Operation Backlog Completion 2024

Ys Memoire: The Oath of Felghana Coming Next Year

 Video games  No Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Jul 032024
 

When we discussed the upcoming Anime Expo announcements, I mentioned that Xseed had a secret title to be announced ahead of time.

That game turned out to be Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, which will be coming west for Switch, PS4, and PS5 sometime next year.

This… was not a huge shock, because on Sunday Xseed accidentally sent out a tweet meant for after Anime Expo, which showed The Oath in Felghana in place of the secret title placeholder. But whether you saw the accidental tweet, learned about it from the official announcement, or just found out right now, this is exciting news!

Since the Ys titles can get a little confusing, here’s a quick explanation. In 1989, Ys III: Wanderers from Ys was released. It was remade in 2005 as Ys: The Oath in Felghana, which was ported to the PSP in 2010 and then localized for both PC and PSP. In 2023, it was remastered for the Nintendo Switch as Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, and that remaster was brought to the PS4 and PS5 earlier this year.

That is the version we’re talking about today – the remaster of the remake of the third Ys game.

According to the official website, it features quality of life improvements, remastered visuals and audio with the option to switch to the classic illustrations or between different versions of the soundtrack, and voice acting for Adol for the first time.

They also announced the “Refined Edition” (pictured above), which includes the game, a soundtrack, a postcard set, a microfiber cloth, and an acrylic keychain diorama set. Preorders have already opened for just $59.99, so I’m pretty tempted.

Ys is one of those series I’ve been slooowly getting into, so I’m not ready to play this one yet. Nevertheless, it’s great to see this remaster coming west (which also opens the door for other Xseed-published Falcom games to still appear despite NISA handling most of the new localizations now). I look forward to getting there eventually!

Are you interested in Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana?

Ys X Coming West This Fall

 Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Feb 162024
 

This year’s shorter Celebrating All Things Romantic event is at an end, the contest winners have been contacted, and now we have some news to catch up on.

Earlier this week, NIS America announced that Ys X: Nordics will be coming west this fall for Switch, PS4, PS5, and PC, with both English and French translations.

A Limited Edition will also be available, although preorders aren’t up yet.

We talked about Ys X when it was first announced over a year ago, and I’m even more excited for it now than I was then. It looks great!

I’m a little surprised NISA announced this on a random day instead of saving it for a showcase, but maybe they have other things in store.

My history with the Ys series has been odd. I started with Ys I, came back six years later to restart it and finally finish, and then played Ys IX. I keep intending to play Ys II, but who knows if I’ll have gotten there by the time Ys X comes out. Either way, I’m looking forward to it!

Are you interested in Ys X?

Also, how did you feel about Celebrating All Things Romantic 2024 only running until the 14th? I thought it worked out well, but I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox – Exploring a Cursed City

 Reviews, Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Jan 132023
 

This morning, I finally finished Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, which I started last year but put on hold for a while.

This is only the second Ys game I’ve played, which I regret in some ways because I could tell certain moments were meant to be callbacks to previous entries, but it was still an enjoyable and largely standalone story.

Ys IX sees adventurer Adol Christin arriving at the prison city of Balduq, where he is immediately arrested. While trying to escape the prison, a strange encounter leads to him becoming a Monstrum, someone with supernatural powers bound to the city of Balduq to fight in the monster-infested alternate world of the Grimwald Nox.

What this means from a gameplay perspective is that you have a bunch of special abilities to help you explore the city. Adol can now zip to special vantage points, and as more party members join you, you gain additional Monstrum skills, such as running up walls and gliding. The Monstrum curse keeps you confined to certain areas at first, but as you complete quests and fight enemies in the city, you’re able to break these barriers.

This was probably my favorite part of Ys IX. I loved being able to explore more of the city each time I gained a new ability, and gradually opening up new sectors kept it from feeling too overwhelming. The city is also filled with collectibles, making its exploration remind me a bit of the 3D platformers I love.

Meanwhile, the weakest link is the Grimwald Nox. A cursed alternate dimension under a blood-red moon sounds fantastic, but in practice it just means you fight waves of enemies while defending a giant crystal. These sections can be fun, since your entire party participates while other allies lend support, but I would have much preferred being able to actually explore the Grimwald Nox realm.

Between the curse and the Grimwald Nox itself, though, this aspect of the story lends almost a gothic horror flavor to some parts, which I appreciated.

The story is interesting enough, with an element of mystery that had me curious for quite a while about what was actually going on, and the characters are likeable. There are plenty of NPCs throughout the city whose dialogue changes as the game progresses, as well.

Overall, I enjoyed playing Ys IX: Monstrum Nox. I’m looking forward to learning more about the recently-announced Ys X, and maybe I’ll have even caught up a bit more on the series by then!

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