Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta Review

Ys: Memories of Celceta comes to Nintendo Switch for the first time in a new port, renamed to Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta. But does this game still prove a must-play almost 15 years after its original release in 2012? 

Background and Premise

Originally released for PlayStation Vita, this is the 4th canonical game in the series and takes place a year after the events of Ys X: Nordics (the game released in 2024). In Celceta, we once again play as series protagonist Adol, who has been exploring the forest of Celceta before finding himself with amnesia. With no memories of where he’s been or what led him here, you must set out to explore the forest and regain Adol’s lost memories. Along the way you’ll meet friends (and foes) who help fill in the gaps in our protagonist's memory and figure out what led to his amnesia in the first place. 

It’s a relatively simple set-up, but one that also allows for a lot of freedom. The game is quite linear in terms of where it wants you to go and when to progress the story, but there are big areas to explore as you make your way toward these objectives. Your map of the forest starts off entirely blank, filling out as you traverse around. And that’s a simple but very satisfying way of navigating the world; it helps ensure you know where you’ve been and where you’ve still yet to explore. 

Gameplay

Combat happens in real time, where you guard, dodge and attack the enemies on the field. As you progress through the game, Adol and his companions have skills they can learn and level up, which helps turn the tide against more powerful opponents. Dodging or guarding at the right time will give you certain advantages in a fight, too, but it’s a high risk if you’re not confident in getting the timing right, since you’ll take a lot of damage if you mess up. Different characters have different weapon types that are more effective against certain types of enemies, so there’s quite a lot to consider. It never gets in the way of the fast-paced nature of the fights, though. 

There are several different difficulty modes on offer, ranging from Easy, Normal, Hard, and Nightmare. I’ve been playing on Normal, and that feels well-balanced. Boss fights, for example, aren’t exactly easy, but there’s some leeway for making mistakes. As long as you’ve been fighting enemies as you go and aren’t underleveled, you shouldn’t have any issues. And anyone looking for more of a challenge can, of course, choose a higher difficulty when starting out (you can lower the difficulty after starting, but not increase it, so beware). 

Making the Jump From Vita to Switch

In general, this is a newcomer-friendly entry in the Ys series; it was actually my first back on the Vita as well. Due to Adol’s amnesia, you don’t need to know his history and can instead enjoy the journey of figuring it out alongside him. I’m sure there are certain references and elements that are enhanced by having a deeper understanding of the series, but it’s certainly not essential. It’s easy to pick up and play in short bursts, too, thanks to being developed for handheld originally, which helps. 

Since the PlayStation Vita release, this game has been ported to both PC and PlayStation 4, but I’m jumping straight from Vita to Switch. Graphically, the game looks a lot less pixilated and muddy than it did, but the textures still look like they’ve come straight out of a 2012 game without much polish or upgrade. Especially if you’re playing it docked on a TV as opposed to handheld. 

One big advantage this release has over the Vita version (but was in the PC/PS4 ports) is that we finally have dual audio. The English dub features Bryce Papenbrook as Adol (a role he has continued in), while the Japanese side has Yuki Kaji, who, like Bryce, has regularly played Adol since. Having played this dubbed originally, I am quite fond of both casts, but I slightly prefer the Japanese side since Daisuke Namikawa and Yui Kano are there too. That said, there isn’t that much voice acting in general (even for scenes where it really feels like there should be), and I wish they’d gone back and added some more lines for the new release. 

And I think that’s sort of my problem in general with this release. The big selling point is that there’s a new soundtrack (with the option to swap back to the original), and that sounds great, as Nihon Falcom games always do. But, aside from that, there are no real quality-of-life upgrades here. The game doesn’t give you the option to fiddle with the settings prior to starting, so you’re stuck with the English dub until you can get to the menu. There’s no auto-saving either, which I feel, for a modern-day handheld release, is a must. You can save anywhere in the game, but you have to navigate through a few pages in the menu to do that. Not ideal if you have to put the game down quickly. 

As you play through the game, you unlock artifacts that give you different abilities (such as being able to shrink down). On the Vita, you could access these through a menu accessed by tapping the touch screen, but here you have to press ZL and then navigate through that menu. Given how often you need to be in this section, I wish there was the option to map this (and some other stuff) to the D-pad. 

Still, my complaints are rather minor in the grand scheme of things. If you’ve never played this game before but like the Ys series, or want to jump in for the first time, this is an excellent option. And if you’re looking to replay it and are coming from the Vita release like me, this is a no-brainer since you do get both the Japanese audio and the new soundtrack in a more visually polished package. I’m not so convinced it’s worth the time if you’re coming from the PS4 or PC port, however. 

Overall, Ys Memoire: Revelations in Calceta is an excellent entry in the Ys series that offers a great starting point for newcomers. With an interesting premise that evolves into a thrilling adventure and a fantastic battle system that’s simplistic but still requires strategy, this is well worth adding to your Switch collection. Especially if, like me, you've been itching for a replay and are coming from the original Vita release.

For the purpose of this review, Anime Atelier was provided with a copy of the game.
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