With all that in mind, it’s no surprise that Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana has come to consoles courtesy of publisher Marvelous. This is the second re-issue of a remade Ys game to come to modern consoles, the first being Ys: Memories of Celceta (review here). Oath in Felghana was originally released on the Playstation Portable (PSP) and was itself a remake of the original game, Ys III: Wanderers from Ys which was released in Japan for computers and in North America on the SNES, Genesis, and Turbografx CD systems.
Oath in Felghana picks up a few years after the events of Ys I and II, which has notably not been re-released since the PSP and DS versions. Adol and his friend Dogi have returned to Dogi’s home land of Felghana but things are not as they were when Dogi left to seek adventure. Monsters have invaded the area around Dogi’s hometown of Redmont and the townspeople are having problems with the local king’s soldiers threatening them and shutting down their mine which is the town’s livelihood. TO make matters worse, the mayor is in trouble. Dogi’s childhood friend Elena is also distressed as her brother Chester has gone missing. A lot is happening in Redmont and naturally Adol and Dogi are happy to jump right into the thick of things and find out what’s going on.
Ys Memoire follows a fairly standard Ys formula. This is a less advanced pixel-based Ys game, especially when compared to games like Ys X Nordics or even Ys: Memories of Celceta. That being said, it’s an incredibly polished and responsive gameplay experience that makes up for its age in many ways. As you might expect if you’ve ever played an Ys game, you’ll take control of Adol who has to explore a variety of dungeons in order to find out what’s going on and why Redmont is in so much trouble. This is an action game with light RPG elements so the majority of your time is going to be spent fighting your way back and forth through dungeons and destroying a wide variety of enemies who conveniently (or inconveniently depending on your perspective) respawn every time you move to the next screen and back.
From a gameplay view this is a vintage approach to action/adventure. You have standard attacks, several magic attacks (provided by special items once you get them) and a boost that increases your attack power once it charges. Combat is fluid and fun but generally serves to build money and experience, incrementally increasing your power and your equipment as you explore the regions of Felghana. One of the handiest features is an instant warp back to any save point that can be used at any time, even in the middle of combat. Simply set your extra button to wing warp you in the options menu and you can zip away at the tap of a button to heal up or escape an area that you can’t seem to get out of. This really streamlines both combat and the story and ends up being an excellent addition to the flow of The Oath in Felghana.
Because of the efficient design of the combat system and menu options, you’ll find that Ys Memoire feels like it’s moving much faster than other entries in the series. The benefit of this is that the intense nature of the storyline leads to much more emotional impact that some other entries simply because it feels like there’s very little break in between key scenes. Even though you’ll spend a fair amount of time in a variety of tunnels, molten areas, mountains, and ruins, the game still feels like it’s largely story-focused, a credit to both the narrative and level structure.
Boss battles are surprisingly intermittent however. Bosses in Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana are typically large and powerful but quite a few can be absolutely decimated in a matter of minutes or less. Others are so vicious that you may find that you’re throwing yourself at them again and again to no avail. There’s no discernible pattern for why some bosses are so much easier than others, but like other Ys games, if you die enough times, the game offers you the option to lower the difficulty of that boss temporarily and try again. There are definitely a couple of times you’ll want to consider doing this as some of the later attacks by bosses can be tremendously powerful and frustrating to dodge, even when you know the patterns.
Hidden items also abound in The Oath in Felghana. There are a variety of weapons and armor that you can absolutely miss if you don’t explore dungeons thoroughly enough, including a cape that heals your health while you stand still, weapons, armor, and even a bell that makes immortal enemies mortal once more. None of that should be a big surprise but for a focused game, it’s remarkably easy to miss optional gear and upgrades that really should be part of the main structure of the game, rather than pleasant hidden bonuses. Play your cards right and you’ll be incredibly overpowered, but rush through a stage or two and all of the sudden enemies will be killing you with ease. You’ll have to pay close attention within levels too, as treasure chests full of raval ore needed to fully upgrade your weaponry at the smithy are all over the place.
Other things are hidden too, including cash (you’ll need it) and story items, and as you gain various skills, new pathways open up and you can revisit old levels to gather up the things you missed.It all adds up to a surprisingly well-rounded adventure that has you backtracking and enjoying it and clinging to the story to find out what happens next as things spiral out of control around Adol. Dogi also plays a pretty central part in the story but we won’t get into that because spoilers!
Visually, this is a pixel art game and the shift to HD, even on the Switch, makes for an excellent visual experience. The levels are blocky polygons of course, common to the era that this remaster was originally released in but they look very good for how old they are and the polish across the board is quite high. Portraits of Adol, Dogi, Elaine and others are quite well done with a variety of great expressions in the static images. Monsters are cleverly designed too and the level design is both interesting and sneaking, using camera angles to conceal hidden entrances and other nifty old-school tricks.
The music is top notch as well of course and JDK Team is at their peak here. There are a number of remixes of The Oath in Felghana soundtrack and even the original version was surprisingly popular so it’s not a shock that the Switch version of the game managed to up the ante for music. Vocals are good too with a high amount of quite skilled voice acting. If you’re looking for a full service narrative, you’ve come to the right place and while a couple actors might ham it up a bit, the overall impact is very impressive. There really aren’t any issues with sound in The Oath in Felghana and that makes for a more immersive experience.
While this is a very good game, it isn’t perfect however. The physical copy of the game comes with a AAA price and while there are some excellent goodies including a beautiful display box and a CD soundtrack among others, Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana can be beaten in about 10 hours without too much effort. That’s a pretty short game for that high price tag, swag or no swag. The digital version of the game is half the price, but you’re still getting a fairly short experience overall, even if it is a good one. This is a game you want to last longer and unlike more recent chapters in the series, by the end events still feel somewhat unresolved, even though all the loose ends are tied up neat and tidy. There’s just some indefinable thing missing that keeps The Oath in Felghana from feeling like it fully capitalizes on its potential, so make sure you pick the version that’s right for you!
There are a few other neat bonuses thrown in to Oath as well. In addition to the visual novel-style prologue available from the menu, you can also view the cinemas available in the game as they are unlocked and check out a variety of images in the gallery once you earn them. Oh yeah, and there’s a New Game +, additional optional bosses that are ridiculously hard, and a Boss Rush mode once you beat the game. This is all completist stuff though and doesn’t add anything substantial to the game, so if that’s not your thing, chances are you will barely look at some of it.
All things considered, Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is a remaster done right, cleaning up the visuals and ensuring nothing gets lost in translation. There are a few slight tweaks and changes here and there but the experience is both entertaining and focused which makes for a fun experience even if it is a bit on the short side. It won’t be for everyone, especially players that started with Ys VIII or later, but it’s great to see modern releases of the entire Ys library finally coming out, because it’s one of the best action adventure series ever released and you’re going to have a blast in Felghana!
This review is based on a digital copy of Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes and played equally well on both. Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is also available on PS4 and PS5.
Nate Van Lindt has been a gamer since the days of yore (aka Commodore 64), and has played a bit of virtually everything out there. He's also an avid comic book collector, both vintage and current, and reads a fair amount of sci-fi and fantasy. On top of that, he watches a fair number of movies and TV shows as well. Oh, and he has a family, a full-time job, and lives somewhere in the urban wilds of Southwestern Ontario, Canada, foraging for old video cables and forgotten game soundtracks.