Against the wishes of publisher XSEED Games, their X account prematurely sent out a post saved for the last day of Anime Expo 2024 revealing that Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana is heading to the West. Released for the Nintendo Switch in Japan last year, it’s a remaster of 2005’s Ys: The Oath in Felghana, itself a remake of Ys III: Wanderers from 1989’s Ys.
Although not comparable to an official announcement, the announcement, which has since been deleted, is more or less a confirmation of the localization. What’s more, the post also mentions a live demo of the game at Anime Expo 2024, hinting that the localization is well underway, or at least to the extent that it could be made into a demo.
The Japanese release for Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana included HD visuals, several sound settings, and fast/turbo mode, among other features. It also came with brand new voice acting for Adol, courtesy of Yuki Kaji, the voice behind Attack on Titan’s Eren Yeager and I Hero Academia’s Shoto Todoroki. It’s unclear if the English dub will be present in the localization, but more information on that front should emerge over time – probably over the next week, while Anime Expo is underway.
Nihon Falcom’s Ys series tells the saga of the red-haired swordsman Adol Christin, an adventurer who loves travel and new lands. Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, like the game it remakes, takes place after Ys I and II, but also after Ys IV. However, despite the Ys games having a chronological order and a connecting story, new fans can jump into the series with any entry they want. The Switch is already home to Ys Origin, the first game in the timeline, Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana and Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, with a Western release of Ys X: Nordics planned for Fall 2024.
And Falcom’s impressive genre-defining library has more than just Y’s on its shelves. His other flagship series, Legend of Heroes, eventually began to make its mark in the West just like Ys. While Switch owners in the West have been left out of certain titles from the developer, namely The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel I and II, they’ve also been blessed with a few others that more than make up for it. In fact, The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak will be released in English for the Switch next week, and it might not be too long before its sequel. Between Ys and Trails, Falcom fans can rest easy – there are enough JRPGs coming their way to keep them entertained for a while, and more are already in the pipeline.
