Ys: Memories of Celceta - review

Nihon Falcom Corporation is a company that was founded in 2012. In 2013, the latest game of the Ys series is celebrating Ys' 25th anniversary, knowing the series was a hit! Mainly, the RPG game series taken to the next generation. After Valhalla Knights 3 was released, Marvelous USA and XSEED join forces and have published the first Ys game for the PS Vita.

The previous series were for the PSP. In fact, there were 2 games for the PSP. If you're a big fan of the Ys series, then chances are, you have the perfect and golden opportunity to read the review of Ys: Memories of Celceta!

Welcome to Celceta:

Celceta, a vast forest where animals and living things come together. Also, towns and cities are outside the forest. Since ancient times, Celceta becomes quite a rustic and lush land. Although the land may not be much, but it can be at peace at all times.

The Latest Story:

A young man with red hair named Adol Christin lost all his memories when doing an expedition around Celceta. Mainly, it's his main problem to forget anything. Adol Christin said, "I lost all my memories and I can't remember a thing..." It's sad that he lost all of his memories. The solution was he can restore his memories by embracing the world of Celceta.

Introduction:

Like other RPG games including Tales of Xillia, Memories of Celceta has 6 characters. The game starts out with Adol. He's the main character of the series. At first, he forgot to use a sword. Then he remembers how to use a sword. After Adol, the second character is Duren. He was found first when Adol met him at the house in Casnan. Him and Duren went to the mines to stop the situation.

The third character is Ozma. He's a citizen of Selray Village. It's a village where the tribal laws are followed. Mainly, he's willing to change his laws of the tribe. Chances are, bending the law might make Ozma a little less popular. As a result, his overall will make the best of him.

The fourth character is Karna. She lives in Comodo Village with her brother named Remnas. Her laws are affecting the village within reach. She is a ninja with throwing knives. In other words, the guild puts Remnas on edge with the malicious energy.

The fifth character is Calilica. She is located in Highland Town. Also, her friend Leeza is on edge with the mysterious power. Chances are, her and Leeza might be on edge. Basically, Calilica looks like Meruru because of the design including pink hair, tights and a staff. It's an overall fact regarding to designs.

And the sixth and final character is Frieda. Frieda lives at Danan Village and her and Duren are going out on an adventure with Adol and the others. Also, her fairy friend was named Nina.

The Party System:

The party system works exactly as the one from Ys: SEVEN. There are color orbs that represent characters. Red means Adol, Blue means Duren, Orange means Ozma, Green means Karna, Pink means Calilica and Cyan means Frieda. Although the orbs refer to as the color wheel.

By the characters' status, the attack types are shown. They are Slash, Strike and Pierce. Here's the chart below.

Adol - Slash
Duren - Strike
Ozma - Pierce
Karna - Pierce
Calilica - Strike
Frieda - Slash

On the bottom of the camp menu, a Party Ability system is shown when 3 characters are in the battlefield. It goes like this for example; if you have 3 different attack types in the battlefield, Item Drop Rate Increase will be shown on the bottom.

The Gameplay:

The gameplay to it mimics 2D fighters like BlazBlue and AquaPazza for instance because of the skill activation, combos, etc. To do normal attacks, press the Square button. Using normal attacks on enemies will let the cyan particles go to the SP gauge. It's not enough, so you can do a power attack by pressing Square when the blue aura flashes.

Also, you can use skills by holding the R button and pressing any basic button to do a skill. Skills are special moves that can consume SP. In order to learn new skills, each character will take down certain enemies. You can assign skills in the Skills menu.

There's a little circle by the SP gauge. This is called an Extra gauge. It allows you to perform a brutal and intimidating Extra skill. Once full, press the L button. Also, you can fill it up by attacking the enemies with skills. If you defeat an enemy with a skill, a "Skill Finish!" phrase flashes. Notice how Adol's Sol Breaker is a brutal move for example.

The enemies may be brutal, but if you level up, you will be stronger. Be sure to guard with Triangle and evade the enemy's attack with X. The right timing will be a Flash Guard/Flash Evade. If you do it like around 50 times, you earn a trophy.

An "Excellent Kill!" will appear if you defeat the enemy with its weakness. Also, it might score you some EXP and better results. If enemy defeated by a skill with a weakness, both phrases flash and better results will be awarded to you.

Also, you can press the Circle button to switch between the 3 characters. You can choose a character to main. (Hmm... I main Calilica because her design was directly tied with Meruru.)

Triangle-specific Actions:

They are a type of actions that can be done specifically by characters with pressing the Triangle button. Here's the chart.

Adol - Able to touch Memory Fragments
Duren - Able to pick locks
Ozma - Able to break cracks underwater
Karna - Able to remove things that hang from the ceiling
Calilica - Able to power up machinery
Frieda - Able to seal fissures

When Memories Are Restored:

Adol's memories have gone whack in the beginning of the story. To restore memories, there are blue and red Memory Fragments scattered across the map. If his memory hits 100%, you earn a bonus. It's important to establish his full memory.

The Mapping:

The map completion was shown at the map menu. If it hits 100%, you earn a special reward. It goes like this; you look for every treasure, resource and other things. Chances are, it might take a while. Don't worry, you will get used to it, though.

The Side Quests:

Like I said before, I'm not a big fan on doing side quests. They are quests that are not a part of the story. Some can be failed while most of them can be completed. Completing one will earn you rewards. Besides, these side quests are displayed on the billboard. Also, they aren't really worth it.

Puzzles Will Be Solved:

The game has puzzles on some of the dungeons. Luckily, none of them are hard because doing complicated puzzles will allow you to go to GameFaqs for tips on how to solve hard puzzles. Unless, you can use your head to solve the puzzle, though.

The Best and the Worst:

Ys: Memories of Celceta is an RPG game not meant for kids. The game's overall is very easy. Also, it's a game that Ys fans will not miss out on the fun. I gotta say it's flat out amazing! The gameplay and the overall are also amazing! Mainly, the game has made best of 2013 from me, of course. Although there's a silver anniversary edition to it since the game is celebrating the 25th anniversary.

Pros:

+Excellent gameplay quality
+Extra skills are amazing

Cons:

There are no cons

I gotta say, the game's overall has amazing quality! Excitedly, me and Kharg are rarely enjoying it! As a result, I talked to him about how Calilica looks like Meruru. Mainly, she does and I'm loving every second of the game! That design between both Calilica and Meruru makes me wanna declare Ys: Memories of Celceta a Best RPG Game of 2013 and give it a solid and perfect 10 for prime! Well done, Kharg, I'm glad you've enjoyed it, too!