Ys: The Oath in Felghana (PC, 2005/2012)
Graphics-7 Sound-8.5/7* Control-7.5 Challenge-7.5 Story-6
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality-5
Overall Score-7
*See the OST comments
+
Sometimes interactive dialogue (can ask about a few predefined subjects and sometimes asking about one thing unlocks a new subject - not interactive on the same level as western RPGs or Adventure games)
Boost mode (kinda similar to intenso mode in Guacamelee and a variation of the special sword attacks in the prequel; temporarily take half damage and have no interruptions or knockback+do more damage and hit faster (up to 10 hits in a row)). Its duration can be increased later on by getting the talisman of war
Start with a 6-hit attack combo (you just mash one button though, can't increase it later) - 9 including the lunge attack you can perform before starting one which hits several times. Can turn around mid-combo and continue it.
Jumping with up- and downstab attacks return
Pretty fast paced action
Some new consumable combat items (temporary enemy freeze, temporary shield - 3 hits)
Sub weapon/magic attacks return (Ys II) - you also gain upgrades which power them up+add charge attack versions (Ys II or Ys II Complete had charge attack versions)
Decent-Pretty good VA overall (not Margo and Ricardo) and the main quest dialogue is fully voiced
Pretty fast MP regen, Lightning fast saving
Difficulty options (very easy-inferno (two steps above hard))
Upgradeable equipment using ore and gold at the smithy in the first town (Ark of Napishtim except the ore is found in chests or through finishing quests here)
Bestiary including an NPC encyclopedia
64 save slots (location, time, stats)
Retry option when dying to a boss (can't use it before defeat however)
Gain the ability to teleport between all visited save points after the third dungeon (wing item)
Some minor puzzles (switches, platforming puzzles; still a very combat focused game with various forced encounters). Some decent spatial awareness puzzles
Max HP upgrade items (found or bought) - they only add 3 HP though
More fleshed out world and characters
Pretty good bosses overall (good overall pattern variety, several new ones compared to Ys III) and some very good ones (abandoned mines, death faleon and the dog in the castle, garland, final boss besides it being too drawn out)
New enemies sometimes appear when backtracking (zone of lava, color swapped enemies in the overworld, valestein castle, overworld after the reveal)
Some optional side quests (boy escort (missable) and elena escort - decent except you can't give them orders and there's no reward for the elena one, treasure hunt - meh, item trade sequence - decent)
Pretty good intro (some artwork stills thrown in) and ending
New armor shows on your avatar again (Diablo, Faxanadu, Hydlide III, Ys III, Baldur's Gate to an extent) - changes when you equip both the armor and shield for a set
Some interesting abilities (double jump also increases your chance of stunning an enemy with a downstab)
Can knock some enemies down pits
Good hazard/gimmicks variety in the castle
In-game epilogue (Toejam & Earl)
Some sequence breaking possibilities (faux double jump/long jump trick)
+/-
Mostly linear structure (can only go to the quarry dungeon early on (can't apply to become a knight or reach the mountains nor the ruins) and to the other dungeons in a set order, can do some side quests in-between the main quests, can go to the mountains before finishing the abandoned mine (you get the double jump here pretty quickly) but it's gonna be very tough due to the harsh level gating, linear dungeons overall)
Some backtracking into previously visited dungeons to progress or (using gained traversal abilities) for optional goodies
Some movement abilities (glide jump/hover jump via the ventus bracelet's whirlwind attack (zone of lava), double jump, dash ability via the brocia serum (found in zone of lava) - essentially a movement speed upgrade and you can have it be always on, tackle move which lets you break cracked walls and certain boulders+attack enemies+block/dodge most attacks (earth charge), iron boots to climb slippery slopes+not slide around in the mountains)
Some 2.5D segments
Save points which also heal you (pretty frequent but considering how quickly you can die at times it can be a bit more frustrating to play than some earlier games where you could save anywhere outside of boss battles)
Automatically lunge forward when attacking in mid-air - can be used to dodge or move a bit faster
Basically a remake/retelling of Ys III
Text+images pop-up movement tutorial during the intro gameplay
Silent protagonist (game shifts to a narrator's voice briefly summarizing what he's saying which is just kind of awkward and feels lazy)
Enemy drops disappear after 8-9 seconds
No block, backdash or dodge roll moves (late game enemies can block and backdash) but can use the tackle attack to block - this has an annoying movement delay after using it though
Can't access the menu during a boss fight
Some techno-fied music tracks (doesn't quite fit the setting)
Frequent enemy respawning (as soon as you exit the room/sub area)
Gain more exp from beating a boss at a lower level
Can switch to the PC-88 or X68K OSTs but they sound kinda tinny/thin here
