Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana

Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is hardly a revolutionary RPG, but it stands as an excellent reminder that sometimes less is more. The brisk pacing, thrilling combat, and cutesy visuals all come together in a wonderfully enjoyable and simple action RPG. This is an experience that makes no compromises and holds nothing back, and even if it's clearly less ambitious and expansive than many of the later entries in the series, there's also something very satisfying about playing through a game where its reach did not exceed its grasp.

With Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, Falcom had a chance to deliver the definitive version of a classic, but the end result is just a good portable version of a fantastic game. Newcomers to the game or those who have only played modern Ys games should absolutely get Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, but I can't help but feel disappointed with what could've been. I'll still be replaying Ys: The Oath in Felghana through this new release on PS5 and Switch, but hopefully Falcom handles a potential future Memoire release better.

An amazing, older classic action game continues to be incredible despite its years, and it looks better than ever moving to modern platforms.

Diving into Ys history is a fun exercise for a few reasons, especially as Falcom continues to grow and capture more and more mindshare in the RPG community. Because the series has gone on so long through so many platforms, there’s so much variety between each game and each version thereof, from what each one plays like to what each one looks like. There are identifiable eras you can group them in, and Oath in Felghana is a key representative of its group. This game was available before on Steam, but Ys Memoire is the most refined version, even without the couple extra flourishes sprinkled on top.

Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana was clearly designed to bring the remake of the third entry in the Falcom series to modern consoles, and in this regard, it fully succeeds. The game delivers a fast-paced, no-frills experience that remains engaging from start to finish, enhanced by new features, improved visuals and quality-of-life improvements. However, compared to more recent entries in the series, Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is a more straightforward game with a relatively simple story and combat system, which may not appeal to those who were introduced to the series through its modern installments.

Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana may show its age with its mechanics, but still holds up surprisingly well. It lacks many of the standard features of modern Ys games, such as multiple playable characters, minigame battles and homebase building, but still provides the same story-driven adventure with fast-paced action combat. It's a relatively short adventure that can be completed in around ten or twelve hours, but none of that time is wasted with unnecessary filler. Between the charming visuals, enjoyable gameplay and amazingly-reworked soundtrack, Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is a great action RPG that should be experienced by all fans of the genre and a must-play for fans of Ys.

s Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is a great opportunity for new players to experience one of the most beloved chapters in the series, but veterans may find it a less compelling offering than the versions already available on other platforms.

YS Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is a remake of a version that took many years to release outside of Japan. While not a revolutionary remake, it offers a small and beautiful installment in the Ys series. If you’re a fan of the Ys series and the role-playing genre, it’s suggested to give this game a chance and enjoy playing it.

If you’re looking for adventurous fairy-tale stories for adults, enjoy simple two-button button-mashing, like the Japanese style, and don’t mind old-school graphics, then Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is for you. Unfortunately, it includes that sad crutch of experience grinding, but otherwise it’s a fun mix of action and RPG with Metroidvania elements. I spent twenty hours playing the game, beating up monsters—about two of those hours were spent on dialogue and five on grinding. It was wonderful, but I don’t feel like playing through it again.

That's about all there is to Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana. It's a faithful port of the 2005 classic, with a couple of nice-to-have features such as multiple soundtracks and artwork updates. The original featured some questionable design in places, most notably some of the bosses have very repetitive mechanics and as such aren't very fun to fight, but beyond that Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is a great RPG.