Operation Backlog Completion 2025
Dec 232024
 

When we talked about the Trails in the Sky remake, Ys X: Proud Nordics, and Memories of Celceta for the Switch on Friday, I figured we’d have Falcom news covered for a little while.

Little did I know that later that same day, a remaster of Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga would be announced for 2025, with a western release already confirmed.

Ys vs. Trails in the Sky is a fighting game originally released for the PSP only in Japan, featuring characters from the Ys and Trails games. It’s now being remastered for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC by publisher refint/games.

It will have remastered graphics, both local and online multiplayer, and an English dub.

And, like with the Crossbell games, the fan translation from Geofront has been licensed for this release.

One especially interesting thing about this is that Falcom is working with a variety of different publishers now. NISA is still handling the major new releases, but Aksys published the Switch version of Tokyo Xanadu, Xseed did Ys Memoire, GungHo has the Trails in the Sky remake, and now refint/games is here with Ys vs. Trails.

Now I’ve never been a big fan of fighting games, so I probably won’t end up playing this one. At the same time, however, I’m more tempted to try it than any other fighting game. So we’ll see. I certainly have plenty of games in both series to catch up on in the meantime.

Are you interested in Ys vs. Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga?

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?

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.