Some gore
No HP regen until you find the spirit cape here (late game item) and it takes about 5 seconds to kick in+you have to stand still meaning you can't use it vs bosses
Two dungeons in a row at one point
Can't change the camera angle (sometimes changes angles automatically to show more of a certain area)
Can't escape main boss fights
Some regular enemy attacks take priority over the lunge attack or attack combo if not in boost mode
Vague overworld map (shows you general location as well as the main roads and locations; see Ark of Napishtim)
Can't double or glide jump in town
Boost mode fills up without actually hitting enemies so it doesn't encourage aggressive play like in Ark of Napishtim, Guacamelee or Hollow Knight
Two optional bosses but getting to them is too much of a hassle and they're only fought in time attack mode (first can be fought by completing the Boss Rush on Time Attack Mode successfully on any difficulty, second by beating the entire game once on Inferno mode (the extra battle will be unlocked in Time Attack Mode))
Limited inventory (3 of each consumable)
No dash jump (could've been made easier to use instead of removing it but then again the tackle basically replaces it)
Higher level cap than usual (60; getting above 50 or so is tedious though)
-
The second nun fight (long invincibility periods+the shoutout for one of the sword attacks happens too late, too luck-based (some combinations of sword attacks are much harder to dodge and it's the same with the clone spawning pattern at times) and having two different shoutouts for the same sword attack is confusing, can lose half your health bar to the clones in one wave of projectiles). Apparently there is a semi-safe spot from the sword attacks in the center south (right above the path to the arena) but if you're unlucky with the pattern (two spreads in a row) it won't work
Some control/interface issues (no in-game button config and the external one didn't work for me (menu is mapped to R3 and jump to circle on a PS controller ) - have to use joytokey?, no alternate way of performing a lunge attack - the timing is a bit odd (see the prequel), no journal/quest log feature, no dungeon maps - also can't place map markers at points of interest, fall off a platform if you attack near its edge, almost no invincibility time after taking a hit - means you can get pummeled for about half your HP in the second nun fight or quickly taken out by the bug swarms for example, no unique button for quick access to the overworld map, pretty easy to accidentally downstab after using an air attack as a dodge - bad vs chester, can't jump cancel out of a combo - bad since there's no block or other dodge move than the jump attack until you get the tackle magic (which has a movement delay after using it), no jump height control - generally not a problem though, somewhat unforgiving hit detection for mid-air enemies)
Some tedious aspects (still can't sell gear, no wing/teleport item until after zone of lava - leads to backtracking to town early on (the original Ys III used a hub map system instead), single coin drops even a few dungeons into the game, overly expensive revival item - could've scaled according to your level, the consumable combat items DOUBLE in price with each buy (not the case on PSP but weirdly the max HP increase elixirs do double in price there but not in this version) - I thought this town needed more business?, game keeps dropping items you can't use/have a full stock of such as herbs instead of something you could use like money or stat boosts (could've let you carry some herbs with you or changed the drops), some backtracking in the dungeons - oftentimes no new enemies or hazards appear, no item drop magnet - dropped items scatter a bit which breaks flow, can't buy healing items nor can you use them during boss fights anyway, some unavoidable damage - robot centaur (instant hit shot attacks)+some chester 2 attacks unless you're circle strafing and keeping your distance while waiting for an opening (which is tedious) since you can't side dodge in mid-air nor jump cancel, some dead space - around the first boss of zone of lava for example, having to retread your steps pretty far after falling down at some points - ice cave & clock tower, have to rewatch some pre-boss dialogue scenes even after reloading after failing at the bosses (to go back and level up/upgrade), )
Kind of longwinded dialogue and the style is at times out of place for the setting ("well that sucks" - dogi)
Trial & error (boss patterns (some attacks aren't signalled, dodging the first lava zone dragon boss, confusing cutscene-like attack during garland fight - you're supposed to avoid getting sucked in here and for some reason combos work better than jump attacking, ice floor attack by the final boss, etc), where to go after the mines - have to talk to the nun then either talk to everyone else in town or re-enter the town to trigger a scene in the church about the priest, bug swarm in lava dungeon (can surround you+they don't drop health) - can cheese them with fire spells from afar however, some cheap attacks by the second lava zone boss, the ore behind the counter during the treasure hunt mini-game, finding a save point past the midpoint of the mountain area, the falling segment during the blue dragon boss fight - interesting idea as you can use the glide jump here but poor execution)
