time and content whether or not you buy the game. Falcom's probably treating Ys VIII as their prestige game for the next year or so, which makes sense given it's the company's 35th anniversary. I'm hoping for some kind of anthology/compilation next year to celebrate the Ys series's 30th anniversary.
Posting the Lufia II battle theme from Ys VIII.
Blake Young
Learn proto indo european like the rest of the cool fascists.