Ys: The Oath in Felghana

So in between bouts of running around post-apocalyptic Vegas and kicking punks' asses in the first Yakuza, I've been playing Ys: The Oath in Felghana for the PSP. I just beat it, actually, and have to say I'm excited to pick up Ys Seven, also for the PSP, which supposedly plays a lot like Oath.

The Oath in Felghana is actually a remake of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, which was released way back in 1989 for the Japanese-only PC-8801. There were ports to American hardware, too, though - the Turbografx 16, SNES, and Genesis, to be specific. Now, the original Ys III sucked. I can say this because I own the SNES version. It controls terribly and has ugly graphics, and that's all you really need to know. Not worth playing at all, really, unlike Ys Book I&II.

The PSP remake of Ys III reworks the game into a fully 3-D engine, and plays like a dream. Adol Christin, the hero of all the Ys games (except Origin, that is) is controlled via the d-pad or the goofy little analog nub (I switched occasionally back and forth between the two, depending on how much of a straight line I needed to move in). He can jump and swing his sword for a few combos, and can use new moves with some bracelets he finds throughout his adventure. There is a level up system, and also some very basic equipment upgrading as well.

There is also no way to heal Adol except by returning to a save point. This means that boss fights must be won by skill; you cannot simply beat on a boss and eat a few herbs or something to replenish your HP like in other games of this ilk. The bosses are very well designed, too, and thus a lot of fun to play, with very few exceptions. They all have patterns - difficult patterns - and must be bested by exploiting them. If you die (and you will), the game allows you to restart the battle right from the beginning without having to sit through any cutscenes, and if you die enough times, it even asks you if you'd like to lower the difficulty. You don't have to, of course (I was able to beat the game on Normal with very little big sticking points).

The graphics are beautiful, too. I suppose they aren't very original (mines, caves, castles, volcanoes, etc.) but they look very, very good. The special effects are nice, too, like the shimmering in the volcano, or the absolute darkness in the cave (before you find the item that lights it up, of course). My only real complaint is fairly minor: sometimes enemies are too small to see, such as the blue flying things in the last level. Are they bats? It's hard to tell, because as soon as Adol swings his sword, the only way I know they are still alive is if numbers keep popping up when he swings that way.

Of course, this being an Ys game, the music is fantastic. I've only really played this game, but I've heard in various places on the internet this game has the best music of the series. It wouldn't surprise me - the soundtrack is solid from start to finish. There are some great guitar tracks, good piano mixes, and even a violin thrown in there. The fact that the soundtrack comes with the deluxe edition is welcomed, for sure.

One of the things I'm dreading when it comes to starting Ys Seven someday is the story. I didn't really care too much for the Oath in Felghana's characters - I couldn't wait for them to shut up so I could start hitting stuff again. Thankfully, the dialogue in Oath is pretty light, and skippable. I've heard Ys Seven just goes on and on and on and isn't interesting to begin with. Hopefully I'm able to stomach it, because if the gameplay is as good as Oath, I'll be enthralled.

It has taken long enough, but the PSP has become a great little system for hardcore RPG fans like myself. It's really all I care about for the system, really. Other than Mega Man Powered Up (which I thought was good, not great), I've really only played RPGs on it. But between Ys, Persona 3 Portable, Crisis Core, Dissidia, Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, Lunar: Silver Star Harmony, and others I haven't played yet, I've really fallen for the little system.

If only my hand didn't feel like it had gotten stuck in a garbage disposal after playing for more than thirty minutes. Although I suppose that's what I get for playing on a PSP-1000. Rambling aside - if you have a PSP, pick up Ys: The Oath in Felghana. It is a PSP must-have.