Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana Review - Ore Yeah, Let’s Raval In The Chaos
Around ten years ago, a colleague I was working with knew I loved RPGs and asked a question which would set me on a path to gobble up as many of the games as I could find my hands on; “Have you ever played any of the Ys series?” At the time, I’d never heard of it, but their passion for Ark of Napishtim convinced me to give the series a try. I had trouble finding a copy, so I settled on the next best thing; The Oath in Felghana on my PSP. I was completely hooked by it’s fast paced combat and cool soundtrack, like nothing I’d played before. I think back on those days with fondness, and Ys is such an underappreciated series that I want others to pay attention to these games.
If you want to know where to start playing Ys, the answer is “anywhere”. There’s technically a canonical chronological order but realistically, all games are individual experiences from the diaries of the main protagonist of almost every game; Adol Christin. The gameplay differs from game to game, but in my opinion they’re almost all great.
This time around, my boy Adol is traveling with his friend Dogi. They visit a caravan to get Dogi’s fortune told, when the crystal ball explodes. Normal stuff. They make the decision to visit Dogi’s hometown, and on the way get caught up in a whole lot of mess. Out of all the Ys games, this one has a story on the weaker side. I think a big part of that is the Napishtim engine used for the game, which leans more into the action/platformer side than RPG elements. Don’t take this to mean this is a bad game though, because you could not be more wrong. Story is only one facet of the experience.
Where Felghana shines is in the same things that drew me to it way back when. The rule here is simple; ABA: “Always Be Attacking”. Whilst you don’t have a huge suite of moves to work with, combat is fast and requires attention. Your combo meter being high means you earn more experience, monster drop more items that heal, or improve stats. Keeping that baby high is so important that even when there’s bosses, you don’t want it to hit zero if you can avoid it. You need to be aggressive else you will not be able to even heal. For normal enemies, this can mean grouping them up with tickles before dishing out the big damage to finish them off, for bosses though, it’s a different story entirely.
Bosses come in two forms, if you distil it down. Human bosses require dodging, picking good times to get in damage bursts. They’re fast and small, so you’ve got to be smart. The bigger bosses have set patterns and usually affect the arena you’re fighting in. You’ve got to really pay attention else you’ll be dead quickly. More often that not, I died or twice to a boss before ‘getting it’ and finishing them off. Doesn’t make it any less rewarding.
This version of the game does a few things. One is that it puts it in people’s mind as a new release. Everyone one of these is a gateway drug but this one feels especially tantalising. Turbo mode allows you to increase your game speed up to 2x, which makes grinding (if you need to) a breeze. Adol is finally voiced, which is awesome. It’s also dual language, which is always nice to have the option of. The character art has also been redone, which again, can be set to the new or Classic style, a great option to have again.
Felghana isn’t an insanely long game. My first time through took just shy of 15 hours. But that’s not where the fun ends, no. There’s a bevvy of bonuses to unlock for beating bosses in New Game+, as well as new challenging difficulties. These are tough as molasses, so all the more power to you if you’re trying to beat them. Then there’s the Boss Rush mode, which again, is very fun but insanely difficult. This is a game that warms you up, then throws you into the mosh pit to be ground to a pulp.
It was good to return to Ys as a series. Doesn’t feel like long since the last one came out, which is why I think this one is launching. I told you, each entry is a gateway drug. For me, this is a game I loved back then and still love, so it’s an easy recommend. This is the best version of a great game. It’s got its flaws for sure, but that doesn’t stop it from being an action-packed rollicking good time.
Ys Memorie: The Oath In Felghana was reviewed on PS5 with a code kindly provided by Marvelous
