I finished Ys: Memories of Celceta this week, and I was sad about finishing it for two reasons: 1) I didn’t want it to end and 2) I have to find something else to play when I’m feeding the baby.
My first foray into the Ys universe was when I was given Ys Seven to review for Kombo. The game was a bit repetitive, but I loved its combat and skill system and really had a blast, even though I had to traverse through the same dungeon a few times (not as bad as Phantom Hourglass, but still, it was annoying). I missed hearing about Ys: Memories of Celceta until the day it released, and then I bought the Collector’s Edition, as you may recall. This has been by far the best Ys game I have played, and it hit my top 5 games of last year.
It’s an action RPG, but its skill system makes it more than a simple hack-and-slash. It also introduced a really fun crafting system for upgrading weapons and building accessories. It’s not as humorous as Ys Seven, but the overall freedom in gameplay makes up for the lack in dialogue.
In fact, this is the big reason why I loved it so much. Unlike so many JRPGs, this one gave you no direct purpose in the beginning. It starts with Adol losing his memory, so his friend Duren talks him into agreeing to map out the forest where he lost his memories and hope something jars them back in place. In other words, you’re told to do nothing but explore. It’s not until you explore that a story starts to unfold and you learn what Adol must do to save the world (because that’s always the end goal of JRPGs, right?).
I honestly can’t say enough good things about this game, and if you have a Vita and like action RPGs, check this one out. If you really need to hear more of my thoughts on this game, as I feel like I’ve talked about it a lot as of late, you can hear it on the EvilCast GOTY episode and the SpawnCast GOTY episode.
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