Sometimes uneven difficulty (spikes (without grinding which generally takes kinda long and/or backtracking for better equipment or upgrades in town): first mini-boss and main boss, second boss (chester first encounter), dragon bosses in lava zone, the undead warriors you can face after getting the terra bracelet, chester 2, nun 2 (genos island), final boss; dips: early areas up until the bugs in the quarry, blue dragon is pretty easy besides the falling segment, most of the castle)
Mostly non-interactive environments
Various invisible walls - even above the low railings in dungeons
Visually looks more like a late 32-bit era game with its pre-rendered models and kinda basic 3D environments (seems to use the same engine as The Ark of Napishtim)
Somewhat blurry visuals in some menus
Sometimes stupid enemy AI (some enemies get stuck on corners or walk into pits)
Pointless yes/no prompts during dialogue when taking on main questline quests+It doesn't matter at all to the story if you beat chester in both encounters with him
Pretty cliché story and one-sided characters overall (Chester is an exception but the twist is hard not to see coming)
Some plot oddities and annoying plot devices (why let dogi and the bishop go away after what happened last time and why let the latter confront Chester when you know what he's like?, why would berhardt not want to tell you about chester?, dogi and later on chester get taken out in a cutscene and you can't do anything despite standing there)
Can't switch to the PCE CD OST
Can't haggle at shops here (Ys 1)
The switch puzzles don't grow more complex later on
Sometimes subdued instrumentation in the remastered tracks
The final dungeon is a bit too straightforward and kind of easy
Unskippable staff roll and in-game cutscenes (dialogue scenes)
Easy mode is too easy (a rebalancing of Normal would be more interesting, also skips the succubi boss fight in the mountains)
Bugs:
-Have to use the "dx9" .exe file to consistently be able to make the double jump up to the mountain area
-Sometimes a voiced line keeps going except at very low volume after pressing the button to skip ahead
-Sometimes chester's charge stab doesn't hit you for seemingly no reason: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ3qEMEW3pM&t=20m46s
-Somewhat glitchy hit detection near certain walls and invisible walls makes adol float slowly downwards in mid-air if you hold down the jump button
-Sometimes very strange physics when near the slimes in the clock tower
-Crashed once during the second chester 2 fight
Level Design-7 Frustration-8 Fun-7 Originality-5
Overall Score-7
*See the OST comments
+
Sometimes interactive dialogue (can ask about a few predefined subjects and sometimes asking about one thing unlocks a new subject - not interactive on the same level as western RPGs or Adventure games)
Boost mode (kinda similar to intenso mode in Guacamelee and a variation of the special sword attacks in the prequel; temporarily take half damage and have no interruptions or knockback+do more damage and hit faster (up to 10 hits in a row)). Its duration can be increased later on by getting the talisman of war
Start with a 6-hit attack combo (you just mash one button though, can't increase it later) - 9 including the lunge attack you can perform before starting one which hits several times. Can turn around mid-combo and continue it.
Jumping with up- and downstab attacks return
Pretty fast paced action
Some new consumable combat items (temporary enemy freeze, temporary shield - 3 hits)
Sub weapon/magic attacks return (Ys II) - you also gain upgrades which power them up+add charge attack versions (Ys II or Ys II Complete had charge attack versions)
Decent-Pretty good VA overall (not Margo and Ricardo) and the main quest dialogue is fully voiced
Pretty fast MP regen, Lightning fast saving
Difficulty options (very easy-inferno (two steps above hard))
Upgradeable equipment using ore and gold at the smithy in the first town (Ark of Napishtim except the ore is found in chests or through finishing quests here)
Bestiary including an NPC encyclopedia
64 save slots (location, time, stats)
Retry option when dying to a boss (can't use it before defeat however)
Gain the ability to teleport between all visited save points after the third dungeon (wing item)
Some minor puzzles (switches, platforming puzzles; still a very combat focused game with various forced encounters). Some decent spatial awareness puzzles
Max HP upgrade items (found or bought) - they only add 3 HP though
More fleshed out world and characters
Pretty good bosses overall (good overall pattern variety, several new ones compared to Ys III) and some very good ones (abandoned mines, death faleon and the dog in the castle, garland, final boss besides it being too drawn out)
New enemies sometimes appear when backtracking (zone of lava, color swapped enemies in the overworld, valestein castle, overworld after the reveal)
Some optional side quests (boy escort (missable) and elena escort - decent except you can't give them orders and there's no reward for the elena one, treasure hunt - meh, item trade sequence - decent)
