RPG's were a relatively new thing at the time I played this game on the Turbographics 16 - a system that went in and out in USA, i would guess in about a year or so. At that point int time Nintendo was still king and Sega was grasping for a spot and Sony hadn't even seriously considered coming into the gaming market that as far as I know they kind of dominate today.
these are the sort of graphics that we got excited about in the 80's
The thing that made Y's legendary back "in the day" so to speak is that there was a good chance that people you know had never heard of it unless they were Japanese and well, unless you live in Asia, there is a good chance that this was a not a huge portion of your friend-mix.
Y's is special because their story is incredible and the music is second-to-none (perhaps it is a matter of perspective.)
Gameplay was second fiddle to storyline and music because in the first book of Y's you simply ran into stuff to attack it, there was not sword button or defend button, you either could kill it or it would kill you. All boss battles were based on your ability to dodge the many dots dancing around the screen and simply touch the boss enough times to win. (consequently, i can't find any clips to show you about gameplay because all of them are gameplay about the entire game, which is too long to waste Steemit's servers on)
It seems dumb, but i suppose you will have to put yourself in the shoes of the people making the games back then. The consoles had a maximum of 2 buttons and nintendo wanted nothing to do with you. So let's make an incredible story that has exceptional music and the best graphics we can muster? ok?
That's what they did and Y's still carries on as a franchise to this day. If you don't believe me have a look on STEAM right now and search for Y's, they have games that were made in the past year.
I'm currently playing Y's Origin, and yeah, the graphics look like they are from the early 90's at best but If you are like me there is a chance that you might feel as though over the years we have sacrificed storyline and gameply for graphics, and I would prefer the opposite.
Here is a boss battle from the game I am currently playing on PS4 (available on PC too)