Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is one of those few games that feels truly timeless, a superb action RPG that strips away all the fluff for a laser-focused adventure that feels like a roller coaster. The Ys franchise has proven to be one of the most enduring franchises out there, and Oath in Felghana is still one of its very best games — now even better with some smart changes and updates made in this remaster.
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is in a bit of a weird spot, as it’s already a remake of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys — originally released in Japan on PC in 1990. The remake was released on PSP in 2010, and now this “Memoire” version is an updated remaster of that. It’s a tangled web.
Memoire is essentially the same game you can play on PSP but updated with some key changes, chief of which, as you’d expect, is improved graphics and frame rate. But there are a host of other changes, including updated character portraits, more voice acting for the main character, three different versions of the soundtrack to choose from, a “turbo” mode, and more.
“There’s almost no downtime in Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, no moment where you don’t feel engaged with both the story and the action happening.”
By and large none of these are game-changing additions, but rather small refinements that make Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana look and feel better than ever — and undoubtedly secure its spot as one of the best action RPGs of all time.
In Oath in Felghana, like all Ys games, you play as red-haired adventurer Adol Christin. Each Ys game takes place at a different point in Adol’s life, serving as a kind of travelogue of his experiences that would turn him into the world’s most renowned adventurer. This time around Adol journeys to the home of his best friend and travelling companion Dogi, only to find it under siege by hordes of monsters and under the thumb of a despotic ruler — with a dormant volcano waking up again to boot. Basically, things are bad.
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana nearly perfectly captures the essence of adventure, with its focus on speedy combat, dungeon exploration, and character storytelling. It’s a game that’ll only take you 20-30 hours, but every single hour of that experience feels meaningful.
The story moves at a brusque pace but is filled with well-written characters, from the conflicted warrior Chester to the loud and brusque innkeeper Margo. Oath in Felghana is a story about the people that live there, them breaking the chains of their despotic rulers with the help of Adol — mixed with a bit of supernatural shenanigans.
“Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana nearly perfectly captures the essence of adventure…”
But the breathless pacing of the story is supported by the game’s phenomenal combat, and even more exceptional boss battles. Oath in Felghana gives you a handful of basic attacks to use then layers in different magic spells and abilities, all of which help it play even faster. You’ll be able to blitz your way through every dungeon, and that’s the point. There’s a fair bit of challenge, especially on higher difficulties, but battles are over in a matter of seconds, and it never stops being thrilling.
By comparison, boss battles are epic affairs that each have highly unique mechanics you need to learn and take advantage of. In one, you need to jump over a boss’ disc-based attacks while peppering them with your own ranged blasts. In another, you need to constantly dodge homing missiles while finding just the right windows to launch your own attacks. Each boss feels like a huge affair that doesn’t just provide unique gameplay, but pushes forward the story’s momentum too. There’s almost no downtime in Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, no moment where you don’t feel engaged with both the story and the action happening.
YS Memoire only helps accentuate those strengths of the game, tightens up the visual performance and makes the rocking soundtrack go even harder. It’s a remaster that doesn’t redefine the game, but it truthfully didn’t need to. Oath in Felghana already stakes its claim among the all-time greats, and this just helps give it that little extra edge.
