Marvelous Entertainment has announced that they’re bringing Ys: The Oath in Felghana, the 2005 remake of 1989’s Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, to console with Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana. Not only will this have the word “memoire” in the title to differentiate it, it will also contain some upgrades, even if you own the PC version.
Ys III: Wanderers from Ys was an interesting entry in the series since it used a sidescrolling perspective. This wasn’t super popular, so for Oath in Felghana, Nihon Falcom moved it back to (mostly) top-down. There was still some platforming. It was also followed in 2006 by Ys: Origin, a fantastic prequel that was actually my introduction to the series.
The trailer does a decent job of explaining some of the new features, but here’s the exact bulleted list from the press release outlining everything:
● Classic RPG Excitement Remastered: Experience the old-school action RPG combat the Ys series is known for, with added difficulty options and quality-of-life enhancements like “Turbo” mode, as you fight your way through a memorable fantasy world.
● Refined Visual Variety: Ys Memoire features all-new “Refined” character illustrations throughout the game, but players who want the original experience can switch to the “Classic” versions at a whim.
● A Silent Protagonist No Longer: Newly recorded voice acting for Adol Christin, including an opening narration that sets the stage for adventure, gives new depth and gravitas to the famous hero.
● A Sweeping Soundtrack Reborn: Well-regarded for its outstanding soundtrack, this version features three different iterations of the epic score (Original, PC-8801, and X68000) for players to choose from, all remastered in high-quality audio.
I want to point out that English voice acting was added to the PC version in 2020, so that isn’t exactly new. I also don’t know why that’s necessary since Adol has long been a silent protagonist, usually only having a few lines at the very most. But whatever.
Either way, it’s always nice to see a solid game get brushed off for a re-release. I’m not sure I ever finished the PC version, so I may have to give it another go. Speaking of which, I have to wonder if the PC version will be getting an update to bring it in line with Memoire. The release doesn’t say.
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is coming to Switch, PS4, and PS5 sometime in 2025. The Switch and PS5 versions will also be getting a physical release.
