I never played the original Ys III: Wanderers From Ys, which predated my understanding of the wide world of gaming for years. No, I wouldn’t actually experience the Ys games till years later in 2005 when Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim would finally be released in America and felt like home. The wider adventures of Adol Christin were not needed to enjoy the one right in front of me, I was sucked into the action RPG which, in stark contrast to other series like Final Fantasy and Lunar that I was in love with at the time, even at its wildest villains feels quaint and small by comparison. This was a good thing.
Initially, I played Ys: The Oath In Felghana, the remake of III which this title serves as a remaster of (if you think that’s confusing just look up Ys IV) on the PSP. For a brief period, the series would have been synonymous with the PlayStation handhelds though the last time I played the title was on a PC years later. However, you slice it though, it has probably been close to a decade since I have played any of the Classic Titles in the series. Yet they can still evoke all the feelings I remember and so much more.
The Adventures of Adol Christian
The story, at least in a wider scope, of the Ys series has remained mostly unchanged over the years, and Ys Memoires: The Oath in Felghana is no different. This works out well since players who may not have played the older games or new players don’t need to worry as the introduction to the games has remained unchanged. Adol is an adventurer who travels the world and eventually goes on to comprise hundreds of volumes of journals that comprise the many adventures that he leaves behind at some point at the end of his life. The narrative forms these texts being read hundreds of years after his life, regaling the player with his story of heroics.
This time around, Adol travels to the hometown of his Travel companion Dogi, in the country of Felghana, where he becomes involved in the inter politics of a Baron trying to use mystical powers to take more political standing in the region. To combat this, Adol sets off to find four ancient objects said to help secure control over the monsters in the area, which in the wrong hands, could cause chaos.
Compared to later games in the series, especially titles such as Ys VIII, this game is significantly shorter. My first playthrough took me about 20 hours total, with at least 5 of that being idle time from leaving the game running while walking out of my room, potentially more. This isn’t a bad thing, honestly, it’s a great thing if you look at it that almost every shortcoming of this game is because the series has come so far from here to the tenth mainline outing that was released last year.
The story is also pretty light, having a more narrative-driven classic Zelda approach to narrative. There are a few dungeons that are connected by crossroads around the explorable world with the player having a major narrative moment between them, with a classic need to talk to the right person in town before progress basically tells you the next dungeon you need to find. After a few intro cutscenes, they become pretty light, basically pointing you in the right direction, and giving you some guidance but not taking up the brunt of your time.
Buried in this are a few side quests the game doesn’t even tell you exist. I stumbled onto my first one randomly, accidentally taking the wrong path only to find a mission in which you need to find a lost boy. I’m not sure the alternative had you chosen to skip this, but the event, and more so the brief invitation to the castle I received, is a plot point that is referenced later on in the narrative, giving these optional moments weight. If you do not know about them, however, they are insanely easy to miss in the dungeon, return to town, next dungeon structure as they involve traveling off the beaten path in areas that often yield little reward in terms of EXP at the time you can. Why would you stumble on them grinding if grinding is no longer relevant?
The Life of An Adventurer
Combat in the game takes on an action-adventure nature as also slashes his way through enemies in real-time. The game uses a 2.5D to 3D map mechanic for combat to take part in. Some areas will take this more so, with wider stages to fight in while others have a more platforming structure with some minor depth to move around in. The game honestly has a great understanding of both as dungeons often switch between these types of areas, with each having their time to shine, feeling fluent and fun. The first dungeon for instance featured open cave areas, juxtaposed with a large staircase area in the center to platform down. In one, you hacked and slashed across a big area, catching enemies with your wide attacks to lock them into your combo, while the other takes a more thoughtful approach as you jump and drop from platform to platform to reach enemies.
The one major annoyance of combat is flying enemies which are introduced early on, never really amount to a challenge, but tend to be harder to hit thanks to the old-school depth of the maps. In the open areas, I found myself struggling to hit them correctly as my jump was always off, whereas in the platforming ones since these enemies can reach a much higher vertical than you there are occasions where they are just out or barely in reach. Since you can’t really slay enemies at the same level as you in two hits, their moments can devolve into bunny hopping as you combat flying enemies, twiddling away at their health.
Jumping comes into play a lot more than I was expecting or remembering it to as most of the dungeons have platforms to cross and attacks that are best dodged with, especially when it comes to boss fights. For those looking to take advantage of everything the game offers, the game’s Metroidvania structure also sees you jump upgrade a few times, giving pathways and treasure to return to. This is similarly reinforced by three magical rings Adol gets that allow him to fight certain enemies, or unlock paths he might have missed. An early example of this is a fire ring that can be used to light torches the player may have missed, one of which makes a very prominent treasure chest that seems to be spectral taking on a solid shape. There isn’t a MASSIVE amount of side content to ‘return’ to, usually a few chests and items, but they always have a large amount of value, making your return worth it, and it does help a shorter RPG extend its runtime.
Where the game really makes you cheer, is in its boss fights, which honestly made me look at Ys X: Nordics and realize what a strong return to the series roots it had in the same department. Bosses are challenging, with patterns that can be hard to fully predict but rewarding to stick with. As stated above, jumping comes into place a lot with them, such as with the first boss that forces you to dodge wind blades by jumping or strafing while lobbing fireballs at her till is defeated. These fights force to to figure out just how you can approach the boss, getting moments where you need to avoid rather than attack and others where you can just unload. One boss, a fire worm that just bombards you with fire proved particularly high since it was a flying enemy (those damn flying enemies again) but once I finally figured it out, I struck a decisive victory. The boss that followed this wormy basterd, another flying enemy that actually doesn’t act like one, proved to be one of my favorite fights in the game in how the platforms often get knocked up to reveal spikes to dodge.
Verdict
Ys Memiore: The Oath of Felhgana is dated. It is arguably one of the best and worst elements of the game. On the one hand, it’s a reminder of how much the series has grown and a simple overall a simple game to break up your time with. On the other hand, as much as I loved my time with it, it was hard not to think about all the elements in the recent titles that I loved and just how much more satisfying they are to play. It’s a testament to how far Ys has come in its over 30-year history.
All this being said, there is no reason not to jump into this time, exactly zero excuses that work. A fun action game with a great level design and a decent story, there is a lot of fun to be had here. Some enemies prove a little annoying to fight, and the game has a short runtime compared to RPGs of today that take till you’re old and grey to get to even 50 percent. In that way, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s a love song to the origins of the Ys series and everything that came after and that’s not a bad thing.
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Review For PlayStation 5, Also available for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC
Developer: Nihon Falcom
Publisher: XSeed
Release Date: January 7th 2025 ( PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch)
Adventure Adol Christin travels to the hometown of his traveling compatriot Dogi in the land of Felghana, becoming involved in a plot of magic and conspiracy.
PROS:
+Great story
+Fun action combat
+Great boss design
+Level design
CONS:
-Dated
-Short story
-Those damn flying enemies
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Ys Memoire: The Oath In Felghana
