Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana review: short but sweet

As a classic Japanese RPG series from the early days of PC gaming, Ys has seen many ports and remakes over the years. Ys 3: Wanderers from Ys is a particularly unusual one. It went from a Zelda-like top-down adventure with auto-attack combat (fans dubbed it the “Bump” system) to a Zelda 2-like side-scrolling adventure. Years later, Ys 3 Remastered for PC and PSP as Oath in Felghana, using a new style as a 2.5D action game similar to the Ys style at the time, Oath in Felghana now returns with the branding “Ys Memoire” ” at the top, so those bringing on board the most recent Ys fare can check it on PlayStation 4 and 5 or Nintendo Switch

Third Adventure But now it’s technically the fourth time.

Y’s game can dance in chronological order. But until recently, Ys 3 was the third game in every way. Fortunately, you don’t need to know what happened in the first two games or Ys A red-haired adventurer who crashes in a boat accident and gets involved in local politics for fun. His friend Dogi has blue hair and big muscles. So he smashes rocks and objects. Oath’s story reveals the pair visiting Dogi’s hometown, which is currently facing a corrupt count that is putting the town’s mining business in danger. It turns out there’s a long-lost history involving superheroes and cosmic horrors sealed away by a few mysterious statues. And there are forces trying to break the seal. Adol can’t help but get involved. And there are monster battles and double jumps waiting.

Previous Ys games were story-heavy and focused on action and metal. The PSP-era Ys games were somewhere between Zelda and Dynasty Warriors, with fast-paced but shallow combat that propelled players through dungeons. Filled with puzzles and hidden treasures. Huge and difficult boss fights in each dungeon Each dungeon is as challenging as it gets. with pattern recognition Often the strategy is just “Don’t get hit,” and this game in particular does its best to be as much of a pain in the butt as possible. But the speed and retry options already make Oath easy. It takes about 12 hours or so to play the old style.

What’s new? Not really much

If you’ve already played Oath in Felghana on PC or PSP, there’s not much new to stare at here. Adol, the protagonist, has long been silent. Ys You can also choose from a new set of “improved” character portraits, and some difficulty options have been tweaked. Otherwise, you’re looking at the same game that was released on the PSP, albeit with slightly better performance. It looks and feels great on Switch, which feels like the platform’s perfect successor for this type of game.

If you’re new, Oath won’t blow your mind. Especially if you’re familiar with the current Ys era that started with Ys 8, but it’s also a fan favorite. For those of you who have been around for decades, this is Falcom from the 2000s, releasing games that looked old even though they were new. But the pictures have a different flavor. And the fast and furious gameplay feels different even today. The old school Ys loop can be a little annoying. Because solving dungeon puzzles often means finding items hidden in hard-to-see places, like having to trust the Volcano Dungeon to find boots that let you keep running, Clear. Combat. With bosses, it often feels unbalanced. You’ll deal more damage than you can handle. and gimmick attacks that may be one-shot attacks Unless you grind it so much it makes you want to tear your hair out. But when things fall into place and you understand when the game wants you to chill out. And when the game wants you to swing your sword like an unrestrained gargoyle? The death that felt right began to disappear.

Diving deeper into the history of the Y is a fun exercise for a few reasons. Especially as Falcom continues to grow and seize more and more ideas in the RPG community. This is because the series has been running for so long across so many platforms. So there’s a lot of variation between games and versions. From what each game is played to how each game looks, there are identifiable eras that you can group them into, and Oath in Felghana is a key representative of the group. The game has been available on Steam before, but Ys Memoire is the most improved version yet. Even without the few additional decorations above.

Ys Memoire: Oath of Felghana releases on January 7, 2025 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. A Nintendo Switch code was provided by the publisher for verification.