-Official U.S. Site
-Japanese PC Trailer
-Japanese PSP Trailer
-U.S. Trailer

The localized PSP release of The Oath in Felghana is only a week away, and I don't think there's a video game I've been more itching to play this year.  The effort that Falcom has put forth in creating not only one of the most drastically improved remakes in recent memory, but what may also be the series' finest title to date..... well, there's definitely reason to get excited.

There's already a dedicated thread on the discussion of the Original Soundtrack, here.  (You know, the one where Bernhardt officially declared himself to be clinically insane. ;P)  I myself have been reacquainting myself with the score, and I'm constantly floored by its magnificence.  The seamless fusion of orchestra, techno-dance and rock is an exquisite tapestry of sound, breathing rich new life into the music of Ys III.  It's going to be so much fun getting to finally play these in context.

I was a big fan of Wanderers from Ys III back on the SNES, even as it has a reputation as a black sheep. It's still the only Ys game I've finished to this point, sadly.

But anyway, I have this preordered. The new gameplay style is a bit of a surprise, but hopefully it works. The best arrangement of what I've heard so far is probably of the miniboss theme.

Two of my personal faves, Illburns Ruins and A Searing Struggle, transitioned over beautifully to Felghana.  The addition of an acoustic guitar featured in the former is especially ace.  But Yukihiro Jindo worked a true miracle with Beat of Destruction, a piece I never really cared for in the original Wanderers from Ys.  It's freaken amazing now.

And while I admire the violin-infused arrangement of The Boy's Got Wings, I think I enjoy the version featured on Felghana JDK Special even more.  The stronger guitar work beneficially offsets the dominating violin, and the orchestra elements are better placed at the forefront.

I still slightly prefer the SNES Illburns Ruins track over every other version out there that's been done.

I still haven't picked up Ys Seven (procrastinating due to a reworked gaming schedule), so I'll probably get both of these games at the same time. I'm not sure which to play first...I think I feel more excited toward Felghana. Ever since viewing the PC trailer years ago and buying the soundtrack, I've wanted to play it. I wonder how long a solid playthrough takes compared to Ys Seven.

"While the redbook audio from the game wove some of the best power rock together into a seamless tapestry where every song seemed to fit into the grand picture, the result here is more like a patchwork quilt where each entry seems out of place when adjoined to its neighbors. On an individual basis, many of the songs pale in comparison to their redbook brethren. The satiny electricity of the redbook "Ilberns Ruins", the heavy bass-driven rhythm of "Beat of Destruction", and the brutal intensity of "The Strongest Foe" all tower over their inhibited counterparts"

Ripped from Crash's Ys III Perfect Collection review, but applied to Felghana (without any rewording). The more I listened to it, the less I liked it and it's more varied approach. It went from "cool...it's Ys III's soundtrack done with a blend of orchestra, techno and rock" to "okay, the synthy orchestral tracks aren't so good...this techno is basically one and done...and man, the rock doesn't have much drive to it and the orchestral rock tracks -Strongest Foe mostly- are just plain bad". The Ys III redbook might be one dimensional in comparison, but it's a frightfully well-done dimension.

I can't wait to get my hands on the game (PSP Phone? PSP2? Yo Sony what's up already? I'm gonna need to make some decisions here soon!), but I had my fill of the soundtrack awhile back.

I basically agree with everything Angela said.  The only track where I REALLY prefer the PC Engine redbook is "Be Careful."  The Felghana OST is one of my all-time favorite albums now.  Cannot wait for the game!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwY-_adr … re=related

can't wait to get my hands on it. it's been a while since i've played the PC version.

Man I loved the Felghana OST when it first came out. Unfortunately it has completely worn out since...(still have the Perfect Collection..anyone want it? ^_^).

I still really like Felghana's take on 'Beat of Destruction' (meaning it still can't touch the redbook version by miles ofcourse).

