Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana Review – A Classic Reborn

Despite being one of the longest-running JRPG series still active today, Falcom's Ys series started seeing some measure of success only recently, but this wasn't caused by an increase in the quality of newer entries in the series over the older ones, as Adol's adventures have always been extremely fun to play through and generally well-received by the dedicated fan base, with only a few exceptions. One of these exceptions is the third entry in the series, Wanderers from Ys, a game that wasn't as well received as the first two entries in the series due to the fact that it did away with the fast-paced top-down experience, replacing it with a side-scrolling experience similar to Zelda II which left something to be desired. As such, no one was surprised to see the original eventually getting completely remade with Ys: The Oath in Felghana, a well-realized remake that surpassed not only the original but almost every other entry in the series. Twenty years after the remake's original release, Western audiences on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch can now enjoy an enhanced version of the game with Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, which stands out as the definitive edition of the classic action role-playing game by Falcom.

The core features that made up the Ys: Oath in Felghana experience haven't changed much in Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, such as the story. Following their adventures in Esteria and Ys, the renowned red-haired adventurer Adol Christin and his new friend Dogi journey to Felghana, a region that has changed a lot since Dogi left his hometown of Redmont eight years prior. Everything that could go wrong is seemingly doing so, as the region is beset by monsters, a once dormant volcano has become active again, and the lord of the land is vexing the population and extorting money from them, with the apparent involvement of Dogi's childhood friend Chester. Not capable of turning the other way, Adol decides to help the people of Felghana and his friend Dogi, eventually discovering that there is much more at work than some tyrannical lord out to take money from the poor people he was supposed to guide and protect.

Those who got into the series only recently with games like Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana, Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, or Ys X: Nordics may find this story a little on the straightforward side, lacking a huge cast of well-developed characters or plot twists, but in more than a few ways, playing Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana in 2025 feels quite refreshing, as the game does its absolute best to keep players into the action, keeping the story elements to the minimum. This is not to say that the story is in any way bad. The contrary, actually: the sense of adventure that permeates the series is in full show here, just in a more condensed form that serves the experience in the best of ways.

Much like for the story and characters, playing Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana for the first time after experiencing more recent entries in the series may feel at first like taking a few steps back, as the experience is considerably more straightforward than in pretty much every game that came after the 2005 original. There are no multiple playable characters nor deep character customization here, only Adol, his sword, and the three special elemental attacks obtained during the course of the adventure that add a little complexity to the intense but basic hack-and-slash combat system together with Boost Mode, which can be used to temporarily power-up Adol once a specific meter is full. While combat doesn't evolve much during the course of the game, it doesn't overstay its welcome with its short 12-hour duration, the clever enemy design and the fast pace of the action make it enjoyable for the whole length of the game. As usual for the entire series, boss battles are among the highlights of the experience which push the limits of the combat system and player's skill to the maximum, even at lower difficulty settings.

While combat is a clear previous iteration of mechanics that are still present in the latest entries in the series, Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana feels like a markedly different game from titles like Lacrimosa of Dana or Nordics when it comes to exploration. Instead of featuring a variety of bigger locations that provide plenty of opportunities to stray off the beaten path in search of secrets, The Oath in Felghana is a much more compact and linear experience, as players don't get the opportunity to roam around almost freely, as each location is explored only when the story dictates. There are still plenty of secrets and alternate paths to find, but most definitely not in the same way as the latest entries in the series. What makes traversal nonetheless enjoyable are the platform game mechanics, which require a little bit of skill from the player in using certain abilities to reach normally inaccessible areas and so on. If you have played Ys VI: Ark of Napishtim or Ys Origins, you will find yourself right at home in this regard, as Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana employs similar mechanics.

While those who have played through the original PSP release will find a very familiar experience, there are some new additions and quality-of-life improvements that enhance the experience, some lifted from the PC release, others completely new. For example, at the Very Easy difficulty, it is possible to completely skip the Clock Tower segment, which is among the most challenging of the game, if not the most challenging. Turbo Mode is both a quality-of-life improvement and a feature that can up the challenge, as it speeds up the whole game and can make Inferno difficulty even more challenging. Rounding up the new additions are new narrated sequences that better tie the game with the rest of the series, making it feel more like a page in Adol's chronicles like more recent games, newly recorded voice acting for Adol, high-quality character illustrations, which can be switched with the original versions at any time, and enhanced visuals sporting higher quality textures and sprites. These visual improvements, however, are minor and are essentially a resolution bump, so if you already have played the PC version of the game, you shouldn't expect Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana to look any better. Nor sound any better, as the game features three soundtrack options (Original, PC-8801, X68000), which were included in previous versions of the game. Still, it is a great soundtrack featuring some blood-pumping pieces that go extremely well with the game's no-holding-back fast pace.

At the end of the day, Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana was mostly meant to free the original game from the PSP prison it was stuck in, regarding consoles, while offering a bunch of new features and enhancements to make it more enticing, and in this regard, the game definitely doesn't disappointing. Those looking for some old-school Ys action will be quite happy to return to Felghana with Adol and Dogi, while those who never had the chance to play the game will find a fast-paced adventure that does not disappointing.

PlayStation 5 version tested. Review code provided by the publisher.

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