I've played Ys: The Oath in Felghana many times since its English localization all those years ago on the PSP. In this case, I played it on the PC and it's still every bit as good as I remember.

The gameplay is Napishtim-style but significantly refined, faster paced, and with some nice quality-of-life features to make things like grinding faster. As you hit enemies, you get 0.01x added to an XP multiplier. 99 hits gets you a 1.99x XP multiplier, effectively halving the grinding time.

Most of the bosses are quite fun as well, with a good bit of variety to be had, and a lot of reliance on skill and patience to get past them (especially on hard mode and beyond!) The last boss in particular is a stand-out, and I had a lot of fun trying to perfect dealing with its various attacks.

Felghana is also a very straight-forward game, with little in the way of confusing objectives or outrageously maze-like dungeons. Some might not like the turn towards a more linear design, but I loved it. It's a far cry from the meandering confusion of the earlier titles, and, in my opinion, a good change.

Overall, this is an incredible game, and definitely among the top-tier of action RPGs. A game that everyone who is even remotely a fan of this genre should play. Ys Origins may edge it out slightly, but it's been too long since I've played that one and will have to give it another go to be certain!