Ys: Memories of Celceta
Falcom's own retelling of the Ys IV story for PlayStation Vita.
Ys: Memories of Celceta is an action role-playing game from Nihon Falcom, released in 2012. It belongs to the Ys series and originally came out for the PlayStation Vita in Japan that September. Falcom created this game as its own take on the story that had been turned into two earlier titles—Ys IV: Mask of the Sun and Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys—both of which were made by other studios using Falcom’s initial ideas.
The story follows Adol Christin, the series’ main character, who wakes up with no memory after wandering into the forest of Celceta. The combat builds on the party-based system from Ys Seven, adding a Flash Move mechanic, unique field actions for each character, weapon upgrading, and a map-making system that rewards players for exploring the forest. Falcom later said these features became the groundwork for Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana and Ys IX: Monstrum Nox.
Xseed Games brought the Vita version to North America in November 2013, and NIS America handled the PAL release in February 2014. A Windows version came out worldwide in July 2018. An enhanced PlayStation 4 version, called Ys: Memories of Celceta - Kai in Japan, arrived in 2019 and 2020. A Nintendo Switch remaster launched in Japan as Ys Memoire: Memories of Celceta in May 2025, and internationally as Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta on April 28, 2026. This Switch version includes newly arranged soundtrack tracks that players can choose instead of the original music.
**Gameplay** Players explore fields and dungeons in real time, fighting enemies directly. They control one character from a party of up to three, while the other two are handled by the AI. The player can switch which character they control during battle. Each character uses one of three attack types: slashing, striking, or piercing. Some enemies are weak to one type and strong against others, which encourages swapping between party members. Characters use Skills that cost skill points (SP), and each has a more powerful Extra Skill that charges up separately.
The Flash Guard system from Ys Seven lets players block an attack by guarding just before it hits. A successful Flash Guard restores SP and makes subsequent attacks deal critical damage. The new Flash Move works similarly: dodging right before an attack lands slows the enemy and makes the player’s party invulnerable for a moment.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Ys: Memories of Celceta
- Developer
- Nihon FalcomPC version ported by Hyde, Inc.
- Publisher
- JP · Nihon Falcom · NA · Xseed Games · PAL · NIS America (PSV), Marvelous Europe (PS4) · WW · Xseed Games (Win)
- Director
- Toshihiro Kondo
- Programmer
- Hideyuki Yamashita · Homare Karusawa · Noriyuki Chiyoda · Atsushi Oosaki
- Writer
- Toshihiro Kondo · Yoshihiro Konda · Aichiro Miyata
- Composer
- Hayato Sonoda · Takahiro Unisuga · Saki Momiyama · Tomokatsu Hagiuda
- Series
- Ys
- Platforms
- PlayStation Vita · Windows · PlayStation 4 · Nintendo Switch
- Genre
- Action role-playing
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Ys: Memories of Celceta is set in the land of Celceta, one year after the events of Ys X: Nordics and about a year before Ys: The Oath in Felghana. The story begins with series protagonist Adol Christin arriving in the town of Casnan with amnesia. He meets information dealer Duren, who claims to have met him before, and is hired by Governor-General Griselda to explore and map Celceta. As Adol explores, he recovers memories and gathers a party including Karna, Ozma, Calilica, and Frieda, while encountering antagonists Bami, Gadis, and Gruda. The plot involves the god Eldeel, the Mask of the Sun, and the Akashic Records, culminating in the destruction of the mask in Mt. Vesuvio.
The game expands the party-based combat from Ys Seven with the Flash Move system, character-specific field actions, weapon reinforcement, and an exploration system centered on automatically filling a map of the forest. Falcom developed the mapping system to make the forest feel unknown and difficult to navigate. The original Vita version uses the touchscreen for menus and the rear touch pad for party commands.
Reader's Guide
Ys: Memories of Celceta is significant as Falcom's own version of the Ys IV story, which had previously been handled by other developers. Its gameplay innovations—Flash Move, character-specific field actions, weapon reinforcement, and the mapping system—were later identified by Falcom as foundations for Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana and Ys IX: Monstrum Nox. The game was originally released for PlayStation Vita in Japan in September 2012, with North American and PAL releases following in 2013 and 2014. A Windows version arrived in July 2018, and enhanced PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch versions were released in subsequent years. The Switch version, titled Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta internationally, includes newly arranged soundtrack options. The game's development began when the 25th anniversary of the Ys series coincided with information about the PlayStation Vita, leading Falcom to create a new title for the hardware rather than porting an existing game.
Did You Know?
- The game is Falcom's reinterpretation of the Ys IV story, previously adapted in Ys IV: Mask of the Sun and Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys by other companies.
- The Flash Move system, introduced in this game, allows the player to evade immediately before an attack lands, temporarily slowing the enemy and granting invulnerability.
- The exploration system automatically fills the map of Celceta as the player enters new areas, with rewards for reaching completion percentages.
- The Nintendo Switch version, released internationally on April 28, 2026, includes newly arranged versions of the soundtrack that can be selected in place of the original music.
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