Ys: Memories of Celceta Review for PlayStation 4

YS: MEMORIES OF CELCETA for PS4, has been beautifully remastered by XSEED Games. This revamp of Nihon Falcom’s action-RPG classic boasts enhanced speed and visuals sure to thrill fans of the original. For those who are new to this title, myself included, its sparkling appeal is clear almost immediately. 

Visually, graphics are fantastic and true to the genre. We come to expect bright, glossy colors in these Zelda/Metroid-style RPGs and YS: MEMORIES OF CELCETA absolutely delivers. There are a few cinematic choices that left me wondering if my TV was broken. I could speculate as to what the designers were hoping to achieve with the occasional insert of a scratchy-looking screen, but the only achievement it really executed was getting me to perform frantic experiments to test my screen’s visuals.

Scores combine fantasy and ominous adventure into a musically enticing experience. Special effects sounds, particularly various elements of combat, are both classic and unique—grunts during battle and twinkling of swords swinging through the air.

One gripe I have here is the inconsistency with the narration. Sometimes there is no audio paired with an NPC’s written dialogue and other times they speak the entire segment. Not a huge deal in the scheme of things, but for the discerning gamer it will be a little jarring.

My favorite technical aspect of this game is how seamlessly it progresses. Controls are simple and introduced when necessary and can be recalled easily in your list of options.

Skill acquisition advances at a reasonable enough pace to avoid discouragement of constantly being killed (looking at you, Bloodborne…) but not too quickly that you feel you have too many options before you really know what you’re doing. I can only speak for myself, but games that throw too many weapons and combat combos at you at once are more likely to overwhelm and make me walk away than entice me.

The humor in many of these RPGs can be a little too on the nose or just not as funny as the writers had probably hoped, but XSEED Games got more than a few chuckles out of me with the name choices of many of the NPCs. A few of my favorites: Whiny Young Man is well, whiny in his somewhat useless proclamations and Knowledgeable Man is pretty much just a know-it-all. You may be thinking that if an NPC actually gets a real name they must be of the utmost importance, right? Well, you would be wrong. Some just seem to have names because they do. Instead of finding this confusing, I made the conscious decision to lump it in as part of the deliberate humor.

YS: MEMORIES OF CELCETA has a lot of replay value. This game offers many different choices in narration, skills, and weapons that will lead you down varied paths and allot for diversified gameplay. Other than a few minor technical irregularities, I highly recommend this game for gamers of all skill levels.

Rating: 8.5/10

Check Out the YS: MEMORIES OF CELCETA Launch Trailer:

Ys: Memories of Celceta launches today for PlayStation 4 in North America. The physical day 1 “Timeless Adventurer Edition” is available for pre-order for a MSRP of $39.99 at the XSEED Games Store and other participating retailers, while the digital standalone edition will be available at launch on the PlayStation Store for $29.99 and the digital deluxe at $39.99. Marvelous Europe will be launching the title on June 19, 2020, within Europe and Australia.

For more information, please visit: https://www.xseedgames.com/games/ys-memories-of-celceta/

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