Pretty good intro (some artwork stills thrown in) and ending
New armor shows on your avatar again (Diablo, Faxanadu, Hydlide III, Ys III, Baldur's Gate to an extent) - changes when you equip both the armor and shield for a set
Some interesting abilities (double jump also increases your chance of stunning an enemy with a downstab)
Can knock some enemies down pits
Good hazard/gimmicks variety in the castle
In-game epilogue (Toejam & Earl)
Some sequence breaking possibilities (faux double jump/long jump trick)
+/-
Mostly linear structure (can only go to the quarry dungeon early on (can't apply to become a knight or reach the mountains nor the ruins) and to the other dungeons in a set order, can do some side quests in-between the main quests, can go to the mountains before finishing the abandoned mine (you get the double jump here pretty quickly) but it's gonna be very tough due to the harsh level gating, linear dungeons overall)
Some backtracking into previously visited dungeons to progress or (using gained traversal abilities) for optional goodies
Some movement abilities (glide jump/hover jump via the ventus bracelet's whirlwind attack (zone of lava), double jump, dash ability via the brocia serum (found in zone of lava) - essentially a movement speed upgrade and you can have it be always on, tackle move which lets you break cracked walls and certain boulders+attack enemies+block/dodge most attacks (earth charge), iron boots to climb slippery slopes+not slide around in the mountains)
Some 2.5D segments
Save points which also heal you (pretty frequent but considering how quickly you can die at times it can be a bit more frustrating to play than some earlier games where you could save anywhere outside of boss battles)
Automatically lunge forward when attacking in mid-air - can be used to dodge or move a bit faster
Basically a remake/retelling of Ys III
Text+images pop-up movement tutorial during the intro gameplay
Silent protagonist (game shifts to a narrator's voice briefly summarizing what he's saying which is just kind of awkward and feels lazy)
Enemy drops disappear after 8-9 seconds
No block, backdash or dodge roll moves (late game enemies can block and backdash) but can use the tackle attack to block - this has an annoying movement delay after using it though
Can't access the menu during a boss fight
Some techno-fied music tracks (doesn't quite fit the setting)
Frequent enemy respawning (as soon as you exit the room/sub area)
Gain more exp from beating a boss at a lower level
Can switch to the PC-88 or X68K OSTs but they sound kinda tinny/thin here
Some gore
No HP regen until you find the spirit cape here (late game item) and it takes about 5 seconds to kick in+you have to stand still meaning you can't use it vs bosses
Two dungeons in a row at one point
Can't change the camera angle (sometimes changes angles automatically to show more of a certain area)
Can't escape main boss fights
Some regular enemy attacks take priority over the lunge attack or attack combo if not in boost mode
Vague overworld map (shows you general location as well as the main roads and locations; see Ark of Napishtim)
Can't double or glide jump in town
Boost mode fills up without actually hitting enemies so it doesn't encourage aggressive play like in Ark of Napishtim, Guacamelee or Hollow Knight
Two optional bosses but getting to them is too much of a hassle and they're only fought in time attack mode (first can be fought by completing the Boss Rush on Time Attack Mode successfully on any difficulty, second by beating the entire game once on Inferno mode (the extra battle will be unlocked in Time Attack Mode))
Limited inventory (3 of each consumable)
No dash jump (could've been made easier to use instead of removing it but then again the tackle basically replaces it)
Higher level cap than usual (60; getting above 50 or so is tedious though)
-
The second nun fight (long invincibility periods+the shoutout for one of the sword attacks happens too late, too luck-based (some combinations of sword attacks are much harder to dodge and it's the same with the clone spawning pattern at times) and having two different shoutouts for the same sword attack is confusing, can lose half your health bar to the clones in one wave of projectiles). Apparently there is a semi-safe spot from the sword attacks in the center south (right above the path to the arena) but if you're unlucky with the pattern (two spreads in a row) it won't work
Some control/interface issues (no in-game button config and the external one didn't work for me (menu is mapped to R3 and jump to circle on a PS controller ) - have to use joytokey?, no alternate way of performing a lunge attack - the timing is a bit odd (see the prequel), no journal/quest log feature, no dungeon maps - also can't place map markers at points of interest, fall off a platform if you attack near its edge, almost no invincibility time after taking a hit - means you can get pummeled for about half your HP in the second nun fight or quickly taken out by the bug swarms for example, no unique button for quick access to the overworld map, pretty easy to accidentally downstab after using an air attack as a dodge - bad vs chester, can't jump cancel out of a combo - bad since there's no block or other dodge move than the jump attack until you get the tackle magic (which has a movement delay after using it), no jump height control - generally not a problem though, somewhat unforgiving hit detection for mid-air enemies)