I'm a few hours into Felghana by now.  As far as first impressions go, the game manages a bit better than Ys Seven.  Dialogue is less wordy, allowing the story to progress more quickly.  Most importantly, it lets us jump into the sweet, sweet gameplay that much faster. 

I suspect it'll be a hotly contested debate as to which Ys boasts the better gameplay this year.  Where Seven prefers huge towns and vistas to roam, Felghana scales things down to structured, interconnecting maps and dungeons.  The former prefers its combat fast and loose, the latter more intense and tightly knit.  The boss battles are cut from different cloths, too; Seven's are knockdown, drag-out button-mashing endurance fests, while Felghana's are more pattern based and reflex-heavy.

But where the games deviate the most are in their challenge levels.  Seven's Hard mode is like a walk in the park when compared to Felghana's Normal.  Make no mistake, Felghana is a BEAST.  The difficulty ramps up right when you reach the Illburns Ruins, and I managed to get my ass handed to me a few dozen times before taking down the boss.  No healing items, save for random enemy drops, so when it comes to bosses, you've either got the hardened skills to persevere or you don't.  Luckily, there's an instant retry option where you can continue from within the same zone or boss battle where you were felled.  What might have been turned out to be an arduous, frustrating and ultimately game-breaking affair is mercifully saved by the grace of this single, critical feature.  It really gives a wonderful incentive to keep up the good fight.  In any case, I'd hate to see this bad boy on Hard, let alone Nightmare and Inferno.

Graphically, the game is very good.  I've not played enough of the PC version to make a call, but it looks like the graphics were preserved and scaled down appropriately enough for the PSP.  The framerate is a rock-solid 30fps as opposed to the 60 that a well-equipped PC can handle, and I love that every major character so far has their own designated character portrait.  (It is a little strange seeing Adol and Dogi regress back to their younger looking selves after Seven.  Especially Dogi.)  Nearly all of the characters are voiced, too, some to charmingly hilarious effect.  (Yay, Margo!)  My only complaint about the graphics is that a few of the enemies sprites were compressed is such a way that they blend too well into some of the backgrounds.  This makes them tough to spot on first blush.

To say nothing of the music score itself (which I've been swapping back and forth between Felghana and the highly likeable X68K version), the sound design in this game is INCREDIBLE.  Every enemy has their own, distinctive sound set, from general movement, attacks, to death cries.  I do wish there were a way to tone down the obnoxiously heavy footfalls that Adol and NPCs make, but they're a minor blemish on an otherwise pristine sound scape.  Do yourself a favor, and play this with a good pair of headphones.

I've been in this game for two days and it gets a big "thumbs up" so far. Just reached the Illburns Ruins and confirmed the difficulty increase (playing on normal), which means I have to pay more attention instead of just jumping recklessly and spamming the attack button. The game has a great feeling of forward progression; when you die you just want to dive back in to dispatch more enemies, building that hit count and cleaning up all the enemy drops. I like switching through the music when I enter a new area--that's a definite plus. I also like the sound effects, most of the voice acting, and the attractive character portraits. Uh...more later.

I'd just gotten through the Elderm Mountains.  Holy hell, were these tough bosses.  I actually had a more difficult time with the sub-boss than the main one.  If you don't mind being spoiled, take a look at what I spent half my night trying to beat.  This must be madness on the higher difficulties.

Love the Ventus Bracelet.  Not only does it allow you to stick it to those meddlesome aerial enemies with ease, but it's a great way to set up some killer combos when you get the Double Jump ability later.  Oh, and one cannot stress how important the downward stab attack is for stun setups.

nice impressions. i'm still waiting for my copy.

I'm infactuated with this game.  Ys Seven was disappointingly BLAH, but this game managed to retain all the charm of Ys III yet add a fresh coat and spin to it.  Ys Chronicles should be even better.  Thank you Xseed.

Looks like a pain in the ass.

Oh, it is.  But damned if it doesn't make you feel like the king of the world once you've beaten it. 

