Ys Memoire Frustrates Me

My thoughts on Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana

January’s been a dry month for gaming. There haven’t been too many high-profile releases this month, with one notable exception. At least, for me it is. That would be Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana from Falcom.

Memoire is a high-definition remaster of 2005’s The Oath in Felghana, itself a remake of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys. This entry finds Adol Christin and his friend Dogi traveling to Felghana, Dogi’s homeland. Felghana suffers under Count McGuire, whose authoritarian rule has made the region unstable. Christin soon becomes involved in the region’s conflicts, facing an unsuspecting foe and chaos.

Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is the third Ys game I’ve played, following Ys X: Nordics and Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. Yet, it’s the most unique of the three I’ve played thus far. Adol has a simpler moveset than in the newer games, and less controls as a result. Unlike the ambitious escapades Adol encounters later on, The Oath in Felghana takes a more grounded approach. There’s fewer unique locations in Felghana, and less surprise encounters. There’s also less side quests, with the focus being on the game’s main quest. Of the three I’ve played, The Oath in Felghana is the shortest.

It’s also the most frustrating. For me, at least.

As a modern-day Ys player, and RPG player in general, this game frustrates the hell out of me. It’s not a difficult game by any means, but it can annoy those unfamiliar with classic RPGs like myself. And for most cases, it involves the game’s enemies and their difficulty spikes. Some monsters can overwhelm Adol quickly, such as Mozgouz. These enemies are weak to whirlwinds, possible only while equipping a special accessory. Yet, they’re encountered before obtaining the accessory required to use whirlwinds. Mozgouz will engulf Adol otherwise, so your only option is to run. You can try using your sword, but it won’t be enough.

The Ventus Bracelet is the Mozgouz’s only weakness. Without it, they’ll devour Adol.

Then there’s midair enemies. The problem? They’re in midair. There’s nothing particularly unique or noteworthy about them otherwise. Especially considering I can’t even name a specific airborne enemy — they’re all menaces. Attacking airborne enemies is difficult due to the game’s fixed camera perspective. It’s annoying trying to land hits as they bob and weave around your attacks.

And sometimes, enemies are just plain unfair. The boss fights can be the most unfair though. If you’re not patient, you will die. And you’ll continue to die over and over if you don’t learn their attack patterns. I can’t stress how many times I’ve fought the same bosses over and over because I’m too overzealous. But even then, Adol is squishy. It doesn’t take a lot to take him out. Even on normal difficulty, it feels like I’m fighting for my life. But to that matter, the game is pretty merciful on repeated attempts. You can retry immediately after falling. The game even taunts you with the option to retry on an easier difficulty. I won’t lie — I took the offer many times, even though it didn’t feel as substantial of a difficulty drop.

There’s one other factor affecting the game’s difficulty, and that’s healing. In recent Ys games, Adol can heal by standing still while out in the field. Otherwise, there are items and potions you can craft, such as in Ys X: Nordics. In The Oath in Felghana, your only healing methods early on are travel monuments and enemy herb drops. You’ll need a special cape to heal while still, and that’s not obtainable until later in the game. So if you’re low on health, you’re risking a game over in order to heal Adol — unless there’s a travel monument nearby. These will heal Adol in an instant, while also acting as save points. There’s plenty throughout Felghana’s dungeons, and are necessary for traveling to certain areas.

Dungeons can be confusing to navigate due to its lack of noteworthy landmarks. The game’s visuals also play a role in this, with some areas looking like others. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for an action-adventure RPG. Exploration is a key element of Ys games, after all. If anything, it means there’s always new things to discover. It would be a fine trade-off if it wasn’t so easy to get lost. There are plenty of times where I yearn for a map such as the ones present in the Metroid or Castlevania series, and since not every area is accessible at the start, you’re pretty much expected to backtrack at some point. Some areas require Adol to glide or slam into walls to progress. Those abilities work well in boss fights too, with some acting as guides for using them.

Dogi’s voice acting makes lines like this more enjoyable.

The Oath in Felghana is an old game. Twenty-years old, in fact. And if we’re factoring in the game’s original version, it’s older than me. If there’s one thing I can take away from this, it’s that Falcom has made Ys more accessible for newcomers. I can also admit that I’m bad at older games (trust me, there are worse cases than this one.) But when it all comes down to it, Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is still a pretty good game. The quality-of-life improvements, though minor, do add some modern flair to a retro game. The dialogue hits harder with the new voice acting, especially Dogi’s. And being able to switch between modern and classic portraits is a nice touch as well. You can even switch between different generations of the game’s soundtrack. The only feature I rarely use is the new turbo mode. The game already feels well-paced, so I guess I just found it unnecessary.

Visually, The Oath in Felghana still holds up fairly well.

Ys Memoire lacks most features the current games have that make them more enjoyable for me. I’m not fond of most of the game’s mechanics — or lack thereof. At least compared to other games. But to its favor, Ys Memoire doesn’t overload you with new mechanics when it doesn’t need to. And it preserves the game’s difficulty as a result. So long as you master what the game provides you, you’ll be fine.

Though it hasn’t been easy for me, It’s still well worth the opportunity. I’ve been a slow adopter of Falcom’s games, but I’ve enjoyed nearly every one I’ve played. Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana isn’t the prettiest or easiest of RPGs, but it’s better than nothing at all.