Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta Review

Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta, Falcom's newest Ys Memoire release, finally arrives in the West this month following its launch in Japan last year. Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta, like Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, introduces some new features and options in addition to being the game's debut on a Nintendo platform. Having already played Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta through its Japanese release, I was curious to see if the English release had changed in any way, how it plays via handheld boost mode on Switch 2, and also how it compares with Ys: Memories of Celceta's prior versions in this Switch port review.

If you've not kept up with Ys: Memories of Celceta, it debuted back in Japan on PS Vita in 2012. It was released a year later in the West. A PC version was released in 2018 followed by a PS4 port in Japan a year later. This port made its way to the West in 2020. Over a decade after the game's debut on PS Vita, Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta launches on Nintendo Switch in the West. 

Ys: Memories of Celceta vs Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta differences

Ys: Memories of Celceta's PS Vita debut in the West only had English voice options. The PC and PS4 versions feature dual audio. Beyond that, nothing of note was changed or added outside technical differences. Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta adds to the base game with a new soundtrack option. It does not offer anything beyond that when it comes to game content. 

The PC version was one of the older XSEED Games PC releases so it has the generic launcher to adjust many of the settings, though you can change some of them while in-game as well like shadows, anti-aliasing, and filtering. The PC port's launcher makes a poor first impression compared to the modern Falcom PH3 conversions, but it is still the best version of Celceta by far thanks to its visual and performance improvements. The one caveat here is the menus and UI are all low resolution on PC compared to the PS4 and Switch versions.

Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta Switch and Switch 2 visuals and performance

Ys: Memories of Celceta on PS Vita has always been a visually underwhelming game with it almost always reminding me of Ys Seven. It also had some technical issues on Vita and never felt as stable even with its 30fps target. Moving over to PC, the port offered multiple visual options to improve image quality and much higher frame rates. Even with the maximum settings, Celceta is still a Vita game at its core and there's only so much you can do to improve the presentation, though you can get pristine image quality with no shimmering and even hit high frame rates like 120fps on the ROG Ally without issue.

The PS4 version felt underwhelming when it finally launched since it suffered from a lot of shimmering, low quality textures, and poor post-processing. Falcom could have cleaned up the visuals quite a bit with decent anti-aliasing and filtering, but it just felt like a bare-bones port that thankfully at least delivered a 60fps experience.

Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta on Switch is a similarly underwhelming visual experience basically matching the PS4 experience albeit with worse performance when played on a Switch 1 system. It has similar low quality textures and jagged edges, but the biggest offender is that it doesn't even look crisp handheld or run perfectly on Switch 1 in either docked/handheld modes. Even in the opening hour, there are regular drops below 60fps on Switch 1. Moving over to Switch 2, backward compatibility fixed any performance issues and this is now only way you can get a solid 60fps on a portable console right now.

Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta Switch 2 handheld boost mode impressions

Until recently, it looked quite bad handheld with its subnative Switch port being upscaled on the Switch 2 screen. With handheld boost mode, you get a dramatically improved visual experience on Switch 2 and it still holds 60fps in the areas I revisited when testing portable play. In fact, I'd play the Switch version on Switch 2 handheld with boost mode over the PS4 version because I prefer playing Ys games on a portable when I can, and it delivers a solid experience via backward compatibility. I've included some comparison images below to showcase how much of an improvement handheld boost mode is for Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta by using the Switch 2 accessibility options to zoom in and then take a photograph of the screen. Since the Switch 2 still captures Switch 1 games at 720p, I can't use direct capture for the comparisons: 

Not only is the overall resolution better, but textures and filtering also see improvements when using handheld boost mode. I don't recommend playing Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta on Switch 2 without it. 

Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta and Memories of Celceta load times across Switch, Switch 2, PS5, and PC

When testing load times, I installed Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta to my Switch OLED SD card and also to my Switch 2 internal storage. I compared the time taken to boot up the game and load a save with Ys: Memories of Celceta installed on the Steam Deck internal storage, ROG Ally internal storage, PS Vita, and PS5 internal storage (PS4 version). I also included results for the Steam release when you skip logos and the startup video since it saves a lot of time. I also recommend disabling the "Display launcher on startup" option to save more time for the initial load. All the load times below are in seconds.

*Note: The PC version defaults to booting up the game's launcher configuration window which adds time. You can disable it and even disable the logos as I said before to save time. I included both results to show how much it helps when you skip the launcher and logos. 

As you can see, the Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta on Switch 2 via backward compatibility gets a nice boost even in load times. While it doesn't match the PC version, it is a bit faster than the PS4 version on PS5. The Vita original is the slowest of the lot. 

Which is the best platform to play Ys Celceta on?

Right now, the Switch version on Switch 2 is what I consider the best console version. I say this because while both are very close visually via backward compatibility on Switch 2 and PS5 respectively, the Switch 2 has faster saving and loading. The PS4 version still uses the old Sony save system where you have to confirm every save or load and then press X again once the load is complete adding more steps. This may sound minor to you, but when everything else is basically the same between versions, the Switch port delivering the same experience without an annoying save system and allowing me to play portably gives it the edge.

All console versions falter compared to the PC version that can scale well above both in frame rate and image quality, but the PC version suffers with its UI and menu resolution. You should definitely avoid the PS Vita version and the Switch version played on Switch 1 if you can. Neither deliver a good experience with the other options available. 

Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta soundtrack vs Ys: Memories of Celceta

So far, I've focused on the technical and feature differences between versions, but I've not actually covered the new soundtrack option. Before going further, you can swap to the original from the in-game settings so you are not forced into just the new soundtrack. After trying it out for a few hours, I only found myself enjoying maybe three of the new versions with the others confusing me. Just like the new portrait option in Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana, I don't think this new soundtrack option is a good value add to the package. Songs like In the Morning of After Rain and Seeking a Lost Mask feel like the biggest downgrades as far as I'm concerned.

This new soundtrack option is overall a rare miss for Falcom when it comes to arrangements as far as I'm concerned. Not every arrangement is bad, but even the ones that stick closer to the originals feel like a downgrade in instrumentation or the overall mix. I'd be more forgiving if you could adjust it on a track by track basis or if it actually felt like a fresh new take on a soundtrack I care about quite a lot more than the game itself.

Ys: Memories of Celceta remains a very important game since it is the reason I became a fan of Falcom in the first place. While it isn't even close to the best Ys game you can play today, I still enjoy revisiting it, and it is good to see the English release arrive with Switch 2 handheld boost mode.

Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta's Switch release is a lot easier to recommend now via backward compatibility on Switch 2, and is well worth getting if you haven't played it before and want a great portable experience. If you have played Celceta before, the new soundtrack option isn't enough to justify a new purchase unless of course you want to revisit the game on Switch 2. I don't recommend playing it on Switch 1 though if you have other options.