Watch this same exact fight, as played by somebody else.  Skip to the end to hear the guy's reaction; clearly spoken as someone who had to play it a fair amount of times before mastering it proper.

Really, the entire game can pretty much be summed up as Zelda for the hardcore.  It's a gamer's game to be sure.

Picked up the LE version of this one too.  Once I have time for an RPG, should I play this or Seven first?

I liked Felghana better than Ys Seven, but maybe that was because I played the Japanese versions, and had no idea on the plot of Ys Seven as I was playing it.

It... really wasn't anything to write home about.

While we're talking about Ys, has Falcom announced any plans to bring Ys Origins to the PSP?

start with oath, because it's the older game. that's all.

story in Ys 7 is your typical adventurers story, which is fine and suits the game well.

no announcement for Origins yet, but i assume if Ys does well in the west Falcom must react.

finished my nightmare run, which was about 50% harder than Ys Seven. some bosses slapped me around pretty good, particularly the last one

it was a blast playing through this game again. i command every PSP owner to play this asap.

yes, there were actually three succubi on nightmare =o

Wait, aren't there three regardless of what difficulty level you're playing on?  Normal's got three, at least.

Zellfel Zam Schutilger is currently beating me down hard.  I'm not even getting him down to three-digit HPs.

oops, you're right. guess i forwarded the vid a bit too much.

i used the fire bracelet for schutigler and ran constantly from left to right, charging/shooting fire. as soon as your meter is at max. level, try to get him in a corner, activate your boost and beat him down. when he spawns his puppies, change to the other bracelet and dash through them, you won't take damage that way. that's how i beat him.

See, there was my problem - it never even occurred to me to try using the fire bracelet.  Suddenly, the fight became shockingly easy; he didn't even get a chance to call in the wolf pack!

Thanks!  Now to prep for Zirduros.

Currently slowly moving through this (the PSP is rather low on my priority list atm), but having a good time with it all the same.

Some of the bosses can be crazy hard, but I like how it's that good kind of "I-can-do-this-if-I-just-try-one-more-time" hard, instead of the "oh-f*ck-this" hard.

That said, and I'm sorry to sound like a cocky prick, but the succubi fight was shockingly easy.
I died only once (there's always some trial and error), but the second time round I got them without any trouble (playing on Normal).
Attacking them at the same time is key, and you should focus on taking the blue one out first since it seems to take most damage from your sword, but if you just level regularly and try to get the best equipment available at any given time, it's really not too hard.

That's how I felt for the first half of the game. Then I started running into bosses that would kill me five times in a row even after I spent time leveling up before them. So I cheated and chose to lower the difficulty from then on. I used to relish the challenge, but now I lose my patience and just want to make progress.

the succubi were the only bosses i beat right away on nightmare

but most of them gave me hell, particularly the first boss in the lava zone, the one in the ice area until i figured him out, this game sure doesn't hold your hand (totally forgot how to beat him), and of course the last boss. he was brutal and i was almost tempted to lower the difficulty. but i think it is hard to give up when you went that far and so i pulled through.

At least they allowed you to lower the difficulty.  I was playing Ys I & II Chronicles on Hard, and was doing OK until I reached the bat boss at the end of the mine.  I spent a half hour trying to beat him, and couldn't get him down below 3/4 health.  I leveled up to the max, and still couldn't get him below 1/2 health.  That was when I discovered I couldn't lower the difficulty.  So, I had to start all over on Normal.

I finally finished the game today, and I can say with full conviction that the bosses in the latter half of the game were considerably EASIER than in the first half. Out of all boss battles, the one in the first dungeon, that demon/statue type thing, Ellefale was it?, kicked my ass the most.
I literally spent over 30 tries on that thing.

I would say it has to do with the fact that you're just generally more powerful and versatile later on in the game, so I didn't really get much resistance until the very last boss, and even that one only took me, like, 5 tries or something.

I didn't think I'd be inclined to try some of the harder difficulties, but after seeing the bonus stuff you get, I might actually try after all...

But first! 3rd Birthday!