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Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana (NS)

Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana (NS) - Review

by Evan Norris , posted on 16 January 2025 / 1,644 Views

If you’re going into Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana straight from more recent Ys adventures, you might suffer a case of whiplash. While the game — a remaster of the PC/PSP title Ys: The Oath in Felghana, itself a remake of 1989’s Ys III — features the same protagonist you’ve come to love and recognizable action-RPG gameplay, it’s quite different in terms of size, scope, and mechanics. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, however. Indeed, if you’re looking for a shorter, more compact action-oriented role-playing game, Ys Memoire might be the ideal investment.

Like the original Oath in Felghana, Memoire follows the adventures of series mainstay Adol Christin and his faithful brother-in-arms Dogi. When the heroic duo decide to visit Dogi's hometown of Redmont in a European region known as Felghana, they find more than expected: swarming monsters and reports of a despotic ruler levying unjust taxes and closing the local quarry — the main source of income for Redmont. Always ready for adventure, Adol and Dogi decide to lend their strength to the citizens of Felghana.

The story in Memoire is quite good. It's not nearly as epic or sweeping as some other RPGs, but it's engrossing on its own terms. There are plenty of twists, turns, and revelations, and lots of opportunities for heroics and villainy. Perhaps the game's strongest narrative asset is its collection of characters. In Redmont, which acts as your home base and hub, there are several colorful townspeople: a kindly mayor, a dutiful guard; a perpetually-tipsy barfly; and many more. They bestow upon the game lots of personality. Also, and arguably more importantly, most characters are multi-dimensional. Some heroes have checkered pasts while some villains show a sympathetic side.

Another nice thing about the story: it doesn't overstay its welcome. In fact, almost nothing in Ys Memoire does. This is a very tight, focused action-RPG, trimmed of practically all fat. On the plus side, this means no filler. As Adol, you'll move through discrete biomes — a quarry, a mountain, a castle, etc. — fighting monsters, collecting loot, and facing off against one or more bosses. Then it's back to Redmont to spend your hard-earned coin and ore to upgrade your weapons and take on a new mission, which leads you to a new biome. There's really nothing to get in the way of the meat of the game. As a result, you can expect to see the credits roll after 12-14 hours.

On the minus side, the streamlined, compact nature of the game means there's a scarcity of optional side content — the sort of ancillary tasks, mini-games, and diversions that help fill in the gaps between story missions. To be fair, Memoire isn't devoid of distractions. The townsfolk in Redmont will suggest side-quests now and then, and there are a handful of reasons to return to completed areas armed with new abilities. But there's room for more. Additional activities within Redmont and greater opportunities for exploration outside its walls would make a good game even better.

As it stands, Ys Memoire is much more focused on the "action" part of the action-RPG equation. It's hard to fault this decision, because it's so darn good. While at first blush the combat seems a little slippery and random, it soon reveals itself to be fast, furious, and very intentional. Adol's basic attack allows him to swing his sword six times in rapid succession, which pulls him directly into the fray. He can also perform several moves mid-jump, including a downward thrust with a chance to stun. Early on, players will access Boost Mode, which, when triggered, significantly increases the speed and strength of Adol's attacks. Then there's Double Boost, which emits a blast of energy that injures enemies and temporarily empowers the red-haired adventurer. It also heals Adol based on the current hit combo. 

As a result of this combo-driven combat framework — and the fact that defeated monsters will drop multipliers for strength, defense, and experience rate that only persist if Adol keeps on the offensive — the action in Ys Memoire is relentless, dynamic, and incredibly gratifying. It rewards you for pressing the attack and chaining together combos. And it only gets better with elemental bracelets, which grant players long-range fireballs, mob-controlling spin attacks, and bruising close-quarters shock-waves. 

You'll need every last one of these offensive abilities to contend with the game's bosses, which are no joke. Indeed, even on the standard normal difficulty, Ys Memoire is downright punishing. Bosses enjoy huge reservoirs of hit points, strike hard, and often switch up tactics midway through the fight. They will absolutely push you to your limit. None of them are unfair exactly — although I did yell "come on!" in exasperation several times during the 60 minutes it took me to dispatch the final boss — just very, very taxing.

The dungeons preceding each boss are less vexing, in part due to frequent checkpoints and in part because the rank-and-file monsters are far squishier. Still, there are some troubling sections, particularly in the final two areas, where traps and platforming trials are more common. Any mistakes here are punished swiftly; and it can get exhausting. Ys Memoire sometimes doesn't know when to ease up.

When you finally beat every trial, clear each area, and defeat the BBEG, you'll earn a lovely closing credits sequence, plus unlock the following: a new "inferno" difficulty option; a time attack boss rush mode; character illustrations; and the option to load your clear data to replay the campaign from the start with various added bonuses. While Ys Memoire is relatively short for an RPG, it offers high replay value.

So that's Ys Memoire — pretty much the same rock-solid action-RPG that appeared 20 years ago on PC (and later on PSP) as The Oath in Felghana. What's new about this remaster, then, you might ask? Not much of consequence, it turns out. The game arrives with three different iterations of its world-class soundtrack, but that was already available on PSP. The brand new stuff includes remastered graphics, newly recorded voice acting for Adol, refined character portraits (plus the ability to swap to the classic versions), and Turbo mode, which allows players to increase the overall speed of the game 1.5-2x with a press of the right stick.

Adol's voice acting is a fine addition, and the reinvented character portraits are definitely an improvement. Turbo mode, meanwhile, doesn't add much value. Adol is already a speedy character, and it's next to impossible to fight with the game speed ratcheted up like that. It's really only useful for expediting the backtracking process through completed zones.

Even if, as a remaster, Ys Memoire doesn't move the needle much, the base game is absolutely worth playing, both for admirers of action-RPGs and for newer Ys fans who want to experience Adol's earlier adventures. If you already have the Steam or PSP version, you'd probably need this version only for the convenience of playing on a modern console. If, however, you've never experienced the game, this is a perfect opportunity to play the best, most complete version of it. 



This review is based on a digital copy of Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana for the NS, provided by the publisher.

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27 Comments
Leynos (on 16 January 2025)

Best in the series

  • +5
xl-klaudkil (on 17 January 2025)

Bought and beat this game last weekend.
Fantastic game loved it to bits!
Also the new artwork makes the ladies more busty thats always a plus point😇
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