Ys III: Oath in Felghana

The current best Ys game on PSP.

I finished this game as a part of the Ys Marathon that i did recently. I can say Oath in Felghana is the best Ys in PSP in terms of overall quality compared to others considering i have finished all available Ys title in PSP. However this game is the most challenging of all considering the normal mode are hard already and probably you will find yourself died couple of times. Just like other Ys titles, Oath in Felghana playtime is short though it offers really intense action RPG.

This time Adol travels to his best friend Dogi's hometown Redmont in Felghana. However it seems that in his journey to this land he finds poblems arising as monsters are appearing across the land as an Ancient Terror is in the process of awakening, which means another adventure for Adol! This time Adol is lent power by a guardian called Genos who was the hero that slay the Ancient terror in the past.

This time the damsel of distress is Elena a teenage girl probably younger than Lilia who is Dogi's childhood friend along with her older brother. She plays somewhat important role in the game as she and her brother is direct descendant of Genos himself which is the key to resurrect the ancient terror.

Elena's older brother is Chester who serves as a knight for a lord in Felghana. Throughout the game he serve as villain and Adol's rival and quite a jerk. He actually seek for revenge for his clan which he thinks the lord of Valestein responsible for their deaths. However in the end he is manipulated by the mastermind of the incident who actually plan to resurrect the ancient terror.

The ancient terror referred in this game is Galbalan who brings terror to Felghana hundred years prior to the game. It is hinted that Galbalan has something related with Gray Emelas from Ys VI and it seems that it tries to destroy the world by controlling the black ark or known as Napishtim.

The gameplay of Oath in Felghana is improved version of Ys VI and had better graphics and awesome music as always. The game is slightly hard since you can't buy any recovery item in this game and relies on killing enemies for regenerating your health. This game also has 3 different type of magic which adol will need to continue his progress. The magics resemble the 3 Emelas sword magic in Ys VI.

What makes this game harder than other Ys is that the boss battle in this game is really hard. If you haven't played Ys games before you will find boss fight are really overwhelming and expect to die in couple of attempts. The first boss is pretty much a hard wake up call to realize that this game is no joke in terms of difficulty.

In this game Adol able to use Overdrive skill when the bar in his left are filled. The overdrive provide Adol temporary boost in his stats which is really useful for boss fight and this is the only way to regain some precious health in boss fight.

 Just like other Ys games, the equipment is really important. Adol will get couple of accessories which needed in the game and apparently you can upgrade your equipment just like in Ys VI. If Ys VI require Emels which are dropped from enemy to upgrade the weapon, you need Raval Ore in this game which you can only get from treasure boxes throughout the game(though the monsters in final dungeon occassionally drop in small amount). This game also have some nice addition where Adol's appearance will change when you equip the equipments in one set.

While this game is the current best Ys series that could offer, i wouldn't recommend to play this game first due to its insane difficulty since you probably enjoy this game to the fullest and Ys Seven is the best option for your gateway to this series. Probably i will write my review about Ys Seven which will conclude my journal about Ys playthrough.