Ys: Memories of Celceta Review - Ys, it’s great

The cult phenomenon Ys is an odd one. Even some JRPG fans haven’t heard of it, despite the series stretching back to 1987, making it one of the oldest JRPG serieses which is still alive today. Ys: Memories of Celceta is an action-heavy JRPG, all with real time combat, dungeon exploration and your usual JRPG story tropes.

You start Memories of Celceta as a famed explorer who has, in very typical JRPG fashion, lost his memory whilst adventuring in the forest of Celceta. I bet you can already see how the game got its title. Returning from the forest with your life intact is apparently worthy of note, and as such, you and a “friend” are asked to draw a map of the entire forest.

This storyline is so simple, yet so genius. In most RPGs you end up exploring areas and completing your map, but usually it is to further some other goal. In this game, the exploration and map completion is the primary objective. It isn’t too long after venturing into Celceta that you start to find floating orbs that return your memories and offer flashbacks into the life you no longer remember. If this sounds Lost Odyssey-esque, that would be because it is.

Celceta itself is filled with a variety of monsters, some of which will dwarf your player character on screen, giving the feeling that Celceta really is an unexplored wilderness that few can traverse. The environments, despite not being impressive, all work well and function perfectly fine. Celceta even includes dungeons and towns, so the entire game isn’t just running around filling in your map. It is very much a traditional JRPG.

Combat is fun and frantic. You can dodge around the stage making you move very quickly, and swinging your sword and unleashing Skills you’ve earned is great fun. The combat starts off rather boring with few Skills to use and easy enemies, but soon becomes addictive. Arguably, Ys: Memories of Celceta’s best asset is a fantastic combat system that keeps you interested.

Much like in many JRPGs, in towns you will find Blacksmiths, Shopkeepers and a variety of sidequests you can complete for items and money. Weapons are upgradable through Blacksmiths, as long as you have the cash and materials to spare, or alternatively you can just buy new weapons and armor from the Shopkeepers. On your adventures you will collect an unhealthy amount of useless materials, which you can luckily trade for stronger materials which are more useful.

Celceta is a big place, and due to its maze-like nature it would be hard to get around without fast-travel. Luckily, you can come across Monuments which glow. Monuments can fully replenish the health of your party, and you can use them to fast-travel between monuments of the same colour. The colour restriction means you can’t quite zip to any part of the forest as you please, but it is certainly more preferable than if there were no Monuments whatsoever.

Technically, the game could have been better made. It could be compared to some PS2 or Gamecube titles, and PS Vita owners could be disappointed at first, but the environments are much bigger and more detailed than what you would see from those consoles. Framerate can drop at times whilst in towns and cities, but luckily this seldom happens when in the forest. Ys: Memories of Celceta is also accompanied by a lovely musical score, adding the necessary tension in places, whilst soothing and relaxing the atmosphere in others.