Some tedious aspects (still can't sell gear, no wing/teleport item until after zone of lava - leads to backtracking to town early on (the original Ys III used a hub map system instead), single coin drops even a few dungeons into the game, overly expensive revival item - could've scaled according to your level, the consumable combat items DOUBLE in price with each buy (not the case on PSP but weirdly the max HP increase elixirs do double in price there but not in this version) - I thought this town needed more business?, game keeps dropping items you can't use/have a full stock of such as herbs instead of something you could use like money or stat boosts (could've let you carry some herbs with you or changed the drops), some backtracking in the dungeons - oftentimes no new enemies or hazards appear, no item drop magnet - dropped items scatter a bit which breaks flow, can't buy healing items nor can you use them during boss fights anyway, some unavoidable damage - robot centaur (instant hit shot attacks)+some chester 2 attacks unless you're circle strafing and keeping your distance while waiting for an opening (which is tedious) since you can't side dodge in mid-air nor jump cancel, some dead space - around the first boss of zone of lava for example, having to retread your steps pretty far after falling down at some points - ice cave & clock tower, have to rewatch some pre-boss dialogue scenes even after reloading after failing at the bosses (to go back and level up/upgrade), )
Kind of longwinded dialogue and the style is at times out of place for the setting ("well that sucks" - dogi)
Trial & error (boss patterns (some attacks aren't signalled, dodging the first lava zone dragon boss, confusing cutscene-like attack during garland fight - you're supposed to avoid getting sucked in here and for some reason combos work better than jump attacking, ice floor attack by the final boss, etc), where to go after the mines - have to talk to the nun then either talk to everyone else in town or re-enter the town to trigger a scene in the church about the priest, bug swarm in lava dungeon (can surround you+they don't drop health) - can cheese them with fire spells from afar however, some cheap attacks by the second lava zone boss, the ore behind the counter during the treasure hunt mini-game, finding a save point past the midpoint of the mountain area, the falling segment during the blue dragon boss fight - interesting idea as you can use the glide jump here but poor execution)
Sometimes uneven difficulty (spikes (without grinding which generally takes kinda long and/or backtracking for better equipment or upgrades in town): first mini-boss and main boss, second boss (chester first encounter), dragon bosses in lava zone, the undead warriors you can face after getting the terra bracelet, chester 2, nun 2 (genos island), final boss; dips: early areas up until the bugs in the quarry, blue dragon is pretty easy besides the falling segment, most of the castle)
Mostly non-interactive environments
Various invisible walls - even above the low railings in dungeons
Visually looks more like a late 32-bit era game with its pre-rendered models and kinda basic 3D environments (seems to use the same engine as The Ark of Napishtim)
Somewhat blurry visuals in some menus
Sometimes stupid enemy AI (some enemies get stuck on corners or walk into pits)
Pointless yes/no prompts during dialogue when taking on main questline quests+It doesn't matter at all to the story if you beat chester in both encounters with him
Pretty cliché story and one-sided characters overall (Chester is an exception but the twist is hard not to see coming)
Some plot oddities and annoying plot devices (why let dogi and the bishop go away after what happened last time and why let the latter confront Chester when you know what he's like?, why would berhardt not want to tell you about chester?, dogi and later on chester get taken out in a cutscene and you can't do anything despite standing there)
Can't switch to the PCE CD OST
Can't haggle at shops here (Ys 1)
The switch puzzles don't grow more complex later on
Sometimes subdued instrumentation in the remastered tracks
The final dungeon is a bit too straightforward and kind of easy
Unskippable staff roll and in-game cutscenes (dialogue scenes)
Easy mode is too easy (a rebalancing of Normal would be more interesting, also skips the succubi boss fight in the mountains)
Bugs:
-Have to use the "dx9" .exe file to consistently be able to make the double jump up to the mountain area
-Sometimes a voiced line keeps going except at very low volume after pressing the button to skip ahead
-Sometimes chester's charge stab doesn't hit you for seemingly no reason: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ3qEMEW3pM&t=20m46s
-Somewhat glitchy hit detection near certain walls and invisible walls makes adol float slowly downwards in mid-air if you hold down the jump button
-Sometimes very strange physics when near the slimes in the clock tower
-Crashed once during the second chester 2 fight