Adol seems to be over his goth phase.
Back in 2018 when Ys VIII: Lacramosa of Dana released on Nintendo Switch, I picked it up on a whim. I had some passing experience with the series but none of them had ever really clicked until Ys VIII. The story was enthralling, the world was diverse and full of mystery, and the combat was fast paced and fluid. When Ys IX came west in 2021 I picked it up on PS4. But while its story was still moderately engaging, the world itself lacked the innate charm that Ys VIII had exuded. It was visually dull, exceedingly linear, and just didn’t capture my imagination the same way that its predecessor had. That being said, as someone who had only really found an interest in the series a few years earlier, I was willing to accept that perhaps I didn’t actually like modern Ys, but rather just Ys VIII specifically. When Ys X: Nordics was revealed I tried to keep my excitement at bay given my disappointment with Ys IX. But a focus on exploration, bright colorful environments, and fun charming characters quickly won me over. And I’m happy to say that if you missed the fun high fantasy vibes absent from Ys IX, there will definitely be something here for you.
Ys X: Nordics is set very early in the overall timeline of the Ys series, taking place just after Ys I and II. Series protagonist Adol is still very young at this point. In fact the early chapters of the game are oddly focused on reminding you that he is only seventeen years old. That being said, aside from some offhand references to Adol being known for the events of those first two titles, it won’t factor heavily into the grander story. You can absolutely go into this having never touched another game in the series. But if you’re coming from Ys VIII and wondering why Adol is suddenly so infatuated with the existence of the ocean, it’s because he hasn’t been stranded on a deserted island just yet.
Early on in the adventure Adol will become magically bound to the viking like Norman princess Karja by a force called mana. The two of them quickly realize that these mana abilities allow them to fight off monsters called Griegrs that normal humans would stand no chance against. Together, he and Karja will form a crew and sail the Obelia Gulf, fighting the Griegr and unraveling the mystery of their strange new powers. The story takes a moment to get going, but the slowly developing friendship between Adol, Karja, and the rest of their crew is very well developed over the 30-40 hour story. That time will of course vary greatly depending on how much optional content you pursue. That being said, the story doesn’t really kick into high gear until the final few chapters, where some fresh twists took it in directions I definitely hadn’t expected. Up until that point I felt it generally lacked some of the complexity and drive of other recent entries.
Unlike some prior entries, Ys X only has two party members, Adol and Karja. While you will find additional crew for your ship, your actual on foot party will never exceed these two characters. This places a great focus on how you choose to develop Adol and Karja in relation to each other. In general I found Adol was most effective for fast paced one on one fighting, while Karja could be used for large area of effect attacks. You can switch between characters at any time during combat. You’ll need to do this a lot, as while the computer controlled character will still engage in combat, they won’t make use of their special skill attacks. By holding down the right trigger you can control both characters at the same time, allowing for more powerful team attacks and another unique set of skills. These skills are all unlocked via an upgrade system. While the skills themselves are largely unlocked linearly, you have the option to focus on different stats as you upgrade each character.
Completely new to this title is your ship, the Sandras. You’ll gain access to it reasonably early on and it will allow you to freely navigate the seas and engage in naval combat. Rescuing characters captured by the Griegr can cause them to join your crew, which will increase the ships stats and grant special buffs when liberating enemy controlled islands. Additional crew members can also grant you access to new shops and sidequests. Your ship can also be upgraded by spending resources to improve its stats or unlock additional weapon types. There is an option to make naval combat significantly easier, but personally I never had trouble keeping my ship well ahead of anything I encountered. Still the option is there for those who want to focus exclusively on a more traditional experience.
While sailing you’ll encounter plenty of explorable islands. Many of these are not critical to your primary quest line, but can result in finding optional crew members, side stories, or just some good loot. Exploration makes use of various mana abilities you’ll unlock over the course of the game. This includes a surf board to grind on mana rails and a grapple hook that can be used to swing from specific points and zip to enemies. It is a nice expansion of the movement options introduced in Ys IX. To be clear, however, this is not a fully open world game. Rather the ocean is separated into several different loading zones, which will unlock as you proceed through the main story. I found this worked well as it was never too daunting to fully explore one area before moving on with the story and unlocking the next. But for those who are less interested in exploration, the vast majority of this content can be skipped entirely, though I wouldn’t recommend it.
Ys X makes use of a new engine for the series. The Nintendo Switch was a lead platform for the title this time around, rather than being a separately developed port as had been the case for the prior two entries. This makes a massive difference, and Ys X looks great on Switch. Outside of some issues with detail pop-in in some of the more densely populated urban environments, the game holds up well both in terms of resolution and performance. Some of the more extreme set piece moments can cause momentary dips to frame rate, but these are an exception to the norm. The one area in which Ys X still feels quite dated is in its highly segmented world. Outside of very small islands, the vast majority of landmasses in Ys X consist of multiple loading zones. Even your relatively small ship is split into three different loading zones. While the loading times are not long, this is one area that I’d hoped an updated engine would alleviate. The loading in the overworld is significantly less of an issue as these zones are comparatively massive and you’ll almost never find yourself sailing through multiple zones in a row–especially given that you can quickly fast travel to any island or merchant ship you’ve discovered on the map at any time. The same goes for islands which are dotted with checkpoints, making return visits for side quests very fast.
As expected for the series, the soundtrack is excellent. It swaps effortlessly between more quiet introspective pieces straight to wailing guitars as you fight your way across an enemy infested island. The voice acting is also generally quite good. Karja, who is by far the character with the most lines, is well performed. Adol speaks inconsistently to a somewhat distracting degree. It is as if the game cannot decide if it wants his lines delivered aloud or not. He’ll go for multiple chapters with his dialogue simply being paraphrased by a text box, only to suddenly deliver a random fully voiced line of no particular importance in the next cutscene. It is almost like a jump scare anytime Adol actually talks.
While I wouldn’t say that Ys X quite hits the highs of Ys VIII, it tends to lean much more in that direction than Ys IX did, all while amping up the openness of exploration and expanding on the movement options from the prior entry. While the general tone and style moves back into the high fantasy setting, it doesn’t completely abandon what worked about Ys IX either. The new sailing mechanics add a genuinely unique spin to this entry and a focus on building up just two party members creates more intentional combat encounters. While elements of the technical design still feel rooted a few generations in the past, an updated engine and attention to the Switch version in particular make this the most technically accomplished game in the series. Perhaps most of all Ys X: Nordics presents a fun world to exist in and a charming cast of characters that I became genuinely invested in. It is somewhat reassuring to know that despite my earlier fears, there may in fact be hope that I like this series as a whole, and not simply one game.
