Ys X: Nordics on PS5
One of the best parts of the Ys series is that the established timeline still leaves plenty of room for previously unknown adventures. Every story is actually an in-universe Travelogue written by Adol Christin. While there are only 10 games thus far, he wrote over 100, according to canon. While this is the 10th mainline Ys game, Ys X: Nordics takes place only a short time after the events of Ys II.
After Ys IX: Monstrum Nox showed off the oldest Adol to date, it only made sense for the next game to star Adol just after he first set out on his adventures. Not only did it make the story better as you see him grow a little more throughout, but it gave more context to his friendship with Dogi as well. It was interesting to see a different take on Norse mythology, after Monstrum Nox did that similarly. But seeing as the world of Ys is clearly trying to be its own thing, there is plenty of room for variation.
The story takes place before Memories of Celceta, which they mention many times. While sailing to Celceta, the ship they are on is set upon by the Normans (the Ys version of Vikings), who control this region of the sea. The captain hasn’t been paying off the Normans, hoping to skirt by without their notice, and he is executed without mercy for it.
The lack of a captain sidelines their trip, leaving Adol and Dogi stuck in the peaceful seaside village of Carnac for the time being. While exploring, Adol happens upon a seashell that grants him the ability to use Mana, which only two Normans (the Jarl and his daughter Karja) can use. Mana is the only way to defeat a terrifying enemy called the Griegr, as they regenerate any damage done by standard weapons/people. Events in Ys X: Nordics cause Adol and Karja to be inexplicably linked as they take to the seas after a particularly destructive Griegr assault. The ship they use, the Sandras, becomes their home base for the entire game and is how you navigate the ocean.
You can upgrade the Sandras as you go, but its initial stats make it unbearably slow, and the traversal itself never really grew on me. There’s just not enough to do out on the open water. There are merchant ships you can find or sea life to encounter while sailing around, but there’s nothing truly worthwhile to sidetrack you from beelining to the main objective.
The one good thing about sailing around is the ship-based combat, though. It’s not flashy, but shooting cannons or more destructive weaponry at passing enemy ships feels great. In the beginning, you can find these enemy ships simply sailing around, but by the end, you have to seek out these pink beams of light that start isolated fights, which kind of pulled me out of the maritime immersion.
As with any Ys game, the biggest overall goal is simply to explore. You are given a blank map that you must uncover yourself to reach the full 100% completion. This game is a completionist’s dream, as uncovering the map is very satisfying. Unfortunately, there’s no real benefit in getting rid of all the map fog, as reaching 100% Discovery is tied to just finding things.
The seas you navigate are dotted with islands (both optional and required) for you to explore. These vastly range in size, with a rather small laundry list to complete of chests, fast travel points, and special crystals. Previous Ys games have a sort of Metroidvania feel where you have to remember areas to come back to later. That isn’t quite the case in Nordics, where once you acquire a certain skill, you can easily complete almost every island on your first visit from then one.
However, it feels like there aren’t nearly enough islands to explore in Ys X: Nordics, making the total explorable area in Nordics feel woefully behind what was offered in Lacrimosa of Dana or Monstrum Nox. This could’ve easily been covered if the water regions had more content to them, but sadly that isn’t the case.
The one shining change from previous games is that field combat in Nordics works quite differently. While earlier entries gave you a party of characters, this time, it is only Adol and Karja, as no one else can use Mana. This not only gives you fewer characters to keep track of and kit out with skills/equipment but also leads to a brand-new mechanic. While Monstrum Nox has two other characters fight with Adol, Nordics lets you actually attack with Adol and Karja simultaneously. This is called “Duo Mode” and entirely ups your damage output through both regular attacks and special skills.
There’s no limit to using Duo Mode (it is activated by just holding a button while attacking), and it doesn’t have much of a downside other than removing your ability to dodge attacks. However, with how easily you can tear through most enemies, not having a dodge really doesn’t matter. I think, on the whole, I fought more in Duo Mode than I ever did with either character alone. While I do prefer the larger parties, I wouldn’t mind something like Duo Mode returning in the future.
Speaking of buttons, the overall/default controls felt really convoluted in Ys X: Nordics. I did my best to set things up in a way that I would normally prefer in my action RPGs (square for attack, X for jump). But, in the end, I created something that never quite felt comfortable, but it was the best I could do. It’s not really the game’s fault; there were just quite a few field things Adol/Karja needed to use that all required individual buttons that clashed with my preferences.
I was also hoping for a little better traversal gimmicks this time around. The hoverboard was enjoyable but relied too heavily on manoeuvring ground elevation for any speed. The other is a simple little tether hook swing that only works on specific targets (or as a way to grapple right into enemies). Not only does this lack any sort of aiming when using it in the field, but the contextual use button appears only when it wants to. That occasionally led to me falling quite often, which was always annoying.
However, any issues I had were still offset by the entertaining story and cast of characters. Ys games have always maintained the theme of the perseverance of the human spirit, and Nordics delivers this nicely. Adol is a fun and positive character, and I love how lighthearted these games are, even as the stories get a little more dire. Also, he does all this through very little actual spoken dialogue, and it’s mostly all choice-based between two, and they are both usually fun responses.
The biggest surprise of Ys X: Nordics is that it didn’t just give me the Ys game I was expecting, and I did love that. Sure, not everything it tried (ship-based traversal, multi-island exploration) quite worked, but it was a new experience. I’m exceedingly happy to see a series that has been going since 1987 continue to grow and change. If nothing else, picking this up gets you a solid action RPG, even if you might not jive with everything the game attempts.
Ys X: Nordics is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
SavePoint Score
Summary
Ys X: Nordics takes players back to a much earlier Adol adventure and is yet another great entry in the series. However, exploration doesn’t always feel up to par with what the series had offered in the past.
