Absolutely amazing game, This was one of the first YS games I have ever played and ever since I started I have fallen in love with the game. The combat is fast-paced and filled with actions and the ability to switch characters for whatever suits best. I have always been a fan of the instant blocking mechanic and the instant dodging mechanic, But thats it for the combat the story of the game was really interesting and I could go hours playing without even realizing and I had fallen in love with the cast of characters with their personalities and their stories. It felt like this game was pieced together amazingly and it will be one of my favorite YS games

I think I'll try my hand at briefly explaining from my perspective why this game doesn't do that much for most people.

Compared to the Ark system games and Ys Seven preceding it, the Action-game gameplay elements are notably weaker. Namely the dungeon design and bosses just don't stand out in the moment and in retrospective as much as most other Ys games. They're just alright. There's usually at least a few bosses fans like to talk about from any game but there's nothing here that I've noticed gets discussed. The final dungeon as well as Lake Tolmes Ruins were the only dungeons that I felt reached the nuance that most dungeons had in Ys Seven for example. A few other ones had an alright atmosphere as well but for the most part there's not much to remember.

Compared to Ys 8 and Ys 9, the party system games that came right after it, the world and lore is pretty uninteresting. There are also far less prettier or memorable locales, ones where the camera angles would slowly unravel and amaze you a ton in Ys 8/9. There's not as much variety in things to do (especially compared to Ys 8 with fishing, raids, more optional areas etc.). Despite Ys 8 and Ys 9 being relatively longer games, I personally felt as if they were paced better than Ys Seven and Celceta (especially in their latter halfs, but particularly because of their unique premises). Ys Seven had a cool main story but it's also 90% full of a ton of McGuffin hunting. Celceta has a more plot driven approach in comparison but it manages to feel even more forgettable than the McGuffin hunting chapters in Ys Seven (those had generally stronger gameplay and music to make up for it).

I don't think I really have anything to say about the specific story and characters, I forget nearly all of it already. The memories of Adol were charming for sure, and I kind of wish more of them had playable segments, while trimming some other fat the game has down. Some of the sidequests also felt more soulful than anything in the main story. I feel it's easy enough to point at the cliche characters and character motivations and the fact that this is a remake of an old game to explain why the story is whatever for most people. Perhaps it's just expected. But nevertheless comparing it to the other party games' stories just proves why it's relatively so unmemorable. Seven's main story (outside of the McGuffin hunting) built a stronger sense of mystique and arguably has the best main antagonist in the series. 8 and 9 had their own interesting story concepts and executed them well enough. Celceta's was just a really typical adventure plot with a really typical antagonist and supporting cast, nothing more or less.

Musically this doesn't stand out much from Falcom's other '00s and '10s OSTs. My two favourite songs happen to be from Kamikura from the jdk band ("The Morning After the Storm" and "Gust of Wind". god damn those guitars). Unisuga, Sonoda and Okajima's contributions otherwise are solid, sometimes great, but they don't stand out too much overall compared to all the other stuff they've done for me and most people.

Other various small things generally felt unremarkable that kind of add up. There's some underwater combat here and it's pretty dull, it's slow and you can only do a basic attack while fishes swerve all around you. Some upgrades such as the Dwarf Bracelet which is really cool at first never get used in interesting ways as some of Ys Seven's powerups did. The Dwarf Bracelet solely exists to let you get through a handful of small spots, it's never used in boss fights (like TLOZ: Minish Cap's often does) or any other interesting ways in dungeons.

There's probably a lot more nitpicks I can make, or more elaboration on major points. Ultimately though this game is just one of those that finds itself in a middle ground lacking the strengths of its predecessors (in this case tight action gameplay) and successors (interesting story, characters and variety).

I have never been much into Ys but I have played past games. Memories of Celceta is the biggest Ys yet and the best traditional JRPG available on Vita right now. You play as Adol Christin, a red-haired boy who loses all his memories and must find them again. Of course, the story is much deeper than that. A god named Eldeel ends up creating a mask called Mask of the Sun and other people want it for its powers. The story gets pretty deep, yet the characters are completely uninteresting. They all have generic dialogue and their personalities all feel stereotypical for JRPGs. While the game isn’t anything new it does what has been done before really well.

The combat in Ys has always been real-time and this helps alleviate the boredom that has come in JRPGs over the decades from random battles. The combat is fast-paced and fun with skills you can use, guarding, dodging, and switching between 3 characters on the fly adds a bit of strategy and depth. Each character has a weakness it can deliver to enemies so you will always change up who you put in your party. Aside from fighting regular monsters, the bosses are a lot of fun and quite challenging, but not so hard you can’t beat them. Honestly, the game is perfectly balanced in which you will acquire the strongest weapons and armor by the end of the game so you’re always one step ahead of enemies.

The whole point of Celceta is exploration. Your main secondary goal is to discover the entire area and complete the map 100%. The sense of exploration is one of the greatest assets of Celceta and you have a hard time putting the game down just to explore one more dungeon. When you’re in towns you can buy items and exchange stuff you find in the wild. Minerals, beast and plant materials can be exchanged for larger and higher quality items to reinforce armor and weapons. You can also craft items out of these materials as well. There are quite a few towns in this game and each one has 3 quests you can complete. Some are hard some aren’t, but they aren’t hard to figure out. In fact, I never really got lost that much in this game which is normally common in a JRPG. There was a sense of direction without having to hold your hand which is wonderful.

On another note there are a few puzzles thrown in but nothing that really takes advantage of the Vita’s features which aren’t expected in a JRPG. I do wish the game had local or online c0-op for up to 3 people, but that’s all right. The graphics look detailed but are dated even for the Vita. It looks like a decent PS2 game at best and could have used some more detail. The textures can look really muddy and grainy which is unacceptable on the Vita. At the end of the day, you will just love Celceta for the engaging story and fun gameplay and combat. There are a good 20 hours just in the story alone and another dozen if you want to get 100%.

Overall, Memories of Celceta isn’t perfect but it has some great combat, bosses, and the sense of exploration will keep you glued to your system. The graphics are dated, the voice acting is awful, and the characters are uninteresting but that’s expected from a JRPG. Could Celceta have broken this trend it may have been one of the best JRPGs in a long time? What’s here is solid and well worth a purchase for any JRPG fan.