Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana Review

I’m a huge fan of developer Nihon Falcom’s The Legend of Heroes series, however, I’m a relative novice when it comes to the Ys titles. Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana — the latest release in the franchise — is a remastered version of 2005’s Ys: The Oath in Felghana, which itself was a remake of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys. So, a remaster of a remake of a game originally released in 1989, simple enough, right? Having never played either of the other versions, I was very much looking forward to trying Ys Memoire, but would starting with this title be a mistake? Would the game even be enjoyable enough for me to look into playing the other Ys titles? Let’s find out!

The main protagonist of the series, Adol Christin, is back once again in search of adventure alongside his close friend Dogi. The duo return to Dogi’s homeland of Felghana for some rest and relaxation, but, naturally, things aren’t quite so peaceful for the pair, as Felghana is now overrun with monsters. As if that wasn’t enough to worry about, the nobleman Count McGuire is also causing trouble for the citizens of Felghana’s main town of Redmont by raising taxes and using his status to do whatever he wants.

So, we’ve got a monster problem, a cruel despot who cares little for his people, sounds like an adventure to me! Although the story may start off relatively slow and can be fairly predictable, there are still some interesting twists and turns along the way that kept me invested in seeing it through. Ys games aren’t known for their deep, intricate stories, but Ys Memoire’s was more than serviceable with a decent cast of characters too. Those looking for a narrative to really get invested in may be left disappointed, although the short run time (the game took me around 13 hours to beat) means it isn’t too much of an issue that if the game was, say, 60+ hours.

With the original version of The Oath in Felghana being a PSP title, I was surprised at just how crisp the visuals look on the big screen. Granted, the game was ported to PC a few years after release, but even that version had some issues with pixelated character portraits and such. Speaking of character portraits, the brand-new ones look fantastic! However, purists out there do have the option to change to the original portraits if they prefer. The sprite work looks to have been improved somewhat also, with smoother animations and just a higher level of detail overall. This remaster does tout high-definition visuals, though, so that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Unfortunately, some of the environments can look ever so slightly odd. There were some textures that were noticeably tilled, with visible lines where repeated textures hadn’t quite been blended together. This isn’t in every area of the game, thankfully, and places like Redmont look great. But it’s instantly prominent when you enter an environment with this issue.

The graphics aren’t the only thing that have received a boost in quality, as the audio also gets the same treatment, only it’s much improved upon the original here. For starters, new voice lines were recorded for Adol. Though he doesn’t talk all too much, it’s nice that he’s not a completely silent protagonist this time around. The soundtrack has also been improved and is not only a lot clearer but also features three different types. You can stick with the standard version or switch to the PC-88 or X68000 versions. Since these versions of Ys III were only ever released in Japan, it’s great to be able to hear the original game’s soundtracks in such high quality.

Gameplay in Ys Memoire is relatively simple and remains unchanged from the PSP and PC versions. Viewed via an isometric perspective, you’ll roam around Felghana as Adol, slaying monsters, completing quests, and visiting shops to upgrade your gear.

The Action RPG style of combat is fast-paced and frantic. Things start out fairly simple, with Adol only having his trusty sword to take out his enemies. As you progress, you’ll acquire magical bracelets that allow you to unleash certain magic abilities that are not only useful in combat but also allow you to remove obstacles from previously obstructed paths. This means you’ll have to return to previously explored dungeons if you’re intent on finding everything in the game. There are only three elements — Fire, Earth, and Wind — but each one adds a bit of variety to the otherwise basic hack-and-slash combat.

The controls are super simple, with one button to attack, one for jumping, and one for magic use. You can also activate a boost to temporarily enhance Adol’s abilities, making him hit harder and faster, whilst taking significantly less damage in the process. This also increases his attacks from a 6-hit combo to 10, and can very quickly turn the tide of battle during tough boss encounters. And with plenty of challenging boss fights throughout the game, you’ll need this boost quite often!

One final note to touch on is the way stat boosts and item management is handled. Instead of filling your pockets with health potions and the like, enemies will randomly drop items that enhance certain stats for a limited time. For example, some drops will give you an experience point multiplier, an increase in defence, and so on. It’s a fun system that takes the monotony of inventory management away from the player, although I do wish I was able to carry at least a small stock of healing items for when things got tough.

Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is still very much an old school Action RPG, and remains mostly unchanged from the PSP/PC release. That said, if you’ve yet to experience Adol’s adventure in Felghana, this is for sure the definitive version to play thanks to the sharper graphics and improved audio. Its gameplay isn’t particularly deep, but it is enjoyable enough to keep going until the credits roll. If you’re a Ys newcomer, then this isn’t a bad title to start with, seeing as most games aren’t directly connected, and is an enjoyable journey from beginning to end.