Games you've recently finished

Recently finished Ys: The Oath in Felghana for the PC on both Normal and Hard mode, with Nightmare mode on the to-do list. Great action RPG game from the guys at Falcom.

For those not in the know, YsF is a total 'remake-over' of the third chapter 'Wanderers From Ys' (which was dubbed as inferior to the first two games) in the long running series. The story is a basic tried-and-true formula consisting of the hero, Adol and companion, Dogi (the wall-breaker) trying to stop the resurrection of an evil god of war, Galvaran while saving the token helpless female supporting character and basically, save the world. Nothing truly epic in the same vein of the Final Fantasy series, but eh, that's not important in a Ys game.

The gameplay is an A-RPG player's wet dream. Fusing a fast paced hack 'n slash mechanism with the an active magic system, fighting the hordes of enemy monsters and the gigantic bosses never seems daunting. The gameplay also emphasises on effectively evading enemy attacks instead of charging blindly at the monsters, bringing a sort of strategic element to the game and heightening the excitement and fun of the battles.

Graphically, it's on par with the previous Ys game, "The Ark of Napishtim" utilizing basically the same engine that consists of pre-rendered sprites and 3D polygonal backgrounds and looks great, though hardly pushing any boundaries at the same time.

Now, the music is where YsF truly shines. Tunes are basically from the original Ys III game, but composer Yukihiro Jindo has done away with (most) of the synthesised midi-ish music of yore and completely overhauled it with actual guitars, drums, piano and such, giving you a sonical feast of the ears. You WILL stick around the dungeons for a bit longer just to listen to the music (though you get the entire soundtrack in OGG format if you explore the game folder) - it's that good.

As previously stated, YsF is a great game, though being relatively unknown to any other country other than Japan, (Konami sort of helped changed that by licensing Ys VI - The Ark of Napishtim for the PS2/PSP for USA and Europe, while taking certain liberties in the port, with results being mixed at best) it's a crying shame that it doesn't get the recognition it deserves. Ys fans will be pleased at this latest addition and new comers should find it equally enjoyable regardless of the thin plot, with the gameplay more than making up for it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.