If I were to create a laundry list of what I look for in a JRPG, the simple reality is that the Ys series doesn’t tend to check many of those boxes. They’re not known for in-depth narratives, iconic characters (aside from the series protagonist, Adol, who has a very “blank template” look to him), or particularly thoughtful, nuanced combat. This isn’t a dig at Nihon Falcom, as The Legend of Heroes series is all of those things — and I love it. Ys is, simply, made for different people.
Related reading: Our review of Ys X Nordics.
More recent Ys titles have done a better job of broadening the scope of the base formula somewhat, but Ys: The Oath in Felghana is not one of those. Originally a remake of Ys III for PC back in 2005, it was later ported to PSP in 2010, and then finally given a localisation and released in English for the first time in 2012. Now, 13 years later, 20 years from the remake’s original release, and a full 35 years after the original release of Ys III, The Oath in Felghana has made its way to the Switch (as well as PS4 and PS5).
Felghana is a key location within the overall Ys property, as it is the homeland of Dogi, Adol’s constant companion. The two decide to visit as part of their ongoing journey (and it has been many years since Dogi last returned). Almost immediately upon arriving, they realise that things have gone badly wrong. The land is inundated with hordes of monsters, a volcano seems to be waking up, and the local lord has apparently acquired some textbooks on how to be a caricature of a tyrant. The entire society seems on the brink of collapse, after citizens are denied the ability to mine a critical ore called “raval,” upon which the entire economy relies. It is up to Adol to get to the bottom of it all — mostly by fighting through an unending series of button-mashy battles.
To be abundantly clear, this is an incredibly no-frills action JRPG. It’s not a particularly easy game, but it is very fast-paced. There is minimal stat management, and the most complex feature is the ability to build up a burst attack that deals significant damage to all enemies around Adol. What variety there is tends to come from the occasional moments of platforming or the need to backtrack from time to time as new areas open up for exploration.
And if all of this wasn’t streamlined and efficient enough for you, there’s even the ability to increase the speed of the game by 1.5 or 2.0 times (“turbo mode”), skip cutscenes, and just generally fly through the game without ever needing to think too hard or be particularly skilled in how you play.
The world, meanwhile, is presented simply, with fairly traditional and barren environments and dungeons to explore. It’s important to remember that this was originally a PSP remake of an older PC game, and while the developers have done a good job making it as interesting as possible on the Switch screen, it’s also not nearly the kind of production quality we’ve seen with Ys titles since. That said, it does run at a smooth and slick 60 frames per second, which is important for this kind of game, as the timing windows for combos are small, and you need to be incredibly responsive to stay on top of the more difficult battles (particularly the bosses).
You’ll likely blink and miss the rest of the game, with Felghana clocking in at a relatively modest 15 or so hours. I would argue that that’s about the right length for it, allowing you to enjoy the full adventure before the empty characters and shallow combat start to become exhausting.
I know from all of this it sounds like I don’t care much for Ys: The Oath in Felghana, but that’s not really the case. It firmly exists within the Ys series, and just as last year brought us that magnificent remake of Dragon Quest III, here’s an old-timey classic within the action JRPG genre for the people who appreciate it. Not everything needs to be deep and meaningful, and Felghana certainly isn’t that. But it’s easy to appreciate its place within one of the longest-running and most enduring JRPG properties of all time.
