Ys: The Oath in Felghana Review

The Ys series has been one of the longest running action RPG series, and it manages to bring fans back with remakes made by Nihom Falcom themselves. With the recent partnership of XSEED and Nihom Falcom, Ys fans can expect all games that were released in Japan to arrive in North America as well. Following the release of Ys Seven a couple of months ago, XSEED is up for another Ys just before the year ends with Ys: The Oath in Felghana, which is the remake of the popular Ys III: The Wanderer.

In addition to the PSP remake of Ys III, a PC version was also made available but it was only released in Japan. Remakes should improve on their predecessors, so just how good did Nihom Falcom remake the classic Ys III? Let’s take a look at the HOTs and NOTs.

HOT

Beautiful Presentation
The presentation is one of the biggest improvements in Ys: Oath in Felghana. Everything from the sprites to the environments of the game look phenomenal. The 3D sprites are very detailed and as the characters speak with one another, a display becomes available showing their emotions. To make the story more believable, a strong cast of voice actors did a good job in bringing life to Adol Christin, Dogi and the rest of the characters in Felghana. Players can expect the majority of the scenes in the game to feature dubbed voice acting. Unfortunately, there is no Japanese audio track to be found in this remake.

Story
A nice way to make the story more engaging is equipping it with phenomenal voice acting, and Nihom Falcom and XSEED have done a good job in this department. In Ys: Oath in Felghana, players will begin an adventure with Dogi in his homeland in Felghana. As soon as both characters arrive on the Island, they notice that something is amiss. Monsters start popping up and political organization might be involved in what has been going on. Adol and Dogi will solve these problems and restore Felghana back to its former glory! Compared to the story of Ys Seven, Oath in Felghana has a more engaging storyline.

Fast Paced Battle System
Ys has been known for its fast paced hack-and-slash battle system. When it comes to the hack-and-slash game genre, players tend to get bored with games that are too repetitive. Although the battle system in Ys: Oath in Felghana can get a little bit boring, it is also very addictive due to the seven combo strikes that Adol can perform. While the player is in the midst of a battle, there will be no items that can replenish Adol’s health bar. Every downed enemy that Adol kills will either drop an elixir that restores health or a multiplier that increases experience points, strength, defense, and MP. Players must remember that the multiplier will not drop unless Adol is attacking an enemy.

Epic Boss Battles
Ys: Oath in Felghana offers epic boss battles that players will never forget. At every dungeon the player ventures into, they can expect at least two battles before getting out from the dungeon alive. From the big snake fire-breathing dragon to a goddess statue, players must learn the tricks of taking down the bosses, as it’s the only key in winning the battle

Impressive Audio Track
In addition to the phenomenal presentation and voice acting that the game has to offer, Ys: Oath in Felghana will also give players a nice audio track to listen to. While the player is in the middle of a boss fight, an awesome beat and tune can make the player pumped up and motivated in taking that boss down. Ys games have been known to include awesome soundtracks and with this remake, it never fails to please the fans. As an added bonus for the remake version, the player can choose from either listening to the old track or the revamped one.

Play on Nightmare Difficulty and More
There are a lot of added extras in Ys: Oath of Felghana. Upon completing the game, players are able to view all of the animated cutscenes via the Museum section in the main menu of the game. There is also a prologue novel that a player can read and learn more about Adol and Dogi’s adventure right before they venture into Felghana. A Nightmare difficulty is also available for anyone seeking a very hard difficulty setting for their next play through. While the extra things are not that interesting, they sure are worth it for hardcore Ys fans.

NOT

A Short Game w/ no Replay Value
For fans seeking a lengthy adventure similar to Ys Seven, prepare to be disappointed as the game will only take about 10 hours to complete under the normal difficulty. There are only a few dungeons that players will be going into but each of them is big and labyrinthine. Following the conclusion of the game, players will have no reason to go back and play the game unless they want to go through the game on a much harder difficulty setting.

VERDICT

Compared to Ys Seven, Oath in Felghana is the remake every Ys fans has been waiting for. The compelling storyline and fantastic voice acting are the two things that makes the game an instant buy for fans of the action-RPG genre. While the hack and slash battle system can get a tad boring, expect to get addicted to the fantastic leveling up where multipliers can be earned. Overall, it’s definitely worth picking up if you’re seeking a quality PSP game.

[Editor’s Note:Ys: The Oath in Felghana was reviewed on a PSP platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher.]