It was the early 90s and I had never seen a Super Nintendo Entertainment System before in my life. I had just moved to a small town in Chicagoland and was making new friends. Sitting inside Dave’s den was a formative moment for me, I got to play Super Mario World for the first time, Mario Paint for the first time, and since he was the first one of my friends to get Windows 95, I saw the Weezer – Buddy Holly music video there for the first time. “My brother has a cool game, let me go get it,” and Dave ran off upstairs while I swatted at flies in Mario Paint. He ran into the room and with gusto popped out the Mario Paint cartridge and slammed down a new cart into the SNES. “Wanderers from why-ess?” I asked. “It’s great! I can’t get past the first level!” Since then, Ys III: Wanderers from Ys has gone from a janky side-scrolling SNES game to one of the greatest Action RPGs ever.
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana
Developer: Nihon Falcom
Price: $30
Platforms: PS4/5 (reviewed), Nintendo Switch, and PC
MonsterVine was provided with a PlayStation 5 code for review
Ys III: Wanderers from Ys is not a great game but unlike most people who value their time, I have played it the whole way through. There’s a layer of nostalgia there that can push you through a bad game. Ys III may have been bad from a gameplay standpoint but it had a living world, people to talk to, and was a complete game. So in June of 2005, two months after Taito released an updated version of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys for the PlayStation 2, Falcom released a reimagined version of the same game called Ys: The Oath in Felghana. This game would do away with the side-scrolling aesthetic from the original and give the player a bird’s eye perspective allowing for movement in a 3D space. And while the story beats, enemies, and stories were largely the same, upgrading the game from 2D to 3D made all the difference.
Ys: The Oath in Felghana is a fitting tribute to the original game in many ways. The most obvious is the narrative and level structure. While the narrative has been wildly expanded since the Super Nintendo version, the story beats, characters, and enemies are the same. Even characters with small roles like Grandma Aida exist and play the same roles in both games. The Oath in Felghana was a big remake before big remakes were a thing. The best thing about the remake though is the soundtrack. Falcom Sound Team goes hard in their games and a lot of their tracks are absolutely incredible. But the first few tracks in Wanderers from Ys are baked into my brain. The Oath in Felghana takes the original tracks and builds on them, so the tracks remain memorable but with a new flair for the modern.
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is the same as the PC version released in 2005 and the PSP version released five years later. The menu looks very similar to the PSP version from 2010 and some small changes have been made to accommodate a larger screen and different resolution but looks the same. Ys Memoire also maintains the same portraits and voice acting as the original. There are some new options with this release, giving you the option to change the character portraits between ‘Classic’ and ‘Refined.’ As far as I can tell, the Refined versions are new. Likewise, you’re able to swap BGMs between the Oath soundtrack, the Ys III PC88 version, and the Ys III X68K version. These are neat options but really, the only things that separate this version from the existing PC version and the PSP version.
Some accessibility options exist like turning on VO for the game’s narrator and turning the BGM down during VO. Overall, I guess the most disappointing thing is that there aren’t more options or changes from the original. Not that anything NEEDS to be changed, The Oath in Felghana is one of the best Ys titles hands down. But anything extra would have been welcome. There’s a Museum with a gallery, prologue, and movie sections just like the PSP version. Completing the game allows for Time Attack mode just like the previous versions. There’s also a transfer option for the PlayStation 5 if you have previously played the game on PlayStation 4.
The two biggest changes that took me a while to notice are turbo mode and skipping the clock tower. Turbo mode allows you to press a button and go from regular speed to 1.5x and 2.0x on the fly. I’m not sure I considered The Oath in Felghana to be a particularly slow game but after my subsequent replays, I’m very glad turbo mode exists. Towards the end of the game is a section where you climb a clock tower. It’s a very frustrating experience regardless of difficulty employing a lot of platforming and some puzzles. In Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, if playing on very easy, you’re able to tap a button to skip these sections entirely. The skip is sectioned out as the clock tower is split into four major rooms. You can skip each room at any time so long as you’re on very easy.
Adol is back with his best bud Dogi visiting Dogi’s hometown, Redmont. Redmont is a mining town in the nation of Felghana and unfortunately for the whole mining industry, monsters have invaded the local quarry. Luckily, our boy Adol is here to help out and whip things into shape. Throughout the game, Adol will not only uncover the truth about the mysterious circumstances of the monster attacks but also an evil plot being executed by Dogi’s childhood friend. Adol and Dogi set out on a wild adventure to save the town of Redmont and the nation of Felghana.
The gameplay is hack and slash with some magical ability usage. The fully 3D environments allow for exploration with double-jumps, wind magic, and wall breaking. There are multiple dungeons to explore, equipment upgrades to get, and items that will help Adol on his journey. The dungeons are big, the boss battles are way more fair than Ys III, and the presentation is phenomenal. Maintaining the same graphical style as the initial release in 2005 was a choice but if you ask me, it paid off. Instead of having a fully remade game, Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is the same game ported to modern consoles, and that’s a victory in my book.
One thing I noticed that was very different was the achievement list. I wasn’t a big fan of the cultural references of the original PC version nor was I particularly big on the achievement that had you corner Elena to read her ‘measurements.’ I was glad to see that the trophy list for the PlayStation 5 is updated to age better. I’ve yet to see the full achievement list but the achievements I’ve acquired so far make this seem like a more reasonable and less creepy achievement list.
Ys: Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is the definitive port for modern consoles
Unfortunately, there’s not much for me to add. I consider The Oath in Felghana one of the best, if not the best, Ys games in the line-up. Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is that game. I think it’s a little disappointing there aren’t more extras added in, I’d love some background on the game development or just someone talking about the game’s history. It runs very well and I ran into no bugs or crashes whatsoever on my playthroughs. This is the definitive version of The Oath in Felghana.
The Final Word
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is a no nonsense port that allows you to play through this masterpiece on modern consoles.
MonsterVine Rating: 4 out of 5 – Good
