Review: Ys-Memories Of Celceta

Ys memories of celceta (1)

Unable to remember even his own name, Adol Christin awakens to find himself in a city called Casnan, on the eastern end of the Ispani. It is here that he meets Duren, an information dealer who claims to have encountered him previously. Evidently, Adol was last seen heading into the Great Forest of Celceta, a massive expanse of woodland filled with such danger that even the mighty Romun Army fears to tread within.

Ys memories of celceta (2)

Pros:

  • Graphics are good in many different ways. The cut scenes are cartoon HD numbers whilst the characters themselves look as detailed and correct as you would expect. The game world is where the graphics really sing. For every inch of land is a beatifully tranquail landscape with a dark undertone. Trees, lakes, caves all sound average but yet here they have character, purpose and emotion. Ok maybe not emotion but I was on a roll.
  • You will encounter many towns, All will look different and have their own unique charm and atmosphere. Each town will have a group of shops all with different stock. You may need certain towns in order to buy gear for a certain character for example.
  • Controls are really easy, Even the most complex looking flurry of attacks is achieved with but a few presses. The touch screen implementation is not just there for effect either. Opting for minimal use in menu selection, The only real job it has is you pinch the back panel to set your party to attack or defend. If you really dont like the button layout then you are in luck, You can assign your own button layouts within the menu at any time.
  • As you explore the vast game world, You will meet and join up with new party members, It could be a long time thing or it could be story related. Either way the fluidity of the controls continues over to the party management system. Swapping characters can be done on the fly with a simple press of a button. Hit the backpack button on screen to bring up everyones skills/item loadouts and swap what ever you like around. Certain characters kill certain enemies faster and easier than other characters and using the right character for the job earns more spoils.
  • On your travels you will find special artifacts that once activated, Grant special powers. One for example is the ability to dive underwater and fight fishes. Turning these artifacts on is again very easy. Select it from the inventory and it will sit at the bottom of the screen, Then simply tap it to turn it on and tap it again to turn it off.
  • You can save whenever and where ever you like from the in game menu screen(pause screen).
  • Warp stones are littered all over the world to cut down on back tracking and to implore players to actively seek out the world.
  • Warp stones are of different colours like red or blue. Only rule being is you can only warp between the same coloured warp stones.
  • The music is an orchestral masterpiece, from light fluffy melodies to ferocious up beat up tempo fight music! One of the best soundtracks to date.
  • Finding your memories will cause the screen to flicker as you approach it, Fear not as once touched you will get a bit more information on your back story and get a bonus of a stat increase.
  • The map is detailed as it is huge. As you progress through the story you will unlock markers for the map that auto fill the locations of treasures,pick ups and memories.
  • A journal will keep a record of your play stats and allow you to re read any previous conversations or look over past/present quests.
  • Side missions are available in the many towns and bring their own reward with them. Ususally money but a few of the side missions are very well done and do a great job of breaking the game up.
  • Level up your character which in turns unlocks new skills/moves. Earning exp is done by finishing quests and of course fighting.
  • You can upgrade weapons/armour at most towns blacksmiths. You will find many items drop after defeating enemies and its usually here where you can craft those items into better items to make better gear.
  • The menu system is a clever one as it is deep and vast in the things it has, But is all presented and navigated in such a clear and fluid way that you dont really appreciate how much content is in there.
  • Dungeons in the game are represented as mazes. each maze will have a theme and a set way of doing things, Whether it be following the trail of flowers or by flooding a room, It all depends on where you are.
  • Huge epic boss fights that rival any boss fight you may have seen on a Final Fantasy or Monster Hunter game. Big huge hulking beasts that fill the screen.
  • You can carry infinite amount of items from drops. I have so much and still have no signs of it saying FULL.
  • Four different difficulty options are available at the start. Those being easy,medium, hard and nightmare.

Ys memories of celceta (3)

Cons:

  • Few instances of screen tearing, Especially in big battle scenes.
  • Jaggies can and do pop up in built up areas.
  • Parts of the story feel repeated. By this I mean you will goto a town and everyone will hate you, You seek out why. Then all is well and your a hero. Go to next town rinse and repeat. More noticeable if you just fire through the story.
  • Enemies re-spawn quickly in areas. Triggering a warp stone will re spawn enemies or going between screens.

Ys memories of celceta (6)

In Summary, If you want a really nice RPG game for your Vita, Then this is it. The game breaks a lot of the problems people have with the RPG genre like slow starting, over complicated menus and commands. What you get here is a minimal interaction, straight into the action RPG with a cliche story that soon grows on you. I really liked the fact that within 5 minutes of booting the game for the first time, I was having fights and exploring the world. You dont get bogged down in needless text chatter. The game world is a world you want to explore, Enemies you want to kill. You will just simply lose yourself in this supremely immersive game. I am still playing it now and I cannot see that changing, Its the controls that do it for me over all else. Hacking slashing and being a general bad ass is so easy. No turn based combat or meters to fill up just run around attack if you want to mentality. Finally an RPG game the average gamer can pick up play and most of all enjoy.

Jim Smale

Gaming since the Atari 2600, I enjoy the weirdness in games counting Densha De Go and RC De Go as my favourite titles of all time. I prefer gaming of old where buying games from a shop was a thing, Being social in person was a thing. Join me as I attempt to adapt to this new digital age!