Ys Memoire Preview: The Oath on Felghana
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is a fast-paced action RPG remaster of a remake of a JRPG classic. The Ys series has been a mainstay of Japanese consoles since 1987. In many ways, this game helped create the archetypal JRPG. And if this preview is anything to go by, it still holds up.
That said, the original title, Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, came out in 1989. The remake, Ys: The Oath in Felghana, followed in 2005. In other words, this is an old game and it shows. The graphics aren't much better than Ys: Memories of Celceta, but the gameplay is polished to a mirror shine.
If you can't stand the dated visuals and steep difficulty curve, you might want to pick up Ys X: Nordics. The rest of us will enjoy a delicious retro treat.
This game takes place shortly after the events of Ys X: Nordics, but is a standalone adventure. It is not necessary to have played the previous titles to enjoy it.
Fast and frenetic action
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana begins with our heroes traveling to a new place. Intrepid adventure junkie Adol the Red and his best friend Dogi visit the land of Felghana, where Dogi was born. Unfortunately, Felghana is plagued by monsters, poor harvests, and high taxes. They reconnect with Dogi's childhood friend Elena, but her brother Chester has disappeared.
When monsters begin to pour out of a nearby quarry, Adol intervenes to defend Dogi's hometown. But when Chester returns as a knight in the service of the corrupt Count McGuire, things begin to get out of control. Something is rotten in the heart of Felghana and Chester is willing to kill to keep Adol out of it.
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is an action JRPG. You control Adol in an old-school 3D environment, dodging enemies and launching attacks. Sometimes literally, as Adol can jump quite high. This adds a 3D element to fights, as you can jump on enemies or knock them down from the ceiling.
Combat is a frenetic mix of button mashing and trying to outmaneuver your enemies. Boost mode provides temporary power on. And defeating enemies grants you potions, herbs, and other little treats. You can upgrade your equipment with Ravel Ore, as long as you remember to return to town. The result is a simple but solid gameplay loop that kept me entertained even when I was hopelessly lost and confused.
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is a JRPG classic
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is a remaster of the most difficult game in the Ys franchise and retains that difficulty. Although the additional quality of life improvements make it feel a little fairer. This title is the closest the Ys series comes to Soulslike territory. If you don't memorize a boss's attack patterns, they will destroy you, especially on harder difficulties. And a host of basic enemies can still take down your health in seconds.
The dungeon layouts are pretty classic JRPG, which makes sense, since Ys helped define classic JRPG fare. That said, the focus on verticality and the occasional creative twist, like walking through lava, adds some flavor. I wish you could unlock the Dash and Warp features sooner, particularly Dash.
So far the game has been pretty small scale. Felghana is a small desert nation with only a handful of towns. Side quests and optional rewards round things out a bit, but the gameplay experience is still pretty streamlined. Adol can walk anywhere pretty quickly if you're willing to take on hordes of monsters. Combined with polished action gameplay, it makes for a surprisingly intimate RPG experience.
This title includes a prologue novel that you can read in-game that explores Adol and Dogi's decision to visit Felghana. It comes with images and a soundtrack, much like a small visual novel. It's short, but sweet and I like the art.
Audio Highs and Lows
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana features a downright impressive soundtrack. Even better, it features three different versions of the soundtrack, each of which is great. And they are all newly remastered.
Unfortunately, it reuses most of the voice acting from the 2005 release. Some of the voices are passable; I especially like Dogi's. However, some of the acting is truly awful. The game's graphics are very, very retro, with downright adorable chibi character models. However, the game features new refined character portraits. They can be swapped for the classic versions, but the difference is quite subtle.
Adol, famous for being a silent protagonist, now has a voice. This is not bad. What's more annoying is the fact that his voiceover lines are neither subtitled nor reflected in the dialogue. The game's writing still assumes it's silent.
Other than that, I ran into a couple of issues while playing. First, I had so much trouble triggering the harpy boss fight that I had to look up a walkthrough. That meeting was not well designed. Secondly, for some reason the sound effects would occasionally disappear while in combat. Fortunately, the soundtrack continued playing.
All in all, Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is shaping up to be a fun blast from the past with a great soundtrack. I just wish it looked a little better and the voice acting was consistently good.
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