Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta Review – Review

Prior to my first Ys experience, which was Lacrimosa of Dana, I recall staringly longly at Nintendo Power coverage of Wanderers from Ys, and then somehow 20 years flew by. I’ve been a newly minted fan since Ys VIII, and so I’ve very much appreciated that between new mainline releases, we’ve been fed a steady drip of remasters and re-releases, from Ys Origin to now Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta. The latter originally launched as a PlayStation Vita title in 2013, but eventually hit a multitude of other platforms. While the Memoire release is functionally a port to the Switch with a remixed soundtrack, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a welcome action-RPG addition in its own right.

It’s not surprising that Revelations in Celceta feels the most similar to Lacrimosa of Dana given that it was the last game released before Ys VIII, despite functionally being a remake or retelling of Ys IV. The plot involves a large, mysterious forest that Adol and company are tasked with mapping at the behest of Romun General, Griselda. While this cartography throughline offers an incentive to explore thoroughly, your expedition eventually yields a larger plot thread about a fallen kingdom, gods, and the origins of the world that takes you through to the end of the game. Seeing the map percentage go up and reporting your progress to Griselda for financial incentives helps to gear you up for the tough boss fights and gradually more deadly enemies.

The pacing of Revelations in Celceta is a definite plus, with major story beats doled out just as you’ve filled your belly with the button mashy-type combat on offer. Branching paths in the forest lead to new areas, treasures, and eventually new towns, where you’ll encounter the next leg of the plot and often a new party member. Karna’s ranged basic attack ended up saving my bacon on multiple occasions, but the game regularly encourages you to switch between your three-person party so that you’re using the right type of attack–strike, slash, or pierce–depending on the enemy. Eventually your team grows in size such that you can swap members in from reserve and mix and match to suit your playstyle. Equipable skills are learned over time and can also grow with use, but they don’t always keep up with the damage of your basic attack, so it may be better to focus on just a few.

In the course of the journey, you acquire special artifacts that typically serve their purpose within the dungeon or area you find them. These include a charm to shrink your party and allow them to fit into mouse-sized tunnels and boots that allow you to build up momentum and scale certain vertical ramps (think Samus’ Speed Booster). An optional set of artifacts includes one that heals your party if you stand still, which I made ample use of so that I could retain healing potions for boss bout. Unless you’re looking to 100 percent the map and the game, the required artifacts don’t feel like they add much to the gameplay.

Each town offers a handful of sidequests to complete, and while many of them task you with defeating certain enemies or collecting certain materials, a few are more intricate and surprising. One involves trying your hand at running a shop while the owner attends to other business, and so you need to remember which groups of items to discount or not; another gives you an opportunity to keep haggling with the quest-giver for more rewards, but I got too greedy and ended up with squat. The monetary rewards from the sidequests are worth the effort since the cost adds up quickly for buying new weapons and armor to outfit your team.

While the story drags on a bit long towards the end, I enjoyed the cast of characters who join your party and those who don’t. The recurring trio of General Leo and the two soldiers under his command inject humor into the scene whenever they make an appearance. What was another welcome narrative element were the flashbacks Adol could trigger that represented fragments of his memory coming back; making a detour to activate these always felt worthwhile, even if the stat boost they awarded was minimal. It was also enjoyable to see a younger version of Adol through these flashbacks in particular. I had hoped for a bit more resolution for the comrades who fight beside you, even if there is a narrative device that attempts to explain this gap.

All in all, Revelations in Celceta feels like the turning point towards the modern Ys titles because it’s exactly that, and it ended up holding my attention more than any of the other Switch re-releases. It lacks the depth of movement abilities and character interactions that have come from Ys VIII through X, but it still manages to offer a very compelling adventure almost the whole way through. For anyone who missed playing an earlier version of Celceta or who just loves a solid action-RPG with fast-paced combat and movement, Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta is an easy recommendation. I’m hoping it won’t be long until we see Adol’s next adventure or revisit another of his old ones.